Underground

Mining Methods

What to Do
In this activity, you will watch a series of animations outlining the
various methods used to get ore from deep within the Earth to the
surface where it can be processed and used for products.

The underground mining animations have been produced by Sandvik.

They can be found at MiningMatters.ca/miningweek.

1 As you watch the animations take note of the following:

a) heavy equipment and machinery,
b) location of where the operation begins,
c) presence of tunnels,
d) the direction of the tunnels, as well as
e) drilling and blasting.

2 a) Stop the animation. Read the appropriate section of the

Underground Mining Methods Backgrounder describing the
mining method. Watch for key ideas that relate to the criteria set out
in step 1 above.

b) Pick one animation to watch a second time and reflect back on the
mining method description you just read. In the video, look out for
examples of the following:

Crusher
Jumbo Load Haul Dump
Ore body
Raise Ramp
Stope Tailings

On the worksheet, circle the words that apply to the mining method you chose.

3 There are many new terms and concepts related to underground mining methods. To
demonstrate your understanding of the basic concepts, create a Sequence Chain outlining the
steps that occur in the method you chose to watch for a second time.

MiningMatters.ca
Underground Mining Methods Backgrounder
Animations courtesy of Sandvik Tamrock Canada
Accompanying text by Terry Gong, UBC Mining Engineering student
Animations can be found on our website: MiningMatters.ca/MiningWeek

Room and Pillar

Ramps (inclined tunnels) are excavated to connect the surface to the underground ore body. Drifts
(horizontal tunnels) are excavated at different elevations to surround the ore body. Next, stopes (tunnels
that have direct access to mining the ore) are mined to gain access to the ore. All tunnels are excavated by
drilling and blasting. Jumbos are in charge of drilling the holes in the rocks and filling them with
explosives. The loose rock, also called muck, is transported by either dump trucks or Load Haul Dump
(LHD) vehicles back up to the surface for either waste disposal or processing. As mucking progresses,
rooms (tunnels) are cut into the ore body. In order to provide safe roof support for mining, pillars of
material around the rooms are left standing to hold up the rock ceiling above. Some parts of the mine roof
can be particularly weak and fragile. In addition to pillar support, a jumbo is then brought back in for rock
bolting of the roof to ensure safety. When all the ore in the stopes has been transported up to surface,
some pillars can be removed, since they still have valuable mineral content, while some must be left
standing to provide active support for the ceiling. In some room and pillar mines, pillars are all excavated
as mining nears completion, to allow the natural collapse of the roof.

Sublevel Stoping
Sublevel stoping is a mining method in which ore is blasted from different levels of elevation but is
removed from one level at the bottom of the mine. Before mining begins, an ore pass is usually drilled from
a lower to a higher elevation. Jumbos selectively drill holes into the roof of the drift and fill them with
explosives. When the roof is blasted, loose rocks, or muck, fall through the drilled ore pass. A Load Haul
Dump (LHD) vehicle transports the muck to another ore pass where it falls to a hopper that feeds a
crusher. The crushed ore is then elevated (raised) to the surface in a skip. As the muck is taken out, more
drilling of the now higher roof continues. The roof is blasted till it is so high that it cannot be reached by a
jumbo. Then a jumbo working in a higher elevation drift is used to intersect the stope. After blasting, the
ore falls down to the lower drift where LHDs can drive in to load the muck and dump it at an ore pass.
Drilling and blasting continues until the stope is completely excavated. Once the stope is completely
hollowed out, it is backfilled from the bottom, up. The backfill material used can be a mixture of sand and
rocks, waste rock with cement, or dewatered mill tailings (rejected low grade ore from processing, usually
fine and sandy). The backfill material must have a lot of strength to support the roof of the empty stope.

MiningMatters.ca
Cut and Fill Stoping
In cut and fill stoping, the ore body is retrieved in horizontal slices beginning at the very bottom and
advancing upwards towards the surface. Ramps (inclined tunnels) are excavated to connect the
surface to the underground ore body. Drifts are excavated to come in contact with the ore slices. The
slices are drilled using a jumbo, blasted by charging the drill holes with explosives, and ore is
removed by using dump trucks or Load Haul Dump (LHD) vehicles. The ore is dumped into an ore
pass, an inclined tunnel where ore is transported to a lower elevation in the mine. The ore is picked
up at the other end of the ore pass by a LHD to be transported out of the mine through a ramp
(inclined tunnel). Once a slice is completely mined out, the empty space is partially backfilled
hydraulically. The backfill material used can be a mixture of sand and rocks, waste rock with cement,
or dewatered mill tailings (rejected low grade ore from processing, usually fine and sandy). The
backfill underground serves to keep the mine walls stable and also as the floor for mining the next
slice. Mining continues upwards towards the surface until the ore body is depleted.

Sublevel Caving
Sublevel caving is usually carried out when mining of the ore body through an open pit method is
no longer economically feasible. Mining now proceeds underground, underneath the open pit. At
first, both a raise and a network of tunnels are made. At different sublevels, jumbos are used for long
hole drilling, drilling directly upwards into the roof. These holes are then charged with explosives and
blasted. As the roofs cave in, the rock from the ground surface will cave in to the underground as
well. Load Haul Dump (LHD) vehicles transport the muck, loosened rocks, to an ore pass where the
rocks are lifted to the surface. Drilling and blasting takes place at different underground levels of the
mine at the same time. As the blasted rock, muck, is continuously transported to the ore pass, more
blasting will encourage the roof to cave in to the void and further into the drift. This is repeated until
blasting, caving and transporting depletes the entire ore body.

MiningMatters.ca
Worksheet

Underground Mining Methods

1. As you watch the animations take note of the following:

Mining Method: Room and Pillar

(a) heavy equipment and machinery:

(b) location of where the operation begins:
(c) presence of tunnels:
(d) the direction of the tunnels:
(e) explosives and blasting:

Mining Method: Sublevel Stoping

(a) heavy equipment and machinery:

(b) location of where the operation begins:
(c) presence of tunnels:
(d) the direction of the tunnels:
(e) explosives and blasting:

Mining Method: Cut and Fill Stoping

(a) heavy equipment and machinery:

(b) location of where the operation begins:
(c) presence of tunnels:
(d) the direction of the tunnels:
(e) explosives and blasting:

Mining Method: Sublevel Caving

(a) heavy equipment and machinery:

(b) location of where the operation begins:
(c) presence of tunnels:
(d) the direction of the tunnels:
(e) explosives and blasting:

MiningMatters.ca
 Worksheet

Underground Mining Methods

2. Place a check mark in the box to identify the method you would like to focus on for this activity.
Watch the animation a second time and reflect back on the mining method description you just read.

Room and Pillar

Sublevel Stoping Cut

and Fill Stoping

Sublevel Caving

In the illustration below, circle the words that apply to the mining method.

Bolting
Mineral

Stope Bac
k
Ramp mat fill
Pillar

Crusher eria
l
Muck

Cave
Tailings Ore pass
e
Skip Ore body Rais Load Haul
Dump
Room

npit
Ope

Drilling and
Drift Jumbo blasting

Underground Mining Methods Sequence Chart

3. There are many new terms and concepts related with underground mining methods. To demonstrate
your understanding of the basic concepts, create a Sequence Chain outlining the steps that occur in the
method you selected. There are six steps presented on the next page. Not all of the steps need to be filled in
in order to successfully complete the task. Most of the Sequence Chains can be completed in five steps.

MiningMatters.ca
Worksheet

Underground Mining Method:

MiningMatters.ca
Mining Responsibly

Underground Mining Methods Key Terms

Key Terms Explanations
Bolting Drilling a hole, and inserting a bolt to strengthen the
ceiling and walls of an underground mine.
Crusher A machine used to crush ore before it is transported.
Drift A horizontal underground tunnel that follows a vein or
ore body.
Drilling and blasting The process of using a drill to create long, narrow
cylindrical holes in the rock, and filling these holes
with explosives which are then detonated to
fragment the rock.
Jumbo A drill which is capable of drilling more than one hole at
a time and is especially useful in preparation for
blasting.
Load Haul Dump A vehicle with a large bucket on the front used for
transporting ore to crushing stations and mucking.
Mineral Naturally occurring chemical compound with a unique
three dimensional crystalline structures and chemical
composition; component of rocks.
Muck Waste rock that has been broken by blasting.
Ore body A naturally occurring concentration of minerals that can
be mined at a profit.
Ore pass A vertical or inclined passage that is used for
transporting ore down to a lower level or hoist.
Pillar The columns of rock that are left to support the
ceiling in room and pillar mining.
Raise A vertical or inclined opening from one level of a
mine that is driven toward the level above.
Ramp Inclined tunnels used to transport ore or machinery.
Room The open areas left open by blasting in room and
pillar mining.
Skip A self-dumping bucket used in a shaft for hoisting ore
or rock.
Stope An underground mine from which ore has been
removed extracted.
Tailings Materials rejected from a mill after the recoverable
valuable minerals have been.
Glossary References: MineralsEd, Social Studies 10/11: Mining in BC A Resource Unit; The Northern Miner, Mining
Explained: A Layman’s Guide (1996)

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