International miners tour 'deep' Sudbury mines

Delegates from mining companies around the world are touring mines in Sudbury Friday.

They are in town as part of Deep Mining 2014, an international conference to talk about the future of underground mining—which continues to progress at deeper levels, previously considered “un-minable”.

Marty Hudyma is an assistant professor at Laurentian University and is one of the main organizers of the week's events.

"Sudbury and Ontario has some of the deepest mines in the world. Outside of South Africa, we are the deepest mines in the world," he said.

"And when I talk about deep, I'm talking about two kilometres and three kilometres and deeper."

CBC Sudbury's Jenifer Norwell met up with him to talk more about what lies ahead for the industry in the northeast.

Morning North4:13Going deep for ore deposits

Ore deposits in the northeast used to be close to the surface and relatively accessible. Mining companies are now having to go deep to get the minerals. The CBC's Jenifer Norwell spoke with one of the organizers of a deep mining conference in Sudbury.

There was also a focus on what comes next for the industry globally.

The conference brought together mining personnel, consultants and researchers from around the world to discuss and document their experiences in deep mining.

Ray Durrheim from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa was a guest speaker.

He talked about improving safety in mines in his country with CBC Sudbury's Jenifer Norwell.

The Deep Mining 2014 conference covered issues such as mine planning, ventilation, rock mechanics. It also included deep mining case studies.