Underground mining: Unsupported Methods

1. SELF-SUPPORTED OPENINGS
(1A) Open-stope Mining
An Open Stope is an underground opening from which ore is removed without use of material for
wall or roof support.

(1A1) Isolated Openings

Fig. 1: Isolated Openings without pillars

These are essentially un-pillared from isolated pockets. Un-supported underground openings which
have ore extracted from isolated pockets, lenses and shoots of ore (Fig-1). When the surrounding
rock is strong enough to permit the drilling, blasting, and removal of ore without caving, in mines
where the rock requires no artificial support, the operation is known as open stoping.

(1A2) Sub-level Stoping (SLOS)

Sub-level Stoping is used for mining mineral deposits with following characteristics.

Applications:
1) Steep-dipping narrow, wide-vein and bedded deposits, the foot wall inclination must exceed
the angle of repose.
2) Stable (competent) rock both in the Hanging Wall and Foot Wall.
3) Competent ore.
4) Regular ore boundaries.

Two basic configurations are possible: Longitudinal and Transverse

In both stope configurations ore is mined from sub levels by benching and flows by gravity to the
draw points. Longitudinal sub-level stoping is used for comparatively narrow steeply dipping
deposits. The stopes run parallel to the strike of the deposit. Stopes up to about 20 metres have
been mined in this manner. Between stopes, ore sections are set aside for pillars to support the
hanging wall. Pillars (support columns/ ore left unmined) required are rib and floor pillars and
extraction of the order of 75%. Pillars are normally shaped as vertical beams, across the ore body.
Horizontal sections of the ore are also left, to support mine workings above the producing stopes
are called crown pillars. Enlarging the stope dimensions influences mining efficiency favourably.
Miners therefore aim for largest possible stopes. The stability of the rock mass is a limiting factor
to be considered while dimensioning the stopes and pillars.

Fig. 2: Schematic of Sub-level Stoping

Fig. 3: Schematic of Sub-level Stoping (Transverse stope)

(1A3) Long-Hole Stoping
This is fundamentally an adoption of sub –level stoping often referred to as blast–hole stoping. The
drilling pattern used is a series of ring-like fans. Heavy drifters drilling holes up to 50 m are used
and the method achieves continuous high production.

Fig. 4: Sublevel stoping (blasthole method) using ring drilling and blasting into a slot

Fig. 5: Blasthole stoping method using ring drilling and blasting into a slot
Development:
1. Haulage drift must be developed at the main level below the bottom of the stope.
2. Raises must be developed to provide access to sub –levels and subsequent development of the sub-
levels.
3. Drilling drifts must be driven through the ore or sub-levels.
4. An under-cut must be made at the bottom of the stope.
5. A loading draw-point system must be developed to allow the ore at the bottom of the stope to be
recovered safely.
6. A Slot-Raise must be developed at the end of the stope. Subsequently, the slot-raise is enlarged to a
full-slot to open up the area for blasting.

Production:
In sub-level stoping, the mining is accomplished from level at pre-determined vertical intervals. Sub-levels
may be developed between the main levels. Ore is drilled and blasted from drifts on the sub-levels. The
ore broken in large vertical slices falls to the bottom of the empty stope, where it can be recovered for
transport out of the mines.

To prevent the stope walls collapsing, large ore bodies normally are divided into separate stopes. Between
the stopes, part of ore is left as pillars. These pillars can be designed as both vertical and horizontal
separations. The pillars can be recovered either partially or fully. Normally the pillar recovery takes place
during the final stage of the mining operation.

When ring drilling is used the entire cross-section of the stope is drilled with holes that radiate from the
drilling drifts. Drilling is done by special long-hole rock drills, (equipped with extension drill steels in 1.2-
1.8 m. The diameter of the drill holes is approximately 55-60 mm). The hole length varies with the hole
pattern. The Application of down-the-Hole(DTH) hammers provide a hole diameter between 102 and 178
mm and hole length between 45 to 60 m. The drilling often can be done in advance of the actual mining
operation.

Ore-handling:
1. The ore may be loaded through chutes and into mine cars. Boulders can be frequent in sub-level
stoping and they can make this system inconvenient. Since secondary breaking in the chutes is quite
complicated, the presence of boulders in the ore lowers the overall production capacity.
2. Slushers (scrapers) may be used to load the ore into the mine cars. This system makes handling of
boulders much simpler.
3. Overhead loaders may be used for loading. This is practiced in many large mining operations.

Advantages:
1. Drilling, Blasting and loading can be performed independent of each other.
2. Can be used mechanized equipment.
3. High productivity.

Disadvantages:
1. Boulders may reduce the production capacity.
2. Complicated and comprehensive development work.
3. Need clear ore boundaries.

Examples:
1. Kid-Creek mines-USA: Massive metal sulfide mine. Reaching a depth of 219 m by open-cast mining.
Mining has switched over to underground mining using the method Sub-Level Stoping with stopes
averaging 18 to 24 m wide, 30 m long and 91 m high.
2. Kahatagaha Mine, Dodangaslanda, sri lanka: A steep-dipping vein type deposit is mined by open
stoping method.
(1A4) Vertical Crater Retreat Mining (VCR – Mining)
History:
The VCR mining method was developed by INCO and CIL Inc. and is based on C.W. Livingston’s
crater blasting theories. It was first used in 1974, at the Levack mine located in the Sudbury Basin’s
North Range and it provided productivity benefits almost immediately.

Mining productivity, measured in pounds of nickel and copper produced per manshift, has
improved by approximately 80% at the Sudbury basin between 1980 and 1990, after their
conversion to VCR mining.

The mining method soon spread worldwide; being adopted for use for the first time in the U.S. in
1977 at the Homestake mine. It is currently the dominant mining method of the Sudbury basin, as
both Inco and Falconbridge regard VCR as their mining method of choice.

Introduction:
Vertical crater retreat (VCR), also known as Vertical retreat mining, is an open stoping, bottom-
up mining method that involves vertically drilling large-diameter holes into the orebody from the
top, and then blasting horizontal slices of the orebody into an undercut.

Similar to Sublevel open stoping and Blasthole stoping methods, VCR mining is used for steeply-
dipping (>45°), or both vertically and horizontally large orebodies with competent ore and waste
rock strength. It differs from other open stoping methods in that it is a bottom-up method, as
opposed to a left-to-right method, and it does not require the excavation of sublevel drifts before
blasting and mucking can take place. The thickness of one horizontal slice varies between 2 and 5
meters in height.

Fig. 6: Generalized schematic of VCR mining method

The concept of VCR:
The concept of VCR, is simple. On a specific pattern layout, large diameter vertical holes are drilled
from a cut (top sill) into the ore to breakthrough at the undercut (bottom sill) anywhere from 33 m
to 122 m below.

Mining Process:
With the development of drills capable of drilling large –diameter 200 mm holes up to 60 m in
length, Conventional blasthole stoping has been replaced in part by a more efficient stoping method.

Ore body – The block must have a shape (A vertical barrel-like shape) that can be basically defined
from two sills spaced a significant vertical distance apart shown in Fig. 6.

The vertical separation between the sills is dependent upon ore consistency, drilling accuracy,
accessibility, and hanging wall competency. The stope has a similar shape, but when compared with
blast hole stoping, instead of small drilled holes in fans, large blast holes are drilled vertically from
a top sill to break through into a bottom sill in the sub-level below.

Longhole production drill rigs are used for the production blastholes. These machines are equipped
with a powerful hydraulic rock drill, as well as a carousel storage for extension rods. In addition,
drilling can be performed by remote controls, so that the operator may remain in a safe
position. Down-the-Hole Drills can also be used for the blastholes, which operate by breaking the
hard rock into small flakes and then blowing them clear using an exhaust system.

Drilling is done from the top sill all the way down to the bottom sill. The cross-sectional dimensions
of the top sill must be 11ft (3.4m) high and 15ft (4.5m) wide in order for the drill mast to achieve
clearance and maneuverability. The most common drill hole diameter used in VCR mining is 165mm,
however 140mm diameter holes have been used as well as 205 mm diameter holes, in some rare
cases. The benefit of using 165mm diameter drill holes is that it allows for a simple 4 x 4 m drill hole
spacing. Drill holes can be up to 60 m (200 ft) in length.

Holes drilled from the top sill right down to the bottom sill are called “breakout” holes. As drill holes
are so lengthy, accuracy is very important. Drill accuracy is determined by the drill pattern laid out
in the top sill. Often times mines will check the bottom sill for proper alignment before drilling of
the hole is complete. This is done to determine if there is a large amount of deviation from the
planned pattern, in which case additional holes would need to be drilled to correctly cover the stope.

First the hole is blocked at proper height. Blocking is the process of securing two wedges of wood
approx. 3 ft long attached to the bottom of a rope and lowered into the hole at the desired location
near the bottom. After blocking, explosive charges are lowered, stemming of sand and water placed
on top of the charge. The concentrated “spherical” charge (L/D ratio not less than 6:1) positioned
at a specified distance from the surface underneath and detonated creates crater-shaped openings
in the rock charge. Holes are grouped with charges at the same elevation and distance to rock
surface.

This allows the ore to be broken into the bottom sub-level in successive horizontal slices (approx.
0.3 m) using the same blast hole for each successive deck or blast. Only the bottom of each hole is
loaded for each successive blast. Cable bolts are used to stabilize the back and hanging wall of the
top sill during the blasting cycle.

The blasted ore falls into the draw-point level below, where it can be mucked out. Mucking provides
room in the stope for the next blast. Dilution is controlled by removing just enough ore to create a
sufficient void for the following blast. Finally, stopes are mucked clean and prepared for cement-
stabilized back-filling (Fig. 7).
Fig. 7: VCR version of sublevel stoping

Blasted ore is collected at the drawpoints using LHD vehicles, and then transported to orepasses,
sometimes to be crushed, before it is transported to surface for processing. Upon completion of
the ore extraction, the stope is often backfilled from the top drift, providing rock stability for
upcoming blasts. This process is repeated until the orebody is mined. Dilution is controlled by
removing just enough ore to create a sufficient void for the following blast.

Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) Vehicles are the most commonly used mucking equipment in
VCR mining. These four-wheel drive, rubber-tired machines are either electric or diesel powered
and maintain a low profile.

Productivity of a stope in a VCR mining is directly related to the stope size. Large stopes have high
tonnages that can support high mucking rates for long periods of time, resulting in higher
productivity rates.

Advantages:
1. Cheapest and most productive mining methods.
2. Bulk, high-capacity mining method with good recoveries,
3. Efficient stoping method that is very susceptible to mechanization and can have high
productivities.
4. Offers good wall support during the stoping phase using shrinkage,
5. Safe method with miners working under fully-supported roof that can be fully-ventilated.

Disadvantages/Constraints:
1. Flat hanging walls tend to increase dilution,
2. Ore widths of less than 5 m do not crater blast well,
3. Requires extensive diamond drilling, pre-stope planning and development lead time for
maximum effectiveness,
 4. Ore is tied up in the stope until final draw-down, which represents loss income and can tie up
significant funds,
5. The powerful VCR charges involve higher risks for damaging surrounding rock than the SLOS
method.

Example:
1. Homestake Mining Company: Homestake mine located in the Northern Black Hills of South
Dakota, USA. Underground gold property with an annual production of approximately 1.9
million mt per annum.

(1A5) Shrinkage Stoping

Application:
1. The ore body must have a steep dip.
2. The hanging wall and foot wall must be stable.
3. The ore body must have regular boundaries.
4. Usually applied to ore bodies on narrow veins or ore bodies where other methods cannot be
used or might be impractical or uneconomical.
5. The method can be easily applied to ore zones as narrow as 1.2 m (4 ft.), but also can be
successfully used in ore widths upto 30 m (100ft.)
6. Logically, the broken ore should be free flowing and not pack in the stope. Neither the ore nor
adjacent country rock should contain undue amount of clay or other sticky material to cause
the ore to hang together in the stope nor difficult or impossible to draw.
7. Ore should not readily oxidize, which may cause the broken pile to re-cement itself, and
consequently “hang up.”
8. Ore should be fairly continuous along the strike of the vein or ore body in order to avoid
extensive amounts of waste as dilution.

Fig. 8: Shrinkage Stoping

Variant 1: Short hole blasting from Shrinkage Stope

Fig. 9: Cross-section of short-hole blasting; 1: Haulage drift, 2: Haulage drift of the upper level,
3: Raises, 4: Chutes, 5: Rim Pillars, 6: Drift Pillar.

Development:
1. A haulage drift must be developed along the bottom of the stope,
2. Crosscut must be made into ore under the stope,
3. Finger raises and cones must be developed from the cross cuts to the undercut,
4. The stope must be undercut, taking a complete bottom slice at a distance of 5 to 10 m above
the haulage drift,
5. A raise must be provided, passing from the haulage drift, through the undercut, and to the main
level above. This raise provides both access and ventilation to the stope.

Production:
In this method, standard practice is to use air-leg rock drills. Ore is excavated in horizontal slices,
starting at the bottom of the stope and advancing upwards. (Overhand method); whereby, most of
the broken ore remains in the stope to provide a working platform for miners. Another reason for
leaving the broken ore in the stope is to provide additional wall support until the stope is completed
and ready for draw-down. The conventional method of handling ore entails direct loading into rail
cars from chutes at the bottom of finger raises.

Normally, about 35% of the ore derived from the stope can be drawn off (“shrunk”) as mining
progresses. When the stoping has advanced to the upper limit of the planned stope, drilling and
blasting is discontinued and the remaining 60 to 70% of the ore can be recovered.

Small ore bodies can be mined as a complete shrinkage stope, but large ore bodies usually are
divided into separate stopes with intermediate pillars that stabilize the hanging wall.

The level interval is 50-60 m and it is divided into 40-100m interval by raises.

The method is labor-intensive and cannot be readily mechanized.

Variant 2: Systems with breaking of ore from special workings

1
Fig. 10: Cross-section of Systems with breaking of ore from special workings; 1: Timbered raises,
2: Boundary raises of the block, 3: Blast holes

Compared with Variant-1, here the ore mass is drilled not from broken ore surface but from special
workings, usually of small section. These systems are used for mining thick ore bodies and less
stable ore.

Three timbered raises are arranged in between the boundary raises in a block of 50 m long with 6-
8 m lead over the stope. These raises act as the special workings and drilling of 4 m deep blast holes
is done from these raises.

Disadvantages:
1. More complex and labour-consuming development,
2. Difficulty to check the completeness of ore breaking at contacts,
3. High losses and dilution of ore, especially with irregular and strong contacts.

Variant 3: Deep Blast Hole Breaking Systems

This method is not common and is only applied to thick ore bodies.

Development and Stoping:

1. Haulage drifts are established at 50-60 m intervals.
2. Level is divided into blocks by raises arranged at 60m intervals axially,
3. Drilling rooms are arranged at 7-8m vertical intervals at the ends of the stope in the raises.
4. Horizontal and slightly dipping holes are drilled from both drilling rooms (chambers) at the ends
depth of hole about 25 to 30m in the fan pattern.
5. 30-40% of the ore is discharged from the stope before the holes are blasted
Advantages:
1. With deep holes, labour productivity rises,
2. Stoping expenses diminishes,
3. Labour safety improves.

Disadvantages:
1. Higher losses and dilution of ore when the ore body –rock contact is irregular.

Evaluation of Shrinkage Systems

Main advantages:
1. A low volume of development work. But the exception is the shrinkage systems with breaking
of ore from special workings.
2. Favourable working conditions for drillers. High efficiency of drilling and blasting operations
and haulage of ore.
3. The simplicity of systems and possibility of switching over to another mining system.

Main disadvantages:
1. A fairly limited sphere of application; angle of dip must be at least 55°-60°. Oxidation of ore is
impermissible.
2. The impossibility of discharging the ore from the block in individual grades.
3. Ore dilution.

Example:
La Libertad Mine, Pueblo, Nuevo, Durengo, Mexico in Sierra Madre Mountains. (Virgin silver-gold
deposit developed entirely for shrinkage mining)
(1B) Pillared Open Stopes
Generally, a mineral deposit of considerable extent such as a narrow or wide-vein deposit or a large
pocket or lense of ore, cannot be mined as a single unsupported open stope. To maintain stability,
support is required within the limits of the deposit, and if this support is effected by leaving areas of
unexcavated ore or waste, the system of mining is referred to as pillared open stoping.

(1B1) Random Pillars

Fig. 11: Open stope with random pillars

Random pillars are used in mining;

 Pillars are left in lower grade sections where possible.
 Inclined deposits less than 30° which are relatively narrow.
 In reasonably competent rock, a major requirement is that the hanging wall is relatively
competent over a short period of time or is capable of support by rock bolts that are used
extensively in room-and-pillar mining.

The span permissible between random pillars varies with the quality of the roof rock. The extraction
and recovery from random pillar open stopes is of the order of 60 to 80 per cent.

(1B2) Regular Pillars

Generally in bedded deposits in which grade and ore thickness are relatively uniform, regular pillar
systems are used (see Fig. 12 & 13). This is generally called Room-and-Pillar Mining method.

The method is cheap, highly-productive, easily-mechanized, and relatively simple to design. Ore
body is mined as completely as possible, leaving parts of the ore as pillars to support the hanging
wall. The pillars are arranged in a regular pattern or grid. They can be any shape but usually square
or rectangular. The dimensions of the rooms and pillars depend on many design factors.

Applications:
1. The method is particularly suited to bedded deposits of moderate thickness (2 to 6m) such as
coal, the main application being salt, potash, shales and limestone.
2. In ore bodies with a horizontal or flat dip that does not exceed 30°.
3. Competent hanging wall and ore.
4. With poor ground conditions, roof bolting is used for increasing the stability of the hanging wall.
5. Only feasible method for mining flat deposits of limited thickness

Three different systems of Room-and-Pillar mining may be used.

1. Horizontal ore bodies
2. Inclined ore bodies
3. Step mining of inclined ore bodies
Pillar design:

It is based on the assumption that the stress in a pillar is evenly distributed and equally to the
original geo-static stress divided by the pillar area/original area ratio; and that pillar failure occurs
when the stress exceeds the compressive strength of the rock.
𝐵𝑝 + 𝐵𝑜
𝜎𝑝𝑎 = 𝜎𝑧 (1)
𝐵𝑝
Where; Bp: Width of the pillar
Bo: Width of the room
σz: Geo-static or pre-mining stress

This can be stated more simply for the common case of rectangular or irregular-shaped pillars in
terms of extraction ratio – R, where;
𝐵𝑜
𝑅=
𝐵𝑜 + 𝐵𝑝

R is the ratio of the area extracted to the total of the orebody mined.

Since,
𝐵𝑝
1−𝑅 =
𝐵𝑝 + 𝐵𝑜

Eq. 1 can be rewritten as;

1
𝜎𝑝𝑎 = 𝜎𝑧 ( )
1−𝑅
𝐻 (1 − 2𝛾𝑤 ) 𝛾𝑝 𝐻 𝐸𝑤
[2𝑅 − 𝐾𝑎 − 𝐾 ]
𝐿 (1 − 𝛾𝑤 ) (1 − 𝛾𝑝 ) 𝑜 𝐿 𝐸𝑝
𝜎𝑝𝑎 = 𝜎𝑧
𝐻 𝐸𝑤 1 𝑅𝐵 (1 − 2𝛾𝑤 )
𝐿 𝐸𝑝 + 2(1 − 𝑅) (1 + 𝑁) + 2 𝐿 (1 − 𝛾𝑤 )
{ }
Where: H: beam height
L: extent of the mined area
K0: ratio between σn and σz are the coefficient of geo-static stress
Ew, Ep, γw and γp: elastic constants of the wall (roof and floor) and pillar materials
There are various methods of room and pillar stoping. The most common are full-face slicing or
breast Stoping, illustrated in Fig. 12 & 13.

Fig. 12: Open stoping with regular pillars (Room-and-Pillar mining) in flat deposits

Fig. 13: Open stoping with regular pillars (Room-and-Pillar mining) in an inclined deposit

Production:
In Fig. 12, the rooms are opened to their full vertical height with no mineral or economic value left
in the roof or floor. The reasonable safe limit for full-face slicing is 8 to 10m, depending on drilling
and support equipment, and beyond this, multiple slicing is used. (In the USA, mostly coal, trona,
and potash deposits are mined in one slice. Limestone, lead and zinc mines with thick deposits use
multiple slicing). In multiple slicing, the face is divided into a breast or brow, which is the top slice,
and a bench (or benches), which is the bottom slice (or slices). It is common for mining to be
organized so that there is simultaneous mining on the breast and one or two benches (Fig. 12).

Multiple slicing is usually done from the top down (underhand stoping), but mining from the bottom
up (overhand stoping) is equally feasible provided a layer of broken ore is left as a working platform.
Over-hand stoping is, however, more dangerous since new roof is simultaneously exposed, whereas
underhand stoping can be carried out under an undisturbed, supported roof.

With regard to machinery, crawler-mounted drills can be used for drilling vertical or inclined holes.
Load-Haul-Dump Units may be used for transport.

Example:
Buick mine in the Missouri lead Belt in Iron Country south-west of St. Louis, USA. Production is
approximately 5100 mt coming from two shifts with an overall efficiency of 75 mt per employee-
shift. Average thickness is 4.3 m.

Ore Handling in Room and Pillar mine

Roof Bolting in Room and Pillar mine