Raise caving method for mining an ore from an ore body, and a mining infrastructure, monitoring system, machinery, control system and data medium therefor

Abstract

The present invention relates to a Raise Caving mining method for mining ore from an ore body comprising developing at least two slots ( 3 a, 3 b ) in a rock mass and leaving a pillar ( 9 a ) of rock mass to separate adjacent slots ( 3 a, 3 b ) in order to create a favourable stress environment in the rock mass to provide protection for mining infrastructure, developing at least one production raise ( 6 a ) within the rock mass providing the favourable stress environment, mining by progressing upwards at least one production stope ( 13 a ) from the at least one production raise ( 6 a ), and drawing ore from the production stope ( 13 a ). The present invention also relates to a Raise Caving mining infrastructure, a machinery, a monitoring system, an automatic or semi-automatic control system of a Raise Caving mining infrastructure, and a data medium.

1 - 94 . (canceled) 
     
     
         95 . A raise caving mining method for mining ore from an ore body comprising:
 developing at least two slots in a rock mass and leaving a pillar of rock mass to separate adjacent slots in order to create a favourable stress environment in the rock mass to provide protection for mining infrastructure,   developing at least one production raise within the rock mass providing the favorable stress environment, and   progressing upwards by mining at least one production stope from the at least one production raise, and drawing ore from the production stope.   
     
     
         96 . The method according to  claim 95  further comprising;
 generating a stress-shadow (S) by each slot at certain locations adjacent to the slot, wherein said stress-shadow (S) de-stresses the rock mass thereby creating said favourable stress environment. 
 
     
     
         97 . The method according to  claim 95 , wherein said production raise is developed in the favourable stress environment at certain locations created adjacent said slots. 
     
     
         98 . The method according to  claim 95 , wherein said pillar of rock mass provides control of stress magnitude in the rock mass at the position in the rock mass where the following slot will subsequently be developed thereby creating a favourable stress environment to enable development of the following slot. 
     
     
         99 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising implementing a mining sequence for providing the favourable stress environment in the active mining area and for controlling of mining induced seismicity in the active mining area. 
     
     
         100 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising developing at least one slot from a drift arranged on a first sublevel by means of upwards drilling and blasting rounds in a retreat manner to a drift arranged on a second sublevel arranged above the first sublevel in the rock mass. 
     
     
         101 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising developing at least one slot raise from a drift arranged on a slot access level upwards to a drift arranged on a level arranged above the slot access level in the rock mass. 
     
     
         102 . The method according to  claim 101 , further comprising developing at least one of said slots from said at least one slot raise by blasting upwards from the drift arranged on the slot access level to the drift arranged on the level arranged above the slot access level in the rock mass. 
     
     
         103 . The method according to  claim 101 , further comprising developing at least one start-slot from the slot access level to a predetermined vertical extent in order to generate a stress-shadow S to provide protection for production infrastructure located above the slot access level. 
     
     
         104 . The method according to  claim 103 , wherein said start-slot is developed from at least one slot raise by blasting upwards along the slot raise from the drift arranged at the slot access level to the predetermined vertical extent. 
     
     
         105 . The method according to  claim 103 , further comprising developing a continuous start-slot from at least two start-slots in order to generate a stress-shadow S to provide protection for production infrastructure located above the slot access level and adjacent to the start-slot. 
     
     
         106 . The method according to  claim 103 , further comprising developing at least one of the slots from the roof of one of the start-slots, wherein the area of the slot roof is smaller than the area of the start-slot roof. 
     
     
         107 . The method according to  claim 95 , wherein at least one of said slots is vertical or inclined. 
     
     
         108 . The method according to  claim 95 , wherein at least one of said slots is arranged in a contact area between the ore body and the surrounding rock mass formations. 
     
     
         109 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising developing a draw level in rock mass located in a favourable stress environment. 
     
     
         110 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising generating a favorable stress environment by the production stope to protect mining infrastructure in the vicinity of the production stope. 
     
     
         111 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising mining the production stope by drilling and blasting. 
     
     
         112 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising mining the production stope by caving. 
     
     
         113 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising extracting a pillar. 
     
     
         114 . The method according to  claim 113 , further comprising extracting said pillar by degrading the pillar strength by decreasing the pillar width-to-height ratio due to nearby stope mining and facilitating pillar yielding and self-destruction. 
     
     
         115 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising extracting a pillar by means of caving. 
     
     
         116 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising extracting a pillar by means of drilling and blasting. 
     
     
         117 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising caving parts of a hangingwall, in order to fill up at least a part of at least one mined out production stope. 
     
     
         118 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising caving a hanging wall facilitated by extraction of pillars thereby removing the hangingwall support provided by the pillars. 
     
     
         119 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising developing a slot from a raise, where the raise is not located inside the slot. 
     
     
         120 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising preventing premature caving of hangingwall by the presence of broken rock mass functioning as a temporary hangingwall support inside the slots and/or stope. 
     
     
         121 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising a de-stressing phase for generating and expanding the favourable stress environment in the rock mass, to protect mining infrastructure, in particular the infrastructure in the production area, and a production phase for extraction of ore from the ore body, and wherein de-stressing phase and the production phase are integrated such that in a certain mining area the production phase benefits from the de-stressing phase. 
     
     
         122 . The method according to  claim 95 , wherein the mining sequence comprises development of the slot ahead of development of the respective production stope where the roof of the slot is a predetermined vertical distance ahead of the roof of the production stope, such that the production stope is mined in favourable stress environment. 
     
     
         123 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising monitoring the production stope via the production raise. 
     
     
         124 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising controlling risk of air blast and cave stall in the production stope via the production raise. 
     
     
         125 . The method according to  claim 95 , further comprising backfilling parts of the production stope. 
     
     
         126 . A Raise Caving mining infrastructure configured for mining ore from an ore body, which mining infrastructure comprises:
 at least two slots in a rock mass (RM);   a pillar of rock mass (RM) to separate adjacent slots   in order to create a favourable stress environment in the rock mass to provide protection for the mining infrastructure;   at least one production raise within the rock mass (RM) providing the favourable stress environment;   at least one production stope progressed upwards by mining from the at least one production raise; and   a transport device configured to draw ore from the production stope.   
     
     
         127 . The Raise Caving mining infrastructure according to  claim 126 , wherein the slot is associated with a stress-shadow (S) at certain locations adjacent to the slot, wherein said stress-shadow (S) de-stresses the rock mass thereby creating said favourable stress environment. 
     
     
         128 . A monitoring system configured for monitoring a Raise Caving mining infrastructure configured for mining ore from an ore body according to  claim 126 , which monitoring system comprises:
 monitoring means for monitoring development of at least two slots in a rock mass and leaving a pillar of rock mass to separate adjacent slots and   monitoring means for monitoring creation of a favourable stress environment in the rock mass to provide protection for mining infrastructure; and/or   monitoring means for monitoring development of at least one production raise within the rock mass providing the favourable stress environment; and/or   monitoring means for monitoring mining progressing upwards at least one production stope from the at least one production raise; and/or   monitoring means for monitoring at least one pillar; and wherein the monitoring system is configured for monitoring seismicity and/or stress and/or deformations in the rock mass where the Raise Caving mining infrastructure is located; and   wherein the monitoring system is configured to communicate with and be operated by an automatic or semi-automatic control system; and   wherein the monitoring system is configured to transmit data and information generated by the monitoring system to the automatic or semi-automatic control system.   
     
     
         129 . The monitoring system according to  claim 128  wherein the monitoring system is configured for monitoring seismicity and/or stress and/or deformations in the active mining area. 
     
     
         130 . A machinery comprising a drilling and/or charging device configured for:
 developing at least two slots in a rock mass (RM); and/or   developing a pillar of rock mass to separate adjacent slots in order to create a favourable stress environment in the rock mass to provide protection for a mining infrastructure; and/or   developing at least one production raise within the rock mass providing the favourable stress environment; and/or   developing at least one production stope progressed   upwards by mining from the at least one production raise; and/or   drawing ore from the production stope by means of a transport device configured to draw ore from the production stope.   
     
     
         131 . The machinery according to  claim 130 , wherein the machinery is configured for drilling and/or charging the rock mass (RM) from inside the raise. 
     
     
         132 . The machinery according to  claim 130 , wherein the drilling and/or charging device comprises a drilling bore and/or charging equipment configured to develop the at least one production stope progressed upwards by mining from the at least one production raise. 
     
     
         133 . The machinery according to  claim 130 , wherein the machinery is installed on a platform, which is configured to be moved by a shaft hoist system within the raise. 
     
     
         134 . An automatic or semi-automatic control system of a mining infrastructure according to  claim 126 , wherein the automatic or semi-automatic control system is electrically coupled to a control circuitry configured to control the method according to  claim 95 ; and wherein the control circuitry comprises a data medium, configured for storing a data program P which is programmed for controlling the automatic or semi-automatic control system and/or for controlling the machinery and/or for controlling the monitoring system; and wherein the control circuitry; and
 wherein the control circuit is configured to communicate with the monitoring system via wired and/or wireless communication system to transmit and/or receive monitoring data.   
     
     
         135 . The automatic or semi-automatic control system according to  claim 132 , wherein the automatic or semi-automatic control system is configured for draw control. 
     
     
         136 . The automatic or semi-automatic control system according to  claim 132 , wherein the automatic or semi-automatic control system is configured for implementing the mining sequence. 
     
     
         137 . A data medium, configured for storing a data program (P), configured for controlling the automatic or semi-automatic control system according to  claim 134  and/or configured for controlling the machinery according to  claim 130 , and/or controlling the monitoring system, said data medium comprises a program code readable by the control circuitry for performing the method according to  claim 95  when the data medium is run on the control circuitry.