The advantages of underground mining equipment?

Although expensive, underground mining has its advantages over strip mining, therefore underground mining equipment is called for. Read on to find out more.

 

Here are the main points of the article:

• What are the advantages of underground mining equipment?

• What is underground mining equipment used for?

• What does the underground mining equipment mining method depend on?

 

1. What are the advantages of underground mining equipment?

In 15 years’, time, this underground project will produce a staggering 6 million tons per year. That is a few percentage points higher than the previous forecast of 11 years. Underground production is estimated at 44.1 million tons, with an average nickel and copper ratio of 0.55% and 0.16%, respectively. The choice between open-pit mining and underground mining is a decision made by every mining company, but it is not based on the underground mining equipment and preferences of the miners. The choice always depends on the geometric properties, location, location, and type of deposit. In general, early explorers and miners started with open-pit mining because it was cheaper, easier and safer.

 

2. What is underground mining equipment used for?

Underground mining equipment, as the name implies, is used in mining underground and drilling deep into the earth. It needs more money to drill, keep miners safe and install safety-centric equipment. A great deal of preparatory work is required to successfully conduct drilling operations and to establish effective ventilation methods. Because this is a process of extracting ore and minerals from deep underground, it does not cause much damage to the surface environment of the mine. It's not as disruptive as open-pit or surface mining. It does not need to blast and blast the ground. Underground mining is the strategic excavation of tunnels and tunnels from the surface leading to mineral or mineral-rich areas.

When any ore body is buried at a considerable distance below the surface, subsurface techniques must be considered because surface mining requires the removal of large amounts of waste material to expose the ore. Compared with underground mining, the cost of mining materials per ton underground is much higher than that of mining above ground. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, the least of which is that the size of underground mining equipment is much smaller than that of open mines due to surface conditions, orebody geometry and other factors. And access is limited. All this means that, depending on mining techniques, productivity, measured in tones per shift of production per worker, can be between five and 50 times lower than at ground level. This is balanced by the fact that only ore is mined underground, whereas in open-pit mines, tons of waste are often mined for every ton of ore.

 

3. What does the underground mining equipment mining method depend on?

Once the decision has been made to go underground, the specific underground mining equipment chosen depends on the size, shape and direction of the ore body, the degree of mineralization, the strength of the rock material and the depth involved. For example, if the ore is of high grade or high price, then a more expensive method can be used. In order to minimize mixing of ore and waste, a highly selective extraction method can be used, but if the ore and waste can be easily separated later (for example, using magnets for magnetite), a less selective bulk mining method can be chosen.

 

Therefore, underground mining is a strategy adopted by mining companies to increase production and income as well as to establish a long mine life. Choosing the right underground mining equipment can therefore help add efficiency.