Underground Mining
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Contents
MODULE ONE: ............................................................................................................................................................3
MINE ACCESS .............................................................................................................................................................3
1.0 Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Design of Mine shafts ..........................................................................................................................................3
1.2 Purpose of a Shaft ................................................................................................................................................4
1.3 Shaft Cross Sections ............................................................................................................................................4
1.4 Determining Shaft Size ........................................................................................................................................4
1.5 Choosing the Right Shaft .....................................................................................................................................6
1.6 Shaft Comparison ................................................................................................................................................7
1.7 Types of Shafts .................................................................................................................................................. 10
1.8 Lateral Development and Ramps ....................................................................................................................... 10
1.9 Design and Function of Lateral Headings ......................................................................................................... 11
1.10 Track versus Trackless .................................................................................................................................... 12
1.11 Shaft sinking .................................................................................................................................................... 12
1.11.1 Applications of Shafts ............................................................................................................................... 12
1.11.2 Activities required for Shaft Sinking ............................................................................................................ 13
1.11.3 Special methods for shaft sinking. ................................................................................................................ 14
Impact on surrounding infrastructures ..................................................................................................................... 15
Appropriate soil conditions ...................................................................................................................................... 15
1.12 Site layout requirements .................................................................................................................................. 15
Resources required: (cost estimation for shaft, City of Edmonton,2005) ................................................................ 16
Human resources ................................................................................................................................................. 16
Equipments and machines ................................................................................................................................... 16
1.13 Collars & Portals.............................................................................................................................................. 16
1.14 Ground Freezing .............................................................................................................................................. 17
1.15 Shaft Sinking ................................................................................................................................................... 17
MODULE TWO .......................................................................................................................................................... 19
UNDERGROUND MINE SELECTION AND PLANNING ...................................................................................... 19
2.0 Mine Planning – Some Considerations .............................................................................................................. 19
2.1 Underground or Surface .................................................................................................................................... 19
Underground methods ................................................................................................................................................. 19
Surface methods........................................................................................................................................................... 20
2.2 Preliminary Strata Mechanics ............................................................................................................................ 20
2.3 Portal/ Access Location ..................................................................................................................................... 24
2.4 Types of Portals ................................................................................................................................................. 25
2.5 Mining Method Selection ................................................................................................................................. 26
2.6 Bulk Methods .................................................................................................................................................... 27
2.7 Selective Methods .............................................................................................................................................. 28
2.8 Dilution .............................................................................................................................................................. 29
2.9 Mine Planning.................................................................................................................................................... 30
2.10 Strategy for Underground Mines ..................................................................................................................... 30
2.10.1 Ramp Haulage .......................................................................................................................................... 30
2.10.2 Belt Conveyor ........................................................................................................................................... 30
2.10.3 Shaft System ............................................................................................................................................. 31
2.10.4 Conventional Methods of Ore Transport .................................................................................................. 31
2.10.5 Main Entry ................................................................................................................................................ 31
MODULE THREE ...................................................................................................................................................... 32
SELF-SUPPORTED MINING METHODS ................................................................................................................ 32
3.0 Room and Pillar Method .................................................................................................................................... 32
3.1 Non-coal Application of Room and Pillar Mining ............................................................................................. 46
3.2 Types of Room and Pillar Mining ..................................................................................................................... 49
3.3 Shrinkage Stoping .............................................................................................................................................. 53
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MODULE ONE:
MINE ACCESS
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the decline being trackless equipment and conveyors instead of the skips and cages. Inclined shafts
also use monorails.
Determining the rate of mining can be summarized as follows:
Identify possible mining layouts
Define standard mining block (stope or panel size) per layout
Calculate steady state conditions per level
Define steady state inputs/outputs requirements per level
Determine minimum access dimensions to cater for equipment and ventilation
Calculate development requirements to get to steady state
Simulate full level production from start of block to ore body extremity
Determine the maximum number of levels that will operate simultaneously
Estimate shaft size required to cater for sum of the requirements of the maximum number
of working levels
Do an economic analysis (NPV & IRR)
Decide on optimum mining layout and shaft configuration
Determining the size of a ventilation shaft can be summed up as shown in Table 1 below.
By summing up the total intake air required for the complete mining system it is possible to
compute the minimum ventilation shaft dimensions required to service the chosen mining system.
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The decline or inclined shafts are associated with grade constraints and one needs to take these
into account. If a decline is used for trackless haulage then the maximum grade recommended is
8,0 . However, if used for conveyor belt haulage and the decline are used by rubber tired trackless
equipment on regular basis, then 15,0 is the maximum recommended. If used for
conveyor belt haulage only, then the maximum grade could be 15 - 25,0 depending on material to
be conveyed. If equipment has to be driven up and down to clean spillage, this will limit the
gradient.
It is important to note that unfortunately there are no standard designs for circular concrete shafts.
Typically each new shaft is designed from scratch to accommodate the particular
requirements envisioned by the mine planners. Therefore each shaft is designed and constructed
on a fit for purpose basis.
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Table 3 below gives some indicative development costs. It is difficult to get the exact figure as
costs are influenced by support applications, ground conditions and various other factors specific
to each site. The numbers used here are the August 2007 costs using an exchange rate of R7.00 to
the US dollar. These figures do not include shaft equipping.
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These include dealing with high silica dust counts, poor visibility, low cutter wear life, squeezing
ground, highly stressed ground, difficult equipment access, poor equipment mobility, difficulty in
mechanizing ground support, and inflexibility with respect to gradient and curvature.
As a result, the traditional drill and blast method remains the least expensive and most practical
means of advancing lateral headings. For this reason, the next part of this module is primarily
devoted lateral headings driven by drill and blast.
No universally accepted standard definitions exist for terms that refer to inclined lateral headings.
In this chapter, a “ramp” is a heading containing horizontal curves used as a transport corridor for
rubber-tired mobile equipment. A “decline” is a straight heading suitable for installation of a belt
conveyor that may also permit travel of mobile equipment.
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The Australians have employed relatively high-speed truck haulage for many years using off-road
haulage trucks modified for underground service at typical gradients of 9:1 or 12%. (Refer to
Chapter 4 for more information on truck haulage in Australia.)
Track headings are normally fully arched with a vent duct hung at the crown when driven. For
trackless headings, it is common practice to hang the vent duct and utility lines on the ditch side
to save space and help protect them from wayward vehicles. When a very large vent duct is
required, two ducts are used instead. These are hung from the back on either side of
the heading, leaving the central portion open to permit passage of the heaped load on a haul truck.
The back of these headings may be gently arched or driven flat backed, depending on the ground
conditions (mine company standards may dictate an arched back).
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brine solution through the pipes, thereby freezing a wall of soil, this process needs 2 months to
complete,” this method will be discussed in more detail later in this module.
4. Grouting:
In this method we drill rows of grout holes around the shaft perimeter, then inject grout into them,
but freezing is more reliable comparing to this,
5. Shotcrete:
Shotcrete is sprayed concrete can be applied immediately to freshly excavated rock
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Site Layout has a great effect on project costs, therefore, models are used to simulate the different
site layouts and choose the best one. (Fangyi Zhou,2006)
Resources required: (cost estimation for shaft, City of Edmonton,2005)
Human resources
Equipment operators, labourers and workers, foremen, supervisors
Equipments and machines
Drill rig, compressor, excavators, explosives
Cranes, hoists, trucks
Welding truck
Lumbers (laggings), liners, ribs, tie rods, support beams, tie wire
General purpose concrete, concrete forms, concrete pump, rebars
Water pumps
Illumination and electrical equipment
Communication systems
Personal protective equipment
Ventilation System
Instrumentation to determine the concentration of flammable gases
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Portals
Portals may be left open to the elements in tropical zones; however, the entrance is normally
enclosed with a weather-tight structure in temperate or arctic climates. This structure was once
built with timber or reinforced concrete, but now miners usually employ corrugated metal
archways similar to those used for large highway culverts. For a ramp entry in overburden,
this structure can become very long. In the case where the portal carries a conveyor, the archway
is designed with enough strength to accommodate hangers that suspend the conveyor support
frames.
Portals for ramps and declines usually incorporate a reverse slope at the start to prevent surface
water from running into the mine.
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Of all the headings driven in hard rock mines, shafts are the most costly and time consuming.
Moreover, the shaft sinking procedure is intricate and arduous.
While a few shafts are advanced by big-hole drilling methods, the great majority employs the
traditional “drill and blast” cycle to which this chapter is devoted.
Shafts for smaller mines are traditionally sunk rectangular and rely on timber for support. Larger
mines typically employ circular shafts lined with concrete poured in place as the sinking advances.
Today, independent mining contractors sink most shafts. While there have been significant
technical advances, no world records have been broken for rate of shaft-sinking advance in hard
rock since 1962. Part of the problem is that mining contractors have no discretionary funds to
invest in research and development, while mining companies and government agencies have other
priorities for what little resources are available.
Except at great depth, shafts sunk in hard rock mines do not normally require special considerations
to maintain wall stability.
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MODULE TWO
UNDERGROUND MINE SELECTION AND PLANNING
Underground methods
- Good for relatively deep deposits. Usually, the depth is more than 100 feet. In a lot of
situations, the depth factor makes the decision easy. If the deposit is too deep inside, surface
methods are ruled out.
- Generally cost per ton is higher than surface methods. Therefore, good for high quality grades
only.
- Less disruptive environmentally. In the past, however, reckless underground mining left
behind large tracts of subsided land.
- Mining is rarely affected by the climate. However, artificial ventilation and lighting is
required. In some very deep mines, mine production is affected by heat (due to the depth).
- Definitely more hazardous than surface mines. Mining in a coal seam is affected by present/old
workings in other seams.
- Return on capital is generally not quick.
- Generally less dilution when mining. Especially good for complex ore bodies where selective
mining can be carried out.
†
The factors listed here cover both non-coal and coal applications. Therefore, some factors may not be applicable in coal and
vice versa.
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Surface methods
- Good for shallow deposits. The maximum depth that can be mined by this method is dictated
by the technology used. With rapid advances in technology, surface mines have gone
significantly deeper than before. For example, Bingham Canyon copper mine in Utah is about
half a mile deep.
- Generally lower cost per ton than underground methods. Therefore, even relatively poor
grades can be mined too.
- Very disruptive to the environment. According to a study in 1978, 75% of the land affected
by surface mining is due to mining of coal, gravel and crushed stone. Reclamation can be
expensive. Sometimes, companies prefer to go underground (despite bad economics) simply
to alleviate environmental concerns. De Beers only considered underground mining in their
Snap Lake diamond project in Mackenzie Valley, Canada.
- Mining is affected by weather. Inclement weather can lead to mining stoppages.
- Less hazardous. Does not require artificial lighting during day hours.
- Multiple seams can be mined without being subject to ground control problems. In Yellandu,
India, the Singareni Colleries Company Limited mined seams by surface methods that were
previously mined by underground methods‡.
- High capital required for modern mines.
- Cannot be used for selective mining.
- Generally higher productivity than underground mines.
It should be mentioned here that not all factors mentioned above are hard and fast. For example,
if a company has several open pit mines, and decides to open a new one, the capital required will
be less if they divert some equipment from the existing mines. Usually, companies may schedule
the closure of a mine with the opening of another just to reduce capital costs.
Having decided to mine by a surface or u/g method, the next step is to plan and develop the mine.
The surface mining methods will be presented later in the subject Surface Mining. In this module,
we will discuss planning of an u/g coal mine.
‡
Since the u/g workings used very little technology, only a small fraction of coal was mined and most got left behind due to
ground control problems.
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strong strata. Their location is also determined with regards to future mining activities, i.e. they
are sited so that future mining activities do not deleteriously harm them.
Background on Roof and Floor Characterization: Roof (or “back” in non-coal mines) and floor
stability is very important for ensuring smooth and safe production. While roof falls can be fatal
and disruptive to production, floor disturbances generally slow production. A good floor is
essential for conveyors and most production machines. In severe cases, floor heave can essentially
close an entry. An inspection of the borehole logs gives a very good idea of the roof and floor that
can be expected around the seam.
In coal mines, one must estimate the immediate roof from the borehole logs. Generally, the
immediate roof is the strata between the top of the seam and the plane of contact of weak shales
and rocks with strong strata (Figure 1). If the weak rocks immediately above the seam are thick
in comparison with the coal seam, then the immediate roof depends on the expansion ratio of the
rocks, as when they fall, they occupy a volume indicated by the expansion ratio. Depending on
the expansion ratio, the immediate roof varies from two to five times the excavation or seam height.
Immediate roof is important to know since that is the roof that needs to be supported for safe
mining.
sandstone
siltstone
coal
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The roof and floor can be characterized using criteria such as compressive strength, shear strength,
tensile strength, moisture content and presence of joints/fractures. Typically, roof falls are caused
by tensile stresses, at the center of the opening, and shear stresses, at the corners of the openings.
Weak immediate roof, or presence of clay and moisture, or fractures/slickensides indicates greater
support requirement. Soft floors, on the other hand, may be punctured by pillars. Other things to
watch out for are shale/sandstone contacts. These contact regions have high stresses due to the
significant difference in their Young’s modulus.
We discuss some quantitative characterization methods next.
Rock Quality Designation (RQD): This is a very handy classification tool. It is defined as the
ratio of the cumulative length of core sticks (NX size) each greater than 100 mm long to the total
length of the drill hole. This method assumes that the length of the core pieces depend on the
structure and strength of rock.
It is evident from above that computing the RQD is very easy. One must, however, be careful.
For example, when the holes are parallel to bedding, high RQD is indicated, while for the same
rock if the hole is perpendicular to the bedding, low RQD is indicated.
Rock Mass Rating (RMR): This is one of the most popular characterization criteria. It uses six
parameters in its classification: the uniaxial compressive strength, RQD, spacing of discontinuities,
condition of discontinuities, groundwater conditions and the orientation of discontinuities.
Depending on the conditions, the strata in question is assigned a rating for each of the first five
parameters. These ratings are summed to arrive at the basic RMR. This rating is then adjusted for
orientation of discontinuities. The adjustment takes the form of a penalty for harmful discontinuity
orientation. The adjusted RMR is the rock’s RMR. The classification also provides a table for
translating the RMR into average stand up time for tunnels, cohesion of the rock mass and the
friction angle.
Q system: This system was developed out of a study of 212 tunnels in Norway. The Q rating was
given by the formula:
RQD x Jr x Jw
Q=
Jn x Ja x SRF
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where, Jr = joint roughness number, Jw = joint water reduction number, Jn = joint set number, Ja =
joint alteration number, and SRF = stress reduction factor.
The RQD and Jn are indicators of the overall rock structure, Jr and Ja are indicators of shear strength
of the joints, Jw is a measure of water pressure, and finally, SRF is a function of i) load reduction
due to shear zones and clayey rocks, ii) stress existing in rock and ii) squeezing and swelling loads
in soft plastic rock. Jw and SRF are indicators of confining stress. One aspect of the Q system that
stands out is that the rock strength is not directly taken into account.
An Example Characterization: Figure 2 below shows a coal property with borehole locations and
their RQD’s. The method of polygons is used to obtain the areas of influence of each borehole. It
is assumed here that the polygons shown in the figure accurately represent the weight of each
borehole. We color code the polygons according to the scheme:
Good or RQD 90 Green
Moderate or 90>RQD 80 Yellow
Bad or RQD < 80 Red
65 75
89
87
93 95
Mains
91
75
84
This map is very good for deciding on the location of the mains. As we would want to lay the
mains inFigure
areas2.ofRoof
competent roof, the
characterization only
using RQDoption forproperty.
for a coal Figure 2 is to lay the mains East-West as
shown. Most of the mains will have very good roof in that case. During mining, they should
expect roof control problems in the north, northwest, and south side of the property. If possible,
one could also size the pillars in the different zones differently.
.
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- Portal should be located in strong strata. Else, the portal could be subject to strata disturbance
jeopardizing mine production.
- Portal area should be free from flooding.
- Should be as close to the center of the property as possible.
- The portal should be at the lowest elevation of the seam/orebody so that the grades favor
hauling and mine drainage. Transportation costs are lower if coal/ore is hauled down gradient
and drainage is easier when the final destination is lower than the origin.
- Transportation, both inside and outside the mine, is affected by portals. Conveyor belts,
loading chutes and other elements of coal hauling network inside the mine are planned on the
basis of portal location and size. If for some reason a portal cannot be used, arranging for
alternate routes can be very expensive. The location of the entrance to the mine affects the
trucking distance between the mine output and the next destination for the coal/ore (coal/ore
processing plant or customer). This is especially true in hilly areas such as the Appalachia,
where a portal placed on the wrong side of a hill adds several miles of additional transportation.
Generally also, remote location of a portal requires building a road. A deeper/longer portal is
often preferred to a shorter portal when the shorter portal is farther away from the customer or
the washing plant or the highway (Figure 3).
Longer portal
Good location even though the portal
portal is deeper (one time large coal seam
expense).
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It is often found that the best conditions do not occur together. For example, a portal location that
is the closest to the customer may have the worst strata conditions. Therefore, one must carefully
weigh all the options before deciding on the location.
shaft
incline
adit
Adits or Drifts: An adit or a drift is the access of choice when the coal seam outcrops or where the
ore/coal is accessible through a horizontal drift. No special equipment besides what is needed for
the mine is generally necessary to drive them. They are the cheapest to construct and have a low
operating cost. However, their application is limited to those with favorable geology.
Inclines or slopes vs. shafts: Slopes have certain advantages over shafts:
- They can be driven quicker than shafts, and cheaper on a per foot basis (up to a certain depth).
Figure 5 shows the comparative costs (unit and total) for shaft and slope.
- They support continuous hauling, by use of conveyors, unlike shafts. They can also handle
large volumes, making the operating costs cheaper.
- Provides access to the outside of the mine in the case of emergencies. While this is true of
shafts too, climbing hundreds of feet vertically is difficult.
- Transporting heavy and wide/long equipment is relatively easy and may not require
dismantling.
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2000
5000
Unit cost, slope
1600 Total cost,
Unit cost, shaft 4000
’000s $
1200 3000
Unit cost, $/vertical meter
Total cost, slope Total cost, shaft
800
2000
400 1000
Driving an incline or a shaft is a technical endeavor. Therefore, the economics also depends on
the type of equipment used. Mismatch between the strata and the equipment can prove costly.
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Following are typical considerations to be weighed in selecting a mining method (listed roughly
in order of importance).
Maximize safety (integrity of the mine workings as a whole or in part).
Minimize cost (bulk mining methods have lower operating costs than selective extraction).
Minimize the schedule required to achieve full production (optimize stope sequencing).
Optimize recovery (80% or greater recovery of geological reserves).
Minimize dilution (20% or less dilution of waste rock that may or may not contain
economic minerals).
Minimize stope turn around (cycle) time (drill, load, blast, muck, backfill, set).
Maximize mechanization (trackless versus track and slusher mining).
Maximize automation (employment of remote controlled LHDs).
Minimize pre-production development (top down versus bottom up mining).
Minimize stope development (selective versus bulk mining methods).
Maximize gravity assist (underhand versus overhand).
Maximize natural support (partial extraction versus complete extraction).
Minimize retention time of broken ore (open stoping versus shrinkage).
Maximize flexibility and adaptability based on size, shape, and distribution of target
mining areas.
Maximize flexibility and adaptability based on distribution and variability of ore grades.
Maximize flexibility and adaptability to sustain the mining rate for the mine life.
Maximize flexibility and adaptability based on access requirements.
Maximize flexibility and adaptability based on opening stability, ground support
requirements, hydrology (ground water and surface runoff), and surface subsidence.
Following is a list of mining methods most often employed underground listed roughly in the order
of increasing cost (direct mining cost, including backfill where applicable). The order is generally
true, but can be deceiving because some methods, such as Blasthole can have a wide range of
costs.
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be left behind as production losses. One difficulty with Sublevel Caving concerns grade
control. A gradual dilution occurs toward the end of the draw and it can be difficult to
determine when it is best to stop pulling. Recovery may be improved if the draw point
layout is staggered from one level to the next.
4. Room and Pillar/Post Pillar – a grid of rooms is developed on a near horizontal plane,
leaving pillars of ore to support the back (roof). The pillars left in the Post Pillar method
are undersized (posts) and designed to fail in a controlled manner. Typically, a zone of
low-grade mineralization or host rock (“barren”) must be mined with pay grade ore to
maintain access and control stress distribution. On the other hand, Post Pillar (and even
Room and Pillar) may be considered to be selective when the pillars can be arranged in
zones of lower grade material, as opposed to a regular geometric pattern.
5. Modified Avoca – the ore is drilled by long hole and drawn off in retreating vertical slices,
followed closely by placement of rock fill dropped “over the bench” or “over the fill” (via
access to the back of the stope from the footwall drift).
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but it is more often a challenge requiring not only logical and practical reasoning, but creative
minds working in three dimensions.
2.8 Dilution
Modern bulk mining methods reduce direct operating costs and facilitate management of the mine
operations, but a common drawback is often increased dilution. For ore bodies of vast expanse,
dilution is not a problem; however, most mines deal with ore zones of finite width and many
experience dilution as high as 20%, or even 25% when bulk-mining methods are employed.
Dilution is the great nemesis for miners because the cost of dilution is not only the obvious direct
cost (dilution tons displace ore tons in the ore handling and process circuits), but also includes
significant indirect costs. For example, each ton of sterile rock or backfill that circulates through
the mill carries mineral values with it to the tailings. The minimization of dilution should
be given weight in the selection and subsequent application of a mining method. The causes of
excess dilution include using the wrong mining method and related factors. The causes can be
illustrated in the following fish-bone chart (Figure 3-1).
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MODULE THREE
SELF-SUPPORTED MINING METHODS
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the solid blocks of coal are called pillars. Pillars are left to support the rooms. During mining, these
entries are extended all the way up to the end of the deposit after which, the pillars are removed in
retreat. Removal of the pillars (called pillaring) from an area concludes mining in the area (the
roof collapses very quickly after a pillar is removed, thereby reducing the stress).
Entries are generally named from left to right, facing inby. Inby and outby are terms frequently
used in mining to describe location relative to the observer. Inby is towards the direction of
advance, while outby is in the opposite direction (generally towards the exit). In Figure 1, A is
inby of B, while B is outby of A.
Mine Plan Format: If you are seeing a room-and-pillar mine plan for the first time, you will notice
that in the mine plan given to you, rooms are depicted as lines, unlike in Figure 1. To help you
make the transition to mine plans, Figure 1 has been redrawn in a typical mine plan format in
Figure 2 (not in the same scale, however).
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Before opening a mine, few parameters need to be decided on. These are presented next.
Number of entries: The example mine plan that was given to you uses a 7 entry system (ask me if
you do not have the mine plan). This is evident from the 7 entries for mains, sub-mains and panels.
Mains, as the name suggests, are an important part of the mine. They form the skeleton or backbone
for the mine, allowing access to various parts of the mine. Every ton of mined coal passes through
the mains. Due to their long life and pivotal role in coal hauling, mains usually have pillars larger
in size than in other areas of the mine. Sometimes, the same is true for sub-mains also. Sub-mains
are the system of entries that branch off mains, giving access to various portions of the mine. Sub-
mains may be absent in small mines. Panels are entries that branch off the sub-mains. Mining is
generally done off the panels. However, mine geometry may sometimes necessitate driving panels
off mains. Also, the distinction between mains and sub-mains, and sub-mains and panels may not
always be clear.
The decision to drive a certain number of entries in a panel should consider the following:
- The purpose of the panel. For longwall development, typically 3 or 4 entries suffice. It is difficult
driving anything lower than three entries since belts, air-return and track/human transportation
each (typically) require a separate entry. Additionally, congestion can be an issue for fewer entries;
for example, even with three entries, there is very little room for equipment parking (for repairs or
routine daily maintenance). Figure 3 shows a 4 entry longwall development section. Note how
congested it is.
- When the number of entries are small, there are only a few available working faces. This usually
results in delays. This is because mining is cyclical (including continuous mining). Cutting is
followed by bolting and servicing (clearing the floor, advancing ventilation and rock dusting), and
therefore, any delay in any of the activities affects the others. When there are many working faces
available, an activity can be shifted to another location without any interruption. For example, if
the bolter is down in entry#1, the miner could work in entry #2 rather than wait for the bolter to be
repaired.
- More entries mean more space. Therefore, machines can maneuver easily and quickly, saving
time. In case of shuttle car sections, more entries may mean different routes for loaded and empty
cars, thereby reducing travel times.
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- The more the entries, less is the air resistance. Therefore, volume of air flow is higher than with
fewer entries. However, with too many entries, section ventilation may be difficult and prone to
leakages (too many curtains).
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- One disadvantage of many entries is that it slows down development and therefore, pillaring.
Hence, cash flow may be small for a long time.
- Too many entries can also be cumbersome and uneconomical. Section ventilation and
management becomes difficult in a very spread-out section.
The number of entries in a panel is usually 3 to 7; with 3-4 entry systems being primarily for
longwall development. In the mine plan given to you, it was decided to use bridge sections and,
therefore, the mine was planned with 5 entries (since any less number of entries causes congestion
with bridges). Many times, when the number of entries is large, two sets of equipments (i.e. two
sets of miner-bolter-car combinations) are used. These sections are termed super-sections.
Angle between entries and crosscuts: The angle between crosscuts and entries depends on the
machinery. Bridges and ramcars, for example, require oblique angles, while shuttle cars require
perpendicular angles. The angle between the panel entries and main/sub-main entries in the mine
plan given to you is oblique to reduce spillage in conveyor transfer points. Conveyor spillage is
high when the direction of flow takes a sharp turn (Figure 4). Therefore, one must plan oblique
angles wherever the conveyor flow direction is expected to change.
Entry/crosscut height and width: The mining height is dependent on geology (seam heights) and
panel requirements. Typically, as long as it can be economically justified, a height comfortable for
humans, is preferred. However, many times heights are also justified based on current equipment
and personnel. For example, I have known mines to drive certain entries higher to accommodate
longwall shields. Sometimes, entry height is determined by roof control; for example, a thin layer
of slate is better mined down instead of being supported.
The width is primarily dependent on equipment needs. Most entries are 16-20 feet wide.
Pillar sizes: These are determined by ground control and systems engineering. The ground control
aspects are discussed at length in the next handout. As far as the systems aspect go, as pillars
become longer, travel times from one crosscut to another becomes longer. It impacts the haulage
cycle times (shuttle or ram car) since when one car is in an entry, others have to wait until the entry
is cleared. For larger pillars, such idle waiting times can be long. While driving longwall panels,
there is always a conflict between driving longer pillars (reduces total amount of cutting) and
reducing idle waiting times by reducing pillar lengths.
Mining Progression: Figures 5 through 8 show the progression in mining activity during the life
of a mine. This discussion assumes a pure room and pillar mine (i.e. no longwall panels). The first
stage (Figure 5), development, involves driving the mains all the way to the end of the property.
The second stage may involve further development, especially in large deposits. In Figure 6, panels
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are being developed on the flank, while small sections are being developed off of the mains. In the
next stage (Figure 7), the sections off of the main are extracted or pillared, while panels continue
to being developed. At this point, the production levels in the mine are very high due to the
presence of pillaring sections. Mines like to have few pillaring sections as they are very productive.
Most mines remain at this stage for a long time, i.e. most mines have both pillaring sections and
development sections for a majority of their lifetime. Mining progresses this way (Figure 8) till
the deposit is completely mined.
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Caveats: Many times, however, due to financial reasons, a mine may start developing panels as
soon a possible, without waiting to drive to the end of the property. This is especially true of
longwall panels, that take about a year to develop. In Figure 9, advance of the mains is delayed,
while the longwall panel is developed. The main reason for doing this would be to start the revenue
stream quicker.
A possible problem with the above is that in the future when panels are developed farther from the
mouth of the mine, travel to these panels require that one pass by the older sealed off panels (Figure
10). While sealed off panels are generally safe, they can prove hazardous as seen in the Sago mine
accident in 2006.
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Production Cycle: There are two types of production methods in room-and-pillar mining,
continuous mining and cyclical mining. Cyclical mining consists of drilling, blasting, mucking or
loading and supporting. As these actions occur in sequence or cycles, this type of production is
called cyclical. As drilling and blasting is becoming rare in coal mines, and due to time constraints,
only continuous mining will be discussed in this course.
Continuous mining assumes non-cyclical production. This is attained by the use of a continuous
miner that cuts the coal while simultaneously loading it into a conveyor or a shuttle car, thereby,
eliminating the need for drilling, blasting and mucking cycles. However, in reality the term
continuous mining is a misnomer. Given the continuous miner, and assuming a good haulage
system, one can theoretically mine continuously. However, mining is not continuous. This is
because mining laws require ground control and ventilation measures to be undertaken after each
cut. For example, no opening can be unsupported for more than 40 feet. This means that any time
the depth of the cut reaches 40 feet, one must stop cutting and allow roof supports to be installed.
Therefore, cutting is only one aspect of a cycle of activities. The cycle usual consists of:
- cutting coal
- install roof supports, usually roof bolts
- extend ventilation using ventilation devices such as brattices or tubes
- service the face (scoop it) including rock dusting
- pump water, if necessary
- survey, to ensure advance in the proper direction
- periodically one must re-locate the power center so that the machines can advance
- also periodically, one must advance the static conveyor.
The last two need not interfere with the production cycle when a mine only has two shifts of
production per day and one shift of maintenance. These can then be accomplished during the
maintenance shift. Any backlogs in roof support is generally also accomplished in the maintenance
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shift. Surveying is not necessary after each cut though foremen measure the advance from each
cut using a tape.
Note that miner-bolters are equipment that allow bolting, while cutting coal, thereby not requiring
that mining be stopped for roof bolting. Additionally, these machines also have a built-in rock
duster. Therefore, when using miner-bolters, coal mining can be very close to continuous mining.
Equipment: The typical equipment requirements for room-and-pillar mining are (per section):
- continuous miner
- roof bolter
- haulage machinery such as shuttle cars and bridges
- utility equipment – a scoop and a LHD
- conveyors
The various types of continuous miners, roof bolters, haulage machinery such as shuttle cars and
bridges, and conveyors are described in the textbook. The capacities of the machines, however,
are a little outdated.
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Note: In the above example, we did not take into account the tram time between cuts or the time
to service the face. We are assuming that the miner and the bolter have the same tram time and
that there is an additional face that the scoop services, while the bolter is bolting the fresh cut. In
a four entry system, typically only one free face is available and, therefore, bolting and servicing
have to be completed, while the miner is cutting the face. The ventilation also determines cycle
time. A four entry longwall development section is presented next, where it becomes clear that
miner-shuttle car-bolter times are not the only factors that determine cycle time.
Figure 11 presents a 4 entry longwall development section. As in most modern mines, the section
has two miners (one for each side, left and right) and two bolters (one for each side, left and right)
in addition to four shuttle/ram cars. Note the section ventilation. In the left side, the intake air
travels from #2 entry to #1 entry before returning, while in the right side, it travels from #3 entry
to #4 entry before returning. Since miners cannot work downstream of a continuous miner (due to
high dust levels), it precludes #4 entry being bolted or serviced, while #3 entry is being mined.
Similarly, when #2 is being mined, #1 entry has to be idled (as shown in Figure 11, where the
bolter is simply parked). When the miner is in #1 entry, #2 can be bolted and serviced (except,
when #2 is being rock dusted, the miner in #1 would have to be briefly stopped). Same applies to
#3 and 4 entries.
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Therefore, as far as equipment utilization goes, only the miner is being utilized on one side when
the inside entries (#2 or 3) are being mined. The bolter is effectively idled since space limitations
require it to be parked in the outside entries (#1 or #4 entry), which gets dusted out. The scoop can
hopefully be kept active doing other work. Lets look at a longer cycle to see how the actual run
might be.
Considering only the right side (the analysis applies to right side since it’s a mirror image), when
the miner is done cutting #3, it moves to #4. While it is cutting #4, #3 gets bolted and serviced. If
everything works perfectly, #3 will be ready when the miner gets done with #4. But so what? Can
the miner go to #3? No, because #4 now needs to be bolted and serviced, which means, you cannot
dust out #4. Therefore, the miner will have to wait, so that #4 can be bolter and serviced. Hopefully,
during this idle time, some maintenance is done on the miner (oil and bits changed, general
cleaning done besides other routine maintenance).
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In any case, these issues are not taken into account in computations done previously. Therefore,
one must take into account the entire cycle when estimating section productivity. In my
experience, I have seen management very often over-estimate section advance rates since idle
times such as from moving the return up, or those due to belt and power moves, or inbuilt cycle
delay time (like the one presented earlier) are not incorporated into time studies.
Application
- Large, flat or nearly flat deposits (less than 30 degree dip)
• has been used for small bodies too
• in very thick deposits, pillar degradation is possible, requiring larger pillars or pillar
reinforcement
• problems with very thin seams too.
- competent roof and floor
• however, this could be applied to various kinds of orebodies (host rock strength
between 344.7 – 27.5 Mpa and at depths from 15-915 m). Essentially, that range
covers any rock that will withstand development w/o massive supports
- examples of room-and-pillar mines are in lead (Buick mine, Missouri), zinc, salt, trona
(Wyoming), sandstone mining, limestone
Three variants
- horizontal stoping of a flat deposit
- stoping of an inclined deposit (between 20-30 degrees)
- horizontal stoping or step mining of an inclined deposit.
Development
- minimum development in flat deposits
- roadways for access and transport of ore
- development and mining can be combined
Production
♦ thick deposits
- mined in slices.
- production starts at the top and roof is bolted. Sometimes, however, some ore may be
left at the top due to
• the ore may not have been known to be there. In such a case, “overhand stoping”
(see below) can be used to mine the upper slice.
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- Presplit holes are a good idea if the pillar heights are expected to be greater than the
width.
Pillar recovery: Rare, because
- pillars are small. Therefore, removing them is hazardous
- irregular pillars and therefore, systematic removal not possible
- first mining aims at maximum recovery eliminating the need for second mining.
Extraction rates up to 85% are possible.
Ore handling
- diesel front end loaders and LHD’s generally. For inclined w/o steps: slushers and track
mounted haulage
- when large spaces available conventional dump trucks (up to 100 ton capacity) can be
used
- belts used on soft ore bodies
- all equipment should be mobile due to the large horizontal extent of the ore body
- jumbo drills, air leg mounted drills
Advantages
- very flexible (adaptable to changes)
• can be selective
• flexible around varying thickness
- can be mechanized
• high productivity 27-70 tons/shift
- can be applied to several level simultaneously w/o affecting other levels structurally
- multiple faces possible
- sometimes mineral production occurs in development also
- mobility of equipment is a big advantage (maintenance is easy)
- easy to install good ventilation
Disadvantages:
- roof needs to be supported over a longer time
• especially problematic in bad strata
• for high backs, expensive equipment may be required to inspect and maintain
- capital intensive due to mechanization
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Application
Development
- elaborate development for loading the mined ore
• develop a haulage drift parallel to the bottom of the stope
• drive cross-cuts from the haulage drift into the bottom of the stope
• undercut the stope, about 10 m above the crosscut level
• finger raises and cones to be developed from the undercut to the crosscuts
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• This can be further simplified as in sublevel stoping. Instead of finger raises and
cones, one could alter the undercut to allow loading from the crosscuts
• Widely spaced drawpoints imply more ore left behind in the stope. This will be fine
if the sill is mined later.
- develop a raise, for access and ventilation, from the haulage drift to the main level at the
top of the stope
- stope height usually no more than 75 – 100 m
Production
- overhead drilling and blasting
- due to uneven floor, mechanization not possible
• air-leg drills and stopers
Ore Handling
- direct loading from chutes above into cars or use draw point system with LHDs
Comments
- capital is held up in the stope for a long period
- labor intensive as mechanization impossible and, therefore, low production
- dangerous working environment
- however, viable for a small mine where investments are low
- lode type deposit, with mineralization in narrow quartz veins (about 30cms wide). The
host rock is diorite (UCS: 175Mpa, Poissons ratio: 0.15, RQD: 80). The sp.gr. of ore is
2.8
- cut-off 9.8 g/t of gold
- Shrinkage stopes are 1.6m wide
Mine
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- Levels at 60m center and equipped with rail haulage. Mine advances from top to bottom.
Stope
- An ore drift (or sill) is driven into the ore prior to development of the haulage drift (see
figure). This drift serves to explore the profile of the vein. It also forms the bottom level
of the stope. Establishment of the vein profile helps in not only reducing dilution, but
in stope planning as well (location of drawpoint, haulage drifts etc)
o The width of this drift is critical, especially in the first 4 lifts. Dilution is caused by
too wide a drift. A typical drift (and hence stope) is 1.5-1.6m wide.
o The sill is no more than 30m ahead of the haulage drift.
o Slushers are used to bring the ore to the neared drawpoint from where they are loaded
by rubber mounted mucking machines into trains.
- Drawpoints are 10m long, 2.7mX2.9m in cross-section, and 10m apart. The roof at the
intersection of the drawpoint and haulage drift is made higher to accommodate loading
into trains.
- Remote controlled muckers recover ore between drawpoints. The drawpoints include a
small bay for the remote mucker operator. Also, slasher holes are drilled (to be blasted
if needed) if remote mucking is necessary. The extra space allows for easy movement
of muckers.
- Haulage drifts are in waste rock and 10m away from the stopes
- Ave width of stopes is 1.6m. Each cut is 2.4m high.
- 10 stopes required to produced 400 tons per day, of which, 6 are mining stopes, 2 are
development stopes and 2 are in the final phase.
- On a given lift (2.4m high), drilling is horizontal (breasting).
o Easy to track the vein
o Unexploded holes are better taken care of
o Better controlled blasts
o Miners are not exposed to the ground they are actually drilling
- Blasts are about 25 ton
Stope Issues
- A slusher is used to ensure a level working surface. In some cases, wooden platforms are
built for the same purpose.
- The tonnage of ore drawn from each draw point is carefully controlled to ensure a level
working floor
- Safety protocols are followed when drawing ore from the stope
- Hangups are common in the narrow stopes even when the ore is finely broken. Mucking
is stopped if the surface level of the broken ore has not moved even though about 50
tons of ore has been removed. The hangup is removed by a high pressure water spray.
The water hose is brought to the desired location on a remote controlled carrier that
rides on a wooden rail installed in the back of the stope.
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- Ore recovery from the stope is about 95%. The empty stope is not backfilled.
Ore Inventory
- 35% of the ore (swell) removed after a blast
- Blasting stops when the blasted ore muck surface is within 5m of the top level
- Ore can remain in the stope for almost 8 months. The quantity in the stope can be as much
as 10,000 tons. At 15g/ton grade, the value of the trapped ore can be as much as $2.75
million @$550 /oz
Ground Control
- Problems caused by:
o Diorite, as it is brittle under pressure
o Intersection of major joints forms destabilizing blocks
o Significant changes in dip and strike as that results in changes in stope profile as the
stope chases the ore.
- Hanging walls, footwalls and backs are bolted in a 1.2mX1.2m pattern using 1.2m long
bolts
Service Raise
- Raises are excavated for supplying the stopes from the upper level with services such as
compressed air, water, ventilation and access)
- It is driven in ore and connects the drawpoint of an upper level stope.
0 0
- The raise is 2.1mx1.8m and dips at 60 -65
- It consists of a ladder way for men. Ladder segments are 7m in length and offset from
each other for safety.
- A wooden slide is also installed to allow miners to operate a winch and bucket for
transporting supplies such as drill rods, bolts, explosives etc
Manway
- A stope requires at least two access ways (for ventilation and safety). The service raise
(in the middle of the stope) constitutes one access way (access from the top). The other
is the manway (access from the bottom) that is typically located at one end of the stope.
- The manway is connected to the drawpoint at the end of the stope by a side opening.
- It has wood on one side and follows the rock profile on three sides. Sometimes, wood
becomes necessary on all sides.
- It is raised one lift at a time along with the mining cycle.
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- Primary drilling equipment consists of handheld drills. Rubber tired mucking machines
load ore into rail cars
- 5.5 ton battery powered locomotives haul seven 5-tonne ore cars to ore passes
- Ore is crushed and then taken to the surface on 6t skips. A new shaft is being excavated
to access deeper levels.
Economics
- Capital expenditure (long term development, construction, exploration drilling, and
equipment) has been about US$1.7 million per year.
- Operating cost at the mine is about US$160 per ounce. Gold price in 2006: $550-650/oz
Comments
- Labor intensive. Workers tend to suffer from back problems
- Equipment used in this type of mining has not changed in the past 40 years
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Application
- steep orebodies
• dip should be more than the angle of repose
- strong surrounding walls
- competent orebody
- regular shape of orebody
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Production
- dependent on drilling, usually DHD, electric hydraulic or rotary percussive (and
sometimes percussion long hole drills)
- drilling diameter from 50mm to 200 mm (2-8 inches), lengths up to 90 m
- best pattern is parallel vertical
Example
(Mine C).
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- The haulage drifts are located outside the ore at 46 m vertical intervals
- 60 ft wide and 45 ft long stopes are transversely opened across the ore body. The pillar
width between stopes can vary from 60 to 70 ft.
- A 12 ftx12ft undercut is driven at the bottom of the stope (along the centerline). Holes
are drilled upwards (in a fan) to create a funnel for the stope. Loading crosscuts are
connected to this undercut by means of drawpoints.
- Four drifts, parallel to each other and to the undercut, are driven in the top level. These
drifts are used for production drilling in the stope.
- To start production, a slot raise in driven in the footwall of the stope. It is widened to the
full width of the stope.
- Fan holes from the bottom undercut and the downholes from the top of the stope are
drilled in the same vertical plane.
Ore handling
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- 6.1 m3 LHD’s used (with smaller buckets (4.9 m3), however, as the ore is very heavy).
LHD productivity is 200-250 st per machine per shift, with a 305 m haul (1000 ft).
- Hoisting is by means of a 19-st skip, operating in a 732 m shaft (2400 ft). A separates
shaft for waste rock (about 45000 tons/annum)
- Ore is sent to the underground crusher (gyratory) in the bottom level. After crushing, it is
sent on a conveyor belt to storage bins (underground), from where it is loaded onto the
skip.
Orebody
- Copper (1%), zinc (1.8%), sulfur (38%) ore. 3400 st/d with 270 employees.
- Surface to 1400 m depth, inclined at 700. Initially opened as a surface mine in 1962.
- Length: 650 m, width: 100m. Specific gravity of the ore is in the range 4.0-4.5
- High horizontal stresses (70 Mpa or 10144 psi)). The ore is competent (92-202 Mpa).
Host rock is around 180 Mpa (26000 psi) with RQD of 90. Upper levels consist of weak
rocks (60 Mpa).
o Almost all drifts require shotcreting and grout bolts. Cable bolts (5-10m long) are
used in ore drifts.
Access
- Surface to 470m via main shaft. 470m to 702m via second shaft. A 1:7 decline also
connects the 1400m level to the surface.
Mining Method
- Bench stoping (above 1050m level) and sublevel stoping.
- Sublevel stopes are developed along the strike (longitudinal stopes) when the thickness
is less than 20m. Else, the stopes are transverse. In the deeper parts, the stopes are
parallel to the principal stress direction.
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- Sublevel stopes are 50 m high. The pillars between the stopes are bench stoped in 25m
high stopes. The sublevel stopes are backfilled to mine the pillars. The sublevel stopes
are narrow to reduce backfill costs. A primary stope is typically 40,000 tons.
- A 4.5mX4.5m drift is drilled in the top level. Two parallel drifts are driven in the sublevel
and in the loading level. The top level drift is sometimes widened to 11-12m so that an
oval stope profile is created. This increases stability and mining recovery.
- The holes in the sublevel stope are 25m downholes. They are 76 mm (3 inch) in diameter.
Production rings are 3m apart, with toe spacing of less than 2.5m. Powder factor is
150g/tonne (0.30 lb/st). Two Tamrock drill are used for production drilling. One would
suffice, but due to high horizontal stresses, the holes get blocked easily and have to be
re-drilled.
- Primary stopes are backfilled with consolidated material (classified mill tailings, furnace
slag and lime) that is piped through diamond drill holes. The secondary stopes are
backfilled with waste rocks (from development activities) by means of LHD’s.
- Four LHD’s are used for production (0.9 mtpy). 3 of these are remote controlled while
one is video controlled (used during poor visibility). 15% of ore is loaded by remote
controlled loader. By leaving an ore triangle, use of remote loaders were reduced. The
ore triangle directs the ore from the upper levels to a limited area within the loading
level. This triangle is mined later.
- The biggest mining cost is hauling since the ore is carried from mining areas to the crusher
in 660m. The average haulage distance is 3.5 km.
Ore Transport
- In three stages. Trucks carry the ore to the underground crusher. It is hoisted to the surface
in two stages in skips. A new shaft has been constructed to connect the 1400m level to
the surface.
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Crater Blast: This theory propounds that when a spherical charge is placed at an optimum depth
below ground, it will break the maximum volume in the shape of an inverted crater.
The optimum depth, N is obtained from the relationship:
1/3
N = EW
where E = strain energy factor (a constant) and W is the weight of the explosive. In practice,
experiments are conducted where the rock type and explosive weight are kept constant.
A spherical charge is a column of explosives whose length is less than 6 times the hole diameter.
Result of an experiment: A 4.5 kg of explosive charge was blasted in the same rock, once as a
charge with length-to-diameter ratio of 15:1 (cylindrical charge) and again with a length-to-
diameter ratio of 2.7:1 (spherical charge). While the crater radii were close in both cases, the crater
3 3
volume was significantly different, being 1.1 m for the former and 4.4 m for the latter.
Use of spherical charges restricts the maximum amount of explosive that can be loaded into a hole
per column segment. In one mine, it came to about 34 kg/hole/segment.
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Development
- diamond drilling to obtain ore boundaries
- the top level and the bottom level are cut
• the distance between the top level and the bottom level depends on ore consistency,
drilling accuracy, accessibility and rock strength.
No more than 34 kg of explosives in each of these segment stemming
- bottom of production holes loaded in sections and blasted to obtain a lift of pre-
determined height
• each hole measured before loading
• it is determined if there is a sufficient volume of stope available for expansion of
blasted muck (the part of the stope that has the sufficient volume is blasted first.
This part is called the slot, and is equal to one-third of the stope volume)
• holes are blocked before explosives can be loaded
• drilling factor about 11.5 tons per meter in some mines, and the powder factor is about
0.5 kg/ton
• explosives must be restricted to a maximum amount per delay
- broken ore can be left in the stope for support of the hanging wall (as in shrinkage stoping)
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- mucking by electric or diesel LHD’s. Ore is usually dumped into a ore pass.
- ground control of crown pillar when the upper lift is close to the main level
Comments
- cheap, due to reduced development, ground control, man power requirements and high
mining rate
Case Studies
Falconbridge Nickel Mines
- used for rib pillar recovery (before VCR was employed, cut and fill, and sub-level stoping
were employed for pillar recovery)
- each pillar is 107-122 m long, 61 m high and 6.7 m wide.
- main stopes were 15 m wide and mined by cut-and-fill, the fill being 1:32 cement-fill
ratio mixture
- hole diameter is 165 mm (6.5 in.)
- delays are used in blasting
- tin orebody, 40 m below surface, holes drilled from the surface 80-90 m long
Birchtree Mine, Canada
- 38 m long and 33.5 m high stope of width varying between 3 and 9m. 152 mm (6 in.)
diameter holes, and 3 m lifts per round.
- Satisfactory fragmentation (some large pieces due to over break from hanging wall)
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MODULE FOUR
SUPPORTED MINING METHODS
Application
- steeply dipping orebody
- reasonably firm and competent orebody
• use of hydraulic fill makes it possible to apply this method to a vast variety of ore/rock
type
- no restrictions on ore boundaries
Development
- haulage drift along the orebody at the bottom of the stope
- stope should be undercut
- manways and raises to the undercut
- ventilation, transport and service raises for the stope
- ramps for access to the stope
Production
- Two major drilling options: overhand drilling and horizontal drilling
- Overhand drilling
• Vertical or inclined holes drilled upwards
• Large amount of drilling possible as face is available. Therefore, blasting rounds can
be large
• High headroom after blasting. Back may be ragged and difficult to control after
blasting
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- horizontal drilling
• simple breasting
• after filling, only a narrow gap between fill and previous back
• drifting jumbos can be used for drilling
• drilling/blasting round smaller than overhand drilling method as face area is limited.
However, due to the mobility of modern drilling and blasting equipment, this does
not affect efficiency
• more even face as holes are horizontal
• headroom is optimum rather than large (as in overhand drilling method)
• horizontal drilling offers selectivity so that poor grade ore can be left behind
untouched
Ore Handling
- ore is brought to the ore pass
- LHD’s or other rubber tire mounted equipment are used as the floor is smooth
Comments
- wide range of applications due to selectivity, recovery and applicability in weak rock
- filling interrupts production, even though this is significantly reduced with hydraulic fills
Development
- stope divided into two equal divisions wherever possible, and sometimes even a third
section (for a very large stope)
- access to the stope is by means of footwall raises (inclined at the same dip as the orebody)
- main service raises (3x2.4 m) are at the center of the stope
• the service raise contains air, water, fill and fuel lines as well as telephone, welding
and firing cables
- vent raises are located at the end of the stope
- raise wall is supported by rock bolting or meshes
Stope Preparation
- initial lifts started at the sill, 12 m above haulage level
- horizontal stripping is initially done to obtain full width (11 m)
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- fill at the bottom slices contains 10% portland cement to form a firm base and to enable
future floor pillar recovery with minimal dilution
- slice height is about 3.7 m
Drilling
- uphole drilling used in some stopes
• twin boom longhole percussion drills with hole dia. 48-51 mm and hole length of 4.5
m to give a slice of 3.7 m
- horizontal holes (flat backing) used in stopes where strata does not permit vertical holes,
and control of hanging wall is essential
• hand held drills used from above blasted material
• drill hole length is 3 m. Four rows are used to obtain a vertical lift of 3 m
Blasting
- occurs from return air raises to the center of the stope
- for up holes, ANFO with electric detonators. 50 holes (6 rings) are blasted before mucking
becomes essential
- powder factor: 0.2 kg/ton
Ore Handling
3
- 3.8 m LHD’s dump into ore passes that are 90-120 m apart
3
- pneumatic chutes control ore flow into 7m cars. The cars are pulled by 20t locomotives
- the ore is crushed (primary and secondary) and hoisted to the surface
Filling
- filling follows mucking
- all ore passes are closed off with 1-1.5m concrete brick bulkhead
- filled until a 3 m headroom is left
- water must be drained from the as soon as possible so production can start and fill pipes
extended
- drain towers are placed above drain raises to filter the water that is drained
Fill material
- deslimed mill tailings, 69% solids by weight
- interlevel flow is though 100 and 150 mm pipes (4in. and 6in.)
- when more support is required (such as in the sill), 105 portland cement is used
Ground Support
- rock bolting of back using 16mm tension bolts of lengths 1.5 - 2.3 m
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- hanging wall rock bolts are 2.3-3m long (metal straps and wire mesh used when
necessary)
- crown pillar will be cable bolted by 18 m long cables
Ventilation
- return raises located at ends of stope, while the service shaft is the intake
3
- airflow is 12-14 m /sec for each stope
- circuit fans exhaust air from return raises whenever necessary
Man power
- labor intensive (three mining crews)
- production: 33 st/miner shift and 41 st/miner shift in uphole and flat back methods
- mucking: 364 st/miner shift
The process of breaking and extracting the ore from the vein was known as 'stoping'. It could be
conducted in two ways. The ore could be cut from the floor of the gallery, thus proceeding in a
downward direction, with the 'deads' or handsorted rubbish being thrown up on to 'stemples', which
were wooden or stone arched platforms erected across the workings above the miners' heads.
Alternatively, the ore could be cut from above the roof of the gallery, thus driving in an
upward direction, with the rubbish falling on the floor for sorting and packing into exhausted
spaces or on platforms below the miners' feet. The former downward method was known as
'underhand stoping' and the latter upward method as ‘overhand stoping’. With both methods the
miners behaved rather like moles, cutting the lodes from above or below them and filling in behind
with the handsorted waste material which it was not worth hauling to the surface for dressing.
On occasions, when the lodes were wide and the ground unstable, this packing was also used to
support the walls and roof of the workings. Where the waste produced by stoping or dead work
was insufficient to provide such packing, it was not unusual for mines to quarry rock at the surface
and take it underground to supplement the normal supply. This was done at the great Van lead
mine in Montgomeryshire during the 1870s, for example, where several men were kept
constantly employed at the quarry adjoining the mine in obtaining slate which was trammed and
tipped down two specially designated rubbish shafts for distribution underground.
Underhand stoping was probably the oldest method and was the usual practice in most mining
areas until the late eighteenth century.
Overhand stoping, offered the advantage of requiring less labour for the disposal of deads; less
timber for the storage of deads, i.e., it required only one long stope instead of several successive
stages; and greater safety for the miners, particularly where the walls of the vein were unstable and
stemples could not be securely fixed.
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The underhand system appears to have survived only where the lodes were weak and friable and
where there were rich silver ores, since it made it easier for the miners to pick over the cut ore and
extract the rich pieces of galena or silver. The early predominance of the underhand system
probably resulted from the practice in small, under-capitalised mines of simply pursuing ore lodes
downwards f rom the surface. It was only with the expansion in the scale of mining in the late
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and larger initial investment in sinking shafts and opening
gallery systems as a preliminary to full-scale working, that ore lodes could begin to be approached
from below.
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The module will discuss each of the backfill types in turn, commencing with hydraulic fills.
The concept of mine tailings disposal will be expanded to include waste rock in order to
cover the important rock backfill systems, which are used in the biggest underground
mines. The module will then cover pastefill, which has been newly reintroduced into
mining.
The following terms will be used throughout:
1. Hydraulic backfill Deslimed mill tailings slurries, with densities raised to over 70%Cw
(solids by weight). The coarser fractions are placed underground as hydraulic backfill and
the slimes rejected to the surface dam.
2. Paste backfill Total mill tailings filtered or thickened to around 80%Cw to which cement
and water is then added to achieve the required rheological and strength characteristics.
Any rejects to the dam are at the full tailings sizing range.
3. Rock backfill Waste rock from surface or underground and crushed to a typical top size of
around 40mm. This can be placed as is or with cemented hydraulic backfill slurry or cement
water slurry.
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underground at Mount Isa through the life of the mining operation. Bloss (19967) records
that 64 million tonnes of backfill has been placed into the 1100 Orebody since 1973, over
half of which has been deslimed tailings.
Coal mining in Australia has not traditionally used backfill, relying instead on caving of the
overlying sediments with surface subsidence occurring in shallower operations. By
contrast, Polish coal operations have widely used hydraulic backfill to both minimise
surface subsidence and to enable thick seam extraction methods (Palarski, 19938). An
Australian desktop study (ACARP, 19979) has identified the use of washery tailings to
improve the extraction potential of punch mining in highwall coal operations.
More recently, Wambo Mining Corporation placed cemented backfill into a series of
headings in the path of the Longwall No. 9 at Homestead Colliery near Singleton. The
sand, flyash and cement mix was designed to 4MPa strength. This permitted the
uninterrupted mining through the heading area without the need for several weeks of
shutdown. No ground stability problems were encountered and Wambo concluded that
the cost of the backfill project was revenue positive. This technique has a wide range of
applications to underground coal mining problems.
Lane10 will be discussing details of disposal of tailings into open pits later in this summit.
Other uses of backfill in open pits include the early extraction of ore in the crown between
the pit and the underground workings and replacing it with a stiff and impermeable
backfill pillar.
MODULE FIVE
CAVING METHODS
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In longwall mining, a panel of coal, typically around 150 to 300 metres wide, 1000 to 3500 metres
long and 2 to 5 metres thick, is totally removed by longwall shearing machinery, which travels
back and forth across the coalface. A typical section through a coal face is shown in Fig. 1.2 and
a photograph of typical longwall face equipment is shown in Fig. 1.3. The shearer cuts a slice of
coal from the coalface on each pass and a face conveyor, running along the full length of the
coalface, carries this away to discharge onto a belt conveyor, which carries the coal out of the
mine.
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The area immediately in front of the coalface is supported by a series of hydraulic roof supports,
which temporarily hold up the roof strata and provide a working space for the shearing machinery
and face conveyor. After each slice of coal is removed, the hydraulic roof supports, the face
conveyor and the shearing machinery are moved forward. Fig. 1.3 shows the arrangement of
machinery on a typical longwall face, with the hydraulic roof supports on the left hand side and
the coal face on the right hand side of the picture. The drum in the background is the rotating
cutting head of the coal shearer and the chain conveyor can be seen in the foreground.
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Terminology:
- Panel width (262m average in 1999, typical range: 200-360m center to center)
- Panel length (2470m average in 1999, typical range: 900 – 5280 m)
- Head entry (usually 3 entry system) (total width ~ 30-110 m)
- Tail entry (usually 3 entry system)
- Recovery room
- Setup room
- Barrier pillar
- By the set up rooms, to protect the bleeder entries, solid block, 60-150m, (can be the
bleeder system too)
- By the recovery rooms, to protect the mains (90-150m, solid block)
Bleeders
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Applicability:
Depth 60-820m. Works best at greater depths as the roof will collapse easily.
Seam thickness 1.1 – 4.0 m (multiple lifts possible for greater thickness)
Deposit should be large to justify high costs
0
Seam dip preferably less than 15
Roof must cave. Massive sandstone or limestone can cause problems.
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Panel Width:
Effect of increasing the width
- reduced number of panels
- reduced development costs
- increase in recovery rate
- increase in production. However, after a certain maximum width (~300m), gains
negligible. Operational difficulties such as difficulty in maintaining a straight face line
and hence, support line and conveyor line is common. If the face is not straight, roof
falls can occur ahead of the shearer.
This is because roof falls/caving typically occur in a straight line. If one side of the face is ahead
of the other (or as happens most of the time, ahead of the middle), the caving process starts, hurting
the face conditions where it lags behind.
- reduced number of face moves. However, each move is longer due to increased equipment
to be moved.
Longwall face moves are very intricate and time consuming. Each face contains
tens of heavy supports, armored face conveyor (AFC), shearer, stage loader,
power center and the regular conveyors. All these have to be disassembled and
moved to the new face. It is challenging not only due to the logistics and
scheduling problems, but also due to the fact that handling large and heavy
equipment is not easy to handle and move in confined spaces.
- higher capital investment
- higher power and structural requirements at the face
- for unstable roofs and unidirectional cutting, longer exposure times for roof between the
toeline of supports and the face
Number of Panel entries:
- minimum of three entries should be planned for the head gate and tail gate, even though,
a lot of mines operate with two entries only (per gate). When the three entries are being
developed for each gate, it allows for easy movement of man, material and air (one
entry for man movement and intake air, one entry – neutral - for material, and one for
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return air). Once the gates are developed, man, material and intake air use the main gate
or head gate, while the return is via the tail entry.
Shearer dimension:
- 36-42 in web
- drum: 75-80% of face height
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- 13-82 fpm
Production:
- Coal cut by the shearer gets loaded onto the AFC, which takes it to the crusher. The
crusher outputs the coal into a stage loader which dumps it into the main conveyor.
- nomograph gives cycle production
- unidirectional or bi-directional cutting
In unidirectional cutting, the shear cuts when it travels from the tail gate to the head
gate. In a double ended shearer, the leading drum cuts the coal while the trailing
drum is either free or cuts the floor. On the way back to the tail entry, only cleaning
of loose coal is done.
In bi-directional cutting, the coal is cut in both directions.
- Manpower (about 10-13: 1 supervisor, 6-10 miners, 2 mechanics, 1 electrician)
Equipment details (from a mining machinery company) as in Year 2000 (240-300m wide face):
- Shearer, 1400 hp, $2.1 M
- AFC, 2400 hp (1200 head gate, 1200 tail gate), $2.9-3.0 M
- Shields, $100-130K each, 146 for 240 m face, totaling $17-20 M
- Crusher, 350-400 hp, $190K
- Stageloader, 350-400 hp, $500K
- Face voltage is typically 2300/4160
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Lighting -- about $100,000; Monorail unit --- $???; The "mule train" components (emulsion car,
water pressure pump, electrical transformer and electrical control units) -- about $500,000 to
$1million.
Total power consumption for the face
The power center for the face is usually sized for 5000 KVA. The shearer will cut at a steady
3000tph, so you can get some idea of the power draw (pretty close to the 1200 hp capacity). The
AFC will also draw (I believe) about 2000 hp on a steady basis when the pan is full. For a longwall
mine with three continuous miner units for development, I would use a 20,000 KVA main
transformer at the mine. Quote for the entire face is about $33 million. This includes the spare
equipment, but not the section belt, the electrical controls or any of the retrieval equipment to move
the face. Ordinarily, a spare of everything except for the mule train, the hydraulic pumps
and shields is purchased. Then, when the face is moved, only these items need to be moved.
The rest of the items are sent out for rebuild after they are taken off the face, and the rebuilt items
are then placed in the subsequent face. Thus, there is an AFC, stageloader, shearer etc. for panels
1,3,5,7, etc. and a second set for panels 2,4,6,8, etc. This keeps move time down to 4-5 days versus
the 20-30 days if everything must be disassembled, rebuilt and reassembled. (And, the difference
in capital cost is only the time-value of money for the items involved.)
Here is a summary of the Joy equipment:
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Application
- weak walls and strong ore preferred though weak ore can be mined too
- steep dip
• a vertical dip is best, while dip>60 is fine too. Loss of ore minor in non-vertical steep
dips
• considerable loss of reserves in flat dips
- preferably, the ore and the rock should be easily separable
- surface should be amenable to caving (not an inhabited or the watershed area etc)
Development
- significant. Almost 20% of the ore is mine during development
- sublevels are established at 7.6-12.2 m vertical intervals (25-40 ft) and about 10.7 m
horizontal intervals
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• the vertical interval is dependent on the drilling accuracy and the dip of the orebody
• the horizontal and vertical spacings affect the eccentricity of the cave
- the size and shape of the production drift affects the draw
• drift should be as wide as possible
• should give good support to the back and the brows
• if the back is arched, the draw is mostly at the center and none on the sides
• if the back has to be arched for ground support, the drifts should be closer
• ore remnants left behind (due to being out of reach of LHD’s) increase with height.
Therefore, drift height should be as small as possible (usually about 3-3.2 m).
- slot raises are driven at the hanging wall end of the production drift all the way up to the
next level
- haulage levels driven in waste
• in wide orebodies, transverse layouts may be used (ore widths should be > 12-15 m)
• here, the production drifts are perpendicular to the strike
• recovery better than longitudinal layouts
• haulage drift in waste (footwall), about 9 m from ore contact. This distance is
maintained so that blasting does not occur too close to it. Diamond drilling is done
to obtain ore boundaries so that the haulage drift is neither too close nor too far
away.
o o
- ramps may be driven at 15 -18 , to production levels to provide access
Production
- long, fan holes drilled 70-80 degrees forward (about 8 holes totaling 100 m in a ring)
o
- side holes, if drilled, should be steeper than 70
• side holes reduce length of holes driven up from the level below
• if flat holes drilled to the sides, however, the blasted material from the side holes
cannot be extracted from the working level. Therefore, the neighboring fan hole
blasted material does not get enough room to expand
- brows should be supported if necessary
• if brows collapse, ore floods the drift and covers some rings
• also, the loader has problems loading as the ore does not stack high
• if brows are uneven, the ore funnels down the high spots
• if sloughing or high brows are noticed from development, it may be decided to blast
more than 2 rings just to advance through the area
- if drilling is not accurate, a bridge/arch may be left in the stope
• re-slotting may become necessary
- powder factor high as blasting is always against blasted muck (almost twice that of
blasting against an open face)
- LHD’s used for mucking
- Good ventilation necessary as all working faces are dead ends
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- Productivity of 36 ton/miner-shift
Comments
- High dilution from caved waste. Ore losses occur as well since not all mined ore can be
recovered.
- Ore/waste flow cannot be predicted accurately prior to mining.
- Probably the most economical when mining in weak strata
- Development openings are not kept open for the entire life of mine. Once a level is
extracted, the development openings are consumed.
- Safe since all mining activities are in small, protected openings. Besides, a variety of
equipment do not interact with each other unlike other methods. For example, the
drilling equipment (on development/drilling levels) do not interact with mucking
equipment (lower levels).
- High degree of mechanization possible.
- Method is flexible. For example, production and equipment can be varied due to mobile
equipment.
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- large massive orebodies (veins should have steep dip) of regular shape with sides dipping
steeply
- should have proper fracture pattern
• For good fracturing, there must be at least 2 vertical joints, perpendicular to each
other, and one horizontal joint. At least 50% of the ore should break in sizes less
than 1.5 m, as most finger raises are of that diameter.
• An idea on potential rock fragmentation is also obtained by various methods such as
RQD or MRMR or Laubscher Caving Stability Graph. MRMR or mining RMR is
similar to RMR but includes mining induced and blasting induced stresses in its
rating. The Laubscher graph plots the MRMR against the hydraulic radius to
identify stable and caving regions. Hydraulic radius is ratio of the surface area of
the unsupported area and its perimeter.
- To relate to active mines, Palabora mine (copper) in South Africa has MRMR
between 57-70, which is on the higher side for block caving (typically block
caving is not advised for MRMR over 50). The Henderson molybdenum mine
outside of Denver, CO, has an average RQD of 49, while RMR ranges from 27
to 60 respectively.
• Note that regional stress fields also have a say in the fragmentation pattern as well as
the stability of the blocks.
- should be able to withstand undercutting
- no restrictions on grade, though usually used on low grades
Required Cap Characteristics: Cap is the waste rock above the ore
- the cap should be caveable
• to prevent sudden massive failure
• to transfer overburden weight to ore so ore is crushed. If the overburden weight is not
transferred to ore, then ore pieces are large
• to prevent weighting on excavations near production area
- the cap should not break into fine pieces as that dilutes the ore. Ideally, it should break
into small pieces and be resistant to attrition
- the surface/overburden should be amenable to subsidence (low/no rainfall preferred, no
inhabitation, not under a river, not under a large water table)
Development
- extensive. requires
• undercutting
first, several parallel drifts driven at undercut level
long holes drilled and blasted from these drifts. Drawn from draw points
• in some cases, cones, grizzly level, and finger raises
• production level and/or haulage level
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• for trackless mining, some of the development is reduced (see Fig. 2.14 in the
textbook)
- block sizes depend on ore characteristics
• when ore is weak or highly fractured, small blocks are preferred as a large block may
not be able to take the undercutting
• when ore is of medium strength, panel caving is best
• for strong ore, mass caving is used as a large undercut is necessary to get caving
started
- the height of the block should be as high as possible as i) development per unit height
gets reduced and ii) ratio of capping to ore reduced
• the height also depends on ore geometry and strength
- the following should be considered in deciding the draw point spacing:
• ore breakage sizes. The area affected by a draw point or its zone of disturbance is
small when ore pieces are small. Therefore, draw points should be close when small
ore pieces are anticipated. The opposite is true for large pieces
• the zone of disturbance for adjacent draw points should overlap so that no ore is left
behind
• to ensure quick loading of trains, the spacing should be adjusted so that multiple cars
can be loaded at the same time
Production
- a balance should be maintained between draw and caving
• this is to ensure that uniform contact is maintained between broken ore and ore/cap
above
• it also reduces dilution
- if a stable arch forms, making caving difficult, widen to re-start caving
• in rectangular openings, widening the length may not help if the arch formed over the
breadth
- draw rapidly following an undercut to ensure no pillar is left as support
- control draw to control dilution
Caving
- initial caving area about the same as undercut area in weak rock. For strong rocks, it is
smaller than the undercut area
- eventually, the caving area extends beyond the undercut area, following a 45 degree line from
the undercut area
- most secondary blasting is done during the first 30% of caving
- sometimes the boundary is weakened to limit spreading of caving
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Equipment
- designed for high production
• multi-boom drill jumbos
• high tonnage mucking
• large scapers with low scraping distance, or
• LHD’s
- good haulage system
• long trains with big cars can be used for haulage
• in-pit crushing and conveying if long hauls
Advantages
- cheap, as little drilling and blasting
- drilling and blasting may be higher if the fragmentation is bad. In Palabora, 70% of
the ore may require secondary breakage in the first year. Depending on layout,
mines can also use rock-breaker type equipment for breaking large fragments rather
than blasting. In Palabora, a special remote controlled high reach (21m) drill rig is
used to d&b high hang-ups.
- centralized production leads to easy supervision and safe working area
- easy ventilation
- If diesel LHD’s are used, ventilation requirements get stringent
- high production rates
- Some mines cites 317 tons/hr from their LHD’s
- good for low grades undercut caving limits
Disadvantages
- narrow range of applicability
- high initial (development) cost
- difficult to maintain drifts in production area
- sudden increase in demand difficult to accommodate
- stoppage of drawing may close ore block due to weighting. Stoppage typically happens
when product prices go down (example: Henderson mine and price of molybdenum)
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