Question no : 61

Room and Pillar Method:

room and pillar mining is designed for flat bedded deposites of limited thickness
such as copper shale, coal, salt and potash, limestone and dolomite.this method is
used to recover resources in open stopes.The method leaves pillars to support the
hanging wall to recover the maximum amount of ore, miners aim to leave the
smallest possible pillars.
Based on the geological condition there are three types of room and pillar
method:
Post room and pillar mining
Classic room and pillar mining
Step room and pillar mining
Classic room and pillar mining:
In classic room and pillar mining only a minimum of development work is
required to prepare a flat bedded deposit for mining. Roadways for ore transport
and communication are established inside production stopes.Excavation of
roadways can be combined with ore production and mined-out stopes can serve
as transport routes.
Ore production involves the same drill-blast techniques as in normal drifting
where drift dimensions equal the width and height of the stope.where geological
conditions are favorable, stopes can be large and big drill jumbos can be used for
mechanized drilling.
Post room and pillar mining:
It is a combination of room and pillar and cut and fill stoping.with this
method,ore is recovered in horizontal slices starting from the bottom and
advancing upword.pillars are left inside the stope to support the roof.mined out
stopes are hydraulically backfilled with tailings and the next slice is mined by
machines working from fill surface.both backfill and sandfill increase the support

capability of the pillar,permitting a higher rate of ore recovery than does classic
room and pillar mining.
Post pillar mining combines the advantages of cut and fill mining that is,
allowing work on flat,smooth floors. Easy access to multiple production points
favors the use of efficient mechanized equipment.
Step room and pillar mining:
Step room and pillar mining is a variation in which the footwall of an inclined ore
body is adapted for efficient use of trackless equipment.Although applications
can not be fully generalized step room and pillar mining applies to tabular
deposits with thickness from 2-5 m and dips ranging from 15-30.
The main development of step room and pillar mining includes a network of
parallel transport drifts traversing the ore body in predetermined directions.Drift
floors are maintained with grades that allows the use of selected trucks.
Stopes are excavated from transport drifts branching out at a predetermined
step room angle.The stope is advanced forward in a mode similar to drifting until
break trough into the next parallel transport drive.The next step is to excavate a
similar drift one step downdip and adjacent to the first drive.This procedure is
repeated until the roof span becomes almost too wide to stable.Then an
elongated strip parallel to the stopes is left as a pillar.The next stope is excavated
the same way and mining continues downward step by step.

Question no : 62
Vein Mining Method:
In vein mines the dimensions of minerals deposits are highly variable and ore
body can be anything from a large massive formation several square km in surface
area to a 0.5-m-wide quartz vein containing some 20g per ton of gold.miners aim
to recover the minerals value, but prefer to leave waste rock in the hanging wall
and the footwall intact in the thicker deposits a machine operates within the ore

body walls without problems when the mineralized zone narrows to a few
meters, machines may be too wide to fit inside the ore bounderies to excavate
rock only to permit the machine to fit produces waste, which dilutes the ore the
alternative is to use manual labor to recover high-grade ore. However, labor is
costly and manual mining techniques are inefficient also, it is difficult to find
people who accept working with hand-held rock drills and using muscle power.
Today, a selection of standard slim-sized machines are available, allowing
mechanized mining in 2-m-wide drifts. These slim sized machines include the
phase jumbo for narrow drifts matched with a long hole rig of the same size. The
small drifter jumbo and long hole drift complemented with an LHD with a 2-m
bucket provides everything needed for the mechanized mining of a 2-m-wide
vein.

Question No 66: ( Briefly describe the block caving method )

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Question:64

up

Question 65: (Briefly describe longwall mining method)

Question No: 57 ( Ultimate goal of mining method selection )

The ultimate goal of mining method selection are :
1. Maximize company profit
2. Maximize recovery rate of the mineral resources and
3. Provide a safe environment for the miners by selecting the method with the
least problems among the feasible alternatives.
Question no : 60
Physical and mechanical characteristics of mineral deposit:
1. Ground condition of the ore.the basic components that define the ground
conditions are:
Rock materials shear strength.
Natural fractures and discontinuities shear strength.
Orientation.
Length.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Spacing and location of major geologic structures, specially faults, joints

etc.
In situ stress.
Hydrogeological conditions etc.
Hanging wall and foot wall.
Ore thickness.
General shape of the ore deposit.
Dip of the ore.
Plunge.
Depth below the surface.
Grade distribution.
Quality recourses.

Question No:55 (Components of underground ventilation system)

Figure 4.1 depicts the essential elements of a ventilation system in an

underground mine or other subsurface facility. Fresh air enters the system
through one or more downcast shafts, or other connections to surface. The air
flows along intake airways to the working areas or places where the majority of
pollutants are added to the air. The contaminated air passes back through the
system along return airways. The intake and return airways are often referred to
simply as intakes and returns respectively. The return air eventually passes back
to the surface via one or more upcast shafts, or through inclined or level drifts.

Fans:
The primary means of producing and controlling the airflow are also illustrated on
Fig. 4.1. Main fans, either singly or in combination, handle all of the air that passes
through the entire system. These are usually, but not necessarily, located on
surface, either exhausting air through the system as shown on Fig. 4.1 or,
alternatively, connected to downcast shafts or main intakes and forcing air into
and through the system.
Stoppings and seals:
In developing a mine, connections are necessarily made between intakes and
returns. When these are no longer required for access or ventilation, they should
be blocked by stoppings in order to prevent short-circuiting of the airflow.
Stoppings can be constructed from masonry, concrete blocks or fire-proofed
timber blocks. Where abandoned areas of a mine are to be isolated from the
current ventilation infrastructure, seals may be constructed at the entrances of
the connecting airways. These consist of two or more stoppings, 5 to 10 metres
apart, with the intervening space occupied by sand, stone dust, compacted nonflammable rock waste, cement based fill or other manufactured material.
Doors and airlocks:
Where access must remain available between an intake and a return airway, a
stopping may be fitted with a ventilation door. In its simplest form, this is merely
a wooden or steel door hinged such that it opens towards the higher air pressure.
Ventilation doors located between main intakes and returns are usually built as a
set of two or more to form an airlock. This prevents short-circuiting when one
door is opened for passage of vehicles or personnel.
Regulators:
Its purpose is to reduce the airflow to a desired value in a given airway or section
of the mine.
Air crossings:
Where intake and return airways are required to cross over each other then
leakage between the two must be controlled by the use of an air crossing.

Question No: 58
Open Pit Mine Design:

Longwall Mine Design:

Question No:67
Types of opening in mine excavations: