University of Saskatchewan

Geological Engineering
GEOE 498.3
Introduction to Mineral Engineering

Lecture 2
Underground Mining Methods
Bulk vs. Selective
Reasons for Selection (Geotechnical, Geometry, Value, Grade,
Dilution Control, Skill of work force, health and safety, etc)
Mining Equipment (mobile)
Tunneling Methods

Underground Mining Methods

MINING METHOD Is defined as the
manner of extraction of an ore deposit
underground and depends on many
factors.
Different Methods are used for
Hardrock and Softrock as well as Bulk
and Selective Mining

Factors to Consider
Geological and Geotechnical
Considerations
Strength of Ore
Strength of host rock
Stress field
Structural Geology (faults, contacts,
joints, folds, etc.)
Dimensions of orebody (thickness, strike
length, height)
Orientation (dip, plunge)
Depth

Factors to Consider
Economic and Logistical

Availability of Skilled Labour

Availability of Equipment
Availability of backfill
Legacy issues
Health and Safety factors
Economics

Production Requirements
Value of ore
Operating Cost
Capital cost
Processing cost

Common Requirements for all

Mining Methods
Access for equipment, personnel,
services (electricity, water, compressed
air, ventilation).
Arteries for the transport of ore & waste
out of the mine and possibly backfill into
the mine.
Drainage
safe working conditions

Classification of
Mining Methods

Choice of Mining Method will

impact
Orebody recovery and Dilution
Amount of development needed
Capital requirement and operating
costs
Type of equipments required
Cycle time and sequence of operations
Production (tonnes per year)
Risk

Classification of Underground
Mining Methods

Two main Classes of Underground Mining Methods:

Bulk Mining (Caving, Open Stoping, VCR)
Selective Mining (Cut and Fill, Room and Pillar, Shrinkage)

Sub-Classifications
Overhand Stoping Bottom Up
Method
Underhand Stoping Top Down
Method
Longitudinal Stoping Long axis of
stope is parallel to orebody strike
Transverse Stoping Long axis of
stope is perpendicular to orebody
strike

Sub-Classifications
Underhand Stoping

Stability of the Orebody is very poor or there is no

access to the lower part of the orebody
Examples: Underhand Cut and Fill used in narrow veins
at depth or underhand Blast hole open stoping used for
bulk mining.
Workers are always standing on solid ore and below
supported or filled back.

Overhand Stoping

Stoping operation start a the bottom of the orebody and

proceeds to upward
Most popular method of stoping. Example: Shrinkage
stoping, Cut and Fill stopes, Room and Pillar, Caving
Methods, VCR Method of Mining, Sub Level Stoping

Hard Rock Selective Mining

Methods

Room and Pillar

Cut and Fill
Shrinkage
Alimak Mining
Raise bore and Box hole Mining

Room and Pillar

Applicable to relatively flat orebodies and employ natural support

(rock pillars). The orebody is excavated as completely as possible
leaving ore/waste as pillars to support the hanging wall (back).
Dimensions of the stopes and pillars depend upon factors such
as the stability of the back, stability of the ore, thickness of the
deposit and rock stresses.
Horizontal Mining is the most commonly used room and pillar method.
It is applicable to horizontal or near horizontal deposits (< 5 dip) and
to inclined deposits of greater thickness, with the floor arranged for a
moderate slope that allows for use of mobile equipment.
Inclined Mining is for inclined orebodies (20 - 30 dip). Stoping
proceeds upwards along the dip direction. The steep slope precludes
use of mobile equipment.
Step Mining adapts horizontal stoping to an inclined orebody (20 - 45
dip). This is a recent development in the industry for mining
orebodies that would otherwise be precluded by their steep dip. It
requires a special layout of stopes and a sequence of extraction
resulting in the use of mobile equipment.

Horizontal Room and Pillar

Inclined Room and Pillar

Step Room and Pillar

Room and Pillar

Room and Pillar

Room and Pillar Features

Summary of Applications
relatively flat orebodies
limited thickness
competent hanging wall and ore

Advantages ...

good productivity
moderate cost
flexible method, amenable to mechanization
Selective
minimal early development
No backfill required

Disadvantages ...
possible ground control problems
Medium to low recovery, ore lost in pillars

Cut and Fill

Cut and fill stoping methods excavate ore in horizontal

slices or lifts, starting at the bottom of a stope and
advancing upwards.
The broken ore is removed from the stope after each lift is
blasted.
After a slice is mucked out, the void is filled with backfill.
The fill supports the walls and provides a working platform
for mining the next lift.
Fill material can consist of waste rock however, it is more
common to use tailings from the mill transported to mine in
slurry form.
When water in the fill is drained off a competent fill with a
smooth surface is produced. In some cases the material is
mixed with cement to provide a harder and more durable
surface with improved support characteristics.
Suited to steeply dipping, irregular orebodies, weak host
rock or large tabular steeply dipping irregular orebodies for
multiple lifts or cuts

Cut and Fill

Cut and Fill

Cut and Fill

Cut and Fill

Longitudinal MCF

Longitudinal MCF

Transverse
MCF

Cut and Fill

Cut and Fill

Summary of application
orebody width 2m - 30m
tabular shape ... good for irregular
orebodies
orebody dip 35o - 90o
good for low strength / high stress
regions
requires safe, stable back for man entry
Expensive, generally high grade ore
required for this method to be economic
good selectivity minimum dilution

Cut and Fill

Advantage

moderate production and scale

good selectivity
low development cost
adaptable to mechanization
flexible method
excellent recovery with low dilution
tailings can be disposed of as fill

Disadvantage

high production cost

fill complicates cycle
requires stope access for mechanized equipment
labour intensive
ground settlement/instability risk

Cut and Fill Variations

Underhand Cut and Fill or Undercut and Fill

Developed to recover pillars or to mine low strength ore
bodies
Mining top down and placing a cemented/reinforced mat
over the working area ... enabling mining below.

Drift and Fill

Used to mine wide, flat, thin (<6m) orebodies with poor
hanging wall conditions.
Mining involves a series of parallel drifts with an access
heading driven along the hanging wall contact. Each
mined drift is filled with cemented sand fill ... providing
back support for the next drift.

Post Pillar
Hybrid between room and pillar and cut and fill
moderately thick, flat, tabular ore bodies
moderate to low strength back

Underhand Cut and Fill

Underhand cut-and-fill
Weak, narrow vein orebodies
Cemented backfill required

Post Pillar Cut and Fill

Shrinkage
Ore is broken in horizontal slices working
upwards.
Sufficient ore withdrawn at the bottom
after each slice to accommodate swell
(30% - 40%)
Remainder stays in the stope to provide a
working platform ... removed at the end.
Stopes separated by intermediate
(recoverable) pillars

Shrinkage

orebody width 1.2m - 30m

tabular orebody; regular boundaries
dip >50
stable hanging wall and footwall
uniform draw down important
dilution generally low
Ore must be unaffected by storage in stope
Labour intensive method, limited scope for
mechanization

Shrinkage

Shrinkage

Shrinkage

Summary of Application
Shrinkage not a common method ... too labour intensive
Employed only where mechanization not possible.
Maintaining stope full of muck increases possible stope spans and minimizes dilution
.. support and development costs reduced.
Limited production capacity and bulk of ore tied up for a long time.

Advantages

moderate production rate.

draw down by gravity
conceptually simple (small mine usage)
low capital investment
minimal support in stope
moderate development
good recovery, low dilution

Disadvantages

low productivity
moderate to high mining cost.
labor-intensive
dangerous working conditions
ore tied up in stope
ore subject to oxidation, packing in stope

Shrinkage Variation - Raise or

Alimak Mining
A variation of shrinkage mining
Long hole drill is mounted on an alimak
raise climber
Mechanized, cost effective method

Alimak Mining

Alimak
Mining

Raise or Alimak Mining

Alimak Mining

Alimak Mining

Alimak Mining

Alimak Mining

Alimak Mining

Alimak Mining

Raise bore and Box hole Mining

Summary of application
Raise bore holes are excavated and filled.
Can be used to mine tabular narrow steeply dipping deposits
or moderately thick flat deposits.
Low to high strength ore
None entry
Requires very high grade ore as method is very expensive

Advantages

Very safe
Low dilution
High recovery
Miners not exposed to environmental hazzards

Disadvantages
Very expensive
Low production rates

Raise Bore Mining

Raise Bore
Mining
Raise Bore Chamber

Extraction Chamber

Box hole
Mining

Raise Bore Mining

Hard Rock Bulk Mining Methods

Sublevel / Blasthole / Long Hole

Vertical Crater Retreat (VCR)
Avoca
Sublevel Caving
Block Caving

Sublevel Stoping Methods

Sublevel stoping is also known as "blasthole stoping" or

"longhole stoping".
vertical or steeply dipping ore bodies with regular boundaries
mined from levels at predetermined vertical intervals
drilling/blasting from sublevels (overcut or undercut), mucking
from undercut
ore pillars between stopes for support, may be recovered later
The orebody is divided into sections up to 100 m high and
further divided laterally into alternating stopes and pillars. A
main haulage drive is created in the footwall at the bottom,
with cut-outs for draw-points connected to the stopes.
Long hole blasthole and stoping uses longer and larger
diameter blastholes than sublevel stoping, thus requiring less
drilling than sublevel stoping. Greater drilling accuracy is
required

Sublevel Stoping Methods

minimum orebody width 2m

tabular or massive shape
Can be mined transverse or longitudinal
dip >50
large stopes (non-entry)
limited selectivity, orebody should be regular
No Backfill

pillar size considerations similar to room and pillar

competent footwall, ore zone and hanging wall
dilution a potential problem

With Backfill

pillar size must be suitable for recovery

stress on pillars should be low
fill material must allow recovery of pillars with minimum dilution

Sublevel
Stoping
Methods

Sublevel Stoping Methods

Sublevel
Stoping
Methods

Sublevel Stoping
Methods

Sublevel Stoping
Methods

Sublevel Stoping
Methods

Sublevel Stoping Methods

Sublevel Stoping Methods

SLOS Primary/Secondary with Transverse
Drilling and Extraction

67

Sublevel Stoping
Methods

Sublevel Stoping Methods

Sublevel Stoping
Methods

Block Plan

Sublevel Stoping Methods

Summary of Application
method became popular after development of large diesel
LHDs in the last 40 years
efficient in drilling, blasting and loading
high utilization of mechanized equipment
limited selectivity with irregular orebodies

Advantages

good productivity
moderate cost
amenable to mechanization
safe operating conditions
good recovery; moderate dilution

Disadvantages
Expensive initial development
inflexible / non-selective

Avoca

Allows mining of narrow ore zones with high

recovery.
Requires stope development with upper and lower
drill drifts, similar to longhole mining.
Stope is backfilled with waste rock from the upper
drill horizon ... no pillars required.

Advantages
Flexibility
no requirement for pillars
waste storage with short haulage

Disadvantages
higher dilution
advance limited by backfill availability must have two
accesses

Avoca

76

Avoca

Avoca

78

Vertical Crater Retreat / VCR

Very similar to Sub level stoping.
Employs a unique blasting technique called
the crater blasting
Also resembles Shrinkage stoping as ore is
extracted in horizontal slices.
The ore is recovered from an undercut
drawpoint system resembling that used in
sublevel open stoping
Can be used in steeply dipping ore bodies
under the same conditions as sub level
stoping and shrinkage stoping
Blasted ore remains in the stope and is
used to support the hanging wall

Vertical Crater Retreat /

VCR

Vertical Crater Retreat / VCR

Advantages
VCR is a bulk, high-capacity mining method with good
recoveries;
It is an efficient stoping method that is very susceptible to
mechanization and can have productivities in excess of 32
tonnes/employee-shift;
It offers good wall support during the stoping phase by using
shrinkage techniques;
It is a safe method with miners working under a fully supported
back that can be adequately ventilated.

Disadvantages
VCR requires extensive diamond drilling, pre-stope planning,
and development lead-time for maximum effectiveness;
Ore is tied up in the stope until final drawdown ... representing
lost income;
Some ores are mineralogically unstable and may be subject to
breakdown, causing problems with benefaction, drawing, etc..
High concentration of explosive and hole deviation may damage
walls and may increase dilution problems

Sublevel Caving

The orebody is divided into closely spaced vertical

sublevels. From each sublevel the orebody is developed
by a series of drifts from hangingwall to footwall to
lateral extremity on strike
From the sublevel drifts the ore immediately above is
drilled with longholes in a fan shape pattern
size should be large enough to allow for sufficient
vertical sub-levels for lateral and vertical interaction
massive and/or tabular and steep, uniform shape
steeply dipping >50 degrees unless massive
competent ore with a waste hangingwall that can cave.
Stable footwall for development access.
high dilution, very sensitive to poor fragmentation
limited selectivity
surface conditions must allow for subsidence Sublevel
caving is usually carried out underneath an open pit
when it becomes uneconomic to mine from the pit

Sublevel Caving

Sublevel Caving

Sublevel Cave

Sublevel Caving

Summary of Application

Longhole drilling is performed in a fan shaped pattern that radiates upwards from sublevel
drift.
Ore is mucked from the sublevel drift, transported and dumped into orepasses by LHD's.
Production drilling and loading are carried out on separate levels and are independent of
each other
many work faces result due to the large number of drift faces
ore is blasted against a caved face therefore explosive consumption is high

Advantages

high productivity rate

many work faces and efficient
highly mechanized
safe method as non-entry

Disadvantages

high dilution
surface subsidence results
potential for high ore losses - low recovery
explosive consumption high (choke blasting)
high development costs
hi intensity of drill and blast required in order to generate a mobile granular ore within a
cave medium

Block Caving
Block caving is applicable to large, deep, lowgrade deposits.
It is often done to continue mining after open pit
mining becomes uneconomic or impossible.
However, some mines start as block cave
operations.
A grid of tunnels is driven under the orebody.
The rock mass is then undercut by blasting.
Ideally the rock will break under its own weight.
Broken ore is then taken from draw points.
There may be hundreds of draw points in a
large block cave operation (Figure 3).

Block Caving

orebody and hangingwall must cave therefore the ore

must have sufficient plan area to initiate cave through
the undercut (>1000m2). Vertical dimension generally
greater .
massive and/or tabular and steep, uniform shape
steeply dipping >50 degrees unless massive which then
requires a high vertical dimension
orebody and hangingwall must be weak and cavable.
Otherwise the undercut area must be large and
consequently fragmentation is large.
high dilution, very sensitive to poor fragmentation
no selectivity
surface conditions must allow for subsidence

Block Caving

Block Caving

Block Caving

Block Caving

Block Caving
Summary of application
upon completion of the undercut the ore falls down finger raises or cones
and is a continuous process as material is removed at the draw level
theoretically no production drilling is required. In practise, long holes are
drilled widely spaced to induce fracturing, secondary drilling of oversize
rock is a frequent operation.
ore handling in track mining utilizes gravity forces to deliver material to
rail cars. However, chutes require small fine fragmentation and grizzly is
very labour intensive and is generally a bottleneck in the production
cycle.
Ore handling in trackless mining is through drawpoint mucking and the
development work required is substantially reduced since no grizzly level
or raises.
Rule of thumb: for an orebody to be cavable approximately 50% of the
ore fragments should break to 1.5m or less in maximum dimension. One
can't have large arches formed since will result in an air blast/or high
stresses in the abutments.

 Advantages

Block Caving

highest production rate of any underground mining method

lowest operating cost of any underground mining method
production (not development) is entirely by caving ie. No drill or blast
other than secondary blasting
ability to be highly mechanized

Disadvantages

caving and subsidence occur on large scale

high dilution
draw control is critical to success of method
slow and extensive development requirements
high support costs
caving and fragmentation is extremely difficult to predict or control
inflexible method- no selectivity
possible ore oxidation if caving/drawing is slow

Mining Equipment

Drilling

Drilling

Drilling Equipment - Jackleg

Drill Development Jumbo

Drill Development Jumbo

Drill Development
Jumbo

Drill longhole ITH

Drill Longhole - ITH

Drill Longhole Tophammer

Drill Longhole - Tophammer

Drill Longhole - Tophammer

Drill Raise bore rotary drill

Drill Raise bore rotary drill

Raisebore Station and Reamer Bit

Mucking
Equipment Cavo

Mucking Equipment - Cavo

Mucking Equipment LHD with 11

m3 bucket

Muching Equipment Remote

Control Scoop

Mucking Equipment 15 tonne

Truck

Mucking Equipment 50 tonne

Truck

Mucking Equipment LHD

loading Truck

Mucking Equipment 50 tonne

Truck

Mucking Equipment 50
tonne Truck

Mucking Equipment U/G ore train

Hardrock Mining Method Selection

Nicolas Method
Identify key factors that determine mining method
Rank each of the factors for different methods
Apply all factors to an orebody
Orebody with the highest rating is the optimum mining
method

Hardrock Mining Method Selection

Hardrock Mining Method Selection

Hardrock Mining Method Selection

Hardrock Mining Method Selection

Hardrock Mining Method Selection

Hardrock Mining Method Selection

Hardrock Mining Method Selection

Hardrock Mining Method Selection

Hardrock Mining Method Selection

Hardrock Mining Method Selection

Hardrock Mining Method Selection

 SOFTROCK MINING
Potash
Coal

Potash Mining
Long room-and-pillar mining method. Ore is
mined from rooms in three passes,
separated by pillars supporting the
overlying strata.
Automated Marietta continuous miners are
capable of extracting up to 650t/h of ore.
The run-of-mine ore is loaded on to
extensible conveyors attached to the
continuous miners. These connect to the
main haulage conveyors, which move the
ore to skip-loading pockets at the shafts,
where it is hoisted to surface.

Long Wall Mining

Highly mechanized underground mining system for

mining coal.
A layer of coal is selected and blocked out into an
area known as a panel.
A typical panel might be 3000 m long by 250 m wide.
Passageways areexcavated along the length of the
panel to provide access and to place a conveying
system to transport material out of the mine.
Entry tunnels are constructed from the
passageways along the width of the panel. The
longwall system mines between entry tunnels.
Extraction is an almost continuous operation
involving the use of self-advancing hydraulic roof
supports sometimes called shields, a shearing
machine, and a conveyor which runs parallel to the
face being mined.

Longwall Mining

Long Wall Mining

Long Wall Mining

Long Wall Mining

Long Wall Mining

Soft Rock Room and Pillar Equipment

Soft Rock Room and Pillar Equipment

Soft Rock Room and Pillar Equipment

Underground Softrock Mining