The 4th International Symposium on Mine Safety Science and Engineering (ISMSSE2018)

275 / 2018-04-21 01:36:06

Cases of safe mining under wide spans in underground non-caving mines

safe mining,wide span,back stability,underhand mining,hanging pillar

Mine Dynamics Disaster > roof

Mining under wide spans is of concern as it increases the probability of personnel injury and equipment damage in underground mines where the open stoping or underhand drift and fill method is adopted. Though restricting personnel access to well supported lateral development is commonly practiced, it is not always possible to implement this requirement due to various factors such as ore loss control, drilling equipment limitations, availability of remote operating capacity and considerations in productivity. Even with rules implemented to control personnel entry into openings with wide spans, the hazards of equipment damage and back caving still exist.
Over the years, different practices have been reported and adopted to minimize risks associated with wide exposures in various underground mines. Lessons from these practices are beneficial to current and future mines with challenges of safe extraction of thick deposits in a non-caving setting.
This paper briefly summarizes practices in mining wide deposits using the open stoping method without personnel access and underhand mining using the drift and fill approach with personnel exposure in the industry and presents cases from Kinross mines where the hanging pillar design was trialed and stope backs were naturally and artificially supported for extraction under wide spans using the open stoping method.