Novel North American rapid mine development techniques
Conference
·
OSTI ID:171664
- Advanced Excavation & Cutting Technologies, State College, PA (United States)
Rapid tunneling and shaft sinking techniques developed for civil and military engineering projects such as the Supercollider and missile sites have been successfully converted for use in the mining industry. Applications of these novel techniques and machines in mines in the USA and Canada are reported. The world`s most powerful mining machine (1939 kW; 2600 hp), which is fully computer controlled, produces 1,000 metric tons of potash per hour. Sensors in the twin cutter booms differentiate between ore and waste rock and keep the machine via an {open_quotes}Autopilot{close_quotes} in the potash seam. Only one man supervises {open_quotes}hands-off{close_quotes} this fully automated system. The NATM (New Austrian Tunneling Method) was first employed in the mining industry in Canada. A 5 m x 5 m (16.4 ft. x 16.4 ft.) development drift was constructed in extremely poor ground in a uranium mine. A special {open_quotes}knuckle{close_quotes} boom miner was developed for this unique NATM project. A unique shaft sinking machine, which can be converted in the field to a roadheader, was employed for the construction of shafts, entries and slopes in rock and frozen ground. The present limit for efficient rock cutting with roadheaders is 130 MPa (18,850 psi) unconfined compressive strength (UCS). Impact hammers (breakers) mounted on Alpine Multi Tool Miners (MTM) can increase considerably the hard rock excavation capabilities of boom miners. Underground cutting tests of the Wirth CMM and the Tamrock-Eimco TM60 roadheader with the Canadian HDRK mining research group are discussed in this paper. Novel mining and tunneling machines can excavate rock twice as fast at one-half the cost of roof support and at 15 to 20 percent lower cost per meter (foot) than with conventional drill-and-blast method.
- OSTI ID:
- 171664
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9506114--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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