About Small Mine Development
Small Mine Development builds and operates America's underground mines. Our mission is to be the leader in safe, productive, and innovative mining solutions. We specialize in the underground, and hard rock mining and look forward to working with you on your project.
Our mission is to be the leader in safe, productive, and innovative mining solutions.
Ron Guill founded SMD in 1982. Mr. Guill is a former Marine Corps officer and graduated from the Mackay School of Mines in Reno, Nevada with a degree in Mining Engineering. For 28 years, Ron placed SMD on the leading edge of mechanized underground mining innovation. He sold the company to a group of senior managers in December 2010. Our goal is to continue the traditions of this great company and to continue to embrace the future of underground mining.
A few of our innovative mining solutions are presented here. In 1984, SMD pioneered the use of 100% cemented backfill in underhand cut and fill mining. This mining method has been proven in challenging ground conditions and is now widely used in Nevada underground gold projects. SMD portal into its first pit high wall at the Copperstone Mine in 1989 and we have constructed over fifty portals since then. We brought Cubex RC drilling underground in the early 1990s and have proven the extreme value and versatility of this drilling method for exploration and production. Remote mucking capabilities were added to the mining fleet in the late 1980s. SMD recognized the safety and productivity advantages of utilizing mechanized bolting and now has one of the largest fleets of mechanical bolters in the United States. Wet shotcrete capabilities were added to several projects in the mid-1990s proving the safety of this ground support method. We have successfully implemented Atlas Copco’s RCS system on a two-boom jumbo allowing for computerized pattern drilling resulting in improvements in drift size and support requirements.