Mining method

Abstract

Improvements in the amount of ore receivable from a seam having an overburden and improvements in mine safety are achieved by strategically deploying inflated bladders for temporary overburden support and using certain bladders as forms for producing permanent support structures. An access wall is provided to an edge of the seam to be mined by forming a trench or tunnel; and, ore is mined by working into the access wall to produce a series of elongated, substantially parallel chambers. As each chamber is completed, its overburden is supported by inserting and inflating one or more bladders; and, caving of the access wall is prevented by installing a bladder at the mouth of the chamber. Because of the support, adjacent chambers may be quite close together, leaving only a thin rib of ore therebetween. When the work has progressed along the ore face, the inwardly disposed overburden supporting bladders in chambers remote from the newest excavation may be removed. The access wall supporting bladders are then filled, or the interior surfaces of the bladders are coated from within with a hardenable composition which is cured to provide a permanent support for the access wall and a dam to prevent and control the flow of water or noxious gases, facilitating backfilling of mined areas.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.