Underground Mining Methods
Underground Mining Methods
Underground Mining Methods
Sublevel stoping
Sublevel stoping is a mining method in which ore is blasted from different levels
of elevation but is removed from one level at the bottom of the mine. Before
mining begins, an ore pass is usually drilled from a lower to a higher elevation.
Jumbos selectively drill holes into the roof of the drift and fill them with
explosives. When the roof is blasted, loose rocks, or muck, fall through the
drilled ore pass. A Load Haul Dump (LHD) vehicle transports the muck to
another ore pass where it falls to a hopper that feeds a crusher. The crushed ore
is then elevated (raised) to the surface in a skip. As the muck is taken out, more
drilling of the now higher roof continues. The roof is blasted till it is so high that it
cannot be reached by a jumbo. Then a jumbo working in a higher elevation drift
is used to intersect the stope. After blasting, the ore falls down to the lower drift
where LHDs can drive in to load the muck and dump it at an ore pass. Drilling
and blasting continues until the stope is completely excavated. Once the stope is
completely hollowed out, it is backfilled from the bottom, up. The backfill material
used can be a mixture of sand and rocks, waste rock with cement, or dewatered
mill tailings (rejected low grade ore from processing, usually fine and sandy). The
backfill material must have a lot of strength to support the roof of the empty
stope.
Sublevel Caving
Sublevel caving is usually carried out when mining of the orebody through an
open pit method is no longer economically feasible. Mining now proceeds
underground, underneath the open pit. At first, both a raise and a network of
tunnels are made. At different sublevels, jumbos are used for long hole drilling,
drilling directly upwards into the roof. These holes are then charged with
explosives and blasted. As the roofs cave in, the rock from the ground surface
will cave in to the underground as well. Load Haul Dump (LHD) vehicles
transport the muck, loosened rocks, to an ore pass where the rocks are lifted to
the surface. Drilling and blasting takes place at different underground levels of
the mine at the same time. As the blasted rock, muck, is continuously
transported to the ore pass, more blasting will encourage the roof to cave in to
the void and further into the drift. This is repeated until blasting, caving and
transporting depletes the entire orebody.
Glossary
Bolting drilling a hole, and inserting a bolt to strengthen the
ceiling and walls of an underground mine
Drilling and blasting the process of using a drill to create long, narrow
cylindrical holes in the rock, and filling these holes with
explosives which are then detonated to fragment the rock
Pillar the columns of rock that are left to support the ceiling in
room and pillar mining
Room the open areas left open by blasting in room and pillar
mining
Glossary References: Mineral Resources Education Program of British Columbia, Social Studies 10/11:
Mining in BC A Resource Unit; The Northern Miner, Mining Explained: A Layman’s Guide (1996)