Innovative Approach:
Fil
l mining method, characterized by gradually filling the voids as the mining face advances, revolutionizes Underground Mining. It involves dividing the ore block into mining rooms and pillars, where mining rooms are extracted first, followed by pillar extraction.
Purposeful Filling:
Managing Ground Pressure: Utilizing fill material to control rock collapses and subsidence, ensuring safety conditions for mining faces and protecting surface structures.
Preventing Fire Risks: Employed to prevent spontaneous combustion or fires in certain mine beds.
Facilitating Pillar Extraction: Timely filling of mining rooms determines the feasibility of pillar extraction, directly impacting the balance and sustainable production of mine reserves.
Diverse Classifications:
By Fill Material: Categorized into cemented and non-cemented fills, including dry fill and water-sand fill.
By Mining Face Direction: Options include upward layer fill, downward layer fill, wall fill, cutwall fill, and stope fill.
Suitable Conditions:
High-grade ore reserves with high recovery rates and low dilution rates.
Complex geological and technical conditions, such as deep burial depth, significant ground pressure, or risks of spontaneous combustion.
Stability concerns in ore and surrounding rocks, especially for steeply inclined ore bodies.
Dry Fill Method: Dry fill methods often utilize waste rock as fill material. Various techniques like upward horizontal layer fill, inclined layer fill, and cutwall fill are employed.
Inclined Layer Fill: Key components include drifts along and across the vein, shafts for personnel and filling, and chutes for ore transportation. Layered filling ensures a systematic and safe approach to extraction.
Cutwall Fill Method: Suitable for thin ore veins, this method involves separating ore and waste rock during extraction, leaving waste rock as fill material within the mine.
Optimizing Operations:
Space Management: Ensuring minimum working widths to optimize production and minimize non-productive activities.
Concrete Pouring: Critical for reinforcing pillars and separating fill material, reducing ore loss and dilution.
Workface Dimensions: Tailoring working widths based on ore vein inclination to enhance operational safety and efficiency.
By comprehending the nuances of fill mining methods and their applications, mining operations can achieve enhanced safety, resource recovery, and operational efficiency, driving sustainable practices in Underground Mining.
