https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=MCNjcNMojYQ
4
Bord & Pillar Mining- Development Stage:
Coal Extraction in two phases
- Development – Formation of pillars
- Depillaring – Extraction of pillars formed
Development:
• Approach Coal seam through a Pair of Shafts/Inclines/Adits
duly supported & supplemented with ventilation shaft/Incline
equipped with Ventilation Fan,
• Winder/Haulage Machines/Belt Conveyors are installed &
other allied arrangements made for transportation of
Manpower & Coal,
• Driving series of roadways in the seam parallel to each other
and connected by cross headings so as to form pillars,
• These pillars formed are extracted later on partially or fully,
as permitted by geological and other conditions,
Bord & Pillar Mining during development - Important
Parameters:
(As per statutory provision i.e. Regulation 111 of Coal Mines Regulation 2017)
1. Dimension of pillars: Square pillars of length/ breadth between
12m to 48m. If the pillars are rectangular or rhombus shaped
then square formed within these pillar should of the above
dimension,
2. Height of pillar normally equal to seam thickness but not 3m in
height
3. Gallery height not more than 3m
4. Gallery width not more than 4.8m
5. Pillars should be normally square or rectangular in shape
6. Galleries to ensure stability during the period between
development and depillaring
Centre to centre distance between adjacent pillars shall not be less than that
specified corresponding to the depth of workings from surface and width of
galleries as given in the Table:
6
Panel Size:
A panel is the basic unit or a district in Bord and Pillar coal mining
that is defined as the area/part of the mine to be worked and
ventilated at a time. A panel is
• Initially developed with facilities like ventilation, transportation
of coal & manpower
• Finally depillared during retreat with facilities like ventilation,
transportation of coal & manpower
As such Size of the Panel is decided mainly on following safety
considerations.
1. Incubation Period of Coal: time taken by loose coal in the area where
most of the coal has already been extracted i.e. goaf catches fire by self
oxidation due to low ignition temperature of coal.
2. Rate of Extraction: This depends on production requirement
3. Strata control consideration
Excessive stress accumulated on the pillars against goaved out area
destabilizes the pillars under extraction.
7

• While designing Panel size above aspects should be factored in

and should be ascertained scientifically.
• Size of the Panel should be optimally designed so that all the
pillars can be extracted before spontaneous heating of coal takes
place.
• Abutment pressure which is encountered while working at a
depth should be managed with roof support in the panel.
1
2 Applicability Conditions For Bord & Pillar Mining :
The natural and geological conditions of the mineral deposit which are
optimal or well suited for Bord and Pillar mining are the following:
• Coal strength: Moderate to hard,
• Rock strength:
- Roof: moderate to strong, Cavable Roof, Hard parting,
- Floor: moderate to hard, should not deteriorate with water
• Deposit shape: tabular, Uniform & to some extent with variable
seam thickness,
• Deposit dip: low (<150), preferably flat but can be applied to
steeper gradient in manual mining/semi mechanised
• Deposit size: large area extent, not thick ( < 4.5m)
• Coal grade: moderate to high
• Depth: shallow to moderate(<450m)
• Gassiness: Moderate Gassy(Degree I & Degree II) but non fiery
1
3 Limitations OF B&P Mining: -
• In B&P Mining there is poor recovery i.e. only 20-25% during
development and even after depillaring overall recovery is
moderate i.e. up to 60% only
• Extensive development required for coal deposit because of
multiple openings
• In fiery coal, spontaneous heating is early creating impediment in
final extraction & hence continuous monitoring of fire becomes
necessary
• In extreme situations of fire no control can be exercised because
of too many openings
• Ground stress and support loads increase with depth
• Caving and subsidence occur with substantial pillar extraction
• Potential health and safety hazards exists because of many
openings
Bord & Pillar Development with Continuous Miner:
• The standard layout consists of a five road development, with the
main conveyor and feeder breaker positioned in the central
roadway.
• This provides working areas to carry out all the development
functions.
• One heading for the CM deployed for cutting,
• One heading ready for cutting,
• One heading for Crushing, Belt Conveyor & ventilation,
• One heading for cleaning by LHD,
• One heading for supporting by Quadbolter/Twinbolter
Variants of Depillaring:
– Full extraction: maximum extraction height is up to 6m in single
pass
• Caving method
• Stowing method
– Partial Extraction

Characteristics of Depillaring by Caving Method:

• Coal in pillars is extracted and roof is allowed to break and collapse
into the voids or the de-coaled area, known as goaf.
• As roof strata above the coal seam breaks, the ground surface
develops cracks and subsides
• Extent of damage depends upon depth, thickness of the seam
extracted, Extent of working underground, the nature of strata,
thickness of the subsoil and effect of drag by faults.
Caveability:
A roof is said to be ideally
cavable when the roof rock
caves in & fills up the goaf
immediately after withdrawal
of roof support. This depends
on
• tensile strength of roof
rock
• Rock density
• Presence of discontinuity,
joints & its geometry in
roof rock
1
7 Depillaring by caving method:
Advantages:
– Most popular method
– Does not require stowing
– Quicker method of exploitation
– Cheaper compared to stowing
Dis-advantages:
• Cause subsidence and may damage to surface and surface structures
• %-age of extraction may not be very high
• Stability of work place critical hence constant monitoring/vigil is vital
• Chance of spontaneous combustion and heating while extraction
• Significant Fire and explosion hazard
• To have inertisation facility for successful extraction
• Requires post mining monitoring, subsidence / environment
• Very critical for geologically disturbed area
Depillaring by Stowing:
When coal is extracted and the void is packed with sand or other non
carbonaceous waste material
Applicability:
• When Surface subsidence is not allowed i.e. to protect surface
features like Railway, Road, HV lines, Oil/Gas pipelines, Rivers,
Water bodies, Other Important surface structures
• Where the owner does not have surface rights and there is
likelihood of surface subsidence i.e. Reserve/Protected Forest
• Cavability of roof is very poor
• High in-situ gas content
Types of Stowing:
• Hydraulic stowing
• Sand
• Ash pond
• Mill tailings
• Pneumatic stowing 40
Method Of Work in Longwall Mining:
• Longwall panels are blocked out by drivage of the panel entries that
are excavated in-seam on both sides of the main entries.
• The immediate entries on both sides of the panel are called the
main/head entry and tail entry. The head entry is used for the
passage of intake air and the transportation of coal, personnel, and
supplies, while the tail entry is used for the passage of the return air.
• Coal at the Longwall face is cut by a Shearer machine and is loaded
onto the Armored Flexible Conveyor (AFC) and transported to the
entry of the main gate/T- junction.
• Then coal is transferred from the AFC onto a stage loader, which in
turn empties onto the entry belt conveyor,
• Powered/Chock supports are installed for supporting the roof along
the whole face,
• Armoured Face Conveyor(AFC) and Powered Supports are advanced
hydraulically after each cutting cycle of the shearer,
Method Of Work in Longwall Mining....contd.....
• Roof strata behind the Chock Supports are permitted to cave
immediately after advance of the support,
• The extracted area between the rear edge of the supports and
faceline is called the face area or working face, while that area
behind the roof supports is called gob/goaf,
• Roof control is done necessarily by caving method in longwall
retreat mining,
• The panel entries/gate roads are supported/maintained by roof
bolting as practiced in room and pillar mining,
2
4

Applicability of Longwall Mining:

• Coal strength: any coal which should be cuttable by continuous
cutting picks fitted in Shearer or Continuous Miner.
• Coal under excessive roof pressure should crush rather than yield
• Preferable Roof Rock strength: weak to moderate, must break
and cave; ideally, thin-bedded in intermediate roof;
• floor must be firm & non-plastic
• Deposit shape: tabular, Uniform, large extent;
• Thickness: Thin(1-1.5m) to Thick up to 6m.
• Deposit dip: low (<120), preferably flat, uniform but these days
Longwall equipment is available for steeper deposits also
• Coal grade: moderate
• Depth: moderate to deeper (150-1200 m)
2
Advantages of Longwall Mining:
5

• High production rate; mass production technology

• Requires less manpower, hence, high underground productivity (U.S.
average face productivity as high as 97 tonnes/per employee- shift)
• Low mining cost, least of the underground methods
• Non cyclic or nearly continuous mining technology
• Suitable for total mechanization, remote control, automation &
digitization
• Fairly high recovery (70–90%), nearly 100% extraction is possible if entry
chain pillars are also recovered
• Low dilution (10-20%)
• Concentrated operations, facilitating better transport of coal, smooth
supply of material, improved ventilation
• Applicable to deeper seams even under bad roof conditions
• Very high standard of safety, especially with regard to roof-fall accidents
• Subsidence on the surface is uniform which can be predicted in advance
hence, can be managed faster by mechanical means
• Methane drainage is easily possible from bleeder roadways
 Limitations of Longwall Mining:
• Caving and subsidence occur over wide areas and controllable to
some extent
• Method very inflexible and rigid in execution; no selectivity except in
varying height of extraction to some extent
• Mining rate uniform to avoid roof support and subsidence problem
• High Capital cost
• Reliance on single production face hence any interruption may be
very costly
• High Longwall move costs
• Dust generation is high so mitigation of dust is a must
• Heating in goaf may create temperature humidity problems and
spontaneous combustion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruo0YrLGAwA&t=1s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4yPsbkBg2M
3
8
Development Work for Stope Preparation
• Access from the main level to the stope by a drift or cross-cut(at
both the levels)
• Connecting the two levels by end raises and service raises at a
proper interval for mine services such as ventilation, electric cable,
conveyance of fill material.
• Development for the extraction layout, this includes, driving
extraction drive(level drive), construction of chutes for ore passes,
undercutting above the sill for stoping operation to strat with or
driving stope drive
• The ore and man passes are built simultaneously using timber or
tubing as the stope advances upward.
• To have an access to mobile equipments such as drill jumbos, LHDs,
mine truck(MT) etc. ramp sometimes becomes necessary,
3
9 Methodology: It is most common of supporting mining method and in
practice since long.
• Ore is extracted in horizontal or inclined slices starting from the
bottom of a stope and advancing upwards.
• After excavating the ore the corresponding volume is filled with
variety of fill types e.g. waste, tailing, cemented tailings, other
suitable material
• The fill serves supports to both stope wall as well provide a
working platform for equipment & manpower when the next slice
is mined.
• Another variant is Drift and Fill which is similar to cut and fill,
except it is used in ore zones which are wider than the method of
drifting will allow to be mined. In this case the first drift is
developed in the ore, and is backfilled using consolidated fill. The
second drift is driven adjacent to the first drift. This carries on
until the ore zone is mined out to its full width, at which time the
second cut is started atop of the first cut.
4
0
CUT & FILL METHOD OF STOPING:
Application:
1. Ore strength: Moderately weak to strong.
2. Rock strength: weak to fairly weak.
3. Deposit shape: tabular; can be irregular, discontinuous, scattered
mineralization
4. Deposit dip: >450
5. Deposit size: 2 to 30m.
6. Depth: 4000 to 8000 ft or 1.2 to 2.4 km.
7. Ore grade: Fairly high.
8. Ore uniformity: moderate, variable
9. It is one of the most popular methods used for vein deposits and has
recently grown in use.
10.It is an expensive but selective mining method, with low ore loss and
dilution.
4
1 CUT & FILL METHOD OF STOPING:
Limitations:
• Mining cost: relative cost 60%
• Cost of back filling: up to 50% of total mining cost
• Operational skill: required skilled labour and operations more
labour intensive
• Working atmosphere: at depth wet filling may create
impediment in movement of tyre mounted equipment
• humidity problems underground
 Cut and Fill stoping
100 m

Upper level

Crown pillar

Ore body

Roof bolt

Rib pillar
65 m

Muck pile
4.5 to 5 m

Ore Transfer chute

Sand Fill
Ladder way

Sill pillar

Lower level 30
Stull stoping
 SQUARE-SET STOPING

❖ Square-set stoping is a method relying on square-set timbering.

❖ The square-set stoping method is used where the ore is weak, and the walls are not
strong enough to support themselves.
❖ This is a highly specialized method of stoping requiring expert input.
❖ The value of the ore must be relatively high, for square-setting is slow, expensive,
and
requires highly skilled miners and supervisors.
❖ In square-set stoping, one small block of ore is removed and replaced by a "set"
or cubic
frame of timber which is immediately set into place.
❖ The timber sets interlock and are filled with broken waste rock or sand fill, for
they are not
strong enough to support the stope walls.
❖ The waste rock or sand fill is usually added after one tier of sets, or stope cut, is
made.
❖ Square-set timbers are set into place as support and are then filled with cement.
❖The cement commonly uses fine tailings.
❖Square-set stoping also involves backfilling mine voids; however,
it relies mainly on timber
sets to support the walls during mining.
❖This mining method is still finds occasional use in mining high-
grade ores or in countries
where labor costs are low.
VERTICAL CRATER RETREAT MINING
• Vertical Crater Retreat (VCR) is a method originally developed by the
Canadian company INCO.
• Today VCR is an established method used in mines all over the world
• It is based on crater blasting technique, powerful explosive charges are
placed in large diameter holes and fired
• The concentrated spherical charge is positioned at a specified distance
from the surface underneath and the detonation creates crater- shaped
openings in the rock.
• When several holes are detonated at same levels, a horizontal slice is
blasted.
• The ore is excavated in such horizontal slices, starting from the stope
bottom and advancing upwards.
• The ore produced by crater blasting falls down in the open space
underneath , where part of it will remain during the production
Applicability of Vertical Crater Retreat Method of Stoping :
– Steeply dipping, preferably 55-90o
– Thick ore body, stable hanging wall and footwall ( 6 to 30m)
– Strong ore which separates readily from wall
– Regular dip and ore boundaries
– Moderate ore grade
– Moderate depth (<1km
VERTICAL CRATER RETREAT STOPING
VERTICAL CRATER RETREAT STOPING
 A charged
hole in
Vertical Crater
Retreat Mining
5
3
Sublevel Caving
Applicability:
1. Ore strength: strong (requires sufficient competence to
withstand without excessive supports against blasting).
2. Rock strength: weak to fairly strong, should be
fractured, jointed & cavable.
3. Deposit shape: tabular or massive.
4. Deposit dip: >600 or vertical,
5. Depth:<4000ft or 1.2 km
6. Ore grade: Low to Moderate.
7. Ore uniformity: Moderate.
Development:
• The ore is extracted via sublevels developed in the ore body at
regular intervals.
• Each sublevel features a systematic layout with parallel drifts along
or across the ore body.
• A ramp is needed to connect different sublevels and communicate
with the main transport routes.
• Ore passes are also required at strategic locations along the
sublevels to allow LHDs to dump ore to be collected and
transported to the haulage level below.
• In a wide ore body, the sublevel drifts start from the footwall drift
and are driven until they reach the hanging wall. This is referred to
as transverse sublevel caving.
• In ore bodies of lesser width, longitudinal sublevel caving is used. In
this variant, drifts branch off in both directions from a center
crosscut.
 Caving requires a rock mass where both the ore body and the host rock
fracture under controlled conditions. As mining removes rock and the
mined-out area is not backfilled, the hanging wall keeps caving into the
voids. Continued mining results in subsidence of the surface, and
subsidence/sinkholes may appear. Continuous caving is important to
avoid creation of cavities inside the rock where a sudden collapse could
be harmful to mine installations.
Sequence of Mining:
• The ore section above the drift is drilled in a fan-shaped pattern with
longhole drills. Drilling can be done independently of other
procedures, often well ahead of charging. Thus, drilling, charging,
and blasting longholes can be timed to suit the mine's production
schedules. Blasting on each sublevel starts at the hanging wall and
mining retreats toward the footwall.
• The cave line should follow an approximately straight front, and
hence adjacent drifts should be mined at a similar pace.
• A section through the stope shows the upper sublevels are one step
• Blasting the longholes in a fan pattern breaks the ore in the slice. Most
of the blasted ore remains in place while some falls down into the drift
opening.
• Mucking out with LHDs creates a cave pattern of ore and waste from
above. Loading continues until the operator decides there is too much
dilution, stopes mucking moves to another heading.
• Ore handling involves mucking out the blasted material at the front,
transporting it on the sublevels, and dumping the ore into ore passes.
• When one face is mucked clean, the LHD is moved to a nearby drift
heading and mucking continues.
• Sublevel caving is repetitive both in layout and working procedures.
Development drifting, production drilling, charging, blasting, and
mucking are all carried out separately. Work takes place at different
levels, allowing each procedure to be carried out continuously without
disturbing the others. There is always a place for the machine to work.
• Dilution and ore losses are drawbacks for sublevel caving hence needs
continuous monitoring. Dilution varies between 15% and 40%, and ore
losses can be from 15% to 25%, depending on local conditions 45
5
8 BLOCK CAVING
It is a lowest cost, mass mining method in which masses, panels or
blocks of ore are undercut to induce caving mostly due to gravity,
permitting the broken ore to be drawn off below. The hanging wall then
caves/ breaks into the void created by drawing the ore.
Characteristics:
• Lowest Cost of Mining
• Mass Mining Technology with mechanization
• Undercut to trigger caving: A grid of tunnels is driven by blasting
under the ore body as undercuts,
• Ideally the rock will break under its own weight, then ore is
taken from draw points.
• Unique conditions limit Block Caving method to particular types
of mineral deposits.
Globally, Block Caving is deployed for extracting iron ore,
low grade copper, molybdenum deposits and diamond bearing
kimberlite pipes.
Applicability of Block Caving:
1. Ore strength: weak to moderate or fairly strong.
2. Rock strength: weak to moderate.
3. Deposit shape: massive to thick tabular deposit.
4.Deposit dip: >600 or vertical.
5. Depth: >600m to <1200m.
7. Ore grade: low.
8. Ore uniformity: uniform and homogeneous
Drawbacks:
• The extensive development
• High stress in developments below ore block
• Support requirement is high
• High time lag before production starts
• The behavior of the rock mass and conditions for caving are
48
sometimes extremely difficult so as to predict timely caving
 Development in Block Caving:
• Before conventional gravity flow is applied an undercut or a number of
undercuts is created beneath the ore block and long hole drilling &
blasting is carried out for facilitating caving of the ores initially,
• Drawbells are driven beneath the undercut that gather the ore into
finger raises,
• Drivage of finger raises that collect ore from draw bells to the grizzlies
• Drivage of another set of finger raises at lower level that channelize the
ore from grizzzlies to ore chutes/orepass for loading of rake loading
• The finger raises are arranged like branches of a tree, gathering ore
from a large area at the undercut level and further channeling broken
ore to ore chutes at the haulage level
• Drivage of crushing level for installation of crusher/picking hammer
before feeding to haulage level for rake loading
• Drivage of haulage level
• Drifts & other openings underneath the block are subject to high stress
hence needs to be of minimal cross section
• Extensive roof bolting and/or concrete lining may be necessary to
49
secure stability of mine drifts & drawpoint openings
Methodology:
• After completion of the undercut, the rock mass above begins to fracture.
The blocks are gathered by drawbells and funneled down through finger
raises. The intention is to maintain a steady flow from each block. Many a
times it is often necessary to assist rock mass fracturing by longhole drilling
and blasting in widely spaced patterns.
• Originally, block-caving techniques relied 100% on gravity flow to deliver ore
from the cave into rail cars. The ore was funneled through a system of finger
raises and ore passes, ending at trough chutes at the main haulage level. As
chute loading requires controlled fragmentation, the rock had to pass
through a grizzly before it entered the ore pass.
• The grizzly-man with a sledgehammer used to be a bottleneck in old-style
block-caving mines who is subjected to risk also. Now it is common to use
hydraulic hammers for breaking the boulders.
6
2 Methodology Contd…..

• Boulders that must be broken by drilling and blasting frequently

interrupt the flow. Large blocks cause hang-ups in the cave that are
difficult and dangerous to tackle
• Today, block-caving mines have adapted trackless mining in which
LHDs are used to handle the cave in the drawpoints. The LHDs are
able to handle large rocks while oversized boulders are blasted in the
drawpoints.
• As a consequence, ventilation must be strengthened at the time of
development preparations so as to clear the diesel exhaust at the
production stage/final extraction.