flat Mining

Mining in flat orebodies

Nearly horizontal
extraction
Variations on room-and-pillar and Vertical benching
longwall mining techniques have
always been attractive proposi-
tions for mechanization, because Pillar
of the near horizontality of such
systems. Until recently, trackless
equipment was limited to a mini- 200
0
Pillar AB,
mum working headroom of 2 m ock
Drills
co R
or more. However, major devel- tlas
Cop
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opments in Polish copper mines
and in gold and platinum mines Benching of thicker parts
in South Africa have spawned a
new generation of thin-seam and
narrow mining equipment from
Atlas Copco that can work in sub-
stantially less space than previous-
ly thought possible. The Rocket
Classic room and pillar layout.
Boomer S1 L, for instance, has a
tramming height of just 1.3 m, yet
can cover a face area of up to 29 large thickness, also to inclined depos- Ore production in flat room and pil-
sq m. Likewise, the Scooptram its with larger thickness. Mining the lar uses the same drill/blast techniques
ST 600LP loader equipped with orebody creates large openings, where as in normal drifting. Where geological
video cameras to assist the driver
has a height of only 1.56 m, but still trackless machines can travel on the conditions are favourable, large-capacity
carries a 6 t payload. Availability flat floor. Orebodies with large vertical drilling rigs and loaders can be used.
of such machines is already revo- height are mined in horizontal slices, High orebodies are mined in slices,
lutionizing the design approach starting at the top and benching down starting at the top, rockbolting the roof
to mining flat orebodies. in steps. from each bench. Standard crawler rigs
Post room and pillar applies to in- are used for drilling vertical holes and
Room and pillar clined orebodies, of dip angle from 20 conventional bench blasting. Horizontal
to 55 degrees, with large vertical height, drilling and flat benching is a more prac-
Room and pillar is designed for mining where mined out space is backfilled. tical alternative, using the same drilling
of flat, bedded deposits of limited thick- The fill keeps the rock mass stable, equipment.
ness. Examples are sedimentary depo- and serves as the work platform while The blasted ore is loaded using
sits, like copper shale, limestone or mining the next ore slice. diesel or cable-electric LHD machines,
sandstone containing lead, coal seams, Step room and pillar is an adaptation and, where height permits, dump trucks
salt and potash layers, limestone and of trackless mining to orebodies with may be used between stope and dump.
dolomite. too steep a dip for rubber-tyred vehi- In thin orebodies, loading points may
The method recovers the mineraliza- cles to operate in a regular room and be necessary for transferring ore from
tion in open stopes, leaving pillars of pillar layout. Haulage drifts and stopes loader to hauler. As all activities are car-
ore to support the roof. To recover the are therefore angled diagonally across ried out on one or very few levels covering
maximum amount of ore, miners aim to the dip, to create work areas with level a large area, there are many faces avail-
leave smallest possible pillars behind, floors off which trackless equipment able at any time, so high equipment utili-
because these are difficult and expen- can work. Mining advances downward, zation is possible.
sive to recover. The roof must remain along the step room angle.
intact, and rockbolts are used exten- Post pillar
sively as rock reinforcement. Rooms Classic room and pillar
and pillars are normally arranged in Post pillar mining is a crossbreed of room
regular patterns, and can be designed Very little development work is required and pillar and cut and fill mining. Post
with circular pillars, square pillars, or to prepare flat-bedded deposits for room pillar mining recovers the mineraliza-
elongated walls separating the rooms. and pillar mining, because access for tion in horizontal slices, starting from a
Classic room and pillar applies to ore transport and communication is bottom slice, advancing upwards. Pillars
flat, bedded deposits with moderate to through the production rooms. are left inside the stope to support the

underground mining methods 39

 flat Mining

reinforcement of the roof several slices

ahead of the current mining.

Step room and pillar

Step room and pillar mining adapts the
inclined orebody footwall for efficient
use of trackless equipment in tabular
deposits with thickness from 2 m to 5 m
and dip ranging from 15 to 30 degrees.
Stopes and haulageways cross the dip
Pos
t of the orebody in a polar coordinate
Pill
ar
system, orienting the stopes at angles
200
0 across the dip that can comfortably be
D rills
AB,
travelled by trackless vehicles. Parallel
ock

tla sC
opc
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transport routes cross the orebody to
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establish roadway access to stopes and
for trucking blasted ore to the shaft.
Stopes are attacked from the trans-
port drifts, branching out at the pre-
determined step-room angle. The stope
Post pillar mining layout. is advanced forward, in a mode similar
to drifting, until breakthrough into the
roof. Mined-out stopes are backfilled to suit variations in rock conditions and next parallel transport drive. Next step
with hydraulic tailings, which might con- ore boundaries. is excavation of a similar drift, or side
tain cement for added strength, to allow Post pillar combines the advantages slash, one step down dip, adjacent to the
the next slice to be mined working on of flat-floor cut and fill, with the spa- first drive. This procedure is repeated
the fill surface. Pillars are extended cious stopes of room and pillar, while until the full roof span is achieved, and
through several layers of fill, so that easy access to multiple production points an elongated pillar is left parallel with
the material contributes to the support, favours efficient mechanization. Similar the stopes. The next stope is attacked
permitting a high recovery rate. The fill to cut and fill mining, cable bolting is in the same way, and mining continues
allows the stope layout to be modified commonly carried out to provide safe downwards, step by step.

Step room and pillar layout. Longwall mining

Longwall mining applies to thin, bed-
ded deposits, with uniform thickness
and large horizontal extension. Typical
deposits are coal seams, potash layers
or conglomerates, and gold reefs.
Longwall mining extracts the ore
along a straight front, with large longi-
tudinal extension. The mining area close
to the face is kept open, to provide space
for personnel and mining equipment.
The roof may be allowed to subside at
some distance behind the working face.
Stope mined

Development involves excavation of

a network of haulage drifts, for access
AB,
200
0 to production areas and transport of ore
co Roc
kD
rills
to shaft stations. As the mineralization
extends over a large area, haulage drifts
Cop
tlas
©A
1
are paralleled by return airways, for ven-
tilation of the workings. Haulage drifts
2

3 are usually arranged in regular patterns,

and excavated inside the ore. Coal and
Numbers indicate
4 sequence of extraction

gold longwall production techniques are

similar in principle, but quite different

40 underground mining methods

 flat Mining

Complete package
Atlas Copco offers three key mining
Hanging wall
(The Venstop formation)
tools to provide the total solution for
e
Strik

low seam mining applications: drill

Di
p
Limestone
(The Steinvika formation) rigs, loaders and bolting rigs. These
are all compact and technically ad-
vanced low profile versions, specially
designed for efficient production in
cro
ssc
ut cro
ssc
rigorous underground locations: the
drift h
ut
Rocket Boomer S1 L face drilling rig
benc benc
h

ben
is adapted to this specific type of
mining, with a coverage area between

approx. 40 m
ben chin
chin g
g

6 and 29 sq m in a tramming height

Hor
ison
tal p
illar
8m drift as low as 1.3 m; the Boltec SL bolt-
Foot wall
(The Fossum formation) ing rig carrier, boom and bolting unit
have been designed for efficient ope-
Dip
13 -
20 o
ration in roof heights between 1.8 and
2.5 m; and the Scooptram ST600LP
can operate safely in 1.8 m headroom
as one of a range of loaders of vari-
Room and pillar with benching at Dalen mine, Norway.
ous capacities.
in terms of mechanization. In the coal as thin as 1.0 m, which constitutes a
mine, shearers shuttle back and forth great challenge for equipment manufac-
along the face, cutting coal and depositing turers to mechanize. Pillars of timber
it on chain conveyors. The gold reef con- or concrete are installed to support the
glomerate is much harder, and difficult roof in the very deep mines.
to tackle. South Africa gold mines have
developed their own techniques, using Hans Fernberg
handheld pneumatic rock drills in reefs

Typical longwall layout. Rocket Boomer S1 L, the cabin version.

Slashing holes

Blasting barricade
Rocket Boomer S1 L, the rear view.
Transport
drift

Pillars of
timber/concrete to Scraper
support roof
©
At
las
Co
pc
oR
oc
kD
rill
sA
B,
20
00

Scooptram ST600LP.

underground mining methods 41

Our commitment is just as strong

Working with Atlas Copco means working with world-

leading products and services. What’s more, the people
you work with are also the best – committed to creating
the ideal conditions for your mining and construction
operations.
It takes a strong will to get to the top, and a firm hand to
stay there. Our commitment to supply you with the best
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www.atlascopco.com