They've been testing out the light bluish-green rubbery substance since May in some of the drifts in the Fraser mine. And if they can prove it works, they expect to be able to bring the $3 million project to market by the end of next year.

"It's our number one strategic project," says project leader Dawson Proudfoot.

"It provides more protection and it's one of the stepping stones to mining deeper since we can work in a high stress environment, and we can put this up faster in normal (mining) environments too," he says.

The wire sheets are 5 by 10 feet and 40 pounds a pop, making them "a material handling nightmare," says Doniec, adding: "We're still doing Flintstone mining with this stuff."

"If I have a four man crew it might take three or four hours with the liner versus 8 to 20 hours the old way," referring to the 4.6 by 4.6 metre section they do at a time in a heading.

"Bolting it is a bottleneck too. You talk to any mining person and tell them you'll get rid of mesh and they'll love you for it," he adds.

"We want to get rid of this wire mesh and stop the rock from falling on our heads," adds veteran miner Richard Laroque.

They spray the polymer liner on at a thickness of three millimetres from a giant machine. High-pressure water scaling takes down all the loose rock and washes the surface area so the liner will adhere to it better.

Proudfoot notes it's a much faster and easier material to install and it's even safer than the screen since rocks can still fall through the holes in the wire whereas the polymer liner covers the entire area.

What it means for Falconbridge is that they're a bit closer to developing the super deep Onaping Depth deposit they are currently exploring, which is located 2.8 kilometres underground.

But they'll also spread it around to others in the industry since "safety is our biggest concern" and everyone has the same obstacles to deal with, Proudfoot says