13.08.2013 Views

Rock Mechanics.pdf - Mining and Blasting

Rock Mechanics.pdf - Mining and Blasting

Rock Mechanics.pdf - Mining and Blasting

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

LONGWALL AND CAVING MINING METHODS<br />

advance undercut strategy proposed for the panel cave mining of future sectors of the<br />

El Teniente Mine, Chile (Jofre et al., 2000).<br />

Butcher (2000) notes that advance undercutting is essentially a compromise between<br />

the post- <strong>and</strong> pre-undercutting strategies, in that:<br />

the extraction ratio on the extraction level <strong>and</strong> associated damage are reduced<br />

compared with those in the post-undercutting strategy;<br />

the cave is brought into production more quickly than with the pre-undercut strategy,<br />

reducing the problems associated with increased development times;<br />

the probability of the formation of stress-inducing remnants arising from muck<br />

pile compaction is reduced;<br />

a separate level is still required for undercutting but it requires a more limited ore<br />

h<strong>and</strong>ling facility than in the pre-undercutting strategy; <strong>and</strong><br />

advance undercutting is slower than post-undercutting because of the remaining<br />

extraction level development required after the undercut has advanced. The fact<br />

that drawbell development must be accomplished from the extraction level into<br />

broken ore on the undercut level contributes to this. On the other h<strong>and</strong>, this method<br />

obviates the need for the time-consuming <strong>and</strong> costly repairs to the extraction level<br />

drifts that are almost inevitably required with the post-undercutting strategy.<br />

Because of its inherent advantages, the current trend in block <strong>and</strong> panel cave design<br />

is to use an advance undercutting strategy with the disadvantages being reduced to<br />

tolerable levels by careful planning, support <strong>and</strong> reinforcement design <strong>and</strong> equipment<br />

selection.<br />

Initiation <strong>and</strong> direction of undercut advance. The choice of the starting or initiation<br />

point for the undercut <strong>and</strong> the preferred direction of undercut advance can be<br />

influenced by several factors including:<br />

the shape of the orebody;<br />

the distribution of grades within the orebody;<br />

the in situ stress directions <strong>and</strong> magnitudes;<br />

the strength of the orebody <strong>and</strong> its spatial variation;<br />

the presence <strong>and</strong> orientations of major structural features; <strong>and</strong><br />

the presence of caved areas adjacent to the block or panel to be undercut.<br />

If the orebody is long <strong>and</strong> narrow in plan, a constraint will be placed on the possible<br />

directions of undercut advance. Under these circumstances, it will generally be<br />

necessary to open the undercut to the full width of the orebody <strong>and</strong> advance it in the<br />

longitudinal direction. There may be advantages in terms of productivity in retreating<br />

the cave in two directions away from a central slot or starting point. However, it is<br />

more common for orebodies that may be mined by block or panel caving methods not<br />

to be of this elongated shape <strong>and</strong> to be either more approximately equi-dimensional<br />

or large in each plan dimension. In the case of an approximately equi-dimensional<br />

orebody, the cave is commonly initiated against a slot on the boundary of the orebody<br />

<strong>and</strong> advanced diagonally across the orebody. Alternatively, the initiation point may<br />

be near the centre of the orebody with the undercut being developed progressively<br />

outwards towards the orebody boundaries. Operational factors as well as the distributions<br />

of grades <strong>and</strong> of the strength <strong>and</strong> cavability of the orebody need to be considered<br />

in establishing the starting point for undercutting in such cases.<br />

474

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!