Introduction to

UNDERGROUND MINING

Hacettepe University Mining Engineering Department

Prof. Dr. Bahtiyar ÜNVER

ANKARA – MARCH 2018

• Ore close to the surface ground is mined by open pit
techniques. Ore bodies contained in rock deeper below
the surface are exploited by underground mining.
Underground mining methods are used where the
coal/ore seam is too deep or the land is too hilly for
surface mining.

• The mining method adapts to the ore body and rock

conditions, shape, dimensions, strength and stability.
Target is optimum recovery of ore, while avoiding waste
rock. Method aims at economical and efficient ore
recovery, while maintaining safe working conditions.
UNDERGROUND TERMINOLOGY
• Shaft: A primary vertical or non-vertical opening through mine
strata used for ventilation or drainage and/or for hoisting of
personnel or materials; connects the surface with
underground workings.

• Decline: An inclined shaft mined downwards (as opposed to

an incline).

• Incline: Any entry to a mine that is not vertical (shaft) or

horizontal (adit). Secondary inclined opening, driven upward
to connect levels, sometimes on the dip of a deposit; also
called "inclined shaft".
UNDERGROUND TERMINOLOGY
• Drift: A horizontal passage underground. A drift follows the
vein, as distinguished from a crosscut that intersects it, or a
level or gallery, which may do either.

• Entry: An underground horizontal or near-horizontal passage

used for haulage, ventilation, or as a mainway; a coal heading;
a working place where the coal is extracted from the seam in
the initial mining; same as "gate" and "roadway”.

• Crosscut: A passage way driven between the entry and its

parallel air course or air courses for ventilation purposes.
UNDERGROUND TERMINOLOGY
Underground mines differ according to how the coal seam is
situated with respect to the surface.

• Drift mine: Mine driven horizontally into the coal seam; used
when coal deposits appear at the surface of a hillside.

• Slope mine: Mine with a shaft slanting down to the surface to

reach the coal seam; used when coal is relatively close to
surface but too deep to be recovered by surface mining.

• Shaft mine: Vertical shafts are cut through the overburden

(layers of rock above the coal seam) to the coal bed or orebody,
then the bed is excavated by machines; used at sites where coal
is located at depths of 500 m.
UNDERGROUND TERMINOLOGY
 UNDERGROUND MINING METHODS

Unsupported Supported Caving

• Room and Pillar • Cut and Fill • Longwall Mining

• Stope and Pillar • Stull Stoping • Sublevel Caving
• Shrinkage Stoping • Square Set Stoping • Block Caving
• Sublevel Stoping
ROOM AND PILLAR MINING
• Two types of room and pillar mining method;

• Conventional mining is the oldest method. In conventional

mining, the coal seam or ore is broken up by explosives,
loaded onto a vehicle by a mechanized loading machine and
transported from the production area by shuttle cars.

• Continuous mining is the most prevalent form of underground

mining. In continuous mining, a powerful machine known as a
continuous miner cuts the coal from the mining face, and
loads the coal in the shuttle cars or onto conveyor belts,
obviating the need for drilling and blasting.
 STOPE AND PILLAR MINING
Stope and pillar method is similar to
but displaying some unique
differences from the room and pillar
method, stope and pillar is the most
widely used of all underground, hard
rock mining. Small ore bodies are
often mined completely out, leaving
no pillar of ore in place to support
the walls of the stope.

In some kinds of rock, it is possible to mine out huge stopes which stand
open for years. Where some of the ore body is left in place as random pillars
to support walls, the material is low-grade wherever possible because it may
never be removed from the mine.
 SHRINKAGE STOPING
A mining method in which ore is
mined from a vein from the bottom
up. First, a drift is dug at one level
of the vein. Progressively higher
levels are blasted and allowed to
fill in much of the void (except for a
working space). Since broken up
rock has air spaces between the
pieces, the overall volume is larger
than the original vein, so broken
ore must be removed from the vein
with each cut.

The miners are always working on a surface of broken up ore. Eventually,

the entire vein has been blasted and is filled with broken ore. The miners
then pull out and extract the broken up ore by a process similar to block
caving. Shrink stoping is used for high-grade vein orebodies.
CUT AND FILL METHOD
 LONGWALL MINING
In longwall mining, large rectangular blocks of coal are defined
during the development stage of the mine and are then
extracted in a single continuous operation. Generally each
defined block of coal, know as a panel, is created by driving a
set of headings from main or trunk roadways in the mine, some
distance into the panel. These roadways are then joined to form
the starting face of longwall face. Coal is extracted mechanically
from all the longwall faces. As the coal is cut the longwall face is
supported with hydraulically operated supports. The function
of these supports is to provide a safe working environment by
supporting the roof as coal is extracted as well as advancing the
longwall equipment. As the face advances the immediate roof
above the coal is allowed to collapse behind the line of supports
forming the gob.
Shearer
Plough
 LONGWALL RETREAT MINING
The predominant method of longwall mining
is longwall retreat system. In retreat longwall
mining, two sets of entries are driven
between 100 to 250m apart. When the
entries have been driven a predetermined
length, say two kilometers, they are
connected and a rectangular longwall block is
outlined. The longwall face is then installed
and as mining continues into the panel, back
to the original development, the entries are
allowed to collapse behind the face line to
form part of the gob. The gate entries are
known as main gate and tail gate.

Generally the main gate contains the belt conveyor and chain conveyor for
facilitating power and logistics to the longwall face. A typical retreat panel layout
can be seen opposite and the details of longwall equipment and installation are
explained in the key references.
 LONGWALL ADVANCE MINING
An alternative method of mining is
advance longwall mining. In longwall
advancing, the longwall face is set up a
short distance from the main
development headings. The gate entries
of the longwall face are formed as the
coal is mined. The gate roadways are thus
formed adjacent to the gob. Normally the
gate roads are protected from the gob by
a line of packs, which are built to provide
protection to the gate roads and
minimising excessive circulation of air
between the gate entries through the
gob.
The gate entries are known as main gate and tail gate. The gate roads servicing an
advancing longwall panel are single entries and each coal panel is separate from the
adjacent workings with a solid barrier pillar, whose width is dependent upon the depth
of the working. Generally the main gate contains the belt and chain conveyor for
facilitating power and logistics to the longwall face. A typical advancing panel layout can
be seen opposite.
 SUBLEVEL CAVING
Sublevel caving adapts to
large ore bodies, with steep
dip and continuation at
depth. Rock stability to
suffice for sublevel drifts to
remain open, requiring
occasional rock bolting only.
The hanging wall shall
fracture and collapse, to
follow the cave. Ground
surface on top of the ore
body permitted to subside.

Caving requires a rock mass where both ore body and host rock fractures, under
controlled conditions. As the mining removes rock without backfilling, the hanging wall
keeps caving into the voids. Continued mining results in subsidence of the surface where
sink holes may appear. Continuous caving is important, to avoid creation of cavities
inside rock, where a sudden collapse could be harmful to mine installations.
BLOCK CAVING
• Block-caving is a large scale production mining method applicable to
low grade, massive ore bodies with:

• Large dimensions both vertically and horizontally

• A rock mass that behaves properly, breaking into manageable size

blocks

• Surface which is allowed to subside. These rather unique conditions

limit block-caving applications to special mineral deposits. Looking at
world-wide practice, we find block-caving used in iron ore, low grade
copper and molybdenum mineralization, and diamond-bearing
kimberlite pipes. Large tonnage produced by each individual mine
makes block-caving mines real heavy-weights when compared to
other mines.
UNDERGROUND MINING EQUIPMENTS

• Drilling Equipments
• Explosives Loaders
• Raise Climbers
• Excavating Units
• Ground Support
• Longwall Systems
• Loading-Haulage Units
 MINING EQUIPMENTS
FACE EQUIPMENTS PLANT EQUIPMENTS
• transistory • static
• mobile • fixed
• impermanent • low operating cost
• high operating cost • high capital cost
• low capital cost • characterized by poor
(continous miners, maneuverability
cutting machines, (conveyor belts, track
drilling machines) haulage systems, hoists)
PERCUSSION-DRILL JUMBOS
• Drilling unit with one or more rock drills mounted on a
mechanical conveyance
• Rail Undercarriages
• Crawler Undercarriages
• Pneumatic-Tired Undercarriages

• Applications
• Shafts
• Development Drifts
• Fan Drilling in Sublevel Caving
• Production Drilling in Room & Pillar
• Stoping in Cut & Fill Mining
• Roof Bolting
ROADHEADERS
• Can cut much harder rock for any cutter-motor power
• Utilize a rotary cutterhead mounted on a slewing boom
• Crawler mounted, most have the gathering arm loading
system
• Share the ability to fully mechanize the cutting and loading of
rock
• Two significantly different cutting actions
• Milling
• the cutterhead rotates in line with the axis of the cutterboom
• Ripping
• the principle cutting torque is provided by rotary motion of the
cutterhead
TUNNEL BORING MACHINES
• Provides much stronger and safer opening in rock
• Capable of efficient operation in very hard rock
• Improved line & grade control by laser-beam guidance
• Improved dust-control system
• High rate of advance
ROCK BOLTS
• Generally consist of plain steel rods with a mechanical anchor
at the one end and a face plate and nut at the other
• For short term usage, bolts are left ungrouted, for more
permanent the space between bolt and the rock is filled with
cement or resin grout
• Mechanically anchored rock bolts
• Resin anchored rock bolts
• Grouted dowels
• Split sets
• Swellex dowels
SHOTCRETE MACHINE
• Spray-applied concrete with a maximum size aggregate in
excess of 9.5mm
• Used as secondary support technique in conjunction with
rockbolting
• Two basic designs of shotcrete machines in general use are;
wet and dry nozzle hydrated machines
LONGWALL SYSTEMS
ROOF SUPPORTS
• Frame Supports
• Two seperate base, leg, and roof bar units
• Choke Supports
• Shield Supports
• Roof canopy that is rigidly connected rigidly to the base(s)
LHD UNITS
• Combine certain characteristics of conventional front-end
loaders and dump trucks, designed for materials handling in
underground mining and tunneling
• Common applications include; mine developments, sublevel
stoping, shrinkage stoping, room-and-pillar mining
SHUTTLE CARS
• Self propelled rubber-tired haulage vehicle designed for
underground mining, primarily in coal mines
• Equipped with elevating discharge with an elevating front
conveyor that allows the shuttle car to discharge into a mine
car or belt feeder without the use of ramps
UNDERGROUND BELT CONVEYORS
• Provide rapid and constant flow of material
• Used on the level, grades, surface, or underground
• Can be extended, reacted, dismantled
• Other advantages include; low capital costs, lower installation
costs, reduced spillage and minimal cleanup
MINE TRUCKS
 Introduction to
UNDERGROUND MINING

Hacettepe University Mining Engineering Department

Prof. Dr. Bahtiyar ÜNVER

ANKARA – MARCH 2018