I. C.

6193 (REVISED)

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

UNITED STATES BUREAU OF MINES

SCOTT TURNER, DIRECTOR

INFORMATION CIRCULAR

MINING ORE IN OPEN STOPES

CENTRAL AND EASTERN UNITED STATES

BY

CH.AS. F. JACKSON
 Circlll..l.r No. 61::)3.
April, 1931 .
Revised

I NFORMATI ON CIRCULAR

DEPARTM~~OF . COMMERCE - - BUREAU OF MINES

=====~=============================~=============================================

MINING ORE IN OPEN-STOPES CENTRAL AND EASTERN UNITED STATES i

Bl ehas. F. Jack8on~

INTRODUCTION

Th i s paper is publ ished as a pI 0 gress re po r~ fo r the fi rs t half of 1929 on t he study

of minin g mel ho ds und co sts in t he East r n and Cenlral States . Dala obtaine d fluru 25 mi nes
Si ng open-s tope met hods a re correl ated and s ummarized. Some of t he s e mines ha ve be en de-
sc r ibed 1n considerable de t ai l in r epvrts already publi s hed a s Informa tion Ci rcu l ars. In
addition to the publish ed reports on illdivi d ual mine s . cons iderable data have bee n obt a ined
from ot he r mine s whi c h we ra v is i t ed a.nd st udi ed du ring th e cau r ae a f t he i nv s ti ga t ion .
Many of t hese mi nes will l a ter be des orib ed in deta i l in separate pap e rs , and when t he fi e ld
has bee n cove r ed in thi s ma nne r it i s pl a nn ed to i ssue a bulle t in on ope n-s t ope methods o f

mini ng Wi ~oh wi ll amplify th e subj ect mat t e r of th e pr es ent paper .

p fi nition of "Open-S tope" . - The te r m "op en- s topes " as empl oyed by th Bur ea u o f
Mines i c appli ed to all natu ra lly supported stape s ; t hat i s , st apes in whi ch t he xoavated
a re i s Do t repl a ced by support of a n a r t i fi oial nature other th an p r ops o r stu ll s and i n
wh ic h t h ~ are or (and) cappin g ar e no t oa ved duri nR the a ct ive lifa of t he s l opes .

Such s ta pe s ma y have no other s upport t ha n t ha t afforded by the margin wa ll s and

t he ar ch o f rock ov e r the ba ck. or pill ars le ft withi n t he s tope as add i t iona l s uppo r t to
the ba ok. Thu s we have :

l
(1) Simpl e open-s ta pes wi t hout pi l la r s (usua l ly 00nfincd ,0 thin na r ro w a r e bodi es
ha vi ng st~ on g wa ll s (fi gs . 1 and 9) ,
{
(2) O-;en-s t opes wilh pill a r s uppo rt (f i gs. 2-3-4).

In ope n-s tap es wi th pill ar suppo r t . t he pill a r s llIay be of the casua l o r irreg ular
t ype (f ig . 2) or ma y be spaoed at r egula r i nt e r va l s be tw e en the s t apes ( f i gs. 3 a nd 4).
rhe f a rme ra re 0 f t en ro ugh ly ci r oula r in p I n bu t ma y be va ry ir regul ar in shape . Th e
lal t e r r e usu a lly re c ta n ul r a nd with t he stopes consti tute a somewha t r egul ar geometrioa l
pat t e rn.

Some sh r i nka ge s t apes a re in r a l i ty open-stapes . as 1n cases whe re th e broke n a re i s

le f t merel y to p r ovi de a working f loo r close to the b ok upon which the miners stand in attac ki ng

1 - The Bureau of Mines w111 welcome repri ntln of this p pe r . provided th e Collowiag footnote oknowlediment Is usod:
"R printed fr om U. S . Bureau o f Mino IntOI'm tion Ci Qula r 6193 .
2 - Minln~ 0110 er. U. S. Buroau o f M10 0 .

6551
Inf.Cir . No.6193.

t he s oli d o r e overhead . In other oases. however, tile broken ore serves to some extent as a
s upp o rt to t he hangin g wall; in the bu feau 0 las:;i fica tion 0 f mining me t hods . sh rin kage
s tap es ar e placed with "filled stopes" or "stopes artificially s upported."

Produot i on - Incomplete s tatistics. whioh, however, include the production figure s
o f most of t he larger mine s i n the Eastern and Central State s , s how an annual production of
are i n ex cess of thirty-one million tons from open-s tapes a s defined above. indicatin g the
Importa nc A of s uch methods. ,

LIMITATIOi(S AND VARIATIONS OF METHOD

Broad ly speaking, the open-s cope method is confined to t he mininl" of s trong to

moderate ly s tron g are bounded by ~:trong to moderately s tron g wa ll s. Considerable la t itude
i s al lowab l e in thi s respect. however. depending upon the size, ~.ape, and dip of ore body;
d epth of cov er ; nat':lre and pOSition of the s lips and joint s in ord and walls; and upon the
g rade a nd ~niformlty of mineralization of the deposit.

Intn . Tabular Depo s i t s. - A thln, steep-dipping tabular body of weak ore lying between
f1 rm wa ll s may be mined s uccess fully by unde rhand s topin g banea th ah a rche ri 0 r s tull-suppa rted
back 0 r by s ublC7ve l s topin g (fig . 9), whi Ie if the wall s we re only mode ra tely s t ron g thi s me tho d
coul d st ill be employe d by usi ng s tull timbers betwe~ u ~ all s and s paced at intervals throu gh-
out the st ope. Still weaker walls would require that the out and fill method be employed.

Wit h ver weak and friable are, relatively low in grade and. havinr.. weak wa lls, it would
p r oba bly be preferable to use the caving method; if the ore werH high grade, top-slioing
or s qua r se t t in g mi ght be employed , As the border line i s approached between conditions
permitt i ng t he us e of open-s tope methods and tho s e requirin g other methods, the selection
of th e proper system of mining becomes more diffioult and require p careful conSideration of
all the f a ctors involved . .

Some t hin. flat ore bodies with moderately s trong roof are mined in open-stapes by
me t hods s i ml1 a r to tho s e employed in ooal mines (fig. 4). At 8irmin~ham, Ala., bed s of s oft
iron a r e d i pp i ng at a fla t an g le. up to 20 feet thiok and averaging 8 to 10 feet in workable
thiokn ess, lie beneath a roof composed of slate anJ sandstone beds. The axi~tence of water-
s a tu r a t ed st rata at s ome di s tance above the 0 re beds make s it impe ra tl va to suppo rt the
r oo f . ~ h1s i s a ocomplished by employing a room-and-pillar sy s tem in whioh about 30 per cent
of the ore i s left in pillars and which i s very s imilar to that used in bituminous cOBl J
mi ne s . I n some of the~e iron-ore mines the rooms are driven 50 feet wide on 75-foot center~;
and ab out 150 feet long. In another mine, rooms are 100 to 175 feet wide with three room
necks co nn ec ti ng the room to the entry. In the latter cas e small casual pilla rs . locally
t ermed "c aptain' s pillar:::" aro left as required between the re gular room pillars to support
t he ba ok. Pr ops are al so used a s temporary looal support to bad patches of roof,

Whe re o ondition~ do not require permanent support of the roof it i s s uggested th a t

a longwall system of mining mieht be employed in whioh the root would be temporarily s up-
ported by p rops clo ~ e to t he working face and as minin g progre ssed would be cave~ by removin g
o r bl asting t he props . Thi ~ method is aotually employed for mining thin flat ore bodie s on
tIle Mesabi Iron Range in Minnes ota., and iz there termed "Top -Slicing,lt

551 - 2 -
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Flgure ~ - Stoping fflefl7~ regl/lar'ptlla,rs.


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Where open- topes wi th oasual o r i r r egular pill a rs a re empl oyed i t ia sometimes

poss i ble to c onfine pi ll a r s t o low-grade or bar re n rock. In thi s ca s e th e ir ul timate re-
covery i s of sma l l l mpor tanoe , In other casas where pi llars a r e in good Ore , t heir r eoove ry
be oomes a matte r of oons ide r abl e moment.

Reoo ve ry of P ll a r s .- With Q re gula r s top e an d pilla r a rrangement it 1s imposs i bl e

t o confine the pill ars to low-grade or ba r r en ro ck . and if t he are i s hi gh grade . it may
preo lud the use o f thi s mettod entirely or ma ke it nec essa ry to fill t he s to pes and t he n
mine the pil l a r s by s ome oth e r met hod .

With ir r eg ul ar pilla r Q r ra n ~e ment. 10 to 25 per oe nt of the volume of t he ar e body ,

and somet im es ~ s muoh as 40 per oe nt . 1s l e ft in pil lars. 3 In many cases most of t hi s are
c 1 tima te l y b r eoove r ed by r obb i ng ope ra t1o n ~ . start i ng at ' the ma rg i ns 0 f t he ore body
OT boundary of t he property a nd ret r ea ting th e refrom.

I n r egu lar roo m a nd pil l r wor k . th e pi l lars may const itut e 35 to 40 per 0 n t or
mo re of the antir volu me o f t .e a re body . Under such oonditi ons it i s obv i ous ly ne cessary
ev en tually to ado p t som met hod for the r eo ove ry of pillar Or e if it 1s of hi gh eno ugh
grade .

J:!.&J&uU~ .- ~ ome moderately wide o r wi de bod i s of moderate ly s trong t o

stT ong are hav ing modera t e ly st ron g t o at ong wa ll s and dippin g a t leep a n la s are suooess-

ful ly mined by su bl e vel s t op in g . a variat ion of t he open- s t ope me thod (fi gs . 5, 6,7 ,8 , 9, and
11) . Whe re t he are body i s l ong and no t too wide f o r spans t o be s el f- s uppor t ln g over the
enti r e wid t h . it i s stoped out f ul l idt h . and the sub lev el s t opin g f aoe s a re advanoed in a
directio n parall e l wi t h the lo ng dimensi on of the ore body (fig . 58) . Wi de r ora bodies are
BfSO worked by sub l e vel s t opi ng . but t he ore body i s di vided into severa l t rans ve rse sub-
leve l stapes sapa ra ted by in t e T' ening pi l l a r s.b (fi g . 5A) and ( fi gs . 9,1 1) . At the Poroupi ne Pay-
.master ft mine in Ont ario . where t he are body was abou t 110 feet in width. t r ansve rse subl evel
st opes were mined 60 t. o 100 f ee t lon g wi th i nt e r ve nin g 30- fo ot pillars. The dip was abo ut 60 0
and st apes were up to 200 f eet high. Exp erie nce wit h the fi rs t s tope s indi oa t ed t ha t t he y could

3 - Cum in& . A. W.. Method and Co t ot W1nln& Malnetl1. Ni nevllle Oistriot , New York. In forlll lioo Ciroul r
6092 , Bu e u o t Mi ne . 1929 , p . 7.
N ~ub nd , . F. , thod aod Cost ot Mloin& Zino nd Lead a t No . 1 Mine . Tr l-Sta t o Zino aod Lead. Dist r iot ,
, Piohar, Oklaho a .
D. )d

I nformatlon C1roul r 6113. Bu re U o t Mi nes , 1929, p. 9.

Bank, L. 1.1.. ining '" t.h od aod Co.ls .in t h e Waco Dis t ri o t. InfQrmation Cl ro ul r 6 150, Bur au ot l.Iin 8 , 1929 ,
p. 6 .
Po lOll, Roy H . Method nd Cos t at Minlng l No . a Mi n , St. . ["o u 1e Sme Un i anel Ref i ol nl Company , South t Mits8-
our Distriot . I nfOrmation Ci roul r 6160 , 1929 . 23 pp .
J ok on , C. P . . M tbod nnd Coet o t Mining 01as ml n led Lead Or at I. Nine 1n the So u tbeast W1 our l 01 triol .
I n formation Ciroul r 61 70 , Bur u of Mi ne
- Eat.on , LuoiGn, Met.bod nd Co l at lnlo& Hard Speoula r He Ute 00 lhe M rquett R nla, Wichl, o. Iofol"aalion
Ciro~lar 6138 , Bureau of Wi n s , 1929 , p. 11 .
~ - NoNau,l\ton, C. H ., Mi nin& Metbode o f -he Tenn I5l!1ee Copper COllpany . Duaklo ..n , Tennesllite . Information Ciroul r
61 9 , Bur. U 0 Mines . 1929 , 17 pp .
6 - Hubbell . A. H. , Low-Cr d Ore i n Oat. r l 0. 1::0,. nd Mi n . J our . Nov . 10. 19tB, p. 741 ; No v. 17, 1928. p .. 785.

c.... L - :-) -
Inf.Clr.No.6193.

f ely be ca rri ed 100 f et in length, and some of the earli e r pilla.r:; were later extraoted,
leaving open-stapes 120 feet by 110 feet by 175 feet hi;.::1.

A s et 0 f condi tions sui table fo r sublevel stoping methods may. in a gi ven case.
approach tho se requi rin a diffel"ent method of mining such as shrinkage. out-and-fill. or,
wi th much wea k r or ,Ilore friable ore and wall rocks , ::,;ublevel oaving or even top-sILOin g.
Only careful consideration of all the factors will determine the best method to us e,

In s ublevel stoping. the faoes on eaoh sublevel are usual~y oarrled in advance of
thos e on the s ublevel nex t above (f 19s. 5 and 6). 'Rbe re the 0 re i tsel r i1:3 very fi rm and
s trong and fr e e from p rominent :~lips and j cints. eaoh benoh 0 fore may ave rhane-. the s ub
b low by as muoh as 40 feet (fig. 5); the overhanging are i~ then benched down from the top
. s ~ cg v a . See also lfig. 11) which shows sub le\,1 stoplng in hard ore,
Mo re often ~ ne s top e is oarried as in Figure 6. In weaker are. eaoh s ublevel ove rhan gs the
one below by only a few feet or the stope faoe is kept vertical (flg. 7). In s till weaker
o re the slope i s sli gh tly reversed (fi gs , 8 and 9). The vertic~l interval between su bl eve ls
i s commonly 20 to 40 feet.

Where the sublevel method i s us ed the men drilling tL~ side cuts and benches are
always workin g under the protection of solid are; any rook dislodged from the levels above
falls out in tho stope well away from the miner~ below. Where there are lareo inolusions of
b r r n mat erial in th e are body it i s poss ible to leave such material as pillars in subl e ve l
top in g. 7 Sm .11 r inclusion s of waste oan be kept s eparate from the are by drawin g the

stope empty, blasting down the waste, drawing thi R 01't and then res uming break ing of the
ore.

I t i s s ugges ted that th e aublevel method might be employed advantageous ly in s ome

i n s now us ing shrinkage s toping a nd particularly in su lphide ores which it 1s advisabl ~
o r emove from the stopes as soon as broken . The phys ical condition s to which sublevel
topi ng are applioable are practioally the same as tho s e for shrinkage stoping . and ' can be
ployed in g round too soft for sh ri nka ge stopin g . A subl evel s tope i s in effeot a shrin,k -
ago s tope turned on end. in whiotl the are can be drawn off as fa s t as broken. Subl evel
stopes oan be employed in wide r ore bodi.es and under a wider range of conditions than
1 rinka ge s top es , The dip of th e ore body mus t usually be 50 to 55 or steeper, thou gh at
one m.ine visited the method was being suooessfully employed on a 45 dip.

~t one mine whe re shrinkage stopin g was abandoned and subl e vel s topin g a s resorted ,
to the following advantages were olaimed

1. Sublev el stoping is safer due to the fact that t he men are not out under a wide
baok but are always under solid g round whioh oan be and i s tested daily.

2. Th e total breaking co s l is less in s ublevel s loping than in shrinkage stoping,

large ly due to the fact that the ore is broken finer from the solid wi th l ess secondary
br aking in the dublevel stopes. In the shrinkage stopes large slabs would come down whioh

7 - MoNau&hl on, C. H.. Work olL~J. p. 12.

B - MoN u b lon. a. H.. WorK oll~J. p. 12.

6551 ... 4 -

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 Inf.Cir.No.6193 .

had to be dr illed and blas ted, and oft en tell in s uoh a po s i tion in th e sto pe that it was
da ngerous to go out. under the s top e to brea k thum up.

3. The d rawin( of the are Cram subl e ve l s tope oan bn concentrat ed a t fewer pull-
hole point s tlan from s hr inkage st op es to secure the same rate of output, t hus s ecurin g 1n-
-creased pullin g and haulage effioiency.

4. In s ublevel st opes a g reate r percen t ag e o f th e o re i s r eoovered .

In the shri nk-
age s topes co ns id erable ar e was often l e ft on t he foo twal l du e tn minor foldin g . This are
oan only be r e oov e red by open-s loping in whi oh th e footwa ll i s exposed throu gh out th e opera-
tion.

6. In t he s ubl eve l s top es ve ry l ea n o r barr n portions of the ore body a r e le tt n

p i llars . Thi s was usually very di fficult to do in s hri nk age s tape s .

6. More de ve lopment a nd s top e prepara tion a r e requl re d for s ublev e l s topin g t ha n

fo r s h ri nkage s topin g. The d if f ere nce , howe ver . i s not as g r eat a s mi ght fi rst app ea r, be-
oause sh rinkage st apes r equired ol os er spaoin g of pul l hol es in order to dra w t he s h rink
down even ly. Fur t he r more, wi th sh ri nkage s t a pes it was found advisabl e t o carry fo otwa ll
or pi lla r r aises in ad dition to crib be d manw ays t hrough t he br oken ore.

Oth e r point s not included in t he for ego in g are as follows:

1. The r e t e ntion of broken ore in s hrinka ge st apes i nt er fer es i n s ome cases with
t .. e fl otation efficie ncy, d ue t o s urf a oe ox i datio n o f su l phide particl es ,
st opin the ore ls, or may be, d rawn off immed i a tely afte r i t i s broken.
In sub l e ve l

2. This abi lity to draw the bro ken o re at once r e s ult s al s o in a saving due to t he
f ao t t hat mone y is not ti ed up for a lon g peri od in b roke n are standing in s tapes .

3. Where only one grade of are is mined it is possi ble to obtain a high r a t e of
outpu t f r om a fe w s ub lev el s tap es sinoe mi nin g ca n p rocee d s imu lta neou sly on a numb e r of
s ub lev el s i n eac h s tope with tbe advan tages at.tenda nt upon oonoentrated opera tion s .

APPLICATIONS OF OPEN-STOPE METHODS OF MINING

Open-s top e s, wit h and wit hou t pillar s , are empl oyed und e r a wi de ran ge of oondit i ons .
Th ey a r e used in thin beds a nd ve ins lying at incl ination s varying from the horizontal to
the vertioal and in deposi t s of 150 fe et Or more in t hickn e ss , bot h fl a t and sta nd in g at
s t eep angles . Open-s tap e s are pro bab ly used mo re ex t ens iv e l y and unde r a wide r ra nge 0 f
co nditions t ha n is ge nerally realized .

ini ng ope ra tions in t he Ce ntra l and Easte rn St at es of fa r many example s a f t hi s

method o f mi nin g and of it s variations.

The oopp er s nu iron mi nas of Mi ch i ga n, t he zin c a nd coppe r min es of Tennessee , the

6551 - 5 -
Inf . Cir.No .6193.

magnetite mine s of New York State, the Tri-State zinc and lead mines, the lead mines of
Southeastern Mi ss ouri, and the iron mine~ of Alabama, all afford examples of this method
of mining.

Mi ohiga n Copper D1strict.- In the Miohigan oopper distriot three type s of open-stope s
are employed - namely, large, square, open-s topes with stull support; large open-s tapes with
large pillars; long, narrow stapes with long narrow rib pillars . 9 Here the workable lode s
oommonly vary in thicknes s from 4! to 18 feet. though locally they are as much as 50 feet
thick. Open-s tope s are employed on the flat te r dips 0 f 30 to 40", but where th.e \.lip is
steep, cut-and-fill or shrinkage stoping are resorted to.

Mi (" h i gan I ron Mi nes. - In the i ron-o re mine,:; 0 f Mi oh ie-,an, open-8 tOpC3 wi th pi lIar
support are employed 1-n hard ore 1 0 and sublevel stopes in somewhat softer ore. In other
mines of this district top-slioing, sublevel oaving, blook-caving, and s hrinkage stoping
are employed. The district pre s ents a wide ran ge of oonditions and in some oases it i s
t:liftioul t to determine whioh method of mining is most s ui table, Factors s uoh as support
of s topes and s urface, safety, cost of minine, rate of output desired, deve lopment required,
peroent a ge of extraction, and dilution of are by admixture of low-g rade inclus ions or wall
rock must all be taken into oonsideration.

At the Carpenter Mine in Michigan, a novel variation of sublevel sloping was em-
ployed in mining an iron-ore deposit overlaid by ~and and gravel 175 feet in depth oon-

taining oons iderable water. 11 The ore body was divided into alternate sublevel s topes and
pillars, and-the s tapes on each Side of a pillar were filled by caving the s urfao e before
extraotion of the pillar was begun.

In the harder iron ore s , sublevel stopes are usually mined with each sublevel lag-
ging behind the on e next below (fig . 6) . It is usual to try to keep the overhang between
s ubs 8 feet or l ess . Benches a re oarried along the stope face by drilling and blasting
s lubbing cu ts . Down and up holes are dft 11 ed from and in these benches, and the 0 re is
broken into mill s below. Stapes vary in width up to 150 feet. and in leotth up to 200 feet
or more. Usua lly before the larger dimensions are reached the roof will cave. In this
event it i s usual to leave a thin pillar against the cave and r esume the s toping behind
this pilla r . The majority of the oaves will have been benefici a l rather than ot berwise, as
the weight will be taken from th e unmined ore and baoks of the openings therein.
,
In somewhat softer are the face of the stope i s kept vertical - th a t is, wi thout
on e s ub appreoiably overhangin g the other. Figure 7 illu s trates one method employed under
the se oondi tions; no benoh was oarried and the face wa.s bla s ted 0 f f wi th holes po inted

9 - era n . tv. R .. Minio Metbods and Prao tio e in Michi gan Copper IUne . Bull. 306. Bur u of Mines , 1929 .
10 - E ton. Luoien . Work oited.
11 - Wo rtley, R. B.. Nov el Method o f Sublevel Sl oping. Eni, nd Mi n. Jo ur., vol . 126 . No. 22, 1928 . p. 867 .

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ri~ure 6. SUb/evel cSt-o~/ny in /noa'erafely f'lrm a/Jd hard ore;

&op~ f"ace: overhanylny_
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;=ijure 7 Suhlevel .sfopiny t"n comparaf/ve,j weak ore)" sfope f"ace kept- verf/cal.

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rijure 9. Su61evel rS-/-op/nJ in narrow body of .:Joft ore.


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Fijure /0. Deve/ol'men-l- ror open oro/Jln!! from loci/ned raises.
Ral',s~s wlden~d fa sfo'pe /Jo.:/ndar/~o and ~/oors iJefween
are /)raKe" ou 1-.
A, Lonj,"fudinal proJ"ecfion; 8, Tran8verse seclion.
 Inf.Cir.No.6193.

forward (towa rd the s tope) and drilled from the ;ubdrift~ .

In s ti ll s ofter and weaker ore wh i oh wi ll not s uppo r t benches at all each s ub l evel
is kept ah ead of the one below, a s shown i n Figura 8. He re the s ubdrlfts are driven very
mall. In minin g , the drift i s enlarge d by s la bb ing out s j ua t baok of the s tope face to
permi t th e us e of long s teel; holes a r e d rilled up wa rd , downward, and laterally from th e
enlarged dr ift, and are blas ted t oget he r . In ome mines employing thi s method, tli l~ ar e i s
s oft e nough ~o that a ll drill i ng 1s done wit h a uger s te e l. Fi~ure 9 s hows a ~ublevcl s top e
in a na r row bod y of s oft ore havi ng s trong wall s.

~u ebQ . - At the Noranda mine in Que be c , so me of the ore bodies an) being min ed by
another modi f i oa tion of the open-s top e method (fi g . 10). The are body 1s blooked out int o
40- fo o t s tape s a lternating with 30-foot pillars , level S being 125 feet apart vertica lly.
Ra ises a re dri ve n from both s ides of th e d rift at an in c l 1n lion of 38 from the horizon ta l .
From one of the s e rais es b r anoh r a i s es a r e dr i ven a t 3D-foot interval s on an inclina tio n
of 38 to th e limit s of the ore. Th ese are b r aated out to the width of the stope, and th e
interven i ng pillars a re bench ed out a s in s ubl eve l s top i ng. Thi s method may be con s idered
to be s uble vel s topin g in which the s ubs are incli ned in s tead of horizontal . Bl as tin g
ohambers for med by s hor t incline rai ses mee t i ng abov e th e haul age dri ft and oonnected at
the int erse ct ion by a d rift dire c tly ove r t he l e vel a re provided for blas tine large ohunks
of 0 re.

A ~ . - In the Birmingham dis t rict bedde d depos its of red iron ore are mined by

a ro om-a nd-p i llar s ys tem s imil a r t o tha t used in bitumi nous ooal mines (fig. 4). Th e beds
di p a t angles l ess than that o f t he angl of repose f or the broken are and ave rage 8 to 10
fee t in thick ness . The overlying s trata mus t be s upported by pillars to prevent t he en
tran oe o f lar ge volumes of wate r. In s ome of t hese mines sc raper loading has been developed
t o a very high de g r ee ot efficiency. Th e minin g practioe in thi ~; di s triot i s des oribed by
W. R. Cra ne in U. S . Bureau of Mine Bull e tln 239 .

Tenne see .- At Ma s cot, Tenn.,12 la r ge ope n- top e s with irregular pillar s a re em-
pl oy ed for minin g 1 r ge bodies of low-grade zin c ore . Th ese ore bodie s occupy fr ao tur ed
zon in dol omite in whic h t he fr a atu res ha ve bee n hea l ed or reaemented by zino s ulp hi de
and o l oite , t ending t o form a very s t ron g , fi rm struc t ur. The are bodie s are of va r i abl e
t hi ok n ss r a nging f r om a few f ee t to 150 feet . Very a brupt changes in thickne ss fr om 20
f eet to over 100 fe e t are oommon . The verage d i p o f t he o r e and enolo s ing for m li ons 1s
a~ o ut 18 .

Pi l lara a r e rou gh ly airoular and ext e nd f r om t he bottom to the top of th e ore hori-
zo n. Sometimes i t 1s po ss i ble t o locat e t he pi lI a r s in t he lE:J.ne r 0 ra, bu t 0 ft en thi oan
not be done . The roo f s t a nds we ll be twee n t he pil lars , a nd s inoe mining atar t s a t th e top .
opp or tuni ty i s a ffo r de d to dr e ss down t he bac k t ho rou gh ly be for e underhand s lop i ng ope r a-
tions pl a ce the ba ck beyond reach of in sp eotion and oare .

M oot., 'ILIon . ", loto nlla.t1o n C1roul r

6239, Bu r e U ot Mlnes , 1930. 11 P )I .

- { -
 Inf.C1.r.No . 6l93.

Some mines in the Duoktown district in Tennessee employ sublevel stopec in la rge
bodies of low~grade oupr.L fa rous pyri ~e9 . At one mine 13 the 0 re body attains a max1.mulD
thiCkness P1." wld"h of .~80 fe.at; the average dip is 65 but va ries from 70 down to 35.

In the narr_ower . ~ections of the ore body. averaging 40 feet in width, longi tudinal
sublevel stope_s .~ ~.e ta~en out from wall to wall (1'lg . SE). In the wider section trans vers e
stopes are car r~ e q 40 feet in width al ternating wi th s011<;1 pillars of ore 40 feet thick
(fig . .5A). ~h ! wall s ~r~ highly metamorphosed sedimentary schi~ts and graywaoke with the

s Ohistos i ty roughl y paralleling the ore body in s~rike and dip. Ore and walls are generally
self-supporting over spans up to 100 feet in width exoept where weakened because of ~harp
folding of th~ stra~a.

At otber mines in the Duoktown distriot a room and pillar system is employed wherein
~~ wide bodies oJ oJ;' ~ 150 feet 0 r mo ra in height are mined by und~ rhand stoping. The ore body
i s blo9k~d. ou,:t by ~ .. oheQkerboard system, or rooms approxim~tely 60 feet square wi th inter-
v'e cins 40-foo1. pilla.rs (fig. 3). These blooks are each develQpe9 by a vertioal raise from the
haulage level to the top of the ore or to the next level aQove, and the ore is btoped out by
benohing aroqnd the raise, starting at the top . Where the ore extends over more than one
leva]. floor pl11ars are left under the levels. Thi s s ye tem is the old Cornish "under-
hf,lnd1ng" ~yste {ll of mining.

Anyox. Briti s h Columb ia .- At the Hidden Creek mine, Anyox. British Columbia, a

modifioation of ope.n-stoping is employed in whioh spiral I?enohee are cut around a central
well or open-stop~ ty.o,m. whioh the are is blast~d ipa mAnn~r . e.1 Plllar to that employed in
sublevel s\opes, 14

New Yo Tk State. - At the mag'ne ti te mines 1n New Yo rk State 16 open-stapes suppo rted
by irregular pillars Of ore are employed tor mi n ing a bedded deposit averaging 10 feet of
wo rkable ore, the thickness varying, however, from 3 to 40 feet. The ore beds are inter-
stratified with gneissoid rock,s and in plaoes the ore grades off into the country rook.
Twenty-five per cent of the ore Is left in pillars, most of which will ultimately be re-
oovered.

Iri-State Qistri o t.- In the Tri-State zino di s triot the common .method of mining
empl'o yed i s that . of open-stopes wi th irregular pillar s upport. 1 (j In rare ins tances timber
s upport and even.. -sp.iling are required. In the n,arrower ore bodies or runs, it is often
po s sible to mine the full width of the are wi th headings or breasts driven at the top,

13 - MoNau &b tQ Il. C .H . ;' r(o rK oHsd.

1 4 - Ll n.d.IIQ"L " . R . . a nd Hea ly , R. l,. , tUning Yeihodl!l i Flldcten Ore }t. Wine, Anyox,.BrllISh Colu.mbla. C 'IU :i1 n Win .
.,Jour . Ap r . 26, 1929 pp. 383-385 .
1S - GUMlllniB, A. M., Work -o.1ted.
16 - Notzeband , W . f .. In fo r ma tIon Ciroular 6113 ~nd 6121, olt,d.
BankS, l,;. Y . _ !ork oited.
Keoner, O. W. , Work olt ~ d . .

6651 - e-
 In f. Cir .No .6193 .

followin g by underhand s toping o,r tha b noh ( f1 ' 1 ) . I n thi s case t he roof 1s sel f- Bup-
portinb be twee n wallL, especially if it i s well arobe. , The are i s flat-l ying , though t here
are looal d i ps and runs in the f lo or of t he main are bodies . These are mi ned fr om s l ope
or wi nzes , The a re ran as in th ickness f ro m a f ew f eet to 100 f e et or more . The si ze and
s paoin g o f pilla r s depend s upon t he height of ore as wel l as upon t he l ooa l roo f oond1tions ,

In the wider ore bodi e 12 to 25 per cent of the to ta l ore i s l e ft in pillar, muo h
of wh ioh oan often be r ecov er d duri ng t he fin a l stages of min in g . The amount of pi ll ar
ore tha t oan b rocQ vered wi ll depend l arga ly upon t he na t ure o f t he i mmedlat capp1ns .

S()ut he t Mi ur i .- In t Sou t heas t rn Missour i l ead dist rict ope n-s top s wi t h
irregul .... r pillar s upport i s the usual mi ning method. 1 7 Here gal ena OOO urs di sseminat d
th rou gh doloml t e and haly b d,s 1n ho lzon t a l sbe t. ~l on g b ding pl ane . in vu e nd
o vit ies , fillin g and linin g t h wall s o f jo int s , and a aggr gS.t6S of cubes 1n open ch n-
nel s. The e ooo u r ence s a r fou nd at se ve ral horizons pr i nc i p l l y in t he Bonne Ter r e dolo-
mi ti c l i me s tone whio h has a norm 1 t 1ckness of about 375 fa t, Scme tim s th ese ho ri zo ns
a re COD.nec t d by bodi e 0 f ore 0 t t i ng a o r 0 6S t he b dd in g , and s t<..p sat ta i n he i ght s up t.
200 f a t and a r e s upport ed by margi nal wall s od b y pil lars .

Th e ore and roof us ually s tand well, s ince i t i s ve ry s t rong and uni for. An unique
f ea ture o f the praotice in t.h i s di str i c t i s the . thod of i nsp oli ng Bnd dreSS ing t he
co of. 1 Timb r s oaffoldi ng i s uppo rted upo n ira ~ angers in ted i n ho l es dril l d in t e
roo f. Aocess t o the soa f fol di ng is secured f rom a point on th side of t he slop . ork in g

fr om t he sca ffold , t he baok 1 0 ra fully te t d 'a nd ba r e dow n, holes a re dr i ll ed ahe d

o f t he suspended soaffold in whi ch ha ngin g rods ar in se rt ed , and t he scaf fold i s t hen
advanced anot her l ength o r "set, " afte r which t he operation 1s r epeated .

DEVELOPMENT

I t has been how n t ha t opel -sto pes are employed in min ing 01" bod es o f va1"iou
typ s , s i zes , and di ps rep r ese nt Ing a wide ange of oondit i ons . Tbe development i no iden t
t o prepa r i ng th ese are bod ies for mi ni ng natura l ly vari es aoco rd i ngly.

Tr i-State Distric\ . - Tb simp l est t ype o f develo pment i s represe nted in t he Shallow
min s of . the Tr i-Sta t e z inc nd l ead di s tr ot, wb ere a sbaft i s s unk to th e bo ttom of a
ody of ore previ ousl y pr ov d up by chu rn dri l ling. Wide he adi ngs are driven from t he ah ft ,
omet i mea in severa l dire ct ions. The o re bodies a re f lat and the head i ngs are breasted out
7 to 8 f ee t hi gh ga l ns t the baok o f the a re, and as t he y a r e advano ed t hey a re ol osel y
fo l l owed up by s topi ng o f t he benoh t o t he bottom o f the ore . The se head i ngs are ca rri ed
t be ful l wi dt h of t he o re in narrow o re bodi es o r a widt h oorrespo ndi ng t o t he distano
be t wee n pil la rs in wi der o re bodie . The deve l opmen t 1s thuB in r ali ty a pa rt o f t he
s t oping opel" t i on. However. oorrespondin g t o t he l eve l de velopmen t i n ot he r meta l mi nes ,

17 - Poston , Roy H.. Work olt d .

18 - Jaok on , C. r.. or K oltod .

- 9 -
Inf.Cir.No.Bl93.

pull drlftJ (fig. 2) are frequently driven through barren rock from a shaft to an ore body
or from on~ o r s body to another. While are is m1ned at more than one horizon in some mines
of the Tri-State distriot. mo s t of these mines may be oon s idered as being ooe-level mines.
Rai ses and winze s are therefore s eldom neoessary. though the former are sometimes driven

to reaoh a body of are above the main ore horizon and the latter to mine local runs . ohan-
nel s . or oas ins of are below the main level. For the latter purpose flat s lopes are fre-
quently driven in ore also.

Furth r detail s of development in this distriot may be found in the following

Informatiou C1rculars is s ued by the U. S. Bureau of Mines:

Information Ciroular 6113. by Wm. F. Netzeband;

Info rma tion Ciroular 612l. by Wm. F. Netzeband:
Information Circular 6150, by L. M. Banks;
Information Ciroular 6159. by O. W. Keener.

Shafts 'are usually abou f.. 5 by 7 feet 1n cross s eotion, and exoept for being crlbbe-d
throu gh s hale and badly broken ground 'a re for the most part untimbered. These
shaft s are us ually sunk on contraot. the oontraot prioe ranging from $9 to 512 per foot in
s bale and $13 to $15 in rock. 19 The oontractor usually furni:::;he:.:: only the labor and explo-
s ive s , howe ver ; the mining oompany furnishe s all eqUipment. materials, supplies. and power.
Thus a shaft oontracted at $13 per foot for sinking labor would 009t the oompany about $20
per foot . 2 0 At some mines larger shafts are sunk and equipped for hOisting in cag~s or
skips. II 1

Pull drifts are us ua lly 8 by 8 feet a nd untimbered. Often they are driven on con-
tract at prio e rangin g from $6 to S8 pe r foot for labor and explosives only. the total oest
bein g $10 to $ 14 per foot including all labor explo s ives. power. insura.nce, compressed a1r,
pipes. track, steel. etc. 2 2

Sout heast Mi ssouri .- In the Southeast Mi ssouri lead di s trict th e ore bodies are
us ually large r than in th e Tri-Stat e , the production rate from Single mine s is muoh higher,
and usually th e mine s are considerably deeper. The are bodies are flat-lying as in the
Tr1-State di s t r ict and ran ge in t hiokness from a few feet to 200 feet or more. Here larger
shafts are sunk and are equipped with self-dumping Skips for hoisting are in balance and

19 - Netzeba nd, Wm. r., Inform oited, p . 4: Inform ti on Ciroular 6121, oiled.
Banks . L. M. , Work Oiled .
20 ' - Netz eband, W . F . , InfOI'll lion Ciroul a r 6121. oHed, pp. 3-4'.
21 - Netz bad, W . P., Info I' tton Cirou l I' 6113. oiled.
'Keener, O. " . . Work oi ted.
22 - Natz ob nd, " . F . , Inrora ti on Ciroul r 611J. oited, pp. 4-5: Info r. tion Ci rolll r 6121. cHad , p. 5 .
a oks . L. W. , Work oiled. p. 9.
Ke n r. O. W., Work clt d.

6551 - 10 -



 rnr . Ci r. 0 . 6193 .

wi th cages for handli ng men and supp l i es . 2 3 From t he se s hafts drift s are drive n t o t he ore
bodie s where t hey are open ed ou t to t he wid t h between pi llars to form stap es whic h a re
breast ed ou t at the top 0 t he ore and benc hed down in a manner s iiliil ar i n many respe ots to
t hat empl oyed in the Tr1-Sta t e di s trict. Deve lopment drifts are us ually 7 by 8 f ee t ill
oro ss sectlon 24 to 12 by 8 f ee t for l a r ge r ha ul age drifts . 2 5 At one mine 964 f t of d ri f t~ ,
7 by 8 feet in c ross s eotion. were d ri ven a t an average co s t of 17.87 per foot 2G in 1928 .

I n this di s t ri ot th e o re o fte n occurs at s evera l horizons makin g 1 t neo essa ry t o

drive oocasional ra i ses , slopes , and wl nzes . 27

In mines o f the type r epresent ed in th e Tri-Stat e and Southea:::.tern Missour i di s-

t r i c t s , de velopmen t work 1s l argely oonfi ned t o t ha t required to reach the are . Onc e the
ore body i s out . topi ng 1s begun al mos t 1mmedl t e ly.

Large Deposits on LQ~. - I n la r ge depo s it s on low dips some devel opment mus t be
don e i n are pr ior to mining in orde r to bl ock out the or6 body and prepa r e it for a ot ua l
stopi ng ope rations . This may consis t me re ly of drivinr the variou~ haul age l evel in are
and open i ng room-ne cks t he re from as at Birmingham, Ala. (fie. 4). or may i nvolve in addit i on
t he putti ng up of r ises a s at Ma scot. Tenn., and at th~ iron-ore minas in Miohi ga n 28 and
at Minevil le , N. Y., whe r e auxili ary sha fts or slope s must also be driven.

At Mine vill e , N.Y., 29 main ha ulage l e vel s are driv en in or on the footw a ll from th e

main in cl ined sh ft at interval s of 1, 000 to 1, 500 feet, (meas ured on the dip which averages
20 to 30 . ) From t he s e level s c rosso uts a nd a i ses are driven to t he o re body in Boh
f au lted a rea and at interva l s i n unfaul ted areas . The raise s are driven to permi t the i n-
sta llat io n ,o f sma l l are po cke ts and t he cro ss cut s to give easy acces s to the auxi li ary
s ba ft. One or more auxili a ry sh I t s n re d riv e n in each faulted are8 both up and do n th e
dip, s ta rtin g at t he t op of ore pocket s on th e main haulago level.

At the iron-ore min es in Michigan vertic a l sh aft s are ~unk to reach t he a re hori-
zons , and orosso ut s a re dr i ven to cut the o re a t t he desired level interval s. These shaf t s
a re qu i pp ed with se l f-dumpin g s ki ps and wit h oages for handline men, timber. and s uppli es .
Level int erva l s a r e from 50 to 150 f ee t o r more. The present tendenoy i s to s paoe mai n
level s a t greate r intervals t ha n fo rmer ly and to trans fer ore through rai ses t o the haulage
l e vel s fr om in termedi t e leve l s no t conne ot ed with th e s haft.

At on su ch min whe re th e ore is up t o 40 f eet thick and dips at an angle of 30 to

35 ~ he o r e i s min ed by a combi na ti on of open-s tape s s eparated by r eg ula r pillars and
s hrin kage stop ing. Cros out s a re d ri ven to the are body from vertio~l ha f t s at interva l s

23 - Po t on, Roy H.
24 - Po t oo . Roy H.. Wo rk c it od.
25 - J aok on . C. r ., Work oi t d.
26 - Po ton. Roy H., Work oi t d .
27 - J aokson . C. r. . ork oi l d.
28 - Eaton , Luol n , Work oited. ~. 6.
29 - CummingB A. Y., Work oit d, pp . 4, 5 , 6 .

~55 1 - 11 -
Inf.Cir.No . 6193,

of 100 f ee t ve rtl 0 lly, or ab out 150 fe et Pleau r ed on t he d ip. When t he 0 r l body is en .....
oounte r ed, dri ft a re d r i ven on o ~ nea r t he footwall, a nd from t hese dr if t s shor t minin g
rai s es a '9 p ut. up. t o the ha nging,. wa ll on .t he cent e r li nes of t he s tapes to be IIlin d l at er .
From th e f oot wal l s i de of tn ese s hor t. ra i se , inolined rai ses a e t hen d r iven in ore anQ..

olosely f ollow i ng the footwa l l ' t h r ough to t,h e leve l above . Oooas ional rai ses are al 0 run
betwe e n l evels withi o t be pillar b oun d ari ~s . to s e rve as manwa ys . This work is a ll preli~
inary to aotual s toping op e r at ions .

At other iron mi nes 30 the ar e bo dy is bl oQkeg out by dr ifting and rai s in g prior to
stopin g .

At Mas cot, Tenn., l e vels are dri ven from th e ve r t ica l s haft or from ~lop es tribut a ry
to the bott om leve l of t he s haft ju t .~ elow or ne a r t he bottom of a thick are body which
d ips at an a ve r age a ng le of 18 . Short inolined chut e s are put up from th e side of the
level, a nd fr olli the s e c h :t~;3 v,Qrt ioal r a i ses are put up to the hanging wall. r.:e anwhile
s mal.l dri ...ft s. ~or.. n .at J ai es_ Q,re (:1 iveo thr ough a pil l ar f r om tLe n8xt. level to serv e a.s
travelin g roa ds . Tbi s wo r k i s all rel l~inary ~ o a ctual s topine.

- In .th.e mines of the nort h. re. nge of _ th e 10higan copper di s t r iot wh e r e the pres ent
operations a r e at g r eat. dap , the, wo r.kin g o ri z ona r e r eaohed by ve rtio a l and ino i ined
s haf ts . Cr oss outs ar e drive n at the various leve l s to out t he lod es, t hes e levels being
us ually spaced ab out 100 f e e t ap art . At presen t th e oommon praotice i s to drift in or on

the footwal l pal~ a llel wi t h t .l ode to th e l i mi t s of th e minin g area and to bep-.in min ~ ng
at the ends a nd r et r ea t towa rd th e sha ft. Raises are d ri ve n a1 interval s to connect the .
level s.

La rge Ore B.odies on S~!i~~' - La rge dep os i t s of o r e on steep dip s worked by

open-st op e me t hods ooC Ur at Duokt gwn, Tenn . , 1.n the :3 outh range o f t he Mi c higa n copper dl -
t r ict . and i n t he iron d i s t r i ots of i c higa n. They are usua l ly r each ed by s inking ver tical
s ha fts . ome ti mes by i nol i ned sha f ts . Cro sscuts a r e the n dr i ven i nto the ore body at ver-
tical int e rval s of 100 to ~O O fee t a nd f r om th ese oross out s l Qng itud lna l dr ift s are run in
are, or dri f ts are d riv en pa ral lel to the are bod i es in t he f oot wall wit h cro ss outs the .r a-
from to the ore at re gul a r inte rva l s .

In t hese min es con side rab le s to pe prepa r a ti on or dev e lopment in ore i s r eq uir ed t.o
prepare fo r st opi ng ope r at i ons . At Ducktown, Te nn., 31 f o r example, t he s top e deve lopme nt
in s ub-level s topes am ount s to 1 lin ear fo ot of oombined rai ses and s ubl e ve l s t o 110 ton s
of recove r able ore develop a d .

Develo pmen t C Q~ts - A _19 mines us ing open-stope methods in the Eas tern and Cent r al
States whioh have bee n s tudi ed reo en tl y, deve lopment cos t s oon sti tute d on t he av e r a ge abo t
15.5 per oen t of the tot a l unde rg round co sts .

30 - E ton, Luol en , Work oited , p . 6.

31 - MoN u&n l oo. O. H. , Work oit d, pp. 7-8 .

6551 - 12 -
 I nf.Ci r . No .6193 .

At mi nes in the Tr i - Stat e di s trict ourrent development i s us ually not ca r ri ed as a

para t e item from s lo ping on the cos t s heets , but it probably con s ti t ute s not more than 5
pe r oent of the t ota l mi ni ng cost . At Mineville, N.Y., 3 2 d~v e lopment r epresents 8.2 pe r
cent of the tutal und r g rou nd oos t; in South ea s tern Mi ssouri it ranges f ro m 5 . 1 to 18.7 Q r
cent. At Ducktown, Tenn . , the range i s from 12 to 20 per cenl . At the Bur ra Bu r ra mine S3
in thi s di s trict it was 20.2 per ce nt in 1928, but durint tha t year th develo pment was
pro seouted much fa ster than was required to keep up with thE rat e of o re extrac t i on . The
norma l cos t of de v l opme nt a t t h ~6 prope rty i s probably a round 12 t o 15 per ce n t o f t he
t ota l undergrou nd co st . In open-st ope mine s of tho Michi ~ a n coppe r di s tr i ct 16 to 25 per
cent of the t otal underground eost i s f o r d e v e lopm~nt, and in th e Michigan iron mi nes r e-
port ed upon. Ute dBvel opment co st was from 15.4 to 42 . e r Gent of t he tota. l underg round
cos t . Th e fo re goin g fi gures cov er a ll dev e lopment both in rock ~nd in a re.

Some of t he la r ge r depos its having modera t e to =:eep dip . may be mined by anyone
of s ev e ra l d ifferent methods , depending upon the various details of physical co ndi tions
and eoonom ic co n ide rat ions i n dif f e r en t insta nce:::; . ~': :: ce in any event the pre liminary
ma in l ev el d ve lopment up t o the encountering of the ore body i s pract i oally th e same
whethe r s ubleve l stopes . a l te rnat e pillar and ~tope. shrinkage stoping . cut-and-fill , s l i-
oin g. or c ving are t o be used , i t i s of in t e r es t to de t e rmine th e amoun t of stope p repara-
tion or stope deve l opment . a s di t ingulshed from t otal develop me nt , re qui re d p r i or to
s toping in op en-stope mi nes o f this type . Pr actically all of this deve lo pmen t i s in o re.
Since mos t of t he mines of th i s t ype whi oh ha ve been s t udi'3d in conn ectien wi th the present
i nvest i ga t i on we r us i ng sub l ve l s topin g , the followin g figur es in Tab l e 1 refer f or th e

mo s t part to mine s us ing t hi s method .

Th f i gures gi ven in Table 1, oonsidere d in the li ght of i nspect10 n a nd study of

t h min es . ind i cate qui te concl usi vel y that th e amo unt o f stope development requ i red i n any
iva n case i s a f un ot i on o f t he strength o f ore and wa ll rooks . pa r ti cu lar ly of the fo rme r;
st ron ge r t he ore . th e l ess d v lopm nt pe r ton of recov ra bl e ar e wi ll be requi red 1n
ines us ing t h1 met od 0 f s t opi ng . Thi s i s pe r haps mo re 0 r less sa l f-eviden t, bu t t h
figures taken r m act ua l pe tions a r e i nte res t ing. Likewi se t he d v l opment per to n i e
nat ura lly l ess in wide t han i n nar row ore bodie , ot her oondit io ns r emai ning the same .

32 - CU in&s, A. Y.. Wo~k oi Led , p . 12 .

33 - MoNaugh to u C. H , WorK oit Q, p . 17 .

(.~; ':,l - 13 -
Int.Cir.No.6193.

Table 1.- Me thods us ed to mine v rious types at ore depos its . s howing relation of stope de-
velopment to produ c t i on .

Tons of ore

produoed per Feet of stope
Min e Nature of ore body Nature of wall s Mining method lineal foot development
location o f stope de- per ton of
v!i!lOEmentl_ ore 1
Strong ore, cupri- - Sublevel s top-
--
Duoktown, ferous pyrite and Firm. ing. Stopes av- 110 0.0091
Tenn . pyrhotite,hard ore. - erage 40 feet
wi de.
"

Open-s tope and

Iron ore. Firm Strong Jasper and pillar with
Michigan and strong . Moder- moderately strong s hrin.kage. 60 0.0167
ately hard. slate. Stop es 22 feet
widl~ .
Iron ore. Firm Iron forma tion and Sublevel stop-
Miohigan and strong. Moder- pyritio slates . 1ng. Stop es av- 45 0.0222
ately hard . Moderately strong . erage 50 feet
wide .
Iron ore. Firm Iron formation and Sublevel s top-
Michigan and :;;trong. Moder- pyritio slates . I ng. Stopes 25 35 0.0303

Michigan
ately hard.

Iron ore. Firm,

medium hardness.
Moderately s tron g. t o 60 f eet wide

Blaok slate. Mo-

derately s trong.
Sublevel.
St ope s up to
lQQ (~~~ !tide.
Subleve l s top-
55 0 . 0182
M.iohigan Iron ore. Weak and Iron forma ti on and l ng . Stape s 50 20 0.0500
fairly soft . slate. feet up to 100
----1----------1-------
Gold-bearing py-
fiet wide .
Sublevel s top-
I

Ontario ri tes and quartz in Greenstone. hard lng . Stopes up 125 0.008
hard. schisted a1- and strong. to 110 feet
bi t e porphyry . wi de .
Complex of sohist- Open-s topes
Quebec Mas s ive sulphides. ed rhyolite ande- benohed from 75 0.0133
St rong. s ite and d iabase incl i ned r aises
1 - flgur s ar Cor e lope prepar~llon only. as dl 0 t 1niul ehe d Cro tQt 1 development. nod do Dol inol ude ~aln hau la&~

levels .

DRILLING, BLASTING, AND HANDLING

Ground of a ohafaoter whioh lends itself to open-stope mining usually has 8 tendenoy
to break large, partioularly if planes of weakness are tight and spaced far apart. FollOW-
ing the breaking of the ore at the faoe, seoondary breaking is often neoessary either in
the stope, on grizzlies. or in the chute s . On the other hand, the ground is often easy to

6661 - 14 -
 In f , Ci r ' Noj ' 619;3 ,

d ri ll, a in the zinc mi nes at Masoot . Ten n . . the Southeast Mi ssouri l ead mi ne s . a nd t.he
iron mine s of t he Bi r min gham distriot . At Ducktown, Tenn., and at I s hp e min g . Mioh .. th e.
ore i s ha r der.

In a ll th e s e mines t he a is li tt l e t r ou b le f r om "fitc he r1n g " and cav ing o f t he

dri ll ho l e s , a s th joints , fractures . and b edding pl a ne s are r e l a tiv e ly f a r a part . In the
b reooi at ed o r e of t he Tr i-S tate distric t. howeve r , t he hol es tend to oave , and t hi s in-
or ases th e d i f fioul t y i n drilling . At I hp emi ng . Mich . . in hE. _d s p e oula r hema t i te th e
d r i l l i ng s peed 1s re t a r de d p ri marily b~ the l ard ness o f the ore.

In pra ctical l y al l o f t he ope n- stope mine s s tudi ed , re ga rd] :38 of t he "dr11l a bil i ty '!
o f the gro und, t here i s a tendenoy f or the ore to b r ea k large, as a bove no ted ; t he r efo r e
t he prob l em o f b r e aki ng al wa ys revolves around th e proper placing a nd chargin g of the hol e ,
whe r eas the actual d i l li ng i s a lesse r p r oblem, e x c ept a t I s hpeming a nd in t he Tri-S ta t ~
d1.~trict .

At the Pay master Min e i n t he POrcupi ne dis tri o t o f Ontario. where s uble ve l s t op i ng
wa s employ ed. th e ore was in a sohisted and s ilici fi ed a lbi te porphyry whio h was ha rd to
d rill a nd ve ry a b rasi ve - so mu c h so that a d rill was never goon for more th a n on.e run
(2 0 inch es) , a nd occasionally a s many as 5 teels we r e requ ired t(l d ri ll 6 f ee t of ho l e .
Th i s ore b r oke la r ge in the stapes i n spite o f the s c hi s t os ity a nd s lip p l an e s , a nd muoh
s e condary break i ng wa s r equi red .

I n t he Tri-State distriot whera the o r e i s mined by head ing and ben che s , the d r i ll-
i ng p r ac t ioe var i es at differen minefll , The most c ommon practicP i s t o d ri l l t he stopes
(or benohes ) wit h l on g f l a t ho la s . emp loying t wo ma n machines on tripo ds . eve n t hough t he
bedd ing is nea rly hori zo n t al. Vertical hole g i ve more troubl e fr om c a vi ng an d f 1 tche r i n g .
s t he gro un d i s ba dl y breociata . Reoeme ntin g o f th e b re ocia fr agmen ts . howe ver . s e r ves
to hold t hem t oget he r nd permi ts the use o f open- s t ope s . In thi s gr ound f ast d r illin g
maa hi nes are not a r equisi te , ince the d rilli ng s pee d depLnd s mor e upon th e amo un t of
on.v l ng a nd fi t c rl ng t han upon the weight a nd f r eque noy 0 f th e b l ows st ru ck, though the
o r e i s i n a hard flin t .

In s ome mi nes o f t hi s distriot the s t ope a nd "s plit.ter" hole s a r e ohambe r d , us in g

ona a nd a ha l f t o fiv e boxes of powder conoe n trated in the ohambers and wit h a heavy bu r de n
on t he holes . 3 1 I t is mo r e common p raot i ce , how eve r. not t o cha mbe r but t o l oad tl'le hol es
abo u t two- t h irds fu l l of the explosive . 36 In thi s me t hod of brea kin g f r om t he olid t h
b recoia tends to b r eak o ut i n the form of l arge bow l d ers , an d oonsi derabl e seoo ndary b r ea k-
ing by bul l dOZing and s l edging i s required . Furtl e r de ta il s of the bl as t ing p r a o t i oe i n
thi s distr i o t are giv en in U. S . Bureau of i nes Informa tion Circul a r 6 056.

34 - Helz. band. Wm. ~ ., Inform r 611 3 . olted , pp . 7-6;

No.2, Trl- Stat ol a ro t , Picn r, O~l I nfor tio n Ciroul r 6121 , Bur a u o r Yinea , 1929. p. 7.
35 - BankS , L. W. , Work 01 ted .
Keener. O. W., M thod and Co t or Ninln, a t Ba rr Mine , Tri-St t. Zi no ad Lead Di s t ri c t. Inform tion Oiroul r
6159 , 1929, 10 pp .

- 1,'; -
 Inf.C1r . No.6193.

In Southeast Missouri the ore is a mineralized dolomitic limestone whioh i~ almost,

i f not quite, free from silioa. This is usually drilled with light hammer drill.s operated
a.s one-man maohines . 3 At one mine t he s e drills are equipped wi th pneuma tio feed, :.: 7 and
80 to 100 feet are oommonly drilled per maohine shift. The ore is only slightly ~raotured,
the rook joints and slips do not as a rule oocur at clo s e intervals, and little trouble is
given by oavin g and fi tohering. In oontras t to the practice in the Tri-State distriot,
t he s tope hole s a re usually drilled vertica lly do wnward. In the middle horizon of the ore
formation the ground tends , to break large, and s ome seoondary breaking is required.

At Duoktown, Tenn., the are is qui te hard , and somewhat heavier machines are used.
to- edium-we i ght drifters are employed for drilling t he slabbin g hole s on the s ublevels, and
unmount ed Lammer d ri ll s are uSf\d for the benohing . Mo s t of the are i s produoed from the
benohing operati ons in which all the hol es ar ~ dr 11led vert ioa lly downward. The ma obines
are all operated as one-man drill s .

The ground breaks in large blooks and con s i derable IIblooking" i s requi red. At
Ducktown t he blocking i s done in grizzly ohambers l oca t ed directly over the baulage drift
without any stora~e capaoity between the grizzlies and the cars. 3 8

At Masoot, Tenn.,3 9 the ore is pulled f rom the IImill s " throu gh ohutes and mus t be
broken fin e enough in the stope to pass the s e ohutes . Some large slabs of ore are inevi-
tably mixed wi th and oovered by finer ore and do not make their appearanoe till they reach
the chute. This necessitate s oonsiderable blas tin g i n t he ohute s . At thi s mine the stope
contraotor al s o loads the cars, s o that s eoondary brea king i n the ohutes is kept at a
minimum.

At some i ron mines using s ublevel s toping the ground can eas i ly be drilled wi th
j aokhammen:; employing auger steel.

Based upon data obtained from 23 mine s (Tabl e 3) a nd ooverin g operations during the
past t wo yea.rs , breaking (drilling and blas ting) in open-s topes requires an average of 0 . 282
ma n- bou s pe r ton of are, (28.4 tons per ei ght -hour Shift), with a minimum labor cost of
breakin g at th e min es s tudied of 0.122 man hours per ton (65 . S ton s per e i ght-hour s hift)
and a ma xi mum o f 1.081 man hours per tsm (7.4 tons per ei ght-hour shift). The labor
employed in breaking in stapes a t 19 of th e~ e mines averaged 32.0 per aent of the total labor
employed in the mining operations. At tbe var i ous mine s studied thi s peroentage varies
from 23.8 t o 33:9 per oent exoept for one mine whioh had a low peroentage ot 13.8. At seven
i r on mines usi ng sublevel s topin g the average man hou r per ton expended in breaking ore
in stopes was 0,187 (42.8 tons per eight-hour shi f t).

Total powde r consumption a l 21 open-s tope mines s tudied ran ged f r om a .421 pound::..; of
40 per oent gelatin per ton of ore to 1,265 pou.nds o f 33 pe r oent ammonia gelatin per ton of

36 - Poston , Roy H.. Work oiled.

37 - J aok on, C. F., Work oited.
38 - WoN a&hton . C. H., Work cited.
39 - C01 . H r l Y A,. ~ork cited.

6551 - 16 -
 In f . Ci r . No . 6193 .

o r e . th e a verage bein g 0.790 pounds of explo s ive per ton of ore mined.
for s topln g only at 13 mine s averages 0.524 pounds pe r ton o( ore .
Powder cons umption

St ee l consumption as given by severa l mine s was very va riable, ranging from B. low
of 0.008 pound per ton 0 fora produced to .200 pounds pe r lon, t.he ave rag e being 0.100
pounds pe r ton .

Breaking, an important problem in any mine, t akes on an added importa noe in open-
s tope mines . Thi~ may be due in part to the f~ot tt~t s ome operations and problems involved
in othe r me thods of mining are abs ent or of ve ry minor importanoe in open-stope mines.

DrI lli ng and blasting operat i ons con s titute on e of the major problem~ in open-s tope
mines , and con s i derable s tudy a nd experi men ta tion are wa rra nt ed for the purpo~e of obtaining
t he mo st ac onom i cal res ul ts. Tllt~ tYPtl a nd s ize 0 f dril l s best su i ted to the local condi-

t ion s; kind, sh ape, and s ize oC s t eel; type and gau ge ch an ges of bits; steel tempering and
tre atment ; type of drill round; depth, s pacin g , a nd burde n of drill hole8; kind, grade. and
mo s t s ui ll;l ble dens i ty of explo s ive; met hods of loadin g and firing; and economical pro-
portioning of primary and seoondary breakin g a re all ma tters requiring careful study.

The breakin g and the handl i ng of broken ore ar e intimately related, and the one oan
not be properly considere d except in it s rel a tion to the other. The ore mus t be broken to
ui i t he me t hod of loading whether it be by hand, by powe r s hovel, or by sorapers ; it must
in ma ny oases be broken to pass t hrou gh load ing chut es a t th e bottom of t he s topes and must

be of siz e whi oh can be readily loaded into and ha ndl ed by t he mille cars a nd s kips . The
mo t eoo nomica l a nd efficient opera tion will be se cur ed where there i s a proper balanoe
between t he breaking, handling. and trans portation ope r a tions .

The combinations of condit i ons a ff e ctin g t he p r obl em va ry in different di s trio ts ,

are ofte n different in mi nes o f the s ame di st r i c t . and m ~ even di ffer cons ide rably in part s
of the same mine ; t he r e f ore no s e t rul es c an be given for standard p r aotioe . The paint
. re made , howe ve r , i s t hat in t he open-s t ope mines t he prop e r coo rd ination of the d r i llin g.
rea ki ng , and hand li ng opera tio ns , with development of each to its highe s t efficienoy,
off e r s th e g reates t po s s i bilities for over- a ll s avi ngs in op era ting cos t s. Thes e depart-
m nt s of unde r gro und ope r at ion are of cours e of ma jor i mpo rt anoe in connection with other
mi ning met hods , but wi t h meth ods oth e r t han open- stope s uc h p r oblems as s uppo r t of s tope.
capping , an d su r faoe; p r ote otion of wor kme n aga in s t f a lls ; ven t il ati on; "olean" mini ng and
p re vention of dilution of are wit h waste r oo k; timbering , eto., often pre s ent probl ems of
equa l or grea ter importance.

Mi nes emp loyi ng open-s tope me th ods in the Eas tern and Central State s repre se nt a
wide r a nge of oonditio ns , ne oess itat ing a good many vari at ions in drill i ng , blas t ing . and
handling praotice s .

HANDLING AND LOADING

~Ol}ta l Depos i t s .- Whe r e t he o re bodi es are of t he thin, flat, blanket type and
the bottom oontours are s uch that practical ha ul a ge gr ades are po ss ible ove r t he g reate~

6551 - 17 -
Inf.Cir.No.6l93.

parl of the deposi t. handling of the are cons i s t s of loadin g by hand, power shovel. or
s craper d ireotly into oars (or "oans" in th e Tri-S ta te di s triot) and tramming to tbe shaft
by hand. animals . .or looomotive haulage.

Often to obtain best results a different type of oar is required for power-s hovel
or scraper loading than where hand-s hove ling i s employed. The type and size of equipment
best s uited to the job are dependent al s o upon the life of the mine, rate of output des ired.
and len gt h of haul. In some large mines with workin g face s at oonsiderable distanoes from
t he shaft. t he haulage of ore approaohe s a problem i n railroadi ng. Here maximum eoonomy and
e f flci&ncy. ar-e often made possible by employing large oars and lo_como ti ves. heavy rai 1 and
well-laid traok, installing blook-signal systems. etc. 40

In thloke r, flat depos! ts, level s are driven f rom the sha ft at va rious eleva t10 ns
a s raquired, raises are put up to the top of the o re or from level to level. and the ore i s
blas ted dow:n into the raises, whenoe it 1s drawn .into cars on the haulage level. In thi s
manner a large peroentage of the ore may be ha ndled from s tope face to cars by gravity . as
in mining depos! t s lying at steep inolinat.i ons . In the wide. flat depo s ! ts. however, oon-
siderably more level development is required ~han in s t eeply dipping ore bodie s . and even
then a certain amount of are which oan not be handled by gravity mu s t always be left 1n
"hog-backs" near the bottom of the deposit and between the ohutes.

In .the Tr-l-Stat.e distriot, ore i s usua l ly loaded int.o oans by hand. Most of the
operator in -the distriot olaim this to be the . oh eaps t me thod of loading unde r t heir con-
di tions. 41

At the Barr mine <12 both hand loading . and power s hovels . are eDlPloy.ed T'he ha-nd-
h

loade rs average 24.9 tons per man-shift, and t he men operatin g t he power s hovels avera ge
49.0 tons per man-s hift. Basing their choice upon the s uooe s s ful experienc e some yea r s a go
at a . prope ~t~ now worked out. the operators of a new ly opened mine a re to ins ta ll s orape rs .

At s till . another new mine power shovel s are to be employed .

In Southeas tern ~issouri, power s hove l s are used extenSi vely for loadin g where th e
ore i s t hick enough to provide tonnage oO'mmens urate with shov.el-Ioading and oar-handling
capacity. At . one pr-opeTt y 43 in thi s di s trict the hand-loaders average 19.2 tons pe r man....
shift in s lopes while power-shovel opera tors average 135 tons per man- shift.

Q.il2.osits Having Low or Mode r a t e 01ps .- In thin depos it s of low dip, too s teep to
allow running cars from the haulageway to the st op e taoe yet ' flatter than the angle of
re pos e of the broken are, intermed i at e handling of the are between the s tope tace and t he
car is required. In thick deposits a cons iderable part of the ore may be handled by gravity .

-----.--------------------------------------------~--------~----------~-----------------
40 - J Okaon . c. r .. Work Oiled .
41 - Net.z eb nd . 1m. F . . InCo rm tion Cirol.11 r 6113. oited .
42 - Keener . O. W. . Work oiled .
43 - Jaokson. C. P .. Work oited .

...... .:

6551 . - 18 -
 Mi ned-out .topea

bolea

Or~ bn~

..
Ore body
PLAN Of SC RAPER STOPES
SCALE
shovel ,. IO If'."jG'
~~~~~ ~~

SEc tION A-A

ENLARGED
SCA.LE
0' If' 'P'
C;ECTION ALONG DIP or ORE BODY
SCALE
O'IO"r-g" ..Io' -tO
, t ! t

Carryint,

EHLARGED SECTION
SHOWlNG LOCATION OF ~ULAGE I..EVEL
HOIST, LOADING CIiUTB AHD SCRAPER'
SCALi
~ If Ie !p .." .6p

FIGURE J t..
PLAN AND SECTIONS
SHOWING METHOD OF STOPING
AND LOADI.NG WITH SCRAPERS

"lNEVILLE DISTRICT
 In f . Ci r . No . 6193 .

In t h in depo s its of thi s type t he intermedi a t e ha ndlin g may be done by (1) s hoveling
and r esh ov e li ng a numb e r of times , which i s archaic; (2) d riving inclined roadway s upon
wh i oh mi ne oars a r!'! ha.ndl ed by hoi s t s ; (3) th e us e of sc rapers ; or (4) shaking ohute s or
oonveyo r s. In s ome places where the dip i s only s li ght ly l ess t han the an~le of repo s e th e
ore will run by ~ravity in a stael-lined chute.

The an g l e of repos e of brok e n are will vary oOI!3iderably with the phy s ioal charaoter
of t he a r e . In t he Con~lome l.:.t. ts Lode , Kew ee na w Peninsul a , Mic h . the broken 0 fa wi 11 run
I

on an 1noline a s low as 35 and at 40 wil l run well. At t he Noranda mine in Quebeo 1 t

ru ns on a n in oline of 38 . Many broke n o res , however. a ss um e a much s teeper a n~le of repose .
At on e i ro n min e us ing the sub l evel s lopin g me t hod , t he are r uns to the chutes on a 45 d i p,
whe reas a di p of 50 to 55 i s required for ma ny o th er iron ores . At the Paymaster mine in
Ont ario , broke n are which was a ha rd , sC hl s ted , al bit e po r phyry of t en hung up on a 50 Slope.

In some min e s where t he dip i s app ro xi mat e ly t he same as the an gle of repo s e of t he
broke n o r e , the ohunks will run a nd t he fi nes will hang up. In the Conglomerate Lod e i t i s
es t ima t ed t ha t 60 per cant of the a re run s on a 35 dip a nd t ha t 100 per oe nt will run on
40,

At a n iron mi ne in Mic h i ga n us ing a comb i na ti on of open- s t a pe s and pillars wi th

shri nkage st op i ng , th e lumps run t o th e c hu t e by grav i t y whil e th e fin es have to be pulled
down with s orapers . 1 At thi s mine t he o re varies f rom a few fe e t to 40 f eet. in thiokness

and d ip s at a n a vera ge a ngle of 30 to 35 . Minor r oll s in th e footwall increase thi dlp

or de crease i t l ocally. In t he thi cke r pa r t s of t he l e ns , b r oken are i s left in the s tope s ,
sh r inkage f ash i on, upon which the me n wo rk in attaoki ng th e ba ck. In t h i s cas e th e b roken
a re does no t se rve to s uppor t t he wall s. When a s tope i s mi ned up to t he next leve l ab ove
(a bo ut 150 fee t a lon g the di p) as much of thi s are i s d r a wn off by ~ravity throu gh chut es
as will run, an d the balance i s pulled down with s orapers .

At Min e vill e , N. Y. 4 so r ap e r s a r e oommonl y employed on the flat dip s and in

I

fa ult ed sec t i ons f o r moving the are f ro m t he s tope f aoes t o t he t rammin g level s . He r e the
o re bod i es have a vera ge d ips of f rom 20 to 30 , a nd t he are i s 3 to 40 feet t h i ok a nd a ver-
ages 10 f e et of work a bl e ar e . Th e ar e beds ar e d i spl a oed from a f~w feet to over 100 f ee t
by a number o f fault s s triking in va ri ous d ire ctions . In order to reaoh the are in the se
fau l t ed seo t ions , a con siderable number of a uxili a ry inc lined s haft s or s lope s i s requir ed.
Or e b roke n in s tape s tributary to t hese in c line s is i n some cas es loaded into cars at t he
faoe , trammed to the s lope, a nd the c ars the n lo we r ed or ho i s t Eld on t he s l ope to the ha ul a ge
le ve l. Mo re often . how e ver, sc rap e r s a r e e mp lo yed to d r ag t he b r oken are from th e f nce to
s mal l poc ke t s o r loadi ng platforms f rom which ca r s , hoi s ted and lowered on the s lopes , are
loaded ( fi g . 12) . In thes e mine s t he ha ndl in g , haul age , a nd t ranspo rta tion cost s aocoun t
f or a bout 56 p e r cent of t he t o t a l und ergro und co s t, an d t here fore these operations cons ti-
tute t he maj o r problem in connection wi t h e conomioal exploi ta tion.

In t he Birmingham d i s tri c t o f Alaba ma , on dip s ran gin g from 0 to 25 , large s crape rs

weighi ng f r om 2.700 to 3,100 pounds and op e rated by 50-hp. hoi~t~ are employed to drag the
a re f ro m t he fao e of t he s top e fo r di s tance s up t o 200 fe e t inlo 5-ton car~ on the haulage

<4 - Grafe , W. W.. Mi ni ng Praol io s . Me t hods and Coale al Min e No. 4, of t he M rqu e tle Rango, M1 ohigan .

-4

6551
Ciroul a r 6390 . Bur
- CUlllmi ng , A. M.,
u
Work
or Min
dll;d.
9 , 1930 , B pp .

- 19 -
I nforma ti on
Inf.Cir.No.6 193 .

le vel. Each sc pe r uni t , oonsisting of a s o aper out fl , hoist , and l ocomoti ve , loads and
t rams t o the s ha ft an average of about 250 tons per 10-bour s i f t with three men . As muoh
as 100 to ns per hour f or a durat i on of severa l ho~rs h s been ha ndl ed i n thi s manner under
id a1 condi tions , and 3 00 ton s per s hift i s a coml.llon performance . Some o f the oond i t io na

mak ng f or succ ess ful sorape r operat i on in this distriot are : (1 ) Keepi ng a large t onnage
of b rok n ore ahead of t e sc ape r at al l times ; ( 2) 0 a e ll b eken for handlin g witho ut
xoessive seoonda r y breaking by blockhol i ng or sl dging ; (3) l arge heav y sorapers of design
suite d to the materia l hand l ed , operated by po erful hoists; ( 4 ) ample oa r supp l y and f a oi l i-
ties f or lo ad i ng ca r s made up in t rains without swltchin ; and (5) large oars.

At Masoot , Tenn., the or body ips at an ave rage angle of 18 , and t he wor kab le
a e ran g e~ fro m 15 or 20 f eet t o 150 f eet 1n thio kness . The main lev 1 o f t he haft in te r-
sects t h to p of th e or e at some distanoe fro m t h sha ft, and i n orde r to r each the lower
horizons, slopes are dri ven a t an angle approximate l y t hat o f the di p of th a re . Cars are
l oaded fr om s t ope ch utes on thea lower levels and hoi sted on the s lope s to the s haft l eve l,
whe nce th y are haule d t o the haft by looomot ives. I n seotions where t he ore is t hi n, th e
s t ~ p es a re br asted out on t he headlng-a d-b noh pl an , a d the are i s ho veled by hand int o
mi ne ca rs. I n tn e t hiok ore , prese nt pra oti ce i s to use an underhand mi l l i ng method in the
open-stopes. I rregu l ar pi ll ars are l e ft to ppo rt th r oof and whereve r po ssi ble are con-
fi ned to th e lower-grade portions of the or e body . The mil l s are dev el oped f r om ra i ses
open ed fro m a haulage d r if t in t he footwall . Th e bottoms of these raises t ermi nate a t the
ha ulage lev el in hu t es pro vided wi h gates for l oad ing i nto the car . The ohut es are

paoed a~ intervals a lo ng the haul age d ri f t and t he bottoms of the mill s f orm a se rie s of
funn el wit h i nterseoting ri ms . Broke n ore fr om the part of the stope abo ve the to ps of
t.hese fun ne ls falls by ravi ty irectly f rom the stope fa.ce to the ahute . Fo r r eco vering
the hogbaoks b tween the mi ll s and t ore l eft belo the angle of repo se of broken are,
so ap rs operated by 25-hp . eleotric hois ts are employed t o drag the or in to the ohutes .
ora ing 0 re t th e chute s cos t 8 c n t per ton in 1928 . Th ground b r eaks large , and
aoo ndary last i g is employed in the s t ope and i n the ohutes in order to reduoe large
owlders a a 1ze wh i oh i l l permit them to p a ~s throu gh tbe chutes and whi ch can be handled
in th e mine oars and skips .

In the ooppe r mi nes of Mi oh i gan , sc rapr are us d xt ens ive l y to dra g t e ore from
open-st ope i n lodes o f f lat dip . These so aper either pul l the di eotly i nto oars or
i nto ohut es instal l ed at the haulage l ev 1. ~6 On steep r dips it i s of t en the p ra ot ice to
a llow the a re to run f rom the face down into the haul ga level be l ow and fro m there to pi ok
it up by scrapers hioh drag i t up an 1noline onto a lo ading pl at ferm fr om whence i t fall s
into oars. Whe r this i s do ne , about 100 tons 1 usually lo aded per sh ift per scraper .

Oepo its Ha ving Steep Oip.- When th dip i s greater than that of t he an gle of repose
o f th e broken ore , int ermedia te ha nd ling between stope faoe a nd l eve l i s not requ ired . The
b ok no r f a ll s by grav i t y in to ill s 0 r chutes , t o gr i zz l i es a r i nto the level , fro m
whe noe i t 1s l oaded into oars .

- 20 -

 Inf.Clr.No.61 'J 3 .

In rno:;.;t open-stope s the ore when broken from t be f a oe i s i n s uch condi tlon that
more o r l ess s ec ondary breaking i s re qui red . In fla t depo s i t s large chunks are us ual l y
roll ed to one s ide during loadin g of t he fin e r are a nd are broken up at conveni e nt t imes.
In s t eep depo s its, however, chunks and f in es fall to gether, and the chun ks usua lly have t o
be broken immediately upon their appearance at the loadin g oh ute in orde r that loadin g may
continue.

Var i oUS methods are in us e for s eo onda ry breaktn g . In aome min es the pra c tl ae i s
to break the chunks on top of the muck pil e be fore it is d r awn . I n thi s event only pa r t of
t he ohunks are broken up before reach i ng t he pull po i nt, as th e ba l a nce a.rt;, co vered by
finer ore, s o that further bl~stln g must be done in the chute when the chunks appear t here.

I n o the r min s no attempt i s made to b r ea k l a r ge c h u nks til l th ey appear at t he

ohut e or l oadi ng point on the llaul age le ve l. Breakin g in t he ohu te has s everal di sadvan t -
a ges : The r e i s a lways a certain amo unt of da nge r oonn ec ted with bl as t i ng in chutes; loadi ng
i s se riously delayed While preparin g for blastin g ; frequently further de lay oc c urs while
awa iting for the smoke to clear after t he bl as t, and sometimes l e vel s are smoky durin g th e
ent i re s hift when much chute blasting i s done; bla s tin g oft en damages the chutes , ma kin g
r epai r oost s und uely large; delay s ca u ed by blas tin g r ed uce th e amount of are per sh ift
whi oh can be d r awn from each chute, and mo re s tope s mus t t hen be p r ovided t o s eoure the
s ame output.

In ~ ome open-stope mine~ zrizzli es are ins t a lled abov e t he hau l age level which a re

connee ted to the :. .; tope by 1a rge ope nin gs . a nd a ll s e conda ry b reak in g i s done on th ese
grizzlias (fi gs . 5,6 and 11). The instal l a t ion of grizzli es re qui r es some add itional de velop-
ment cost and shortens the effective hei gh t of stope s between leve l s ; on the othe r ha nd ,
they provide a convenient and safe place in which to work. away f r om the miners in the
s tope itse lf and from the tramming level . Whe n properly in s talled t he y permit rapid loadi ng
i nto cars on t he ha ulage level, parti c ul a rly if s oma s torage s pace i s provid ed be t ween th e
l e ve l and t he g r izzly . At the Payma ster mine in Ontario on e l ocomotiv e engineer and two
l oad e rs re gul a r ly loaded 400 tons in t wo a nd a half to t hree hou rs . The grizzlies were 24
feet a bove the back of the haulage l eve l . an d wi de, under- s l ung gates permitted r ap id d r aw-
ing of rather rough muck through the ohute s .

At t he Burra Bur r a mine 47 t he gr i zz li es are pl aoed directly ov e r the ha ula ge le vel

( fi g. 13), an d the 0 ra is b rOk.en th r ough the g r izzly di re c t l y in to cars wi thou t i n t e r-
mediat e s tora ge. At t hi s pacLiL':1.11a r plant requ i r emen ts as 0 a e anal ySi S demand ed t hat
ore be drawn from a number of stope s , and i t was not des ira ble t o force production f r om any
one stope . Earlier experience at t his mi ne was that it r equi r ed as much time to draw ora
fro m th e s t orage s pace aG it did to block the a re thro ugh th e grizzl ies when the grizzlies
were placed hig . r u~. With th e p rese nt system an avera ge of 72 .5 ton s per man per s hift
i s pu t through the grizzlies and loaded in to ca r s .

Grizzli~ ~ are us ed at some of t he Michi gan iron mine s emp lo ying the s ubleve l st op ing
me t hod , an' at others the are ru ns direotl y to t he mill hol es . Where the are i s ha rd an d
b r eaks in la r ge s lab s , the u~a of gri zz l ie s i s desira ble . Wi th t he s at te r and mo re f ria ble
o res th e insta l l a tion of ~rizzli a s i s p r obabl y not ju s t ifi ed . Fu r the r mo r e, at s ome o f t he

4~ - M oN~ug b t o n. C. H. . Work oited, pp . 7 nd e.

- 21 -
Inf.Cir.No.6193.

mines the grou nd i s so heavy that t he maintenanoe of grizzly

and expensi ve .
chamb~r s would b~

At one of t hese mines employing s ublevel stoping, fOUf active s ta pes, ha ving thr ee
gr i zzl ies to eaoh s t op e (fi g . 6), provid e ~ an output of 700 tons per day and could eas i ly
ui ffic ult

produce 1,000 t ons , a r an a va ra ge of 250 tons pe r st ope. At auu the r mi ne devel oped s im -
larly, t he outp ut was 150 to 300 to ns pe r s tope per 4ay, the average bein g 250 tons .

At ot he r s ub s tope mi nes whe r e t he are 1s s ofter, rai s es are us ua lly s pao ed a t 15

t o 20 foot i nte rva l s alo ng tb ha ulage drifts on alternate s ides of the drift ( f i g . 8 ) ,
thG haul age drift s t hemse lv es bG in g driven on 40 to 50 foot oen\e rs ; At one mi ne devel oped
n t hi s ma nner whe r e th e ore i s so mewha t ha rder bu gene rally -breaks wi t h a very sma ll pro-
portion of la rge chun ks , t hree subleVel s tap es were producing 1,050 tons per day, working
only on e s hi f t.

As s t a t ed (page 17). t he brea ki ng of the are oonst itute s on e of the maj or Qpe rat i ons .
i n open- st ope min s ; t e a v rag l abo r 005 t of breaking in stopes only at 19 of t he mines
j

st udied was 0 .310 man hours pe r t on of are, a n~ thi3 was 32.0 per c~nt o f th e total man
hours pe r to n worked underground.

Fo r t he same group of mine s, th~ mucking labor cos t av e ra ged 0 .228 man hours ~ar ton
(35 . 1 to os per mucker sh i f t) and t he transportation 0.268 man hours per ton (29 .8 to ns pe r
trans porta ti on s hi f t .) Transporta tion includes load i ng, tramming, moto r hau l age , a nd
hoi s tin g . Since th e muc kin and transportation operations overlap in mo s t mine s and as t he
line of d m r Jat io n be t ween them va r i es at different mines th es e operation s wi ll be co n-
side r ed togeth r. The oombined muo king and t ra nspo r t a tion labor co st for t hese min es av r-
aged 0 . 496 ma n hours pe r ton (16.1 tons per shift) and acc~unte~ for 51.1 pe r cent of t he
t ota l undergrou nd m n hours p I' ton. The r ange was fro m 0 . 22'6... man hou f S per to.!l_ ( 33. 9
ton s per shI ft) to 0.722 man hours per ton (11.08 tons pe r sh i"ft.)
'.~
The fi rst f i gu re i s

t ha t f or a min in whic h the handling, loading, and trans portation are all l a r gely me-
cha ni zed, wl ereas t he hi gh f igur e i s tllat for w. mine in which all handlin g , l o ad~ ng, a nd
t r ansportation are done by hand.

Five mi ne s in fl at or bodie s mined by open-stope::: wi th pilla r s uppo r t in which ..

loadi ng and hand lin g wer partly mechanized averaged 0.503 man hours pe r ton, and fiv e
~in e6 of the same type in whic h all loadini was by hand, ~~era~ed O.COO man ho urs per t on
for l oa di ng and transpo r tation.

The forego i ng f igu res include both s toping and devjlo~m e nt . They se r ve to indi oate
t h impo t ance of loadin g and underground trans portation in mines of the type under d i s -
cuss ion.

COSTS

In Table 2 nd Table 3 the unde r : round co sts a t a group of min es emplo yi ng ope n-
ethods are .giv en. Tab l 2 gives the oos t s in dollars and Table 3 in man hours pe r

6551 - 22 -

 I" ~ .----------~
,
~
~

.3

c.o Scrap boaJdI or timber

~-~~~~~~~~rm~=i~~~~~~IF~~~!lI!~
i
::!: -OM ~..--

btl
~
'0 Haulqe drift
g
lJ
i t. ..' l.. ...&~b::JHtt:::l)$;i$.AIWR_.J
1-------fr8'4'"-- - -i
Sed::ioo At i' Sectio.:.: BrB,

24"-S"'
2JJ'
B,j )( 10'"

foo-- - 6'.8"'- -- -I
I
j
All poet:e lOx 10'"
At At
,,', "..,. H t p! . ~ f . b . ~:; . tr' : ':1 Section A ,- A, Searon B.- B.

Plan
SbowiDg portion of ftoor removed
Type No. l I.Jsing IUeI pla~ aDd aqia ~ for ~ i.ronII

P\an
Type No. 2: Uams mtlnpMeee ~ platee loT p\uly iroDIa

Figure 13 - Types of gruz11es used at Duoktown. Tenn.

 Inf. elr .No. 6193.

Cos ts in dollar:; are apt to be mi:;;;leading for

wa ge ra t es , r a il transportation, and cost of explosi ve s .
ably in different di s tricts. For cOfuparatlve purpose s
ial s a r e generally more useful and may often serve as a
comparative purpo;_~ e.:.:.:. inasmuch a
timber. and supplies vary con s ider-
costs in units of labor and mater-
valuable yardstick to the ope ra tor
for meas urin g t he effioiency of his own operat1ons .

I t i s empha s ized th a t comparlson~ between oosts at the mines li~ted 1n the table s
\ a r e ap t t o be mi s leading without full knowledge of the conditions at eaoh mine. and has ty
oompari ons s hould be avo i ded.

Some of the mines were developing at a rate f as ter than that required to keep paoe
wi t n ore extraotion; one a f the mi ne i s app roaching exhaustion, and the cleaning up 0 r
ir re gula r to ngue s of a r e grea tly inore ases cost. There 1s a. l s o a wide variation betwee n
di f fe r ent min es in the amount of exploration and de velopment required to loc a t e and op en
up the are f or mining, due to s ize and type of ore depOSits.

Mo s t of thes e mines have been or will later be described in a series of papers pUb-
l is hed by th e U. S . Bure au of Mine s as Information Ciroular~, and from the s e oircu lars oon-
s i dera ble de tai l ed information ooncerning them may be ga ined . The author has vi Si ted mos t
of t he min es , and in t he prec edin g pages lIas included s uc h comparison s and av e rages of t he
data as were deemed us eful and s afe.

Mi nin g opera tions are oonduoted primarily for the purpos e of producing profit s , a nd
it mus t be born in mind t hat t he lowe s t mining oos t per ion of are does not neoessari ly
mean the hi ghes t ove r-all profit for the ent e rpri se . Percentage of recovery of ton nage
and me t al li C contents o f the are , e ffect s of dilution of the are, rate of produoti on, safety
in workin g , and s uoh factors mu s t be oons idered. Example s are not unoommon of changes fr om
l ower to hi ghe r cos t per ton method s in which the oos t per pound of metallic prod uo t i s
lowe r for th e high co st per ton of ore me t hod than for th e low oost method.

Tabl e 2 and Table 2A s how dis tributions of oo sts for a numher of the miDe:~ studi ed ,
t he a ve rage cos t s . a nd peroentage o f total under ground cos t s which eaoh of the prino i pa l
divi si ons of underg round work represent s .

6551 - 23 -
In f . Ci r. No. 6193.

Table 2.- Open-stope Mines: Unde rground Costs

r

Designation .. Stoplng system Dev 1 p- 'Mining Tran.s por- General Total

--!!!!!!.L t~liQn
1
Open s tapes
Mineville
with casual 10.092 10.370.
-
,0.627 50.023 51.112 ,
pi llars

2 Regular stope .... . .

~~a rquet te and pillars
No. 1 breast and .194 I' . 685 .217 .160 1.256
bench mining

3 SutlJve1
Ma rquett;.. t->toping .223 . .371 .133 . 231 .958
NQ. ~ ..
4
Menominee SUblevel
No. 1 sloping .188 .415 .154 .071 .826

6
Ducktown
No. 1
Sublevel
stoping

Regular stope
and pilla.r
.229 . 332 .386 .188 1.135

Ducktown underhand .355 .545 .714 .214 1.828
No~-L-- ~tQping

7 No. 8 Open-stapes with

S . S:. M.i souri aasual pillars .045 .483 . 222 .136 .886

8 S. E. Mb;:3ouri Open-~topes with

Mine X casual pillars .137 .367 .145 . 178 .827
..
9 Large stapes
Miohigan with large .197 .498 .520 .008 1.223
_~ B Ei l lrs
10 Long. narrow
Miohigan stapes with .379 .617 .479 .048 1.523
_. QQE~r C rib Qi ~lArs -
11
Tri-State Open-s topes with
No . 1 ca s ua l pillars .049 .5~2 .217 . 187 .985

6551 - 24 -
 Inf.Cir.No.6193.

Table 2.- Open-Stope Mi nes; Vnderground Costs - Continued

D i gnation Stoping s ys t em D ve1op- Mining Transpor- General Tot 1

pO
t ent tation
12. Tri-Sta te Open-Stapes with $0.050 $0.458 $0.200 0.285 10 .993
No. g
13. Tri-State
o~sYf\l ei1lars
Open-stapes with
----
No. 3 oasual pillars or no .030 .450 I

.165 .162 .807

eill a rs
14. Waco Open stapes with .050 .490 .155 .090 .785
Tr i-S t.t e ~ l e ill~ r s - -------
15 . Bar r Open-stopes with .047 .497 .217 .101 .862
Trl -!& ~ ~e ~ l EU1ar ~
16. Mas oot, Tenn. Open-e t oe with .053 .222 .278 .086 .639
Qa u~l E ill~r ~
-----
17. Hart1~y-Gr~ntham Open-s top s with .000 .516 .196 .069 .781
I [i -~ ~A ~~ .Q.s~~ l 12~l1tH~ -----
~ MQ n~r~ al, Wi s . J.! b-1!i y ~1 ~ Q e~!i2 _~ill .22e . 248 ~~ _l_. Q~
19. Spring Hill Sub-level stapes .377 1.072 .131 . 365 1. 945
-M2n t~na ,f some shrinkall9 \
Averages 19 mine s .167 .481 .281 .145 1.077

Pe reen ta ges 0 f to tal

oos t 15.5 447 26.3 13 . 5 100.0

Ho ~ :- 1-2-3 1 nd 18 r ron ore mine Co r ~ hio h r po r ~o d tl ur e are be d on ~h 100g ton ot 2,240 pou n~. In thi
table ~he r ported to bo rt ~o n b ala l o oon tor wllh t b 00 t a t otbor mln
11 01e ~ l butio o ot 11 Ooo L eel1. t d b~ ~th o r.

12-1 3 01 lrl bulioQ of 00 ts b tween dey lop ent. In l n,. ad ~ ran por~ t on tlm led by ~tho r .

14-10 - 01 tr i butl on oC 00 te as bel. 0 mlnl na and devel opment atl t ed b~ the author.
1. Bedd d dopo it o C h rei go tite or . In to r m ~ion Ci r oula r 6092 .
-.
2. Ha rd ep oul a r h a tlt oro. Information Ciroul r 6138 .
3. Sott h ll t e oro wlt h a t ro o, wall. Ioto rm tion C lro~l r. 6179 .
4. Soft h ma t Lo oro wi t h medium troni' 11e. In f or t lon Ciroul a r 6180.
G. H rd oupri C roua pyrites Qod py rho tite. alrOOi 11 In t orm tlon Ciroul r 6149 .
, 6. Hard oupr i t ero~ pyr i t 8 and p y rho ti~ o . ~ron&. 11 In torm l lon Clroul r 6397.
7. Di eamln ~e d 1 d Ore 1n lim ~ooe bed. InCo rm ~ i on Ciroul a r 6160 .
a. Bedded depo 1 t. in li mestone. I nforma l1 on Clrou l r 617 0.
9 ~nd 10 . N tlv ooppe r l n a Yid loid 1 beds ; d ep mlnee . Bull ~i n 306.
11-12- 13-1 - 15. Zi no and d ore i n beda of br 001 d fli nt ad 11 0 tone Infor ti on Clroul rl!l 5ll:5
6121 61:50 61 ~ 9 .

16. Zino bl od i n l i .e8loo b d. InCorm tton Ci r oular 6239 .

17 . Z 110 nd 1 d or i n bed of br 001 ed It lone . I nforma tio n Cl roul r 6286 .
1". I ron or i r!" &ul r in l op dipping b d . Inform li 0 Ciro ul r 6369 .
1;) . Gold or o taot meta 0 bl0 d po I nforma ti on Cl rou r 6402.
(1) Inolud ~l I I berl0 1.08 d ~e terr d d v lopm a t 1 .0 4.

- 25 -

Inf.Cir.No.6l93.

Table 2A.- Open Stope Mines; Und~round Costs

Labor Compressed
De s i gnation and air ,drills Power Explosives Other Total

1 . Minevil !~
-- u.Qer v1sion and ~ee l
10.672 10 l38 IO.Q77. I
10.127
~up~lles
10.0~8 11112
2. Marqu t te
No . 1
.795 .136 .096 .121 .108 1.256
,
3. Marque t te .026 .069 .125 .061 .177 .958
No . 2
4. Menomirlee .bOO .099 .062 .115 .052 .828
No. 1
5. Ducktown 0.744 . 088 .035 .126 .142 1.135
No. 1
6 . Duoktow n 1.169 .231 . 216 .142 .070 1.828
___-_t:!.2...-2 ____ ..
7. No . 8 S .E. .687 .081 .046 .072 .886
Mi ss o'y r i
11. Tri-Sta te .624 .127 .041 .110 .083 .985
No . 1
12. Tt:'i-Sta te .576 .114- .076 .157 .070 .993
NQ. 2

13. Tri-Sta te .545 .076 .047 .117 .022 .807
No. 3
14. Waoo - .536 .068 .109 .07~ .785
Tri-S ta 19
15. Ba rr .529 .066 .048 .103 .116 .862
_ _Ti-Sta te 0

16. Mas oot. .454 .047 .016 . . 060 .062 .639

T enn.
17. Har t ley -GranthalD
-------
.535 .052 .106 .781
.037 .051
Tri-Sta 1:e
18. Montrea 1, .654(1) .096 .095 .122 .122(1) 1.089(1 )
Wl@oQnsi,n ---~.-.-
.

19. Sprin g Hill, 1.415 .183 .003 .267 .077 1.945

Montan,a ,
Averages, 1 6 mines .680 .104 .071 .117 .086 1.058

Per oent of total

und(~ rt~ round oo ~ t 64.3 9.8 6.7 11.1 8.1 100.0

1-2--3 -4. 18 - IrOD o re mi nes tor -biob r eported r1 ~ r .a a re based on t he lon, lon of 2 .. 240 pounds . I.D thi s table the
ri u r e re r-eduoed t o hart t.o n b sie to confo r 1f1 th dat.a t roll other min e
(1) - Ino l ude adJ u tent ot 1 . 054 (or d r rred dey lop nt.

6551 - 26 -
 I. C. 6193 .

Tab l e 3.- Ope n-Stope Mi ne

Man hours ear ton

Stoping Cos t s in Man Hours Pe r Ton

Tot t l tons
De s i gna ti on Br eaking. Handlin g Total per man-shif t.
stopes Timberin g Mu oking haul3. ge and Gen ral Supe r- ma n hou rs all s t op e
only - . hoi s t i ng.. _ vi s ill per ton labor
1
Minevi l le 0 .210 -- -2...1:1..- 0.17(_ -iL_~ -iLQ 0.884 9 .05
2
Marquette .304 .04:5 .276 .196 .086 .033 ,940 8.51
No . 1
---
:3
arquet t e . 195 -- ,159 .196 .102 .034 .686 11.66
NQ. g - --
4
Menominee .353 .038 .011 .142 .056 .028 .628 12.74

5
Mo . 1 -----
Duoktown . 348 -- .2;)2 .2GJ .089 .174 1.074 7.43
NO l 1 ---
6

I
Duoktown I
.556 -- .622 .576 .241 .1 05 2.100 3,81
NQ . 2 ---
7
No. 8 , S .E. . 122 -- .319 .264 .121 .049 .8'75 9.14
s.2l:L[~

8 S. E. Mo.
--- -
Min X . 197 ---- . 231 . 184 .141 ~~ .785 10.19
9
Mio bigan .274 .002 -- .451 .093 . 058 .884 9,05
QQ12eer B -- --
10 I
Mioh i gan .341 .002 -- . 284 .163 .047 .837 SI.56
COJ;!per Q --
11
Tri -State .377 -- .40'7 . 282 ,247 ,028 1.341 5. 97
tio. I -~-

12
Tr i - State .297 -- .345 .125 .078 , 031 .876 8.93
No, 2 ---
13
Tri-State , 139 -- .262 .366 ,06:3 .069 .905 9,13
NQ. :3 ---
14
Waco ,280 -- .355 .367 .013 . 026 1,041 7.68
Tri - t !..L

--~

6551 - 27 -
Inf.Cir.No.6193.

De s i gnat i on
,
Ta ble 3.- Ope n-Stope Mine s : Stopi ng Cos t s i n M n Hours Per Ton - Continued

Breaking ,
Ma n hours Ee r ton
Handli ng Total
Total tons
per m~n-shift,
s tope s Timber- Muok- haul a ge and Gen- Supe r- man hours a ll labor except
- .'
...

onl:i ing ....i!lL hois tin2. ~.G!L ili i on ~er ton dev elopmen-: -
15. Barr .223 - . 279 I . 305 .051, . . 030 .888 9.01
Iri-S ta e
16. Mas cot, . 214 .009
---
.093
.
.368
---
.120 -- .627
-.831 ~

9.63 ,
Te nn .-
17. Hartley-
- -- --- : . ---
I
Grantham, . 21B - .272 . 220 .011 ' . O~ .745 10.74

18.
Tri -S ~a t e

ont r a l
-
. 171 -
---
.021 , . 215
---
.037
---
. 021
i
.465 17.20
---
I
Wis cons i n ---
19. Spring- -, 1.0B1 - .000
-
.163 .365 .045 1.654 4.84
Hi ll .Mont --- - --. - -.- -
20
-- .. .
-
.-
r

- --
Irony! ne A . 178 - - --- --
21
- .,
-" 1-- - -
" .- ..

IrQn ~U De B _ _. 160 - - - -.- .-.-" - - -- - -

22
Iron Mi ne C . 125 - --- - --- --- - -
-

23 ~

lron M ~ n e 0 . "~ - - --- - 1- ' , - - . . ,. - -

--- -
Average
breaking 1 .282 - - - - - - -
~Q 23 lUg1 .
Averages 1 to . 310 .005
---
.228 . 268
---
.1 10
---.049 .970 9.17
19 i no
-
l ys1
Percenta ge of
- Q
y~
- - -.- ---
total l abo r, 32.0 0 .5 23.5 27 . 6 11.3__ 5 .1 100.0 -
Nol :- 1-2-3-4 18 . 20 , 21. 22 . 23 - .Ire iron- ore mine for wbi oh r e~o r l d fi gu r es a r b sed upon tb e long lon oC 2,240
pounds. I n th ls l bl e lhe report ed C11ur h v been r edu oed t o l h ho r t l on b ai to oon form with d ta from
othe r min .

Table 4 . - 0Een-Stope Mines: Explol ves us ed per ton of Ore Broken in

OeyelQEmen t f1nd Stop i ng .

- . . ..
" -r: t_._ PoundG explo s ive per ton
Des!!. a t ioJ:L Stopiog sy s t~m Expl ostves ~ - .-
of ore broken
Stopin g
"_ Ki nd_ St r e ngt h D~v el. cnl:{, onl~ To t a l
l. Open-stopes wi t h,
-- t - 40% -
It. - -25%_
,.
'

_.Minev i l le Qau ~ l pi ll a r s Gelat i n - ~lL 0 . 834

2. Regular s tope and r
-
Marquette No. 1 pillars; bre ast and J.mm. L. r . 60% and .627 .802
bench min i ng 60%_ --
~ M~ r9 1! ~ t t e No . 2 Subl ev el toping Amm. . Gs _ _ 6 ~% _ _ - .217 ~
4. 40% - 50%-
enomi nee No . 1 Sublevel s topin g - 6 0% - .551 .735
---------------- ---~------- . .. -. , _. -_._ --.. -- - - --
6551 - 28 -
 I.C.6193,

Table 4,- Open-Stope Mi nes : Explosi ves Used Pe r Ton Qf Ore Brok~n....J,n
Development and Stoping - Continued

Pounds explosive per ton

D s i gnation St oping system Explo s~ ve s of ore broken.
!3toping
Strengt h Devel. onll I.Q1U
------------------
5. Ducktown No.
----------------------
Subleve l stoEing
---~~
Ammon
nL
- --
Qn1:t:
,756
--...iQ%_ - - ---
6. Regular sto pe and pi l- Gel. D, 40% 3.397 ,4.20 . 782
Ducktow n No.2 l ar , ynd ~ rnand stoping
--
7. Open- stapes th oasual Bul ky t 25% - - - .634
t!o. 8. S, Eo' Mlssoy r i pillars
8.
e
A!!!ID_~
Open-st opes with oas ua l Amm. Gel.
t --=-.M%_
4 0% - -
-.550
-
9.
Mine X pil lars
Lar ge open-stopes - - -
-.991
-
Miohigan Copper B with l a r ge pillars --"- - -
10. Long nar r ow ope n-s topes - - - .978
:=..:.:..::.J=.:..~C=opt:.Jp::. : e: . .!;f--=.C wi t h r 1 b pi 11 a ra -
Open-stapes with cas ual Am m. 33% - - .75 o
Tr l-State No. 1 ill.::;..la=,~ ;r......._ _~_ _ ______
(' s

12. Open-s topes wit h casua l Am.m 33% I - - 1.26 5

Tri - St ate No. 2 pill a rs
13. Open- stopes with oasua l Ge l. D. 20 % - - .87 5
___T~r~i~-~S~t~t~e~N~o~._~3~ pi llars or no pil lars
14. Open-s topes with oasual Bul ky 25% - - .59 4

15 ,

16.
Waco Tri -Sta.!&-.- pil !~r s

~ rr Tr i -S t~t e

~SOQ~I lerm E !l l~u:

17 . Hart l ey-Grantham Op en-stopes with oasu al
Ope n-s topes with casual
pil.!nr
Open-st ape s with oas ual
Am m.

L ,F.
'l.
1.
-
40%

30%

30%
-
-

-
-

.502

-
.80 5

.74 1
T[l-St~~e El1l a rs
18 . L .F. 35%
ontreal , Su b-l evel s top es Am m. and .321 .438 .75 9
Wisconsin ___ ------W.
- -~%-
~
19 . Spring-H i ll Sub-l evel stopes Ge l. D. 40 % .387 .'875 1.26 2

,
'I
20.
Mont ana

Iron Mine A
(some hrinkage )

Subl ev el etoE ng Ge l, D. __4Q%__ - .5,43

-
-
21.
Iro n Mi ne B Subl e vel stoping Ge l. D. ~%_- - .600
22.
__-=~~~~~_____
I ron Mine C =Su=b=l~e~v~e~l~~~=-_____ ~ D_.~ ------iQ%- - - .5
23.
_ M;hne
~:..=.:.~:=.:.-;=--
1ron D __ Sublevel t.oping Ge l. 0, __4Q%___ -
------ ~~ -
24. Fi erro, Op en Btopi ng from i n- 50% .115
New Me xi oo clin ed rai s es i rr egular Gel . o. 30% .403 . 51 8
pill ars
Averages: 6. 18,19.24_ --- .305

Averages ; 1,2,3,4,6,
16,18,19,20,21,22
23.24 .
Ave rages , 1 to 24
.524
-
inol. exoept; 16,

6651
GQ an d :-'3
- 29 -
- .7 0
 I. C. 6193.

Tabla 5.- Power oonsumpt ion in ~ines u

- 1.j l. _
K1~ow~tt -~eer ton of ore. hO i !&ed
De ignat l on Stoping system Compo Hoi t- Haul age Pump- Venti- Maoh.
Air ~ lng and ing lation l oad- Misc . Total

,
-. - . li,ghting ~ J:nL-
--
~

- .- - --
I. inevIlle Open stopes, 5.16 I 4.64 0. 85 0.26 10.91 -
- -
2. arquet t e
pas ual eillars
Regular stopes
. l.
- - --- - - - -
.
~
No . 1 -
No . g
4 . Menomlne$ -
~

I
and p111ar
Stoping
Sublevel
~~ __2_.04 --fh12- ~ - - ~
~
5.-g0 '
_ _2_.~

3.64
_ Q..JiL
. 047
....L.'I
1.89 -.....
-- ~
---1L.&
~g-
11. 80
_ .- -
--
-
No . 1
5 . Duol-tt own
toping
Sublevel" - .- -
-.- - -- -- r .--- - - - - --- ,-
9.92 ~

-
, . .
No. 1 s toping ...- - .-.-- - - --- - -
- - 10.50 -
6. Duoktown i - Regular stope
.

Steam
,..
No . ... : and pillar, 8.75 . Sl. 10
.,
1.15 - - 81.1 Ibs - -
- underhand ---
I t,:)s. coal
-- ---
- - - - ooal
7. No. S, S .E . Open-stopes,
~

--.

B.
1seQur~ ~as ual 12 1 l1"rs
Open-stopes,
--- r -2.
- -.- - ---
4 56
- -'- --
Mine X. . oasual pillars ~ --.Q..:.~ ~2Q.... ~OO
.
0.20
- - - 109. 91-
30
---
-:. - -

I!. Tr l-State Open stopes :. 6 . 00' 2.77 .. 0 .92 0 .22 -
No . 1 1 ca: sual pillars' - . 0 . 82
- -
-- - - --- - --- --
12. r i- tate Open-s topes ; 2.51 .. 2.42" - - - - 5 . 75
. - . ~~ l pillars .- - .
13.
. .-
No"
Open-stopes,
t -
. --- - --- - - -_.-I~

Tri- St te casual pillars 1.40 2.77 4.17

No . 3
14. Waoo, -
\
.,- or no pi1lar
Open-stopes,
--- -- -6.65
-- -
I:
Tri-Sta,ta !lsual pillars --- ---- --- - - ---
15. Bar r Open-s topes, 2.16 2. 79 1.14 - - -
6.09
Tri-State - I -:; \su~ l pl1 l i&r
--- -- - - --- --
16. Masco t, , ~ Open-stop 9,
. casual pil lars
3.Bl 1. 06 O. 3 4 .04 -0.05 0.09 - 9.68 I
Tenn.
17. H r tle y- Open-stop s , 31.78
--- -- - - -- -- ,
Gr ntham - oasual ' pillars eu.ft . 1.B5 - - I' - - .04 1.89
. ---- ---- 11.27
~ - - ---
lB. ontr a , oW SUb::'leve1 4. 1 4.01 30 .63 -
2 . 52
- - --- --.- . - - . .-
I
Wisoonsin st.o12 es ., 1

19 . Spr ing-Rirr Sub-level - '.

-
Mont. stopes (some
s hri nkage1- ___
- - - - - - - 10.43
.__- -....-
. I

-
--- ---
-
Average all mines - - .-
- - 7.93
Av e rage 12 mines - 4.34, - - - - - - -
Ave r age 3 mines -
- ~.
,
-
L
-
""
- - -
.-
.233 - -

Not , - Prao~!o l ly al l or meohanio 11y load d.
2. H If o f the ore 11160h nl0 11y 10 ded.
3. Inolude Goh nic 1 10 din, . All ore III ob oi o 111 10 d d.

6651 - 30 -