Unit 15

Mining
Support Systems
In this unit, you will learn about mine support systems,
such as the use of wood, concrete, and steel.
After completing this unit, you should be able to:
– List the major support systems
– Explain the properties of timber, concrete, steel
– List the methods of mine construction using wood:
– List the uses of concrete in mine construction
– List the uses of steel in mine construction
– Explain the use of natural pillars

– Explain the use of hydraulic support

 Mining Support Systems
• In underground mines, the
walls and the roof or back of
stopes are not usually self-
supporting.
• Below shallow depths, the
pressure of the rock above
may cause surrounding rock
to move into excavations.
Some kind of support for the
surrounding rock is often
required for underground
excavations which are to be
kept open to allow mining
operations to continue.
 Mining Support Systems
• Underground openings
will attempt to assume a
dome or arch shape by a
progressive breaking off of
the rock in the roof.
• If support is placed
immediately after the
excavation is made, the
breaking down of the roof
may be greatly prevented.
 Mining Support Systems

• The materials used for

supporting mine openings are
wood, concrete, steel, brick,
and stone. The first material
used was probably wood
since it could be readily
available and was easily
framed. However, because of
its short life under conditions
of mining and its increasing
cost, several substitutes are
now in use. Reinforced
concrete and steel are both
now commonly used .
 Physical Properties of Wood
Moisture Content
 Moisture content of wood is "the ratio of the weight of water in the
wood to a reference weight"
 Stored wood or chips are about 15-25% moisture while "air-dry" chips
are about 10% moisture
 Freshly cut or "green" logs will typically be 40-45% water on a wet
basis
 wood contains 1/2-2/3 of the maximum amount of water it
could hold if all the cell lumens and other wood voids were
completely filled with water
 As moisture content goes up, the strength of wood decreases
 The strength of wood in the longitudinal direction is much greater
than in the radial or tangential directions
  The timber industry prefers dry basis while the pulp and paper industry
prefers wet basis because wet basis calculations are more convenient to
calculate the required pulping chemicals

Distribution of Water
Water is held within the cell at hydrogen bonding sites, removal of this
water causes cell shrinkage

Fiber Saturation Point (FSP)

just enough water to completely saturate the cell wall substance, but with no
liquid water present in the lumen
typically 20-23% MCw
maximum swollen volume at FSP
increasing the water content above the FSP results in no further changes in
wood dimensions
Equilibrium Moisture Content
 moisture content achieved by wood or paper upon prolonged
exposure to the environment
 depends on the relative humidity, temperature and drying
history

Shrinking and Swelling

Changes in wood dimensions occur only below the FSP
with a change in content of bound water
 these changes are anisotropic with respect to the
tangential, radial, and axial directions
 Fibers (Tracheids)
  expand 2-3% in radial direction
 expand only 0.1-0.3% in the axial direction
 Pits cause fiber flexibility in radial direction
 angle, the smaller the dimensional change
Why more shrinkage in radial direction?
 latewood cells have more cell mass
 for a given moisture content change, latewood changes more than
earlywood

Tangential direction
latewood changes dimensions, which causes a large expansion
expansion in the tangential direction

Causes a T/R ratio of 1.4-2.0 When a dimensional change is negative (shrinking)

T/R differential causes fissures to occur along the radial plane
results in wood splitting
Specific Gravity
• density of a substance relative to a reference density
 Specific gravity gives a general idea of how much wood fiber or wood
substance can be obtained per unit volume of a given type of wood
 one problem with wood density - both wood mass and wood volume
change with moisture content

Basic Specific Gravity

based on dry wood weight and water swollen volume
obtained by measuring the wood sample's water-swollen volume and
the OD weight of the same sample

the volume is known as the "green volume"

 • the higher the density, the more energy that is required to
prepare the pulp

Wood Strength
Ability of wood to resist tensile, compressive, and shear forces

Influences wood grinding, chipping, and chip refining

General Nature
wood behaves as an elastic material for small strains of
short duration larger strains or extended time of application
results in plastic deformation
Wood Failure

 permanent deformation
 Due to structural complexity, wood doesn't have the same
strength characteristics in all three planes, i.e., it is
anisotropic
 for tensile strength
 Axial > Radial > Tangential
Moisture Effect
 Below the FSP, increase in moisture content results in
lower wood strength
Temperature Effect
 causes decrease in wood strength at a given moisture
content
 interactions among temperature, time, pH determine
overall wood strength
 Wood
• No substitutes, however, have the
peculiar advantage of wood in
failing gradually when loaded
beyond its strength and giving
warning of approaching failure by
audibly cracking.
• A mine timber, due to the cellular
nature of wood, may be
considered as a bundle of parallel
tubes. It resists pressure against
the ends much better than
pressure from the sides.
• End pressure will split the timber
lengthwise. Side pressure will
squeeze the cells together,
compressing the timber.
 Wood
• The density of wood is often a
good indicator of its strength,
for it represents the actual
amount of wood substance in
a unit volume.
• Strength is affected by such
defects as decay, knots,
shakes, checks, splits, and
crossgrain.
• Moisture affects the strength
of timber. Drying stiffens and
strengthens the wood fibers.
 Types of Mine Timbering

a) One Piece Set

• This term applies to a single
stick of timber, called a post,
stull, or prop. Post and prop
are applied to vertical
timbers, and stull is applied
to horizontal or inclined
timbers.
b) Two Piece Set
• A typical 2 piece set consists
of a cap and a single post.
 Types of Mine Timbering

c) Three & Four Piece Sets

• In ground that requires
greater support, 3 and 4 piece
sets are used. Sets are made
of 8, 10, or 12 inch timbers.
Lagging may be 2, 3, or 4
inches wide, depending on
the ground.
 Types of Mine Timbering

d) Blocking & Wedging

• Sets are held in place by
blocking and wedging. Blocks
are placed at the ends of the
caps and on the caps over the
plate. When blocks take the
pressure on the side instead
of on the ends of the fibers,
they yield under pressure,
saving the set for a time.
 Types of Mine Timbering

e) Square Sets
• For stopes, narrow veins and
small ore bodies, timbering with
stulls may provide temporary
support. In large ore bodies stulls
can not be used. Timbering in
square units or hollow cubes can
used instead.
• The 4 vertical timbers of a square
set are called posts. Caps and
girts are placed on top of the
posts, a line of caps being at right
angles to a line of girts.
 Types of Mine Timbering

f) Chutes
• Chutes for ore or waste rock
are made by lining a set on
the inside with lagging and
carrying this lining up floor
by floor as the stoping
progresses. An inclined
bottom and some form of
wooden or steel gate are
placed in on the sill floor for
drawing off the rock.
 Types of Mine Timbering
g) Shaft Sets
• Timber shaft sets are similiar to
square sets. Shaft sets provide
compartments for hoisting, a
manway for ladders and for water
compressed-air pipes and
electric cables.
• Since shaft sets are placed from
the surface downward, each new
set must be supposed from the
set above until it is blocked in
place. Blocking, wedging and
lagging complete the work of
timbering.
 Types of Mine Timbering
h) Bearers
• At 50 to 100 ft. intervals long end
plates are used, extending into
hitches cut into the wall rock,
their purpose being to carry the
weight of timbering up to the next
bearers above in case the shaft
timbering becomes loosened
from its blocking against the
rock.
• i) Guides
• Wood guides for cages or skips
in vertical shafts are commonly
fastened to the dividers and end
plates
 Types of Mine Timbering

j) Cribbing
• Cribbing offers a strong
method of supporting the
back and may take various
forms. The simplest cribbing
is made by the laying of
timbers on top of each other
at right angles. This forms a
hollow pen which can be built
up to any desired height. The
pen can filled with waste rock
for greater support.
 Concrete

• Permanent openings are

often sprayed with a
concrete lining to prevent
oxidation of the walls.
• Reinforced concrete is
used as a permanent shaft
lining at many mines, both
as a continuous lining and
as rings spaced several
feet apart, where the shaft
is in solid rock.
What is concrete?
• Concrete is not found in nature the way we would find
aluminium, nickel or iron. Concrete is formed from
combining water, a special cement and rock:
• PORTLAND CEMENT + H2O + ROCK = HARDENED
CONCRETE + ENERGY(HEAT)
• A common mistake people make is to use the words
cement and concrete interchangably. It is important to
remember that cement is only a component of concrete and
concrete is the structural material. The cement used in
concrete is not used as a building material because it would
be too expensive and not as strong as concrete.
Cement is a general name for a material that
binds other materials together. Yes, it is
another name for glue. There are many
materials which we would classify as
cements and they are usually identified with
certain uses, and can produce different
types of "concrete".
The structural concrete used in bridges and dams
and other types of road surfaces is made from
Portland cement (#). This cement binds the rock
(also called aggregate) together to form concrete.
Portland cement is a mixture of processed
limestone, shales, and clays which contain the
following compounds: CaO (lime), Al2O3 (Alumina),
SiO2 (silica) and iron oxides. Properties of the
cement will vary depending on the relative
amounts of these compounds.
• Adding water to the dry cement starts a chemical reaction (hydration).
While the mixture of cement, water, and rock is fluid, it can be poured into
molds (called formwork) of arbitrary shape. This is a valuable property of
concrete which allows us to build structures with the many different
shapes. The compound gradually hardens into the desired final shape.
• The water/cement ratio (w/c) of the mixture has the most control over the
final properties of the concrete. The water/cement ratio is the relative
weight of the water to the cement in the mixture. The water/cement ratio is
a design criterion for the engineer. Selection of a w/c ratio gives the
engineer control over two opposing, yet desirable properties: strength and
workability. A mixture with a high w/c will be more workable than a mixture
with a low w/c: it will flow easier. But the less workable the mixture, the
stronger the concrete will be. The engineer must decide what ratio will
give the best result for the given situation. This is not an entirely free
choice because the water/cement ratio needs to be about 0.25 to complete
the hydration reaction. Typical values of w/c are between 0.35 and 0.40
because they give a good amount of workability without sacrificing a lot of
strength.
• The other important
component for strength is the
aggregate, the rock that is
being bound by the hardened
cement. Aggregate is what
makes the difference between
hardened cement and the
structural material, concrete.
Aggregate increases the
strength of concrete and is a
fundamental economical
factor because it takes up a
large volume of the concrete
and is much less expensive
than an equivlent volume of
cement. To make very strong
concrete requires a low w/c
and strong aggregate.
 Concrete
a) Guniting
• Dry concrete mix containing
certain additives can be moved
with compressed air to a
nozzle. It can then be mixed
with the proper amounts of
water in the nozzle and blown
against a rock face. This shell
is called gunite or shotcrete,
depending on the aggregate
size.
b) Cemented Rockfill (CRF)
• Generally consist of waste rock mixed with a cement slurry to
improve the bond strength between the rock fragments. Methods
of placement involve mixing the rock and cement slurry in a
hopper before placing in stopes, or percolating a slurry over the
rock after it has been placed. The waste rock can be classified or
unclassified (sorted)
• CRF contains a mixture of coarse aggregate (<150 mm) and fine
aggregate (<10 mm fraction). The ideal gradation is one which
minimizes the void space.
• Cement slurry concentration is approximately 55% by wt. (1.2:1
water:cement ratio)
• Suitable for longhole open stoping, undercut and fill , and other
methods where a structural fill is required
 Concrete
• Hydraulic sandfill can consist either of
classified mill tailings or naturally
occurring sand deposits mined on
surface . Hydraulic sandfill is prepared
by dewatering the mill tailings stream to
a pulp density of approximately 65-70%
solids (depending on S.G) and then
passing it through hydrocyclones to
remove the "slimes" and retain the sand
fraction for backfill. Slimes are removed
to improve the percolation rate of the
backfill.
• The backfill mixture is hydraulically
pumped from surface through a network
of pipes and boreholes to the stope.
• Successful sandfills have permeability
coefficients in the range of 7x10-8 m/s to
7.8x10-5 m/s corresponding to a medium
silt to coarse sand. To overcome the lack of
true cohesion in the sandfill, cement and
other binders are added.
• Note that backfill strength decreases with
water content and the water content needed
to transport sandfill is far in excess of what
is required for cement hydration.
• Hence, mine operators are moving towards
less water in the fill to decrease cement and
binder consumption
• Flow velocities in excess of 2 m/s are
required to maintain a homogeneous
dispersion of the fill components in the
slurry
Sandfill is a mixture of concrete, water, and sand. This system is popular in
cut and fill mining methods. As the ore is removed, the opening is filled with
sandfill to provide support and a strong floor for the next slice

Timber Structures Required for Sandfilling

Timber Structures Required for Sandfilling
 Mine Backfill

• Filling stopes with waste material is a common procedure in cut

and fill mining and square-set mining for ground support. Filling
serves to minimize or control subsidence and to make it possible
to extract pillars of ore left behind in earlier stages of mining.
• There are 4 types of mine backfill:
• 1. Dry Fills
• 2. Cemented Rockfill
• 3. Hydraulic Sandfill
• 4. Paste Backfill
 Mine Backfill

1) Dry Fills:
• Dry fill generally consists of surface sand, gravel, open pit waste
rock, underground waste rock, smelter slag. Material is generally
unclassified except to remove large boulders. The dry fill is
usually transported underground by dropping down a raise from
surface directly into a stope or to a level where it is hauled to a
stope with an LHD or trucks.
• The fill usually contains some adsorbed surface moisture.
• Suitable for mechanized cut and fill or avoca or other method
where structural backfill is not required.
 Mine Backfill
2) Cemented Rockfill
• Generally consist of waste rock mixed with a cement slurry to
improve the bond strength between the rock fragments.
3) Hydraulic Sandfill
• Generally consists of cement and classified mill tailings and is
hydraulically pumped from surface through a network of pipes
and boreholes to the stope
 Mine Backfill
4) Paste Backfill
• Paste backfill is a high density backfill (>70% solids depending on SG). In
order to pump material at this density, a component of fines is required.
• As a general rule, the fines content (<20 micron) should be a minimum of
15% by weight
• The slump of paste backfills is approximately in the 7-10 inch range
• Paste backfill is pumped by piston type pumps of the same type used to
pump concrete.
• Whole mill tailings can often be used to make paste backfill. The final
product has a lower void ratio so the backfill is denser.
• Many mines are moving towards paste backfill because a lower cement
content is required to gain equivalent strengths when compared to
conventional hydraulic fill.
 Mine Backfill
Backfill Costs and Benefits
Benefits Costs
• ECONOMIC:
 Backfill allows higher extraction ratio
 Backfill reduces dilution
 Aids in pillar recovery
• SAFETY:
 Backfill improves regional stability in the
mine
 Backfill can reduce risk of rockbursting
 ENVIRONMENT:
 Backfill provides a means of disposing of
waste rock and mill tailings, thereby
minimizing surface disturbance
• ECONOMIC:
 Backfill costs money particularly if
binders are used
 Backfill introduces delays in the mining
cycle
 Additional manpower and infrastructure
 Additional dewatering costs
 Dilution due to backfill
• SAFETY:
 Risk due to bulkhead failure and
liquefaction of tailings
 Risk due to collapse of consolidated
backfill walls ENVIRONMENT:
 Groundwater contamination
 Mine Backfill

Mining Methods Employed

Mining Methods Requiring Backfill without Backfill
• Conventional Cut and Fill • Shrinkage
• Mechanized Cut and Fill
• Block Caving
• Captive Cut and Fill
• Sub-Level Caving
• Drift and Fill
• Square Set
• Resuing
Mining Methods Employed with or • Undercut and Fill
without Backfill • Avoca

• Longhole
• Longwall Mining
• Room and Pillar
• Open Pit
 Steel

• Steel sets are used in the

mine entries of a number of
coal mines and in shafts of
metal mines. In most cases,
the load is taken as a factor
multiplied into the sum of the
width and height of the
tunnel.
• Steel can be erected in a
shorter time and by fewer
men than timber. Timber rots
and decays behind concrete
lining, which results in an
uneven load on the framing or
lining.
 Steel - Roof Bolts
• The support tool most employed in
hard rock mines is the rock bolt. The
traditional mechanical rock bolt
("point anchor" with an expansion
shell) has been largely replaced in
hard rock mines with resin bonded
steel bolts for permanent headings
and friction (split-set) bolts for
temporary (6+ months) support.
• Other types of rock bolts see
occasional application and cement
grouts or cartridges have been used These bolts were sometimes very difficult to
instead of resin cartridges. install properly. Over a period of time, the
mechanical anchor was subject to creep in
• The traditional mechanical bolt was the hole resulting in loss of tension and a
torqued at installation to 50-60% of maintenance chore to retorque or replace
the tensile strength of the bolt and it bolts.
was considered that this tension had
to be maintained for the bolt to
remain effective.
 Steel - Rock Bolts

The process of rock bolting consists

of 3 steps:
• 1) anchoring the bolt in a hole,
• 2) applying tension to the bolt to
place the rock under
compression parallel to the bolt
and
• 3) placing the bolt in such a
pattern that they will properly
support the rock structure.
The basic principle of bolting is that
it should make the bolted rock an
integral part of the supporting
structure.
 Steel Arches

Tunnel support systems made of steel

are roughly in 5 types:
 continuous rib
 rib and post
 rib and wall plate
 rib, wall plate and post
 full circle rib
The factors which must be
considered in choosing a support
system are method of excavation,
rock behaviour and the size and
shape of the tunnel cross-section.
 Steel Yielding Arches

• A Yielding Arch are employed to

support loads caused by changing
ground movement or faulted and
fractured rock. Steel arches are
made of segments which overlap at
the joints. When the ground load
exceeds the design load of the
arch, yielding takes place at the
joint.
• During yielding, as the overburden
settles into a natural arch of its
own in order to bring all forces into
equilibrium, the shortened arch
increases strength.
 Hydraulic Support

• Shortwall and Longwall mining

utilize hydraulic supports These
supports protect the miners and
equipment working in the face.
They move up as the face
advances, and the roof behind
them is allowed to cave. The
support, called a Shield, and two
large hydraulic cylinders hold
the canopy against the roof. The
end has a hinge arrangement so
the support will resist lateral
movement of the roof.
 Natural Pillars
• Small ore bodies may be
mined from wall to wall
without any pillars being left.
Where ore bodies are larger,
pillars or ore are left to keep
the roof span to a safe
dimension. Pillars may be
regularly or randomly spaced
and the method may be
applied to either horizontal or
inclined deposits. It finds its
greatest application in flat-
lying, bedded - type deposits.
You have reached the end of Unit 15