Mining Methods

in Underground Mining

Second edition 2007

www.atlascopco.com
When safety comes first

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and mining applications. Scaletec MC will give you higher
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Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB

www.atlascopco.com
Contents
Foreword
    2 Foreword by Hans Fernberg M
Sc Mining Engineering, Senior
Adviser, Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB

Talking Technically
   3 Trends in underground mining
   7 Geology for underground mining
 13 Mineral prospecting and exploration
 17 Finding the right balance in exploration drilling
 21 Underground mining infrastructure
 25 Principles of raise boring
 29 Mechanized bolting and screening
 33 Mining in steep orebodies
 39 Mining in flat orebodies
 43 Backfilling for safety and profit 105 High speed haulage at Stawell
 46 Atlas Copco rock bolts for mining 109 Sublevel stoping at Olympic Dam
115 Improved results at Meishan iron ore mine
Case Studies
119 Mechanized mining in low headroom at Waterval
 47 Innovative mining at Garpenberg 121 Large scale copper mining adapted to lower seams
 53 Changing systems at Zinkgruvan 125 Underground mining of limestone and gypsum
 59 Increasing outputs at LKAB iron ore mines 129 Sub level caving for chromite
 63 From surface to underground at Kemi 133 Getting the best for Peñoles
 69 Mining magnesite at Jelšava 137 Keeping a low profile at Panasqueira
 73 All change for Asikoy copper mine
 77 Mining challenge at El Soldado
Front cover: Headframe at Australia´s Golden Grove mine.
 83 Pioneering mass caving at El Teniente
 91 Boxhole boring at El Teniente All product names such as Boomer, Boltec, Simba, COP,
Scooptram and Swellex are registered Atlas Copco trademarks.
 97 Modernization at Sierra Miranda
For machine specifications contact your local Atlas Copco
 99 Mount Isa mines continues to expand Customer Center or refer to www.atlascopco.com/rock

Produced by tunnelbuilder ltd for Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB, SE-701 91 Örebro, Sweden, tel +46 19 670 -7000, fax - 7393. Publisher
Ulf Linder [email protected] Editor Mike Smith [email protected] Senior Adviser Hans Fernberg
[email protected] Picture Editor Patrik Johansson [email protected]
Contributors Marcus Eklind, Patrik Ericsson, Jan Jönsson, Mathias Lewén, Gunnar Nord, Björn Samuelsson,
all [email protected], Adriana Potts [email protected], Kyran Casteel [email protected], Magnus
Ericsson [email protected]. The editor gratefully acknowledges extracts from Underground Mining Methods
– engineering fundamentals and international case studies by William A Hustrulid and Richard L Bullock, published by SME, details
from www.smenet.org

Designed and typeset by ahrt, Örebro, Sweden Digital copies of all Atlas Copco reference editions can be ordered from the
Printed by Welins Tryckeri AB, Örebro, Sweden publisher, address above, or online at www.atlascopco.com/rock. Reproduction of
Copyright 2007 Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB. individual articles only by agreement with the publisher.

underground mining methods 1

Foreword
In history, before miners had access to productive equipment mine-wide, are benefiting from experience gained by tunnel
and blasting agents, mining was hard and hazardous manual contractors, who frequently have to concentrate their focus
work. The idea of excavating large volumes of rock to access on a single tunnel face. This makes the latter more suited for
even the richest mineral zones was not feasible, and, as a re- high -speed ramp and drift development, and is one reason
sult, ore veins were selectively followed, predominantly close why contractors are increasingly being employed by mine
to the surface, or inside mountains. During the past century, owners on this type of work. Also, contractors bring with
introduction of diesel power and electricity, combined with new them a range of skills developed under various conditions in
methods of mineral dressing, paved the way for large scale multiple locations, and frequently have the latest and most
open pit mining, and later for mechanized underground mining. sophisticated equipment immediately available. Gone are the
Nevertheless, the largest quantities of ore are still excavated days when contractors got only the jobs that the mine
from surface deposits. manage-ment could not do, or simply didn’t want to do.
Nowadays, it is normal for a contractor to bring specialist
Atlas Copco, as an equipment supplier with a truly global
skills and equip-ment to the project, and for the mine to get
presence, has been at the forefront of technical and innova- its development work completed faster and cheaper than by
tive development. From pneumatic to hydraulic power, from doing it itself. After all, when bringing mines to production,
railbound to trackless haulage, from handheld to rig time and cost are crucial factors in their viability.
mounted rock drills, and lately, from manual to
computerized opera-tion, Atlas Copco expertise is making When designing, manufacturing, selling and servicing Atlas
mining safer and more efficient. Copco equipment, we commit ourselves to achieving the
high-est productivity, and the best return on customer
Today, the mining industry, in its continuous battle for investment. Only by being close to customers, by sharing
profit-ability, is getting more and more capital intensive. their problems and understanding their methods and
Technical development, especially in underground mining, applications, do we earn the opportunity to be the leading
has been extremely rapid during the past decade. Less labour manufacturer, and the natu-ral first choice.
is re-quired, and safety and environmental aspects are of
prime importance. Our main ambition with this book is to stimulate technical
interchange between all people with a special interest in this
Growing demand for metals has resulted in today’s world wide fascinating business. These include, in particular,
exploration and mining boom. However, mining companies
underground miners, managers and consultants, universities,
have experienced increasing difficulties in recruiting skilled
and our own sales and marketing organization.
labour to work in remote mining communities. This has led to a
stronger involvement from contractors now carrying out tasks The various cases from leading mines around the world illus-
beyond the more traditional shaft sinking operations. Today, trate how geological and geotechnical conditions, never being
contractors get engaged in all kinds of mine infra-structure identical, give birth to new and more successful variants of
works such as drifting, both inside and outside the orebodies, mining methods. We hope that some of this material will result
and might also be involved in production and mine planning, as in expanded contacts between mining companies in their battle
well as scheduling. The miners, tradition-ally focusing on to be more competitive and profitable.
maximizing the utilization of their equipment

Hans Fernberg
M Sc Mining Engineering
Senior Adviser
Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB

[email protected]

2 underground mining methods

 Mining trends

Trends in underground mining

Boom time
in mining
The mining boom continues
unabated. After a difficult ending to
the 20th century, with metal prices
trending downwards for almost 30
years, the global mining industry
recovered in the early 2000s. Some
observers claim that the industry
will see a long period of increasing
metal prices and, although develop-
ments will continue to be cyclical,
there are predictions of a “super
cycle”. Already it is obvious that
the present boom is something
extraordinary in that it has lasted
longer than previous booms in the
late 1970s and the early 1950s. An
almost insatiable demand for
metals has been created by the
unprecedented economic growth in
several emerging economies led by
China, with India and Russia
trailing not far behind. The
distribution of the value of metal
production at the mine stage is
shown in figure 2 on page 4 page.
China and Australia are competing
for first place with roughly 10 per-
cent each. Some economic theo-
retitians, active during the late
1980s, who claimed that econo-mic
growth could take place with-out
metals have been proved ut-

terly wrong.
Dynamic growth in China.

Stable growth
Investments into new mines have in- Figure 1: Mining projects under construction. (Raw Materials Data 2007)
creased dramatically and all indicators
point to a continued high level of proj- M USD
ect activities during the next couple of
years, see figure 1. 30 000
25 000
Whatever the investment activities or
metal prices, the amount of metal 20 000 Trends
produced every year in global mining is
fairly stable and increasing slowly but
15 000
steadily. Total volumes of rock and ore
handled in the global mining industry Trends
10 000
amount to approximately 30,000 Mt/y.
This figure includes ore and barren rock 5 000

and covers metals, industrial minerals

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
and coal. Roughly 50% are metals, coal
about 45%, and industrial minerals
account for the remainder.

underground mining methods 3

 Mining trends

Metal shares of total value gold copper iron ore nickel lead zinc PGMs diamonds other

Value of metal production at mines. (Raw Materials Data 2007)

of barren rock produced can be calcu-

Metal ore lated as some 10,000 Mt/y. In total, the
Open pit vs underground
Global metal ore production is around amount of rock moved in the metals mi- There was a slow trend in the late 20th
5,000 Mt/y. Open pit mining accounts ning business globally is hence around century towards open pit production.
for some 83% of this, with underground 15,000 Mt/y. The dominance of open pit
Two of the most important reasons for
methods producing the remaining 17%. operations stems in terms of the amounts
Barren rock production from under- of rock handled, to a large extent, from this were as follows:
ground operations is small, not exceed- the necessary removal of overburden, Lower ore grades
ing 10% of total ore production, but the which is often drilled and blasted. Due to depletion of the richer ore
barren rock production from open pit By necessity, the open pit operations bodies, the higher- cost underground
operations is significant. are larger than the underground ones.
extraction methods are not economic.
Open pits typically have a strip ratio, The map below shows the distribution of
See the figure below.
the amount of overburden that has to be metal ore production around the world,
removed for every tonne of ore, of 2.5. and also the split between open pit and New technologies
Based on this assumption, the amount underground tonnages. The more efficient exploitation of lower-
grade deposits using new equipment and
Metal ore production from open pits (green), underground (red). (Raw Materials Data 2005) new processes, such as the hydrometal-
lurgical SX-EW methods for copper
Total 5 000 Mt extraction, has enabled companies to
work with lower ore grades than with
Europe + Russia
401/188 Mt traditional methods.
898/77 Mt 750/185 Mt
Future
Development of new mining technolo-
244/175 Mt gies is driven by a range of underlying
factors, which affect all stakeholders.
Mines are getting deeper and hotter,
1319/117 Mt and are now more often located in
455/85 Mt
harsh en-vironments.
Legislation, particularly concerning
open pit underground
emissions, and increased demands on

4 underground mining methods

 Mining trends

Rock production (2005)

Ore Waste Total %

(Mt) (Mt) (Mt)
Metals

Underground 850 85 935 3

Open pit 4 130 10 325 14 500 47
Total 4 980 10 410 15 400 50
Industrial minerals
Underground 65 5 70 0
Open pit 535 965 1 500 5
Total 600 970 1 570 5
Sub total 5 600 11 400 17 000 55
Coal
Underground 2 950 575 3 500 12
Open pit 2 900 7 250 10 000 33
Total 5 850 7 825 13 500 45
Overall total 11 450 19 225 30 700 100

Assumptions: 10% waste in underground metal and industrial mineral operations. Strip ratio (overburden/ore) in open
pit metal operations is 2.5. The strip ratio in industrial minerals is 1.8. For coal, underground barren rock is set at 20%, and the strip
ratio in open-pit mines is 2.5. Industrial minerals includes limestone, kaolin, etc. but excludes crushed rock and other construction
materials. Salt, dimensional stones, precious stones are not included. Diamonds are included in metals.

noise and vibration, affect the miners manufacturer promotes new technolo-gies, densely populated countries has
and equipment operators. Safety de- as does competition from other suppliers. further meant that underground mining
mands have already completely In the early years of the 21st century, new is the only viable alternative. Such
changed some unit operations, such as efficient underground me-thods and developments have halted the growth
rock bolt-ing and scaling. Similar equipment have made it possible to turn of open pit mi-ning and it is projected
developments will continue. open pit mines that had become that the pre-sent ratio 1:6 underground
Customers demand higher productiv- uneconomical because of their depth into to open pit mining will continue in the
ity, and there is an increasing focus on profitable underground ope-rations. The medium term.
machine availability and simpler service orebody in these mines is usually steep
procedures in order to reduce down- dipping, and can be mined with the most Magnus Ericsson
time. Reduction of internal development efficient block caving meth-ods. The Raw Materials Group
and production costs by the equipment competition for land in some

2500 2
1.8
(%)
Copper/oreproduction metal(mt)

2000 1.6
1.4
1500 1.2
Ore grade

1
1000 0.8
0.6
500 0.4
0.2
0 0
1930 1945 1960 1975 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000
Copper production Ore production Copper ore grade

underground mining methods 5

 Mining trends

Bingham Canyon copper mine near Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

6 underground mining methods

 Geology for Mining

Geology for underground mining

Importance
of geology
A thorough understanding of the
geology of a mineral deposit is
fundamental to its successful
exploitation, and this is especially
important for underground work-
ing. As such, geology is a vital
factor in the correct selection of
mining method and equipment.
Once a mining method is chosen, a
major variance in the geology may
make it difficult to change the
approach to mining, com-pared to
more flexible opencast work. This
chapter reviews some of the
important basic aspects of geology
that may affect decisions about
mining method . Atlas Copco offers
a full range of drill-ing products for
site investiga-tion, and for mine
development and production.
1. Recent alluvium, lake and 5. Weathered orebodies producing 8. Metamorphic sandstone
sea-bed deposits e.g. 6. azurite, malachite, cuprite, etc. 9. – high proportion of quartz.
mud, sands, calcite. River valley deposits may inclu- Metamorphic limestone as
2. Orebodies, e.g. containing de gold, platinum, diamonds, marble, etc – calcite and dolomite.
The earth’s crust galena, sphalerite, cassiterite or magnetite, as 10. Metamorphic shales as
chalcopyrite and pyrite. well as clays and sands. slates, schists, etc. – with
The earth’s crust consists of a variety of 3. Weathered shale, per- 7. Volcanic rocks – fine-grained garnet, mica, feldspar.
rocks, formed under different cir- haps forming bauxite. minerals including feldspar, 11. Contact zones between
cumstances, and with a wide variety of 4. Weathered sandstone, perhaps quartz, olivine, hornblende, igneous and ‘country’ rocks –
having high quartz content. magnetite and mica. garnet, hornblende, sulphides.
properties. Rocks usually consist of one
or more minerals, ranging from single
chemical elements to complex com- Oxygen also occurs commonly in
pounds. There are known to be more combination with metallic elements,
Minerals
than 3,000 different minerals. which are often important sources for In some circumstances, the properties of
Of the 155 known elements, some of mining purposes. These compounds individual minerals can be impor-tant to
which do not occur naturally, oxygen is can form part of oxidic ores, such as the means of mining, and will certainly
by far the most common, making up the iron ores magnetite and hematite. be important for the means of extraction
about 50% of the earth’s crust by Sulphur also readily combines with of the materials to be ex-ploited. More
weight. Silicon forms about 25%, and metallic elements to form sulphide often, however, minerals will be mixed
the other common elements such as alu- ores, including galena, sphalerite, with others to form the various types of
minium, iron, calcium, sodium, potas- molybde-nite and arsenopyrite. rocks, and the pro-perties will be
sium, magnesium and titanium build up Other large mineral groups impor- combined to form both homogenous and
the total to 99% of the earth’s crust. tant in mining include halogenides heterogeneous struc-tures. Feldspar
Silicon, aluminium and oxygen oc- such as fluorite and halite, carbonates accounts for almost 50% of the mineral
cur in the commonest minerals such as such as calcite, dolomite and composition of the earth’s crust. Next
quartz, feldspar and mica, which form malachite, sul-phates such as barite, come the pyrox-ene and amphibole
part of a large group known as sili- tungstates such as scheelite, and minerals, closely followed by quartz and
cates, being compounds of silicic acid phosphates such as apatite. mica. These minerals all make up about
and other elements. Amphiboles and Rarely, some elements can occur 90% of the composition of the earth’s
py-roxenes contain aluminium, na-turally without combination. The crust.
potassium and iron. Some of the im-portant ones are the metals gold, Minerals have a wide variety of pro-
earth’s common-est rocks, granite and silver and copper, plus carbon as perties that can be important in their
gneiss, are com-posed of silicates. diamonds and graphite. usefulness to man, and to the best way

underground mining methods 7

 Geology for Mining

to mine or tunnel through them, or both. mineral, but not following a crystal- Samples of common rock types
Some of these important characteris- lographically defined plane. Fracture
tics, which are also important for cor- is usually uneven in one direction or
rect mineral identification in the field another.
before chemical analysis, are hardness, Cleavage denotes the properties of
density, colour, streak, lustre, fracture, a crystal whereby it allows itself to be
cleavage and crystalline form. split along flat surfaces parallel with
The particle size, and the extent to certain formed, or otherwise crystal-
which the mineral is hydrated or other- lographically defined, surfaces. Both
wise mixed with water, can be very im- fracture and cleavage can be important
portant to the behaviour of the rock to the structure of rocks containing sub-
structure when excavated. Mineral hard- stantial amounts of the minerals con-
ness is commonly graded according to cerned. Amphibolite.
the Moh 10-point scale Properties
The density of light- coloured miner-
als is usually below 3. Exceptions are
barite or heavy spar (barium sulphate Rocks, normally comprising a mixture
– BaSO4 – density 4.5), scheelite (cal- of minerals, not only combine the prop-
cium tungstate – CaWO4 – density 6.0) erties of these minerals, but also exhibit
and cerussite (lead carbonate – PbCO4 properties resulting from the way in
– density 6.5). Dark coloured miner- which the rocks have been formed, or
als with some iron and silicate have perhaps subsequently altered by heat,
densities between 3 and 4. Metallic ore pressure and other forces in the earth’s

Moh’s hardness Typical mineral Identification of hardness

scale Dolomitic limestone.
1 Talc Easily scratched with a fingernail
2 Gypsum
Barely scratched with a fingernail cause mineral concentrations. In order
3 Calcite for mining to be economic, the required
Very easily scratched with a knife
4 Fluorite minerals have to be present in sufficient
Easily scratched with a knife concentration to be worth extracting,
5 Apatite and within rock structures that can be
Can be scratched with a knife
6 Orthoclase excavated safely and economically. As
Difficult to scratch with a knife, but
regards mine development and produc-
7 Quartz can be scratched with quartz
tion employing drilling, there must be a
Scratches glass and can be correct appraisal of the rock concerned.
8 Topaz scratched with a hardened steel file This will affect forecast drill penetra-
Scratches glass and can be tion rate, hole quality, and drill steel
9 Corundum scratched with emery board/paper costs, as examples.
(carbide) One must distinguish between micro-
Scratches glass. Can be scratched scopic and macroscopic properties, to
10 Diamond with a diamond determine overall rock characteristics.
As a rock is composed of grains of vari-
Scratches glass and can only be
ous minerals, the microscopic proper-
marked by itself
ties include mineral composition, grain
size, the form and distribution of the
minerals have densities over 4 Gold crust. It is comparatively rare to find grain, and whether the grains are loose
has a very high density of 19.3. rocks forming a homogeneous mass, and or cemented together. Collectively, these
Minerals with tungsten, osmium and they can exhibit hard-to -predict factors develop important properties of
iridium are normally even denser. discontinuities such as faults, perhaps the rock, such as hardness, abrasiveness,
Streak is the colour of the mineral filled with crushed material, and major compressive strength and density. In
powder produced when a mineral is jointing and bedding unconformities. turn, these rock properties determine the
scratched or rubbed against unglazed penetration rate that can be achieved,
These discontinuities can be important
white porcelain, and may be different and how heavy the tool wear will be.
in mining, not only for the structural
In some circumstances, certain min-
from the colour of the mineral mass. security of the mine and gaining access
Fracture is the surface characteristic to mineral deposits, but also as paths for eral characteristics will be particularly
produced by breaking of a piece of the fluids in the earth’s crust which important to the means of excavation.

8 underground mining methods

 Geology for Mining

(0.5-1.0 mm) or dense (grain size 0.05 become fine-grained, sometimes even
mm). A granite may be coarse-grained forming glass.
(size >5 mm), medium-grained (1-5 Depending on where the magma soli-
mm) or fine-grained (0.5-1.0 mm). difies, the rock is given different names,
A rock can also be classified in even if its chemical composition is the
terms of its structure. If the mineral same, as shown in the table of main
grains are mixed in a homogeneous igneous rock types. A further subdivi-
mass, the rock is termed massive, as sion of rock types depends on the silica
with most granite. In mixed rocks, the content, with rocks of high silica con-
grains tend to be segregated in layers, tent being termed acidic, and those with
whether due to sedimentary formation lower amounts of silica termed basic.
or metamorphic action from heat The proportion of silica content can
and/or pressure. Thus, the origin of a determine the behaviour of the magma
Sandstone.
rock is also important, although rocks and lava, and hence the structures it can
of different origin may have similar produce.
structural properties such as layering.
The three classes of rock origin are: Sedimentary rocks
Igneous or magmatic: formed
from solidified lava at or near the Sedimentary rocks are formed by the
surface, or magma underground. deposition of material, by mechanical or
Sedimentary: formed by the deposi- chemical action, and its consolidation
tion of reduced material from other under the pressure of overburden. This
rocks and organic remains, or by chemi- generally increases the hardness of the
cal precipitation from salts, or similar. rock with age, depending on its mineral
Metamorphic: formed by the composition. Most commonly, sedimen-
trans-formation of igneous or tary rocks are formed by mechanical
Gneiss. action such as weathering or abrasion on
sedimentary rocks, in most cases by an
increase in pressure and heat. a rock mass, its transportation by a
Many salts, for example, are particu- medium such as flowing water or air,
larly elastic, and can absorb the shocks
of blasting without a second free face
Igneous rocks and subsequent deposition, usually in
still water. Thus, the original rock will
being cut, thereby directly influencing Igneous rocks are formed when mag-ma partially determine the characteristics of
mining method. solidifies, whether plutonic rock, deep in the sedimentary rock. Weathering or
The drillability of a rock depends the earth’s crust as it rises to the surface erosion may proceed at different rates,
on, among other things, the hardness in dykes cutting across other rock or sills as will the transportation, affected by the
of its constituent minerals, and on the following bedding planes, or volcanic, climate at the time and the nature of the
grain size and crystal form, if any. as lava or ash on the sur-face. The most original rock. These will also affect the
Quartz is one of the commonest mi- important mineral con-stituents are nature of the rock eventually formed, as
nerals in rocks. Since quartz is a very quartz and silicates of vari-ous types, but will the conditions of deposi-tion.
hard material, high quartz content in
mainly feldspars. Plutonic rocks solidify Special cases of sedimentary rock
rock can make it very hard to drill, and
slowly, and are therefore coarse-grained, include those formed by chemical depo-
will certainly cause heavy wear, par-
whilst volcanic rocks solidify sition, such as salts and limestones, and
ticularly on drill bits. This is known as
abrasion. Conversely, a rock with a high comparatively quickly and organic material such as coral and shell
content of calcite can be comparatively
easy to drill, and cause little wear on Table of main igneous rock types
Silica (SiO ) Plutonic rocks Dykes and Sills Volcanic (mainly
drill bits. As regards crystal form, 2
min-erals with high symmetry, such as content lava)
cubic galena, are easier to drill than Basic – <52% Gabbro Diabase Basalt
minerals with low symmetry, such as SiO2
amphiboles and pyroxenes. Intermediate Diorite Porphyrite Andesite
A coarse -grained structure is easier – 52-65%
to drill, and causes less wear of the drill SiO2 Syenite Syenite Trachyte porphyry
string than a fine-grained structure. Con- Acidic – >65% Quartz diorite Quartz porphyrite Dacite
sequently, rocks with essentially the SiO2 Granodiorite Granodiorite Rhyodacite
same mineral content may be very dif-
porphyry
ferent in terms of drillability. For Granite Quartz porphyry Rhyolite
example, quartzite can be fine-grained

underground mining methods 9

 Geology for Mining

drilling. For example, cracks or inclined

Some sedimentary rock types

and layered formations can cause hole
Rock Original material deviation, particularly in long holes, and
Conglomerate Gravel, stones and boulders, generally with have a tendency to cause drilling tools
limestone or quartzitic cement to get stuck, although modern drilling
Greywacke Clay and gravel control methods can greatly reduce this
Sandstone Sand problem. Soft or crumbly rocks make it
Clay Fine-grained argillaceous material and difficult to achieve good hole quality,
precipitated aluminates since the walls can cave in. In extreme
Limestone Precipitated calcium carbonate, corals, cases, flushing air or fluid will disap-
shellfish pear into cracks in the rock, without
Coals Vegetation in swamp conditions removing cuttings from the hole. In
Rock salt, potash, gypsum, etc Chemicals in solution precipitated out by some rocks there may be substantial
heat cavities, such as with solution passages
Loess Wind-blown clay and sand in limestones, or gas bubbles in igne-
ous rock. These may necessitate prior
limestones and coals, while others will intrusions, are important sources of
grouting to achieve reasonable drilling
be a combination, such as tar sands and valuable minerals, such as those con- properties.
oil shales. centrated by deposition from hydrother- On a larger scale, the rock structure
Another set of special cases is gla- mal solutions in veins. may determine the mining method, ba-
cial deposits, in which deposition is As metamorphism is a secondary pro- sed on factors such as the shape of the
generally haphazard, depending on ice cess, it may not be clear whether a sedi- mineral deposit, and qualities such as
movements. mentary rock has, for example, become friability, blockiness, in-situ stress, and
Several distinct layers can often be metamorphic, depending on the degree plasticity. The shape of the mineral
observed in a sedimentary formation, of extra pressure and temperature to deposit will decide how it should be
although these may be uneven, accord- which it has been subjected. The min- developed, as shown in the chapters on
ing to the conditions of deposition. The eral composition and structure would mining flat and steep orebodies later in
layers can be tilted and folded by subse- probably give the best clue. this issue. The remaining rock qualities
quent ground movements. Sedimentary Due to the nature of their formation, can all be major factors in determining
rocks make up a very heterogeneous metamorphic zones will probably be the feasibility of exploiting a mineral
family, with widely varying character- associated with increased faulting and deposit, mainly because of their effect
istics, as shown in the table of sedimen- structural disorder, making the plan- on the degree of support required, for
tary rock types. ning of mine development, and efficient both production level drives and for
Metamorphic rocks drilling, more difficult. development tunnels.

Rock structures and mining Mineral deposit

The effects of chemical action, increased
method exploration
pressure due to ground movement, and/
or temperature of a rock formation can Macroscopic rock properties include There will be a delicate economic ba-
sometimes be sufficiently great to cause slatiness, fissuring, contact zones, lay- lance between an investment in devel-
a transformation in the internal struc- ering, veining and inclination. These opment drives in stable ground, perhaps
ture and/or mineral composition of factors are often of great significance in without useful mineralization, and
the original rock. This is called meta-
morphism. For example, pressure and
temperature may increase under the Typical metamorphic rocks
influence of up-welling magma, or be-
cause the strata have sunk deeper into Rock type Original rock Degree of metamorphism
the earth’s crust. This will result in Amphibolite Basalt, diabase, gabbro High
the recrystallization of the minerals, Mica schist Mudstone, greywacke, etc Medium to high
or the formation of new minerals. A Gneiss Various igneous rocks High
characteristic of metamorphic rocks is Green-schist Basalt, diabase, gabbro Low
that they are formed without complete Quartzite Sandstone Medium to high
remelting, or else they would be termed Leptite Dacite Medium
igneous. The metamorphic action often Slate Shale Low
makes the rocks harder and denser, and Veined gneiss Silicic-acid-rich silicate rocks High
more difficult to drill. However, many Marble Limestone Low
metamorphic zones, particularly formed
in the contact zones adjacent to igneous
10 underground mining methods
 Geology for Mining

drives within the mineral deposit, per- the existence and location of
haps of shorter life, but requiring more worthwhile minerals, but also to check
support measures. Setting aside sup-port on rock qua-lities in and around the
requirements, in general terms it would deposit. In un-derground mining,
seem beneficial to carry out as much of information from surface borehole and
the development work as pos-sible geophysical me-thods of investigation
within the mineral deposit, ma-king can be supple-mented by probe or core
development drives in non- pro-ductive drilling under-ground. The resulting
gangue rocks as short as pos-sible. vast amount of data may be too much
However, it may be decided that a major to be assessed manually, but computer
development asset, such as a shaft or software pro-grams are available to
transport level, should be in as stable a deduce the best strategies for mineral
ground area that can be found, with deposit exploi-tation. In addition, the
further drives or levels made from it. mining exper-tise of Atlas Copco is
In extreme cases, it may be found that available to help mining engineers
the mineral deposit cannot support decide, not only on the best equipment
development workings without consid- to use for investi-gation, development
erable expense. In these circumstances, and production, but also how these can
it might be better to make development be used to maximum effect.
drives near and below the mineral de- Diabase. The value of the mineral to be
posit, and exploit it with little direct en- mined will obviously be a determinant
try, such as by longhole drilling and on how much investigation work is
blasting, with the ore being drawn off desirable, but there will be a minimum
from below. level for each type of mine, in order to
Depending on the amount of distur- give some assurance of success.
bance that the mineral-bearing strata For example, lowvalue stratified
has been subjected to, the mineral de- de-posits, which are known to be
posit can vary in shape from stratified fairly uniform in thickness and have
rock at various inclinations, to highly regular dips, may not necessitate many
contorted and irregular vein bore-holes, although there could still
formations requiring a very irregular be surprises from sedimentary
development pattern. washouts or faults. On the other hand,
The latter may require small drives gold de-posits in contorted rock
to exploit valuable minerals, although formations will require frequent
the productivity of modern mining
boreholes from under-ground, as well
equipment makes larger section drives
as from the surface, to give assurance
more economic, despite the excavation
of the location of the deposit and to
of more waste rock.
sample the minerals it contains.
The tendency of a rock to fracture,
sometimes unpredictably, is also im- Rock classification
portant to determine drivage factors,
such as support requirements, and the
Granite. for drilling
charging of peripheral holes to prevent chances of mining success. There are Having determined the value and
overbreak. Although overbreak may not plenty of potential risks in underground shape of a mineral deposit, the nature
be so important in mining as in civil mining, and it is best to minimize these. and structure of the rocks that
tunnelling, it can still be a safety con- Using modern mining equipment, surround it, and the likely strategy for
sideration to prevent the excavation of there is the potential to turn the mine the mine deve-lopment, it should be
too much gangue material, and to pre- into a mineral factory. However, if un- possible to deter-mine the suitability
serve the structure of a drive. certainties manifest themselves in un- of various excava-tion methods for the
foreseen ground conditions, disap- rocks likely to be encountered.
Investigation pearing orebodies, and factors such as It will also be necessary to deter-
excessive water infiltration, then the mine which ancillary equipment may
and exploration advantage of productive mining equip- be required, and how best to fit this
It is clear that rock structures, and the ment will be lost, as it is forced to into the excavation cycle.
minerals they contain, can result in a stand idle. With drill - and-blast development
wide variety of possible mining strate- The only way to avoid these situa- drivages, for example, the rock types
gies. Obviously, the more information tions is to carry out as much exploration and structure may determine that sub-
that is gained, the better should be the work as possible, not only to investigate stantial support is required. This, in

underground mining methods 11

 Geology for Mining

turn, may require a rockbolting facility

on the drill rig, perhaps with an access
basket suitable for erecting arch crowns
and charging blastholes. It may be de-
cided that an additional rockbolting rig
is required, for secondary support.
In order to systematically determine
the likely excavation and support re-
quirements, the amount of consumables
required, and whether a particular me-
thod is suitable, a number of rock clas-
Marble Limestone
sification systems have been developed.
These are generally oriented to a par-
ticular purpose, such as the level of sup-
port required or the rock’s drillability.
The methods developed to assess
dril-lability are aimed at predicting
produc-tivity and tool wear. Factors of
drillabil-ity include the likely tool
penetration rate commensurate with tool
wear, the stand-up qualities of the hole,
its straight-ness, and any tendency to
tool jamming. Tool wear is often
proportional to drill-ability, although the
rock’s abrasiveness is important.
Rock drillability is determined by se-
veral factors, led by mineral composi-
tion, grain size and brittleness. In crude
terms, rock compressive strength or
hardness can be related to drillability for
rough calculations, but the matter is
usually more complicated.
The Norwegian Technical University
has determined more sophisticated
methods: the Drilling Rate Index (DRI)
and the Bit Wear Index (BWI).
The DRI describes how fast a par-
ticular drill steel can penetrate. It also
includes measurements of brittleness
and drilling with a small, standard ro- Relationship between drilling rate index and various rock types.
tating bit into a sample of the rock. The
higher the DRI, the higher the penetra- the BWI, the faster will be the wear. In et al). Bieniawski’s RMR incorporates
tion rate, and this can vary greatly most cases, the DWI and BWI are the earlier Rock Quality Designation
from one rock type to another, as inversely proportional to one another. (RQD – Deere et al), with some
shown in the bar chart. However, the presence of hard min- impor-tant improvements taking into
It should be noted that modern drill erals may produce heavy wear on the account additional rock properties.
bits greatly improve the possible pene- bit, despite relatively good drillability. All give valuable guidance on the
tration rates in the same rock types. This is particularly the case with quartz, rock’s ease of excavation, and its self-
Also, there are different types of bits which has been shown to increase wear supporting properties. In most cases,
available to suit certain types of rock. rates greatly. Certain sulphides in engineers will employ more than one
For example, Secoroc special bits for orebodies are also comparatively hard,
means of rock classification to give a
soft formations, bits with larger gauge impairing drillability.
better understanding of its behaviour,
buttons for abrasive formations, and Other means of commonly used rock
and to compare results.
guide bits or retrac bits for formations classification include the Q-system
where hole deviation is a problem. (Barton et al, through the Norwegian Björn Samuelsson
The BWI gives an indication of Geotechnical Institute), Rock Mass
how fast the bit wears down, as deter- Rating RMR (Bieniawski), and the
mined by an abrasion test. The higher Geological Strength Index GSI (Hoek

12 underground mining methods

 Mineral Prospecting and Exploration

Mineral prospecting
and exploration
Finding orebodies
For a geologist in the mining busi-
ness, exploiting an orebody is the
easy part of the job. The hardest
part is to find the orebody and de-
fine it. But how do you find these
accumulations of metallic miner-als
in the earth's crust? The mining
company has to ensure that an ore-
body is economically viable, and
needs a guarantee of ore produc-
tion over a very long period of time,
before it will engage in the heavy
investment required to set up a
mining operation. Even after pro-
duction starts, it is necessary to
locate and delineate any exten-
sions to the mineralization, and to
look for new prospects that may
replace the reserves being mined.
Investigating extensions, and
searching for new orebodies, are
vital activities for the mining
company.

Prospecting
Prospecting involves searching a district
for minerals with a view to further ope-
ration. Exploration, while it sounds si-
milar to prospecting, is the term used for
systematic examination of a deposit. It is
not easy to define the point where
prospecting turns into exploration.
A geologist prospecting a district is
looking for surface exposure of miner-
als, by observing irregularities in co-
lour, shape or rock composition. He uses
a hammer, a magnifying glass and some
Gold panning in the wind.

other simple instruments to examine trenches can be dug across the miner- the surrounding ground. Exploration is
whatever seems to be of interest. His alized area to expose the bedrock. A a term embracing geophysics, geo-
experience tells him where to look, to prospector will identify the discovery, chemistry, and also drilling into the
have the greatest chances of success. measure both width and length, and ground for obtaining samples from
Sometimes he will stumble across an- calculate the mineralized area. Rock any depth.
cient, shallow mine workings, which samples from trenches are sent to the
may be what led him to prospect that laboratory for analysis. Even when mi- Geophysical exploration
particular area in the first place. nerals show on surface, determining any
Soil-covered ground is inaccessible to extension in depth is a matter of quali- From surface, different geophysical me-
the prospector, whose first check would fied guesswork. If the prospector's thods are used to explore subsurface for-
be to look for an outcrop of the findings, and his theorizing about the mations, based on the physical proper-
mineralization. Where the ground cover probable existence of an orebody are ties of rock and metal bearing minerals
comprises a shallow layer of alluviums, solid, the next step would be to explore such as magnetism, gravity, electrical

underground mining methods 13

 Mineral Prospecting and Exploration

In regions where rock formations

con-tain radioactive minerals, the
intensity of radiation will be
considerably higher than the normal
background level. Mea-suring radiation
levels helps locate de-posits containing
uranium, thorium and other minerals
associated with radioac-tive substances.
The seismic survey is based on varia-
tions of sound velocity experienced in
different geological strata. The time is
measured for sound to travel from a
source on surface, through the underly-
ing layers, and up again to one or more
detectors placed at some distance on
surface. The source of sound might be
the blow of a sledgehammer, a heavy
falling weight, a mechanical vibrator, or
an explosive charge. Seismic surveys
determine the quality of bedrock, and
can locate the contact surface of geo-
logical layers, or of a compact mineral
deposit deep in the ground. Seismic sur-
veys are also used to locate oil-bearing
strata.
Geochemical surveying is another ex-
ploration technology featuring several
Two computer generated views of Agnico Eagle's Suurikuusiko
Is there gold in the trench?
gold mining project showing both surface and underground mining.
International Gold Exploration AB, IGE
conducts exploration works in Kenya.
conductivity, radioactivity, and sound of the underground masses.
velocity. Two or more geophysical meth- Electromag-netic surveys are mainly
ods are often combined in one survey, to used to map geological structures, and
acquire more reliable data. Results from to discover mineral deposits such as
the surveys are compiled, and matched sulphides containing copper or lead,
with geological information from surface magnetite, pyrite, graphite, and certain
and records from any core drilling, to manganese minerals.
decide if it is worth proceed-ing with Electric surveys measure either the
further exploration. natural flow of electricity in the gro-
und, or "galvanic" currents led into the
Surveys ground and accurately controlled.
Electrical surveys are used to locate
Magnetic surveys measure variations in mineral deposits at shallow depth and
the Earth's magnetic field caused by map geological structures to determine
magnetic properties of subsurface rock the depth of overburden to bedrock, or
formations. In prospecting for metallic to locate the groundwater table.
minerals, these techniques are parti- Gravimetric surveys measure small
cularly useful for locating magnetite, variations in the gravitational field
pyrrhotite and ilmenite. Electromagnetic cau-sed by the pull of underlying rock
surveys are based on variations of elec- mas-ses. The variation in gravity may
tric conductivity in the rock mass. An be caused by faults, anticlines, and salt
electric conductor is used to create a domes that are often associated with
primary alternating electromagnetic oil-bearing formations.
field. Induced currents produce a sec- Gravimetric surveys are also used
ondary field in the rock mass. The res- to detect high-density minerals, like
ultant field can be traced and measu-red, iron ore, pyrites and lead-zinc miner-
thus revealing the conductivity alizations.

14 underground mining methods

 Mineral Prospecting and Exploration

Atlas Copco underground core drilling rig Diamec U4.

specialities, the main one being to de- in the hole. Beyond that, the drillhole This was the accidental birth of
tect the presence of metals in the top- itself can provide a complementary core drilling, a technique now very
soil cover. By taking a large number of amount of information, particularly by widely used within the mining
samples over an extended area and logging using devices to detect industry. Core drilling is carried out
analyzing the minute contents of each physical anomalies, similar to the with special drill rigs, using a hollow
metal, regions of interest are identi- geophysical surveys mentioned above. drill string with an impregnated
fied. The area is then selected for more Core drilling is also used to define diamond cutting bit to re-sist wear
detailed studies. the size and the exact borders of minera- while drilling hard rock. The crown-
lization during the lifetime of the mine. shaped diamond bit cuts a cylindrical
Exploratory drilling This is important for determining ore core of the rock, which is caught and
grades being handled, and vital for cal- retained in a double tube core-barrel.
For a driller, all other exploration me- culating the mineral reserves that will A core-catcher is embedded in, or just
thods are like beating about the bush. keep the mine running in the future. A above, the diamond bit, to make sure
Drilling penetrates deep into the ground, that the core does not fall out of the
strategically-placed underground core
and brings up samples of whatever it tube. In order to retrieve the core, the
drill may also probe for new ore bodies
finds on its way. If there is any miner- core-barrel is taken to surface, either by
in the neighbourhood.
alization at given points far beneath the pulling up the complete drill string or, if
surface, drilling can give a straight- the appropriate equipment is being used,
forward answer, and can quantify its
Core drilling by pulling up only the inner tube of the
presence at that particular point. In 1863, the Swiss engineer M Lescot core-barrel with a special fishing device
There are two main methods of ex- designed a tube with a diamond set face, run inside the drill string at the end of a
ploratory drilling. The most common, for drilling in the Mount Cenis tunnel, thin steel wire.
core drilling, yields a solid cylinder where the rock was too hard for conven- The core is an intact sample of the
shaped sample of the ground at an tional tools. The intention was to explore un-derground geology, which can be
exact depth. Percussion drilling yields rock quality ahead of the tunnel face, exam-ined thoroughly by the geologist
a crushed sample, comprising cuttings and warn miners of possible rock falls. to determine the exact nature of the rock
from a fairly well-determined depth and any mineralization. Samples of

underground mining methods 15

 Mineral Prospecting and Exploration

At every step of the procedure, the

geologists examine the information at
hand, to recommend continuing the
Exploration Results ex-ploration effort. The objective is to
Mineral Resources Ore Reserves be fairly certain that the orebody is
eco-nomically viable by providing a
Inferred detailed knowledge of the geology for
a clear financial picture. Ore is an
Increasing level Indicated Probable economic concept, defined as a
of geological concentration of minerals, which can
knowledge and Measured Proved be economically exploited and turned
confidence into a saleable product.
Before a mineral prospect can be
labelled as an orebody, full knowledge
Consideration of mining, metallurgical, economic, marketing, is required about the mineralization,
legal, environmental, social and governmental factors (the proposed mining technology and pro-
”modifying factors”) cessing. At this stage a comprehensive
feasibility studied is undertaken cover-
ing capital requirements, returns on
investment, payback period and other
The 2004 Australasian code for reporting exploration results, mineral resources and ore reserves. essentials, in order for the board of di-
rectors of the company to make the
special interest are sent to a laboratory drilling is used. Reverse circulation dril- final decision on developing the pros-
for analysis to reveal any metal con- ling is a fast, but inaccurate, explora-tion pect into a mine.
tents. Cores from exploration drilling are method, which uses near- standard When probabilities come close to
stored in special boxes and kept in percussion drilling equipment. The certainties, a decision might be taken
archives for a long period of time. Boxes flushing media is introduced at the hole to proceed with underground
are marked to identify from which hole, collar in the annular space of a double- exploration. This is an expensive and
and at what depth, the sample was ta- tubed drill string, and pushed down to time-consum-ing operation, involving
ken. The information gathered by core the bottom of the hole to flush the sinking a shaft or an incline, and pilot
drilling is important, and represents sub- cuttings up through the inner tube. The mining drifts and galleries. Further
stantial capital investment. drill cuttings discharged on sur-face are drilling from under-ground positions
Traditionally, core drilling was a very and other studies will further establish
sampled to identify variations in the
arduous job, and developing new techni- the viability of the orebody.
mineralization of the rock mass. Reverse
ques and more operator-friendly equip- After the mineralization has been
circulation drilling uses much heavier
ment was very slow, and the cost per defined in terms of quantity and quality,
equipment than core drilling, and has
drilled metre was often prohibitive. Atlas the design of mine infrastructure starts.
thus a limited scope in depth.
Copco Geotechnical Drilling and Explo- The pictures on page 14 show recent
ration pioneered several techniques to From prospecting plans at the Suurikuusikko gold mine
reduce manual work, increase efficiency project in Finland where the optimum
and cut the cost per drilled metre. to mining mining methods combine both open pit
Over the years, the company developed Every orebody has its own story, but and un-derground mining. Production
thin walled core barrels, diamond impreg- there is often a sequence of findings. can start in the open pit while preparing
nated bits, aluminium drill rods, fast After a certain area catches the interest for the underground operation.
rotating hydraulic rigs, mechanical rod of the geologists, because of ancient With an increasing level of geologi-
handling, and, more recently, partly or mine works, mineral outcrops or geo- cal information the mineral resources get
totally computer-controlled rigs. Core logical similarities, a decision is taken to better confirmed. The feasibility study
drilling has always been the most power- prospect the area. If prospecting con- will take into consideration all
ful tool in mineral exploration. Now that it firms the initial interest, some geophy- economical aspects, as well as the ef-
has become much cheaper, faster and
sical work might be carried out. If inter- fects of the selected mining method.
est still persists, the next step would be
easier, it is being used more widely. Depending on the mining method, there
to core drill a few holes to find out if
could be essential differences between
Reverse there is any mineralization.
mineral resources and ore reserves, both
To quantify the mineralization, and
circulation drilling in terms of quantity and grade.
to define the shape and size of the ore
To obtain information from large ore- body, then entails large investment to Hans Fernberg
bodies where minerals are not concen- drill exploratory holes in the required
trated in narrow veins, reverse circulation patterns.

16 underground mining methods

 Right Balance

Finding the right balance

in exploration drilling
Chips or cores?
The question often faced by geolo-
gists and contractors is deciding
which method of exploration dril-
ling will get the most effective and
economical results. These days,
the answer is quite likely to be a
com-bination of chip sampling and
co-ring. Three key factors have
proved decisive in the successful
search for minerals and precious
metals: time, cost and confidence.
In other words, the time required,
the cost of getting the job done,
and con-fidence in the quality of
the sam-ples brought to the
surface for analysis. This is more a
question of basic technology and
logic than one of science. But it is
interest-ing to see these three
factors ex-pressed as a
There are pros and cons with both RC drilling and core drilling.
mathematical for-mula: confidence
over time multi-plied by cost,
equals profit. With profit, as
Substantial savings can be made by pre-collaring holes using RC drilling,
always, as the driving force.
once the general location of the mineralized zone has been established.

Conventional core drilling

The technique which produces cores of
subsurface material, core drilling, is the
most commonly used method of obtain-
ing information about the presence of
minerals or precious metals, as well as
rock formations. However, reverse cir-
culation drilling (RC), which produces
samples as chips, is gaining ground.
The reason is easy to see. RC drilling
is a faster and more economical way of
pre-collaring a deep hole in order to get
down to where the orebody is located. Fast and
economical
Once there, the driller can then decide to
RC drilling
continue with RC drilling to extract without taking
chips for evaluation, or switch to dia- samples
mond core drilling to extract cores. In
this way, RC drilling becomes the per-
fect complement to conventional core Pre-collaring Mineralized zone: Chip
drilling. Selecting which method to use samples from RC and/or

for actual sampling work depends cores for evaluation

largely on the preference of the geo-
logists, and their confidence in the
quality of the samples. Today, RC dril-
ling has become so advanced that more

underground mining methods 17

 Right Balance

of parts, fuel, casing, water, and con-

sumables also have a direct influence
Scenario 1 70m core / 24 hours with 1 core drilling rig on the number of metres drilled per
100% core drilling shift.
457 days
Scenario 2
Significant time savings can be achie-
50% RC (pre-collars only), 50% core drilling 70m core / 24 hours with 1 core drilling rig ved by using RC and core drilling in
301 days a balanced combination (see table 1).
Scenario 3 Here we can see that one RC rig can be
75% RC (pre-collars & full holes), 25% core drilling 70m core / 24 hours with 1 core drilling rig used to drill enough pre-collars to keep
223 days three core drilling rigs running for 24
In case three core drilling rigs would have been available in scenario 1, expected time is h/day. The time factors show obvious
152 days compared with 457 days. benefits using a combination of the two
In case three core drilling rigs would have been available in scenario 2, expected time is methods. In this scenario, a minimum
149 days compared with 301 days. of 25% of the total metres drilled were
A rough conclusion gives that the RC rig is somewhat faster than 3 core drilling rigs together.
specified as core drilling.
Table 1.
Cost factor
As early as 1887, Atlas Copco Craelius The cost perspective does not have
457 days 2,580,000 USD
301 day 740,000 USD had developed a rig that could retrieve any negative surprises in store as the
223 day 320,000 USD cores from depths of 125 m. Confidence costs are mostly related to the time fac-
in these samples among geologists was tor. The investment in RC rigs and equip-
Approx. cost of RC drilling – 30 USD / metre high, allowing them to evaluate a piece ment is higher compared to those of
Approx. cost of core drilling – 80 USD / metre of solid rock. In those days, time was core drilling, but as shown in table 2,
Table 2. not necessarily of any great importance the costs are reduced when a combina-
and neither was cost, with inexpensive tion of the two methods is used.
manpower readily available. In this example, it is shown that both
and more geologists believe that chips However, the demand for such pro- time and costs favour RC drilling. The
are perfectly sufficient as a means of ducts quickly increased, and availability figures are easy to evaluate. They vary
determining ore content. The commer- had to keep pace. This is very much the depending on the location and the local
cialization of RC drilling started in the case today with sharp market fluctu- conditions, but the relativity remains
1980s but the technique has certainly ations, and so technology innovators the same, and is strongly reflected in
been around for much longer. have to find ways to optimize profit in the development of the exploration
all situations. drilling process.
Time factor To further shorten time and cost, im-
mediate results from on- site evaluation
can be used, for which a scanning pro-
DTH hammers were invented in 1936 cess is already available.
and became popular during the 1970s, However, in the future it may not be
mainly for water well drilling applica- necessary to drill to obtain sufficient
tions. However, the method proved information about the orebodies, and
very useful for prospecting, affording manufacturers such as Atlas Copco
an initial evaluation on the spot of the Craelius are already taking up the chal-
cuttings emanating from the borehole. lenge to develop equipment and tech-
DTH drilling offers a considerably nologies with no limits and low envi-
higher drilling speed compared to core ronmental impact.
drilling, and the method was further Confidence factor
developed to increase its performance.
Higher air pressures combined with high
The third variable in the equation is
availability of the hammer are two fac-
tors that make it possible to drill faster. the confidence factor, because investors
Durability of the bit inserts is also much and geologists place strict demands on
improved, allowing more metres to be contractors to deliver the highest qual-
drilled without having to pull up the ity geological information. Investors
Principles for RC drilling showing flow of drillstring, further improving efficiency always require a fast return on their in-
and utilization of the hammer. vestments, and the geologists need solid
compressed air and chips. The sampling
The logistics surrounding the dril- results for the mine planners. However,
collection box is integrated into the cyclone.
ling programme concerning availability whenever a gold nugget is found, the
18 underground mining methods
 Right Balance

% rC drilling
100
80
Core drilling
60

40

20

0 latin russia australia Se asia uSa africa

Canada
america China

Ratios between core and RC drilling. The figures reflect total exploration expenditures from national statistics for surface and underground.

exploration drilling will not be carried of 500 m. By sealing off the bit from the favour core drilling rigs, which are
out by the same people, so reliability rest of the hole it can be kept dry. A much lighter and more adaptable in
of information is critical. There are correct selection of shroud vs bit tol- order to be flown into remote and
many reasons why geologists should erance maintains a pressurized zone sensitive environments.
choose their drilling method carefully. around the bit. Boosted air pressure is In areas with extremely cold climates
If there is no need for continuous in- needed to meet the higher water pres- and where permafrost is present, RC
formation about the geological forma- sure on its way down the hole. In addi- drilling may have its limitations. Anti-
tion on the way down, there is no need tion, a dry bit drills faster. freeze rock drill oil can help to keep the
for samples. It is just a matter of mini- It must be remembered that infor- hammer and bottom of the hole free
mizing the drilling time. The geometry mation from a core is crucial in esti- from ice. Other purely practical issues
of the orebody is already known, and mating the period of mineralized struc- determine the choice of one or the other
just a reconfirmation of the boundaries tures. The core helps the geologist to drilling method.
is necessary. In this case, RC drilling is calculate the cost of extracting the An intelligent, balanced choice be-
an efficient method to use. mineral from the ore. Large volumes of tween the two methods is the key to
A first scanning of virgin territory is rock have to be excavated to obtain just optimal results. The geologist plays an
being done where the goal is just to a few grammes of a valuable mineral. extremely important role in finding this
obtain a preliminary indication of pos- Cores also yield geotechnical data. balance, as do the manufacturers such as
sible content. In this case, the geologist Data about slope stability can be of the Atlas Copco Geotechnical Drilling and
is not relying on any mineralized struc- highest importance. Ground Exploration, who continue to pro-vide
ture or geometry. With an evaluation conditions are naturally also of great the right tools for the job.
giving positive results, a programme of importance and may produce
core drilling is the logical way to con- questionable sam-ples if some of the Jan Jönsson
tinue in order to bring the project to a information from fissured zones is left
resource/reserve status.If the minera- behind in the hole and not collected.
lized structure is identified but the In such circum-stances, core drilling
geometry and rate of content varies, RC could be the only alternative.
drilling is used as an indicator for
ensuring continued grade control. Increased usage
The geologist wants dry and repre-
sentative samples in order to make opti-
of RC drilling
mal evaluations. RC drilling below the RC drilling is on the increase, and may
groundwater table was previously be- well account for 55% of all metres
lieved to undermine sample quality. drilled in 2008. The diagram above
Core drilling therefore remained the shows some estimated ratios between
only viable method for these depths core and RC drilling in different parts of
Today, the availability of high pressure the world in 2002. In terms of metres
compressors and hammer tools makes it drilled, RC accounts for 50% and core
possible for RC drilling to reduce costs drilling for 50%. Tradition and environ-
even for these depths. mental impact play large roles. RC rigs
These days, professional contractors are heavy, and are mounted on trucks or
Explorac 220RC.
deliver dry sampling down to depths track carriers. This fact tends to

underground mining methods 19

Superior Productivity
in Exploration Drilling

In these busy times for exploration drillers, the focus is on

superior productivity at lower cost.

Through innovative products, local presence and technical

support, Atlas Copco delivers the most competitive solutions for
diamond core drilling and reverse circulation.

On surface or underground, from Arctic regions to sunburnt

deserts - you can count on the most comprehensive range of
exploration drilling equipment wherever you are.

Committed to your superior productivity.

www.atlascopco.com
 Mine Infrastructure

Underground mining infrastructure

Maximizing
recovery
The underground mine aims for
maximum economic recovery of
minerals contained in the bed-
rock. The orebody is the recove-
red volume containing valuable
minerals, taking ore losses and
dilution into account. The amount
of ore losses in pillars and rem-
nants, and the effects of waste
dilution, will largely depend on
the mining method to be applied.
Waste dilutes the ore, so miners
try to leave it in place, wherever
possible, especially when expen-
sive mineral dressing methods
are applied. Flotation of sulphide
ore is more expensive than mag-
netic separation of iron ore. Ore
close to the surface is mined by
open pit techniques, in which the
waste rock can be separated by
selective blasting and loading,
and trucked to the waste dump
instead of entering and diluting
the ore flow into the concentra-
tor. Subsurface orebodies are ex-
ploited by underground mining,
for which techniques are more
complex. A combination of open
pit mining and preparation for
future underground mining is
commonly used.
Ramp access for transport and haulage.

stopes with orepasses, tramming exploration drilling has to be

Underground infrastructure levels, and workshops for movement conducted to identify sufficient ore
of miners and equipment. reserves above the main haulage level
Mining methods used underground are Efficient ore handling is important. before final de-sign of the permanent
adapted to the rock conditions, and the The blasted ore is loaded from produc- installations can progress.
shape, dimensions, strength and stabil- tion stopes, via orepasses to a main There is currently a strong tendency
ity of the orebody. In order to work the hau-lage level, commonly railbound, to avoid shaft sinking by extending
underground rock mass, infrastructure is and thence to the crusher at the ramps from the surface successively
required for access to work places, ore hoisting shaft. deeper, to depths exceeding 1,000 m.
production, power supply, transport of The crushed ore is then stored in a There are a number of locations where
ore, ventilation, drainage and pumping silo before transfer by conveyor to the the deeper ore is hauled by trucks up
as well as maintenance of equipment. measuring pocket at the skip station, ramps to an existing railbound haulage
Traditionally, the most common me- from where it is hoisted to the surface system to the main crusher, from
thod to transport men, material, ore and stockpile. To decide on the shaft bottom where it can be hoisted to the surface.
waste is via vertical shafts. The shaft and main haulage level elevations are
forms the access to the various main un- crucial, as these are permanent instal- Services
derground levels, and is the mine’s main lations offering little or no flexibility in
artery for anything going up or down. the event that mining progresses below Electric power is distributed throughout
Shaft stations, drifts and ramps connect these levels. Consequently extensive the mine, and is used to illuminate work

underground mining methods 21

 Mine Infrastructure

towards the hangingwall, from where

the exhaust air is routed to the surface.

Transport infrastructure
Production Each mining method requires a differ-
Headframe plant ent underground infrastructure, such
Settling
pond
as access drifts to sublevels, drifts for
longhole drilling, loading drawpoints,
Tailings and orepasses. Together, they form an
intricate network of openings, drifts,
ramps, shafts and raises, each with its
designated function.
The shaft is a long-lived installation,
Skip
Open pit Ventilation and may be more than 50 years old. The
shaft hoist and cage provide access to the shaft
(mined out) station, which connects with a main level
Decline
along which trains or conveyors may run.
The skip is the most efficient way to hoist
ore from underground to surface.
Materials handling may be by utility
Mined out Abandoned vehicles or locomotive-hauled trains.
level The co-ordination of train haulage with
and
backfilled shaft hoisting, from level to level, makes
Sublevel Ore the logistics of rail transport complex.
Workers in a rail-track mine are requi-
pass
Cage red to wait for cage riding until shift
Producing Main level changes, or scheduled hours, with ma-
stopes Haulage level Crusher Skip terial transport only permitted at certain
Water basin periods. Ore hoisting takes priority over
Development Internal Workshop, Ore Pump station manriding and material transport.
of stopes fuelling, bin
ramp storage Conveyor belt The Load Haul Dump (LHD) loader
Ore Skip filling introduced mines to diesel power and
rubber-tyred equipment in the 1970s.
station
Exploration Measuring Sump
This was the birth of trackless mining, a
new era in which labour was replaced by
pocket
Drilling mobile equipment throughout the mine.
Future reserves? © Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB, 2000 Maintenance workshops are now located
underground at convenient points,
usually on main levels between ramp
positions.
Basic infrastructure required for a typical underground mine. The shaft remains the mine’s main
artery, and downward development is by
places and to power drill rigs, pumps system, to remove smoke from blasting ramps to allow access for the machines.
and other machines. A compressor plant and exhaust gases from diesel-powered On newer mines, as mentioned above, a
supplies air to pneumatic rock drills and machines, and to provide fresh air for decline ramp from surface may facili-
other tools, through a network of pipes. the workers. This is normally provided tate machine movements and transport
Water reticulation is necessary in the via downcast fresh -air shafts. High- of men and materials, and may also be
mine, wherever drilling, blasting and pressure fans on surface extract exhaust used for ore transportation by truck or
mucking takes place, for dust suppres- air through the upcast shafts. Ventilation conveyor, eliminating the need for
sion and hole flushing. Both ground doors control the underground airflow, hoisting shafts.
water and flushing water are collected in passing fresh air through active work
drains, which gravitate to settling dams
and a pump station equipped with high-
areas. Polluted air is collected in a sy- Ramps and shafts
stem of exhaust airways for channelling
lift pumps to surface. Mine development involves rock excava-
back to the upcast shafts. As most of the
Air quality in mine workings must infrastructure is located on the footwall tion of vertical shafts, horizontal drifts,
be maintained at an acceptable health side of the orebody, the fresh air is inclined ramps, steep raises, crusher sta-
standard. The mine needs a ventilation normally channelled via the footwall tions, explosives magazines, fuel stores,

22 underground mining methods

 Mine Infrastructure

pumphouses and workshops. Drill/blast

is the standard excavation method for
drifting. Firing sequence for a typical
parallel hole pattern is shown to the
right. Note that the contour holes are
fired simultaneously with light explo-
sives, and that the bottom holes, or lift-
ers, are fired last to shake up the muck
pile for faster mucking.
A deep shaft may secure many
years of production, until ore reserves
above the skip station are exhausted.
The shaft can be rectangular, circular
or elliptical in profile. Extending the
shaft in an ope-rating mine is costly
and difficult, re-quiring both expert
labour and special-ized equipment.
Drifts and ramps are dimensioned to
accommodate machines passing through,
or operating inside. Space must include a
reasonable margin for clearance, walk- Firing sequence of a typical hole pattern (*contour holes).
ways, ventilation ducts, and other facili-
ties. Cross-sections vary from 2.2 m x The drop raise technique is used for It provides safer and more efficient
2.5 m in mines with a low degree of slot raises and short orepasses, using me-chanized excavation of circular
mechanization to 5.5 m x 6.0 m where longhole drilling and retreat blasting raises, up to 6 m -diameter.
heavy equipment is used. Only 5.0 sq from bottom to top, see figure below. In conventional raise boring, a down-
m section is sufficient to operate a Inverted drop raising is performed the ward pilot hole is drilled to the target
rail-bound rocker shovel, whereas level, where the bit is removed and re-
other way around.
25.0 sq m may be needed for a loaded placed by a reaming head. The RBM
mine truck, including ventilation duct.
Normal ramp grades vary between
Raise boring then reams back the hole to final dia-
meter, rotating and pulling the reaming
1:10 and 1:7, with the steepest grade The raise boring machine (RBM) may be
head upward. The cuttings fall to the
to 1:5. The common curve radius is used for boring ventilation raises, ore- lower level, and are removed by any
15.0 m. A typical ramp runs in loops,
passes, rock fill passes, and slot raises. convenient method. An RBM can also
with grade 1:7 on straight sections,
reduced to 1:10 on curves.
Long hole drilling alternative to raise boring.

Raising and winzing

4 4
Raises are steeply inclined openings,
connecting the mine’s sub levels at dif-
3 3
ferent vertical elevations, used for lad- 1
derways, orepasses, or ventilation. In-
clination varies from 55 degrees, which
2 2
is the lowest angle for gravity transport
of blasted rock, to vertical, with cross-
sections from 0.5 to 30 sq m. When the
excavation of raises is progressing
down-wards they are called winzes. 1
Manual excavation of raises is a
tough and dangerous job, where the
miner climbs the raise by extending the
ladderway, installs the temporary plat- 3 3
form, and drills and charges the round
above his head. As such, manual raises
are limited to 50 m-high. However, the
efficiency can be greatly improved by 4 4

using a raise climber up to 300 m.

underground mining methods 23

 Mine Infrastructure

space for consecutive blasting. The dril-

ling and blasting results are shown
below. Hole opening, or downreaming,
using a small- diameter reamer to
enlarge an existing pilot hole, can also
be carried out by an RBM.
The capital cost of an RBM is high,
but, if used methodically and consis-
tently, the return on investment is very
worthwhile. Not only will raises be
constructed safer and faster, they will be
longer, smoother, less disruptive than
blasting, and yield less overbreak. The
rock chips produced by an RBM are
con-sistent in size and easy to load.
The BorPak is a small, track-mounted
machine for upward boring of inclined
raises. It starts boring upwards through a
launching tube. Once into rock, grip-
pers hold the body, while the head ro-
tates and bores the rock fullface. BorPak
can bore blind raises with diameters
Atlas Copco Robbins 53RH-EX raise boring machine. from 1.2 m to 1.5 m, up to 300 m-long.

be used to excavate raises where there is from the machine by the use of a Gunnar Nord
limited, or no, access to the upper le-vel. muck collector and a muck chute.
In this boxhole boring method, the An alternative method to excavate Holes at breakthrough after 32 m.
machine is set up on the lower level, and box holes is to use longhole drilling with
a full diameter raise is bored upward. extremely accurate holes to enable bla-
This method is used for slot hole drill- sting in one shot. The Simba MC 6 -ITH
ing in sub level caving and block caving shown below is modified for slot dril-
methods. The cuttings are carried by ling so that the holes will closely fol-low
gravity down the raise, and are deflected each other, providing sufficient open

Simba MC 6-ITH with slot hammer.

Sufficient expansion space is created

for production blast holes to follow.

24 underground mining methods

 Raise Boring

Principles of raise boring

Efficiency and safety
Raise boring is the process of me-
chanically boring, drilling or ream-
ing a vertical or inclined shaft or
raise between two or more levels.
Some 40 years ago, the world’s first
modern raise boring machine was
introduced by the Robbins Com-
pany. It launched a revolution in
underground mining and construc-
tion, and the technique is now ac-
cepted as the world standard for
mechanical raise excavation. New
products from Atlas Copco, such
as the BorPak, concepts such as
automatic operation and comput-
erization, and techniques such as
horizontal reaming, are creating
exciting new opportunities in the
underground environment. Atlas
Copco Robbins supplies the com-
plete raise boring package for all
situations, together with technical
and spares backup.

Raise boring concept

The raise boring machine (RBM) is set
up at the surface or upper level of the
two levels to be connected, and a small-
diameter pilot hole is drilled down to the
Robbins 73RH C derrick assembly layout.
lower level using a string of drill pipes
and a tricone bit. A reamer is then
attached to the drill string at the lower
level, and the RBM provides the rota- Raise boring process.
tional torque and pulling power to ream
back to the upper level. The cuttings
from the reamer fall to the lower level
for removal. Raise bore holes of over 6
m-diameter have been bored in medium
to soft rock, and single passes in hard
rock can be up to 1 km in length.
Advantages of raise boring are that
miners are not required to enter the ex-
cavation while it is underway, no explo-
sives are used, a smooth profile is ob-
tained, and manpower requirements are
reduced. Above all, an operation that
previously was classified as very dan-
gerous can now be routinely undertaken
as a safe and controlled activity.
Specific applications of bored raises
in mining are: transfer of material;
ventilation; personnel access; and ore

underground mining methods 25

 Raise Boring

Clearance for derrick Overhead

erection from the clearance
transporter system for complete
derrick
extension

Typical raise boring underground site showing overhead clearance.

set up at the lower level, and a full dia- pilot hole. Stabilizers in the drill string
meter raise is bored upward. Stabilizers prevent bending.
are periodically added to the drill string The BorPak is a relatively new ma-
to reduce oscillation and bending stress- chine for blind hole boring which climbs
es. Cuttings gravitate down the hole and up the raise as it bores. It comprises a
are deflected away from the RBM at the guided boring machine, power unit,
lower level. launch tube and transporter assembly,
Blind shaft boring is used where conveyor and operator console. Cuttings
access to the lower level is limited, or pass through the centre of the machine,
impos-sible. A down reaming system down the raise and launch tube, and onto
is used, in which weights are attached the conveyor. The BorPak has the poten-
to the reamer mandrel. Stabilizers are tial to bore holes from 1.2 m to 2.0 m-
located above and below the weight diameter at angles as low as 30 degrees
stack to ensure verticality of the hole. from horizontal. It eliminates the need
Cuttings are removed using a vacuum for a drill string and provides the steer-
or reverse circulation system. ing flexibility of a raise climber.
Rotary drilling is used for holes up
Boxhole boring. to 250 mm-diameter, and is similar in Raise boring machine
concept to pilot hole drilling in that a
production. Standard RBMs are bit is attached to the drill string to The raise boring machine (RBM) pro-
capable of boring at angles between excavate the required hole size. vides the thrust and rotational forces ne-
45 degrees and 90 degrees from Down reaming involves drilling a cessary for boring, as well as the equip-
horizontal, and with minor adjustment conventional pilot hole and enlarging it ment and instruments needed to control
can actually bore at angles between 45 to the final raise diameter by reaming and monitor the process. It is composed
degrees and hori-zontal. from the upper level. Larger diameter of five major assemblies: the derrick; the
A whole host of methods of mechani- raises are achieved by reaming the pilot hydraulic, lubrication, and electrical
cal raise and shaft excavation have been hole conventionally, and then enlarging systems; and the control console.
developed around the use of the RBM. it by down reaming. The down reamer is The derrick assembly supplies the ro-
These include boxhole boring, blind fitted with a non-rotating gripper and tational and thrust forces necessary to
thrust system, and a torque-multiply-ing turn the pilot bit and reamer, as well as
shaft boring, rotary drilling, down rea-
gearbox driven by the drill string. Upper to raise and lower the drill string. Base-
ming, pilot up/ream down, pilot down/
and lower stabilizers are installed to plates, mainframe, columns and head-
ream down, hole opening, and BorPak.
ensure correct kerf cutting and to re- frame provide the mounting structure for
Alternative duce oscillation. the boring assembly. Hydraulic cy-
Pilot up/ream down was a predeces- linders provide the thrust required for
boring methods sor of modern raise boring techniques lowering and lifting the drillstring, and
Boxhole boring is used to excavate raises using standard drilling rigs. Pilot down/ for drilling and reaming. The drive train
where there is limited access, or no access ream down, or hole opening, employs a assembly, comprising crosshead, main
at all, to the upper level. The machine is small diameter reamer to follow the drive motor, and gearbox, supplies the

26 underground mining methods

 Raise Boring

high-speed bearings and other selected

components of the drive train assembly
gearbox, and comprises pump, motor,
filter, heat exchanger, flow meter, and
reservoir with level gauge, thermometer
and breather.
The electrical system assembly con-
sists of an enclosed cabinet containing
the power and control distribution hard-
ware and circuitry for the entire raise
boring operation.
The control console provides for both
electrical and hydraulic functions, offe-
ring meter readouts for main operating
parameters.
Computerization of the raise boring
functions is also offered, using Atlas
Copco’s well-tried PC based RCS
system.
Typical operating installation of the BorPak machine.

rotational power to the drill string and employing a planetary reduction for its
Acknowledgements
compactness. The hydraulic power This article has been prepared using
cutting components.
unit is skid- mounted, and comprises The Raise Boring Handbook, Second
Four types of main drive motor the ne-cessary reservoir, motors, Edition, researched and compiled by
systems are available: pumps, valves, filters and manifolds. Scott Antonich, as its main reference.
AC, DC, hydraulic and VF. The gearbox The lubrication system ensures
mounts directly to the main drive motors, proper delivery of lubricating oil to the

Robbins 73RM-VF set up in a workshop.

underground mining methods 27

Robbins Raise Drills ...
keep on raising

Ever since the first Robbins raise drill was built in 1962, it
has been a constant success. By meeting customer needs
through innovation, reliability and an unrivalled product
range, we have gained the lion’s share of the global market
– and we intend to keep it that way!

Robbins Raise Drill Systems produce shafts and raises from

0.6 m to 6.0 m in diameter, and up to 1000 m in length.

Committed to your superior productivity.

Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB
Fax: +46 19 670 7393

www.raiseboring.com
 Mechanized Bolting

Mechanized bolting and screening

Utilization is
the key
In tunnelling operations, it is quite
common to use the same equip-
ment for all drilling requirements.
These days, a single drill rig can
accommodate drilling for face
blasting, bolt holes, protection
umbrellas, and drainage. As there
are normally only one or two faces
available for work before blast-ing
and mucking, it is difficult to obtain
high utilization for special-ized
equipment such as mecha-nized
bolting rigs. By contrast, in
underground mining, especially
where a number of working areas
are accessible using methods such
as room and pillar, high utilization Mechanized scaling with hydraulic hammer.
of specialized equipment can be
expected. This is where mecha- mechanizing underground operational there is equipment available from Atlas
nized bolting and screening is activities, including the rock excavation
rap-idly taking root, for speed, Copco to meet most of the current de-
safety and consistency. cycle. Within the drill -blast- mucking
mands of miners and tunnellers.
cycle repeated for each round, the drill-
ing phase has become fully mechanized,
with the advent of high productivity hy-
Mechanization stages
Specializing for safety draulic drill jumbos. Various methods of mechanized bolting
There was a time when underground Similarly, blasting has become an are available, and these can be listed
mining and safety were terms not ef-ficient process, thanks to the
under the following three headings.
com-monly referred to in the same develop-ment of bulk charging trucks
sentence. However, times have and easily configured detonation Manual drilling and bolting
changed, and today safety is given a systems. After only a short delay to This method employs light hand held
place of prominence in the operational provide for ade-quate removal of dust rock drills, scaling bars and bolt instal-
priorities of the mining industry. and smoke by high capacity lation equipment, and was in wide-
Freshly blasted openings leave con- ventilation systems, the mo-dern LHD spread use until the advent of hydraulic
siderable areas of loose rock, which must rapidly cleans out the muck pile. drilling in the 1970s. Manual methods
be removed to prevent fall -of-ground These phases of the work cycle are still used in small drifts and tun-nels,
injuries. Improvements in drilling and have been successfully mechanized, where drilling is performed with
blasting techniques have helped to signi- and mo-dern equipment provides a handheld pneumatic rock drills. The bolt
ficantly reduce the amount of this loose safe operator environment. holes are drilled with the same
rock. Scaling, which is the most hazard- By contrast, the most hazardous ope- equipment, or with stopers. Bolts, with
ous part of the work cycle, is used to rations, such as scaling, bolting and or without grouting, are installed manu-
remove loose rock. screening, have only enjoyed limited ally with impact wrenches. To facilitate
Subsequent blasting might result in progress in terms of productivity im- access to high roofs, service trucks or
additional rock falls, especially in frac- provements and degree of mechaniza-
cars with elevated platforms are com-
tured ground conditions. Screening or tion. The development of mechanized
monly used.
shotcreting, as a means of retention of scaling and bolting rigs has been slower,
this loose rock, is often used in com- mainly due to variations in safety rules Semi-mechanized drilling and
bination with rockbolting. Screening, and works procedure in specific rock bolting
which is a time-consuming operation, is conditions. The drilling is mechanized, using a hy-
common practice in Canada and To summarize, equipment manufac- draulic drill jumbo, followed by manual
Australia. Since the 1960s and 1970s, turers have had difficulty in providing installation of the bolts by operators wor-
considerable effort has been spent on globally accepted solutions. Nevertheless, king from a platform mounted on the

underground mining methods 29

 Mechanized Bolting

mines worldwide is carried out by

fully mechanized bolting rigs.
However, compared to mechanization
of face drilling and production drilling,
this level of acceptance is far from im-
pressive, and the industry has been slow
to accept the principle.
The obvious positive safety aspects
of mechanized rockbolting have been
sidelined by considerations relating to
the scale of operations and the type of
equipment available. Hence the higher
acceptance in mining, where several fa-
ces are operated simultaneously. For
tunnelling applications, where the rate of
advance is of prime importance, the
economic criteria might be different.
Also, as there are more functions in-
corporated into the average rockbolter
when compared to a drill jumbo. Bol-
ting units are exposed to falling rock, or
cement from grouting, both of which
impact upon maintenance costs.

Significant improvements
Mechanized cablebolting with Cabletec LC.

When Atlas Copco introduced its cur-

drill rig, or on a separate vehicle. The as 20 -40% of cement and resin grouted rent series of mechanized rock bolting
man -basket, as a working platform, bolts in current use were non-functional. units, a wide range of radical improve-
limits both the practical working space Tunnellers were reporting that they were ments was incorporated.
and the retreat capability in the event not installing bolts close to the working Based on the unique single feed sy-
of falling rock. In larger tunnels, the face because they might fall out when stem with cradle indexing, the latest me-
blasting the round. Obviously, a large chanized bolting unit, MBU, is consid-
bolt holes are drilled with the face
proportion of rockbolts were being in- erably more robust, and less sensitive to
drilling jumbo.
stalled for psychological reasons, rather falling rock, than its predecessor. Holes
Fully mechanized work cycle than for good roof and face support and are easy to relocate, and the stinger cyl-
A special truck, equipped with boom a safe working environment. inder improves collaring and the ability
mounted hydraulic breakers, performs However, by using a mechanized in- to install bolts under uneven, rugged
the hazardous scaling job with the ope- stallation procedure, the quality of in- roof conditions.
rator remotely located away from rock stallation improves. The bolt can be Major re-engineering has resulted
falls. Blast holes are drilled in the face installed directly after the hole has been in 30% fewer parts. Less maintenance
using a drill jumbo, and all functions in drilled; the grout can be measured and and stock inventory are required, and
the rock support process are performed adjusted to the hole size; and bolt instal- high availability has been recorded.
at a safe distance from the rock to be lation can be automated, which is espe- Furthermore, the chain feeds used
supported. The operator controls every- cially important when using resin car- in the new Boltec series feature an
thing from a platform or cabin, equipped tridges, where time and mixing speed automatic tensioning device, which
with a protective roof. are crucial. It can be proved that mech- guarantees even and strong feed force
Where installation of steel mesh is anization and automation of the rock- for the rock drill, while a stinger cylin-
undertaken, some manual jobs may still bolting process offers improved quality der improves collaring and the ability
be required. Mesh is tricky to handle, and safety. to work under uneven roof conditions.
While mining companies and eq- The completely redesigned drill steel
because of its shape and weight, and this
uipment manufacturers, especially in support provides sufficient space for
has hampered development of fully
Canada, focused their development on bolt plates passing through, and
automated erection.
improving semi-mechanized roof sup-port, facilitates extension drilling.
Quality of bolting evolution in Europe concentrated on fully The most outstanding benefit, how-
mechanized bolting. During the 1990s, ever, is the computer-based Rig Control
In 1992, it was reported that independ- progress accelerated, and today, around System, RCS. This system, which has
ent studies were indicating that as many 15% of all bolting in underground already been successfully incorporated

30 underground mining methods

 Mechanized Bolting

on the latest Boomer and Simba series

of drill rigs, offers simplified fault de-
tection, operator interactivity, and the
basis for logging, storing and transfer-
ring of bolt installation production and
quality data.
The Boltec is equipped with the new
rock drill, the COP 1132, which is short
and compact, and features a modern
double damping system which, com-
bined with the RCS, transmits maxi-
mum power through the drill string. The
long and slender shaped piston, which is
matched to the drill steel, permits high
impact energy at high frequencies
resulting in long service life of drill-ing
consumables and efficient drilling.
Furthermore the COP 1132 is fully
adjustable for various rock conditions.

Versatility and ergonomics

Modern bolting rigs can handle instal-
lation of most types of rockbolts com-
monly used today such as Swellex, as
well as resin and cement grouted
rebars. Using the new Boltec series
based on RCS, the operator copes
easily with the more demanding
cement grouting and resin cartridge
shooting applications, by controlling
all functions from the cabin seat.
Up to 80 cartridges can be injected
before the magazine needs refilling.
Also, because meshing is often carried
out in combination with bolting, an op-
tional screen handling arm can be fitted
parallel to the bolt installation arm, to Boltec LC with screen handling arm.

pick up and install the bulky mesh scre-

ens. Up to 5 different pre- for further acceptance of mechanized spacing of bolts is 2.5 ft. Three differ-ent
programmed cement-water ratios can types of bolts are used, depending on
bolting.
be remotely controlled. rock conditions, and all bolting must be
The new generation rigs offer the ope- done through the screen, with the ex-
rator a modern working environment in a
Screen installation ception of pre-bolting at the face. In
safe position. Low positioned, power-ful In Canadian mines the combination of general, galvanized split- set are used for
lights provide outstanding visibility of the rockbolts and screen, or wire mesh, is wall bolting, while resin grouted rebar or
entire drilling and bolting cycle. commonly used for rock support. Since mechanical bolts are used in the roof,
The new Boltec family has two mem- rock reinforcement is potentially one of and Swellex in sandfill.
bers equipped with RCS and the fully the most dangerous operations in the Once the screen handling arm has
automated cement handling system: the work cycle, mechanized rockbolting has picked up a screen section and fixed it in
Boltec MC, for bolt lengths of 1.5-3.5 m become more popular. A Boltec MC the correct position, the powerful COP
and roof heights up to 8 m; and the using RCS, equipped with screen han- 1132 hydraulic rock drill quickly
larger Boltec LC for bolt lengths of 1.5- dling arm, has been in use for a couple completes the 35 mm diameter, 6 ft and
6.0 m, primarily for large tunnelling of years at Creighton Mine installing 8 ft holes. The bolting unit remains
screen with split-set bolts. firmly fixed in position after the hole is
projects having roof heights of up to 11
In general, the screen is 3.3 m-long x drilled, and the cradles are indexed,
m. The positive response from operators
and mechanics confirms that this latest 1.5 m-wide, and is installed in both roof moving the bolt, with plate, into posi-
generation of Boltec will pave the way and walls, down to floor level. Typical tion. The bolt feed, combined with the

underground mining methods 31

 Mechanized Bolting

impact power from a COP 1025 ham-

mer, is used for installing split-set bolts.
The complete rock reinforcement job is
finished in just a few minutes. Cabletec

Boltec MC flexibility Simba

The Boltec MC delivered to the

Creighton mine is capable of handling
several ty-pes of bolts: split- set,
mechanical an-chors, resin grouted rebar
and Swellex. The switch of accessories
between dif-ferent bolt types takes 5-10
minutes. To minimize water demand
during drill-ing, water mist flushing is
used. The Boltec MC can also be
equipped with a portable operator’s
panel connected by a 50 m-long cable. Cabletec drilling and installing cablebolts upwards, and Simba drilling blast holes downwards at Kemi mine.
Cartridge shooting is remote con-
trolled for the Boltec MC, and up to drill unit can rotate 360 degrees and tilt hole length is 32 m using 6 ft rods and
80 cartridges can be injected before 10 and 90 degrees, backwards and RHS. The cable cassette has a capacity
refilling is needed. A unique feature is forwards respectively. The new rig is of 1,700 kg and is readily refilled thanks
the possibility to use two different designed on proven components and to the fold-out cassette arm. The cement
types of cartridges, with fast or slower technology featuring two booms - one mixing system is automated, comprising
curing times, housed separately in the for drilling and the other for grouting a cement silo containing 1,200 kg of dry
dual cartridge magazine. The operator and cable insertion. It also features an cement. The cement is mixed accor-ding
can select how many cartridges of on-board automatic cement system with to a pre-programmed formula, re-sulting
each type to inject into any hole. For WCR (Water Cement Ratio) control. All in a unique quality assurance of the
instance, he can inject two fast curing these features facilitate a true single grouting process. The cement silo
operator control of the entire drilling and capacity is adaptable for up to 25 m-
cartridges for the bottom of the hole,
bolting process. The two-boom con-cept long, 51 mm- diameter holes.
and follow up with slower-curing
has drastically reduced the entire drilling To date, most holes have been drilled
cartridges for the rest of the hole, all
and bolting cycle time and, by in the 6-11 m range, for which the rig
without leaving his operator’s panel!
separating the drilling and bolting func- has grouted and installed cable at a rate
Cabletec LC for tions, the risk of cement contaminat-ing of more than 40 m/h. Depending on type
the rig is eliminated. The operator is of geology and hole diameter chosen,
cable bolting able to pay full attention to grouting and
the drilling capacity can vary between
Atlas Copco has developed a fully cable insertion, while drilling of the next
30 and 60 m/h.
mech-anized rig for drilling and cable hole after collaring is performed
bolt-ing by a single operator. The first automatically, including pulling the rods
unit went into operation some years ago out of the hole.
Conclusion
at Outokumpu’s Kemi chromite mine in Cabletec is equipped with the well Rock support, including scaling, bolt-
northern Finland, and a second unit went proven COP 1838 ME hydraulic rock ing, screening, and cable bolting, is still
to Chile. Today, a significant nu-mber of drill using reduced impact pressure with the bottleneck in the working cycle in
units are sold to many mines around the R32 drill string system for 51 mm hole underground mining and tunnelling
world. The Cabletec LC is based on the diameter or R35 for 54 mm holes. Alter- applications. Clearly, any reduction in
long hole production drill-ing rig Simba natively, the COP 1638 rock drill can be the time required to install the neces-
M7, with a second boom for grouting sary support has a direct impact on the
used for soft rock conditions. Maximum
and cable insertion. overall cycle time, and consequently the
The booms have an exceptionally overall productivity and efficiency of the
long reach and can drill a line of up to Cabletec main technical data
operations. The fully mechanized
4.7 m of parallel holes from the same rig Length: 13.9 m bolting rig of today, incorporating all of
setup. Likewise, the booms can reach up Width: 2.7 m the benefits of modern computer tech-
to 8 m roof height, allowing the nology, constitutes a major leap towards
Height: 3.3 m
Cabletec LC to install up to 25 m-long improved productivity, safety and ope-
cable bolt holes in underground mining Turning radius: 4.3m / 7.5 m rator environment.
applications such as cut and fill mining
Hans Fernberg and Patrik Ericsson
and sub level stoping. Furthermore, the

32 underground mining methods

 steep Mining

Mining in steep orebodies

Based on gravity Long-hole
drilling and
blasting
Drill

The different mining methods can access

be divided into two groups based Stope Drill
on the dip of the orebody. Where
the dip exceeds 50 degrees, bla-
sted material will gravitate to a
collection level where loading and
main haulage are carried out. The
dimensions of mineral deposits
access
vary greatly, from massive for-
Blasted ore
mations stretching over several
square kilometres, to half metre-
wide quartz veins containing some
20 g/t gold. In recovering the
minerals, the miners attempt to
leave hangingwall and footwall
waste rock intact. In the larger
Undercut fan
deposits, the drift size does not
normally restrict the size of eq- blasting
Loading Transport drift
uipment. When the mineraliza-tion
narrows to a few metres only, it can
become self -defeating to excavate
space for standard ma-chines,
because of dilution. For such
situations, a selection of slim
Draw point crosscut
machines is available from Atlas
Copco, capable of mechanized
mining in drifts from 2 m-wide.
Sublevel open stoping layout.
These include a face drilling jum-bo
for narrow drifting, a similar
longhole drilling rig, and a 2 cu m Bighole stoping layout.
loader.

Long-hole
Sublevel open stoping drilling and
blasting
Sublevel open stoping (SLOS) is used
for mining mineral deposits with: steep
dip where the footwall inclination exce-
eds the angle of repose; stable rock in
both hanging wall and footwall; compe-
tent ore and host rock; and regular ore
Stope
boundaries. SLOS recovers the ore in
large open stopes, which are normally
backfilled to enable recovery of pillars.
The orebody is divided into separate
stopes, between which ore sections are
set aside for pillars to support the roof
and the hanging wall. Pillars are nor-
Blasted ore
mally shaped as vertical beams, across
Undercut
the orebody. Horizontal sections of ore
are also left as crown pillars.
Miners want the largest possible
sto-pes, to obtain the highest mining
effi-ciency, subject to the stability of Transport drift
Loading
the rock mass. This limits their design Draw point crosscut
dimen-sions.

underground mining methods 33

 steep Mining

intervals. Nowadays, the loading level

Raise
can be integrated with the undercut, and
mucking out performed by a remote
control LHD working in the open stope.
This will reduce the amount of drift
Timbered manway development in waste rock.
(also ventilation)
Sublevel stoping requires a straight-
Ore left in stope forward shape of stopes and ore
bound-aries, within which only ore is
drilled. In larger orebodies, modules
of ore may be mined along strike, as
primary and secondary stopes.

Cross cut for loading

Bighole stoping
Bighole stoping is an up-scaled variant
Drawpoints of sublevel open stoping, using longer,
larger-diameter DTH blastholes, rang-
or chutes ing from 140 to 165 mm. Blast
patterns are similar to SLOS, but with
Transport drift holes up to 100 m-long. A pattern with
140 mm blastholes will break a rock
Shrinkage stoping layout. slice 4 m-thick, with 6 m toe spacing.
DTH drill-ing is more accurate than
Sublevel drifts are located within the Drawpoints are located below the tophammer drilling, allowing the
orebody, between the main levels, for stope to enable safe mucking by LHD vertical spacing between sublevels to
longhole drilling of blast patterns. The machines, which may tip into an adja- be extended, from 40 m with SLOS
drill pattern accurately specifies where cent orepass, or into trucks or rail cars. mining, to 60 m with bighole stoping.
the blastholes are collared, and the depth The trough- shaped stope bottom is ty- However, the risk of damage to the
and angle of each hole. pical, with loading drifts at regular rock structures has to be taken into
account by the mine plan-ners, as the
VCR primary stoping.
larger holes contain more explosives.

Shrinkage stoping
In shrinkage stoping, traditionally a
common mining method, ore is excavated
in horizontal slices, starting from the stope
bottom and advancing upwards. Part of the
Drill
overcut blasted ore is left in the stope, to serve as a
working platform, and to give support to
the stope walls.
Crater Blasting swells the ore by about 50%,
blasting Primary stope no2
charges undercut and drilling
which means that a substantial amount
done has to be left in the stope until mining
Primary sto pe no1 has reached the top section, following
in production

which final extraction can take place.

Shrinkage stoping can be used for ore-
bodies with: steep dips; comparatively
stable ore and sidewall characteristics;
Loading draw
points regular ore boundaries; and ore unaf-
fected by storage (some sulphide ores
oxidize, generating excessive heat). The
development consists of: haulage drift
and crosscuts for mucking at stope
bottom; establishment of drawpoints and
undercut; and a raise from the haulage
level passing through the undercut to the

34 underground mining methods

 steep Mining

main level, providing access and

venti-lation to the working area.
Drilling and blasting are carried out
as overhead stoping. The rough pile of
blasted ore prevents the usage of mecha-
nized equipment, making the method
labour-intensive. As such, working con- Ventilation tube
ditions are hazardous, and a large part of
the ore has to be stored until final
extraction. Despite these drawbacks,
Hydraulic
shrinkage stoping is still used, espe- sandfill
cially for small-scale operations. Ramp

Vertical crater retreat

Vertical Crater Retreat (VCR) applies to
Hydraulic
orebodies with steep dip and competent sandfill
Ramp
rock in both ore and host rock. Part of
the blasted ore will remain in the stope
over the production cycle, serving as
temporary support. This mechanized
method can be regarded as a consider-
ably safer form of shrinkage stoping, as
no men have to work inside the stope.
VCR was originally developed by Cut-and-fill stope layout.
the Canadian mining company INCO,
and uses the crater blasting technique of VCR charging is complex, and its The stope is then filled with sand to
powerful explosives in large diameter techniques have to be mastered in order almost full height, and cement is
holes. Concentrated spherical charges mixed into the final pours, to provide
to avoid damaging the surrounding rock.
are used to excavate the ore in horizon- a solid floor for mobile machines to
tal slices, from the stope bottom up- operate. As no rib pillars are left, and
wards. The ore gravitates to the stope
Cut and fill mining the crown pillar is commonly taken
bottom draw points, and is removed by Cut-and-fill mining is applied to mining out in a single large blast once
loaders. Each stope is cleaned out before steeply dipping orebodies, in strata with sufficient expansion room is available,
backfilling with cemented hydraulic fill. good to moderate stability, and a com- most of the ore can be recovered with
Development for VCR stoping con- paratively high-grade mineralization. a minimum of waste dilution.
sists of: a haulage drift along the ore- It provides better selectivity than Development for cut-and-fill mining
body at the drawpoint level; a draw- SLOS and VCR mining, and is preferred includes: a footwall haulage drive along
point loading arrangement underneath for orebodies with irregular shape and the orebody at the main level; an under-
the stope; an undercut; and an overcut scattered mineralization, where high cut of the stope area, with drains for
access for drilling and charging. grade sections can be mined separately, water; a spiral ramp in the footwall, with
The ore in a stope block is drilled and low grade rock left in the stopes. access drive to the undercut; and a raise
from the overcut excavation using However, men and machines are work- connection to the level above, for
DTH rigs. Holes, mainly vertical, are ing within the stope, which detracts from ventilation and filling material.
drilled down-ward, breaking through the safety of the operation. The stope face appears as a wall,
into the under-cut. Hole diameters Cut-and-fill mining excavates the ore with an open slot at the bottom, above
vary from 140 to 165 mm, commonly in horizontal slices, starting from a bot- the fill. Breasting holes are drilled by
spaced on a 4 m x 4 m grid. tom undercut, advancing upward. The a rig, char-ged and blasted, with the
From the overcut, powerful ore is drilled, blasted, loaded and re- slot under-neath providing swell space
spherical charges are positioned by moved from the stope, which is then for the bla-sted rock.
skilled crew in the lower section of the backfilled with deslimed sand tailings The mineralization shows in the stope
blast hole, at specified distances from from the dressing plant, or waste rock face, where it can be inspected by geolo-
carried in by LHD from development gists. The drill pattern can be modified,
the stope roof. The hole depth is
drives. The fill serves both to support
measured, and it is stemmed at the to follow variations in ore boundaries.
stope walls, and as a working platform
correct height. Ex-plosive charges are Sections with low grade can be left in
when mining the next slice.
lowered down each hole and stemmed, place, or deposited in adjacent mined-
Before filling, stope entries are bar-
usually to blast a 3 m slice of ore, out stope sections. Mining can divert
which falls into the space below. ricaded and drainage tubes installed. from planned stope boundaries, and

underground mining methods 35

 steep Mining

only. The hangingwall has to fracture

and collapse, following the cave, and
subsidence of the ground surface
above the orebody has to be tolerated.
Caving requires a rock mass where
both orebody and host rock fracture un-
der controlled conditions. As the mining
removes rock without backfilling, the
hanging wall carries on caving into the
Caved voids. Continued mining results in
hanging wall subsi-dence of the surface, where
Production =
sinkholes may appear. Continuous
caving is im-portant, to avoid creation of
cavities in-side rock, where a sudden
Blasting and Sublevels
loading collapse could induce an inrush.
Drilled SLC extracts the ore through sublev-
els, which are developed in the orebody
Charging
at regular vertical spacing. Each sublev-
Long-hole Footwall drift el features a systematic layout with par-
allel drifts, along or across the orebody.
drilling In wide orebodies, sublevel drifts start
Ore pass
from the footwall drive, and continue
across to the hanging wall. In narrow
orebodies, sublevel drifts branch off
Development of
longitudinally in both directions from a
new sublevels central crosscut drive.
Haulage level Development to prepare SLC stopes is
extensive, and mainly involves driving
multiple headings to prepare sublevels. A
ramp connection is needed to connect
Sublevel caving layout.
different sublevels, and to communicate
recover enclosures of mineral from the and safety, there is a trend towards re- with main transport routes. Orepasses
host rock. The smooth fill surface and placing cut and fill mining with bench are also required, at strategic locations
controlled fragmentation are ideal for LHD stoping and fill, as at Mt Isa, Australia, along sublevels, connecting to the
loaders, the standard vehicle for mucking and towards open stoping with paste fill, main haulage level.
and transport in cut-and-fill mines. A section through the sublevel area
as at Garpenberg, Sweden.
Tramming distances from stope to orepass, will show drifts spread across the ore-
body, in a regular pattern, both in verti-
located strategically for the ramps, must be Sublevel caving cal and horizontal projections. The dia-
within convenient range. Alternatively, the
Sublevel caving (SLC) adapts to large mond shaped area, which can be traced
orepasses may be constructed inside the
orebodies, with steep dip and continuity at above each drift, delineates the ore vo-
stope using steel lining segments installed
lume to be recovered from that drift.
in advance of each sand layer. To increase depth. Sublevel footwall drifts have to be
Longhole rigs drill the ore section
productivity stable, requiring occasional rockbolting
above the drift, in an upwards
fanspread pattern, well ahead of
production.
OreWast

Blasting on each sublevel starts in

e

sequence at the hanging wall, common-

77%33%

100
Typical ore/waste ly using an upwards raise to provide ini-
= 100%

80
ratio during tial expansion, and mining then retreats
a mucking cycle. toward the footwall. Adjacent crosscuts
Ore volume in slice

60
are mined at a similar pace, with upper
ore

40 sublevels maintained ahead of lower

20 Dilution
sublevels, to preserve the cave and avoid
undermining. Each longhole fan is bla-
entry sted separately, and the ore fills the
point
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 % drawpoint. Mucking out by LHD con-
tinues until the waste dilution reaches
Ore + Waste
the set limit. See the figure showing ore/

36 underground mining methods

 steep Mining

waste ratio during a typical mucking

cycle. The LHD then moves to a freshly
blasted crosscut, while the charging
team prepares the next fan for blasting.
Sublevels are designed with tram-
Undercut
ming distances matched to particular level
Drawbells
sizes of LHD loaders. Mucking out is,
like the other procedures in sublevel ca- Production level

ving, very efficient, and the loader can

be kept in continuous operation. Waste V
levelentilation pass
dilution in SLC varies between 15% and Pickhammer

level Ore Picking

40%, and ore losses may be 15% to hammer

level
25%, depending on local conditions. Haulage

Dilution is of less influence for ore-

bodies with diffuse boundaries, where the
host rock contains low-grade min-erals.
Similar rules apply to magnetite ores, Block caving layout.
which are upgraded by simple mag-
netic separators. Sulphide ores, however, massive orebodies with: large dimen- undercut, to gather broken rock to the
are refined by costly flotation processes, sions both vertically and horizontally; grizzly level, where oversize boulders
so dilution has to be closely controlled. a rock mass that behaves properly, are caught and then broken by blasting
SLC is schematic, and repetitive, break-ing into blocks of manageable or hydraulic hammer. A lower set of
both in layout and working procedures. size; and a ground surface which is finger raises channels ore from the
Development drifting, production drill- allowed to subside. grizzlies to chutes for train loading on
ing of long holes, charging, blasting and These rather unique conditions the main level.
mucking out are all carried out separate- limit block-caving applications to The intention is to maintain a
ly, with work taking place at different special mi-neral deposits such as iron steady draw from each block, and
levels simultaneously. ore, low-grade copper and records are kept of volumes extracted
There is always a place for the ma- molybdenum mineraliza-tions, and from indi-vidual drawpoints. It is
chines to work, which integrates diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes. often necessary to assist the rock mass
mech-anization into efficient ore Block caving is based on gravity fracturing by longhole drilling and
production. Consequently, the SLC com-bined with internal rock stresses, to blasting in widely spaced patterns.
method is well suited for a high degree frac-ture and break the rock mass. The Drifts and other openings in the block
of automation and remote operations, dril-ling and blasting required for ore caving area are excavated with mini-
with correspon-ding high productivity. pro-duction is minimal, while mum cross sections for man-entry. Still,
Drawbacks are high waste dilution and development volume is huge. Blocks of heavy concrete lining and extensive rock
substantial ore losses. orebody may have areas of several bolting is necessary, to secure the
The Swedish iron ore producer thousands of square metres, and integrity of mine drifts and drawpoint
LKAB is one of the world's leading development may have to start as much openings. Where LHD loaders are used
producers of upgraded iron ore products. as 10 years in advance of production. in the drawpoints, a ventilation level is
Vast ex-perience and successful progress Caving is induced by undercutting the added into development plans.
have been accumulated at their two large block by blasting, destroying its ability to Where the ore block breaks up suc-
un-derground mines at Kiruna and support the overlying rock. Gravity forces, cessfully, and the extraction is carried
Malm-berget in northern Sweden by in the order of millions of tonnes, act to out evenly from all of the drawpoints,
adop-ting SLC as the predominant fracture the block. Continued pres-sure block caving becomes a low-cost, high-
mining method breaks the rock into smaller pieces to pass productivity method, with good ore
The articles in the book Underground the drawpoints, where the ore is handled recovery and moderate inflow of waste
Mining Methods, edited by William A. by LHD loaders or trains. As dilutions. The risks are high, but the
Hustrulid and Richard L. Bullock, chap- fragmentation without drilling and bla- result can be extremely favourable. This
sting is uneven, a substantial amount of
ters 43, 46 and 47 give valuable in- method is often used when converting
secondary blasting and breaking can be
depth information about the operations an open pit operation into an under-
expected at the drawpoints.
and the caving parameters, both in ground mine where surface production
Development for block caving ap-
general and at LKAB in particular. can continue while the underground
plying conventional gravity flow re-
infrastructure is prepared.
quires an undercut, where the rock mass
Block caving
underneath the block is fractured by
Block-caving is a large scale production longhole blasting. Drawbells with fin- Hans Fernberg
mining method applicable to low grade, ger raises are excavated beneath the

underground mining methods 37

We always take a hard view on costs

Working with Atlas Copco means working with highly

productive rock drilling solutions. It also means sharing a
common cost-cutting challenge. Like you, we are always
looking for new and effective ways to squeeze your
production costs – but never at the expense of quality,
safety or the environment.
Mining and construction is a tough and competitive business.
Fortunately, our view on cutting costs is just as hard.
Get your free copy of Success Stories
at www.atlascopco.com/rock
Committed to your superior productivity.

Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB

Fax: +46 8 670 7393

www.atlascopco.com
 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 of Pillar
the near horizontality of such
systems. Until recently, trackless
equipment was limited to a mini-
mum working headroom of 2 m or Pillar
more. However, major devel-
opments in Polish copper mines
and in gold and platinum mines in
Benching of thicker parts
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
Boomer S1 L, for instance, has a Classic room and pillar layout.
tramming height of just 1.3 m, yet
can cover a face area of up to 29 sq large thickness, also to inclined depos- Ore production in flat room and pil-
m. Likewise, the Scooptram ST its with larger thickness. Mining the lar uses the same drill/blast techniques
600LP loader equipped with video orebody creates large openings, where as in normal drifting. Where geological
cameras to assist the driver has a trackless machines can travel on the conditions are favourable, large-capacity
height of only 1.56 m, but still
flat floor. Orebodies with large vertical drilling rigs and loaders can be used.
carries a 6 t payload. Availability of
such machines is already revo- height are mined in horizontal slices, High orebodies are mined in slices,
lutionizing the design approach to starting at the top and benching down starting at the top, rockbolting the roof
mining flat orebodies. in steps. from each bench. Standard crawler
Post room and pillar applies to in- rigs are used for drilling vertical holes
clined orebodies, of dip angle from 20 to and conventional bench blasting.
Room and pillar 55 degrees, with large vertical height, Horizontal drilling and flat benching is
Room and pillar is designed for where mined out space is backfilled. The a more prac-tical alternative, using the
mining of flat, bedded deposits of fill keeps the rock mass stable, and same drilling equipment.
limited thick-ness. Examples are serves as the work platform while The blasted ore is loaded using diesel
sedimentary depo-sits, like copper mining the next ore slice. or cable-electric LHD machines, and,
shale, limestone or sandstone Step room and pillar is an adaptation where height permits, dump trucks may
containing lead, coal seams, salt and of trackless mining to orebodies with too be used between stope and dump. In thin
potash layers, limestone and dolomite. steep a dip for rubber-tyred vehi-cles to orebodies, loading points may be
The method recovers the mineraliza- operate in a regular room and pillar necessary for transferring ore from
tion in open stopes, leaving pillars of ore layout. Haulage drifts and stopes are loader to hauler. As all activities are car-
to support the roof. To recover the therefore angled diagonally across the ried out on one or very few levels
maximum amount of ore, miners aim to dip, to create work areas with level covering a large area, there are many
leave smallest possible pillars behind, floors off which trackless equipment can faces avail-able at any time, so high
because these are difficult and expen-
work. Mining advances downward, equipment utili-zation is possible.
sive to recover. The roof must remain
along the step room angle.
intact, and rockbolts are used exten-
sively as rock reinforcement. Rooms and
Post pillar
pillars are normally arranged in regular
Classic room and pillar Post pillar mining is a crossbreed of room
patterns, and can be designed with Very little development work is required and pillar and cut and fill mining. Post
circular pillars, square pillars, or to prepare flat-bedded deposits for room pillar mining recovers the mineraliza-tion
elongated walls separating the rooms. and pillar mining, because access for ore in horizontal slices, starting from a bottom
Classic room and pillar applies to transport and communication is through slice, advancing upwards. Pillars are left
flat, bedded deposits with moderate to the production rooms. 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 of
the orebody in a polar coordinate
Post
Pillar
system, orienting the stopes at angles
across the dip that can comfortably be
AB, 2000 travelled by trackless vehicles. Parallel
Drills
Rock transport routes cross the orebody to
Copco establish roadway access to stopes and
© Atlas
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
is advanced forward, in a mode similar
Post pillar mining layout. to drifting, until breakthrough into the
roof. Mined-out stopes are backfilled to suit variations in rock conditions next parallel transport drive. Next step is
with hydraulic tailings, which might and ore boundaries. excavation of a similar drift, or side
con-tain cement for added strength, to Post pillar combines the advantages of slash, one step down dip, adjacent to the
allow the next slice to be mined working flat-floor cut and fill, with the spa-cious first drive. This procedure is repeated
on the fill surface. Pillars are extended stopes of room and pillar, while easy until the full roof span is achieved, and
through several layers of fill, so that the access to multiple production points an elongated pillar is left parallel with
material contributes to the support, favours efficient mechanization. Similar to the stopes. The next stope is attacked in
permitting a high recovery rate. The fill cut and fill mining, cable bolting is 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
Stope mined some distance behind the working face.
Development involves excavation of
a network of haulage drifts, for access to
AB, 2000
production areas and transport of ore to
Rock
Drills shaft stations. As the mineralization
Copco
© Atlas extends over a large area, haulage drifts
2
1 are paralleled by return airways, for ven-
3 Numbers indicate tilation of the workings. Haulage drifts
are usually arranged in regular patterns,
4
sequence of extraction and excavated inside the ore. Coal and
gold longwall production techniques are
similar in principle, but quite different

40 underground mining methods

 flat Mining

Complete package
Hanging wall Atlas Copco offers three key mining
(The Venstop formation) Strike
tools to provide the total solution for
Dip low seam mining applications: drill
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
crosscut
crosscut
rigorous underground locations: the
drift
bench
Rocket Boomer S1 L face drilling rig is
bench
Horisontal benching benching
adapted to this specific type of mining,

approx. 40 m
with a coverage area between 6 and 29
pill sq m in a tramming height as low as 1.3
ar 8
m; the Boltec SL bolt-ing rig carrier,
Foot wall m drift
(The Fossum formation) Dip boom and bolting unit have been
designed for efficient ope-ration in roof
13 -20 o
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 along great challenge for equipment manufac-
the face, cutting coal and depositing it on turers to mechanize. Pillars of timber or
chain conveyors. The gold reef con- concrete are installed to support the roof
glomerate is much harder, and difficult to in the very deep mines.
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
support roof
Scraper
©
Atlas Copco
Rock
Drills
AB, 200

Scooptram ST600LP.

underground mining methods 41

Our commitment is just as strong

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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
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 Backfilling

Backfilling for safety and profit

Permanent support A.
Empty stopes are frequently back- Drift 1 Drift 2 Drift 3 Drift 4
filled as a means of providing sup- Fill Fill Fill
port for future mining. Other than
its own body weight, backfill is a
passive support system that has to
be compressed before exerting
a restraining force. Backfill mate-
rial is normally generated by the B.
mine as waste rock underground,
or as tailings from the surface con- Drift 1 Drift 3 Drift 2
centrator, so backfilling may serve Fill Fill
a secondary purpose as a means of
disposal of otherwise useless
byproducts. The optimum back-fill
Fencing Fencing
method is clearly related to the
mining method. Costs of backfill
typically range between 10-20% of
C.
mine operating cost, of which ce- Drift 1 Drift 3 Drift 2
ment represents up to 75%. Paste Fill Fill
fill is gaining in popularity because
it uses unclassified tailings and
less water, but the capital cost of a
paste fill plant is approximately
twice the cost of a conventional
hydraulic fill plant of the same D.
capacity. Drift 1 Drift 3 Drift 2
Cemented Cemented
Fill Fill
Functions of backfill
The original function of backfill in hard
rock mines was to support rock walls and
pillars, and to provide a working sur- Drift and fill mining sequence.
face for continuing mining. This was the mine workings. Cemented hydrau- of mining equipment, or mining may
initially accomplished by rock fill, and lic fill (CHF) or paste backfill may be undertaken below, beside, or
more often in the present day by also be used to stabilize caved areas in through the backfill.
hydra-ulic fill. the mine. Backfill is also considered In delayed backfill, the entire stope is
If 3- 4% of cement is added to a hy- an essential tool to help preserve the filled in one operation. In this case, the
draulic backfill of concentrator tailings, struc-tural integrity of the mine fill must be able to stand as an unsup-
and this is topped off in the stope with a ported wall rigid enough to withstand
workings as a whole, and to help
10% mix, a smooth and hard surface the effects of blasting. It should allow
avoid stressing ground to the point
results. This is useful for mechanized adjacent stopes to be extracted with mi-
where rock bursts take place.
removal of broken ore from the subse- nimal dilution from sloughing.
quent mining operation, and reduces A whole host of factors have to be
dilution from the fill.
Application and design taken into consideration when design-
Backfill also affords the Fill preparation and placement systems ing a backfill regime. The geology and
opportunity for more selective mining should be simple and efficient, with dimensions of the orebody and its dip
and better re-covery of ore and pillars, special attention paid to quality control. and grade are important factors, as are
thereby in-creasing both mine life and Two systems are used: cyclic filling and the physical and mechanical properties
total return on investment. delayed filling. In cyclic systems, the fill of both the ore and its host rock. En-
Other functions of backfill are the is placed in successive lifts, as in cut- vironmental considerations, fill material
prevention of subsidence, and better and-fill mining sequences. The fill can resources, mining method, production
control over ventilation flow through form a platform for the operation capacity and operations schedules bear

underground mining methods 43

 Backfilling

CAF fill

CAF fill
Tertiary

Secondary
Primary

Primary
Secondary

Unmined
Unmined
Unmined
Unmined

Unmined
Designed stopes

Unmined
Unmined
Primary stope extracted
ROCK fill CAF filled due to unmined adjacent stopes
CAF fill 2nd Primary stope extracted
CAF filled due to adjacent unmined stopes

CAF fill ROCK fill

Unmined

ROCK fill
Unmined

Unmined

Secondary stope extraction

CAF filled on side adjacent to unmined stope
ROCK filled on side adjacent to mined stope
Secondary stope extracted
CAF filled on side adjacent to unmined stope
ROCK filled on side adjacent to mined stope Tertiary stope extracted
ROCK filled as no adjacent stopes

Stope extraction and filling sequence at Olympic Dam.

on the design, as do the fill mix and The first hydraulic fills were com-
strength attainable using available ma-
Hydraulic fill posed of concentrator tailings that
terials. Fill quantities will determine Originally, backfill comprised waste would otherwise have been deposited
the size of the preparation and rock, either from development or hand on the surface. The mill tailings were
placement systems, and the location picked from broken ore. Some larger cycloned to remove slimes so that the
and eleva-tion of stope openings mines in the US quarried rock and gra- contained water would decant.
relative to sur-face facilities such as vitated it down fill raises to the mine This fill was transported under-
tailing dams and concentrator are workings. ground as slurry, composed of around
major considerations. Mine planners Nowadays, rock fill is used for fil- 55% solids, which is the typical under-
focus on tailormade fill to save cement ling secondary and tertiary stopes, and flow for thickeners and is the pulp
costs by strengthening the fill only is usually a convenient and econo-mic den-sity normally used for surface
where it is required, close to the stopes means of disposal for waste from tailings lines.
to be mined, such as at Olympic Dam. When the grind from the mill was too
development.
fine for decanting in the stopes, alluvial
Underhand cut and fill mining sequence. sand was employed instead of tailings.
Particles of alluvial sand are naturally
rounded, enabling a higher content to
Hydraulic fill
be pumped than for hydraulic fill
Low cement
made from cycloned tailings. This
content type of fill is commonly referred to as
Slice 1 sand fill. Many mines still employ
non-cemented hydraulic fill,
particularly for filling ter-tiary stopes.
High cement

content and Slice 2

The quantity of drain water from
reinforcement
hy-draulic backfill slurry containing
Slice 3 70% solids is only a quarter that
resulting from a 55% solids mix.
The porosity of hydraulic backfill is
Slice 4 Face 1 Face 2
nearly 50%. It may be walked upon
just a few hours after placement, and
will carry traffic within 24 hours.

44 underground mining methods

 Backfilling

Tailings from concentrator

Cyclone

Thickener

Vacuum filter

Binder cement and/or slag

Mixer

Paste to the mine

Paste pump

Paste factory – principal flowsheet.

and sumps, where they can have great

Planning considerations
nuisance value. One approach is to re-
Because the density of hydraulic fill is duce the amount of water in the fill,
only about half that of ore, a supplemen- increasing solids content to 65-75%
tary fill material will be needed when and more in a high- density fill. Paste fill plant at Garpenberg, Sweden.
less than half of the tailings can be re- Additives can also reduce the water
covered from the mill circuit. cemented hydraulic fill on top of stopes
decant from fill. filled with waste rock, as practiced at
When planning a hydraulic fill
system, a major consideration is water Geco and Mount Isa mines. Nowadays,
Paste fill cement slurry is added to the waste rock
drainage, collection and disposal, par-
ticularly on deep mines. Getting large Paste fill originally used non-cycloned before the stope is filled. Where rock is
volumes of water back to surface can mill tailings mixed with cement at the quarried on surface, it is normally grav-
be a costly exercise, and installing the stope. Coarse tailings permit a very high itated to the mining horizon through a
infrastructure may be difficult, expen- solids content of up to 88% to be pum- fill raise, from the base of which trucks
sive and time consuming. ped at high pressure, and high setting or conveyors are used for lateral trans-
Portland cement added to hydraulic strengths were achieved. Paste is cur- port underground.
fill as a binder also adds strength, and rently used as a replacement for hydrau- Advantages of CRF include a high
this system of fill in normal and high lic fill, with the cement added at sur- strength to cement content ratio, and
density is employed at many mines face. It exhibits the physical properties provision of a stiff fill that contributes
around the world. A portion of the of a semi-solid when compared to high- to regional ground support. CRF is
cement may be substituted using fly density fill, which is a fluid. still selected for some new mines, and
ash, ground slag, lime or anhydrite. Because the slimes fraction of the many operators prefer this system.
If cement is added in the ratio 1:30, tailings forms part of the mix, cement Cement rich hydraulic fill was once
the backfill provides better support for always needs to be added into paste used for mats where poor ground con-
pillars and rock walls. If the top layer is fill, with 1.5% as the minimum ditions dictated underhand cut and fill
then enriched at 1:10, the backfill pro- requirement to prevent liquefaction. mining. Since the major cost component
vides a smooth and hard surface from of backfill is the cement at a ratio of 1:2,
Very precise con-trol of pulp density is
which broken ore can be loaded and re- this fill is not economical, and was
required for gra-vity flow of paste fill,
moved. Addition of cement reduces ore replaced with ready-mix concrete with
where a 1-2% increase can more than
dilution from the fill and facilitates se- 10-12% cement content for a standard
double pipeline pressures. 3,000 psi, or 20 Mpa, mix.
lective mining and greater recovery from
both stopes and pillars. Ice fill has been used in Norway
Water decanted from cemented fill
Cemented rock fill
and Russia in permafrost regions.
has to be handled appropriately to avoid Cemented rock fill (CRF) originally
consisted of spraying cement slurry or
Hans Fernberg
cement particles reaching the ore passes

underground mining methods 45

 rock reinforcement

Atlas Copco rock bolts for mining

Modern computer-based geotechnical monitoring techniques indicate crucial to install reinforcement as quickly and as close to the face
that the greatest relaxation or movement of the rock mass occurs as possible after excavation. Engineers involved in the design of
immediately following excavation. They confirm that, after a certain rock reinforcement systems must satisfy ever increasing demands
period, the rock will establish a new equilibrium based on its own to optimize the design to gain maximum safety and economy. The
inherent self-supporting capacity. The best quality rock will remain self- primary objective in the design of the support system is to assist
supporting for extensive periods of time without the need for extra the rock mass to support itself. Accordingly, quality and time are
support. As the rock quality declines, support require-ments increase the two main parameters which must be taken into account when
proportionally. The poorer the quality of the rock, the greater the degree determining the type of rockbolt to be used for rock reinforcement,
of support required, and it becomes increasingly in both mining and construction applications.

Swellex
The Swellex concept entails that the rock is secured by immediate and
full support action from the Swellex bolts. The moment the Swellex
bolt is expanded in the hole, it interacts with the rock to maintain its
integrity. The quality of the bolt installation is auto-matically confirmed
when the pump stops, and is independent of rock mass conditions or
operator experience. Controllability means safety! The Swellex
rockbolts are designed to optimize the effective-ness of each bolt, so
the bolting operation matches the required safety levels as planned by
the engineers. See pictures to the left.

Roofex
Roofex features a high quality steel bar inside a smooth plastic shea-
thing which is fixed inside the borehole with cement or resin grout.
The bolt also has an energy absorber which functions as a sliding
element over the steel bar. This allows the bolt to extend outwards
during sudden displacements such as rock burst or seismic events while
still providing constant load capacity. This capability makes the Roofex
rock bolt especially suitable for developing new, deep underground
excavations in poor quality rock or in areas where rock burst or sei-
smic events are frequent. The bolt can be produced in standard lengths
typically used in mining and tunnelling, and the displacement capa-
city can be pre-selected during manufacture. See picture below.

Mathias Lewén
Pre-calculated Pre-calculated

maximum maximum
deformation deformation

Roofex at
1.
installation

Energy
2.
absorbing
phase

Roofex at
3. max load
and max
deformation

Energy absorber
(a sliding element)
46 underground mining methods
 Garpenberg, Sweden

Innovative mining at Garpenberg

Garpenberg Garpenberg North

Gruvsjö shaft Dammsjön Shaft

Lina shaft Capacity: 450 000 tpa Smältarmossen Capacity: 850 000 tpa 0Z
0Z
Dammsjö Agmin

400 Z ? ? Lappberget 400 Z

500-785 Z 500-

Finnhyttan
Tyskgården 800 Z Gransjön
700-
800 Z Kaspersbo 800 Z
1000 Z 870 Z
910 Z
Kanal Ore Strand Ore ? 925-1100 Z
Potential
1200 Z Dammsjön Kvarnberget 1100- 1000 -1300 Z 1200 Z

1400 Z
1600 Y 2000 Y 2400 Y 2800 Y 3200 Y 3600 Y 4000 Y 4400 Y 4800 Y 5200 Y

Production levels

Potential areas outside ore reserves 2005-01

Idealized long section at Garpenberg showing all orebodies and shafts.

One million
AB Zinkgruvor developed a new main 5-6 m-thick slices drilled horizontally
tonnes of ore shaft and concrete headframe and the from 50-300 m-long and up to 15 m-
The Garpenberg mine, located adjacent concentrator. Boliden acquired wide stopes. Rock fill was used in the
200 km northwest of Stockholm, the mine in 1957 and completed the bottom cut, and either plain sand or
extracts more than 1 million t/y of development of a second shaft in 1972, cemented hydraulic fill above. The
ore. The ore is polymetallic and accessing the 800 m level at Garpenberg sand comes from the coarse fraction of
contains mainly zinc, silver and
also some lead, copper and gold.
North, having a hoisting capacity of the mill tailings, and the fill is supple-
Additionally, about 500,000 t of 850,000 t/y and effectively creating a mented by development waste.
development waste is excavated second and larger mine. Mining starts normally at the centre
annually. Over recent years, Gar- Between these two shafts, the com- of the base level of the stope and pro-
penberg has been forced to add pany located another orebody under a gresses towards the ends and upwards.
reserves, or reconsider its future.
Happily, more orebodies have lake at Dammsjön and, in the 1980s, The last cut, just below the crown pillar,
been discovered, and new considered draining the lake in order is heavily reinforced to facilitate the
stoping methods and drilling to develop an open pit. recovery of the 8 -15 m-high pillar using
technology introduced. Atlas The mineralization in the Garpen- up holes drilling and blasting.
Copco has co-operated closely
berg area occurs in a long, narrow syn- The undercut-and-fill method, pro-
with Garpenberg management to
resolve techni-cal issues, clinal structure which is believed to be gressing downwards, was used in the
designing and sup-plying Middle Precambrian, but may have been Strandgruvan section from the mid-70s
equipment to suit the evolving remobilized later. The orebodies are until 2001, when the ore was mined out.
objectives. As a result, the mine
vertically extensive lenses that are usu- This method provided a safe working
achieved over 1 Mt of ore in 2005,
at very acceptable grades. ally narrow, much folded and therefore roof in the weak, fractured ore with
twisting and irregular. unstable footwall, for just the extra cost
of cement and rebar reinforcement. The
History Cut and fill method was suited to the orebody
Mining has been conducted at Garpen- irregularities, and no crown pillar had to
Until very recently all of the ore, sub-
be left or recovered. The introduction of
berg since the 13th century. The present divided in 100 m-high slices, was ex- trackless mining and further explora-tion
operations started in 1950-53, when tracted by cut-and-fill mining, taking of the mineralization in the North

underground mining methods 47

 Garpenberg, Sweden

drilling at the 800 m and 1,000 m levels

in Lappberget, and by February, 2003
was able to start mining ore from the
new source. Zinc concentrate produc-
tion in the year increased to 80,748 t.
In March, 2004 the connecting drift
was completed, and the formerly sepa-rate
mines have since been regarded and
managed as a single operation. The drift
allows access and infrastructure deve-
lopment of new mineable areas, and
Garpenberg quickly boosted mine output.
The main focus has been on Lappberget,
including driving a ramp close to the ore-
body from the 350 m level, with connec-
tion to the surface scheduled for 2007. The
Tyskgården mineralization, discov-ered in
the early 1980s, also became accessible,
and mining started there in 2003-4. In
2004 Boliden discovered an extension of
the Dammsjön mineraliza-tion around the
800 m level, and during 2005 a new
discovery was made, the reportedly large
and potentially high-grade Kvarnberget
Simba M7 C production drill rig at Garpenberg.
deposit.
mine led to the progressive extension While the new shaft raised hoisting
of a 1:7 ramp down to the 910 m level. capacity, and ramp extension accessed
Higher output
In 1998 -9, it was extended to the new ore in the North mine, metals pro- In 2005, the mine produced 1,102,000 t
1,000 m level, increasing the overall duction rose to record levels in 1998. ore grading 5.75% Zn, 2.28% Pb, 0.09%
length to 8.7 km. However, this improvement could not be Cu and 117 g/t Ag. Approximately 40%
To increase hoisting capacity at the maintained. Zinc concentrate output fell of the ore came from Lappberget. The
Garpenberg mine, the new Gruvsjö from 69,051 t in 1998 to 61,126 t in mill yielded 101,000 t of 55.3% zinc
pro-duction shaft was completed in 2001, despite a rise in ore production. concentrate; 29,000 t of 72% lead con-
1997 and the original shaft was And proven plus probable ore reserves centrate with 1,800 g/t silver; 2,800 t of
converted for personnel and materials declined from 5.7 Mt in 1998 to 2.2 Mt 15% copper concentrate with 40,000 g/t;
hoisting. With a hoisting capacity of at 4.0% Zn in 2003, putting a question and 120 t of precious metal con-centrate
450,000 t/y, the newer shaft connects mark on the future of the mine. grading 65% lead, 40,000 g/t silver and
with a ramp accessing the Kanal and However, Boliden continued to make 400 g/t gold. Some 967,000 t of tailings
Strand orebodies. investments in technology for the long retained 0.34% Zn, 0.29% Pb, 0.02% Cu
The present operating area extends term at Garpenberg. The mine, the com- and 25.5 g/t Ag. By end-2005 Boliden
approximately 4.5 km SW to NE from pany and the market are now benefiting. employed 280 people at Garpenberg,
with a further 70 working for contractors
the original shaft to the Gransjön mi- And the geologists are very popular.
at the site.
ning section.
New reserves The operation works around the
clock 7 days/week in both the con-
Concentrate production Probably the most significant event at centrator and the mine, with mining
Upgraded in the early 1990s, the con- Garpenberg during the period of decline carried out by four production teams
centrator yields separate zinc, lead, was the discovery in 1998 of a new ore- supported by a development crew and
copper and precious metals concen- body between Garpenberg North and a charging crew. Garpenberg is the
trates. The zinc and lead concentrates Dammsjön, named Lappberget. This Hedemora Community’s largest
are trucked to Gävle harbour and ship- encouraged the company to start deve- private sector employer.
ped either to Kokkola in Finland or lopment in 2000 of an approximately 3.0 Since the start of 2005 exploration
Odda in Norway. Copper and precious km-long drift to connect the 900 m level at has continued, not only adding tonnes,
metals concentrates are railed to the Garpenberg North, first to Lapp-berget for but also raising average grade. Thanks
Rönnskär smelter in Sweden. Since exploration access, and thence to the ramp to the exploration effort, Garpenberg
1957, Boliden has milled over 20 at the 800 m level at Garpen-berg. During also started 2006 with proven reserves
million tonnes of ore at Garpenberg. 2001, Boliden started core of 4.73 Mt grading 6.0% Zn, 2.5% Pb,

48 underground mining methods

 Garpenberg, Sweden

0.1% Cu, 99 g/t Ag and 0.3 g/t Au.

Probable ore brought total reserves up to
10.67 Mt. That compares with 3.63 Mt
of reserves at the beginning of 2005.
896 Z
Total resources were also increased,
from 11.08 Mt in January, 2005 to 13.22 Mined in
“Central Zone” 3m
Mt. This should be sufficient to add 9
another 15-20 years to mine life.
Possible 3 916 Z

These quantities should increase

further when portions of the orebodies sequence
4 10 5 11
at Kaspersbo (from 1,000 m down to
1,300 m), Lappberget (500–800 m and 6
1,100–1,400 m), Dammsjön (500–785 m 956 Z
and 925–1,100m), and a smaller sec-tion Primary stope: Secondary stope:
17.5 m
at Tyskgården are included in the 15 m wide x 40 m high 20 m wide x 40 m high
Paste fill Rock fill
reserves figures. Kvarnberget is yet to be Drawpoint
Note:
spacing How this hole must be designed to just
added, and Boliden is also exploring to miss the drift below to break properly

the north of the Gransjön where the

property extends for several kilometres.
996 Z

Sublevel stoping
at Lappberget
The geological and geotechnical char-
acteristics of significant portions of the Sublevel stoping layout and mining sequence for Lappberget orebody.
newly-discovered orebodies allow mi-
ning using more productive longhole concentrator capacity to 1.2 Mt/y; of development muck have to be accom-
methods instead of cut-and-fill. Lapp- designing and building a paste fill pro- modated underground as hoisting facili-
berget ore, for instance, can be 60 m-wide duction/distribution system; and start- ties are used for ore only.
through considerable vertical distances, ing longhole drilling. This latter The method can be described as a
and has proved to be suitable for sub-level modified sublevel stoping with succes-
project involved rill mining in the
stoping using a system of primary and sive back fill as mining is progressing.
Tyskgården orebody, followed by
secondary stopes progressing up-wards. The 10 m-wide cut- off slots are drilled
sublevel stoping in Lappberget.
Primary stopes are 15 m -wide and 40 m- across the orebody using up -holes and
high and filled with paste made from blasted in one single firing, starting from
concentrator tailings mixed with about 5%
Rill mining the centre. Seven 127 mm holes are left
cement. The 20 m-wide secondary stopes A special mining method known as rill uncharged to provide sufficient expan-
are filled with devel-opment muck without mining has been developed for excavating sion for the remaining 64 mm holes.
cement. High pre-cision drilling is After the slot has been opened, 70 de-
the Tyskgården orebody. The orebody is
necessary to get opti-mum ore recovery
relatively small, and large quantities grees up -holes fans consisting of eight,
and fragmentation.
This mining method can possibly be
Development and primary stoping layout 1080 level.
used in parts of the Kaspersbo orebody,
if rock quality is high enough. This will
help with cost control, which is crucial
for mining in Sweden. With Lappberget
alone containing 5.46 Mt of the current
reserves, grading over 7% zinc and 2.6%
lead, plus silver and gold, it is no sur-
prise that present development activities
focus on using longhole-based produc-
tion from these orebodies to raise total
metal-in-concentrate output. Presently
eight orebodies are being exploited.
Garpenberg has generated a strategic
plan for 2006–2019 allocating SEK 1
billion for developing Lappberget. The
overall programme includes: increasing

underground mining methods 49

 Garpenberg, Sweden

Refill of waste
One fan
Max

2m

App
c

5m1.x
ea
8
holes
Blasted ore

m .15Approx
3 blast

fans in
off slot in
Cut Waste one
h

fan Ø

1
m 70
.
8 mm
70°

45°

Rill mining in progress.

approximately 17 m-long, holes are available, with a limited amount of might double the amount of
blasted into the void. Three rows having truck ore haulage to surface possible.
investment initially planned.
a total of 24 holes are blasted simulta- And, although flotation capacity has
been improved, concentrator through-
neously. After mucking out each blast, New drilling technology
new waste is discharged into the stope put is now limited to the same sort of
forming a 45 degrees rill down into the tonnage by grinding mill capacity. Atlas Copco has supplied drilling equip-
drawpoint. As the waste material will Assuming demand for Garpenberg ment to Boliden’s underground mines
stay quite stable at 45 degrees rill angle, con-centrates increases in the near for many years. Recently, the company
term, it will be necessary for New has worked particularly closely with
the risk of ore dilution is negligible.
Boliden to decide whether to increase Garpenberg on the development of
hoisting capacity.
Output limitations Developing the now-available reserves
computer-based technology for more
precise drilling and blasting to enhance
The total mine output is restricted to for higher long-term production using ad- productivity and reduce ore dilution and
the 1.2-1.3 Mt/y hoisting capacity ditional hoisting and processing capacity operating costs.

Drill pattern for cut off slot.

50 underground mining methods

 Garpenberg, Sweden

This joint development process star-

ted with the 1998-1999 ramp extension
at Garpenberg North. The complex geo- Reference line
logy results in winding cross sections of
varying width, and ore boundaries which
are difficult to predict by core drilling. Mine coordinate system
To enable the drifts in the cut and fill X/Y horizontal
stopes to follow the paths of the
Z vertical
orebodies, accurate production maps and
Reference point X
precise drill rig navigation are es-sential.
Producing drill plans in the office is (x, y, z)
relatively easy. However, get-ting drill
Y
plans that match the actual ore
boundaries is a challenge, and frequent-
ly the driller is obliged to improvize Z
while drilling, which can lead to poor
blasting results.

Drill plan generator

The drill plan generator overcomes the
ore navigation problem by assisting the
operator to create an optimum drill plan
right at the face. In case the generated
drill plan does not match the actual ore Navigation system for downwards longhole production drilling.
boundaries, the operator can define new
coordinates to correct the situation. To with the COP 1838, as well as the for each hole bottom. Just as the
do this, having aligned the feed to the Rocket Boomers can use the MWD
Rocket Boomer 352S.
laser beam to define the position of the system while face drilling, so the
rig, the operator points the drill feeds at Simba can use Quality Log to record
the four corners of the face, in line with
Mine navigation drilling parameters and compare the
the geologist’s marks. When all The availability of orebodies at Garpen- planned and actual result, allowing
adjustments have been made, the Rig berg suitable for mining with longhole holes to be re-drilled if necessary.
Control System RCS will develop the production drill rigs led to a further This new technology will help Gar-
most efficient round compatible with the collaboration. Having already transfer- penberg to optimize economy and pro-
new parameters. The generated drill plan red RCS technology to the Simba long- ductivity when applying long hole
is automatically entered into the Rocket hole drill rigs, Atlas Copco provided the drilling mining methods. The target for
Boomer L2 C ABC Regular standard mine with a Simba M7 C that is 2007 is to mine about 600,000 t of ore
drilling system, and the operator can additionally able to use new software for by cut-and-fill, 300,000 t by sublevel
start drilling. While drilling, each com- precision longhole drilling. This utilizes stoping, 150,000 t by rill mining and
pleted hole is logged, and, if the Garpenberg’s mine coordinate reference, 150,000 t by crown pillar removal.
Measure While Drilling (MWD) option mapping and planning sy-stem in a Further ahead, sublevel stoping may
is acti-vated, the drilling parameters similar way to the software developed contribute 50% of total mine production.
along the hole are recorded. All of the for the Rocket Boomer L2 C units. However, at present this mining method
data is log-ged on the PC card for off- is com-pletely new to the mining teams
line processing in the Tunnel Manager Using a PC card, the Mine Navigation
at Garpenberg, and they have just started
support pro-gram, and is then transferred package can effectively integrate the
the process of getting acquainted with
to the mine database. As a result of the Simba RCS with the mine co- ordinate
long hole drilling methods.
Drill Plan Generator and ABC Regular, reference system, allowing the operator to
position the machine at the correct vertical
Garpenberg North increased the size of Acknowledgements
the production rounds from 400 t to 600 and horizontal coordinates in the drilling
t, reduced drilling time from 5 to 3 drift for drilling planned longhole fans in This article is based upon an original
h/round, reducing costs of explo-sives, precisely the intended place. Using the report by Kyran Casteel. Atlas Copco
scaling and rock support and, most drill plan supplied by Microsystem (or, in is grateful to the mine management at
important, minimizing ore dilu-tion. other mines, the Ore Manager package) to Garpenberg for their assistance with
Garpenberg now has one Rocket the Rig Control System, the operator can site visits, and in particular to Tom
Boomer L2 C30 rig with COP 3038 rock drill to the exact x, y and z positions Söderman and Lars Bergkvist for
drills and one Rocket Boomer L2 C prescribed com-ments and revision.

underground mining methods 51

 Garpenberg, Sweden

Headframe at Garpenberg.

52 underground mining methods

 Zinkgruvan, Sweden

Changing systems at Zinkgruvan

Partners in
production
Zinkgruvan Mining, Sweden’s
third largest mining company, is
owned and operated by Lundin
Mining Group. Zinkgruvan Mining
produ-ces zinc concentrate (55%
Zn) and lead concentrate (73%
Pb and l,400 g/t Ag) and ships to
smelt-ers in northern Europe.
The mine has been continuously
in produc-tion since 1857, and
ore output in 2006 was 787,000 t,
together with around 250,000 t
from waste development.
Average zinc grades were high at
10.3%, whereas lead grades fell
to 4.6%, and silver to 93 g/t. For
2007, ore production is planned
at 850,000 t, and a pro-ject to
increase reserves is under-way.
  Zinkgruvan ore reserves total
11.2 million t, containing 9.3%
zinc, 4.3% lead and 107 g/t silver,
equivalent to approximately 15
years of production. Added to
this, discovered in the 1990s, is a
copper mineralization of 3.5 mil- Longhole drilling with Simba M4 C in the Burkland stopes.
lion t containing 3.1% copper and
49 g/t silver. When mining reached the 566 m- Nygruvan, where the country rock is of
  Production is obtained from level, a borehole camera survey extremely good quality. The ore is
open stopes where, following homogeneous, with distinct ore bounda-
revealed a roof split 6 m above the
difficulties with seepage from
hydraulic fill when rock quality stopes, caus-ing abandonment of cut ries where dip in the ore is greater than
diminished, the mine now uses and fill methods on safety grounds. 75 degrees. The open room that is
paste fill. Rather than deepen Benching methods were introduced, formed after the stope is mucked has
the main hoisting shaft, the main and have been under constant develop- height measurements of up to 70 m,
ramp access was developed be- width of 15 m, and a length of 50 m.
ment since, primarily because of high
low the 800 m level and will bot-
tom out at 1,100 m under present rock stress. Using benching, no working After mucking is completed, the draw-
plans. Key to Zinkgruvan produc- place need be developed wider than 7 m. points are sealed with bulkheads, and
tion efforts is equipment sup- Over the years, benching has devel- filled with hydraulic fill.
plied by Atlas Copco, which in- oped from longitudinal bench and fill. In the mid-1990s, the Burkland ore-
cludes four Simba production
The mined out bench is backfilled with body was developed. Rock quality and
drill rigs, three Rocket Boomers
and two Boltec rigs, together hydraulic fill before mining the next ore geometry were different compared to
with long-term maintenance and earlier orebodies, and a project was
bench above. Vertical pillars in the ore
consumable supply contracts. initiated to utilize a modified sub-level
are left to stabilize the surrounding rock.
open stoping method for orebodies with
weaker hanging walls, but retaining the
Methodology Open stoping advantages of the stoping method.
Until the mid-1980s, upwards cut and Development continued towards sub- In this method, open stopes have the
fill was the dominant mining method. level open stoping, which is a larger approximate dimensions 40 m-high x 50
However, when mining began at the scale stoping method than longitudinal m-long, and the orebody width up to 30
650 m-level in Nygruvan, the first bench and fill, with improved rock m. Pillars up to 10 m- thick are left
problems with rock stress occurred, stress. between every stope to support the
resulting in the need for increased Sub- level open stoping as a pro- hanging wall, so some 16% of the ore is
rock reinforce-ment. duction method worked excellently in utilized as pillars. After the first stope

underground mining methods 53

 Zinkgruvan, Sweden

lying between two paste filled stopes,

can then be mined out and filled with
waste rock, or paste fill with a low ce-
ment content.
The stope design in the upper levels
in Burkland was chosen to facilitate the
change from sub-level open stoping to
longhole open stoping. The levels were
already arranged in 100 m sequences, so
the height of the stopes became 37 m.
Stope width was designed to be about
half the room length used for sublevel
open stoping. The primary stopes were
designed to be 20 m-long, with the sec-
ondary stopes 25 m-long.
The stope hanging walls are cable
reinforced from the ore drive on the
extraction level, and on the upper sub-
level, using 15.7 mm cables with maxi-
mum tensile strength of 265 KN. The
Ergonomically-designed cab on the Simba M4 C drill rig. crosscuts are cable reinforced and shot-
creted to secure the footwall brow.
was mined in late-1998, the quality of be used when the width of the copper Mine -wide, four longhole rigs are
the hanging was found to be worse than mineralization reaches up to 40 m. The used for production and cable drilling.
expected, with cave-ins, high waste rock results of this study were adapted to the Stopes are drilled downwards from the
dilution, and difficult backfilling. Burkland orebody, where the 450 orebody drives, and from the crosscuts
section was converted to longhole open in the top sub-level. The benches are
Burkland stopes stoping with primary and secondary opened on a 600 -1,200 mm-diameter
stopes. The first two primary stopes raise bored hole, with an opening slot
Earlier, a study of the new copper ore- were mined out by October, 2000. When along the hanging wall. Blasting is se-
body had recommended that longhole the primary stopes are extracted, they quential, and rock is loaded from the
open stoping and paste backfill should are paste filled. The secondary stope, extraction level below. The transition to

Stope drilling and cable bolting. Stoping sequence.

Cor/slot A

10 m Robbins opening slots

Rib
pillar Rib
Ore outline pillar
Rib
pillar

A 7 9
Plan view of typical bottom drawpoint level 8
11 4
Drill level 3
(for below)
6
10
Cable bolts Development level 5 2
(for above)
1

45 m

Drawpoint level
(shown in plan view)

Vertical section through stope looking east

54 underground mining methods

 Zinkgruvan, Sweden

longhole open stoping has contributed

to a lower production cost, but the fill
adds expense. However, because the
method does not normally require pil-
lars, no rock is sterilized when mining
the secondary stopes. These savings
offset the fill costs, and 800,000 t is
added to the ore reserves.
CMS surveys on the first two pri-
mary stopes in Bu 450 showed that
drilling and blasting had followed the
ore boundaries according to plan.

Paste fill
Hydraulic fill was introduced to Zink-
gruvan in the early 1970s when the new
mill was built, and was used success-
fully for many years. However, during
the transition to sub-level open stoping,
difficulties arose in sealing the open
stopes when using hydraulic fill. The
bulkheads could not be sealed against
the cracked rock in the draw points, and
there was also seepage through cracked Rocket Boomer M2 C developing the sublevels.
pillars. Because of the difficulties of
managing the fill, certain stopes have
not been filled, as the risk of fill col- Paste fill specifications
lapsing is greater than the chances of a Nygruvan Burkland
hanging wall collapsing in the open Primary stope 4 % cement 6 % cement
stopes. Secondary stope 1.5 % cement 2 % cement
Alternatives that were studied includ-
Slump 150-180 mm 200-250 mm
ed hydraulic fill, with cement for about
50% solidity; paste fill, with cement for
70-76% solidity; and high-density fill, for paste fill in the two orebodies shown Paste fill is transported to the 350 m-
with cement for greater than 76% solid- in the table above. level of the mine through two boreholes,
ity. Paste fill with cement was selected
for longhole open stoping with primary Plan of stope extraction level.
and secondary stopes. Investments P Ore outline
required in the paste plant, and for pipe
installations underground, reached about
45 million SEK. Golder Paste S P
Technology, together with Zinkgruvan S P = Primary
personnel, handled the design, construc- Ore drive
tion and building. P S = Secondary
S P
Stope design criteria
Ore shaft S
The design of stope sizes was based
Waste shaft
on the developed levels in the P
Burkland ore. The paste fill is Ventilation
horizontally trans-ported 1.4 km in
order to reach these stopes, so has to Transport drift
be pumpable. The fill also has to have Ramp Footwall drive
a minimum strength of 0.35 Mpa, to
handle a free- standing height of 40 m.
The uni-axial pressure test and pump-
ability test resulted in the specifications

underground mining methods 55

 Zinkgruvan, Sweden

is used on ramp and sublevel develop-

ment, where the requirement is for 18
rounds/week on a 2 x 7 h shift basis.
The mine has purchased a second
twin-boom Rocket Boomer, this time
an M2 C, which is the mining version
of the Rocket Boomer L2 C.

Rock reinforcement
The mine installs up to 20,000 resin
an-chored rockbolts each year, and,
having upgraded its production
process, found that bolting became the
new bottleneck. After prolonged
testing of the latest Atlas Copco
Boltec LC, they ordered two units.
Using these machines, the working
environment for the bolting operatives
has improved immeasurably, since the
continuous manual handling of resin
cartridges has been eliminated. The
Boltec LC is a fully mechanized rock-
bolting rig, with computer-based control
system for high productivity and preci-
sion. The Zinkgruvan models feature a
new type of magazine holding 80 resin
cartridges, sufficient for installation of
16 rockbolts. It is equipped with a
stinger, which applies constant pressure
to keep it stable at the hole during the
Boltec LC installing rockbolts in a development drift. entire installation process. The operator
can select the number of resin cartridges
a 165 mm hole for gravitating into Ny- ratio in the paste fill, with a view to to be shot into the hole, for which the
gruvan, and a 300 mm hole for pumping blow capacity is excellent.
reducing the amount of cement used.
under high pressure into Burkland. The Rig Control System (RCS) fea-
The fill is transported through 6 in tures an interactive operator control
steel pipes along the distribution
Lower development
panel, with full -colour display of the
levels, connected by plastic pipes into In order to mine below the 800 m level, computer-based drilling system. Auto-
the stopes. the mine uses three Kiruna Electric matic functions in the drilling process,
Advantages of longhole open stoping trucks for ore and waste haulage to the such as auto-collaring and anti-jamming
with paste fill are: improved working main crusher. A Simba M4C longhole protection, as well as improved regula-
environment for all underground activi- drill rig is used on production, drilling tion of the rock drill, provide high per-
ties with regards to exposure of open up to 40 m-long x 76 mm or 89 mm- formance and outstanding drill steel
stopes and backfill; reduced pillar diameter blastholes. The machine pro- economy. There is integrated diagnos-tic
reservation, leading to increased ore duces some 50,000 drillmetres/year, and fault location, and a distributed
reserves; increased flexibility, with more while an older Simba 1357 drills a simi- hydraulic system, with fewer and shorter
stopes in simultaneous production and lar number of metres in the 51- 64 mm hoses for increased availability. Data
lower grade fluctuation; all tailings can range. The mine is so impressed with the transfer is by PC- card, which also
be used; no bulkheads required; reduced stability of the Simba M4C rotation unit allows service engineers to store opti-
drainage water; and possibility of filling that it has had an old Simba 1354 rebuilt mal drill settings.
abandoned stopes. to incorporate the same unit. A new The MBU bolting unit on the Boltec
Disadvantages are: higher costs Simba M7C handles the cable bolt LC features a single feed system, uti-
than conventional hydraulic fill; and drilling. The drilling consumables are lizing a cradle indexer at the rear end,
plugged fill pipes and drill holes supplied by Atlas Copco Secoroc under and a robust drill steel support plus
require more effort. contract. The ramp will be driven from indexer for grouting at the top end. It is
The long-term focus is directed to- the current 980 m to the 1,100 m level. equipped with a low-mounted magazine
wards optimization of the water/cement An Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer L2 C for 10 bolts, designed for maximum

56 underground mining methods

 Zinkgruvan, Sweden

flexibility during drilling and bolting.

The COP 1432 rock drill was, before be-
ing replaced with COP 1132, the short-
est in its class, with modern hydraulic
reflex dampening for high-speed drill- Crown pillar
ing and excellent drill steel economy. It
has separately variable frequency and
impact power, which can be adapted to
certain drill steel/rock combinations.
The BUT 35 HBE heavy-duty boom
is perfect for direct, fast and accurate 4.5 m
positioning between holes, and, at Zink-
gruvan, this has been extended by 700 8-15 m
mm. Large capacity working lights and a
joystick-operated spotlight ensure that
Typical
the operator has outstanding visibility. cable
bolting
Profitable collaboration ∅ 51 mm
The Rig Control System (RCS), origi-nally drill bit
developed for Boomer rigs, is now also Production
installed on Simba and Boltec rigs, so the drilling
∅ 74 mm
mine benefits from the common-ality.
drill bit
Atlas Copco has total responsibility for all
service and maintenance opera-tions on its
equipment at Zinkgruvan, and has three
service engineers sta-tioned permanently at
site. The com-pany is also under 3-5 year
contract for the supply, maintenance and
grinding of Secoroc rock drilling tools,
overseen by a Secoroc specialist.
Drawpoint level
From the mine point of view, they be-
lieve they have profited by their collabo-
ration with Atlas Copco, particularly in
the field testing of the new generation
rigs. Early exposure to the capabilities of
these machines has allowed them to
adapt their mining and rockbolting Typical cross section of the orebody looking east.
methods to the new technology, giving
them a head start on the savings to be
Primary stope drilling layout.
achieved. Also, by leaving the long-term
maintenance and supply of rock drilling
tools in the hands of Atlas Copco, they
are free to concentrate on their core Opening slot
business of mining. Above all, it ena-
bles them to make accurate predictions Opening raise
of drilling and bolting costs, which will
improve overall cost control.

Acknowledgements Cut off raise

This article is based on a paper

written by Gunnar Nyström. Atlas
Copco also gratefully acknowledges
the inputs of Jonas Södergren, Hans Top view
Sjöberg and Conny Öhman, all of
Zinkgruvan Mining. Front view

underground mining methods 57

Experience and Knowledge

Working with Atlas Copco means working with highly productive

rock drilling solutions. What’s more, the people you work with are
the best – with the ability to listen and to understand the diverse
needs of our customers. This approach requires experience and
knowledge, presence, flexibility and involvement in their processes.
It means making customer relations and service a priority. Through
interaction, innovation and a continuous drive to improve the way we
do things – we help our customers achieve results.

Committed to your superior productivity.

Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB

Fax: +46 19 670 7393

www.atlascopco.com
 Kiruna, Sweden

Increasing outputs at
LKAB iron ore mines
1910 1900 Nivå m
Mining of the
0
Kirunavaara orebody 1920 Ore beneficiation plant
1930 142
1940
1950
1960 Railway to Narvik port 230

1965 275
320
1970
1980 420

1990 540

Skip hoisting

2000 Sea level 740

2005 Ore buffer 775

Skip hoisting pockets

Exploration drift 1045 m Main haulage level 1045

1060 m Crusher
1365 m New haulage level 1175

1365

Crusher

Mining of the Kirunavaara orebody over the last century.

Optimum
technology is now being successively
techniques Continuous quest upgraded with the latest generation of
For more than 40 years, the miners The Swedish state- owned mining com- rigs equipped with a PC-based Rig
of LKAB in the far north of Sweden pany LKAB is on a continuous quest for Control System RCS, the Simba W6 C
have been working to get as close the most favourable balance possible in fitted with LKAB's Wassara W100 in-
as possible to the optimum un- the relationship between ore recov-ery, the-hole hammer.
derground mining technique. At
waste dilution, overall costs and LKAB operates two large mines
Kiruna, in what is the world's larg-
est underground iron ore opera- productivity. Much of the development north of the Arctic Circle, where its
tion, many milestones have been work done here has been carried out in Kiruna and Malmberget mines together
reached and passed. Now another close cooperation with equipment sup- supply about 4% of the iron ore require-
is on the horizon as the mine takes pliers, including Atlas Copco. ments of the world’s steel industry. With
new steps to go deeper and ex-
LKAB's relationship with Atlas Copco no sign of a slow down in demand, the
pand. Sister mine Malmberget is
also expanding output, albeit on a began in the early 1960s, with mecha- company has ambitious plans for the
lesser scale. Key to both is a nized drilling equipment which was the future. These include new main haulage
collaboration with Atlas Copco that predecessor of today’s automated long- levels at both mines, which this year
is providing specialized drill-ing hole production drilling system. alone will require the development of
equipment together with the means
In 1997, Atlas Copco supplied LKAB some 40 km of new drifts.
of maintenance.
with four Simba W469 drill rigs equip- The modern Simba production drill-
ped with a PLC control system. This ing rigs have made a clear difference in

underground mining methods 59

 Kiruna, Sweden

able to gradually increase the spacing

between the sublevels from 12 m in
the mid- 60s using compressed air-
pow-ered, tophammer rock drills, to
today's 30 m using water powered ITH
ham-mers. This has resulted in
controlled levels of ore losses and
waste dilution. However, the mine
wants to raise the bar even higher,
believing there is still much more that
can be done to increase efficiency,
productivity and overall economy.

Increasing outputs
From their control rooms, the LKAB
ope-rators run several drill rigs out in the
pro-duction areas via remote control.
The fans are drilled forwards, 10 degrees
off vertical, generally with a burden of 3
m, although a 3.5 m burden is used in
some parts of the Malmberget mine.
Pumped emulsion and Nonel detonators
are the standard explosives.
Kiruna mine is aiming to achieve one
Simba W6 C drilling upholes at Kiruna mine. million metres of production drilling in
2007. Malmberget, on the other hand, is
LKAB performance, increasing output from its 2007 base of 16 million t to going for 0.6 million metres. But both
by 40%. In 2007, Kiruna will extract will need to increase their capacity in
17 million t in 2012.
around 27 million t of crude ore, with a order to maintain and increase the buffer
between production drilling and loading.
plan to increase to 30 million t in 2009. Optimizing ore recovery
Malmberget’s plan is less ambitious, but It was in 2005 that LKAB took the
The Kiruna orebody is a single large decision to install three Simba W6 C
significant, in moving production up
slice of magnetite about 4 km-long and units which are modified versions of
Setting up a Simba W6 C for production drilling.
80 m-wide, extending to a depth of 2 km the Simba L6 C. Two of these are
with a dip of around 60 degrees. Sub- designed for optimized production
level caving is used, drilling upward drilling at Kiruna Mine with the
fans of 115 mm- diameter holes. The Wassara water hammer.
method lends itself to a high degree of The third, a Simba W6 C Slot, was
automa-tion, resulting in high redesigned for optimized up -hole slot
productivity. LKAB is constantly drilling in the Malmberget mine. This
striving to mini-mize ore losses and rig has the ability to drill production
waste dilution, seeking the best holes around the slot, with the added
combination to achieve optimum results. benefit of drilling parallel rings from the
Under investigation are: analysis of same set-up with a burden of 500 mm.
the positive effects of accurate drilling The criteria from LKAB were high
on ore recovery rates, waste dilution and productivity, efficiency and accuracy.
fragmentation; the impact of alternative The rigs in the Kiruna mine will have
drill fan configurations and hole burdens to drill 60 m-long holes in order to
on mucking and operating costs; and the meet future targets.
optimum distance between levels. Such long holes have to be very
All agree on one thing: straight, ac- straight, and with the new rigs LKAB
curate holes which reach their preplan- has high expectations for both produc-
ned target points are vital, because hole tion rates and precision, with the flex-
deviation has a negative impact on all ibility of being able to run the rigs
aspects of the production operation.
manually as well as automatically. The
Thanks to the improving ability to
Wassara hammer has the advantage that
drill straight holes, LKAB has been it does not leak oil into the environment.

60 underground mining methods

 Kiruna, Sweden

43
Groups of ore passes 38
1048 m
34

29

25

20

16

11

Development of 1365 m haulage level at Kiruna.

For each of the Simba W6 C rigs rate drops with hole depth, and the to an existing network system via
LKAB has set targets of 80,000 drill- risk of deviation increases. LAN or WLAN. RRA is used for
metres/year. Since October 2006, the All of the rigs have drill tube maga- remote su-pervision when drilling
two drill rigs at Kiruna have achieved zines which are sufficient for drilling unmanned in full fan automation, as
65,000 and just over 70,000 drillme- the required hole lengths, thereby well as for transfer-ring drill plans and
tres/year respectively, with an average eliminat-ing the need for manual log files and hand-ling messages from
monthly performance of 10,000 drill- addition of tu-bes. They are also the rigs' control systems.
metres. equipped with a PC-based Rig Control If manual operation is preferred, the
System (RCS) specially designed for rig cabin offers a good working
Alternative configurations ITH applications. The new water environ-ment with vibration damping
pump system reduces water spillage and noise insulation.
The rigs drill alternative configurations and lowers the overall cost. The pump The LKAB rigs are working with
with holes 15-58 m long. The fans are pressure control has been modified to ABC Total, the highest level of auto-
spaced at three metre intervals, and any optimize hammer efficiency. mation, facilitating drilling a full fan in
deviation of more than 2% might cause With increased automation and re- automatic mode with only some initial
the fans to overlap. The average pene- duced manning there is a growing need steps needed from the operator. Within
tration rate is 0.65 m/min over the entire for remote surveillance. Atlas Copco's the ABC Total package, there is also the
hole, which can be compared to top- Rig Remote Access (RRA) interface possibility to drill manually or with one
hammer drilling where the penetration allows the user to connect the drill rig -hole automatics if preferred. The

The Wassara W 100 hammer on the Simba W6 gives good penetration and, as it is water-powered, does not release any oil into the air.

underground mining methods 61

 Kiruna, Sweden

Alternative drilling configurations under consideration by LKAB.

automatic systems also enable the rigs to better fit in with LKAB schedules. problems. As a result Atlas Copco is
to run unmanned during shift changes, Another was to move the service
seen by LKAB as safe and reliable.
centre for the team of 18 service and
lunch breaks and night shifts.
mainte-nance staff from underground Acknowledgements
to sur-face.
Service agreements LKAB confirms that the improve-ments Atlas Copco is grateful to the manage-
Both LKAB mines have full service have had the desired effect, with more ments of Kiruna and Malmberget
agreements with Atlas Copco, who pro- consistent maintenance. Regular meetings, mines for their assistance in the
vide continuous preventive maintenance
for their fleet of 20 rigs. Under the terms
spontaneous as well as planned, ensure a production of this article.
of the agreement, Atlas Copco runs a more structured approach to
thorough check on each rig at the rate of
All on the same team: From the left, Robert Wetterborn, Construction Supervisor, Mining Dept. at LKAB, Patrik
one per week. The agreement, which
Kansa, Atlas Copco Service Manager and Roger Lärkmo, Production Manager, Production Drilling at LKAB.
is based on the number of metres
drilled, also includes the supply of all
spare parts. Only genuine Atlas Copco
parts are used on contract
maintenance, guar-anteeing longer
service life and greater availability.
The availability target is 92%, and
penalties are payable on underper-
formance, with bonuses awarded if the
targets are exceeded. LKAB is pleased
with the agreements and the way they
have been designed, feeling they can let
go of the maintenance responsibility and
concentrate on drilling.
Many changes have been introduced
to ensure communication between mine
and manufacturer on a regular basis,
resulting in a mutual approach to prob-
lem solving with a focus on proactive
and preventive maintenance.
One of the most important changes
was to reorganize the service intervals

62 underground mining methods

 Kemi, Finland

From surface to underground

at Kemi chrome mine
Intelligent mining
The large chromite deposit being
mined by Outokumpu at Kemi,
Finland has a lower than average
Cr2O3 content of about 26%, so
chromite and ferrochrome pro-
duction technology has had to be
continuously upgraded to remain
competitive.
  The Intelligent Mine Implemen-
tation Technology Programme of
14 projects achieved real time con-
trol of mine production in precise
coordination with the needs of the
mineral processing plant and the
ferrochrome smelter. The system
utilizes a fast, mine-wide infor-
mation system that can help opti-
mize financial results for the whole
operation. Computerized drilling
with Atlas Copco Rocket Boomers
and Simbas, accurate coring with
Craelius rigs, reliable rock reinfor-
cement with Cabletec and Boltec A 3D impression of Kemi mine showing the open pit, the underground development and the orebodies.
rigs with Swellex bolts, and the
dependability and longevity of Ore reserves at Kemi chrome mine inter-layered, and must be mined
Secoroc drilling consumables sup-
port this unique mine strategy. The are abundant, and the efficiency of the selec-tively. However, there is strong
result is cost-efficient, integrated Tornio smelter is enhanced by its prox- granite some 80 m below the footwall.
production, on a model which may imity to both the mine and harbour The Kemi chrome deposit comprises
form the basis of the next genera- facilities. Mining production has been 11 mineralizations within a 4.5 km-long
tion of mining techniques. zone varying from 5-105 m in width,
progressively switched from surface to
underground, where intensive use is with average thickness of 40 m, a min-
eral resource of over 150 million t of
Introduction being made of information technology to
28.6% Cr2O3. Of this, there are 50 mil-
optimize the overall mining and pro-
Outokumpu is one of the world’s cessing operation. Underground mining lion t proven reserves underground be-
largest stainless steel producers, tween the 500 m level and the bottom of
started in 2003 at 150,000 t/y, and pro-
accounting for about 8% of global the open pit. The ore body continues at
duction will increase to the planned
stainless slab output, and a similar depth, probably to 1,000 m, with 750 m
level of 1.2 million t/y by 2008.
share of cold rolled pro-duction. These having been reached by the deepest
are hugely significant proportions of a exploratory hole. The 1.5 km-long x 500
Reserves m-wide main pit has a final planned
market that has risen by an average of
5.5% per annum over the last 20 years, The Kemi deposit is hosted by a 2.4 bil- depth of 220 m.
and is currently enjoy-ing 7% growth. lion year old mafic- ultramafic layered A two shift/day, five day/week pat-
Mainstay of the Outokumpu strategy intrusion extending for some 15 km north- tern is worked in the mine, from which
is its highly cost-efficient fully integrat- east of the town itself. The chromite-rich about 1.2 million t/y of ore grading 24-
ed mine-to-mill production chain in the horizon appears 50-200 m above the 26% Cr2O3 is processed continu-ously
Kemi-Tornio area of northern Finland. bottom of the intrusion, and has an average by the concentrator. The yield is 220,000
An ongoing investment programme of dip of 70 degrees northwest. The main t/y of 12-100 mm lumpy concentrate
EUR1.1 billion will expand total slab immediate host rock is weak talc - with 35% Cr2O3, and 420,000 t/y
capacity from 1.75 million t to 2.75 mil- carbonate, in which the hanging wall metallurgical grade con-centrate at 45%
lion t, and coil rolling capacity from 1.2 contact is clearly defined. At the footwall, Cr2O 3. Over the years, more than 30
million t to 1.9 million t. the chromite and host rock is million t of ore have been

underground mining methods 63

 Kemi, Finland

Concentrator operation is optimized

by accurate calibration of the feed slurry
analyzers, and control of product quality
from each unit process, both by com-
pensating for changes in feed type, and
measuring product quality on-line.
Manual input can be used, as well as on-
line information.
A Craelius Diamec 264 APC drill rig
carries out 10 km of coring each year.
Drill sections are established every 10 m
and downhole survey is standard pro-
cedure, using a Maxibore system. Based
on the drill hole data, a 3D model of the
orebody is created and used as a basis
for production planning. Tying all these
streams of collected data and planning
outputs together requires an extremely
fast communications network, interfac-
Kemi underground mine – simplified long section.
ing with a single master database.
produced from open pits, resulting in for each ore stope on a daily basis, and Underground infrastructure
this is merged and compared with
130 million t in the waste heaps.
daily and blast-specific production The main decline starts at a portal in
histories from the database. the footwall side of the pit, at about
Ore grade control
Each ore blast is treated selectively 100 m below the rim. The decline is
Ore grade control in both the open pit at the concentrator, in order to mostly 8 m-wide x 5.5 m-high, to
and the underground mine involves in- minimize feed variation and maximize accommo-date passing vehicles. It
tensive wire line diamond core drilling, process stability. descends at 1:7 to a depth of 600 m at
to determine boundaries and qualities of In the concentrator, total chromite the base of the hoisting shaft, and
specific ore types. In addition, all blast recovery is around 80%, depending on connects with sev-eral intermediate
holes in the open pit are sampled. the proportion of lumpy ore. sublevels. The decline is asphalted
Technical innovations for ore charac- Metallurgical grade concentrate contains throughout most of its length.
terization and quantification include about 45% Cr2O3 of 0.2 mm grain size, There is also a 5,000 cu m repair
OMS-logg down hole logging, and auto- while up-graded lumpy ore is about 35% shop for open pit equipment at the 115
mated image analysis for establishing m level, and a larger 14,000 cu m work-
Cr 2O3 with 12-100 mm size. The former
grain size distribution. shop at the 350 m level for the under-
is pel-letised at Tornio, and then mixed
Basic production data about mineral- ground mobile equipment fleet. The
with upgraded lumpy ore before final 23,000 cu m main workshop is at
ogical and process histories are logged smelting to produce ferrochrome. the 500 m level. The 350 m level work-
shops are enclosed by megadoors, which
Atlas Copco Diamec U6 APC at work underground.
keep in the heat so that an ambient 18
degrees C can be maintained. The ser-
vice bay is equipped with a 10 t travel-
ling gantry and 16 m -long inspection
pit. The washing bay is equipped with
two Wallman hydraulically controlled
washing cages, so there is no need for
operatives to climb onto the mobile
equipment.
The main pumping station is located
at the 350 m level, and has pumping
capacity of 2 x 250 cu m/h. The slurry-
type pumps, with mechanical seals,
pump the unsettled mine water to the
surface with a total head of 360 m. Two
other dewatering pumping stations are
located at the 500 m and 580 m levels.

64 underground mining methods

 Kemi, Finland

The crusher station at the 560 m level

is equipped with a 1,000 t/h Metso
gyratory crusher. This is fed from two
sides by vibrating feeders from separate
8 m-diameter main ore passes from the
500 m level, and from one side by a
plate feeder, to which the ore can be
dumped from the 550 m level. A 40 t
travelling gantry crane services the
entire crusher house. Crushed ore
gravitates onto a conveyor in a tunnel
below the crusher for transport to the
shaft loading pock-ets 500 m away.

Underground production
Trial stopes in three areas accessed
from the 275 m and 300 m levels were
mined to determine the parameters of Rocket Boomer L2 C is used for sublevel development.
the bench cut-and-fill technique to be
used. These had a width of 15 m, and expand the smelting operation. Rig Control System RCS, mounts the
were 30 -40 m-long, with 25,000 Budgeted cost for mine development latest Swellex HC1 pump, for bolt infla-
-30,000 t of ore apiece. Both uphole and tion at 300 bar pressure, and reports
down-hole drilling methods were tested, is EUR70 million.
progress on the operator’s screen.
and 51 mm-diameter downholes selected The HC1 hydraulic pump is robust,
as being the safest. Rock reinforcement simple, and with low maintenance cost.
For production purposes, 25 m-high 2.4 m-long Swellex Mn12 bolts are used Coupled to an intelligent system, it rea-
transverse stopes are laid out, with cable
for support in ore contact formations. ches the 300 bar pressure level quickly,
bolt and mesh support to minimize dilu-
These are being installed at a rate of 80- and maintains it for the minimum time
tion. Primary stopes are 15 m-wide, and
secondary stopes 20 m-wide. Cemented 120 bolts/shift using an Atlas Copco for perfect installation. Combined with
fill, using furnace slag from an iron ore Boltec LC rig, which is returning drilling the rig’s RCS system, the pump can
smelter and fly ash from local power penetration rates of 3.2 to 4 m/min. The confirm the number of bolts successfully
stations, is placed in the primary stopes, Boltec LC rig, featuring Atlas Copco installed and warn of any problems
while the secondary stopes will be back-
Stoping sequence at Kemi mine.
filled with mine waste rock. The pri-
mary stopes are being extracted one or
two levels above the secondary stopes.
Mining sublevels with 5 m x 5 m cross
sections are being established at 25 m
vertical intervals, using an Atlas Copco
Rocket Boomer L2 C drill rig equipped
with COP 1838ME rock drills and 5 m-
long Secoroc steel and bits. Rounds of 60-
80 holes take about 2 hours to drill, charge
and prime. An emulsion charging truck
with elevating platform and Atlas Copco
GA15 compressor provides fast and
efficient explosives delivery. The footwall
granite is very competent, but lots of rock
reinforcement is required in the weaker
host rock, where all drives are
systematically rock bolted and secu-red
with steel fibre reinforced shotcrete.
The planned nominal capacity is
2.7 million t/y of ore, which allows for
increased ferrochrome production at
Tornio when Outokumpu decides to

underground mining methods 65

 Kemi, Finland

productivity compared with alternative

support methods.
The Cabletec L is equipped with a
COP 1838ME hydraulic rock drill using
reduced impact pressure with the R32
drill string system for 51 mm hole
diameter. The machine's cable cassette
has a capacity of 1,700 kg and is easy to
refill, thanks to the fold- out cassette
arm. It features automatic cement
mixing and a silo with a capacity of
1,200 kg of dry cement, which is mixed
according to a pre-programmed for-
mula, resulting in unique quality
assurance for the grouting process.

Bench cut and fill

Boltec LC installing Swellex Mn12 rockbolts. The current mining method is bench cut
and fill, a type of sub-level stoping with
with inflation. A series of slip-pull is performed automatically, including downhole production drilling, in
tests carried out throughout the mine pulling the rods out of the hole. The which primary stopes are 25 m-high,
pro-ved the strong anchorage capacity main benefit of the two-boom concept is 15 m-wide and between 30 and 40 m-
of Swellex Mn12, both in the orebody to drastically reduce the entire drilling long. Using a Rocket Boomer L2 C
and bolting cycle time. Also, separat-ing rig, the drifts for the primary stopes
and for the softer talc- carbonate and
the drilling and bolting functions are devel-oped laterally from the
mylonite zone.
prevents the risk of cement entering the footwall through the ore zone. Then a
rock drill, thereby reducing service and Simba M6 C pro-duction rig drills
Cable bolting maintenance costs. down 51 mm diameter blastholes in
Kemi installs some 80 km of cable bolt Kemi tested the prototype Cabletec L fans 2 m apart. Each stope yields
each year using its Atlas Copco Cabletec and eventually purchased the unit after between 25,000 and 35,000 t of ore.
L unit, which is based on the longhole minor modification proposals. During the Tests showed that drilling upwards
production drilling rig Simba M7, with testing period, where most holes were in would be about 30 per cent more effi-
an added second boom for grouting and the 6 to 11 m range, the rig grou-ted and cient, but because of safety issues relat-
cable insertion. The Rig Control System installed cables at rates of more than 40 ed to the poor rock conditions, it was
decided to start with downhole drilling
enables the operator to pay full attention m/hour. The capacity of the unit, which is
while getting experience with the rock
to grouting and cable insertion, while governed by the rate of dril-ling, provided
and the mining method. Meantime,
drilling of the next hole after collaring around 50 per cent extra Kemi ordered a Simba M7 C rig with
long boom to be delivered in August,
Cabletec L installing cable bolts at Kemi.
2005. With Simba M6 C and Simba
M7 C, operators are able to cover all
kinds of drilling patterns.
Mining of the 20 m-wide secondary
stopes started in 2005, while sub-level
caving with uphole drilling was tested
at one end of the main pit in 2006.
Secoroc rock drilling tools are used
for production drilling. The previous 64
mm holes over-fragmented the ore, but a
switch to 51 mm resulted in lower spe-
cific charges and better fragmentation,
while retaining the same number of
holes. When developing the secondary
stopes, the mine can go back to 64 mm
drilling if there are problems keeping the
holes open due to the stresses and rock
movements.

66 underground mining methods

 Kemi, Finland

Kemi is carrying out slot hole drill-

ing with a truck-mounted Simba M4 C
rig. The front part of the rig has been
redesigned to accommodate the
Secoroc COP 84L low volume DTH
slothammer, which is used to drill the
305 mm-diameter opening hole for the
longhole raises. The blasting holes are
drilled off using a COP 54 with 165
mm bit with the same tubes. The 20 m
raises are blasted in two 10 m lifts.

Rig Remote Access

The drill rigs at Kemi are integrated
into the Ethernet WLAN communica-
tions network that eventually will
cover the whole mine. Currently, this 1
GB network, which is based on
commer-cially available equipment,
covers the declines, the workshops
and parts of the production area.
This network infrastructure not only
allows effective underground communi-
cation but also means that all the Atlas
Copco drill rigs equipped with the Rig
Remote Access (RRA) option are logi-
cally integrated into the information
systems in Outokumpu's administrative
organization. The RRA is installed on
the Rocket Boomer and Simba rigs.
The RRA, which consists of a com-
munication server onboard the rig and a Simba M6 C at work in the sublevels at Kemi mine.
network adapter, integrates with the
mine's network to allow data transfer before each shift; and fault diagnostics Acknowledgements
and remote monitoring and can be conducted remotely, which al-
troubleshoot-ing. It works as a two-way lows the service technician to diagnose Atlas Copco is grateful to the mine and
communica-tion system, since data can the problem and choose the correct spare concentrator management at Kemi for
be sent and received in real time parts before travelling to the drill rig. assistance in producing this article.
between Atlas Copco and the mine.
For instance, should one of the drill The 350 m-level workshop at Kemi.
rigs encounter a problem, the warning
seen by the operator will also be shown
in the mine office, which can then con-
tact Atlas Copco immediately, enabling
them to enter the rig's electronic system
and diagnose the fault. The main bene-
fits of RRA are: the administrative sy-
stem can be updated automatically with
the latest information with no manual
handling; the rig operator always has
access to the latest production planning;
there is no need to write work reports
after each shift, since all log files are
automatically saved to the planning
department; work orders can be issued
during the shift and directed onto the
specific drill rig instead of being written

underground mining methods 67

 Kemi, Finland

Access to the underground operations.

68 underground mining methods

 ˇ
Jels ava, Slovakia

Mining magnesite at Jelšava

Mechanization of
overhand stoping
in thick deposits
As Slovakia moved from central-
ized control in the early 1990s, the
management of Jelsava magne-site
mine faced the accumulated
problems of over-exploitation and
under-mechanization. In the inter-
vening years, the mining method
has been revised, the equipment
inventory renewed, and the out-put
quality improved. Despite the
sometimes difficult economic situ- Map of Slovakia showing Jelsˇava location (Industrial Minerals).
ation, accompanied by political
upheavals, the employee-owned
company SMZ that controls the range. The magnesite deposit extends
mining operation is doing well.
Geology over 325 hectares within a spur of the
Atlas Copco and its local distribu- The Dúbrava-Miková orebody that SMZ Magura hill mass, and the maximum
tor ISOP have been there to lend a
exploits is the largest of 12 significant altitude of this spur is 675 m asl. The
helping hand, as a result of which
Rocket Boomer drill rigs and Simba magnesite deposits in Slovakia. These underground mine is accessed laterally
longhole drill rigs have become extend from Podrecany in the west to from portals in the sides of the spur,
Jelšava’s main production tools. Bankov, near Košice, in the east and were and mineral moves through the proc-
all mined for varying periods during the 20 ess plant downhill from the primary
crusher, which is outside the mine on
Producing clinker th Century. The mineralization is part of a
the same level as the main haulage.
magnesite belt extending from cen-tral
The fully mechanized underground mine Austria to the Slovakia-Ukraine bor-der. The magnesite is part of a sedimen-
at Jelsava, operated by SMZ, feeds high Within Slovakia, the deposits occur mainly tary sequence that has been subjected to
grade magnesite to on-site conversion in the Slovenské Rudohorie mountains, tectonic forces and metamorphism,
facilities with a capacity of 370,000 t/y
and Jelšava is in the deeply dissected especially during the Variscan and Al-
raw clinker. The process includes pri-
mary and secondary crushing, followed Revűcka highland area of this pine events. This sequence, underlain by
by dense medium separation to produce
Rocket Boomer M2 C moving towards the faces.
a concentrate for thermal treatment in
shaft and rotary kilns. Electromagnetic
separators differentiate magnetic
brick-making clinker from non-
magnetic steelmaking clinker.
SMZ’s raw Jelšava clinker is con-
verted to materials for metallurgical,
ceramic and agricultural use. Annual
production is around 352,000 t, com-
prising 167,000 t steelmaking clinker,
160,000 t of brickmaking clinker, and
25,000 t of basic monolithic refractory
mixes. Overall, 85% of SMZ output is
exported to 28 different countries.
To contain production costs SMZ has
been investing in more cost effective
mining, and plans to replace the rotary
kilns with more efficient twin -shaft
kilns that emit very little dust.

underground mining methods 69

 ˇ
Jels ava, Slovakia

Milková 1. Crushing 1st level

2. Crushing 2nd level
Dúbrava 3. Suspension separator
4. Rotary kiln, shaft kiln
Jedlovec
500 m a.s. 5. Electro-magnetic separation
6. Forwarding department
450 m a.s. 4

400 m a.s.
1 2 5 6
323 m
3

Main Level 220 m a.s. 5

4

Idealised section of the mining operations and process plant at SMZ (Industrial Minerals).

diabase, comprises graphitic slate, 1,000 m-wide and 400 m-thick, but is source of ferric magnesium, this being
bench-like dolomite, and the dolomite irregular in shape and contains cavities one reason why it is imported by con-
which hosts the magnesite. Graphitic often filled with ochre. However, it is sumers so far away. SMZ estimates a
slate also overlies the dolomite. structurally sound, to the extent that it reserve sufficient for 150 years’
Magnesite formation has been dated could be mined with pillar support and mining at the present production rate
at 320 million years and the mechanism no rock reinforcement. The raw mag- of 1.2 mil-lion t/y.
is thought to have been hydrothermal nesite analyses 36-44% MgO, 48 -50%
alteration of a fine-grained Carboni- CO2, 0.1-12% CaO, 0-2.3% SiO 2 and Room and pillar
ferous limestone bioherm. The orebody 3.2- 6% Fe2O3 . The specific mineral-
Around 35% of the ore is mined by the
is estimated to be 4,000 m-long, ogy makes Jelšava magnesite a unique room and pillar method in blocks which
are up to 100 m-long, 50 m-high and 30
Sequence of room and pillar mining.
m-wide, with 10 m-wide pillars along
the short and long walls of the chamber,
and a crown pillar at the top. Within
2
these blocks, it is impossible to avoid
mining some lower grade material, and
this is stored in surface dumps.
4
Parallel uphole and inclined hole
drilling up to 30 m was initially used
3
for blasting the chambers, but the
mine later switched to fan drilling in
order to achieve better mining
efficiency and safety.
6 This method again allows the mining
of long, high blocks of magnesite up to
5
200 m x 300 m x 60 m, mined in up to
1 five ascending slices.
The technique provides much greater
1. Fresh air ventilation raises 2. Exhaust airways 3. Ore passes stability in the rock mass because, not
4. Re-fill raises 5. Pillars 6. Re-fill
only are the rooms lower at 4.8 m to

70 underground mining methods

 ˇ
Jels ava, Slovakia

tram to the ore passes that supply the

rail haulage system, while the wheel
loaders dump into trucks that may go
either to the ore passes or directly to
the primary crusher.

Pillar
Front New level development
pillar
between In 2000-2001 SMZ started to develop a
stopes
boundary
new mining level at 220 m asl. Whereas
pillar extraction had thus far all been above
pe
Open sto
the local erosion base level, providing
cut natural drainage at 287 m asl, this new
cross
s level is below the water table. The am-
loading drift
wit
h port ount of water to be pumped out is equal
trans
Pillar to the amount of ore to be extracted.
and
For initially driving the access ramp,
and later development, plus some pro-
duction drilling, Atlas Copco offered
SMZ a new Rocket Boomer M2 C twin-
boom rig, and helped train six Simba
Overhand stoping room and pillar system at SMZ.
operators to use it.
5.0 m-high, but also the voids are filled, rock drill. This rig achieved the expect- Work on the ramp and some lateral
providing a bench for drilling the next ed performance improvement, and was development started in 2001 and was
slice as mining proceeds up each block. bought by SMZ, together with a Rocket scheduled to take 3-4 years. The Rocket
Pillars are 5 m x 5 m at 12 m spacing. Boomer 281 and a Simba H357, for pre- Boomer M2 C normally works either
The smaller rooms allow more selective cise and rapid pillar recovery. The latter one or two of the mine’s three eight-hour
mining, producing a higher proportion unit was equipped with a COP 1838 shifts on the ramp, but also works on
of processable magnesite, while the 4.4 rock drill. Switching from pneumatic to production. The new level will be
million t of waste material dumped on hy-draulic drilling using the two Rocket
worked in 10 m-high slices, improving
surface during chamber mining can now Boomers increased overhand stoping
geotechnical conditions and saving on
be used as fill. The fill rate is up to magnesite output by a factor of four.
primary development costs. However,
300,000 t/y. In the overhand stoped sections muck
although many blocks of high quality
In 1971, a new rail haulage was in- is loaded by a fleet of three LHDs and magnesite are directly accessible using
stalled, equipped with locomotives two wheel loaders. The LHDs typically overhand stoping from the new level,
and 20 t -capacity bottom -dump
wagons. The rail system still handles Rocket Boomer 281 drilling a crosscut entry.
ore from the core area of the mine, but
it is more cost effective to use truck
haulage from more peripheral parts.

Overhand stoping
Chamber and pillar mining has created
a huge void within the mine, now
total-ling 13 million cu m, and
undercut sec-tions of the hanging wall
have collapsed in places.
Studies resulted in an overhand stop-
ing method being introduced in some of
the mining blocks above the 323 m level
from 1990 onwards, and this now
accounts for 65% of production.
By 1998, SMZ was looking to increase
production and productivity in the over-
hand stoping blocks. In consultation with
Atlas Copco, the mine trialled a Rocket
Boomer 282 equipped with a COP 1432

underground mining methods 71

 ˇ
Jels ava, Slovakia

Graphitic slate

Magnesite

Dolomite

Bench-like dolomite

Diabase

Ochre

Geological section of Dúbrava Massif (Industrial Minerals).

some ore is located between access approximately 700,000 t. Back in 2001, Including the units at SMZ, ISOP
levels, some is distant from the core chamber and pillar mining supplied presently supports nine Atlas Copco
facili-ties, and some occurs as layers too 430,000 t, overhand stoping 705,000 t underground drill rigs in mines. Other
thin for overhand stoping. Extraction and development 28,000 t. By 2002, customers include Siderit, which has
tech-nology for all these various sources 70% of drill/blast production came from two Boomer H104 drill rigs and several
will require new drilling, loading and overhand stoping with the Rocket Atlas Copco hydraulic breakers work-
hauling equipment. Boomers, 20% from pneumatic drilling ing at its iron-manganese ore mine at
Although the new mining level is be- in chamber and pillar sections, and 10% Nižná Slaná, not far from Jelšava.
low the rail haulage, and ore will prob- from pillar recovery with the Simba ISOP modified these Boomer H104 rigs
ably be delivered directly to the primary H357. The improvement in average at the workshop in Zvolen so they could
grade achieved by the more selective work as longhole drilling rigs. Siderit
crusher, SMZ expects the rail system to
delivers ore to the US Steel plant in
remain in use for another 10 years. over-hand stoping with hydraulic drills
Košice, and to the Novy Huta works at
has increased the output of clinker,
Ostrava in the Czech Republic.
Grade improvement despite lower gross output.
There are also six Atlas Copco sur-
Secoroc equipment supplied through Atlas Copco face drilling rigs in the country, five of
ISOP is used for the Atlas Copco rigs which are DTH machines and the sixth a
at Jelšava. Despite the very abrasive
representation
Coprod-fitted hydraulic rig. This latter
nature of the magnesite, bit life ranges Atlas Copco has a Customer Center in machine yields 500,000 t/y limestone for
from 600 m to 1,500 m. The three Prague, serving the Czech Republic and
supply to US Steel Košice.
Rocket Boomers use 51 mm bits, and adjacent countries. In 1992 ISOP, based
the Simba H357 drills with 64 -65 mm at Zvolen in the centre of the country, Acknowledgements
bits. The mine does 80% of its blasting was appointed as its sole distributor in
with ANFO, and uses plastic explosive Slovakia. The Rocket Boomer 282 Atlas Copco is grateful to the manage-
for wet holes. provided for trials in 1998 was the first ment of SMZ for its assistance with
Of the annual mine production of two boom hydraulic rig supplied to a the production of this article.
1.2 million t, around 1.16 million t is Slovakian mine, and the Rocket Boomer
magnesite, and concentrate output is M2 C was also a first.

72 underground mining methods

 Kure, Turkey

All change for Asikoy copper mine

Moving ore
production
underground
Copper has been mined for many
years at the Asikoy open pit,
located in Kure county, some
60-km north of Kastamonu in the
western part of Turkey’s Black Sea
Region. Kure itself is 25 km from
the Black Sea coast, and 300 km
from Ankara. A major open pit
operation was established in the
mid-sixties, and production
continues to this day. However,
reserves were diminishing, and,
with the available orebody exten-
sions at depth, a plan for under-
ground mining was evolved. This
required excavation of a conveyor
adit to transport rock from under-
ground to the existing mill, and a
vehicle access adit, together with a
spiral ramp to the base of the View of Asikoy open pit mining operation.
known deposit. Shafts for
backfill and ventilation were also contract by STFA tunnelling division. The sump at the base of the mine
needed. Production commenced in
2001, when STFA Construction and Average advance was 120 m/month. has 2,560 cu m capacity, and there is a
STFA Tunnelling Corporation Joint The top half of each round was drilled natural water make of 12 lit/sec. Two
Venture took over the under-ground from the levelled muckpile. The total vertical shafts to surface and one
mining operation as con-tractor,
using a fleet of Atlas Copco development carried out prior to sublevel shaft facilitate ventilation.
equipment which includes produc-tion was 1,954 m of ramp The exhaust shaft is equipped with a
production and development drill drivage, 815 m of shaft sinking, and cover, which can be raised in winter to
rigs, loaders, and trucks. Monthly
ore production is around 45,000 t at 3,331 m of other development. induce natural air movement.
average grade 2% Cu, with cut-
Portal entrance to Asikoy underground mine.
off grade of 0.5%.

Access
The vehicle access adit is horizontal,
and connects with the spiral ramp
developed in the footwall of the
orebody down to the sump level. The
orebody, which dips at between 45 and
60 degrees, is accessed from the ramp,
along levels spaced at 12 m vertical
intervals.
The 20 sq m oval-plan spiral ramp
was driven at 5-7 degrees from 932 m
level to 792 m level by hand between
1998 and 2000 using Atlas Copco BBC
16W pneumatic rock drills with jack-
legs. This work was carried out under

underground mining methods 73

 Kure, Turkey

Development
An Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer 282
equipped with COP 1838ME rock
drills is used to develop the ore and
waste drifts.
The Rocket Boomer has one extend-ing
boom to facilitate drilling off the first
rounds in strike drifts at right angles.
Drill hole diameter is 45 mm, and
hole length 3.5 m. The mine has
conducted trials of bits from differ-ent
manufacturers, and has settled on
Secoroc as the most cost-effec-tive.
Around 250 m/month of drivage is
required to keep pace with the stopes,
all of which are mined on the retreat.

Most development is within the com-

petent footwall rock mass. The orebody
exhibits different rock mass character-
istics. Ground support is by shotcrete, Scooptram ST6C, one of three at Asikoy.
bolting with mesh, mesh reinforced
shotcrete, standard Swellex in 2.4 m and The Rocket Boomer 282 handles all Production
3.3 m lengths, and cement grouted bolts rockbolt drilling, with 37 mm holes for
Swellex and 64 mm holes for grouted The mining method is longhole bench
in 3 m, 4 m and 6 m lengths. Two
manually-controlled Atlas Copco rebar. The mine is working with Atlas stoping with post backfill. The ore is
Scooptram ST6C loaders are used for Copco to increase the use of Swellex, developed by driving strike access drifts
mucking development faces. because of its better controllability. with cross sectional area of 21.68 sq

Line-up of Atlas Copco equipment at Asikoy mine.

74 underground mining methods

 Kure, Turkey

m along the footwall contact, or in the

centre of the orebody. Stope preparation
is carried out by driving 7 m-wide x Surface
4. 5 m-high sill drifts across the strike, Belt conveyor
to the hangingwall or footwall. These
drifts vary in length, depending on the
thickness of the orebody.
An Atlas Copco Simba H1254 with
top hammer is used for stope drilling.
Blast holes with a diameter of 76 mm
are drilled downwards on several pat-
terns, according to ore and stope type.
The mine prefers downhole drilling as Sill drift development
Flexowell

the most practical for their patterns,

while reducing the safety risk. Muckpile
Stoping
At the end of the sill drifts, a 1.5 m
x 1.5 m drop raise is opened by long- Ore pass

hole blasting, and this is widened out to

create a free breaking face. Thereafter,
the bench between the sill drifts is
Ore
blasted towards the open slot one or two
Feeder
rows at a time. The main blasting agent Grizzly Belt conveyor
is ANFO, which may be diluted with
polystyrene beads for the profile holes,
with Powergel primers and Nonel initia-
tion. The ore is mucked from the lower Crusher

sill drift using a remote controlled Atlas

Copco Scooptram ST6C. After complet- Cemented backfill

ing the extraction of the ore between the

Production flow from orebody to surface.
sill drifts, the open stope is backfilled to
the floor level of the upper sill drift.
Stoping sequence at Asikoy.
Once two adjacent primary stopes are
backfilled, the primary pillar can be
mined as a secondary stope.
The production stopes can be up to
60-70 m-long, but average around 30 Development Production drilling

m-long. Currently, 8 m is left between HW HW

Production drilling with Simba H1254.

Blasting and mucking slot

Filling

HW HW

underground mining methods 75

 Kure, Turkey

Rocket Boomer 282 on surface. Unique Flexowell vertical conveyor installation.

sublevels, and the extraction drives are located in Samsun, along the Black There are 140 men on the mine. In total,
4.5 m-high. The latest stope, which thirteen engineers have been employed
Sea coast, and to export markets.
lies between 894 m and 912 m levels, for production and engineering. Atlas
has a height of 12 m, and this larger Training Copco has a maintenance contract for its
dimen-sion will be increasingly used. equipment at the mine, and provides a
This is the first mining operation where
workshop container manned by a fitter.
SFTA has been involved and, being the
Rock handling
only Turkish-operated mechanized mine,
The 2.5 m-diameter main orepasses are the company takes education and
also longhole drilled using the Rocket
Acknowledgements
training very seriously. Atlas Copco
Boomer 282, or hand drilled. An ore- undertook the training of the mine Atlas Copco is grateful to the man-
pass system to the 804 level feeds the instructors, and SFTA has car-ried on, agement of Asikoy copper mine for the
underground crusher. Crushed ore sized giving every man on the mine specific opportunity to visit the project.
at –10 cm travels along a conveyor belt education, each with a course every Particular thanks are due to Kenan
to a feeder, and into a Flexowell verti- three months. The average age of Ozpulat, project manager, and Serkan
cal conveyor belt system at 792 level. A operators is around 30, and most have Yuksel, chief mine engineer, for their
trunk conveyor at average grade of 8 been with the group for many years. assistance at site and in reading draft.
degrees transfers the ore to the surface
primary crusher. Minetruck MT2000 discharges cemented backfill into a primary stope.
There are four vertical shafts for
backfilling at Asikoy, with three sub-
vertical shafts.
Two types of fill are used for
backfill-ing. These are cemented rock
fill (CRF) and uncemented waste fill
(WF). CRF, with a cement content of
5% by weight, is used for backfilling of
primary stopes. Secondary stopes are
waste filled. Minetruck MT2000 trucks
are used for both types of backfilling.
SFTA has a ten-year contract to
produce 30,000 t/month of ore grading
2% copper at a fixed price per tonne,
although 414,000 t was produced over
the last year. The ore is concen-trated
to 17% at site, and is trucked to the
port of Inebolu, some 25 km away,
from where it is shipped to a smelter

76 underground mining methods

 El Soldado, Chile

Mining challenge at El Soldado

Integrated operation
El Soldado is a tightly integrated
operation consisting of an under-
ground and open pit copper mine, a
concentrator and an oxide plant. In
order to increase production
underground, El Soldado intro-
duced a variation to its standard
sublevel open stoping mining
method in 1983. Six years later, the
open pit section of the mine was
started, posing an additional
complication for the geotech-nical
and mine design teams. These
days, the engineers enjoy the
challenge of an underground mine,
which features a com-plex layout
and problematic rock conditions
with numerous open cavities,
irregular orebodies of variable Atlas Copco ROC L8 crawlers at El Soldado open pit.
dimensions and in situ
stresses that vary in magnitude as Inés de Collahuasi and Mantos Of these, 24 technicians are employed in
well as in orientation. Extraction of Blancos mines. maintenance. The mine operates
the reserves must also follow a
sequence that minimizes impacts El Soldado mine is located 132 km Monday to Friday in three shifts of 8 h.
on the overlying surface opera- northwest of Santiago, on the western Mining at El Soldado started in 1842.
tions. A committed user of Atlas slopes of the Coastal range, at about Since 1978, when Exxon Minerals ac -
Copco drill rigs, the mine depends 830 m asl. El Soldado produces quired the operation, about 70 million t
upon Rocket Boomer M2 Cs for
development and Simba M6 Cs for around 64,000 t copper in concentrate of ore containing 1.8% copper have been
production, all featuring a high and 5,000 t copper cathode, and its mined by the underground sub-level
level of computerization. reserves are estimated to be 115 open stoping method. In 1989, the El
million t grad-ing 1.0% copper. Morro open pit commenced produc-tion
The total workforce of El Soldado is to increase output to the present 18,000
History
under 280 people, of which one third are t/day. Today, the underground mine
The El Soldado and Los Bronces copper provides less than 30% of the
employed in the underground mine.
mines and the Chagres smelter, all lo-cated
in Chile, are operated by Compañía
El Soldado location in central Chile.
Minera Disputada de las Condes.
In addition to its record as a success-
ful mining company, Disputada's oper- 71° 70°
ations achieved recognition in 1999 EL SOLDADO
CHAGRES LOS ANDES
when it became the first industrial
company to receive Chile’s National QUILLOTA N
Environment Award, recognizing its SOUTH AAMERICARICA

A
leadership in environmental practices VALPARAISO I 33°
LOS BRONCES T
and its high standards in environmental N
E
management. G
CHILE
SANTIAGO R
Disputada produces around 250,000
A

SAN ANTONIO
t/ year of copper. When, in 2002, Anglo
American plc agreed to purchase Dis-
putada from Exxon Mobil, it substan- EL TENIENTE 34°
tially enhanced the quality of its base RANCAGUA

metals portfolio, in addition to offering

significant synergies with its other
Ell Soldado'sdepositsdeposites
Chilean copper operations, the Doña

underground mining methods 77

 El Soldado, Chile

Development

Boomer drilling
DTH Drilling 5½" Simba
DTH drilling
Raise

Simba
drilling

2½"Simba
radial drilling
Ore-pass

Extraction level

Transport level
Scooptram
loading

El Soldado underground mining schematic overview.

total concentrator feed, but rather numerous isolated orebodies, with a strong
more of the contained copper.
Problematical geology structural control, located through-out an
The sulphide plant's current capac- The El Soldado deposit is located in the area 1,800 m-long by 800 m-wide. The
ity is 6.5 million t/year, of which the Lower Cretaceous Lo Prado formation, lateral limits of the orebodies are
underground mine supplied 2 million t and is thought to be of epigenetic origin. characterized by abrupt variations in the
in 2006. This is expected to decrease The main host rocks are trachytes, fol- copper grade. The transition from high-
to 1.6 million t in 2007 as open pit lowed in importance by andesites and grade mineralization of 1.2% to 2% Cu to
output increases. tuffs. Copper mineralization occurs as low grade areas of 0.5%

Section of El Soldado mine and plant process.

78 underground mining methods

 El Soldado, Chile

10.0 m Ventilation immediately above the underground

Shaft shaft 10.0 m
Shaft
2.5 x 2.5 m ++++
B mine. An integral mine plan is there-fore
= 1.5 m Shaft
Ventilation 17
+++
++ + + + E
required, in which the sequence of
extraction, both in the open pit and
to

m
shaft 22

Max15.0
m 2.5 x 2.5 m m m
m

50.m0

Max15.0m
underground, needs to satisfy safety and
22

Max15.0m
Max 15.0 m
+
22

++
10.0 m to to
++
40-50o 17 17
Shaft
40-50o efficiency criteria. In particular, the
40-50o
17 40-50 o
design and extraction sequence of

Max.transportdis tanc e

Max.transportdis tanc e
to
underground stopes have to be managed

0150.m
0150.m
22
Max 15.0 m 18.0 to 20.0 m
18.0 to 20.0 m in such a way that they do not affect the
Ventilation 18.0 to 20.0 m open pit operations, and minimize
shaft
OP disturbance to unmined areas, enabling
18.0 to 20.0 m OP
maximum resource recovery. This has to
be balanced with the need to main-tain
high-grade feed, and the selectivity that
Extraction level layout. comes with underground mining. There
has been a large amount of de-
to 1.2% Cu takes place within a few The nature of the major structures, velopment in the underground mine,
metres. Orebodies typically exhibit an and the inherent condition of the rock creating a large number of stopes, and
outer pyrite-rich halo, followed mass, play a critical role in determin-ing a complex layout.
inwards by an abundant chalcopyrite the extent of any likely instability Because of all the aspects that need
and bor-nite core, with minor surrounding excavations at El Soldado to be taken into account before mining
chalcocite and hematite. The main mine. Seven main fault systems, and a can start, extensive geotechnical moni-
gangue minerals are calcite, quartz, system of bed contacts, have been de- toring is applied to rock conditions, to
chlorite, epidote and albite. fined within the ore deposit limits as detect and identify failures and insta-
The orebodies are of tabular shape, being significant in geotechnical terms. bilities, to collect data for mine plan-
with dimensions that vary from 100 to The induced state of stress after excava- ning and stope design, and for ongoing
200 m in length, 30 to 150 m in width, tion is a significant mine design crite-ria, assessment of mine stability. Over the
and 80 to 350 m in height. The ground and a monitoring objective. In an longer term, the collected data
conditions are classified as competent, attempt to obtain information on the in- provides control points to update the
with an intact rock strength greater than situ stress in critical areas of the mine, geotechni-cal database, and to verify
200 Mpa, in a moderate stress regime measurements have been carried out. the assump-tions made in the design.
ranging from 15 to 30 Mpa. These geo-
technical conditions facilitate the devel- Mine stability Underground layout
opment of large open cavities, normally
Mine stability is a matter of prime im- The access points to the orebodies are
as large as the orebodies, with dimen-
sions from 40 to 90 m width, 50 to 290 portance in the planning process, particu- located on the slope of the Chilean coa-
m length, and up to 300 m height. larly as the El Morro open pit is situated stal range hosting the mine, several

Rocket Boomer M2 C underground . Surface workshop at El Soldado.

underground mining methods 79

 El Soldado, Chile

the surface. If it is decided to fill a stope,

then waste rock from development is
used.

Production stopes
Production block access is provided by
developing sublevels, with a pattern of
5.0 m x 3.7 m LHD drawpoints at the
base of the stope. Block undercutting is
accomplished with a fan pattern of 60 to
75 mm-diameter holes up to 25 m-long
loaded with ANFO and HE boosters.
Uphole production drilling pattern. Slots are made by enlarging a 2.5 x 2.5
m blast hole slot raise, at one end, or in
hundred metres above the valley floor. increase in production rates. Nominal the middle, of the stope. Blast holes of
Today, the main entry is located at -100 stope dimensions are 30 to 60 m-wide, 165 mm-diameter and up to 80 m-long
level (730 m asl) and the haulage level is 50 to 100 m-long, and up to 100 m- are drilled with an underhand pattern.
at 300 m below datum (530 m asl). The high, though large orebodies are Blast size and blasting sequence is
mine has been developed by a network divided into several units, leaving rib defined for each stope, according to
of sublevels, providing access to the tops and crown pillars as temporary sup- major structural features and the prox-
and bottoms of the mining areas. port structures. Rib pillars are 30 to 50 imity of existing cavities. Dilution con-
Sublevels are linked by ramps, with a m-wide, and crown pillars 25 to 40 m- trol is improved, and blast hole losses
maximum slope of 15%. Ore is loaded thick. The stopes are mined avoided, by carefully considering the
directly into ore passes with an overall progressively down-wards by a particular geometries created by the in-
capacity of 10,000 to 30,000 t, which traditional SBOS method, and are left tersection of major discontinuities and
connect sub levels with the haulage unfilled. Pillars are subse-quently the free faces of the planned excavation.
level. This ore is transported to a crush- recovered by a mass blast tech-nique, Often, faults present geometries which
er located on surface, near the concen- and are sometimes designed to break generate wedges that can slide into the
trator, using 50 t-capacity, highway-type more than 1 million t of ore each. cavity, affecting fragmentation and gen-
trucks. Some ore is mined below the The rock is very competent, and the erating oversize rock at drawpoints. The
main haulage level, and this material is stope cavities can be left open, sometimes presence of cavities, or simultaneous
trans-ported directly to the surface standing for 5 or 10 years, depending on mining in nearby locations, also impose
crusher using trucks and ramps. the sector and the rock structure. Smaller restrictions in the mining sequence and
Historically, the massive, but irregular, stope cavities normally have stable size of blast.
orebodies and the competent ground geometries, with less than 5% dilution Production ore from stopes is loaded
conditions made sublevel open stoping the out with 10 cu yd LHDs. One -way dis-
from back extension or wall failure.
preferred mining method. However, in tances of 100 to 150 m are maintained to
However, three large open sto-pes, the
1983, fully mechanized sublevel and large- orepass tips, which are not equipped
Santa Clara, California and Valdivia Sur
with grizzlies as oversize rock is drilled
diameter blast hole open stope (SBOS) stopes, have experienced controlled
and blasted in place at the drawpoints.
was introduced as a variation of the structural caving, filling the existing void Orepasses terminate in hydraulically-
standard method, enabling an and breaking through to controlled chutes at the –300 haulage
level, where the 50 t trucks are loaded
Downhole production drilling pattern. with run-of- mine ore or development
waste.
A square pattern of 1.90 m x 1.7 m
Parallel hole drilling Radial hole drilling
split set bolts, 2.05 m-long, in combina-
C tion with wire mesh, is used to maintain
adp 450 working areas free of rock fall, and to
50 to 75 m protect personnel and equipment. This
50 to 75 m A Nonel approach to ground control is not in-
tended for heavy rock loads or massive
B
A´
stress- induced instabilities, though is
adequate for local support. Where
45° C´ needed, cable bolting is used to sup-port
45° unfavourable geometries, such as large
wedges or low dip bedding layers,

80 underground mining methods

 El Soldado, Chile

Copco DC carriers in co-operation with

Dyno Nobel, are used for both face and
long hole charging. A fourth unit, a
Rocmec DC 11 built on an Atlas Copco
carrier, is equipped with an Atlas Copco
GA 11 compressor and an ANOL CC
type of charging vessel.
For loading and transportation, three
Atlas Copco Scooptram ST8B loaders
are employed. The mine also has three
13 cu yd Scooptram ST1810 loaders
equipped with monitoring systems
which are employed on waste haulage.
Rock reinforcement is carried out
with an Atlas Copco Boltec H335
bolting machine.
El Soldado has installed a computer-
based system to monitor the condition of
its mobile equipment. The underground
leaky feeder communication system is
linked to the loaders and drill rigs.
Both the open pit and the under-
ground areas have equipment mainte-
nance workshops. A preventive mainte-
Simba M6 C drilling radial holes. nance workshop located on the surface
further serves the underground area,
and also to support drawpoints and ore three Atlas Copco Boomer H127s and field maintenance is carried out on
passes where the rock conditions have equipped with COP 1032 rock drills have
been replaced by new Rocket Boomer M2
the Simbas.
changed dramatically. Occasionally,
cable bolts are used to minimize or C units featuring Advanced Boom Control
pre-vent caving in the sublevel stopes. (ABC) system. These work al-ongside the Outlook
Development headings average 18.5 remaining Boomer H127 unit drilling 43 El Soldado's main objective is to con-
sq m cross section, in which the intro- mm holes. The old ma-chines have been tinue with its tradition of excellence in
duction of the Rocket Boomer M2 Cs rebuilt, one as a secon-dary drill rig, and safety and cost competitiveness. The
has increased the incremental advance the other as a scaler. underground mine production is being
from 3.9 to 4.2 m/round. The number of For production, El Soldado employs reduced as open pit output increases, and
holes/round has meanwhile been de- three Atlas Copco Simba 264 rigs equip- variants of the exploitation method will
creased by changing from 45 mm to 51 ped with the COP 64 DTH rock drill for be introduced to recover minor volume
mm-diameter bits and a 5 in cut hole. 5.5 in holes. There are also an Atlas reserves using automated radial drilling
Large-diameter blast hole open stop- Copco Simba H221 and a Simba H252, to over 40 m depth.
ing has worked well at El Soldado. The both used for radial drilling of DTH El Soldado's mining plan is intrinsi-
mine drills up to 53,000 m/year using holes ranging between 65-75 mm. The cally linked to its geotechnical and geo-
DTH, and 32,000 m/year with topham- Simba H252 drills the 75 mm-diameter metric conditions, and so improvements
mer drilling. The current method allows upholes for the undercut. to the monitoring and data-collection
the exploitation of larger units, reducing The Simba 264 machines are being
systems, in order to obtain more precise
preparation costs and improving pro- replaced by the new generation Simba
geotechnical engineering, are constantly
ductivity costs. Another advantage of the M6 C DTH drill rigs, which along with
being studied.
method is that it is selective, allow-ing the Rocket Boomer M2 C units, feature
the ABC Regular, which will be up-
extraction of only the mineral. The
graded to ABC Total in due course.
Acknowledgements
current cost distribution is: development
El Soldado obtains 20% to 30% more This article is based on interviews with
32%; service and other 28%; drilling
drilling capacity per hour with the new Nelson Torres, Mine Superintendent at
and blasting 17%; extraction 12%; and
Simba M6 C machines, on account of El Soldado, and extracts from the fol-
transport 11%.
mechanized tube handling and better lowing paper: Contador N and Glavic
control of drilling parameters.
Equipment maintenance The robust design offers better utili-
M, Sublevel Open Stoping at El Soldado
Mine: A Geomechanical Challenge.
El Soldado has been through a phase zation and lower maitenance. Three PT-
of equipment replacement. Two of the 61 ANFO chargers, built on Atlas

underground mining methods 81

A winning combination

The Rocket Boomer E-series. A new face drilling rig that

features the super-fast, prize-winning COP 3038 rock drill. It
also introduces the BUT 45, a superb new boom that reduces
hole deviation, provides extra large coverage area and slashes
positioning time between holes by 50%. The result?
A winning combination that significantly cuts tunnelling
costs and leads to real operational economy.

Committed to your superior productivity.

Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB

Fax: +46-(0)19 6707393

www.atlascopco.com
 El Teniente, Chile

Pioneering mass
caving at El Teniente
Mining in
primary rock
One of the five mining divisions of the
Corporación Nacional del Cobre de
Chile, Codelco, El Teniente is an
integrated copper operation com-
prising mine, concentrator and
smelter installations. Faced with the
depletion of its reserves of high-
grade secondary mineraliza-tion, the
division has completed the change to
mining in primary rock. The early
years were trauma-tic, with major
geotechnical prob-lems including a
series of fatal rockbursts and the
collapse of significant areas of the
production levels. However, El
Teniente rose to the challenge and,
following an extended period of study
and trial mining, is successfully using
a variation of the Panel Caving me-
thod in the new Esmeralda Sector.
This method is now being applied to
future development plans for the New
Mine Level project, which starts
production in 2014. Isometric representation of El Teniente mining sectors.

geological exploration and different geological resource at El Teniente above

associations in new business. 1,720 m asl is over 10 billion t at 0.65%
The company’s vision of the future copper, and the mining reserves above
Largest copper producer 1,980 m asl and 0.6% copper cut-off
aims to consolidate its leadership of the
Owned by the Chilean state, Codelco is the world copper industry in terms of com- grade are over 3 billion t at 1.0% cop-
world’s largest copper producer. It petitiveness and operating excellence, per. El Teniente produces anodes, re-
produces more than 1.5 million met-ric thus reinforcing its position in the global fined copper, electro-won cathodes and
fine tonnes (mft) of copper/year, economy. In line with this, Codelco set molybdenum concentrate, all of which is
representing 16% of western world pro- itself the goal of doubling its value to shipped out through the Port of San
duction. In addition, Codelco is the world’s some US$18 billion by 2006, through Antonio.
second largest molybdenum producer, with higher productivity, market develop- Currently, El Teniente Division em-
an output of around 25,000 t/y. The ment and synergies. Achieving this de- ploys 5,219 workers, a decrease of 22%
corporation's other competitive strengths from the 6,652 it employed in 1996.
pended, amongst other factors, on the
are its cost efficiency of around 40 US During the same period, the total acci-
successful and opportune implementa-
cents/pound and its reserves, which com- dent rate was reduced over 50%, while
tion of the US $4.3 billion investment
prise about 21% of the world's total, and the cost of production was reduced by
contemplated in the company six-year
are sufficient for more than 70 years of more than 10 US cents/pound. In terms
strategic plan.
mining at current production levels.
of productivity, each employee currently
Codelco operates five mining divi-sions
at Chuquicamata, Radomiro Tomic,
El Teniente achieves 71 t/y of copper, an increase of
25% since 1996.
Salvador, Andina and El Teniente, and a El Teniente is the world’s largest under-
service division located at Talleres ground mine, with over 2,400 km of History
Rancagua. It also participates in other development to date. The mine is loca-
According to legend, El Teniente was
mines, including El Abra, and also has ted at 2,200 m asl, some 80 km south of
several joint ventures involved in the capital city of Santiago. The total discovered by a fugitive Spanish official

underground mining methods 83

 El Teniente, Chile

Traditional block caving layout.

in the 1800s. Exploitation first began in formed around a central, barren, brec-cia underground, each sector being, in
1819, when the highest-grade minerals, pipe of 1.0 to 1.2 km diameter, sur- effect, a large mine in its own right.
from what became the Fortuna sector, rounded by a mineralized rock mass. The This case story focuses on the
were mined manually and transported on bulk of the mineralization within the Esmeralda Sector, which is set to
animals to the coast. In 1904, William orebody is typical of massive, homo- become the most impor-tant section of
Braden, an American engineer, founded geneous copper porphyries. In fact, El the mine, producing 45,000 t of the
the first El Teniente company, Braden Teniente is one of the largest porphyry 130,000 t/day planned for El Teniente.
Copper Company, and built a road for deposits of copper in the world. The main Since El Teniente began operations
carts and a concentration plant. rock types of the deposit are: andesite in the early 1900s, several exploitation
In 1916, Braden Copper became a sub- 73%, diorite 12%, dacite 9% and breccia methods have been used, though the
sidiary of the Kennecott Corporation, 6%. At some time during its history, the se-condary mineralization was ideally
which was able to supply the funds nec- deposit was affected by supergene sui-ted to conventional block caving.
essary to expand the mine. Kennecott alteration through percolation of mete- However, the last mining sector lo-
operated El Teniente until 1971. In April, orological water close to surface, which cated in secondary ore, Quebrada
1967 the Chilean Government acquired a gave rise to secondary mineralization. This Teniente, was exhausted in 2003, and
51% interest in the property, and foun-ded secondary ore is high in copper grade, but all current mining is in primary ore for
the Sociedad Minera El Teniente. weak, and of good fragmen-tation and processing at the expanded Colón
Following this agreement, major mine caveability. In contrast, the deeper primary concentrator.
expansion was undertaken, and a new mineralization is rela-tively low in copper El Teniente started large-scale mi-
concentration plant was built in Colón, grade, harder, and of moderate ning of the primary ore in 1982, using
which increased total production capac-ity fragmentation and cavea-bility. As can be LHDs and the fully mechanized panel
to 63,000 t/day. Full nationalization appreciated, secondary ore and primary ore caving method. The essential difference
followed in 1971, and El Teniente mine require very differ-ent approaches in terms between panel caving and conventional
became a fully state- owned company. In of mining. block caving is that the former is a dy-
1976 Codelco was formed, and El Teniente namic method in which the undercut is
became part of it. Mining method being continuously developed, and
drawpoints incorporated at the extrac-
El Teniente produces some 334,000 t fine
Reserves tion front, rather than being fully de-
copper and 4,720 t molybdenum each year. veloped before caving is started. This
In total, the El Teniente orebody meas- Mass caving methods are employed to method has been broadly successful at
ures 2.8 km-long, 1.9 km-wide, and 1.8 deliver approximately 98,000 t/day of ore El Teniente, and close to 250 million t of
km-deep. Schematically, the deposit is to the mill from several sectors ore have been extracted using panel

84 underground mining methods

 El Teniente, Chile

caving in primary rock. Currently, two

forms of panel caving are in use: stan-
dard panel caving as applied in the
Teniente 4 Sur Sector; and panel
caving with pre-undercut as used in
the Esmeralda Sector.

Exploitation sequence
The panel caving exploitation sequence
initially used involved development and
construction of production levels,
undercutting at the undercut level, and
ore extraction. However, the dynamic
caving fronts, under high stress condi-
tions of 40-60 Mpa, resulted in sub-
stantial damage to the infrastructure.
Indeed, extraction in El Teniente Sub 6
Sector had to be stopped in March, 1992
after several rockbursts caused fatal
accidents, reflecting the low level of
knowledge at the time about mining in
primary rock.
Between June, 1994 and August, 1997,
El Teniente carried out experimental
mining in a pilot area of 12,000 sq m. This
process was closely monitored, and the
data served as the basis for a full
geomechanical study. From September,
1997 to June, 1998, during the pre-
operational phase, it was realized that it
was necessary to research the rela-tionship
between seismic potential, undercutting
speed and the mining of new areas.
Because of this, and for the
Panel caving with pre-undercut at Esmeralda.

first time since the 1992 production on the west by the Braden breccia pipe,
freeze, El Teniente carried out prepara-
Esmeralda pre-undercut and in the north by El Teniente Sub 6
tory work in a 6,000 sq m area using Following on from the studies and con- Sector, and is below the Teniente 4 Sur
simultaneous production techniques. trolled tests, El Teniente introduced a Sector. Lithologically, it occurs mainly
The test succeeded, with no significant variation of its conventional panel ca- in andesite, and contains a total mineral
rockbursts, thus proving the relation- ving undercut sequence. Known as pre- reserve of 365 million t, with an average
ship between seismicity and caving undercut, it essentially consists of grade of 1.01% of copper and 0.024% of
speed. Indeed, it is now recognized that developing the production level behind molybdenum. The total investment for
the uncontrolled seismicity induced by the undercut, rather than the more Esmeralda was US$205.6 million, with
the mining extraction rate of advance of typical method where the production conceptual engineering and design
the caving face and extraction speed has development is carried in parallel with initiated in 1992, and caving starting in
been the main cause of damage to the the undercut ahead of the caving face. August, 1996. Ore production started in
tunnels and infrastructure on the lower The pre-undercut achieves a better re- September, 1997, and has built up from
levels. distribution of the stresses ahead of the an average of 4,000 t/day in 1998 to
Nowadays, there are variables incor- production development, resulting in 19,500 t/day in 2001, and full produc-
porated into the mining design and plan- less damage and improved safety. tion of 45,000 t/day from 2005.
ning concept to control the excess of Although the pre-undercut variant Caving at Esmeralda was achieved
seismic activity, not only improving the had been tested in some small sectors of with 16,800 sq m of available produc-
working conditions on the production the mine, it was first used on an indus- tion undercut, once a problem of 'sup-
level, but also increasing productivity. trial scale in the new Esmeralda sector. port points' was solved. These formed
During the pre- operational phase, over Occupying a total area of 714,000 sq m, above the apex of the crown pillar, and
2 million t were removed from Teniente Esmeralda is located at 2,210 m asl reduced the interaction between draw-
Sub 6, with only two small rockbursts. within the El Teniente deposit, bounded points, making the flow of ore from

underground mining methods 85

 El Teniente, Chile

Basic concepts
In the conventional panel caving and the
pre-undercut variant, the same basic con-
cepts apply. The main difference is the
sequence of each of the operational ele-
ments. In the conventional panel caving
method, the sequence of activities is:
Standard drill plan with 4 hole-fans
development of tunnels on each level for
production and undercut; drawbell
opening; undercut blasting; and extrac-
tion. In the pre-undercut variant, the un-
dercut is excavated first, and the pro-
duction level is developed subsequently
within the stress-relieved zone: devel-
opment of the undercut level; undercut
blasting; development of the production
level; drawbell opening; and extraction.
The main challenge associated with
this variant involved the undercutting.
Several alternatives were tried, with
the current preference being a flat, low
height 3.6 m undercut. The undercut is
Plan of pre-undercut holes. blasted some 80 m ahead of the actual
the undercut level difficult. The effec- through the ore pass and into the loa- production zone, with the production
tive extraction rate defined for the Es- ding bin. On the haulage level, the level and drawbell development
meralda sector was 0.14 to 0.44 t/day/ mineral is loaded into trains featuring follow-ing around 22.5 m behind the
sq m at the initial caving stage, and Automatic Train Protection (ATP) and undercut, and 57.5 m ahead of the
reached 0.28 to 0.65 t/day/sq m at the consisting of a locomotive with eight 50 production zone.
steady-state caving stage. The height t cars. These trains, which were retrofit- The undercut comprises drives, 3.6 m-
of primary ore column to be exploited ted with an Automatic Train Operation wide by 3.6 m-high, developed paral-lel to
is around 150 m, relatively low if each other on 15 m centres. The
(ATO) system, tip into storage bins
com-pared with Teniente 4 Sur, where excavation of the undercut is achieved by
which feed a 5.0 m -diameter orepass to
the height is over 240 m. blasting three- or four-hole fans, some 7 m
the main transport level Teniente 8.
At Esmeralda, 7 cu yd LHDs work- to 10 m length, drilled into the side-wall.
Trains with 90 t electric locomotives and The drill holes are fanned slightly, to
ing on the production level load and tip 18 cars each of 80 t capacity carry the ensure an undercut height equal to the
into 3.5 m-diameter ore passes. Here, mineral out to the Colón concentra-tor. height of the drives. Swell material from
teleremote controlled hydraulic break- The main haulage level at Teniente 8 each undercut blast is removed by LHD to
ers positioned above 1 m x 1 m grizzlies was recently upgraded, incorporating provide a free face for the next blast. The
break any oversize rock before it goes new technology similar to Esmeralda. production haulage level is developed 18
m below the undercut,
Drilling patterns in andesite and breccia.
giving a crown pillar thickness of 14.4
m through which the drawbells are then
developed straight into the pre -blasted
undercut. The production level requires
substantial support, with fully grouted 2.
HW FW HW FW 3 m rebar installed in a 0.9 m x 1.0 m
pattern immediately behind the face,
Drill plan with 3 x 3 hole-fans Drill plan with 4 x 4 hole-fans
followed by chain mesh and shotcrete.
Permanent support is added around 15 m
behind the face, and consists of fully
grouted long cable bolts, with additional
reinforcement at drawpoints. One of the
challenges of this method is that two
HW FW HW FW mining fronts have to be managed, one
on the undercut level, and the other lo-
cated on the production level, and these

86 underground mining methods

 El Teniente, Chile

spacing mesh, 10 cm-thick shotcrete,

and 6 in-diameter cable bolts. There
Production Undercut area
are two types of cable bolts, plain and
area 80 m Preparation area
birdcage, which are 4 m to 10 m-long,
57,5 m 22,5 m
and 5 m to 7 m-long respectively.

Raise boring
In an interesting application during the
2 1 development of Esmeralda, two Atlas
4 1.Development
Copco Robbins raise boring machines,
5 3 2.Drilling & blasting to start caving a 34RH and a 53RH were used. These
3.Development are multipurpose machines, and can be
4.Open trenches (boxholes + drilling)
5.Extraction
employed for upwards boxhole boring
or down reaming, as well as conven-
tional raiseboring.
Principle of pre-undercut at Esmeralda. At Esmeralda, the Robbins 34RH unit
was used in the production level to drill
in turn are related to the scheduling of for sublevel caving. Hence, El Teniente draw bell slot vertical holes approxi-
the development of the drawbells, and is developing its new productive sectors mately 15 m to 20 m-long and 0.7 m-
construction of the drawpoints. using the panel caving method with pre- diameter. The machine worked three
The pre -undercut variant has been a undercut, though other variants could be shifts/day, giving a penetration rate of
substantial success in the Esmeralda sec- used, depending on the local condi-tions, 2.1 m/h. It had a capacity of 93
tor, with only minimal damage occur- lithology, stresses and economics of m/month and a utilization rate of 39%.
ring on the production level, and its The Robbins 53RH was employed
each sector.
associated orepasses and drawpoints. to bore 1.5 m-diameter boxholes up to
There was a significant reduction of 75 m-long for use as ventilation shafts,
Production at Esmeralda
damage to the drifts located under the and inclined pilot raises for orepasses,
undercut level, as well as a significant Cave undercutting at Esmeralda is pres- with an average length of 24 m. The
reduction of rockburst occurrence by ently carried out with the 'parallel long machine worked three shifts/day,
better draw management. The stability hole' technique, which basically consists giving a pen-etration rate of 1.8 m/hr.
and rock condition with the pre-under- of excavating an 855 cu m pillar of solid It had a capa-city of 111 m/month and
cut variant dramatically improves, so it rock 11.4 m-wide, 25 m-long and 3 m- a utilization rate of 57.3%.
was possible to reduce the cost of sup- high. A triangular pattern of 14 parallel Atlas Copco trained the operators
port, and increase the availability of the long holes of 3 in-diameter, with 9 rows from El Teniente, and was in charge of
area by nearly 90%. of 2 holes and 1 hole each is used. This
the equipment maintenance during the
Some optimization of the pre-under- pattern has better efficiency, absorbs
cut is still continuing, in particular some blast hole deviation, and avoids forma- first few months.
fine-tuning of undercut level pillars and tion of residual pillars.
improvement of the co -ordination and Drilling is carried out with an Atlas
Rocket Boomer drill rigs
scheduling of the development activi- Copco Simba H157 drill rig, whose out- Shortly after acquiring the raise boring
ties. It is vital that the spacing of the ac- put is 60 m/shift of 3 in- diameter holes machines, El Teniente acquired two
tivities is maintained, so as to keep the and 85 m/shift of 2.5 in-diameter holes. Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer 282 drill
production development ahead of the Standard ANFO is the column charge, rigs for drift development at Esmeralda.
active cave, but still within the destres- with 300 gm cylindrical pentolite as the In order to increase the drilling pre-
sed area. booster, detonated using Nonel. cision, the mine installed the Atlas
Current productivity obtained at Atlas Copco equipment at Esmeralda Copco Feed Angle Measurement
Esmeralda is over 115 t/day/worker. In includes one Rocket Boomer, two Boltec (FAM) instrument on the Rocket
comparison with other methods such rigs, two Simba rigs and one 3.5 cu yd Boomer units. The machines also
as sublevel caving, panel caving gives Scooptram loader. featured the direct controlled drilling
El Teniente more advantages. The In the production level, a fleet of system, which in-corporates the anti-
direct cost of the sublevel caving nine LHDs is used, including Atlas jamming function Rotation Pressure
method is at least double that of panel Copco Scooptram ST6C and ST1000 Controlled Feed Force (RPCF).
caving, and the current direct cost for loaders of capacities 6 cu yd and 7.3 The Rocket Boomer rigs were fitted
mine at El Teniente is US$2.5/t of ore, cu yd respectively. with COP 1838 rock drills with 20
and indirect costs close to US$1/t The support methods used in Es-
KW impact power and dual-damping
The average cost of panel caving is meralda include 22 mm-diameter and 2.3 system, giving high speed drilling and
US$3.5/t, compared to more than US$5/t m-long bolts, 6 mm-diameter by 10 cm good steel economy.

underground mining methods 87

 El Teniente, Chile

Occupying an area of 190,000 sq m,

Reservas Norte/Sector Andesita is lo-
cated north of the Teniente Sub -6 sector.
Its reserves are estimated to be 125
million t, with an average grade of
1.14% copper. Its useful life will last
until 2019, and during operation it will
require a workforce of 280 people.
Construction was started in 2000 for
production commencement in 2003.
Production is planned to reach 35,000 t/
day and, like Esmeralda, Reservas Norte
is being exploited by panel caving with
the pre- undercut variant. Main equip-
ment includes 14 LHDs of 7 cu yd ca-
pacity, 16 plate feeders, eight 80t trucks,
four hydraulic breakers, and five 1,400
HP fans. On the production level, the
LHDs tip into 34 m-long orepasses. On
the haulage level, the 80t trucks, loaded
Undercut drilling to start the caving process. by plate feeders, empty the min-eral into
four storage bins fitted with
According to Atlas Copco Chilena, and its team provide a central large hydraulic breakers and grizzlies.
which delivered the equipment, the Rocket technical and maintenance service to One of the objectives of this project
Boomer units exceeded the ma-nagement's all the sec-tors within El Teniente. was to automate and remotely control
expectations, and showed better results in Smaller workshops dispersed the operations of truck haulage, plate
comparison with the other rigs owned by throughout the complex are used for feeder loading, and rock reduction by
the mine. For in-stance, in the repair or main-tenance jobs of less breakers.
development of 4 m x 4 m drifts, where than four hours duration. Major With an area of 57,600 sq m, Pipa
each round required a total of 48 drill holes rebuilds and repairs are handled at the Norte is located north of the Braden pipe
of 45 mm and two cut holes of 4 in- central workshops on surface, one for and south of the Quebrada Teniente
diameter, the Rocket Boomer rigs drilled component rebuilds, and the other for sector. Its reserves are estimated to be
holes 4.0 m-long, whereas the other rigs major machine over-hauls. 27.1 million t, with an average copper
drilled holes 3.1 m-long. The Rocket Atlas Copco maintains a team of grade of 1.024%. Construction started in
Boomer rigs also surpassed the older drill technicians permanently at the mine, 2001 for production commencement in
rigs in penetra-tion rate (1.9 - 2.0 m/min vs working with the maintenance depart- 2003, with a peak rate of 10,000 t/day
1.23 - 1.28 m/min), drill m/effective hour ment on the commissioning of new by 2005 and a useful life of 10 years.
(150 vs 77.5), drill m per round (200 vs equipment, and providing support and The exploitation method is panel caving
155), drilling time per round/min (85 vs with pre-undercut and low excavation,
operator training during the warranty
with a labour force of 43 people and a
155) and advance rounds/shifts (3 vs 1.0 - period of the units.
planned personal average productivity
1.5).
rate of 220 t/day. 13 cu yd capacity die-
Recent developments sel LHDs are part of a semi-automated
Maintenance programme
Framed within Codelco's current US$4.2 loading operation, with an operator on
Today, in terms of maintenance, El Ten- billion strategic plan, the US$1.1 billion surface remotely controlling three load-
iente is close to being self-sufficient, and Plan de Desarrollo Teniente (PDT) is the ers. LHD transport and unloading is
does most of its own work. Maintenance great mining, technical and management fully automated.
programmes for all the units are based on strategic plan of El Teniente Division for Located south of the Braden pipe,
the suppliers' information, plus ex-perience the next 25 years. Its objective is to Diablo Regimiento takes up an area of
gained in use. All this data is held on a expand the production capacity at all 201,200 sq m. Its reserves include 98.9
centralized system that moni-tors all levels, including mine, concentrator, million t, with an average grade of
machines, checks when they need smelter, hydrometallurgy and services, 0.94% of copper. Construction started in
maintenance, and organizes what spares and increase El Teniente's economic 2001 for commencement of produc-tion
will be required. There are centralized value by over 90% from US$2 billion to in 2004, aiming at 28,000 t/day by 2011
maintenance workshops for drill rigs, US$3.8 billion. with a planned life of 16 years. Average
LHDs and utility vehicles, with one major Amongst other things, the plan con- productivity is estimated to be 230 t/day,
workshop for each machine type. In this templates the incorporation of world- with a peak labour force of 115 people.
way, the maintenance department class technology. The exploitation method

88 underground mining methods

 El Teniente, Chile

used is again panel caving with pre-

undercut. With a main equipment fleet
of 13 cu yd LHDs, Diablo Regimiento
is planned as a semi-automated
operation, similar to Pipa Norte.
Occupying an area of 160,000 sq m,
Pilar Sub 6/Esmeralda is bounded in the
south by the Esmeralda sector, and in the
north by the Andesita and Dacita areas,
which are located west of Quebrada
Teniente. Its reserves are estimated to be
76.6 million t, with an average grade of
1.27% copper. Construction started in
2003 for first production in 2005, and a
peak rate of 18,000 t/day between 2009
and 2016. Productivity has been estimated
as being 150 t/day per worker, with a
labour force during operation of 120
people. The exploitation method is panel
caving with pre-undercut, and main
equipment includes LHDs, 80 t trucks,
plate feeders, breakers, crushers, and drill
rigs for secondary reduction.

New mine level

From 2014 onwards, El Teniente will in-
corporate the New Mine Level (NML)
project into its production plan. This will
become the most important under-
ground panel caving project, and will
sustain the production plans in the long
term, exploiting only primary ore from
an undercut level located at 1,880 m asl.
The new level will be divided into five
mining sectors, with 1,371 million t of
total ore reserves of 0.96% copper grade
covering an area of 1.6 sq km. Initial
production rate will be 2,000 t/day,
reaching 130,000 t/day ultimately.
The NML will deepen the exploi-
tation of the deposit 100 m below the
current main transport level, and will
incorporate blocks with an average of
300 m height. New infrastructure in-
cludes the transport level, service shafts,
primary crusher chambers, and drain-
Atlas Copco Robbins 53RH raise borer.

age and ventilation levels. F Varas, Automation of Mineral Ex- E Rojas, R Molina, A Bonani and H
traction and Handling at El Teniente. Constanzo: The Pre -Undercut
References Massmin 2004. Caving Method at the El Teniente
Mine, Codelco, Chile. Massmin, 2000.
This article is based in interviews with M Larraín, Overview El Teniente Di-
vision, Presentation to MBA Students M Larraín, P Maureira, Plan de Desar-
management from El Teniente and the
following papers: Vanderbilt University USA, 2002. rollo 2000, Division El Teniente, UGA
MINCO, Executive Summary, 2000.
P Yanez and R Molina, New Mine M Barranza and P Crorkan:
Level Project at El Teniente. Massmin Esmeralda Mine Exploitation Project.
2004. Massmin, 2000.

underground mining methods 89

Experience and Knowledge

Working with Atlas Copco means working with highly productive

rock drilling solutions. What’s more, the people you work with are
the best – with the ability to listen and to understand the diverse
needs of our customers. This approach requires experience and
knowledge, presence, flexibility and involvement in their proc-esses.
It means making customer relations and service a priority. Through
interaction, innovation and a continuous drive to improve the way we
do things – we help our customers achieve results.

Committed to your superior productivity.

Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB

Fax: +46 19 670 7393

www.atlascopco.com
 Boxhole Boring at El Teniente

Boxhole boring at El Teniente

The lieutenant Basic facts in new operation
Main caving level
Level: 2,210 m above sea level.
marches on Drifts: 15 m. Section: 3.6 x 3.4 m.
Caving with horizontal cut: 4 m in height.
Production level
State owned Codelco is Chile’s lar- Level: 2,162 m above sea level.
gest company and the world’s lar- Drifts: 30 m. Sections: 4.0 x 3.6 m.
gest producer of refined copper. Draw Bell: 17.3 m
The Codelco-owned El Teniente
(The Lieutenant) mine is presently Orebody (narrow cut)
the world’s largest underground
mining operation. The mine ave-
rage production rate is currently
126,000 t/day. Boxhole boring be- Slot hole
tween the production and haulage 0.7 m diam/15 m long
levels using Atlas Copco Robbins
machines is a major component in
achieving such high outputs. Production level
Loading, LHD
   Recently, two raise borers mo- Robbins
dified to suit the El Teniente mine Dumping 34RH
conditions were commissioned by Ventilation
Atlas Copco. They were evaluated for Orepasses shaft, 1.5 m
three months, during which time the diameter
crews were trained in their operation. 45 m long
Both exceeded the set target Ventilation shaft, (max: 75 m)
Tapping
performance criteria. 1.5 m diameter
35 m long

Introduction Robbins
53RH Transportation level
Codelco, renowned for its refined
copper output, is also the second ranked
world supplier of molybdenum, as well Ventilation level
as being a major producer of silver and
sulphuric acid, both of which are by-
products of its core copper production. Mining method at El Teniente.
The El Teniente mine, located high
in the Andes at an elevation of 2,100 m,
has been producing copper since 1904.
The orebody is 2.8 km-long by
The 3.6 x 3.6 m operating limits at
1.9 km-wide, and is 1.8 km-deep, with the mine work sites demanded an
proven reserves of some 4,000 million t, extremely low reamer design with
sufficient for a mine life of 100 years. a quickly detachable stinger.
Approximately 2,800 miners work This reamer is bolted onto the
seven levels on a 24 h/day, 7 day/ week machine when not in use.
operation. When piloting, the stinger is
El Teniente production increased si- removed from the reamer, to allow
gnificantly in 2005, when its new Es- the drill string to be fed through.
meralda section came on line, using the In reaming mode, the stinger is
pre-undercut panel caving method. Over- refitted using the pipe loader,
all mine output has increased by 31,000 and the locking bolts are
t/day, with 45,000 t/day coming from tightened manually.
the Esmeralda Project, making it the
most important sector in the mine. The
two new boxhole boring systems sup-
plied by Atlas Copco Robbins are a
vital part of this production system.

underground mining methods 91

 Boxhole Boring at El Teniente

52R, the 53RH multi-purpose machine

has been developed since the early
1980s. The 34RH has been used as a
raiseboring and downreaming machine
for a similar period, and was first intro-
duced in the boxhole configuration in
1998. To accommodate the restricted
working space in the mine, the already
low-profile 34RH and 53RH had to be
redesigned to further decrease the wor-
king height. Both machines are self-
propelled, and equipped with efficient
muck collectors, remote- controlled pipe
handling and automatic data logging.

Atlas Copco Robbins 34RH

The Robbins 34RH is a low profile,
small diameter raise drill, designed for
applications such as slot raises, backfills
and narrow-vein mining. This multi-
Boxhole equipment. purpose, lightweight raise drill can be
used for downreaming and upward
Mine requirements V, 3-phases at 50 Hz, and 24-220 V, boxhole boring, as well as for conven-
sin-gle phase at 50 Hz. Each machine tional raise boring.
El Teniente tendered for the purchase of is de-signed for three, or less, The machine features a variable
two boxhole boring units to excavate the operators per shift. speed hydraulic drive with a two stage
draw bell slot holes for the panel ca-ving The operating environment is 2,300 planetary gearbox, and hollow-centre
operation. These units would also be m above sea level, with teperatures from shaft to enable pilot-hole flushing. To
used to bore ventilation raises and ore +25 degrees C to 0 degrees C. Relative change boring methods, the Robbins
passes between the production and the humidity varies from 15% to 90% in the 34RH is easily turned upside down, to
haulage level. The vertical draw bell mine, where acid water and occa-sional orient the drive head into either
slots are generally 15 m-long and 692 blast vibrations may be experi-enced. upward or downward boring position.
mm-diameter. A total of 800 m, com- Both machines are operated 24 h/day, 7 The Robbins 34RH was already a
prising 45-50 shafts, are bored annu-ally. days/week, with a maximum machine true low-profile raise drill. However,
Because drifts have not been deve- utilization of 15-16 h/day. to accommodate the restricted site
loped on the production level, all venti- dimen-sions, and to allow room for a
lation raises and ore passes are bored Evaluation period muck-handling system on top of the
from the haulage level and upwards machine, the maximum working
using the boxhole boring technique. The An evaluation period of three months was height had to be lowered further. This
average length of the vertical and in- established to study the performance was achieved through the use of
clined ventilation raises is 25-50 m. The capabilities of each machine. Target per- shorter high-thrust telescopic
inclined ore passes average 25 m-long, formance criteria for the smaller slot hole cylinders, and by utilizing 750 mm-
but this varies up to 75 m-long. The total machine was set at 264 m bored during the long by 254 mm-diameter drill rods.
annual requirement for 1.5 m-diameter three month period, and 330 m for the This reduced the working height of
bored raises is 1,000 m. larger boxhole machine. the assembly to 3.6 m, including the
Restrictions are placed on the ma-    This performance target was based muck handling system.
chine design by the size of the under- on a 24 h/day operation, with net av- The new muck handling arrange-
ground sections. Work sites measure 3.6 ailable operating time of 15-16 h. The ment, which had been fitted on two
x 3.6 m, and maximum transporta-tion number of operating personnel required, ear-lier Robbins 34RH machines
dimensions are 2.5 m-wide x 2.5 m-high set-up and moving time, the rate of pe- commis-sioned in 1998 and 1999, has
x 4.8 m-long. The machines must either netration and machine availability were been further developed for efficient
be self-propelled or transported on rail, all recorded during evaluation period. muck collection in the boxhole boring
and have to have tramming and Atlas Copco boxhole boring units mode. The remote controlled and
directional lights, as well as a fire extin- Robbins 34RH and 53RH were found to hydrauli-cally operated muck collector
guisher system. The mine electrical in- meet the requirements of the up-hole is fully integrated into the derrick
stallations provide power at 575-4,000 boring tender, and were selected by the assembly, and remains on the
mine. Built on the experience of the machine, even during transportation.

92 underground mining methods

 Boxhole Boring at El Teniente

During pilot hole drilling and rea-

ming, the rubber sealed muck
collector is applied adjacent to the
rock face. The muck slides on a chute
assembly to the rear of the machine.
The two earlier Robbins 34RH ma-
chines featured a 270 degree working
range, with muck spilling to either
side or to the rear end of the machine,
whereas the muck chute on the new El
Teniente 34RH machine has a working
range of 90 degrees, due to simpler
and more compact design.
The Robbins 34RH features a remote
controlled hydraulically operated slide-
opening worktable for use in both down-
reaming and boxhole boring applica-
tions. The entire drill string, including
boxhole stabilizers and reamer, can pass
through the worktable of the machine.
The standard frame Robbins 34RH
currently in use at El Teniente accom- Robbins 53RH set up underground.

modates a 692 mm-diameter reamer

through the worktable, while a wide facilitate pilot bit flushing in both raise assembly, this remote controlled, hy-
frame model of the 34RH accommo- boring and boxhole boring modes. draulically operated system provides a
dates a 1,060 mm-diameter reamer. The El Teniente machine has been 360 degree working range for channel-
The Robbins 34RH worktable is substantially upgraded from previous ling the muck away from the machine.
equipped with semi-mechanized wren- versions of the Robbins 53RH, to in- The remote controlled rod handling
ching, which features a hydraulically crease its productivity and working system on the Robbins 53RH is used
powered forkshaped wrench mani- range. The input power has been increa- for side and ground loading of drill
pulated from the operator’s control sed by 31% to 225 kW, the torque has pipes. This configuration of pipeloader
console. been increased by 44% to 156 kNm, and has previously been used on all other
The rod handler is designed to pick the thrust by 21% to 3,350 kN. Robbins models, and is now available
up all drill string components, includ- To achieve the same low profile as on the 53RH. Due to the restricted ma-
ing boxhole stabilizers and reamer. standard Robbins 53RH machines, high chine dimensions, it is not possible to
thrust telescopic cylinders have been add the stabilizers within the machine
Robbins 53RH used. This has resulted in a machine frame. Instead, the pipeloader inserts a
with an overall height of just 2.9 m that stabilizer pipe with stabilizer wing
The Robbins 53RH is a low profile, utilizes 750 mm -long drill rods with an attachment sleeves.
medium-diameter raise drill, suitable outer diameter of 286 mm. Once this is pushed through the
for boring orepasses and ventilation For ease of operation, the unit is headframe, the lightweight stabilizer
shafts. It is a versatile multi -purpose equipped with semi-mechanized wren- wings are attached to the sleeves be-
machine, capable of boring upwards ching in the worktable, as well as the fore continuing on through the muck
boxhole, downreaming, or conventio- headframe. This features a hydrauli- collector, and into the hole.
nal raise boring, without modification cally powered forkshaped wrench ma- A new reamer handling system has
to the drive assembly. nipulated from the operator’s control been integrated into this machine de-
It has a hydraulic drive to enable console. sign to eliminate the handling of the
variable rotation speeds and has dual The larger Robbins 53RH does not reamer at each set up. The reamer has
drive motors placed offline on a feature an opening worktable, as the been designed to bolt on top of the head-
gather-ing gearbox that transmits wings of the stabilizers and the reamer frame during transport and erection. The
torque to the drive heads. are attached on top of the machine. hollow centre design of the reamer still
The Robbins 53RH features a raise- Muck is handled by a separate col- allows prepiloting of the hole if de-sired,
boring and a boxhole float box, which lector system designed to suit the ma- in which case a special stinger is
allows the boring methods to be chan- chine. Unlike the Robbins 34RH, this inserted through the headframe and into
ged by simply installing drill rods in muck collector is not integrated into the reamer, whereas the reamer is
either the upper or lower float box. In the machine design, but is attached to unbolted from the machine frame and
addition, this multi-purpose unit is pro- the rock face by means of rock bolts. attached to the stinger. The diesel trans-
vided with a removable water swivel, to As it is separated from the derrick porter used for this machine is sized to

underground mining methods 93

 Boxhole Boring at El Teniente

the evaluation period was 29.8%, with

a mechanical availability of 95.5%.
Lack of access to the machine due to
shift changes, blasting and non-worked
weekends had the greatest negative
affect on machine utilization. The se-
cond largest contributing factor was lack
of site availability. During the com-
pletion of 20 production holes, the ave-
rage move and set-up time was between
10 and 12 h. Drilling each hole took two
days, which compensated for the low
machine utilization, and provided a high
rate of production.
Some downtime resulted from the
replacement of instruments broken by
rock falling from the face, and time was
also taken to improve the protec-tion of
these parts. The boring cycle in-cluded
Diesel powered crawlers are used for transporting Robbins 34RH and Robbins 53RH.
pre-piloting of 1 to 2 m, depen-ding on
the ground conditions. After
accommodate the derrick, including Raise drill performance that, the hole was bored to full diameter
the attached reamer. in a single pass. The 692 mm reamer
As the use of boxhole boring units was mounts two RCC raise boring cutters,
Additional equipment new to El Teniente mine, the evaluation and an attachment for the bit sub and
period was preceded by startup and pilot bit. During single pass boring, the
The boxhole boring machines working commissioning of the machines. After 279 mm pilot bit is also engaged in cut-
in El Teniente were each delivered with approximately four weeks of training ting the rock. To ensure adequate flush-
a diesel powered crawler, for rapid and commissioning, the machines went ing of the cuttings past the bit-sub, water
movement of the derrick from site to into full 3-shift production, and the three was pumped through the centre of the
site. The newly designed crawler fea- months evaluation began. drill string to the tricone bit.
tures a cordless remote controlled ope- As the drilling took place on the
rating system and a high-power Deutz Robbins 34RH evaluation production level of the block caving
diesel engine for high-altitude operation operation, the hole actually broke
and minimal environmental impact. The startup period for this machine type through into the broken ore. As there is
   To give the mine better control over included classroom and maintenance no access to the head, it was critical to
machine productivity, a Data Acqui-sition training, and the drilling of three rai-ses. observe any changes to thrust and torque
System was delivered with each machine. The average net penetration rate on the machine, to know when
This records operating vari-ables in real achieved was 0.8 m/h, or 3.9 m/day. The breakthrough occurred. The moment
time, and stores them on a memory card. It startup period was strongly affected by breakthrough was achieved, boring was
also features a dis-play panel that shows lack of water to flush the pilot bit, poor stopped, as any further advance could
the parameters being recorded. The ventilation, and availability of concrete result in the reamer getting stuck.
machine operator can view any variable, as pads in the working area. However, lear-
well as current time and date, and battery ning progressed steadily, and the ope- Robbins 53RH evaluation
life during operation. rating crew was ready to begin the eva-
luation period at the completion of one In addition to classes and maintenance
The recording brick is configured to month’s training. training on the Robbins 53RH, a couple
log data to the memory card every 30 During the three- month evaluation of holes were drilled as part of the com-
seconds. During the interval, variables period, seven raises of approximately 14 missioning. Again, the startup period
are continuously monitored and key m in length were drilled each month. was strongly affected by lack of water,
points are logged. The Data Acquisition The average production rate was 93.3 m/ poor ventilation, and availability of
System is provided with a data analysis month, with a total production of 280.1 concrete pads in the working area. How-
software package which processes the m for the entire period. This exceeded ever, as the personnel were, by this time,
output from the recording brick stored the monthly target rate of 88 m and 264 well-trained raise boring operators, the
on the memory card, and creates gra- m for the full period. The average rate of evaluation period could begin within a
phical plots of the data. The software penetration during the three months was: few weeks.
also generates data files that can be 1.80 m/h; 2.15 m/h; and 2.17 m/h. During the three month evaluation
inserted into spreadsheets. Machine utilization during period, three raises of approximately

94 underground mining methods

 Boxhole Boring at El Teniente

40 m in length were drilled each month.

The average production rate was 111.1
m/ month, and total production was
333.2 m for the entire period. This
exceeded the monthly target rate of 110
m and 330 m for the full period. The
average rate of penetration during the
three months was: 1.12 m/h; 2.60 m/h;
and 1.63 m/h. Machine utilization during
the evalua-tion period was 40.3%, with a
mechani-cal availability of 91.3%.
Machine utilization was again nega-
tively affected by non-worked week-
ends, blasting near the drill site, and
shift changes. The next largest factor
contributing negatively to machine uti-
lizations was site availability due to site
cleaning, waiting for concrete pads, and
the availability of electricity and water.
During the completion of nine produc-
tion holes, the average move and set up
time for the machine was between 13
and 15 h. As drilling of a hole could be
completed in a little more than 6 days, a
high production rate was achieved,
despite the low rig utilization.
The boring cycle included pre-
piloting of 2 to 3 m, to ensure the
straightest hole possible. This also
facilitated easier reamer collaring, by
reducing devia-tion caused by the
dead weight of the reamer head.
Following completion of the pilot,
the hole was bored to full diameter in
a single pass. The 1.5 m reamer
mounts eight RCC raiseboring cutters,
and an attachment for the bit sub and
311 mm pilot bit. As with the smaller
machine, water was pumped through
the centre of the drill string to the
tricone bit, to ensure adequate flushing
of the cut-tings past the bit-sub.

Conclusion
The application environment in the El
Teniente mine placed high demands
on the boxhole boring equipment sup-
plier, both in size constraints, and in
operation of the equipment. The mine
personnel also had aggressive perfor-
mance expectations, in keeping with
the established high productivity of
the mine. Robbins 34RH.
Atlas Copco chose to offer its proven
34RH and 53RH boxhole machines with features were focused on accommoda- After thoroughly monitoring the ca-
customized features to meet the special ting the restrictive work environment pabilities of both machines, the project
needs of El Teniente. Most of these and high performance expectations. in El Teniente has provided important

underground mining methods 95

 Boxhole Boring at El Teniente

input to future development of boxhole Rock Type Composition Density UCS Young’s Poisson’s
boring technology. With production re-
[%] [ton/m3] [MPa] Modulus Ratio
sults exceeding expectations, it has also [MPa] [---]
proved to be a new milestone in the ap- Andesite Fw 36 2.75 100 55 0.12
plication of boxhole boring machines. Andesite Hw 24 2.75 125 55 0.17
Anhydrite Breccha 20 2.70 115 55 0.17
Acknowledgement Andesite Breccha 12 2.70 100 50 0.12
Diorite 8 2.75 140 60 0.15
Atlas Copco is grateful to the manage-
ment and staff at El Teniente for their
Rock properties at El Teniente.
help and assistance with this article.

Robbins 53RH-EX under test.

96 underground mining methods

 Antofagasta, Chile

Modernization at Sierra Miranda

Computerized
systems
The Sierra Miranda copper mine in
Chile has undergone a complete
transformation over the last year, as
a result of which it is now rated as
one of the most modern mines in
Latin America. Along the way, the
mine has acquired a purpose-
matched fleet of new generation
Atlas Copco equipment, capable of
high output without the availabil-ity
of a high tension underground
electricity supply. To support this
process of modernization, pro-
active and preventive service and
maintenance is essential, and the
management at Sierra Miranda
know that good aftermarket sup-
port for this type of advanced eq-
uipment is vital in order to achieve
their production goals. It was for
this reason that the mine entrusted
Atlas Copco as a true partner, ha-
At the controls of a Rocket Boomer L1 C drill rig. Operators at the Sierra
ving confidence in their reputation
as a serious company with a lot of Miranda mine appreciate the benefits of the computerized systems.
experience.
copper pitch ore and chryssocholla, ST1020 remote controlled loaders. A
with sporadic atacamite. Scooptram ST2G loader and an addi-
Three years ago, the mine owner tional Simba are also expected to join
Large operation the fleet this year.
star-ted the first stage of modernizing
The Sierra Miranda Mine, located about the mine’s operations. This required The owner is investing in the latest
60 km northeast of the city of Antofa- the latest generation of equipment in generation of equipment in order to
gasta, is one of Chile’s largest under- grow the mine as quicly as possible,
order to improve the systems for
ground mining operations and has a his- and the selection of Atlas Copco
extraction and the mining processes.
tory of using the most modern mining
machines has provided the exact
techniques and equipment available.
Sierra Miranda lacks a substantial
Atlas Copco fleet match for this requirement.
power facility, with the exception of Sierra Miranda is one of the few, and
electricity for lighting and ventilation, possibly the only mine of its size in
Efficient production
and has no water or air supply lines. the world, that is equipped with diesel- Sierra Miranda has a workforce of about
As a result, to mechanize effectively, hydraulic machines. 300, including contractors’ personnel.
all of its underground equipment has Currently, the mine production drill- The mining method is sub-level stop-
to be self-sufficient. The drill rigs, for ing fleet is all Atlas Copco, including a ing, without backfill. As the orebody is
example, are all diesel-hydraulic with Simba M6 C, four Rocket Boomer L1 C relatively narrow at 4-10 m -wide it is
independent water-mist flushing sys- drill rigs equipped with the RCS necessary to use an extraction method
tems. computerized rig control system, and a that is both precise and focused.
The mine’s total production is 3.3 Scaletec scaling rig, which is the first of The deposit is situated near the
million t/y, 1.1 million t of which is its kind in Latin America. surface, which from a geo-mechanical
waste rock from development work, and In addition, the mine has five Atlas point of view is favourable, as the sup-
the remaining 2.2 million t is copper ore Copco ROC 460 PC drill rigs, and port pillars in the mine are not
with an average grade of 0.75%. Diamec U6 and CT14 exploration rigs, subjected to excessive pressure.
The host rock is volcanic andesite as well as various mobile compressors. Until recently, Atlas Copco ROC
and the mineral deposit is principally The production fleet of mobile eq- 460 truck-mounted drill rigs with short
copper malachite, a combination of uipment comprises four Scooptram feeds and DTH hammers were used

underground mining methods 97

 Antofagasta, Chile

a year, the entire mine fleet has been

upgraded to modern equipment. In ad-
dition, the operators have acquired
new skills and the whole team is now
focused on increasing the planned
production levels and on improving
risk and secu-rity standards.
Furthermore, productivity has in-
creased beyond all expectations.
While the improvements continue, the
mine is also making every effort to
achieve ISO 9000 certification.
At Sierra Miranda Atlas Copco works
in a very proactive way. The fleet is
checked daily for the number of hours
each machine has worked, and the
causes of any breakdowns. It is then
decided which machines will be re-
quired for work over the following few
days, and Atlas Copco makes sure that
they are available. This entails a very
Schematic of sublevel stoping in a narrow vein using the Simba M6 C to drill down holes. flexible programme of maintenance and
follow-up procedures, which can
for drilling the blast holes, and also for of 800 m/month in galleries that are 5 change from one day to the next.
developing 40 m-deep raises between m-wide x 5 m-high. Scooptram At the start of the contract, the mine
the levels. ST1020 loaders are used for hauling stipulated that it required 90% equip-
In order to minimize dilution in the and trans-port during the development ment availability. This took a little time
narrowest veins, it was decided to em- of galleries and ramps. to achieve while training was underway.
ploy a Simba M6 C drill rig equipped The Scaletec is used throughout the However, once all systems were up and
with a COP 2550 rock drill on pro- mine for preparing faces for loading and
running, availability increased to its
duction drilling of downholes in this for general roof scaling, mechanizing an
present level of more than 95%.
narrow vein/sub -level stoping opera- operation that was previously time- con-
tion. At the same time, the distance suming and sometimes dangerous.
between levels was reduced to 25 m The ore is transported to the surface
Acknowledgements
and the hole diameter was reduced Atlas Copco is grateful to the owner
by conventional 40 t-capacity trucks.
from 4 in to 3.5 in. and management at Sierra Miranda
The Rocket Boomer L1 C rigs are used
Change for good mine for their assistance with the pre-
both for development and production. paration of this article which first
Each rig, equipped with a single COP The technological changes at Sierra appeared in Mining & Construction 1-
1838HF rock drill, advances at a rate Miranda have been rapid. In less than 2007.

Scaletec in action at Sierra Miranda. Close-up of the Scaletec at work.

98 underground mining methods

 Mount Isa, Australia

Mount Isa mines

continues to expand
Quadruple ores
in Queensland
Mount Isa Mines, located in north-
west Queensland, having an an-
nual ore production in excess of 10
million t, constitutes one of the
larger underground mines in the
world. It is wholly owned by MIM
Holdings, and is one of few places
in the world where four minerals
are found in substantial quantities,
and mined in close proximity. The
mine is one of the three largest
producers of lead in the world, is
the fifth largest producer of silver,
the 10th largest producer of zinc, Mount Isa at sunset.
and is the 19th largest producer of
copper. Another superlative is that complex veins and irregular stratigraphic interval of over 1 km, but
the recently developed Enterprise segregations within the breccia mass. the major orebodies are restricted to
copper mine is the deepest mine in Mount Isa’s stratiform silver-lead- the upper 650 m. The orebodies occur
Australia. Atlas Copco equip-ment
is widely used at the Mount Isa zinc sulphide mineralization occurs with in an echelon pattern, interlocking at
Mines for production drilling, raise pyrite and pyrrhotite in distinct bands the southern and lower sections with
boring and roof bolting. dipping to the west, concordant with the extremities of the silica-dolomite
weakly bedded carbonaceous dolomitic mass hosting the copper orebodies.
sediments of the Urquhart Shale. The The position, extent and metal con-

Geology mineralization is intermittent through a tent of copper and silver -lead- zinc

The mineral deposits zone at the Boltec 335S at Mount Isa.

central Mount Isa mining complex lie

in an ap-proximate North-South
orientation, and dip towards the West.
Economic copper sulphide miner-
alization lies within a brecciated sili-ceous
and dolomitic rock mass, known locally as
‘silica-dolomite’, which is broadly
concordant with the surround-ing Urquhart
Shale. There are several copper orebodies.
The silica -dolomite mass which hosts the
1100 and 1900 orebodies has a strike
length in excess of 2.5 km, a maximum
width of 530 m, and a height of more than
400 m. The recently developed 3000 and
3500 ore-bodies lie as deep as 1,800 m.
Copper mineralization is truncated by a
base-ment fault, bringing altered basic
volcan-ic rocks (Greenstone) into contact
with the Mount Isa Group sediments. The
dominant sulphide minerals are chal-
copyrite, pyrite and pyrrhotite forming

underground mining methods 99

 Mount Isa, Australia

4 kms

N52 Fill Pass

ShaftM37Shaft

W44 Shaft

Storage Pit

M64 Shaft

R67 Shaft

H70 Shaft

M73 Shaft

H75 Shaft
ShaftR62Shaft
S50 Fill Pass
X41 Shaft

L44 Shaft

I54 Shaft

Y59 Shaft

U62 Shaft
P63 Shaft
U47 ShaftM48Shaft

51U ShaftStoragePit

P61
R60Shaft
M61
Black Rock Black StarOpenCut

Open Cut
ISA
4/L
Black Star 5/L
6/L
Rio Grande & 7/L
Orebodies Black Rock LEAD 9/L
& Racecource
400 Orebody Black Star 10/L
Orebodies Orebodies 11/L
13C 12/L
COPPER MINE 13/L
14/L
16/L MINE 15/L
17/L
2 kms

1100 Orebody 1900 Orebody 18/L

19/L
20/L
21/L
3000 &

ENTERPRISE MINE 3500

Orebodies
Copper Orebodies
LONGITUDINAL SECTION
Zinc, Lead, Silver Orebodies Z
N

Longitudinal section of Mount Isa mine.

orebodies have been established by ex- History and development problems of isolation, mine flooding
ploration drilling from the surface and and shortage of capital.
underground. Despite the depth of the John Campbell Miles discovered silver- Lead-zinc-silver production was the
mines, stresses in the ground are not lead ore at Mount Isa in 1923. Although original focus of Mount Isa Mines.
as great as at some shallower mines in mining began in 1924, Mount Isa Mines Although short periods of copper pro-
other regions of Australia. didn’t make a profit until 1937, due to duction had occurred during World War
II, parallel production of copper did not
begin until 1953, after extensions to the
Simba H4353 long hole drill rig with COP 4050 rock drill.
mining operations. The development of
copper orebodies in the late 1960s and
early 1970s, as well as improvements to
the Company’s Townsville refinery,
greatly increased copper production.
The Mount Isa group comprises se-
veral mines. The Hilton lead-zinc-
silver mine, 20 km north of Mount Isa,
opened in 1989, and is now incorpo-
rated into the George Fisher Mine. The
next large development came in the
late 1990s, when close to $1bn was
invested in projects, including the new
George Fischer lead-zinc-silver and
Enterprise copper mines, as well as
expansion of the copper smelter and
the Townsville refinery.
The Enterprise is an extension of
the Mount Isa mine, in the deep 3000
and 3500 orebodies lying beneath
existing mining zones.

100 underground mining methods

 Mount Isa, Australia

4500N

5500N
5000N
1500E

3 1 3 1 3
2 3 2 3 2 3 2
3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3
Advance south 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2

1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3
3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2
1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2

Egg crater pattern Pre-existing primary stopes

S48 Fault 2000E

1 Primary Stope
2 Secondary Stope

3 Tertiary Stope

Stoping sequence at Mount Isa mine.

The new orebodies, 1,500-1,800 m ore by 2004.The other main copper In the Mount Isa copper mine ore-
below the surface, are accessed by de- resources at Mount Isa are the 1900 bodies, sub-level open stoping, coupled
clines from the bottom of the main U62/ and 1100 orebodies, the latter known with secondary and tertiary stoping is
R62 Mount Isa shaft complex. Central to also as the X41 mine named after the used to extract the ore. Blocks of ore 40
Enterprise is the new ore handling shaft that reaches the 21 level. m -wide, 40 m-long at full orebody
system, including a 2 km underground MIM Holdings’ lead-zinc-silver height are removed. To do this, 5.0 m x
conveyor (V63 and M62) and a 713 m- comes from the company’s lead mine at 5.0 m drilling sublevels are devel-oped
deep, 5.3 m-diameter internal shaft (the Mount Isa (Racecourse orebody, etc) at 40 m intervals. At the bottom of the
M62), which is boosting capacity to and its George Fischer mine. At these stope, a number of drawpoints are mined
extract the high-grade ore. A 2.13 m x mines the lead-zinc-silver ore is mined, and equipped to extract the ore.
1.98 m jaw crusher reduces the ore crushed and hauled to the surface. Ore Blast hole drilling is carried out using
down to less than 400 mm pieces at a from the George Fischer mine is taken a variety of Atlas Copco Simba rigs, in-
rate of up to 1,000 t/h. The 378 m-long via an off-highway haulage road to the cluding models H4353, H1354, 366, 269
V63 conveyor carries the crushed ore to Mount Isa facility for processing. and 254. On the extraction level,
the M62 shaft, where it is hoisted to the The total extent of the Mount Isa upholes in a ‘V’ shape are used to shape
20 level. The hoist is controlled from a mine workings is now 5 km in length the trough. On the drilling sublevel, the
surface control room, and operates at up and 1.2 km in width, with the deepest Simba rigs are used to drill holes in a
to 16.8 m/s. From there the ore is loaded radiating fan shape. A slice of ore the
point (Enterprise mine) approximately
onto the M62 conveyor for delivery to height of the stope is extracted first,
1,800 m underground.
the existing U62 copper ore handling exposing an open area along one side of
the stope, into which progressive bla-
shaft via a short orepass. Commercial Mining methods sting is carried out.
production began from Enterprise in
The zinc-lead-silver orebodies and The fleet of Simba rigs covers a wide
July, 2000 following five years of
development work. The ore has a high copper orebodies are mined separately, range of hole lengths, diameters and
grade of 4% copper, justifying using slightly different methods, al- orientation possibilities for flexible ore-
development at such depths. The devel- though all operations use forms of open body exploitation capabilities. Holes can
opment is predicted to provide ore for stoping. In open stoping, blocks of ore be drilled accurately, with stringent to-
the smelter after 2020, as production that make up part of the orebody are re- lerances, for optimum fragmentation of
from the 1100 orebody declines. Annual moved one at a time, with the ultimate the ore, and minimal underbreak. Top-
production increased to 3.5 million t of goal of removing all of them. hammer or ITH (in-the-hole) hammer

underground mining methods 101

 Mount Isa, Australia

As well as these, Atlas Copco Boomer

Cutoff slot Drilling pattern
rigs are used for rockbolting. At
Cutoff raise Mount Isa, in total, there are 27 drill
rigs for de-velopment and rockbolting,
Drilling sublevel 17 pro-duction drill rigs, 33 LHD
Broken ore loaders, 16 articulated dump trucks for
longer haul-age, and seven raise drills.

Zinc-lead-silver extraction
Panel stoping and bench stoping are
used in the zinc- lead-silver mine,
although sublevel open stoping has been
introduced as well, where suit-able.
Whereas bench stoping involves mining
the orebody longitudinally, panel stoping
involves mining the orebody
transversely. Panel stoping is still an
open stoping method, and was consid-
Drawpoint ered more efficient for mining the wider
orebodies at George Fischer. Bench
stoping is still the preferred method for
the mine’s narrow orebodies.
Prior to the current benching
method being introduced in 1992-93,
cut-and-fill was used. In the cut-and-
fill method, a horizontal slice of ore
up to 4 m-high is extracted from the
length of the ore-body. Although very
General view of sublevel stoping at Mount Isa copper mine. selective in high-grade ores, the
method is also expen-sive.
drilling is possible for hole lengths of stope, and is extracted at the drawpoints Benching was introduced as a safer
over 50 m. Flexibility of use is pro- by diesel-powered LHD wheel loaders and more efficient method. The cut-
moted by the modular construction of with a 6.1 cu m bucket capacity. Then and-fill method requires a lot of
the rigs so that, for example, the feed the ore is either tipped directly into the ground support, as miners work in the
positioning system can be combined in passes to feed the crusher or, if the stope orebody itself. With open stoping,
different ways to obtain the required is a long way from the crusher, into workers are positioned outside the
hole positions and directions. Types of articulated haulage trucks. After orebody, in a much safer working
drilling that can be handled include crushing, the ore is sent via a 1.6 km environment. Despite the larger open
bench drilling, fan drilling within a cable belt to the U62 hoisting system, void, benching is more cost effective
90-degree sector, 360-degree ring where 36 t skips take it to the surface. as less support is required, and the ore
drilling, and parallel hole drilling. Mount Isa aims at 100% extraction can be extracted more effi-ciently.
The Simba H4353, for example, is an so, in this method, pillars between In benching, horizontal tunnels, or
all-hydraulic unit for large-scale ope- blocks also need to be recovered. To ‘sill drives’, are driven the length of the
rations, carrying out 90- degree fan achieve this, open ore stopes are filled orebody at regular vertical intervals. The
drilling, 360-degree ring drilling, or with a cement-based slurry and/or distance between sill drives depends on
parallel hole drilling at 1.5 m intervals. rock mixture. The slurry is a mixture local ground conditions, and is ty-pically
The feed beam can be inclined 20 of Port-land cement and concentrator 15 m. Blast holes are drilled vertically
degrees forward and 80 degrees back- tailings, whilst the rock is sourced down from one sill drive to the lower sill
wards. The hole diameter range is 89- from sur-face stockpiles, from the drive. Starting at one end of the bench, a
127 mm, to a maximum recommended heavy media rejects from the lead row of holes is blasted to remove the
hole depth of 51 m. Drilling control is concentrator, or slag waste from the rock between the two sill drives. The
automatic, using the Atlas Copco COP copper smelter. The mixture sets into a broken ore drops to the bottom of the
4050 rock drill. hard, rock-like formation, providing a
orebody, and is removed by LHD to the
ANFO is the main explosive, mixed stable face to enable extraction of the
orepass. It is necessary for the loader to
on site. It is not uncommon for it to be adjacent ore pillar.
go inside the stope to remove the ore, so
used to blast 100,000 t in a single firing. Over half of the site’s production dril-
fill is progressively introduced to the
The broken ore falls to the bottom of the ling units are Atlas Copco Simba rigs. cavity to add stability

102 underground mining methods

 Mount Isa, Australia
to the hanging wall. The fill used on

site includes uncrushed underground 16B

development rock spoil, heavy media
reject from the process plant, or hydrau- 16B
lic sand fill from the surface.
The potential hazards of loading out 18E Current practice in stope design
from within an open stope have been Consider existing development horizontal

17D Match stope outline with grade contour.

tackled by technical development. With
& vertical (inaccessible).
the benching method, teleremote pro- for stope extr action.

Design additional development as required

duction loading was also brought in. 18E exposure dimensions).
With this system, employing CCTV Use rock mechanics principles (pillars,
Location & quality of faults & fill masses
cameras on the front and back of the Extraction options

(delay exposure).
LHD, operators can now handle up to Minimize remote mucking.
18B
Simplify stope extraction sequence.
three units by remote control from one
19C Delay exposing faults and fill masses.
location. This is an air-conditioned Safety considerations & hazard ID.

cabin, which may be up to 1 km away. 19A Effective ventilation circuits.

19C Design -> Monitor operating

The system saves time spent on a job, 19/L

increases operator safety, and gives ope-

rators more control.
The technology was practically ahead 19/L
of its time when introduced, because
it is still current. It was a step towards Tailor made stope design at Mount Isa copper mine.
the development of today’s equipment orepasses and shafts, of approximately However, with proper ventilation the
with built-in navigational systems.
Benching has increased productivity, 975 km. The workings produce 10 mil- mine’s wet-bulb temperature is below
improved safety, reduced costs and lion t/year. Most mines have at least one 23 degrees C. The Mount Isa ventilation
provides better utilization of equipment. particular form of technical challenge, system is one of the largest of its kind
The extensive mine workings at Mount and at Mount Isa it is heat, due to the in the world, and includes bulk coolers
Isa incorporate a total length of under- great working depths. The virgin rock on the surface to cool the air before it
ground openings including road-ways, temperatures are around 60 degrees C. goes underground.

Huge savings in drilling consumables

potential to markedly save costs and cost-efficient products for MIM opera-
improve safety. The original consuma- tions, resulting in fewer bits for the
bles contract was not providing enough same tonnages. MIM and Secoroc are
information to the supplier. This reali- now really pushing the idea of reusing
zation was instrumental in changing material and focusing on wastage. Bit
the contract from supply only, to full resharpening, rod straightening and rod
service and supply. MIM is a very clearing have been introduced with the
large and busy company, making the resharpening ratio for development bits
focus on drilling consumables difficult. now averaging 1.5 times.
MIM undertook the task of gener- Consumable care is an area where
Atlas Copco Secoroc workshop at Mount Isa Mines.
ating information and sharing it with the jumbo operators can improve the
Secoroc, to release the mutual ben-efits life of consumables and cost per metre,
An alliance between MIM and Atlas of reduced costs for the client and and Secoroc is required to take a lead
Copco Secoroc has resulted in a reduc- contract extensions for the supplier. To in education in the use of its products.
tion of annual bit consumption from foster continuous improvement, The companies are working
28,000 to just 11,000, with no changes quarterly meetings were implemented towards agreeing on and setting
in tonnages. For more than 15 years, to discuss the provision of service expectations about scaling standards,
Secoroc had held a supply- only con- – prompt reporting of loss, product and proce-dures to reduce damage.
training and product development. The initial supply and service con-
tract for drilling consumables with
MIM. When taking over the role of Both parties agree on what has and tract ran for one year and has since
General Manager, they reviewed the what hasn’t been done, focusing on been extended for three years on a per-
contract and found a throw-away cul- the objectives. As a result, Secoroc is formance-based rolling contract, with
ture that, if turned around, had the able to provide the most suitable and three monthly performance reviews.

underground mining methods 103

 Mount Isa, Australia

Mount Isa mines – the company

5,800 employees in other operations coking coal at Oaky Creek, steam coal
across Australia and overseas. In addi- at Newlands, and steaming and coking
tion to the Mount Isa complex, MIM coal at Collinsville. There is also coal
has copper mines at Ernest Henry in shipping from Abbot Point and Dal-
Queensland, and a 50% interest in the rymple Bay, and a coking plant at
Bajo de la Alumbrera project in Bowen Basin. All are in Australia.
Argentina . For lead-zinc-silver, there MIM’s sources of revenue from
is the George Fischer mine (in- all mines are split by products:
corporating the former Hilton mine) in copper 31%; by-product gold 8%;
Queensland, which uses the Mount Isa Ravenswood mine gold 1%; zinc
and Townsville processing facili-ties, 18%; lead 8%; silver 4%; coal 30%.
Scooptram loader at Mount Isa.
and a majority interest in the McArthur Markets for Mount Isa’s copper
Wholly owned by MIM Holdings, River mine in Australia’s Northern are Australia (33%), Asia (53%); and
Mount Isa Mines (MIM) has 2,000 Territories. There is a gold mine at Europe (14%). Mining finance group
permanent employees at its Mount Isa Ravenswood, and extensive coal Xstrata owns MIM Holdings.
and Townsville operations, and over operations. The latter comprise

built in 1978, is 270 m-high. Copper is that Mount Isa has over 6 million t of
Ore processing contained copper still to be mined,
produced electrolytically in the form
Lead-zinc-silver ore from Mount Isa of anodes. Each weighs 375 kg and is more than has been extracted over the
and George Fischer mines is ground to past 60 years.
99.7% pure copper.
a fine powder at the Mount Isa facility, In more detail, the 2002 reserves and
after which a flotation process is used resource report gave a total of proved and
to separate waste, and produce lead-
Expansion plans probable ore reserves of approxi-mately 73
rich and zinc-rich concentrates. In the year ending June, 2002, record million t at 3.3% copper (previously 47
Lead concentrate from Mount Isa copper smelter production of 233,000 million t at 3.6% copper). The total
contains 50- 60% lead, and around 1 kg t of anode was achieved. This was up underground measured, indi-cated and
of silver/t. After smelting to remove from 207,000 t for the previous year. inferred resources, including reserves,
further impurities, blocks of material, A recent copper study to improve were approximately 116 million t at 3.3%
each containing approximately 3,984 kg reserves and efficiencies has resulted in copper (previously 88 million t at 3.7%
of lead and 10 kg of silver, are trans- an increase in reserves to 12 years. This copper). In addition there were a total
ported by rail to Townsville for ship- has led to a planned 40% expansion in open-cut indicated, inferred re-sources of
ment to MIM’s lead/silver refinery in copper production by 2006. A rate of 255 million t at 1.2% copper (previously
England. In 2001-2002, lead-zinc 400,000 t/y for up to 20 years from an inferred resource of 112 million t at
concentrator throughput and recovery Mount Isa and MIM’s Ernest Henry 1.6% copper).
increased, and there was improved plant Mine is predicted by MIM. The improved lead-zinc concentrator
reliability at the lead smelter. MIM is planning to expand copper performance and smelter reliability in
Around 51% zinc concentrate is also production by developing the 1900 ore- 2001-2002 contributed to an increase in
railed to Townsville for refining, or ship- body, the Enterprise Mine 3000 and production from 140,000 t to 161,000 t
ment to overseas customers. MIM cur- 3500 orebodies, and the surface open pit and reduced operating costs. Still, MIM
rently produces approximately 190,000 t mines in and around existing orebod-ies. is planning to reduce off-site realization
of lead bullion and 500,000 t of zinc The aim for 2003 was to increase Mount costs such as transport and smelting,
concentrate each year. Isa copper production to 245,000 t, which represent up to 60% of total pro-
At the Mount Isa processing facility, improve the recovery rate in the con- duction costs at present.
there is a chimneystack at the copper centrator following an upgrade, and
smelter, built in 1955, which is 155 m- increase plant utilization by improving Acknowledgements
high, and at the lead smelter the stack, maintenance practices. It is estimated
Atlas Copco is grateful to the man-
Table: Mount Isa mine life production statistics agement of Mount Isa Mines, and in
Resource Tonnage (million t) particular to Jim Simpson, General
Total lead-zinc ore mined and processed 100 Manager Mining, Lead Zinc, for
Total copper ore mined and processed 200 writing this article which first
Total copper resource remaining 400 appeared in Underground Mining
Total lead-zinc resource remaining 200 Methods, First Edition.

104 underground mining methods

 melbourne, australia

High speed haulage at Stawell

Keeping on
track
Trucking ore from a depth of one
kilometre beneath the surface can
be a slow and expensive process,
but it’s a thing of the past for the
Stawell Gold Mine in Australia,
where high speed haulage using a
fleet of the latest Atlas Copco
Mintruck MT5010 trucks plays a
major role in the operation. Getting
the ore out involves a long drive up
the sublevel ramps at 1:8 to the 400
m level, and then on an in-cline of
1:10 to surface, a journey of 8 -9
km. The drivers report that the
MT5010 is the smoothest ride in all
their experience, and the
management is obtaining their
lowest-ever cost/t. The MT5010 is
providing a very good return on
investment!

Long history
Stawell Gold Mine, located about 250
km west of Melbourne, was first
mined in 1853. It was closed in 1926,
and stayed dormant for more than 50
years. It then re-opened in 1982, and
has been in operation ever since.
From 1992 until 2005, Stawell was
owned by MPI Mines, who instituted a Visual inspection of a Minetruck MT5010 with full load near Stawell portal.
plan to increase gold production from
100,000 oz/yr to 130,000 oz/yr by end- This is because the MT5010 has the
2006. However, the mine recently
Faster is better greatest power-to -weight ratio of any
changed hands, and is now operated by Stawell is a very deep mine with in- truck in its class, giving it the highest
Leviathan Resources, who have adopted cline access. Inevitably, the adit is the possible travel speeds per tonne.
the same objective. To meet these tar- bottleneck in the production operation, Based on the success of the site’s
gets, bench stoping with cemented rock because it limits the size of truck that first MT5010, commissioned in 2003,
fill pillars in primary stopes is used. can be employed hauling ore to the mine subsequently ordered another
With this mining method, approxi- surface. However, within the normal three, with the latest arriving on site in
mately 80% of the ore is recovered from under-ground speed constraints, the early January, 2005. Together, the new
the stopes. Remote-controlled loaders shift faster the trucks, and the cleaner they fleet has helped Stawell to its medium
the ore out of the stopes, from where a run, the greater will be the amount of term objectives while reducing the mi-
fleet of four Atlas Copco Minetruck ore that gets to surface. ning cost/tonne to the lowest it has
MT5010 trucks is employed hauling it to At Stawell, getting the ore to surface
ever been.
the surface along a gravel roadbed involves an 8-9 km drive, which, even
maintained by two graders in continu-ous with the MT5010, involves a round trip Comfortable power
operation. Stawell management is of 100 minutes. On the 1:8 gradient, its
convinced that the MT5010 is the best speed under full 50 t load is 12 km/h, The Atlas Copco Minetruck MT5010 is
truck on the market in terms of load some 2-3 km/h faster than the next fast- currently offered with the Cummins
capacity and performance. est truck on the current market. QSK-19-C650 engine as standard. This

underground mining methods 105

 melbourne, australia

S N Stawell Gold Mines

MINERALISED SYSTEM
Longitudinal Projection December 2004
0 SCALE 500m
RESERVE BLOCKS

INDICATED RESOURCE BLOCKS

INFERRED RESOURCE AREA
MINED AREA
GOLDEN GIFT DOMAINS
EXPLORATIONS TARGET
BASALT

PORPHYRY
FAULT BLANK
500m

1000m

1500m

Getting the ore out at Stawell involves an incline of 1:8 to the 400 m level and then 1:10 to surface.

water-cooled diesel provides an MSHA configuration. It is designed for maxi- 30% longer life after the engine’s first
power rating of 485 kW (650 hp) at 2,100 mum utilization with minimum main- rebuild. Oil seals have been
rpm, has a displacement of 19 litres tenance. The articulated pistons are engineered so they are never exposed
(1,159 cu in) and a six-cylinder, in-line made to last 30% longer, and also give to contami-nants.
The MT5010 is equipped with an air-
conditioned ROPS/FOPS - appro-ved
One of the four MT5010 mine trucks at Stawell Mine with manager Bill Colvin and driver Bruce Mclean.
cabin with forward-facing seat and back-
up video monitor, and has an active
hydraulic suspension system for im-
proved operator comfort and handling.
Indeed, Stawell operators report that the
MT5010 suspension is the most com-
fortable in their experience and pro-
vides a much softer, smoother ride. They
observe that, when working 12-hour
shifts, this makes a huge difference. The
cab is also set up for efficient operation,
with good driver visibility, clear instru-
ments, and all controls easy to reach.
One of the most noticeable and impres-
sive features of the MT 5010 truck is its
power. The Cummins engine delivers
torque of more than 3,000 Nm through
the six- speed automatic transmission.
From a standing start under load it pulls
extremely well, whereas vehicles from
the previous fleet struggled. It also has

106 underground mining methods

 melbourne, australia

The Minetruck MT5010 exits from the Stawell portal after a 9 km uphill drive.

a tight turning circle, saving on A technical training course on the

backing out trucks in the limited space
Continuous support MT5010 was conducted at the mine
under-ground, and is a lot less tedious The routine performed by the mine’s by Atlas Copco to further enhance the
to drive, being much faster than the maintenance team includes checking ex-pertise of the maintenance staff.
old machines. main functions after each 12-hour Many of the participants reported back
The engine on the MT5010 is elec- shift, as well as more thorough that it was the best on-site training
tronically controlled for maximum fuel services at 125 hours, and the they had ever received from any
efficiency, minimum exhaust emissions recommended intervals at 250 hours. equipment sup-plier, observing that
and continuous diagnostic monitoring. The MT5010 trucks, despite their Atlas Copco under-stands that
This control system, along with an elec- arduous working situation, are acknow- aftermarket service and sup-port is an
tronic transverter, provides smooth and ledged by Stawell management as being important complement to any sale.
precise gear changes. the best performing trucks on site, with Future plans at Stawell include fur-
In addition to the selection of Cum- the highest t/km and excellent availabil- ther exploration and deeper
mins as the engine supplier, Atlas Copco ity. As a result, the MT5010 trucks now development work. In the next four to
has put the MT5010 through a series of constitute 70% of the hauling fleet. five years it is planned to increase the
more than 40 performance- enhancing Where problems have been experi- mining depth to at least 1,300 m.
upgrades to the engine, powertrain, cab, enced, the mine knows it can rely on
suspension, structural body, and support from Atlas Copco. Acknowledgements
systems, which dramatically increase If they need a part, or a question
engine and component life. Servicing is an-swered, Atlas Copco provides a Atlas Copco is grateful to the man-
fast and simple, thanks to easy access to true, 24-hour service, seven days a agement and staff at Stawell mine for
filters, test points, and other parts which week, and treats every enquiry with their assistance in the production of
re-quire regular maintenance. the correct de-gree of urgency. this article.

underground mining methods 107

Experience and Knowledge

Working with Atlas Copco means working with world-leading

products and services. What’s more, the people you work with
are the best – with the ability to listen and to understand the
diverse needs of our customers. This approach requires experi-
ence and knowledge, presence, flexibility and involvement in
their processes. It means making customer relations and
service a priority.

Through interaction, innovation and a continuous drive to

im-prove the way we do things – we help our customers
achieve results.

Committed to your superior productivity.

Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB

Fax: +46 19 670 7393

www.atlascopco.com/rock
 Woomera, south australia

Sublevel stoping at
Olympic Dam
Rapid expansion Darwin
Northern
Since discovery of the massive Teritory
Olympic Dam orebody in 1975, and Western Queensland
the establishment of the mine in Australia
Brisbane
1988, the complex has been New South
through a series of rapid expan- South Australia
Perth Wales
sion programmes. Owned and op- Victoria Sydney
Lake Eyre
erated by BHP Billiton, it is the lar- Coober North
Melbourne Canberra Pedy Lake Eyre
gest single underground mine in South
Australia, with a production rate of Tasmania Hobart OLYMPIC DAM
30,000 t of ore per day to produce Lake
around 185,000 t of copper product Torrens
annually and significant quantities Port

of uranium, gold and silver. Total Augusta

mineral resource underground is

3,810 million t grading 1.1% copper
and 0.4 kg/t uranium oxide. The Adelaide
mine’s staged expansion has been
run in parallel with a philosophy of
continuous improvement of mi-ning
methods. They employ a fleet of
Atlas Copco Simba rigs for down-
hole production drilling within a Olympic Dam location in South Australia.
carefully planned and controlled
sublevel stoping method of pro- towards the outer edges of the deposit, plant, and associated infrastructure with-
duction. through to copper-iron sulphides and in a mining lease area of 29,000ha.
increasingly copper-rich sulphides to- Situated 80 km north of Woomera, and
wards the central and upper parts of the 560 km north-north-west of the South
Geology deposit. The zonation can continue with Australia state capital of Adelaide, the
The Olympic Dam mineral deposit rare native copper through to gold- mine has sufficient estimated reserves for a
consists of a large body of fractured, enriched zones, and finally into silici- possible life of 70 years within cur-rent
brecciated and hydrothermally altered fied lithologies. Uranium occurs in rates of production, although the actual
granite, a variety of hematite-bearing association with all copper mineraliza- mine plan is in place for only 20 years at
breccias and minor tuffs and sediments. tion. The predominant uranium mineral present. The mine has its own purpose
The breccia lies under 300-350 m of is uraninite (pitchblende), but coffinite -built town, Roxby Downs, lo-cated 16 km
barren flat-lying sediments comprising and brannerite occur to a lesser extent. away. There are around 980 employees, of
limestone overlying quartzite, sandstone Virgin rock stress conditions are which 490 work in mi-ning, and there are
and shale. The deposit contains semi- comparable in magnitude with most also 400 contractors on site.
discrete concentrations of iron, copper, Australian mines, with the principal
uranium, gold, silver, barium, fluorine stress horizontal and approximately Access to the mine is through a 4
and rare earth elements. These are scat- 2.5 times greater than the vertical km long surface decline and three
tered throughout an area 7 km-long and stress, due chiefly to the weight of shafts: the Whenan shaft, which was
4 km-wide, and having a depth of over overlying rock. the origi-nal exploration access,
1,000 m. There are two main types of With few exceptions related to converted for hoisting; the Robinson
mineralization: a copper-uranium ore weaker areas, the workings are generally shaft, sunk in 1995; and the new Sir
with minor gold and silver within nu- Lindsay Clark shaft.
dry. In-situ rock temperatures range
merous ore zones, making up most of The last completed expansion stage
from 30 to 45 degrees C.
the resource; and a gold ore type which results from a feasibility study carried
occurs in a very restricted locality.
There is distinct zonation evident
Mine programme out in 1996 that recommended an
expansion of ore output from 3 million
throughout the deposit, ranging from The Olympic Dam mine comprises under-
t/year to 9 million t/year. The facilities
iron sulphide (pyrite) at depth and ground workings, a minerals processing for this expansion were completed in

underground mining methods 109

 Woomera, south australia

Olympic Dam mine exploration.

1999 at a cost of Aus$1,940 million. ber, 2000, ore reserves were predicted the grade and volume of the ore; the
They included an automated electric rail to be 707 million t, with average grad- mine’s production requirements.
haulage system (based on that at the ing of 1.7% copper, 0.5 kg/t uranium This type of mining is most suitable
LKAB Kiruna mine), a new under- oxide, and 0.5 gm/t gold. for large ore zones that are character-
ground crusher station, a third haulage The mine’s revenue is made up from ized by relatively regular ore-waste
shaft (the Sir Lindsay Clark), a substan- sales of copper (75%), uranium (20%) contacts and good ground conditions. At
tial increase in ventilation capacity, a and gold and silver (5%). Copper cus- Olympic Dam, the method features the
new smelter, and an enlarged hydromet- tomers are based in Australia (26%), development of sublevel drives, us-ually
allurgical plant. The Sir Lindsay Clark Europe (16%), northern Asia (28%) and at 30-60 m vertical intervals. From these
shaft is fitted with the largest mine win- sublevels, a 1.4 m-diameter raise hole is
south-east Asia (30%). Uranium is sold
der in Australia, both in terms of power excavated by contracted raise boring.
to the United States (54%), Japan (23%),
(6.5 MW) and hoisting capacity (13,765 This extends the whole vertical extent of
Europe (22%) and Canada (1%).
t/h). These facilities increased the an - the designated stope. Production
nual production capacity to 200,000 t of blastholes of 89-155 mm-diameter are
refined copper, 4,300 t of uranium
Mining method then drilled in ringed fans, or rows
oxide, 75,000 oz (2.33 t) of gold and A carefully sequenced and monitored parallel to the ore limits. Plan-ning
850,000 oz (26.44 t) of silver. method of sublevel open stoping is em- engineers, in consultation with the drill
Further expansion under the Optimi- ployed to extract the ore. This was chosen -and-blast engineer, develop the patterns
sation Phase 3 plan in 2003 increased chiefly on the basis of: the depth of the using the Datamine Rings soft-ware
copper production to 235,000 t/year. orebody and volume of overburden; the package. The normal hole para-meters
Since 1988, more than 100 km of un- large lateral extent of the orebody; the are 3 m overburden and 4 m toe spacing.
derground development has taken place geotechnical attributes of the ore (see
to facilitate the production of more than above), the host rock and barren materials, A powder factor of 0.25 kg of explo-
17 million t of mined ore. As of Decem- as well as their geological distribution; sives per tonne of ore is generally main-
tained. Blasts range in size from about
World ranking of Olympic Dam mine 500 t, when opening an undercut slot, to
250,000 t for the maximum stope ring
Metal Resource ranking Production ranking % of world production
Copper No.5 No.17 1.4% firing. There are six to ten blasts/week.
Uranium No.1 No.2 11% Charging is carried out by two 2-man
crews, working 14 shifts/week. Firing is

110 underground mining methods

 Woomera, south australia
Activity Overview Mucking Overview

STOPE

STOPE DRAWPOINT

DRIVE
UNDERCUT
EXTRACTION
MUCKING
ExtractionDrive
DUMPING DRAWPOINT
LOADER

TRAMMING

Dumping Overview

MOBILE ROCK
BREAKER LOADER TRAMMING
Tramming Overview
FINGER PASS TO ORE PASS GRIZZLY
STOPE TRUCK
GRIZZLY
HAULING
TO ORE PASS ORE PASS
GRIZZLY

EXTRACTION

DRIVE
IVE
N
DR
IO
CT
A
R

T
EX

R
IVE
D
N

IO
CT LOADER TRUCK DUMPING
RA
XT
INTO FINGER PASS ORE PASS
E
TRAMMING TO GRIZZLY
TO TRAIN LEVEL
ORE PASS <250 M AWAY

Activity overview showing mucking, tramming and dumping of ore from a typical stope.

carried out by a remote initiation system generally domed to maximize stability. data such as drill-and-blast design lay-
using an electromagnetic field link con- Perimeter drives are located a minimum outs, firing sequences, ground support
trolled by PEDCALL software from a of 1.5 m away from stopes. designs, backfill design, ore grades,
desktop computer. Called BlastPED, the The stopes are laid out by mine de- structural controls, and ventilation se-
system has improved the reliability and sign engineers in consultation with the
quencing.
safety of blasting. The maximum trans- area mine geologist, and then presented
verse width (across strike) and length of to the operating personnel. This is in-
the stope have been determined as 60
Extraction and filling
tended to gain formal approval from
and 35 m respectively. underground production, development WMC employs Atlas Copco Simba
The stope length (along strike) is ge- and services departments, so providing a 4356S electro-hydraulic rigs for down-
nerally based on mineralization, geolo- forum for continuous improvement. A ward blasthole drilling, whilst upholes
gical discontinuities, and other geotech- final document incorporating any re- are avoided as much as possible. Mining
nical issues such as in-situ stress distri- commendations is then issued, so that usually commences at one end of the
bution, possible stope geometry and everyone is aware of the agreed stope stope, and from one sub-level to the
stope filling. The stope crowns are development procedure and all relevant next, until the stope is completed. Once

underground mining methods 111

 Woomera, south australia

CAF fill

CAF fill
Tertiary
Primary

Primary
Secondary

Secondary

Unmined
Unm
ined
Unm
ined
Unmined

Unmined
Designed stopes

Unmine
d
Unmined
Primary stope extracted
CAF filled due to unmined adjacent stopes
ROCK fill
CAF fill 2nd Primary stope extracted
CAF filled due to adjacent unmined stopes
CAF fill ROCK fill
Unm
ined
Unmined

ROCK fill

Unmined

Secondary stope extraction

CAF filled on side adjacent to unmined stope
ROCK filled on side adjacent to mined stope
Secondary stope extracted
CAF filled on side adjacent to unmined stope
ROCK filled on side adjacent to mined stope Tertiary stope extracted
ROCK filled as no adjacent stopes

Stope extraction and filling sequence.

drilling is complete, the stope is fired tation and minimum dilution of ore. bored hole, and then subsequent blasts
in stages to ensure maximum fragmen- First the slot is formed around the raise- peel away the ore into the void. Suffi-
cient broken ore has to be removed by
loader from the bottom sublevel of the
Ore progression from stope to train level. stope at the footwall to allow for swell-
ing of the rock and the next firing
FINGER PASS GRIZZLY stage.
450 m B.S.L. 400 m B.S.L. The extraction process continues in
this way, and then all broken ore is re-
moved leaving a roughly rectangular
Loaders and Trucks dump ore prism-like vertical void, which is then
into the Ore Pass Grizzly's. ORE PASS backfilled. The broken ore is transferred
The Grizzly is essentially a large to one of the permanent, near vertical,
steel grate designed to stop orepasses linking the extraction levels
large rocks getting into the ore pass.
These large rocks are broken up 520 m B.S.L. with the rail transport level. These load
by a Mobile Rock Crusher. minecar trains, which carry the ore to
Ore slides down the ore passes the underground crusher and shaft hoist
into the Surge Bin. 550 m B.S.L.
system.
SURGE BIN The optimum geotechnical dimen-
sions of the unsupported open stope are
FINGER PASS usually insufficient for complete extrac-
tion of the suitable ore at that position,
570 m B.S.L. so a series of secondary, and maybe
650 m B.S.L. tertiary, stopes have to be developed
FINGER PASS adjacent to the primary stope. This ne-
The Ore is loaded onto the Train. cessitates a substantial structural fill for
The Train continues to the Crusher, the primary stope, to ensure the struc-
TRAIN LEVEL
dumps the ore which is crushed
tural security of the adjacent stopes
and hauled to the surface
36 tonnes at a time. without leaving a pillar. This comprises
a cement aggregate fill (CAF) produced

112 underground mining methods

 Woomera, south australia

on site. Later stopes, which are not cri-

tical in geotechnical terms, can be re-
stored more economically with uncon-
solidated rock fill, or a combination of
both.
Other factors determining the use of
CAF include planned future develop-
ment within the stope, and/or a need for
a tight fill to the crown of the stope.
Since CAF forms a substantial pro-
portion of the mining costs, mine
devel-opment plans usually try to
minimize the size of primary stopes in
favour of larger secondary stopes,
which use unconsolidated fill.
This is particularly important in
areas where the orebody is relatively
narrow. If the primary stope is not
filled with CAF, and adjacent stopes
are then required, a pillar, gener-ally
10 m-wide, is left between the two.
Additional support of the stope crown
may be required, and this is carried
out by cable bolting. This is also used
to reinforce drawpoints.
Careful sequencing of the stope ex-
traction programme is an important
feature of mining at Olympic Dam, for
economical mining and minimal ore di-
lution. The sequence is determined by
several factors, including ventilation
capacity to remove radon gas and other
contaminants, the grade and tonnage
requirements of the mill, and the prox-
imity of any unfilled stopes. The XPAC
Autoscheduler computer software pack-
age has been introduced to improve the
efficiency of the sequencing process.

Pride of Simba rigs Simba 4356S longhole drill rig with COP 4050 tophammer rock drill.
Atlas Copco has had a fleet of Simba
4356S machines at Olympic Dam since
1992, and has had a service contract on Olympic Dam mining and production statistics
site supporting and maintaining the fleet Description Amount
since 1994. The machines consist-ently Underground development drives (2000) 1,100 m/month
achieve high levels of productivity and Producing stopes each month (2000) 24
availability at a minimal cost. The Average stope size (2000) 300,000 tonne
Simba rigs are predominantly used to
Average stope production rate (2000) 30,000 tonne/month
drill downhole production blast holes for
Average stope production time Ten months
the stopes. Their average mechani-cal
availability is 88-92%, and they drill Average stope filling time One month
between 8,629 m and 9,359 m/month. Average stope fill curing time Three months
Drill-and-blast methods are also Copper production (2002) 178,523 tonne
used for main drive developments, and Uranium Oxide production (2002) 2,890 tonne
for roof bolting as necessary, or in the Gold production (2002) 64,289 oz
rehabilitation of old mining areas re-
Silver production (2002) 643,975 oz
entered.

underground mining methods 113

 Woomera, south australia

More expansion ahead

The Optimisation Phase 3 expansion
Intake Raise programme was carried out over three
years to 2006, looking at mining fac-tors
such as: loader performance; stope
Intake Raise design; fragmentation and productivity;
rail haulage reliability and interfaces;
Exhaust Raise
and exploration to improve ore quality
and optimize infrastructure.
Studies of options for further expan-
sions to Olympic Dam’s operations are
Slot Raise
Internal underway in 2007, due to exploration work
Exhaust Raise
indicating that the orebody will support a
doubling of output. This will help meet
future long-term global de-mand, which
Ore Pass
has expanded significantly over the past
few years. An open pit mine is the current
preferred option to achieve the proposed
Intake air capacity increase because of the scale of
Exhaust air
the orebody. However, a two-year
prefeasibility study includes the
examination of a broad range of al-
ternatives, with expansion planning split
into five key stages to be carried out over a
Typical stope ventilation flow layout.
7-year period to production
Load-haul-dump (LHDs), wheel so the general rock mass condition can ramp-up.
loaders and a trucking fleet, as well as be regarded as ‘massive’. Jointing is also
the automated rail haulage system, make uncommon, but some faults have been
up transport system at the mine. The rail identified. The most significant have Acknowledgements
system transports ore from surge bins to sericite filling of <10 mm size. Conti- Atlas Copco is grateful to BHP Billiton
an underground crusher. A computer nuous natural structures that may reduce
and the management at Olympic Dam
located in a central control room con- excavation predictability are increasing-
mine for their kind assistance in the
trols all operations. After crushing to ly being digitized for further analysis. A
new process is being used to transfer preparation of this article.
around 150 mm, ore is hauled in 36 t
geological data to 3-D digital models.
skip buckets to the surface ore-blending
The mine development schedule in-
stockpile for processing.
cludes the sequencing of stope develop-
ment, but is also based on a combination
Mine planning of copper and uranium grades, copper/
Extensive site investigation, analysis of sulphide ratio, ventilation, and orepass
rock properties, and computerized plan- use. Ventilation is particularly impor-
ning and control procedures aid mine tant, as current underground mining
management in the most efficient ex- practices are primarily governed by suf-
ploitation of reserves. The programmes ficient ventilation resources to handle
are discussed at meetings with relevant radon. Other air contaminants are heat,
line managers to be agreed or modified, diesel fumes and dust. Each ventilation
before implementation. district, including its own intake and ex-
As geotechnical conditions are so im- haust (return) air routes, has the capac-
portant for stope stability, the materials ity to operate two to four producing
properties of the intact rock have been stopes at a time.
determined from more than 200 labora- A five-year production schedule is
tory tests. A three-dimensional model of evolved in a spreadsheet format using
estimated Uniaxial Compressive the area stoping sequence. This is used
Strength (UCS) has been developed for as the basis for scheduling other mine
the resource area. Evaluation of drill activities. The operations department
core logs indicates that the mean carries out short-term scheduling on a
structural spacing is greater than 6 m, three-month rolling basis.

114 underground mining methods

 NANJING, CHINA

Improved results at
Meishan iron ore mine
Bright future
China is rich in natural resources,
and is already the fourth largest
gold producer in the world. This
vast country has abundant depos-
its of copper, lead, zinc, iron and
other minerals, not to mention huge
reserves of coal, oil and gas. As
more mines adopt mechaniza-tion,
China’s potential as a world-class
mining nation continues to grow.
An operation that typifies the trend
in productivity and effi-ciency
improvements is the Meishan
underground iron ore mine, near
Nanjing. Having been a limited
producer for many years, Meishan
is now showing signifi-cantly
improved results, thanks to
enlightened management, backed
by Atlas Copco equipment.

Meishan mine portal.

Late starter
China began to stake a claim on the in- ore output of 4.25 million t in 2006, The Meishan orebody, which is more
ternational mining map at the start of the reflecting a steady increase of 10% than 100 m below the surface, is 1,370 m-
1990s, with a determination to in- each year. long and 824 m-wide. It has a maximum
troduce mechanization, coupled with a
strong desire for reform and commer- Rocket Boomer 281 at Meishan.
cial success. Today, more than ten years
later, Chinese mines are reaping the
benefits that modern mining equipment
and methods can bring.
Shanghai Baosteel Group Corpora-
tion, a state- owned company set up in
1998, has an iron production of 20
million t/y. Amongst its suppliers is
Meishan iron ore mine, one of its sub-
sidiaries.
Meishan is widely regarded as a mo-del
mine by the Chinese iron ore indus-try, and
the equipment and methods it uses, most of
which are supplied by Atlas Copco, are
constantly being monitored and adopted by
others around the coun-
try.
Situated on the Yangtze River Delta,
some 320 km from Shanghai, Meishan is
the second largest underground fer-rous
metals mine in China, with raw

underground mining methods 115

 NANJING, CHINA

the horizontal mining area at the -198 m

level. The mining process consists of
development drifting, rock drilling for
stoping, back-stoping and recovery,
transportation, and ore hoisting, in
which Meishan has pioneered the
introduction of mechanization.
In this respect, the mine has been
working hand in hand with Atlas Copco.
It installed its first Atlas Copco Simba
H252 drill rig in April, 1993, and now
operates 11 Atlas Copco rigs. Of these,
three Simba H252, one Simba H254 and
two Simba H1354 rigs are used for
production drilling, while four Boomer
281 and one Rocket Boomer 281 are
used in development. In addition, two
Scooptram ST1020 loaders are
employed on production.
The Simba rigs drill 76 mm blast
holes, while the Boomer rigs drill 76
mm cut holes and 48 mm blast holes.
All drifting and medium-to-long hole
dril-ling is carried out by Atlas Copco
drilling rigs. This equipment has been
instru-mental in enabling Meishan to
con-tinuously improve its productivity
Wagner service truck doing the rounds of the mine.
and efficiency, year on year.
For example, from 1995 to present,
thickness of 292.50 m and a minimum the number of workers employed in
thickness of 2.56 m, giving an average
Development drif-ting has been successively
thickness of 134 m. The deposit is esti- Phase One of the Meishan development reduced from more than 500 to 160,
mated to contain reserves of 260 million plan comprised shaft development, un- and the number of miners has also
t of predominantly Fe3O4 iron ore. derground stoping and sub-level caving. diminished signifi-cantly. During the
The mine entrance is located 37 m There are six shafts, three for hoisting same period, produc-tivity has been
above sea level (ASL), where the first (main, secondary and southwest), and substantially increased (see table).
phase of development got underway in three for ventilation (south, southeast Meishan is in operation approxima-
1975, and the ore is currently mined at and west). The main ramp, built in 2000, tely 300 days/year, and drifting and mi-
-243 m ASL. is connected at its lower end to ning teams comprise two men per drill

Idealized long section of mine.

Southwest 1# Main shaft 2# Main shaft Southeast North Shaft for

ventilation ventilation ventilation personnel hoist
+31.50 m +37 m +47 m
RAMP

–186 m

–198 m –198 m
–213 m
–228 m
–243 m –258 m
–330 m

–447 m

116 underground mining methods

 NANJING, CHINA

rig, six hours/shift, two shifts/day. The

Boomer 281 drills for one cycle each
shift, with a 3 m advance, while the
Simba H252 achieves 120-140 m/shift.
By the end of 2006, annual produc-
tion for the Simba H252 and Simba
H254 was 60,000 m/rig, and the
Simba H1354s were producing 72,000
m/rig. The capacity of the Boomer 281
was 1,700 m of drifts, and 1,900 m for
the Rocket Boomer 281, in faces 5 m-
wide and 3.8 m-high.

Long partnership Control panel on Rocket Boomer 281.

With more Atlas Copco equipment co-
ming on stream, productivity will be
successively increased to meet new,
ambitious targets for the next phase of
development.
According to its plans for Phase Two,
mining will proceed down to a level of
-420 m, and annual output will be in-
creased to 4.2 million t of ore. The dis-
tance between the levels will be also be
increased, from 15 to 20 m.
Through its long partnership with
Atlas Copco, Meishan has also accumu-
lated extensive experience of equipment
management and maintenance, where
the focus is on spot checks for clean-
liness, lubricating, oil refilling, and
greasing. Atlas Copco service engineers
provide technical support, assisting on
scheduled maintenance and repairs, and
spare parts forecasting and stock plan-
ning. These combined efforts have led to
equipment availability close to 100%. Simba production drill rig, one of six at Meishan.
In addition, as Meishan is a showcase
of Atlas Copco’s after sales service, with equipment of correct design with
training for other customers’ operators flexibility in operation, low energy
Acknowledgements
often takes place at this location. con-sumption, high reliability, low Atlas Copco is grateful to the directors
Excavation equipment managers at pollution and long service life. and management of Meishan Iron Ore
the mine state that, during more than Excellent after sales service, and an Mine for their assistance in the produc-
10 years of working with Atlas Copco, abundant supply of spare parts, can tion of this article, and to Baosteel Group
they have been consistently provided now be taken for granted. Corporation for permission to publish.

Production and equipment build up at Meishan

Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Development cu m 100,315 109,149 109,536 129,600 115,200 126,770 312,510

Number of drill rigs 4 4 4 5+1 backup 6+1 backup 6+1 backup 5+2 backup

Output of iron ore (Mt) 2.84 3.18 3.33 3.46 3.87 4.00 3.91

Drill metres (x1,000 ) 203 248 350 380 375 290 280

Number of employees 1,640 1,540 1,500 1,420 1,460 1,420 1,410

underground mining methods 117

We understand what you’re after

Working with Atlas Copco means working with highly pro-

ductive rock drilling solutions. It also means sharing a common
cost-cutting challenge. Like you, we are always looking for new
and effective ways to squeeze your production costs – but never at
the expense of quality, safety or the environment.
Mining and construction is a tough and competitive business.
Fortunately, we understand what you’re after.
Get your free copy of Success Stories
at www.atlascopco.com/rock

Committed to your superior productivity

Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB

Fax: +46 19 670 7393

www.atlascopco.com
 Rustenburg, South Africa

Mechanized mining in low

headroom at Waterval
Boosting production
The Anglo Platinum Group of South
Africa, the world’s leading plati-
num producer, has completed an
ambitious plan to boost its annual
output by 75% from 2.2 million
ounces to 3.5 million ounces by the
year 2006. This tough target would
have been a daunting pros-pect for
most mining companies, especially
in conditions at its Waterval mine,
where headroom seldom exceeds
2.0 m. However, Anglo Platinum,
which accounts for more than half
of the total plat-inum produced in
South Africa, has very extensive
experience of low seam operations.
This expe-rience led the company
to Atlas Copco, who supplied a
complete equipment package to
Waterval’s specification to meet all Scooptram ST600LP in the stopes.
of its low headroom loading,
drilling, and rock bolting needs. was the only company able to provide seam work and exacting environments.
a total solution around the three key In addition, Atlas Copco agreed to act
mining tools required: loader, drill rig, as a cooperation partner in all aspects
and bolting rig. These needed to be of the rock excavation process, providing
Thin seam, high output low profile, compact and technically operator training, spare parts supply, and
advanced, specially designed for low service and maintenance.
Waterval Mine is near Rustenburg, about
150 km northwest of Johannesburg. It is
one of Anglo Platinum’s newest mines, Room and pillar layout at Waterval where Scooptram ST600LP loaders work in as low as 1.8 m
headroom.
and will be making its contribution to the
group’s target by excavating 3.2 mil-lion
t/year in an orebody just 0.6 m-thick and
on a decline of nine degrees.
Despite the low seam and restricted
mining space, Anglo Platinum was
con-vinced that it could tackle the task
suc-cessfully, and opted for the room
and pillar method with ramp access,
to-gether with mechanized equipment.
The mine design meant that the rooms
would be extremely confined, with a
height of 1.8-2.0 m. This, in turn, meant
that headings would have to be as low as
possible, and the equipment extremely
compact. Anglo Platinum also insisted that
quantum improvements be made at the
mine in three priority areas: safety,
production and productivity, in that order.
Potential suppliers were asses-sed by
Waterval engineers. Atlas Copco

underground mining methods 119

 Rustenburg, South Africa

Purpose matched package

The equipment trio comprised the Atlas
Copco Scooptram ST600LP loader, the
Rocket Boomer S1 L drill rig, and the
Boltec SL bolting rig. The units were
progressively delivered to Waterval, un-
til there were 23 Scooptram ST600LP
loaders, 15 Rocket Boomer rigs, and six
Boltec units at the site.
The Scooptram ST600LP, also
known as the Ratel, is a compact LHD
with a height of around 1.5 m. It has a
6 t loading capacity, and is equipped
with a special bucket for low height
work. It is powered by a clean burning
136 kW Deutz diesel engine.
The Rocket Boomer S1 L has well-
proven, heavy duty Atlas Copco compo-
nents such as the COP 1838 rock drill,
BUT 28 boom and BMH 2837 feed.
The Boltec SL is a high production,
semi-mechanized rock bolting rig with
an electrical remote control system. Roof bolting in low headroom.
Apart from standard rockbolt instal-
lation, it is also equipped to perform are used, in a standard bolting pattern of bucket on the Scooptram ST600LP
long hole drilling for anchor and cable 1.5 m x 1.2 -1.5 m. The Boltec SL is makes low height work easy. Using
bolting. The Boltec SL uses the same equipped with Secoroc Magnum SR28 the E -O-D bucket, the rock is pushed
carrier as the Rocket Boomer S1 L, Tapered Speedrods, with 38 mm model out by a push plate onto feeders that
bringing advantages of commonality. -27-67 bits for Swellex installation. The transfer it to the conveyor system for
The equipment complement for tramming height of the Boltec SL is just transpor-tation to the surface. The
each mining section is one Rocket 1.30 m, with ground clearance of 0.26 Scooptram loaders are refuelled
m. It is equipped with a COP 1028HB underground and generally drive up to
Boomer, one Boltec, and two
rock drill, and can insert a Swellex bolt the surface for maintenance.
Scooptram ST600LP loaders. of length up to 1.6 m in roof height of At Waterval, Anglo Platinum gives
1.8 m. top priority to dilution and utilization.
Production drilling With so many available faces in The amount of rock waste must be kept
The layout at Waterval is divided into 12 close proximity to each other in the to an absolute minimum, and the fact
sections with nine panels, or stopes. room and pillar layout, utilization is a that this can be achieved with mecha-
Each panel averages 12 m-wide x 1.8 m- key factor for maintaining a high level nized equipment in such a low, flat seam
high, with pillars of approximately 6 m of productivity and efficiency. The is seen as a major achievement.
x 6 m. The drillers work three 8 h shifts required utilization for the drill rigs To ensure high availability of the
per day, six days a week and their target ranges from 50%-75%, and equipment, Anglo Platinum and Atlas
per section is 23,000 t/month. That availability is about 90%. Copco have entered into full-service
translates to 200 t per panel, or two con-tracts that provide for 24 h service
panels per shift. Some 68-74 x 3.4 m- Low height loading and maintenance. It makes good
long holes are required in each panel, business sense for the mine to have a
taking around 2.5 h to drill. Three 77 The Scooptram ST600LP is an extre-
service contract manned by specialists
mm holes form the cut, and the main mely robust loader designed specifically
with the technical know-how and
round is dril-led using Atlas Copco for demanding thin seam applications
skills for opti-mal maintenance.
Secoroc model –27 R32 43-45 mm bits. where the roof heights are as low as 1.6
Ramps from the surface provide the m. For visibility on the far side of the
access for men, machines and supplies,
Acknowledgements
machine, video cameras point to front
and also accommodate conveyor belts and rear, displaying the views on a Atlas Copco is grateful to the manage-
for transporting the ore out of the mine. screen in the driver’s cab. Loading from ment at Waterval for their kind assist-
The mine expects each Rocket Boomer the different rooms is a crucial part of ance in revision of this article and for
rig to yield around 200,000 t/year. For the operation, and the specially designed permission to publish.
rockbolting, 1.6 m -long Swellex bolts E-O-D (Eject- O-Dump) 6 t-capacity

120 underground mining methods

 KGHM, Poland

Large scale copper mining

adapted to lower seams
Efficient
commercialization
Copper mining began in the 13th
century in the Sudety Mountains.
However, intensive exploratory
works beginning at the middle of
the 20th century confirmed a cop-
per ore-bearing deposit 1,000 m
below surface with over 0.5% Cu
content. The first mines, called the
Old Basin, are now closed and re-
placed by mining of the New Basin,
known as Legnicko-Glogowski
Okreg Miedziowy, LGOM, situ-ated
in the south-west region of Poland.
It is based on three big mines with
various dates of con-struction
start: ZG Lubin (since 1960), ZG
Rudna (since 1970) and ZG
Polkowice-Sieroszowice (since
1996). The latter mine results from One of four Scooptram ST1520LP loaders owned by KGHM in operation.
joining of the former single mines:
ZG Polkowice (since 1962) and ZG In the Lubin mine the average copper to accumulate high amounts of energy,
Sieroszowice (since 1974). All mi- content is less than 2%, whereas in the which is the most important factor for rock
nes belong to a joint-stock com- Polkowice-Sieroszowice mine, the mean burst. Even within a strong roof, in some
pany, KGHM Polska Miedz S.A.,
copper content slightly exceeds 2%. The places weak layers of shales essentially
with head office in Lubin, and
comprising ten divisions including average copper content for all KGHM decrease the roof bearing capacity. This is
three dressing plants, two smelt- mines is around 1.86%. The ore horizon the main reason for extensive rock
ers and one copper rolling mill.In ranges from 1.2 m to 20 m in thickness, reinforcement, compris-ing standard
the ten years between 1991 and lying at depths of between 600 m and
2001, when commercialization of mechanical and resin grouted 1.6 m and
1,200 m from surface. Known ore re-
the former state owned company 2.6 m bolts, and 5-7 m cable bolting,
was undertaken, the company serves are above 800 Mt, which corre-
mainly at drift crossings.
workforce reduced from 45,000 to sponds to a mine life of another 30 years
about 18,500. About 11,500 emplo- at today’s production rate of 28 Mt
yees are engaged in the mining
Ore access and transport
annually, split between Lubin 7Mt,
operations. The deposit is developed with 26 ver-
Polkowice-Sieroszowice 10Mt, and
Rudna 11Mt. tical shafts, 6 m to 7.5 m-diameter, and
Lead, silver and gold are also recov- horizontal drifts. Depths of shafts vary
Geology and resources ered. In 2001 KGHM was ranked as the from 632 m in Lubin to 1,120 m in
The Legnica -Glogow copper basin ex- world’s seventh largest copper supplier Rudna. The overburden freezing method
tends over an area of 416 sq km. The stra- at 491,000 t, and the second largest was applied for shaft sinking. Access to
tiform mineralization occurs where Per- source of silver, at 1,145 t. the deposit from the shafts and
mian limestone lies against New Red KGHM is also a major salt producer, preparatory workings is by drift
Sandstone, within varying combinations of using roadheaders to mine a deposit that networks located directly under the
sandstone, shale and dolomite. The deposit strong dolomite roof and upon the sand-
partly overlays the orebody. stone, along the dip of the ore zone.
is of irregular shape, with slight dip up to
Mucking is based on a large fleet of
about 6 degrees. The copper content varies Geotechnical conditions
generally between 1.2% and 2.0%. Higher LHDs ranging from 1.5 to over 8 cu m
copper contents are characteristic for the The formations are intersected by a bucket capacity. Belt conveyors are used
thinnest seams, usually in mineralized multitude of faults. An especially dan- for main haulage. Equipment used in the
shales. gerous feature of the rock is its ability shafts varies, and depends on the

underground mining methods 121

 KGHM, Poland
B D

m
4m
A-A
~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~

5m5
A A C C
7m 7m7m7m ~ ~

m
~ ~ ~
4 m 6m

A A

5m

14
4m 10 m B-B
B D

5m 10 m
A-A C-C

B
7m B
~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~~

4 m 10 m 7 m 7 m 14 m
8 m 10
10

7m
m m
12m

m
75˚
14 m
60˚ 75˚ 60˚

4m 10

7m
C-C

B-B D-D
~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~

7m
C
7m
9,5 m

10 M

C 7m7m 14 m

~ ~~ ~
14 m 14 m 14 m

System for mining thick deposits.

purpose of the shaft. The most modern the exploitation of roof caving, two each of the pillars, beginning from the
shaft in Rudna mine is Koepe hoist eq- stages of excavating pillars were used. In abandoned line, was cut into many
uipped with two twin-skip hoisting the first stage, the area was divided into smaller pillars. From the viewpoint of
installations. Each of the skips has 300 25 m x 35 m pillars. In the second stage, rockburst risk, the two-stage method is
kN capacity and 20 m/s transportation
velocity. The depth of the loading General mining layout for 3 m thickness at Polkowice-Sieroszowice Mine.
level is 1,022 m. Each skip is powered
by a four-line hoisting machine with
Backfill module 7m 7m
5.5 m-diameter transmission using 14m
7m
3,600 kW motors. Timber post

Room and pillar

The predominant method is room and
pillar mining adapted to seam
thickness and geotechnical conditions.
Deposits up to 5 m-thick
After shaft sinking and recognition of
the water threat, the initial mining me- ~21 m² area
thod utilized backfilling technology.
Following this, longwall methods using
walking hydraulic supports, armoured
face conveyors and belt conveyors were
introduced. Very soon, after experien-
cing low efficiency, it was decided to
use room and pillar methods with bolt-
ing techniques, and LHDs that could
assure mass production and better out-
put concentration. With time, and pro- Dry backfill
duction experience, room and pillar
methods with roof caving have become 3m
more effective and safer, since they en-
abled full mechanization to be intro-
Thickness of Room Pillar
duced. The caving methods were more mineralized
competitive, due to low costs compared zone
to backfilling techniques. Initially, for

122 underground mining methods

 KGHM, Poland

tricky, because the pillars in the first

stage show a dangerous tendency for
accumulation of energy. After 1983,
the engineers in Rudna mine decided
to adapt the dimension of the pillars to 6
local geomechanical conditions. Also,
alternating directions of driving stopes
were introduced. 1-6˚

Deposits 5 to 7 m-thick
Until recently, the deposits over 5 m-
thick used to be mined entirely with
backfilling. The newest technology to 7
m-thick is based on the hypothesis of
advance - fracturing and post-failure
capacity of pillars. The roof opening
reaches 150 m, and the longest edges of
the pillars are located perpendicular to
the exploitation front line.
Within caved areas, the upper layers
of roof are not fully supported with bro-
ken rock. Such a situation creates real 1 5 3 2 4

threat of rock bursts, roof falls, or lo-cal

1. Back fill 2. Upper layer,extraction 3. Lower layer extraction
relief of strata. This results in ore 4. Ramp to lower layer 5. Water collector 6. Back fill piping
dilution, as well as a requirement for
secondary scaling and bolting. There-
fore, the practice of blasting residual Two-stage extraction with backfilling.
large -size barrier pillars has been aban-
doned. in the ore-bearing layer until the pillar strengthened. The mine currently oper-
cross -section reaches approximately 21 ates ten Atlas Copco rigs, and there is
Deposits below 3 m-thick sq m. The completion of the pillar a total of 16 Boomers on the mines as
In the Polkowice-Sieroszowice mine, mining process before abandoning the a whole.
most of the seams are less than 3 m area is subject to roof sag, with the strata The supplier service has been ex-
thick, and a special selective mining resting upon dry backfilled entries. tended to include a drillmetre-based
method has been developed for The future aim is to use extra low contract for Secoroc Magnum 35 drill
excavation of these thin deposits. profile mechanized equipment for rods and shank adapters and for COP
The mining area is typically opened drill-ing, bolting, mucking, scaling, rock drills.
using double or triple entries of prepara- charging and auxiliary transport. This Working an effective 4.5 h/shift, one
tory workings. Rooms, entries and pil- will enable mining in drift heights Boomer drills 110-125 holes with hole
lars are basically 7 m-wide. Work in the down to 2 m and 1.5 m, to selectively lengths varying from 3 m at the face and
faces consists of two phases, depend-ing extract the ore and minimize the 1.5 -2 m at side walls and roofs. Some of
upon the thickness of the layers of waste amount of waste rock mined. the Boomers feature the BSH 110 rod
rock and mineralized ore. First, the Alternative mining sequences, extension system to facilitate drilling of
upper ore-bearing layer is excavated and where the ore-bearing layer is situated 6 m stress-relieving holes.
hauled out to special chutes onto the at the floor, are shown in the figure. In the first 8 months of 2002, one
main transportation system. In the In the past, most equipment and con- Boomer drilled more than 58,000 holes
second phase, the waste rock adjacent to sumables were manufactured in nearby totalling 174,000 drill metres, with
the floor is excavated and placed in factories belonging to the state- owned availability of 92.6 %. Downtime com-
other rooms as dry fill. Each of the en- company. Lately, the quantities and prised technical malfunctions 3.7%,
tries covers at least two rows of pillars types of imported equipment have grad- planned service 3.4%, and others 0.3%.
plus one room. ually increased. In 1998, Polkowice-
The backfill width is 14 m, and ma- Sieroszowice Mining Department started Room and pillar mining with roof
ximum length of the mining front is to cooperate with Atlas Copco in the sag This method is especially suitable
about 49 m. No more than three rows of development of modern machin-ery. in barrier pillars of drifts, heavily faulted
pillars at the same time, not cove-red Due to the successful introduction of zones, and in direct vicinity of aban-
with backfill, are allowable in the COP 1238 and COP 1838 hydraulic rock doned areas. Maximum allowable de-
mining area. During extraction in the drills, followed by the low- built posit dip is up to 8 degrees, and seam
last row of pillars, working occurs only Boomer rigs, the cooperation has been thickness 3.5-7 m. The area is developed

underground mining methods 123

 KGHM, Poland
from a large variety of adaptations to

Pillar in yielding phase prevailing geological and geotechnical

conditions, in order to continuously in-
crease productivity and safety, while
minimizing waste rock into the ore
stream. The following measures are put
A B into focus for the future: further devel-
opment of the rock mass monitoring
200-600 m

stream; changes in work organization

Pillar size 7 - 8 x 8 -38 m and introduction of a four-team system;
developing new systems for rockburst-
proof bolts; introduction of low built
equipment for thin ore deposits, lower
than 1.5 to 2 m; modernization of mi-
ning methods by further minimizing
waste dilution; and projects for access
to deeper ore zones, below 1,200 m, by
A -B Residual pillars cake mining, with cake thickness of 0.8
to 1.5 m, using 15 m-long blast holes.
All mines are facing thinner seams,
and this constitutes a major challenge
for equipment manufacturers. The prob-
lem is especially acute at Polkowice-
Sieroszowice, where machinery height
Room and pillar mining with roof sag. since 2003 on all types of equipment
with double gate roads, located close cannot exceed 1.4 m, to enable efficient
Blasting techniques operations in 1.6 m-high workings. To
to the roof of the ore-bearing layer for In the past, the mines tried to use dyna- this end, a special low-built version of
thickness above 4.5 m. Optimum length the latest Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer
of the mining front ranges from 50 m mite, which is a water-resistant explosive S1LP has been delivered for testing and
to 600 m. The ore is extracted with 7 m- of high density and energy concentra- evaluation.
wide and 7 m -high rooms. The roof is tion. Due to the sensitivity to detonation,
supported by pillars of 7-10 m x 2.5- and lack of possibility for mechanical Acknowledgements
4.5 m. Thereafter, the smaller pillars charging, dynamite is today almost Atlas Copco is grateful to KGHM ma-
are successively decreased. The roof completely superseded by pneumati-
that has been opened must be bolted cally charged ANFO. Initiation is by nagement for their inputs to this article,
immediately. electric delay detonators, coupled with and in particular to the authors of its
The next stage is mining of the floor detonating cord in holes longer than 6 m. book on the technical evolution of the
down to the ore zone boundary. The Recently, electric detonators have been Polish copper mining industry:
extracted area is closed off for people successively replaced by Nonel. Bulk Jan Butra, Jerzy Kicki, Michal Narcyz
and equipment, using timber posts or and emulsion explosives are used in Kunysz, Kazimierz Mrozek, Eugeniusz
chocks. Length of the roof sag blast room and pillar mining areas described J Sobczyk, Jacek Jarosz, and Piotr Sa-
holes is 8-12 m. in the hydraulic backfill method above. luga. Reference is also made to Under-
Future plans ground Mining Methods – Engineering
Room and pillar mining Fundamentals and International Case
–two stage mining The alternative room and pillar mining Studies by William A Hustrulid and
The two stage mining system using hy- Richard L Bullock, published by SME,
draulic backfill known as Rudna 1 has methods described are some examples details at www.smenet.org
been used mainly in the Rudna mine.
In the first stage, the orebody is cut into Atlas Copco drill rigs and loaders delivered to KGHM
large pillars, which are subdivided in the
second stage. Type Units
Finally, the abandoned area is filled Boomer S1 L 5
up to the roof with hydraulic fill. The Rocket Boomer S1 L 26
drawback of this system is high stress Rocket Boomer 281 SL 4
concentration occurring in the large Scooptram ST1520 6
size pillars just in front of the second
stage mining. Scooptram ST1520LP 4
124 underground mining methods
 Germany/South Korea

Underground mining of
limestone and gypsum
Trading costs for
profit makes mining
more attractive
Limestone in its various forms is
in such great demand, both as
high quality roadstone and as the
raw material for cement and steel
manufacture, that its mining is
fre-quently carried out
underground. Gypsum is needed
as an additive to the cement-
making process, and is also a
major input to build-ing plaster
and plasterboard pro-duction.
  Closeness to the market, or
availability of a suitable mineral
deposit, may be the driver, but eco-
nomic extraction is the deciding
factor. In essence, the underground
limestone and gypsum mines are
trading off the savings in surface Rocket Boomer L1 C-DH drilling the face at Auersmacher limestone mine.
transportation costs by being clo-
ser to the point of use, against the of 6-8 m/min. Each V-cut round of 35
marginal difference in production Auersmacher, holes produces up to 340 t, and takes
costs between surface and under-
ground working.
Saarland, Germany only an hour to drill.
  Where these are approxima- Since 1936, almost 20 million t of lime- The Rocket Boomer L1C-DH rig drills
tely in balance, an underground stone have been produced at Auers- the entire daily production output in a
mine can be profitable, as the macher, a border town in Saarland, single shift, returning very favour-able
following examples show. In all operating and wear costs. Mine output is
cases, Atlas Copco drill rigs are the Germany. The mining area covers al-
most 4 sq km, with overburden of ap- currently 350,000 t/year, for which the rig
key to economic success.
proximately 50 m in thickness and an is drilling six rounds on each dayshift. The
average mining height of some 6 m. The rest of the mine works two 8 h shifts/day, 5
Triassic strata comprises a shelly lime- days/week on pro-duction, with a Saturday
Case studies morning shift for non-production work if
stone, which is excellently suited as an
The major characteristic of a success-ful aggregate for the local steel industry. required.
underground mining operation is its The mine is working a room and Experience with the diesel
efficiency, and the single greatest factor pillar system of extraction in the hori- hydraulic unit has shown it to be
affecting this is the cost of drilling and zontal deposit, and the normal face is economic on fuel, and to exhibit low
blasting. Atlas Copco drill rigs are 5 m -high and 6.5 m -wide. The length exhaust gas emis-sions.
bringing down this cost by a combina- of a room plus pillar is about 100 m, The Rocket Boomer L1C-DH diesel
tion of drilling speed and accuracy with in which some limestone is left to engine consumes only about 19 litres of
low maintenance and longevity. form the permanent roof. dieseline for each percussion drill-ing
Matching the drill rig to the job ensures A diesel- powered computerized hour, and can complete two shifts on a
that, whatever the mining situation, Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer L1C-DH single tank of fuel. The excellent exhaust
economic long-term production can be hydraulic drill rig is used because there emission values are very impor-tant in
achieved, sometimes with the whole is no electricity supply installed to the underground mining, where ven-tilation
operation dependent upon a single ma- faces. It is equipped with a COP 1838 can be costly. Due to the very good drilling
chine. The following case studies from rock drill with 22 kW output. As a re- and flushing characteri-stics using water
four very different locations serve to sult, blast holes of 51 mm diameter can mist, drill rod losses are negligible. Water
underline this point. be drilled to depths of 3.4 m at a rate consumption varies

underground mining methods 125

 Germany/South Korea

from 42mm bits, achieving a 2 m/min

improvement in penetration rate, with
accompanying gains in ANFO blast
yield.
At the start of each drilling shift the
operator takes around 15 minutes to
check the engine oil, feed hoses and
grease points. His training as a
mechanic helps him to get the best out
of the so-phisticated engine. The
servicing re-quirements have no
negative impact on mine production.
High temperature greasing of the
rock drill gearbox is carried out every
40 hours, or once a week.
The close support of the Atlas
Copco team has resulted in a
collaborative re-lationship that gets
the best out of the equipment.

Obrigheim,
Veiw from the driver´s seat of the Rocket Boomer L1 C-DH.
Neckarzimmern, Germany
Heidelberg Cement employs some
from 2-5 lit/min depending upon rock Drilling is carried out exclusively 37,000 people at 1,500 sites in 50
conditions, and a full tank lasts a with Atlas Copco shank adapters and countries, a truly international company
week. The water mist mix is adjusted drill rods, and the very good dampening with sales in excess of EUR6.6 billion.
by the operator. With too little water, it and anti-wear properties have resulted in Since 1905, the company has been
is im-possible to drill, and with too enormously long service lives, despite operating an underground mine in
much, the cuttings become slurried. the high work capacity. For example, the Obrigheim producing gypsum and an-
The rotation speed has a profound approximate service life of drill bits is hydrite. This operation is only possible
effect on penetration rate. In the lime- 3,200 m, rods 10,000 m, and shank thanks to the use of percussion drilling
stone rock at Auersmacher, the opti- adapters, 18,500 m. technology provided by an Atlas Copco
mum speed is 400 rev/min. Dropping Secoroc shank adapters and steels computerized Rocket Boomer L1C drill
it to 300 rev/min reduces the are used with 51mm ballistic bits. A rig introduced in 2003. Training for ope-
penetration rate by 2 m/min. couple of years ago the mine switched rators covering drilling, systems and
maintenance was provided by Atlas
Rocket Boomer L1 C drilling 4.5 m-long blastholes at Obrigheim. Copco, leading to excellent results and
high utilization.
Production is by room and pillar, with
10 m-wide x 5.5 m-high drives. A 4.5 m-
deep round comprises four cut-holes of
89 mm-diameter and 60 blastholes of 45
mm- diameter. Much work has been put
in by both the mine and Atlas Copco to
optimize the drill pattern to maximize
the pull of each round.
The rig is equipped with a heavy duty
COP 1838HF rock drill, and hydraulic
systems and onboard compressor are
driven by a 75 kW electric motor. The
diesel engine is used to move the rig
around the mine. A water tank with
water admixture device provides the
flushing medium for drilling.
Penetration rates vary considerably
due to the large range of compressive
strengths of gypsum and anhydrite,

126 underground mining methods

 Germany/South Korea

which are spread over 10-130 Mpa. A

45 mm-diameter hole, 4.5 m -long is
drilled in 40-75 seconds. The
computer-ized drilling log has
recorded an aver-age penetration rate
of 3.23 m/min, including cut holes.
Of the 300,000 t/y mine output,
some 90% goes to the cement
industry, with the remainder used by
the Neckarzim-mern gypsum plant for
plaster manu-facture.

Josefstollen,
Trier, Germany
Josefstollen mine was opened in 1964
and produces some 600,000 t/y of raw
dolomite primarily for the building
ma-terials industry. Operating
company TKDZ has some 40 million t
of reserves at its disposal, enough for
another 40 years of mining.
The dolomite is of excellent quality,
with a compressive strength of 130 -150
Mpa, and optimized underground pro-
duction allows the products to be placed
on the market at competitive prices.
Mining is by conventional room and
pillar at two gallery levels in the bottom
and central beds. The production area is
initially opened up by mining hori-
zontal galleries, with ramp access to the
individual beds. Room widths are 5 m in
the bottom bed and 5.5 m in the cen-tral
bed, with heights of 5.0-5.5 m.
Each blasting round comprises 29
off 3.3 m -deep x 45 mm-diameter
holes with a Vee cut. Around 13 faces/
day must be drilled to keep pace with
demand.
Drilling is carried out by a diesel-
hydraulic Rocket Boomer L1 C-DH
rig equipped with COP 1838HF rock
drill and air-water mist flushing. The
rock drill takes around 25-30 seconds
to drill each hole, at a penetration rate
of 8 m/min. Total drilling time is about
30 minutes for each round.
Rocket Boomer L1 C-DH with COP 1838HF rock drill achieves 8 m/min at Josefstollen.
The dolomite is difficult to drill be-
cause it is not a continuously compact slack time as a reserve against any in- The strata is a middle limestone
formation, so the computerization on the mem-ber of the Gabsan formation in
creased production demand.
drill rig, which controls both the the upper palaeozoic Pyeongan super
hammer and feed, plays a vital role. As a Yongjeung, Jechon, Korea group of minerals. The geological
result, most of the required drilling is structures are mainly controlled by a
completed on a single shift, with the Yongjeung limestone mine is situated NW-SE trend-ing, with westerly
second shift offering flexibility for drill- in Jechon city in the Choongbook overturned folds and thrust faults.
ing awkward places and for performing province of South Korea, some 150 Reserves confirmed by drilling are
maintenance. The mine also sees this km southeast of capital city Seoul. over 12 million t, of which it is expected

underground mining methods 127

 Germany/South Korea

over the previous pneumatic rigs, which

needed to be within 2 m of the edge.

Conclusions
Where there is no suitable electricity
supply to the mining areas to power an
7m Pillar
electro -hydraulic rig, as at Auersmacher
and Yongjeung, diesel-driven hydraulic
9m
rigs offer a means of upgrading mining
Pillar
efficiency without excessive capital
expenditure. At these mines, drilling
Vertical benching of bottom parts rates doubled with the introduction
of the Rocket Boomer L1C-DH, and
round depths increased significantly.
These machines, equipped with water
tanks and water mist flushing, operate
Principle mining method at Yongjeung. efficiently despite the absence of mains
supplies of water and electricity. They
that over 5.5 million t will eventually drilling 4 m-long x 51 mm- diameter are also adaptable, performing on both
be mined. Average chemical analysis holes. Generally, 50 holes are drilled in production and development, and han-
of the limestone bed is CaO 54.4%, each face, and three faces are drilled in dling rockbolt and ancillary drilling.
SiO2 0.78%, MgO 0.53%, Al2O3 each 8 h shift. This affords a capacity of Production and efficiency gains
0.03%, and Fe2O3 0.17%. 3,000 t/day or 70,000 t/month. When have been recorded wherever the
Around 25,000 t/month of drilling, the rig’s diesel engine operates Rocket Boomer L1C-DH has been
limestone is produced for markets that for around 1 min/drilled metre, con-
introduced, making it a boon to mines
include companies operating plants for suming 0.31 litres of fuel. Returns from
where every penny counts.
the manufacture of desulphurization rig consumables are: rods 975 m; bits
prod-ucts, quicklime, calcium 750 m; shanks 3,900 m; and sleeves
1,950 m.
Acknowledgements
carbonate and chicken feed.
The limestone bed is mined in three An Atlas Copco ROC D5 crawler rig Atlas Copco is grateful to the manage-
steps, starting with 15 m-wide x 7 m-high is used for downhole drilling of the ments at Auersmacher, Heidelberg,
room and pillar, followed by a 9 m bench. bottom bench. This rig has a long fold- TKDZ and Yongjeung for their inputs
A Rocket Boomer L1C-DH diesel powered ing boom which allows the operators to to this article and for permission to
drill rig is the main production machine in drill at a comfortable 5.5 m from the publish.
the room and pillar faces, edge of the crater, a major improvement

Rocket Boomer L1 C-DH on demonstration at Yongjeung limestone mine. Atlas Copco ROC D5 drilling the bench at Yongjeung.

128 underground mining methods

 Campo Formoso, Brazil

Sub level caving for chromite

In search of
excellence
Cia de Ferro Ligas da Bahia (Fer-
basa) is a private capital group, which
produces chromite, silicon and
limestone. One of Brazil’s most
important metallurgical compa-nies,
Ferbasa has surface and un-
derground mining operations in the
state of Bahia in north-eastern Brazil,
where their Pedrinhas open pit
chrome mine, located in Campo
Formoso, has been in operation since
1961. Pedrinhas currently pro-duces
about 2,400,000 cu m/year of chromite
ore and waste, yielding 54,000 t/year
of hard lump chro-mite and 114,000
t/year of chro-mite concentrate. At the
Medrado and Ipueira underground
mines, lump chromite is produced
using primarily sublevel caving Entrance to the Ipueira mine.
techni-
ques with raises opened using of run- of-mine ore for a final produc- an operator’s panel. This machine is
slot drilling, where a fleet of Atlas tion of 127,000 t of hard lump. In the used in all situations at the
Copco equipment offers key sup- underground mine, to drill holes of up
port in exploration, development same year Medrado produced 192,000
and production. t of ROM ore for a final production of to 150 m-deep. The decision to
48,000 t of hard lump. Current target acquire this machine took into account
the fact that it is eq-uipped with a wire
is a total of 216,000 t of hard lump.
Underground geology line system. This feature makes
Underground exploration possible to conduct core drilling in the
Located in the city of Andorinha, worst rock conditions, such as the
around 100 km from the Pedrinhas The company is always looking for the faulted and fractured rock at Ferbasa.
mine, the company’s underground best way of doing things in consultation Ferbasa carries out about 7,200 m/y
operations have been developed with workers, technical consultants and of drift development. The fleet of deve-
within the Medrado/ Ipueira deposit. through visits to other mines. The con- lopment rigs includes two Atlas Copco
This is one of several chromite-min- sultation process also includes manufac- electro-hydraulic units. One is a Rocket
eralized intrusions in the Jacurici Valley turers of mining equipment, with which Boomer H 252 rig equipped with COP
in the north-east of the São Francisco Ferbasa discusses the best technological 1238 rock drill which drills 3.9 m-long
Craton, which hosts Brazil’s largest options for its operations. This consulta- holes to achieve 6,000 drilled metres/
chromite deposits. Being irregular and tion process is very important for the
month at a productivity of 55 m/hour.
fractured with numerous faults, the de- mine, in order to help maintain a high
There is also a Rocket Boomer M2 D rig
posit presents a considerable geological level of modernization.
equipped with COP 1838ME rock drill
and mining challenge. From a geological point of view, the
which drills 4.5 m holes to achieve
The Medrado/Ipueira deposit is di- Medrado/Ipueira orebody represents a
12,000 drilled metres/month at an aver-
vided into several mining areas. There are challenge. With an average thickness of
age rate of 70 m/hour.
the Medrado mine and the Ipueira mine, 8 m, and 500 m-long panels, the orebody
the latter of which is divided into five is irregular and fractured with numer-
Sublevel caving
working areas: Ipueira II, III, IV, V and VI. ous faults. The accurate delineation of
Currently, besides Medrado, only Ipueira the orebody is very important, and to The main underground mining method
II, III, IV and V are opera-tional, whereas this end the geology department has to employed is longitudinal sublevel ca-
Ipueira VI is a future expansion project. carry out a great deal of exploration ving, though open stoping is also used in
The underground mi-nes have been in drilling. The main machine employed in some areas of Ipueira, depending on the
steady operation since 1977. In 2004, this key task is an Atlas Copco Diamec layout of the orebody. When the ore-
Ipueira produced 450,000 t U6 exploration drill rig equipped with body is vertical, sublevel caving is used

underground mining methods 129

 Campo Formoso, Brazil

Production
Production loading

N 55
Charging – production holes

N 65
Production drilling

N 75
Mucking out

N 85
Charging

N 95

Scaling

Development
N 105
Drilling

N 115
Shot

N 125
creting

Layout of Ipueira mine.

and, in the few cases when the orebody is of the orebody. The vertical distance blast holes, which have a diameter of
horizontal, open stoping is the pre-ferred between sublevels varies from 14 m to 51 mm and a burden of 2.2 m. At the
method. Both methods are safe, with 30 m. Production drilling is upwards, same time, they are studying the pos-
currently acceptable dilutions. However, using a fan pattern. The broken ore is sibility of changing to 76 mm-
the management has started looking for loaded using LHDs, and is hauled diameter holes and 2.8 m burden, in
suitable alternative methods that will from the production levels to the order to re-duce costs.
reduce the dilution in future. For surface using rigid frame trucks. The fleet of production drill rigs in-
longitudinal sublevel caving, produc-tion In terms of production, the company cludes an Atlas Copco Simba H254 and
drifts are developed in the footwall drills 180,000 m/year of production a Simba 253, both electro- hydraulic

The locations of drifts and drill patterns are adapted to the ore-waste boundaries.

Blast holes

Ore
Cable

Waste

Drift

2.2 m

130 underground mining methods

 Campo Formoso, Brazil

Slot drilling at Ferbasa: The Simba M6 C in action and, (right), the perfectly finished row of holes.

rigs equipped with COP 1238ME rock advances of up to 6 m. Nowadays, this of up to 25 m length are successfully
drills, which drill 6,000 m/month to practice has been replaced with a fully achieved. The main advantages of the
achieve a productivity of 22 m/h. The mechanized method, increasing the method are personnel safety and speed
mine also has a Promec M195 pneu- speed and safety of drilling the open- in the drilling. Also, slot drilling is
matic rig equipped with COP 131EL ings. Looking for a solution to improve more precise and, in general, more
rock drill. These machines are also operator safety when drilling these pro- productive.
duction raises, technical personnel from A Simba M6 C drill rig equipped with
used to drill orebody definition holes,
Ferbasa visited LKAB’s Malmberget COP 64 DTH hammer and ABC Regular
and achieve 3,500 m/month.
iron ore mine in Sweden, where they system, as well as an on-board booster
compressor, has been acquired for drill-ing
Slot drilling studied the development of inverse drop
inverse drop raises with holes up to 10 in-
raises blasted in one single shot. After
One of the main challenges at Ferbasa’s the visit, Ferbasa started employing a diameter. Depending on the length of the
underground operations is the develop- slot drilling technique, and Ipueira and raise, and the quality of the rock mass, the
ment of inverse drop raises. These open- Medrado are now the most experienced slot drilling technique is used. If the length
ings, which are also called ‘blind raises’ of the raise is short, and the rock quality
mines in Brazil in its use. Slot drilling
because they don’t communicate with poor, the traditional technique with reamed
requires a row of 7.5 in -diameter inter-
the upper level, can only be accessed holes is used.
connected holes to be drilled using a
from the lower level. This limitation is Until the Simba M6 C arrived, Fer-
special guide mounted on a regular ITH
dictated by the mining methods. basa was carrying out slot drilling with
drill hammer. Thus, with an available
Previously these blind raises were de- only one machine. They chose the new
free face, drilling accuracy, and con-
veloped upwards by successive individual trolled blasting techniques, openings Simba rig because of its advanced tech-
nological and safety features. One of the
The slot drilling crew with their Simba. main advantages is the setup, which
only has to be carried out once at each
site.
The Simba M6 C machine is also easy
to operate, and the spacious, air-condi-
tioned cabin is an attractive feature.
The mine spent five years looking for
a solution to the opening of inverse drop
raises, and is pleased with its invest-
ment in technology and modernization
represented by the Simba M6 C.

Acknowledgements
Atlas Copco is grateful to the manage-
ments at both Ipueira and Medrado
mines for their contributions to this
article.

underground mining methods 131

The world's widest range of
DTH solutions

When you choose Secoroc DTH equipment, you decide what balance of technol-ogy,
performance, and investment is right for your drilling conditions. Atlas Copco Secoroc
has the broadest range of hammers, bits, and related equipment of any supplier in
the world. This means more choices for you. It means you can work with the
strongest support network in the industry, regardless of your equipment needs. It also
means that you can look to one reliable and time-tested source for all con-ceivable
applications.
Of course, you'd expect Atlas Copco Secoroc to have the most productive DTH ham-
mers in the world. And we do.
Your situation might call for the utmost in reliability. Or perhaps your application
demands technology that has been tested and proven through years of field use.
Whatever your needs, check out our many choices before settling for less. We are
the only manufacturer to offer both first and second choice solutions in every single
application.
You'll find it all here. At Atlas Copco Secoroc.

www.atlascopco.com/cmtportal
 Zacatecas, Mexico

Getting the best for Peñoles

Special operations
Industrias Peñoles’ Proaño and
Francisco I Madero mines are very
special operations. Both under-
ground mines, Proaño is a 450 year-
old operation and the richest silver
mine in the world, and FIM is just
six years old and the larg-est zinc
mine in Mexico. Located in the
central state of Zacatecas, both
mines are key users of Atlas Copco
equipment, which includes
Scooptram loaders and Minetrucks.
Peñoles has decided to standardize
its whole mining fleet on Atlas
Copco equipment to obtain maxi-
mum benefit from the service and
distribution centre in nearby
Caleras.

Mechanization pioneer
The official name of the Proaño mine
comes from Captain Diego Fernandez de
Proaño, who discovered the site and
developed the first mining works on the
hill that bears his name. The operation is Setting up Simba 1254 for blast hole drilling.
also known as Fresnillo mine because
of its proximity to Fresnillo city. It is run last 30 years there has been a steady increased its mining fleet with the pur-
by the Compania Fresnillo, SA de CV, increase in production. Products are chase of three Rocket Boomer 281 de-
which is 100% owned by Peñoles. With silver-lead concentrates and silver-zinc velopment drill rigs additional to its four
a history that can be traced as far back as concentrates. In 2005, Proaño existing units, another Simba M4 C
the 1550s in Pre-Hispanic times, Proaño production drill rig additional to its ex-
produced nearly 34 million troy
has gone through a number of phases, isting three units, five Scooptram
ounces, or 1,055 t, of silver.
which have left an important mark on ST1020 loaders to complement its
the mine. Its operations have been existing fleet of 17 units, and two
stopped due to economical and technical
Production expansion Minetruck MT2000 trucks to increase its
difficulties (1757 to 1830), as well as During the mine's long history it has had fleet to seven units. Atlas Copco has also
during the Mexican Revolution (1913 to to adapt to changes in the geology and started a service contract for the Simba
1919), and inevitably it has gone work parameters. For instance, the rigs, which re-quires the presence of
through several ownership as well as mining method has had to be funda- four technicians on site, and offers
technological changes. mentally changed several times, and similar assistance for the loaders.
From employing basic manual tools each time the appropriate technology Currently, the Proaño mining fleet
in the early days, the mine now employs and equipment has had to be introduced. represents a mix of old and new Atlas
modern mechanized units, including Atlas Copco has worked alongside the Copco technology. Amongst the old units
some of the most sophisticated mining mine management for several years to are Scooptram ST6C loaders, BBC 16
machinery available. adapt and innovate with primary equip- pneumatic rock drills, BMT 51 pusher leg
Embracing mechanization early on ment, service, training, inventory man- rock drills and DIP & DOP pneu-matic
has been one of the factors that has hel- agement and parts stock. The mine re- pumps. There are also Diamec U6, Diamec
ped Proaño cement its position as the cently implemented a substantial pro- 262 and Diamec 252 explora-tion drill
world's largest and most profitable silver duction increase, going from 4,500 t/day rigs, Boltec 235 bolting rigs, Rocket
mine. They started mechanizing opera- to 7,000 t/day. To support this produc- Boomer 104 drill rigs, Simba 1254
tions about 40 years ago, and during the tion expansion the company recently production drill rigs and Robbins

underground mining methods 133

 Zacatecas, Mexico

During the first three months of 2006,

the entire Atlas Copco mining fleet at
Proaño achieved a physical availability
USA of 89.5% against the objective of 90%.
G Atlas Copco's commitment with
u Proaño goes beyond providing new
l
f
equipment, and a few years ago it was
o MEXICO
f decided to set up a distribution & ser-
C vice centre in Caleras, Zacatecas.
a
l Atlas Copco Distribution
i
f

o
& Service Centre
(Caleras) Madero Mine G U LF O F MEXICO
Mining operations
r
n Zacatecas
The underground operations can be ac-
i cessed either through two shafts, Central
a Proaño Mine (Fresnillo)
Atlas Copco Mexicana Shaft and San Luis Shaft, or by one of
(Tlalnepantla) Mexico City the mine's several ramps. The mine has
seven levels and in Level 425 is the San
BELIZE Carlos orebody, which currently pro-
duces 67% of production.
GUATEMALA HONDURAS
Proaño carries out about 40,000 m
EL SALVADOR of development drilling a year. To sup-
port this work, there are three different
contracting companies: Mincamex, Jo-
Map of Mexico showing Atlas Copco bases and mine locations. margo and Mecaxa. All three compa-
nies own Atlas Copco equipment,
raise borers. Furthermore, the mine uses telescopic advance, which represent mainly Rocket Boomer drill rigs and
Secoroc drill steel on development and completely new technology. loaders.
production rigs. Likewise, Proaño owns two Diamec The mining method is cut & fill using
Proaño was the first mining opera- U6 APC deep hole drill rigs, the first upwards and downwards drilling. How-
tion in Mexico to employ the Boltec rigs mine in the Americas to use this type ever, the amount of drilling and the hole
and the Rocket Boomer 281 rig with of machine. diameter have changed over the years.

Schematic of mine layout at Proaño showing sublevel stoping arrangement.

134 underground mining methods

 Zacatecas, Mexico

They went from drilling 20 m down-

wards and 10 m upwards to drilling 22
m downwards and upwards. Then
changes in the orebody allowed use of
long hole drilling employing Simba rigs
with top hammers.
750 1500 750
The base main level is serviced

4915
4600
o
with electricity, water and air, from 380
where the sublevels are supplied.
Currently, the miners drill 25 to 32 m
downwards and 25 to 32 m upwards,
using a com-puterized Simba M4 C
DTH rig from a single set up.
This method provides better safety,
higher productivity and lower costs.

Community & environment

The expansion of the Fresnillo city
through the years means that Proaño's
operations are now situated almost in-
side the city. The company has taken Drilling possibilities offered by Simba M4 C.
this fact as an opportunity to develop a
good relationship with the community. mine with reserves of gold, silver, 31,572 t. The mine is equipped with a
In order to diminish the environmental cop-per, lead and zinc, FIM's main radio system for internal and external
impact of its operations, the company products are zinc concentrates and communication through a network of
has invested in the installation of en- lead concen-trates. At the end of 2005, coaxial cables in the production levels,
vironmentally friendly equipment and the mine had reserves of 27.5 million t development areas and mining infra-
machinery. Proaño has an ISO 14000 with an ave-rage zinc grade of 3.3% structure. This system incorporates
Environmental Management System and 0.74% of lead. voice, data and video channels for com-
certification and has also been awarded With an investment of US$125.8 mil- munication between personnel, accident
a Clean Industry Registration by the lion and a production capacity of 8,000 reduction, production control and loca-
Mexican environmental authority. t/day, in 2005 FIM produced a total of tion of vehicles and personnel.
Furthermore, the company has foun- Atlas Copco started working with
65,948 t of zinc concentrates and during
ded an ecological park, which is a sanc-
tuary for several species of mammals, the first semester of 2006, produced the Peñoles' team in charge of the FIM
birds and reptiles. Nearby, there is also
Rocket Boomer L2 C drill rig with COP 1838 rock drills at Madero mine.
a tourist mine, and a mining museum
to make the public familiar with the
mi-ning process and to preserve the
history of the industry. In 2004 the
company opened the Parque los Jales,
a public area that includes lakes, paths
and open areas for physical exercise
and re-laxation. This facility was built
on the land formerly occupied by the
tailings pond.

New operation
Located about 15 km north of the city of
Zacatecas, Francisco I. Madero (FIM) is
one of Peñoles' newest mines, having
started commercial production only in
2001. The mine's name comes from a
former Mexican President, Francisco
Ignacio Madero, killed during the Mexi-
can Revolution. Although a polymetallic

underground mining methods 135

 Zacatecas, Mexico

Proaño, so their experience will be

most useful.
FIM uses a mixture of shotcreting
and bolting, and recently acquired two
Boltec 235 roof bolters with COP 1532
drills. Each machine regularly installs
nine roof bolts per hour, or 56 per shift.
Depending on the quality of the rock, up
to 70 bolts/shift have been installed.
On average, about 2,400 bolts/month
are installed. Tests at the mine prior to
purchase of the Boltecs revealed that the
bolts were each taking 17 t loading.
Most of the mined material is un-
loaded by gravity directly to a
crushing station.
The rest of the production is hauled
Personal service at Proaño: left, Antonio Gonzales, mine captain, San Carlos area, in 40 t -capacity trucks in a closed
with (far right) Rufino Molina, Atlas Copco drill master and Simba rig operators. circuit of horizontal haulage on the
general haulage level, located at 210 m
project in October, 1997 and has con- from surface.
tinued to provide technical support in
FIM mining operations A conveyor belt is installed in a 4 x
the planning and development of the For development and production work, 3 m ramp with an inclination of 21%
mine. The first order from the mine was FIM employs several contracting com- and a length of 1,290 m from level
for four Rocket Boomer L1 C and three panies, amongst which are Minera Ca- 2022 to the surface.
Rocket Boomer L2 C drill rigs with stellana, which also carries out explo- For personnel access, mining equip-
single and twin booms respectively. ration work. Contractors Arconso and ment and general mining services, there
These rigs, which have enclosed, air Paniagua Obras Mineras both conduct is a 4.6 x 4 m ramp with an inclination
conditioned cabs, feature ABC Regular development work.
of 13.5% and 1,790 m length between
computerized drilling system with com- The latter has a specific contract to
munication ports and protocols for PC, conduct at least 200 m/month of devel- surface and the general haulage level.
failure and anti jamming systems. FIM opment work using an FIM Rocket
also ordered eleven Scooptram ST8C Boomer L1 C rig equipped with COP
Maintenance
loaders with weighing system, real time 1838 drill and one of the Scooptram To deliver its maintenance contract,
communication system via leaky feeder ST8C loaders. Around 235 m of devel- Atlas Copco has its own facilities at the
to a control centre, and auto-diagnostic opment has been achieved in a month. mine, backed up by the distribution and
system with data port. The first The Scooptram ST8C loader operator service centre in Calera. The con-tract
machines arrived in 2000. is very happy with the machine, which is includes preventive and corrective
This initial fleet has subsequently the most modern equipment he has wor- maintenance, and follows a programme
been expanded to include: two ked to date. He finds the controls easy, already prepared for all the Atlas Copco
Robbins raise -borers, a 61R and a and had no problem learning to drive. fleet.
63RM; three SB 300 scalers; a Because of the generally poor ground The service contract has a specific
Craelius Diamec U6 exploration rig; a conditions, FIM employs cut & fill with programme every week depending on
Simba production drilling rig; and two pillars as its mining method. It has been the machines to be serviced. About
Boltec 235 bolting rigs. the method of choice since operations 50% of the machines have been
Furthermore, Atlas Copco Mexicana started. It opens voids of 8 to 10 m, working for between 18,000 and
and FIM have an important mainte- bounded by non-recoverable pillars of 6
20,000 hours with-out any rebuild,
nance contract, which has been running m in a square section. It has a mineral
which is a good refer-ence for the
for six years. This is the largest such recovery factor of 86% to 90%.
quality of the equipment. The contract
con-tract that Atlas Copco has in For production, horizontal and
Mexico, and comprises a team of around also involves operator training.
vertical drilling is used in a ratio of
20 people including mechanics and 30%:70%, but that will change by mid-
super-visors, directly supported by their 2007 to 100% long hole drilling angled
Acknowledgements
Ca-leras distribution & service centre. 75 degrees upwards. The roof is Atlas Copco is grateful to the mine
According to the management at expected to be subjected to less damage, ma-nagements at Proaño and Madero
FIM, the Atlas Copco equipment has and less support should be needed. The and directors of Peñoles Group for
contributed to the rapid and safe ad- risk of rock falls is also much lower. their inputs to this article and for
vance in production at this mine. This is similar to methods used at permission to publish.

136 underground mining methods

 Barroca Grande, Portugal

Keeping a low profile

at Panasqueira
One hundred
years of history
Primary Metals Inc (PMI) is owner of
the Panasqueira mine in Por-tugal,
in production for over 100 years,
and still the largest single source of
tungsten in the world. Thin seams
in low headroom make the mining
tricky, but Atlas Copco Portugal
was able to come up with the
perfect package of low head-room
mining equipment, including its
increasingly popular Scooptram
ST600LP underground loader. PMI
also chose Atlas Copco Finance for
funding the fleet purchase,
agreeing a simple supplier -credit
arrangement tailored to match the
demands of the operation. As a
result, overall mine produc-tivity
has increased by 25%, and daily
production records are being
broken. Above all, the part-nership
between equipment sup-plier and
end-user is proving to be
progressive and profitable!

Introduction
Panasqueira mine is located at Barroca Grande in Portugal.
The Panasqueira mine is located at
Bar-roca Grande in a mountainous in length, varying in width from 400 as much as 3-4 m over a very short
region of Portugal, 300 km northeast m to 2,200 m, and continues to at least distance.
of the capi-tal city of Lisbon, and 200 Blocks of ore are laid out initially in
500 m in depth.
km southeast of the port city of Porto. 100 m x 80 m sections by driving 5 m-
The mining concession lies in mod- wide tunnels, 2.2 m-high. Similar tun-
erately rugged, pine and eucalyptus co-
Production levels nels are then set off at approximately 90
vered hills and valleys, with elevations Access to the mine’s main levels is by degrees to create roughly 11 m by 11 m
ranging from 350 m above sea level in a 2.5 m x 2.8 m decline from surface, pillars, which are ultimately reduced by
the southeast to a peak of 1,083 m above with a gradient of 14%. The main slyping to 3 m by 3 m, providing an
sea level in the northwestern corner. levels consist of a series of parallel extraction rate of 84%.
The concession area is an irregular drives that are spaced 100 m apart, Blasted ore is loaded from the stopes
shape trending northwest-southeast, and and which pro-vide access to the ore by a fleet of six low-profile Atlas Copco
is approximately 7.5 km-long. It is 1.5 passes for rail transport, and connect Scooptram ST600LP loaders, tipping
km-wide at the southeastern end, and 5.0 with ramps for movement of drilling into 1.8 m - diameter bored raises con-
km-wide at the northwestern end, where and loading equip-ment. necting to the main level boxes.
the mine workings and mill facilities are There are seven veins between the 2nd Rail haulage with trolley locomotives
located. The geology of the region is and 3rd Levels, which are 90 m apart. The is used to transport the ore to the shaft
characterized by stacked quartz veins veins are almost flat, but occasion-ally on Level 3, and to the 900 t- capacity
that lead into mineralized wolfram- split or join together. They pinch and main orepass on Level 2 that provides
bearing schist. The mineralized zone has swell, and are usually between 10 and 70 storage for the 190 t/h jaw crusher lo-
dimensions of approximately 2,500 m cm-thick, and can plunge locally cated at the 530 m-level.

underground mining methods 137

 Barroca Grande, Portugal

Scooptram ST600LP under maintenance.

Crushed ore discharges onto the and a new compressor unit was East-west oriented tunnels are called
1,203 m-long, 17% inclined Santa installed underground in 2002. Drives, and those trending north-south
Bar-bara conveyor belt that connects The mine is supplied by 3.0 kV are called Panels. Drives and Panels are
with a 3,000 t- capacity coarse ore bin elec-trical power, which is reduced to driven 5 m-wide and, where they inter-
located beneath the mine office. sect, 1.8 m-diameter raises are bored
380 V for distribution to equipment.
Primary mine ventilation is provided between haulage levels to act as ore-
naturally by several ventilation raises. passes for all of the stopes. Chutes are
Airflow is controlled by curtains in main
Mining method installed in the bottoms of the orepasses
areas and assisted by axial flow fans The stoping process begins when spiral to facilitate the loading of trains.
where needed, particularly in the stopes. ramps are driven up to access the miner- The height of the stopes is nominally
Compressed air is needed for the alized veins, and the orebody is opened 2.1 m, but can increase to 2.3 m in areas
where ore bearing veins are more vari-
charging of the blast holes with ANFO, in four directions and blocked out.
able in their dip, strike or thickness.
Precise survey control is maintained,
Schematic of stope layout.
so that all final pillars are aligned ver-
tically. Experience has shown that the
stopes will usually begin to collapse
about 4 or 5 months after extraction,
which gives plenty of time to glean
any remaining fines from the floor.
Stope drilling is carried out by new
generation Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer
S1L low profile electric hydraulic single
boom jumbos. Rounds are drilled 2.2 m-
Initial pillar Final pillars deep, utilizing a Vee- cut, and 41 and 43
11 m 5m 3m 5m 3m Wolframite seam mm- diameter drill bits. Drilling is
carried out on two shifts, with about 28
holes required per 5 m-wide round.
ANFO is loaded pneumatically into
138

underground mining methods

 Barroca Grande, Portugal

Boomer S1 L drill rig in operation.

the blast holes, and electric delay deto- All drilling uses ballistic button bits, The recent addition of Rocket Boomer
nators along with small primers are of which the preferred 43 mm-diameter S1 L models to the fleet has resulted in a
used for blasting. Blasting takes place Atlas Copco Secoroc SR35 bits used by 50% increase in output/drill rig, while less
around midnight, and the mine then the COP 1838 rock drills are returning waste rock is generated due to the lower
ven-tilates throughout the night. 370 m/bit, while the 41 mm -diameter profile required for safe operation. This
Each blasted face produces about bits are returning 450 m/bit. In such drill rig will operate in a seam height as
60 -65 t of rock, and each rig can drill abrasive rock, bit wear has to be closely low as 1.3 m and is equipped with four-
up to 10 faces/shift, depending upon monitored to avoid an escalation in wheel drive for maximum trac-tability. The
the availability of working places. costs. Likewise, regrinding has to be to a COP 1838 rock drill has double reflex
After the blast, the muck pile is wa-
high standard. dampening for high-speed
shed down, and the back is scaled. Ore
is loaded and hauled by the Scooptrams
Core drilling in the levels.
from the headings to the orepasses.
Once the limits of the stopes are es-
tablished, then the final extraction
takes place with 3 m x 3 m pillars
created from the perimeter retreating
to the access ramp.

Drilling performance
The mine drill rig fleet comprises three
Atlas Copco Boomer H126 L drill rigs
mounted with COP 1238ME rock drills;
five Atlas Copco Rocket Boomer S1 L
low -profile drill rigs mounted with COP
1838ME rock drills; and three older drill
rigs retrofitted with COP 1238LP rock
drills.

underground mining methods 139

 Barroca Grande, Portugal

Scooptram ST600LP in low headroom stope.

drilling and excellent drill steel econ- round trip to tip, consuming 12 lit/h of mechanical breakout force of 8.7 t and
omy. dieseline. hydraulic breakout force of 9.3 t. For
Drilling is performed primarily on The ST600LP is an extremely robust visibility on the far side of the machine,
day and afternoon shifts on around 50 LHD designed specifically for demand- video cameras point forward and aft,
faces. These are maintained in close ing low seam applications where the reporting to a screen in the driver’s cab.
back heights are as low as 1.6 m. It has The model has gained a well-deserved
proximity to one another, to avoid
an operating weight of 17.3 t and a tram- reputation in the platinum, palladium
long moves for the drill rigs. and chrome mines of South Africa,
ming capacity of 6 t, equipped with a 3.1
where gradients are steep and rock is
Scooptram ST600LP cu m bucket. It is 8.625 m-long, 1.895
highly abrasive. The ST600LP is now
m-wide and 1.56 m from floor to top of
Each Scooptram ST600LP cleans 4 -6 proving itself in similar rigorous condi-
canopy. It is powered by a robust 6- tions at Panasqueira, where the roof is
headings/shift on a maximum 200 m cylinder diesel engine, providing a not well defined, and there are frequent
seam irregularities.
Main access ramp to level 2 at Panasqueira mine.
The mine currently operates at a
rate of 65,000 t/m with a recovered
grade of 0.2% WO3, which should
produce about 112 t of high grade and
20 t of low-grade concentrate. Some
150 people are employed underground
on two shifts, five days per week.

Acknowledgements
Atlas Copco is grateful to the directors
and management at Panasqueira for
their kind assistance in the production
of this article, and for providing access
to the mine statistics.

140 underground mining methods

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