220 Underground hard rock mining

Figure 3.16 Decision tree for main access transportation determination (De La Vergne, 2003)

the transportation of people and materials. It can also be used for ore transportation
by truck or conveyor, eliminating the need for hoisting shafts, but that is an economic
decision as shafts are typically more effective and cheaper for moving especially large
tonnages to surface especially from deeper mines.
The selection of whether a shaft or ramp is more effective as the primary access
depends mainly on the orebody depth and planned production rate. De La Vergne
(2003) proposed the decision tree as shown in Figure 3.16.

3.3.2 Shafts, raises, adits and ore (rock) passes

3.3.2.1 Shafts
A shaft is a vertical excavation (but could be inclined too, although this option is
seldom used now as it is less efficient) in which elevators are used to transport people,
equipment and ore (and sometimes waste) in and out of the mine. Shafts are always the
option used where the deposit is located at depth.
Shafts are generally used for the following functions:

• To access an orebody
• To transport men and materials to and from underground workings
• For hoisting ore and waste from underground
• To serve as intake and/or return airways for the mine (ventilation)
• To provide a second egress as required by mining law
• Access to nuclear waste storage
• Hydropower generation
• Access underground civil structures such as basements and underground rail sta-
tions or road tunnels
 Underground hard rock mining 221

Most shafts are divided into a number of compartments, each with a different use,
by brattice walls or steel works fitted with conveyance guides. For example, one major
compartment could be used for moving people and equipment, a second with two
skips for taking rock to the surface and other compartments for service infrastructure
(typically pipes and cables) and space for ventilation. The main factors to establish
the shaft size are the monthly tonnage requirement and the ventilation needed. At
the mine planning stage, it is useful to include some excess rock handling and venti-
lation capacity in case future mining production increases. The orebody size, grade
and mining method will determine the rate of mining, and thus the tonnage (ore and
waste) to be hoisted, the size of the workforce and the material to be moved efficiently
in any given shift.
Once a shaft is excavated to its final depth, typically some distance below the eco-
nomic depth of the orebody for ore handling and water handling, the shaft is equipped
with all the necessary steel work, etc. to guide the shaft conveyances and hold the
pipes and cables for the services needed underground. Figure 3.17 shows a cross-sec-
tion through a typical shaft.
Shafts are often essential for underground mines, and their location is determined
based on detailed surface topography and infrastructure, the orebody, geology, rock
mechanics and environmental assessments. The location must be changed where
adverse geotechnical conditions are identified in the originally planned site. Proximity
to the orebody, strata conditions and water-bearing structures are the major parame-
ters that govern the ultimate location of shafts. The decision to locate the shaft is crit-
ical because the process to develop a shaft is very expensive and relatively slow. The
vertical shaft must be well located with respect to the ore deposit and to be able to han-
dle production needs. The correct diameter and configuration of the shaft will provide
optimum operational efficiencies. The shaft can be rectangular, circular or elliptical
in profile, although almost all hard-rock underground mines have circular section
shafts because this shape generates a better geometry for airflow and is naturally more

Figure 3.17 Sections of a typical shaft layouts (Kempson et al., 2015)

222 Underground hard rock mining

stable from a stress concentration point of view. At great depth, however, an elliptical
profile can be used if one of the principal horizontal stresses is significantly larger than
the other. Elliptical shafts were designed as an alternative to large circular shafts by
simply adding half-moons along the main axis. This had the effect of reducing the cir-
cular excavation and therefore the cost of sinking the shaft and could be useful under
certain high horizontal stress conditions (where σ2 >> σ3).
Most shafts constructed in the early 1900s were of a rectangular cross-section
mainly because they were easier to equip with square or rectangular conveyances using
timber beams and were not so deep that stresses caused instability issues. Blasting a
square or rectangular cross-section was, however, problematic and this slowed down
the rate of sinking.
Circular shuttering for concrete lining is easier to move when doing concurrent lin-
ing resulting in faster work progress during sinking operations. This is an important
aspect when it comes to the cash flow for any mining project.
The shape and size of equipment to be taken down a shaft are also considered in the
calculation of the final shaft dimensions. This process is equally applicable to ramps
(declines), the main difference being that the ramp is equipped to rather handle track-
less equipment and possibly be fitted with conveyors instead of the skips and cages.
Inclined shafts can also use monorails.
Determining the rate of mining can be summarized as follows:

• Identify possible mining methods

• Define standard mining blocks (stope or panel size) per method
• Calculate steady state conditions per level
• Define steady state inputs/outputs requirements per level
• Determine minimum access dimensions to cater for equipment and ventilation
• Calculate development requirements to get to steady state
• Simulate full level production from start of block to orebody extremity
• Determine the maximum number of levels that will operate simultaneously
• Estimate shaft size required to cater for the sum of the requirements of the maxi-
mum number of working levels
• Do economic analyses using, for example, the net present value (NPV) and inter-
nal rate of return (IRR)
• Decide on optimum mining layout and shaft configuration
• Ensure an adequate and achievable rate of investment is achieved; if not, repeat
the process

3.3.2.2 Raises
Raises are steeply inclined openings linking the mine sublevels at several vertical eleva-
tions and are often developed within the orebody. They are normally placed near or in
the stopes employing specialized cyclic or continuous operations. Specific applications
of bored raises are transfer of material, ventilation, personnel access and ore production.
Inclination varies typically from a minimum of 55° to the vertical, which is the lowest
angle of repose of blasted rock. They have variable cross-sections from typically 2 to 30m2.
Since manual excavation of raises is a potentially more hazardous activity, raise
boring is frequently utilized for developing ventilation raises, ore passes and rock fill
passes. It provides safer and more efficient mechanized excavation of circular raises
 Underground hard rock mining 223

up to 6-m diameter because this method eliminates the need for explosives, and keeps
personnel remote from the actual rock excavation.

RAISE BORING

Raise boring is the procedure of mechanically boring a vertical or inclined shaft between
two or more levels (one of which could be the surface). Access must be available at the
start and end of the excavation. In conventional raise boring, a downward pilot hole
is drilled to the target level by the raise boring machine, where the bit is removed and
replaced by a reaming head (Figure 3.18). The development of directional drilling has
made raise boring long shafts even more feasible for longer excavations as the pilot hole
can be kept correctly aligned and positioned. After the pilot hole is complete, a reamer
head is fitted and the machine then reams back the hole to final diameter, rotating and
pulling the reaming head upward towards the start of the pilot hole (where the raise
boring machine is securely located). The cuttings fall to the lower level and are removed
by any convenient method using remote control for safety considerations. The capital
cost of a raise boring machine is relatively high, but the return on investment is good
particularly for longer length excavations. Advantages of raise boring are that miners
are not required to enter the excavation while it is underway, the excavation process is
continuous, no explosives are used, a smooth and more stable profile is obtained and
manpower requirements are reduced. Safety is, however, the most important advantage.

Figure 3.18 Raise boring process (Atlas Copco, 1997)

224 Underground hard rock mining

ALIMAK RAISING (www.alimak.com/industry/mining/)

Alimak raising is another excavation alternative to raise boring that is still safer than
conventional raise development. For ore-passes (rock-passes, box-holes), short raises
and short shafts, a semi-mechanized system can be used especially if only bottom
access is available. The excavation must be vertical or steep dipping to use this system,
which was developed in 1957 by Alimak. It was initially developed (and still used) for
high rise building construction.
Typical mining applications include:

• Ventilation raises
• Stope slot raises (for longhole open stope first production, for example)
• Ore and waste pass systems
• Raise bore rehabilitation
• Ventilation shafts
• Manway raises
• Emergency ladder way installations

Alimak Raise Climbers are available with air, electric or diesel/hydraulic drive units.
One of the longest shaft driven in one step was 1,050m long in Norway. The platform
can be any shape and size. The largest work platform supplied so far measured more
than 30m2.
The raise climber system is basically a movable working platform that runs along
a monorail beam that increases productivity and improves safety when compared
with other conventional blasting systems. As the excavation is developed, the mon-
orail track is lengthened by adding sections to it and bolting them to the excavation
sidewall.
Using the system involves five production steps (as shown in Figure 3.19):

• Scale (make safe from the protection of the personnel cage fitted with a protective
canopy)
• Drill (conventionally from the cage)
• Charge the holes (then remove the cage from the excavation using the monorail,
which has a drive-toothed section)
• Blast (remotely)
• Ventilate and remove the broken ore from the bottom of the excavation

Figure 3.19 The Alimak raise development production steps

Source: Vikay Mining Equipment
 Underground hard rock mining 225

Step 1 Drilling
• Drilling is undertaken from the drill deck on top of the raise climber, which
is sized to suit the size, shape and angle of the raise.

Step 2 Charging-up
• When drilling is complete, the face is charged with explosives.

Step 3 Blasting
• The Alimak climber is then lowered to the bottom of the raise and into a
station for protection before the blast is triggered from a safe location.
• The rail is left in place and protected (only the top is really exposed to the
blast directly).
Step 4 Ventilation

Step 5 Scaling (removing lose and unstable rocks)

• The Alimak system provides for efficient post-blast ventilation and a powerful
air/water blast effectively dislodging loose rock from the freshly blasted face,
making it ready for re-entry.

3.3.2.3 Adits
An adit is a near-horizontal excavation that is used in mountainous areas or from high-
walls where the orebody is located near or above the access (valley) floor (Figure 3.20).
They are typically developed slightly up-dip at about 4° so that any water will drain
out of the adit under gravity. Developing an adit is the same process as developing
any horizontal tunnel and is an option only where the topographic relief is con-
siderable. In this access opening, the ore and waste can be taken out of the mine
at minimal operating cost. The traditional method of developing adits is to drill
and blast the face, load the material into a haulage device (after the area has been cleared
of dust and fumes) and then provide support and ventilation to the newly advanced
face. Thus, drilling and blasting are the standard excavation method for adits and most

Figure 3.20 Footwall adits development, generalized (Zhang & Wang, 2016)
1. Adits 2. Haulage drift 3. Ore pass
226 Underground hard rock mining

Figure 3.21 Decline development (Zhang & Wang, 2016)

1. Decline 2. Crosscut 3. Sub-level drift 4. Ore-body

hard-rock horizontal development. TBMs can be used depending typically on the length
and the economics. The other main exception to the use of drilling and blasting are under-
ground mines in relatively soft rock such as coal, salts and limestone where the rock can be
removed without the need for blasting using continuous miners or road headers.
A decline or ramp is an access tunnel usually developed at a low slope angle from the
horizontal (<20° dip) (Figure 3.21). The design and support of declines are considered
the main challenges in underground mine development as they are generally needed for
the life of the mine. They can be mainly straight, spiralled or a combination of both.
Ramp access is the common selection in shallow ore bodies. A ramp from surface can
facilitate machine movements and transport of people and materials. It can also be used
for ore transportation by truck or conveyor, eliminating the need for hoisting shafts.
Ramps are sized to include space for equipment and must incorporate a safe margin for
clearance, walkways, ventilation and other facilities and services. Cross-sections typi-
cally vary from 2.2m × 2.5m in mines with a low degree of mechanization and low ton-
nage to 5.5m × 6.0m where large equipment is used and high ore tonnages are needed.
In many mines, the decline is used to transport ore to the surface using a conveyor belt,
being associated with grade limits. For example, if utilized for conveyor belt haulage
only, the maximum grade of the decline could be between 10° and 15° depending on the
material to be conveyed. If trucks are used, the typical decline is between 8° and 10°.

3.3.3 Main access development

Near the shaft or decline, service excavations are typically developed for maintenance,
offices, pump chambers, etc. After accessing the orebody, underground workings are
continued on successive near-horizontal planes, referred to as levels, each level being a
system of related underground workings located approximately on the same horizon-
tal plane. The underground workings include production stopes and mine development
infrastructure for transportation of men and materials and the broken ore (and some-
times waste) to the surface for processing (or disposal). Between the main development
levels, a mine can have sublevels, which may be needed for more effective drill and blast
control in the stopes. Levels and sublevels are mainly connected by inclined underground
openings, also called ramps, and also by the vertical opening, including raises and win-
zes. The main elements of the underground infrastructure are shown in Figure 3.22.
A drive or drift is a horizontal or nearly horizontal underground opening devel-
oped on the underground levels along the strike of the orebody. The drives are
subdivided into hangingwall (located at the upper ore-waste contact, “hanging”
 Underground hard rock mining 227

Figure 3.22 Basic infrastructure and terminology for an underground mine (Hamrin, 2001)

above the orebody) and footwall (located at the lower ore-waste contact, at the
“foot” of the orebody) drives. A footwall drive is also commonly called an ore
drive. In many hard rock mines, they are developed in pairs, one called the haul-
age that is used for men, materials and intake (fresh) ventilation and the other the
return air way (RAW).
A crosscut is a horizontal underground tunnel developed to intersect the orebody.
The crosscuts are usually developed to connect the drives with the area in which stop-
ing (ore production) occurs.
Depending on the nature of the orebody, a raise is an underground opening driven
upward and a winze is driven downwards typically in the orebody.
A stope is an underground excavation where the actual ore is produced. Development
of stopes in massive mining methods often starts from blasting a slot, which is a steeply
dipping excavation at one boundary of the planned orebody stope. Mining then con-
tinues by blasting rings or slices of the orebody into the slot.
228 Underground hard rock mining

A pillar is a block of ore or barren rock left intact in the mined-out stope, between
two stopes or between two drives to act as a regional support. It is required to provide
structural integrity to the stoping process and prevent the stope walls from unplanned
collapse. Pillars may be extracted after stopes are mined out, but some pillars may be
left in place permanently to provide regional support.
A drawpoint is a place from which the ore is extracted from the stope and loaded
onto trucks or conveyors for further transportation to surface.
An ore pass is a steeply dipping (+55°) underground opening for moving mainly ore
from one level to a lower level under gravity and finally to the shaft bottom from where
it is hoisted to the surface. The ore is loaded through the chutes, which are the loading
arrangements that utilize gravity. An important element of the ore loading and trans-
portation system is a coarse steel grating, called a grizzly, for screening out oversized
rock fragments that could block the ore passes.
In an underground mine, a significant amount of infrastructure must be built before
mining begins, which requires a very significant capital investment (see Figure 3.22). The
development of a large underground mine can take as many as 5–10 years. Costs during this
time will therefore be high and can comprise 30–40% of the pre-production capital require-
ments before mining can start. In these cases, a dual feasibility study must be performed
comparing the surface option to the best underground mining option. Generally, capital
costs increase and operating costs decrease with increasing production tonnage targets.
An underground mine has a unique layout that ensures the cost-effective extraction
of ore and the safety and movement of people and equipment. Therefore, each mining
method requires different underground infrastructure such as access drifts to sub-
levels, drifts for longhole drilling, loading drawpoints and ore passes. Together, they
form an intricate network of interdependent excavations such as drifts, ramps, shafts
and raises. The mine requires three different physical installations:

• The surface process plant and infrastructure

• The shaft and/or ramp infrastructure
• The underground infrastructure

The first consists of a variety of facilities to provide the mine with necessary services
such as: access roads and parking, transportation facilities, power and water sup-
ply, service and maintenance buildings, mineral processing plant, bulk storage and
waste disposal facilities for air, water and solids. The shaft plant includes the facilities
installed for material handling of ore and associated waste and the means of transport
of miners and material. It generally incorporates systems for rock handling, ventila-
tion, water handling, services and power supply, and communications.
The underground plant covers various installations to make the system work effi-
ciently and safely, including storage bins (silos), loading pockets, rock handling systems,
power distribution equipment, underground maintenance facilities and numerous other
installations that provide auxiliary services to the underground operations.
Mine ventilation is one of the most important facilities of underground mining. Air
quality in mine workings is an area of particular concern to the underground develop-
ment. It must be maintained at an acceptable health standard. A continual and ade-
quate supply of fresh air must be made available to working areas. Ventilation shafts
are shown in Figure 3.23. Underground mines use networks of fans, gates and surface
openings to move fresh air into the mine and remove exhaust air. High-pressure fans
 Underground hard rock mining 229

Figure 3.23 General layout of an underground mine development (Zhang & Wang, 2016)
1. Shaft 1; Skip shaft 2. Shaft cage for moving men, materials and equipment 3. Crosscut
4. Shaft station development 5. Rock or ore pass 6. Primary crusher 7. Ore bin
8. Ventilation shaft 9. Haulage level 10. Stope (production area)

on surface extract exhaust air through the upcast shafts and ventilation doors control
the underground airflow, passing fresh air through active work areas. As most of the
infrastructure is located on the footwall side of the orebody, the fresh air is normally
channeled via the footwall toward the hangingwall, from where the exhaust air is routed
to the surface. It is particularly important to clear the air after an underground blast,
because harmful gases such as carbon monoxide or oxides of nitrogen can build up. A
good ventilation system will rapidly clear the air from a blast of dust and noxious gases.

3.3.4 Main access protection

The natural strength of the rocks is seldom sufficient for the safe and unsupported
excavation of the rockmass in the underground mines. In order to prevent a rockfall,
the rock around the excavation must be reinforced (laterally confined) using pillars
and installed support.
The installed support is typically rockbolts and cablebolts often with skin support
of mesh (screen) or sprayed concrete (shotcrete).
The main access, ramps and especially shafts must be protected for the life of the mine.
The protection can require more than just installed support and may need pillars too. Even
where shafts are completely stable, a cosmetic (concrete) lining may be installed to reduce
friction losses in ventilation or to hang shaft hardware for hoisting, support of utilities, etc.
Shafts with hoisting need special protection from mining as movement, especially
shear or tilt, cannot be easily accommodated whilst maintaining high and efficient
hoisting speeds.