Underground mining
AssigneeTechnological Resources Pty. Limited
InventorsFredric Christopher Delabbio, Max Edward Oddie
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In developing an underground mine a mine shaft 80 is formed by excavating earth and removing excavated material from the shaft 80 by a material transport system comprising skips 36 movable up and down on skip guides within the shaft. Tunnels 82 are launched from a bottom part of shaft 80 by excavating a cavern 81 in which a tunnel boring machine is assembled and operated to bore the tunnels 82. Material from the tunnel excavation is transported from the tunnels via conveyor 87 to the material transport system established within the shaft during formation of the shaft which is operated to transport that material to an earth surface region.
Claims20
A method of developing an underground mine, comprising:
- forming a mine shaft by excavating earth from beneath a galloway to form a hole extending downwardly from an earth surface region;
- removing excavated material from the hole during the formation of the shaft by a material transport system comprising a material transfer station mounted on the galloway, the material transport system being operable to transport the excavated material, via the transfer station, upwardly through the hole to the earth surface region for discharge at the earth surface region;
- locating the galloway and material transfer station at a bottom part of the shaft when formed;
- launching one or more tunnels from the bottom part of the shaft by excavating outwardly from the shaft;
- and
- removing material excavated in the tunnel excavation by transporting that material from the tunnel to the material transfer station of the material transport system established during formation of the shaft and operating the material transport system to transport the material to the surface region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.