Method and system for mining
AssigneeNovamera Inc.
InventorsStephen Douglas Butt, Allan R. Cramm, Jeronimo De Moura Junior, Mohammed Mokhtar Ebeid Said
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for mining narrow vein deposit of ore, the narrow vein deposit having a hanging wall and a foot wall, the method comprising: drilling a pilot hole into the narrow vein deposit along a path substantially centrally between the hanging wall and the foot wall to a depth within the vein; following the pilot hole with a larger diameter drilling assembly to fragment the ore into drill cuttings; circulating the drill cuttings to a wellhead; and collecting the drill cuttings for processing to recover the ore therefrom.
Claims29
A method for mining a narrow vein deposit of ore, the narrow vein deposit having a hanging wall and a foot wall, the method comprising:
- drilling a pilot hole with a pilot hole diameter into the narrow vein deposit along a path substantially centrally between the hanging wall and the foot wall to a depth within the vein;
- following the pilot hole with a hole opening drilling assembly having a diameter larger than the pilot hole diameter to fragment the ore around the pilot hole into drill cuttings;
- circulating the drill cuttings with a fluid flow up to a wellhead;
- and
- collecting the drill cuttings for processing to recover the ore therefrom;
- wherein drilling the pilot hole occurs with fluid circulation down through a pilot hole drilling assembly and up through the annulus, and wherein circulating the drill cuttings, during operation of the hole opening drilling assembly, includes pumping fluid in a reverse direction down through the annulus and up through the hole opening drilling assembly.
A mining system for mining a narrow vein deposit of ore, the system comprising:
- a drilling rig;
- a pilot hole drilling assembly, including:
- a drill head for drilling a pilot hole in the ore, a downhole survey tool for locating a hanging wall and a foot wall of the narrow vein deposit relative to the pilot hole, and a directional assembly for directing the drill head along a path between the hanging wall and the foot wall, wherein the downhole survey tool is configured for extension through an opening in the drill head;
- a hole opener assembly including an end configured to follow the pilot hole and a hole opener drill configured to drill a borehole with a larger diameter than the pilot hole to fragment the ore into drill cuttings;
- and
- a fluid circulation subsystem to move a fluid through the well to circulate the drill cuttings from the borehole to a well head.
A mining system for mining a narrow vein deposit of ore, the system comprising:
- a drilling rig;
- a pilot hole drilling assembly including a drill head for drilling a pilot hole in the ore, a downhole survey tool for locating a hanging wall and a foot wall of the narrow vein deposit relative to the pilot hole, and a directional assembly for directing the drill head along a path between the hanging wall and the foot wall;
- a hole opener assembly including an end configured to follow the pilot hole and a hole opener drill configured to drill a borehole with a larger diameter than the pilot hole to fragment the ore into drill cuttings;
- and
- a fluid circulation subsystem to move a fluid through the well to circulate the drill cuttings from the borehole to a well head, wherein the fluid circulation subsystem is configured to forward circulate through the drill head and reverse circulate through the hole opening drilling assembly.
A mining system for mining a narrow vein deposit of ore, the system comprising:
- a drilling rig;
- a pilot hole drilling assembly, including:
- a drill head for drilling a pilot hole in the ore, a downhole survey tool for locating a hanging wall and a foot wall of the narrow vein deposit relative to the pilot hole, and a directional assembly for directing the drill head along a path between the hanging wall and the foot wall;
- a hole opener assembly including an end configured to follow the pilot hole and a hole opener drill configured to drill a borehole with a larger diameter than the pilot hole to fragment the ore into drill cuttings;
- and
- a fluid circulation subsystem to move a fluid through the well to circulate the drill cuttings from the borehole to a well head;
- wherein the hole opener drill has a diameter selected to substantially match a distance between a hanging wall and a foot wall of the narrow vein deposit and the hole opener drill includes expandable underreamers operable to drill an enlarged diameter greater than the diameter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.