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.CHAPTER
1Underground
Mim'ng Methods
and
ApplicatiomHans
Hondo*

1.1 INTHDDUCTIDNOre is an economic concept. It is defined as a


concentration ofminerals that can be exploited and turned into a saleable
productto generate a financially acceptable profit under existingeconomic
conditions. The definition of ore calls for afterthoughts.Ore does not properly
exist until it has been labeled as such. Toname a mineral prospect an ore body
requires more informationthan needed to establish metal grades. Sufficient
knowledge ofthe mineral deposit, mining technology, processing methods,
andcosts is needed for undertaking a feasibility study and proving theprospect
worthy of being developed into a mine.The expression "existing economic
conditions" deserves anexplanation. "Run-of-mine" ore is a mix of valuable
minerals andworthless rock in which each ingredient is priced separately. Run-ofmine ore is treated in the dressing plant and processed intodifferent concentrates.
Where the ore contains more than onemetal of value, separate concentrates of, for
example, copper,zinc, and lead are produced. The value of in situ ore can be
calcu-lated by applying market prices to metal content and deductingcosts for
treatment and transportation of concentrates andsmelter fees. The balance must
cover direct mining costs andleave a margin for the mine operator.Metal prices
are set on international metal marketexchanges in London and New York and
fluctuate from day today, depending on the supply-and-demand situation. An
over-supply builds stocks of surplus metal, which is reflected in a dropin the
market price. The profit margin for a mine decreases as thevalues of its products
drop. As costs for processing, transport,smelting, and refining remain constant,
the mine must adjust to a.reduced income. The mine operating on a narrow
margin mustbe prepared to survive periods of depressed metal prices.One tactic
to deal with such a situation is to adjust the bound-aries of the area being mined
and draw these boundaries at ahigher cut-off grade. This will increase the value
of the run-of-mineproduct, and the mine will maintain its profit. Another way is
toincrease the efficiency of mine production. Modifying the miningmethod and
introducing new, more powerful machines are actionsthat should raise the
efficiency of work procedures. The mine mustremain a profit generator,which is
not a simple task in an environ-ment of increasing labor costs and demands for
better living.This chapter describes and explains methods for the under-ground
mining of mineral deposits. The descriptions are general-ized and focus on
typical applications. Examples chosen illustratetypes of mining practices as of
1999. However, every mineraldeposit, with its geology, grade, shape, and
volume, is unique. Asmethods are described here, please bear in mind that rock is
vari-able, miners have ideas, and the world of mines will alwaysdisplay special
features.

* Retired, Atlas Copco, Stockholm, Sweden.

Futures reserves?
_______________________________________RGUR
EI.1 The undon!(Ifoand mine-tBaeic
infmefructnm1.2 DEFINITION DF TEMMSTo
better understand the material presented herein, some of
themore common mining terms are defined in the
following para-graphs. Figure 1.1 further darifies some
of the terms.Adit: Horizontal or nearly horizontal
entrance to a mine.Back: Roof or overhead surface
of an undergroundexcavation.Chute : Loading
arrangement that utilizes gravity to movematerial from a
higher level to a lower level.Cone: Funnel-shaped
excavation located at the top of araise used to collect
rock from the area above.

General Mine Design Censideratiens


4Crosscut:
Horizontal
or
nearly
horizontal
undergroundopening driven to intersect an ore body.Dip; Angle at
which an ore deposit is inclined from thehorizontal.Drawpoint:
Place where ore can be loaded and removed. Adrawpoint is located
beneath the stoping area, and gravity flowtransfers the ore to the
loading
place.Drift:
Horizontal
or
nearly
horizontal
undergroundopening.Finger Raise: Typically, a system of several
raises thatbranch together to the same delivery point. Used for
trans-ferring ore.Footwall: Wall or rock under the ore
deposit.Grizzly: Arrangement that prevents oversized rock
fromentering an ore transfer system. A grizzly usually consists of
asteel grating for coarse screening or scalping.Hanging Wall: Wall
or rock above an ore deposit.Level: System of horizontal
underground workingsconnected to the shaft. A level forms the
basis for excavation ofthe ore above or below.Manway:
Underground opening that is intended forpersonnel access and
communication.Ore: Mineral deposit that can be worked at a profit
underexisting economic conditions.Ore Pass: Vertical or inclined
underground openingthrough which ore is transferred.Prospect:
Mineral deposit for which the economic valuehas not yet been
proven.Raise: Underground opening driven upward from one RGURE 1.2 Classic room eno-i:'mar miningthis chapter;
levelto a higher level or to the surface; a raise may be either
the goal of this chapter is to summarize briefly thecharacteristics of
vertical orinclined (compare winze).Ramp: Inclined underground
the major mining methods.1.3.2 Reomand-Pillar MiningRoomopening that connects levelsor production areas; ramps are indined
and-pillar mining is designed for flat-bedded deposits oflimited
to allow the passage ofmotorized vehicles. Ramps usually are
thickness, such as copper shale, coal, salt and potash,limestone, and
driven downward.Shaft: Vertical or inclined underground opening
dolomite. This method is used to recoverresources in open stopes.
throughwhich a mine is worked.Slot: Vertical or inclined ore
The method leaves pillars to support thehanging wall; to recover
section excavated to open upfor further stoping.grope:
the maximum amount of ore, minersaim to leave the smallest
Underground excavation made by removing orefrom surrounding
possible pillars. The roof must remainintact, and rock bolts are
rock.Strike: Main horizontal course or direction of often
a
installed to reinforce rock strata.Rooms and pillars are
mineraldeposit.Sublevel: System of horizontal underground
normally arranged in regular patterns.Pillars can be designed with
workings;normally, sublevels are used only within stoping areas
circular or square cross sections orshaped as elongated walls
where theyare required for ore production.Wall Rock: Wall in
separating the rooms. Mineralscontained in pillars are
which an ore deposit is enclosed.Waste: Barren rock or rock of too
nonrecoverable and therefore are notincluded in the ore reserves of
low a grade to be minedeconomically.Winze: Vertical or inclined
the mine. Differing geologicalconditions give rise to variations in
underground opening drivendownward from one level to another
room-and-pillar mining.Three typical variations are described in
level or from the surface toa level (compare raise).1.3 MINING
the following text.Classic room-and-pillar mining (Figure 1.2)
METHODS1.3.1 IntroduotionOnce an ore body has been probed
applies to flatdeposits having moderate-to-thick beds and to
and outlined and sufficientinformation has been collected to
inclined depositswith thicker beds. Mining the ore body creates
warrant further analysis, theimportant process of selecting the most
large open stopeswhere trackless machines can travel on the flat
appropriate method ormethods of mining can begin. At this stage,
floor. Ore bodieswith large vertical heights are mined in horizontal
the selection ispreliminary, serving only as the basis for a project
slices startingat the top and benching down in steps.Post roomlayout andfeasibility study. Later it may be found necessary to
and-pillar mining (Figure 1.3) applies to inclinedore bodies with
revise details,but the basic principles for ore extraction should
dip angles from 20o to 55o. These mines havelarge vertical heights
remain a part ofthe final layout.With respect to the basic principles
where the mined-out space is backfilled.The fill keeps the rock
employed, relatively fewmining methods are used today. Because
mass stable and serves as a work platformwhile the next ore slice is
of the uniqueness ofeach ore deposit, variations on each of these
mined.Step room-and-pillar mining (Figure 1.4) is an adaptation
methods are nearlylimitless. It is impossible to include even the
oftrackless mining to ore bodies where dip is too steep for
major variations in
rubber'tired vehicles. A special "angle" orientation of haulage drifts
andstopes related to dip creates work areas with level floors.
Thisallows trackless equipment to be used in drilling and
mucking.Mining advances downward along the step room
angle.Classic Room-and-Pillar Mining. In classic room-and-pillar
mining, only a minimum of development work is requiredto
prepare a flat-bedded deposit for mining. Roadways for
oretransport and communication are established inside
productionstopes. Excavation of roadways can be combined with
oreproduction, and mined-out stopes can serve as transport
routes.Ore production involves the same drill-blast techniques as
innormal drifting where drift dimensions equal the width andheight
of the stope. Where geological conditions are favorable,stopes can
be large, and big drill jumbos can be used for mecha-nized drilling.

Underground Mining Methods and Applications

5Post Room-and-Piifar Mining. Post room-and-pillarmining (or


"post-pillar" mining) is a combination of room-and-pillar and cutand-fill scoping. With this method, ore is recoveredin horizontal
slices starting from the bottom and advancingupward. Pillars are left
inside the scope to support the roof.Mined-out stopes are
hydraulically backfilled with tailings, andthe next slice is mined by
machines working from the fill surface.Pillars continue through
several layers of ml. SandfiH providesthe possibility of modifying the
scope layout and adapting thepost-pillar method to variations in rock
conditions and oreboundaries. Both backfill and sandfiH increase the
support capa-bility of the pillar, permitting a higher rate of ore
recovery thandoes classic room-and-pillar mining.Post-pillar mining
combines the advantages of cut-and-finmining-that is, aHowing work
on flat, smooth floors-with thespacious scopes offered by room-andpillar mining. Easy access tomultiple production points favors the use
of efficient mechanizedequipment.Step Room-and-Piflar Mining.
Step room-and-piHarmining is a variation in which the footwall of an
inclined orebody is adapted for efficient use of trackless equipment.
Althoughapplications cannot be fully generalized, step room-andpolarmining applies to tabular deposits with thicknesses from 2 to S
mand dips ranging from 15" to 30 .The method features a layout in
_______________________________________FIGUREI.3 Post
which stopes and haulage-ways cross the dip of the ore body in a
roomonspillor mining
polar coordinate system.By orienting scopes at certain angles across
dip, scope floorsassume an angle that is comfortably traveled by
trackless vehi-cles. Transport routes cross in the opposite direction to
establishroadway access to stopes and to transport blasted ore to the
shaft.The main development of step room-and-piHar miningincludes
a network of parallel transport drifts traversing the orebody in
predetermined directions. Drift floors are maintainedwith grades that
3
allow the use of selected trucks.Stopes are excavated from transport
/
drifts branching out ata predetermined step-room angle. The stope is
3[
advanced forwardin a mode similar to drifting until breakthrough into
the nextparallel transport drive. The next step is to excavate a
similardrift or side slash one step downdip and adjacent to the
firstdrive. This procedure is repeated until the roof span
becomesalmost too wide to remain stable. Then an elongated
stripparallel to the scopes is left as a pillar. The next stope is
excavatedthe same way, and mining continues downward step by
step. Thenumbers in Figure 1.4 indicate the sequence of
extraction.1.3.3 Vein MiningIn vein mines (Figures 1.5, 1.6, and
_______________________________________FIGUREI.41.7), the dimensions of mineraldeposits are highly variable. An ore
body can be anything from alarge, massive formation several square
Step.room mining of Inclined Orel,o,jlyDeposits with large
kilometers in surface areato a 0.5-m-wide quartz vein containing
vertical heights are ruined in slices.Mining starts at the top below
some 20 g/tonne of gold.Miners aim to recover the minerals value,
the hanging wall. At this stage,rock bolts are installed for roof
but prefer to leave wasterock in the hanging wall and the footwall
control with the back at a conve-nient height. Sections below are
intact. In the thickerdeposits, a machine operates within the ore body
recovered in one or more stepsby benching. Standard crawler rigs
walls withoutproblems. When the mineralized zone narrows to a few
are used for drilling verticalholes and for conventional bench
meters,machines may be too wide to fit inside the ore boundaries. To
blasting. Horizontal drillingand "flat" benching are more practical
exca-vate rock only to permit the machine to fit produces waste,
alternatives because thesame drill jumbo can be used for both
whichdilutes the ore. The alternative is to use manual labor to
topheading and drilling flatbench holds.The blasted ore is loaded at
recoverhigh-grade ore. However, labor is wstly, and manual mining
the muckpile with diesel-drivenfront-end loaders. Different
tech-niques are inefficient. Also, it is difficult to find people who
transport systems are used, dependingon scope height and transport
acceptworking with hand-held rockdrifls and using muscle
distance. Where the opening is highenough, the common dump
power.Today, a selection of standard slim-sized machines is availtruck provides economical transportfrom scopes to collection
able, allowing mechanized mining in 2-m-wide drifts. These
points. In thin ore bodies, specially builtlow mine trucks are
slim.sized machines include the face jumbo for narrow drifts
available from manufacturers. Stopes withvery little headroom can
matchedwith a longhole rig of the same size. The smaH drifter jumbo
be cleaned by load-haul-dump (LHD)machines, and muck can be
andlonghole rig complemented with an LHD with a 2-m3
transferred onto trucks parked inspecial loading bays for transport
bucketprovides everything needed for the mechanized mining of a 2over longer distances.MobHe mechanized equipment is ideal in flat
m-wide vein.
or slightlyinclined ore bodies. In the room-and-pillar layout,
severalproduction areas can be established. Communications
arestraightforward and simple. These factors set the stage for
thehigh utilization of both men and machines in an efficient
orerecovery system.

Renew! Mine Dmign Coneideretiens

,
bias(

________________________________Mining a narrow
vein with steep dip

=NHLnGUREI6
loading

Shrlnheffe

stogiesh

aroseout

1.3.4 Shdnlmge StoningIn shrinkage sloping (Figure 1.8), ore is excavated


in horizontalslices, starting from the bottom of the slope and
advancingupward. Part of the broken ore is left in the mined-out
slope,where it serves as a working platform for ruining the ore aboveand to
support the stope walls.Through blasting, rock increases its occupied
volume byabout 50%. Therefore, 40% of the blasted ore must be drawn
offcontinuously during mining to maintain suitable headroombetween
the back and the top of the blasted ore. When the slopehas advanced to the
upper border of the planned stope, it isdiscontinued, and the remaining
_______________________________________FIGURE 1.6 Small 60% of the ore can be recovered.Smaller ore bodies can be mined with a
single slope,whereas larger ore bodies are divided into separate stopes
size drill jumbo, Dome mine, Canada
withintermediate pillars to stabilize the hanging wall. The pillars
cangenerally be recovered upon completion of regular mining.Shrinkage
sloping can be used in ore bodies witha
Steep dips (the dip must
exceed the angle of repose),a
Firm ore,n
Comparatively stable
hanging wall and footwall,a
Regular ore boundaries,e
Ore that
is not affected by storage in the slope (certainsulfide
ores tend
to oxidize and decompose whenexposed to the atmosphere) .The
development for shrinkage sloping consists ofe
A haulage drift along
the bottom of the stope,n
Crosscuts into the ore underneath the
slope,a
Finger raises and cones from the crosscuts to theundercut,a
An undercut or complete bottom slice of the stope5 to 10 m above the
haulage drift, and

RGUREI.7 Mimiriff for lomgfiole drllllmg, Stlllwater platinum


mine,Montana, UM

If)f) m \/| If)f) m \/|


(1\>\/ "/ (1\>\/ "/
7

Underground Mining Methods and Appilcatfans

150 m

250 m 2
5
0
m
250 m

_______________________________________FIGURE
1.9
Sublevel open stoninga A raise from the haulage level passing
FIGUREI.10 longhoie rig with slide positioning, remote
athrough theundercut
Undergraund
Mining
Methads
andto provide access
General gold,
Mine Canadaof
l3esign Coneiderations
to the main
level above
control, andtabe camusei, Wiiliems
ore, known as9
Appilaatians
andventilation to the slope.The development of the bottom section
crown pillars, are also left to support mine work-ings above the
of the
scope can besimplified
the same
way as for Bighole
sublevelproducing stopes.Enlarging stope dimensions influences mining
RGUREI.11
6ighele inepeo
etepiog1.3.6
stoping-the
fingerraises
are (Figures
deleted, 1.11-1.13)
and the is
cross-cuts
are
StoflfngBighole
sloping
a scaled-up
efficiency.Miners therefore aim for the largest possible slopes. The
developed
drawpointloading.Drilling
and blasting
carried
variantfor
ofsublevel
open sloping in which
longer are
blastholes
stabilityof the rock mass is a limiting factor to be considered
out aswith
overhead
stoping.The
rough
pilemm)
of ore
the stope
prevents
largerdiameters
(140
to 165
areinused.
The holes
arewhenselecting
sizes ofcrew
slopes
pillars. Sublevel
slopingand
is
requires athetrained
forand
successful
blast results
the use
of mechanizedequipment.
Standard practice
is to use air-leg
normallydrilled
using the in-the-hole
(!TH) technique.
Holeusedfor
mining necessary
mineral deposits
with of
following
characteristics:s
recordsare
to keep track
the blasting
progress in
rock depths
drills andstoper
traditional
ore the
handling
in
mayreachdrillers.The
100 m, which
is double
lengthsystem
that can
Steepeach
dip-the
inclination
footwallfrom
mustslopes
exceedthe
angle the
of
hole.The
ore ofis the
mucked
through
shrinkage
stopingentails
direct dumping
of patterns
ore into are
ran similar
cars from
be drilled
withtophammer
rigs. Blast
torepose,e
Stable
rock
in
both
the
hanging
wall
and
the
footwall.
E.
undercut usingremote-controlled LHDs or recovered by a
chutes
below
thefinger
raises.open
Shovel
loaders
more effective in
those
used
insublevel
sloping
Theare140-mm-diameter
Competent
ore and
host rock,. E. the
Regular
boundaries.Sublevel
drawpoint
systemunderneath
stopeore
as in
sublevel groping.
conjunctionwith
a drawpoint
loading
stoping
blasthole breaks
arock slice
4 msystem.Shrinkage
thick with a 6-m
toedriftsThe
for longhole
drilling
are prepared
inside theore body
between
gropes may
ormay
not be backfilled.VCR
ruining
is
was spacing.The
a common advantage
and important
methodstoping
inthe as
dayscompared
when few
of bighole
tomain applicable
levels. These
strategically
locatedsince
are the
points
in are
conditions
similar
to thosethese
inwhich
sublevel
machines
were employed
undergroundmining.
Its advantage
sublevelsloping
is theinscale
factor. The ITH-drilled
holes areis
from open
whichgroping
the longhole
rig drills
pattern.simplerwith
The drill pattern
is used.
VCR theblast
is technically
lTfl
the fact
that the
ore couldaccuracy
be dumpeddirectly
into cars
through
the
straight,
anddrilling
can be exploited.
For
instance,
specifies
where
blastholes
are
tobe
collared
and
the
depth
and holes
angle
drilling compared to tophammer drining.
ITH
chutes,
eliminating
hand-loading.This
is of
importance
today,
vertical
spacingsbetween
sublevels
canlittle
be extended
from
40of each
hole, all of
whichmust
be set with
great precision
to achieve
arestraight,
and
hole deviations
are minimal.
The charging
of
and the
drawbacks-that
is, themethod
is m
labor
working
m with
sublevel openstoping
to 60
withintensive,
bighole stoping.
a successful
blast.Drawpoints
below
bottom
theblastholes
is complex,are
andexcavated
techniques
mustthe
bestope
mastered
by
conditions
aredamage
difficulttoanddangerous,
and
Risks of
rockstructures productivity
is a factor to isbelimited,
considered
for safemucking
LHDs,
which may
be combined
with trucks
or
thechargingwith
team.
The powerful
VCR
charges involve
higher
the bulk
oreremains
storedisused.1.3.7
in the slope for
a long period
of
whenof the
bighole
sloping
Vertical
Crater
railcars
forfordamaging
longer transport.
Different layouts
for undercut
risks
the surrounding
rock than
sublevel drawopen
timehaveresulted
in crater
the replacement
of mining
shrinkage
groping
by
RetreatVertical
retreat (VCR)
(Figures
1.14,
pointsstoping.1.3.8
are used. The trough-shaped
bottom is typicallyaccessed
Cut-anSFiII stope
StapingCut-and-fill
mining
othermethods.
Sublevel
stoping,
vertical
retreat
stoping,
1.15, and1.16) is a method originally developed by thethrough
loading1.17
driftsand
at regular
spacings.Developing
the set ofslices,
drifts
(Figures
1.18) removes
ore in hori-zontal
sublevelcaving,
cut-and-fifl mining
methodsVCR
that usually
Canadian and
miningcompany
INCO.areToday,
is anand drawpoints
anadvancingupward.
extensive and costly
starting fromunderneath
the bottomthestope
undercutisand
Ore
can beapplied
under
similar
conditions.Shrinkage
established
mining
methodused
by mines allgroping
over theremains,
worldprocedure.
A simpler
layout and
isgaining
as an alternative
is drilled
and blasted
muckinispopularity
loaded andremoved
from
however,
as one
of the steeplydipping
methodsthat can
a the conventional draw-point-and-muck-out system. Here, the
that have
competent,
ore be
andpracticed
host rock.with
VCRto
the stope. When the stope has been mined out,voids are
minimum
of investment
in machineryand
yet in
is which
still notpowerful
entirely
is based
on the crater
blastingtechnique
loading
level is with
integratedwith
the undercut.
Mucking
out is done
backfilled
hydraulic sand
tailings or
waste rock.The
fill
dependent
on charges
manual are
capacity.1.3.5
Sublevel Open
explosive
placed inlarge-diameter
holes Step|HgIn
and fired.directly
on the
slopebottom
the open
The LHD
works
serves
both
to support inside
the stope
walls stope.
and provide
aworking
sublevel
stoping
(Figures
and 1.10),
is recoveredin
the openstope
and, forwhen
safety
is is
operated
by radio
Part open
of the
blasted
ore 1.9
remains
inthe ore
slope
over theinsideplatform
for equipment
thereasons,
next slice
mined.Cut-andopenproduction
slopes normally
being mined.
Slopesthe
areoften
RGURE
1.13
Blghole
drill
rig
with
automatic
cootrole
sod
by
anoperator
based
inside
the
access
drift.Sublevel
stoping
cycle,backfilled
serving asafter
temporary
supportfor
slopecontrol
fill mining is used in steeply dipping ore bodies instrata
large,walls.The
particularly
in the vertical
direction. The
ore body
isdivided
lo/ 50
m long
holee,
Mount
Charlotte,
AuetraliaThe
requires
a regular
shape
of stopes
and
oreboundaries.
Inside
thehighdrill
sequence
of development
of VCR
slopes
ise Atubecaroueel
having
good-to-moderate
stability
and
comparatively
into separate
stopes.
Between slopes,
oreore
sections
setaside for
ore
Ingrade
a everything
stopeore.
block It
is drilled
with
drill rigs
the
pattern,
qualifies
as
ore.ITH
Inlarger
ore posi-tioned
bodies,than
theinarea
haulage drift
is excavated
along the
body atarethedrawpoint
provides
the
FIGURE
1.14 VCR
mining, better
primaryselectivity
stofmsFIGURE
pillars
to
support
the
hanging
wall.
Pillars
are
normallyshaped
as
RGURE
1.15
ITH
drilling,
165
mm
blast
holes,
INCO,
onercut.
Holes
are drilled
untilVCR
theybreak
through
into the
between
the hanging
walldownward
and thefootwall
is divided
into
modules
level,e A drawpoint loading arrangement is created
alternativesublevel
groping
and
mining
techniques.
1.16 VCR mining, recovery of secondary stopes
vertical
beams
across
the oreThe
body.
Horizontal
Canadaare
placed
a specified
distance
above
thesections
free surface.
Holes
undercut.
holes
are
preferredwherever
possible.
alongHence,
strikeVertical
and
mined
asprimary
and secondary
underneaththe
stope,e
stope
is undercut,e
An overcut
cut-and-fillis
preferred
for ore stopes.
bodies
havingHole
an
_______________________________________FIGUREI.12
aregrouped
that charges
will beand
at charging.
the same elevation and
diameters
vary
from
140
to
165
mm,although
holes
205
mm in
accesssso
is excavated
for drilling
irregular
andMount
scat-tered
mineralization.
6lghole
sampleshape
pattern,
Charlotte,
Australia Cut-and-fill
depth.First, the hole depth is measured. Then the hole is blocked at
diameter
haveselective
been triedmining,
in a fewmines.
Forrecovery
165-mm-diameter
holes,
allows
sepa-rate
of high-grade
theproper height. Explosive charges are lowered, and the hole
a holesections,
pattern of
4
by
4
m
istypical.Holes
are
charged
from
and the leaving of low-graderock behind the
in
isstemmed with sand and water placed on top of the charge. Adjaonercut
using powerful
chargescontained
in a short
section
of blast
gropes.The
development
for cut-and-fill
mining
includesa
A
cent explosive charges aid in breaking the rock, normally loos-ening
hole. These
crater
charges
haulage
drive
along the footwall of the ore body at themain
a 3-m slice of ore that falls into the void below. Charging
leveln Undercutting the slope area with drains for water,

General Mine I)esign Coneidemtlom

16

_______________________________________FIGURE
1.19
tongwafl mlning in soft mck (coal seam)Hydraulic sandfifl is often used
with cut-and-fill mining. Thefill-deslimed sand tailings from the mine's
dressing plant-ismixed with water to 60% to 70% solids and distributed
_______________________________________nGURE 1.17 Miningto stopesvia a network of pipes. Before fiUing, stopes are prepared
bybarricading entries, and drainage tubes are laid out on the floor.The
wlth cut end NH
sand fills the stope to almost its full height. As a harder ml isrequired on
the surface, cement is added in the last pour. Whenthe water has drained,
the fill surface is smooth and compact. Itforms a good base for mobile
machines while mining the nextslice of ore.Cut-and-fill mining is a
versatile method and preferred bymines that require the capability of
mining selected ore pocketsand adaptability to variations in the rock
mass~1.3.9 longwall MiningLongwall mining applies to thin-bedded
deposits of uniformthickness and large horizontal extent. Typical deposits
are repre-sented by coal seams, potash layers, or conglomerate reefs
minedby the South African gold mining companies. Longwall
miningapplies to both hard and soft rock as the working area along
themining face can be artificially supported where the hanging walltends
to collapse.The longwall mining method extracts ore along a straightfront
having a large longitudinal extension. The stoping areaclose to the face is
kept open to provide space for personnel andmining equipment. The
hanging wall may be allowed to subsideat some distance behind the
working face.Development of longwall mines involves the excavation of
_______________________________________FIGURE
IlG
anetwork of haulage drifts for access to production areas andtransport of
Face drilling In cut enclfill stopea A spiral ramp in the footwall with
ore to shaft stations. As the mineralized zone extendsover a large area,
access drive to theundercut,. E. A raise connecting to levels above for
haulage drifts are accompanied with parallelexcavations to ventilate mine
ventilation andfilling material.Modem cut-and-fill mines drill the slope
workings. Haulage drifts areusually arranged in regular patterns and
face with a jumbo.The face appears to be a wall across the stope with
excavated in the deposititself. The distance between two adjacent
an open slot atthe bottom above the fill. The face is drUled with
haulage drifts deter-mines the length of the longwall face.Longwall
breasting holes,charged, and blasted. The slot underneath provides
mining (Figure 1.19) is a common method forextracting coal, trona, and
space intowhich the blasted rock can expand.The driU pattern can be
potash from seams of various thick-ness. It can be mechanized almost to
modified before each round tofollow variations in ore boundaries.
perfection. The soft materialdoes not require drilling and blasting, but
Sections with low-grade oreare left in place or separated while
can be cut loosemechanicaUy. Special machines shaped as cutting plows
mucking out. Mining can bediverted from the planned stope
orrotating drums with cutters mu back and forth along the faces,each
boundaries to recover pockets ofminerals in the host rock.A smooth ml
time cutting a fresh slice of the seam. The coal or mineralfalls onto a
surface and controHed fragmentation are idealfor LIfDs. Tramming
chain conveyor that carries the mineral to the haulage
distances inside the slope to the ore pass areconvenient for LHD
cycles. Ore passes made from steel segmentswelded to form a large
tube can be positioned inside the stope,by-passing layers of sandfill.
The ore pass can also consist of araise excavated in rock close to the
stope-ramp access.

Underground
Applicatians

Mining

Methods

11

and

_______________________________________FIGURE
Longwoll mining in gold reef

1.20

RCURE 1.22 Mining by achieve| coving1.3.10 SuMevel


CavingIn sublevel caving, the ore is extracted via sublevels
developed inthe ore body at regular intervals. Each sublevel
features a system-atic layout with parallel drifts along or across the
ore body. In awide ore body, the sublevel drifts start from the
footwall drift andare driven until they reach the hanging wall. This
is referred to astransverse sublevel caving (Figure 1.22). In ore
bodies of lesserwidth, longitudinal sublevel caving is used. In this
variant, driftsbranch off in both directions from a center
crosscut.Sublevel caving is used in large, steeply dipping ore
bodies.The rock mass must be stable enough to allow the sublevel
driftsto remain open with just occasional rock bolting. The
hangingwall should fracture and collapse to follow the cave, and
theground on top of the ore body must be permitted to
subside.Caving requires a rock mass where both the ore body
andthe host rock fracture under controlled conditions. As
miningremoves rock and the mined-out area is not backfilled,
thehanging wall keeps caving into the voids. Continued
miningresults in subsidence of the surface, and sinkholes may
FIGUREI.21 Drilling the reef with hoodfield rock drill,
appear.Continuous caving is important to avoid creation of
East RandProperties, Sooth Africodrift, from where it is
cavitiesinside the rock where a sudden collapse could be harmful
transported for hoisting out of the mine.Conveyor belts are
to mineinstallations.The amount of development needed to
frequently used to transport material, as beltsare adaptable to the
institute sublevelcaving is extensive as compared to other mining
almost continuous flow of material from theproduction areas. The
methods.However, development primarily involves drifting to
roof along the longwall face is supportedand the working area
preparesublevels~ Drifting is a simple and routine job for a
completely protected by a system ofhydraulically operated props.
mechanizedmine. Development of sublevels is done efficiently in
The supports move forward asmining advances, and the roof
an environ-ment where there are multiple faces on one sublevel
behind can be allowed to collapse.longwall mining is also used for
available todrill rigs and loaders.A ramp is needed to connect
mining thin, reef-typedeposits. The gold reef conglomerates are
different sublevels and commu-nicate with the main transport
very hard and difficultto mine. South African gold mines have
routes. Ore passes are also requiredat strategic locations along the
developed their owntechniques based on manpower and the use of
sublevels to allow LHDs to dumpore to be collected and
hand-held pneu-matic rock drills. Figures 1.20 and 1.21 show
transported to the haulage level below.A drawing showing sublevel
mining of a reefapproximately 1 m thick. The width of the
drifts is almost identical forevery second sublevel, which means
mineralized sectionmight be even less, but there must be space for
that drifts on the firstsublevel are positioned right on top of drifts
miners crawlingon their knees. Pillars of timber and concrete are
on the third sublevel,while drifts on the second sublevel are
installed tosupport the roof in very deep mines.
located underneath pillars

General Mine Cosign Consideretions

12

tuhe handling, and drill autamatics, Kiruna, Swedenbetween


the drifts on sublevels 1 and 2.. A section through thesublevel area will
show that the drifts are spread across the orebody in a regular pattern
both vertically and horizontally. Adiamond-shaped area can be traced
FIGURE 1.24 Clock caving with anger raises, grizzly
above one drift and indicatesthe volume of ore to be recovered from
treatment andchute loading1.3.11 Clock CovingBlock caving is
each drift.The ore section above the drift is drilled in a fana technique in which gravity is used in conjunc-tion with internal
shapedpattern with longhole drills (Figure 1.23). Drilling can be
rock stresses to fracture and break the rockmass into pieces that
doneindependently of other procedures, often well ahead of
can be handled by miners. "Block" refers tothe mining layout in
charging.Thus, drilling, charging, and blasting longholes can be timed
which the ore body is divided into largesections of several
tosuit the mines production schedules. Blasting on each sublevelstarts at
thousand square meters. Caving of the rockmass is induced by
the hanging wall and mining retreats toward the foot-wall. The cave
undercutting a block. The rock slice directlybeneath the block is
line should follow an approximately straight front,and hence adjacent
fractured by blasting, which destroys itsability to support the
drifts should be mined at a similar pace. Asection through the cave
overlaying rock. Gravity forces on the orderof millions of tons act
shows the upper sublevels one stepahead of the sublevels
on the block, causing the fractures tospread until the whole block is
underneath.Blasting the longhole fan breaks the ore in the slice. Most
affected. Continued pressurebreaks the rock into smaller pieces
ofthe blasted ore remains in place while some falls down into thedrift
that pass through drawpointswhere the ore is handled by
opening. Mucking out with LHDs creates a cave pattern ofore and
LHDs.Block caving is a large-scale production technique appliwaste from above. Loading continues until the operatordecides there is
cable to low-grade, massive ore bodies with the
too much dilution, stops mucking, and moves toanother heading. With
followingcharacteristics:
the heading vacated, the charging teammoves into the heading and
charges and fires the next ring oflongholes.Ore handling involves
mucking out the blasted material atthe front, transporting it on the
sublevels, and dumping the oreinto ore passes. These are ideal
a Large vertical and horizontal dimensions,. EA rock
conditions for LHDs as they canbe kept in continuous operation. When
mass that will break into pieces of manageablesize, and.
one face is mucked clean,the LHD is moved to a nearby drift heading
EA surface that is allowed to subside.
and muckingcontinues. Sublevels are designed with tramming
distancesmatched to particular sizes of LffDs.Dilution and ore losses
are drawbacks for sublevel caving.Extensive scientific investigations
These rather unique conditions limit block caving to partichave been made to determinethe flow of ore in a cave and to identify
ular types of mineral deposits. Looking at worldwide
means of reducing orelosses and minimizing dilution. Dilution varies
practices,one finds block caving used for extracting iron
between 15% and400/o, and ore losses can be from 15% to 25%,
ore, low-gradecopper, molybdenum deposits, and
depending on localconditions. Dilution is of less influence for ore
diamond-bearing kimberlitepipes. The large tonnage
bodies with diffuseboundaries where the host rock contains low-grade
produced by each individual minemakes block-caving
minerals orfor magnetite ores, which are upgraded by simple magnetic
mines the real heavyweights when comparedto most other
sepa-rators. Sulfides, in contrast, must be refined by costly
mines.The development of block caving when
flotationprocesses.Sublevel caving is repetitive both in layout and
conventional gravityflow is applied (Figure 1.24) involves.
workingprocedures. Development drifting, production drilling,
EAn undercut where the rock mass underneath the block
charging,blasting, and mucking are all carried out separately. Work
isfractured by longhole blasting,. EDrawbells beneath the
takesplace at different levels, allowing each procedure to be carriedout
undercut that gather the rock intofinger raises,. EFinger
continuously without disturbing the others. There is always aplace for
raises that collect rock from drawbells to the griz-zlies,.
the machine to work.
EA grizzly level where oversized blocks are caught
andbroken up,

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