Raising methods in metal Mines

Raising is a regular operation in the development of metalliferous mines. It is associated

with danger of accidents due to fall of roof rock, inadequate ventilation resulting in
poor visibility at the work site and uncomfortable working conditions. Frequent climbing
up and down the ladder, often with tools, between the working spot and lower level is
quite tedious for the workers.The methods practiced for raising are:

1. Open raising by drilling, blasting, mucking.

2. Two or three compartment raising.

3. Raising with Jora raise lift.

4. Raising by long hole drilling.

5. Raising with Alimak Raise Climber.

6. Raise bores latest achievement

7. Drop raising method.

Open Raising :
This is simple and most common method adopted in majority of the metal mines. The
workers stand on a platform or seaffold made of timber planks supported n stulls or iron
bars fitted into the footwall. The clamps used for supporting the platforms are made in
standard lengths out of old rails. The drilling of holes for blasting is by jackhammers and
generally follows wedge pattern cut pattern. Holes are 32 mm dia, and 1.5 m deep.
Before each round is blasted the platform is dismantled. Immediately after blasting.
Compressed air is forced to the working faces by opening valve of the ventilation. In
longer raises sometimes a blower with a flexible air duct is installed. During drilling
exhaust from the compressed air drill provides ventilation. Access to the faces is by
ladders made of wood, tubular steel or rope.

This method is conveniently adopted for raises of moderate lengths (upto 8 m) and
inclination of 40 degree to60 degrees with the horizontal if the strata and wall rock are
strong enough to support themselves so that artifical supports are not required. In order to
accommodate the stopper and starting drill steel of 800 mm length a clear head room of
2.0 m is required. One or two rounds are drilled standing on the muck but later on a
seaffold is made and fixed in the drilled in the walls. The scaffold is advanced regularly
so as to maintain necessary head room a the face. Broken rock rolls down by gravity and
placing ladders and pipes on foot wall and sides respectively is very convenient. Carefull
checking and dressing down of the loose rock by skilled workers before allowing workers
to go up is essential. The disadvantages of the method are:

1. Lack of ventilation.

2. Damage to pipes and ladders etc. from the blasting.

3. Loss of efficiency when the raises go higher as the workers have to

frequently go up and down the ladders.

4. Platform holes require careful alignment.

At Jaduguda mine where this method of open raise was adopted for a number of stopes,
the longest raise driven was 90 m at 45 inclination.

Two or three compartment raising

This method of raising adopted for vertical or very steep raises only. After initial
excavation from the lower level in the direction of the raise for 2 m the raise is divided
into 2 or 3 compartments and the method of further raising is similar to that of driving a
vertical shaft up-ward.

This method of raising consumes a large quantity of timber and has the disadvantage of
sluggish ventilation. The efficient and direct handling of broken rock by a chute for quick
loading directly into tubs is its advantage. 15-20 m is generally the limit for drivage by
this method.

DROP RAISING IN MINING (VCR) METHOD

The method of drop raising is an improvement over the method of raising through
longholing, described earlier. In India at the Copper Mines of Khetri Copper Complex.
This is a method of making a raise connection between two adjacent levels, nearly 60 m
apart, by drilling large dia. holes(150 165 mm) through, from upper level to lower level
and balsting them in stages. The raise is usually vertical but many also be steeply
inclined. The charging and blasting of the holes is based on the recently devised method
of Vertical Crater Retreat.

The term cratering in blasting used in Craer Method are normally spherical or a
geometric equivalent, as research in the application of this breakage mechanism to rock
indicates that spherical charges or their equivalent produces optimum results. In blasting
practice, , spherical charges have been defined as having a length : diameter (L : D) ratio
of 4 : 1 or less, and upto but not exceeding a L : D equal to 6 : 1 or less, and upto but not
exceeding a L : D equal to 6 : 1. Thus for holes 165 mm dia. an explosive charge of 165
mm dia. and 990 mm in length would constitute a pherical charge.
At the Kolihan Copper Mines in K C C the raise is 3 m x 3m. The blast holes are 165mm
dia, 5 in number (1 in centre, 4 at corners) drilled from the top level to the bottom level,
nearly 57 m below. The charging of explosives into blast holes is done from the upper
level. A Wooden plug in two pices tied to a nylon rope is lowered into the blast hole to
plug the bottom mouth of the blast hole. Aggregate, nearly 12 mm in size, is stemmed for
a length of 1 m followed by charging of alurry explosives ( Packaged cartrides) for a
length of 1.2. A detonating fuse is tied to the slurry explosives cartideges below they are
lowered into the hole. The explosives cartridges is nearly 34 kg. Above it a length of 1.8
m is packed with sand and the rest of the hole is left unstemmed. All the five blast holes
are charged and they are blasted in a sequence with the help of delay detonators at a time
from the surface when no worker is allowed to remain underground.

The roof of the lower level provides a free face for the explosive charged and the result of
blasting is that a cavity of nearly 1.8 m height is formed. The fragmentation is sufficiently
good for loading by LHD units. Dressing of the conical cavity is not ester. As the
mucking is in progress the upper portions of the blast holes are charged with explosives
in the manner as already described and the operation of loading, blasting and mucking
follow smilar pattern,. With each blasting a vertical height of 1.8 m is found in the shape
of a raise. The top 404.5 m of the blast holes, called plug, is however blasted in one step.
The raise so formed has its sides sufficiently strong and stable showing no adverse effect
by the heavy blasting.

Normally it is possible to have two blasts in a period of three shifts with reasonably good
supervision, and the raise is completed within a period of about 20 days, with due
allowance for minor delays.

In this method of blasting the central hole out of the total five blast holes should be of
large dia., 150 mm or 165 mm but the corner holes may be of smaller dia, nearly 100
mm. Small holes however result in more deviation. Moreover it is more convement to
drill all the holes of the same size once the drilling machine is set up at the site. Hense all
the holes are of 165 mm dia.

The main advantage of this method of drop raising is that no workers are employed in the
lower level except the operator of the LHD, unit. No sie dressing or roof dressing of the
raise is required. The entire work is safe and fast so that a raise nearly 57 m long is
completed within a period of about 20 days unless there are undue delays for some
reasons.