Remotely sensing of excavation cavity during mining

A method for the remote control of a location being mined hydraulically having a floor and walls comprising:

• a. directing a high velocity stream of water against the location to hydraulically mine material at said location, during a predetermined interval of time;
• b. diverting said high velocity stream of water to another position at said remote location;
• c. measuring the distance form a known position to a plurality of points on said walls;
• d. transmitting said measured distances to a computer means;
• e. displaying said measured distances as calculated by said computer means to generate a representation of said location;
• and
• f. continuing said sequence of hydraulically mining and diverting said water to generate an updated representation of said location.

Method of hydraulically mining a surface of a mining location comprising:

• a. determining the dimensions of said surface of said mining location from a fixed point at said location;
• b. constructing at a second location remote from said mining location a visual representation of said surface from the determined dimensions of said mining location with respect to said fixed point;
• c. jetting water under high pressure against a selected area on said surface of said mining location;
• d. determining changes in said dimensions of said selected area of said surface of said mining location;
• e. reconstructing at said second location a new visual representation of said surface from the determined changes of said location during the jetting of said water;
• and
• f. redirecting said jetted water under high pressure utilizing data from said reconstruced visual representation.

An apparatus for hydraulic mining of materials, said apparatus including a frame having a nozzle means having vertical and horizontal positioning means mounted on said frame, and a first input means coupled to said nozzle means, an improvement comprising:

• a. distance measuring means mounted on said frame and oriented to measure in the direction of said nozzle;
• b. means for operating said distance measuring means;
• c. diverter nozzle means mounted on said frame and oriented along the direction of said nozzle means;
• d. second input means coupled to said diverter nozzle means;
• and
• e. means for coupling said first input means to a source of high pressure fluid while said distance measuring means is not in operation and for coupling said second input means to said source of high pressure fluid when said distance measuring means is in operation.