Classification of methods

Mineral exploitation in which all extraction operations are carried out beneath the earth surgace
is termed underground mining. Underground methods are employed when the depth of the
deposit the stripping ratio of overburden to ore (or coal or stone). Or both become excenssive for
surface exploitation. Once the economic has been established then the selection of a proper
mining method higes mainly on determining the appropriate from ground support, if necessary,
or its absence and desigining an appropriate opening configuration and extraction sequence to
conform to the spatial characteristics of the mineral deposit.

Reflecting the importance of ground support, undeeground mining methods are categorized in
three classes on the basis od the extent of support utilized ( Table 3.1). they are unsupported,
supported, and caving. The unsupported class, the subject of this chapter, consists of those
underground methods which are essentiallu self supporting and require no major artificial system
of support to carry the supericumbent load, relying instead on the walls of the openings and
natural pillars. ( the supericumbent load is comprised of the weight of the overburden and any
tectonic forces acting at depth). This definition of unsupported methods does not preclude the use
of rock or roof bolts or light structural sets of timber or steel, provided that such artificial sippor
does not significantlu alter the load carriyinh ability of the natural ( Morrison and Russel, 1973).

Theoretically, the unsupported class of methods can be used in any type of mineral deposit
(except placer) by varing the ratio of span of opening to width of pillar to achive the desired
mine life expectancy. Since the stable size of opening is determined by the depth and the strength
properties of the ore and overlying rock. The safe span conceivably could range drom a few feet
(meters) to over 100 ft (30 m). practically the unsupported methods are not universally
applicable and are limited to deposits with favorable characteristic, the unsupported class.
However, is still the most widely used underground. Accounting for over 80% of the U.S.
mineral production from subsurface mines.

When exploitation workings cannot be held open for the required life expectancy without the
substantial use of artificial support systems, supported methods are used. When the deposit and

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overlying rock are suffiting is carried out as necessaru and a caving method is employed
supported methods are little used today while caving is growing in popularity.
Other factoes, of course, enter into the selection of a method (section 3.7). their influence is
considered in the discussion of each method and also in the summary for underground mining
methods (chapter 13), as was done with surface methods. Although method selection remains
largely an empirical art, the evaluation of all determining factors must be done as objectively as
possible ( boshkov and wright, 1973)

While there is a lack of agreement among the various shcemes to classify underground methods,
we shall employ the generic one presented in table 3.1. in that classification the following are
considered unsupported methods :
1. Romm and pillar mining
2. Stope and pillar mining
3. Shrinkage stoping
4. Sublevel stoping

Unlike surface mining, there is little distinction in the cycle of operations for the various
underground methods (except in coal mining), the diffrences occurring to pillar dimension, and
the nature of artificial support used, if any of the unsupported methods, room and pillar mining
and stope and pillar mining employ horizontal openings, low opening to pillar ratios, and light to
moderate support in all openings. Shrinkage and sublevel stoping ultilize vertical or steeply
inclined openings. (and gravity fot the flow or bulk material) hight opening to pillar ratios nad
light support mianly in the development openings.

ROOM AND PILLAR MINING

In room and pillar mining, openings are driven orthogonally and at regular intervals in a mineral
deposit usually flat lying (or nearly so). Tabular and relative thin forming rectangular or square
pillars for natural support. If the deposit and method are very uniform, the appearance of the
mine in plan view is not unlike a checkerboard or the intersecting streets and rectangular blocks
of a city. As discuddes in section 9.3 and 9.4, both development openings (entries) and
ecploitation openings (rooms) closely resemble one another both are driven parallel and in
multiple, and when conncected by crosscuts, pillar are formed. Driving several openings at one

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time increases production and efficiency by providing numerous working places and improves
ventilation and transportation as well.

By its very nature, room and pillar mining is ideally suited ti the underground production of coal
and of several nonmetallic and a few metallic mineral, largelu an American method int
maturedwith the coal industry and today still accounts for nearly 85 % of U.S. underground coal
profuction and about 62% of U.S. underground mineral production. Properly considered a large
scale method it faces increasingly stiff competiton from longwall mining, a caving method which
is highly productive and responsible for the balance of the coal produced below ground. Our
disscusions here is mainly of the application of the room and pillar method to the mining of coal.
(the term coal refers to bituminious, although it may include lignite and anthracite as well. See
again table 1.5. for salient industry statistics.)

A generalized representatuin of room and pillar mining appers in figure 10.1. comparing
conventional and continus equipment so called conventional mining is cyclical, employing
mobile mechanized equipment to carry ot the production cycle of operations as shown, it
requires at least 5 working places for a smooth cycle and as many as 8 12 (to allow for delays)
for high efficiency (lucas and haycocks, 1973). With continuous mining, separate unit operations
are eliminated or performed by a single hight performance continupus mining machine. One
working place theorically suffices for the miner with a second fot the botler, but again, for high
efficiency more places (406) are provided. Of todays coal production by the room and pillar
method, approximately 25% is mined by conventional equipment and 75% by continuos, with
the trend toward continuous mining. (little if any coal is produced for the commercial market by
hand methods essentiallu all is now mined by mechanized equipment) in general conventional
equipment is advantageous in hard seams, seams with hard rock parings gassy noncyclic system
and advantageous in thin seams, where there is a bad roof or a limited number of working places,
and to produce a fine product ( stefanko and bise, 1983).

In addition to number of working places there are several other design parameters to be selected
in room and pillar mining the most important of which are the dimensions of the openings. The
height of openings, of course, is equal to the thickness of the bed or deposit unless the bed is too

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thin to permit mechanized operations, in which case some rock in the roof or floor is mined
along with the coal (typically, U.S. coal seams that are mineable underground are 2,5 15 ft, or
0,8 4,5 m, thick). The width of openings (span) for production or recovery reasons should be a
maximum, but for roof control and safety reasons, it is limited by MSHA (to 20 ft, or 6 m, if roof
bolts are used, or to 30 ft, or 9 m, if other support is used as well). (stefanko and bise, 1983,
Anom 1984). The spacing (centers) of opening entries or rooms is sufficiently close that the
stress distribution around one opening may affect that around an adjacent opening (Morrison and
Russell, 1973). It varies from 40 100 ft (10 30 m) in coal mines. Finally the maximum
spacing between crosscuts is limited by ventilation concerns and is usuallu specified in sate laws
(approximately 100 ft, or 30 m).

In design practice, the selection of pillar size (or ratio of pillar to opening widths) and the nature
and amount of support are carefully coordinated (bullock 1982). When an opening is created the
unit weight of overburden above it is transferred by an arching action to the sides of the opening
or adjcent pillar (see theory in section 10.7) because high stresses result, it may be necessary to
design the width of the pillar to avoids stress superposition, especially in the case of long life
entries. To do so requires a pillar width equal to at least three times the opening width for
example, if entries

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