Team Manufacturing have designed a series of Tornado colloidal mixers suitable for frequent relocation throughout mine's for back filling of stopes. Stopes are excavations created by the removal of ore and consequent widening of the drift. Inco Limited's Birchtree Mine, is located in Thompson, Manitoba, Canada. Several portable SlurryPlants are used as part of an automated backfill system in this underground nickel mine. Utilizing a unique modular, multi-mill design.

The first plant utilized a Colcrete SD 2500 litre mixer with four colloidal mills and has been in operation since January of 2002. The newest edition is a down sized system from the original with a smaller receiver bin and colloidal mixer, SD 1000 litre with two colloidal mills and all other related components.

In addition to the plants compact and highly mobile design, it was necessary to manufacture these plants in such away that they could be disassembled into small components necessary to fit into the mine cage for delivery underground and be able to be reassembled with minimum effort. The extremely narrow cage restriction added to the many design challenges of these systems as the modules wererequired to be bolted together without additional welding.

These plants supply cementitious slurry to scoops, haul trucks, and/or directly to stopes where suitable. Each plant is designed in four sections with quick-disconnects for electrical, air, and water services.

Typical of all Colloidal Grout Systems Manufactured by Team, these plants feature Colcrete Eurodrill Mark III colloidal mills, full automation, and are totally self-cleaning. 

Each system's PLC is networked to the mine's communication system to facilitate pneumatic conveying of binder from surface. These systems and/or variations thereof would suit themselves well in applications of void filling, lightweight cellular concrete, tunnelling, jet grouting, soil mixing and other related grouting applications where high quality, high production, fully automated systems are required.