That is because the tremors may collapse the mine, even if the miner has done everything right.įinally, certain mining practices may pollute the air, water, and soil of an area. Those who mine in areas with major tremors are always at risk. If someone engages in drill and blast techniques, the blast itself may be enough to injure the miner or collapse the mine.Īnd even if that doesn't happen, a blast might ignite any gases that the ventilator failed to remove and burn the area up. And these accidents may have many causes. The truth is that mining still poses potential risks There are major accidents all over the world each and every year. But when it comes to underground mining as a whole, you may be asking a question: is it dangerous? In this way, you can proceed until you can cut a drift across the top of the target ore deposit. You can spread the backfill into the drift to create another platform for another pass. The beauty of the cut and fill technique is the "backfill." This is the mining term for the excess waste material leftover from your drift. For some of the softer hard rocks, though, you may need to put bolts, mesh, or sprayed concrete, or a combination of all three in place for safety and support. Some rocks are hard enough that no roof support is necessary. You may be wondering: will I need some kind of roof support for this technique? It actually depends on what kind of rock you are working with. Miners typically refer to such cuts as drifts. Next, you can drill a horizontal cut from one side of the ore deposit to the other. This ramp should run from the surface level down as far as the ore deposit goes. In this method, you must drill a downwards ramp next to the ore deposit. In those cases, the cut and fill method should do the trick. Sometimes, you must deal with pretty narrow deposits of ore. With this continuous miner, you can keep making your way forward until all of the deposit has been covered.Īnd the same machine can carefully work its way back through the pillars on the way out, ensuring you don't miss any valuable ore as you collapse the pillars behind you. Such a machine can drill a room until it is mostly excavated, but the machine leaves a rock pillar so that the miners are safe. Nowadays, though, many miners rely on a continuous miner machine. In this pattern, the holes you drill are known as "rooms," and the roof supports you use are known as "pillars."Īnd while the technique remains the same, there are different kinds of mining equipment that can help you with your room and pillar technique.īack in the day, miners perfected the art of the "charge-and-blast" method of clearing rooms out. With this approach, you can drill an access ramp and start removing ore in a special pattern. The room and pillar approach works best when dealing with mostly flat ore deposits and don't have to deal with annoying changes in elevation. But once you start mining, you'll learn very quickly! If you're not in the mining business, the term "room and pillar" may not mean much to you.
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