Hard rock mining refers to various techniques used to mine ore bodies by creating underground "rooms" or stopes supported by surrounding pillars of standing rock. The El Chino Mine located near Silver City, New Mexico is an open-pit copper mine This article is about mineral extraction. ...

Hard rock mining is used for mining many ore types such as gold, copper, zinc, lead, and diamonds. General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance metallic brown Atomic mass 63. ... General Name, Symbol, Number zinc, Zn, 30 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 4, d Appearance bluish pale gray Atomic mass 65. ... General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish white Atomic mass 207. ... A scattering of round-brilliant cut diamonds shows off the many reflecting facets. ...

Access

Accessing underground ore can be achieved via a decline or a shaft. A decline is a generally spiral tunnel which circles either the flank of the deposit or circles around the deposit. The decline begins with a box cut, which is the portal to the surface. A shaft is vertical and is either sunk on ore or adjacent to ore. Often a mine with have a decline for personnel and machinery access, and a shaft for ore haulage. Iron ore (Banded iron formation) Manganese ore Lead ore Gold ore An ore is a mineral deposit containing a metal or other valuable resource in economically viable concentrations. ... A box cut is a small open cut created to provide a secure and safe portal as access to a decline to an underground mine. ...

Drives are then bored horizintally off the decline or shaft to access the ore body. Stopes are then mined from the drive, which accesses the stope from below.

Vent risers are needed to provide ventilation for the workers. Often the vent risers are used as escape routes in case of emergency. Ore chutes link drives with lower levels, where there may be a primary crushing circuit located underground. Risers and shafts are often built using raise bores. Ventilation good and very bad Ventilation is air circulation of air, typically between a room, a tunnel, etc. ...

Ore extraction

There are a number of mining methods that are used to extract the mineral bearing rock (ore) from the uneconomic rock, also known as mullock or gangue. Typically some means of support is required in order to maintain the openings that are made by mining. This can be done by pillars which are then mined following the backfilling of the initial stopes. Local to the ore drive, rock bolts, mesh and shotcrete are used to secure working faces and the backs (tops) of the drives.
However, leaving pillars of ore is wasteful, as that ore cannot be extracted and processed. Iron ore (Banded iron formation) Manganese ore Lead ore Gold ore An ore is a mineral deposit containing a metal or other valuable resource in economically viable concentrations. ...

Stope and retreat

Using this method, mining is planned to extract rock from the stopes, and allow the wall rocks to cave in to the extracted stope after all the ore has been removed. Then, the drive is sealed.

Stope and fill

Where large bulk ore bodies are to be mined at great depth, or where leaving pillars of ore is wasteful, the open stope can be filled with a cement and waste rock mixture, which solidifies and forms a solid fill. This method is especially popular, as the refilled stopes provide support for the adjacent stopes, allowing total extraction of economic resources. sabki maaa ki chooot !! In the general sense, a cement is any material with adhesive properties. ...

Extraction

Ore must be freed from the solid rock by blasting. This requires drilling shot holes into the ore face.
Coarse ore is mucked out using boggers, which are similar to skid loaders. Gravity is used to help move it down ore raises or shafts to the lower drives. Rock blasting is the controlled use of explosives to excavate rock. ... An electric drill A drill is a tool with a rotary drill bit used to bore holes through material. ... Iron ore (Banded iron formation) Manganese ore Lead ore Gold ore An ore is a mineral deposit containing a metal or other valuable resource in economically viable concentrations. ... A Bobcat brand skid loader. ... ...

Conveyor belts, trucks and rarely trains are used to haul ore to the surface along a drive or decline. Where possible, ore is hauled by buckets in shafts. Ore is also moved in skip buckets hauled up shafts and emptied into bins beneath surface headframe towers for transport to the mill. A conveyor belt or belt conveyor consists of two end pulleys, with a continuous loop of material that rotates about them. ... Trucks can refer to several things: The plural of: Truck, the motorized vehicle Truck, other uses of the singular As a name: Trucks was a rock band Trucks is a short story by Stephen King Trucks is a movie based on the Stephen King short story Trucks! is a television... This article is about trains in rail transport. ... Decline is change from previously efficient to inefficient organizational functioning, from previously rational to non-rational organizational and individual decision-making, from previously law-abiding to law violating organizational and individual behavior, from previously virtuous to iniquitous individual moral behavior. ...

Open pit mining is used in shallow orebodies, often at much lower grades of mineralisation.

Trivia

• The deepest hard rock mine in North America is a nickel mine in Sudbury Basin, Ontario.
• The nickel ore at Sudbury is thought to have formed from a meteorite impact.
• The deepest hard rock mines in Australia are the copper and zinc lead mines in Mount Isa, Queensland at 1,800 m.
• The deepest gold mine in the world is the Witwatersrand mine in South Africa, which is currently working at >2,000 m depth.
• The deepest platinum-palladium mine in the world is the Merensky Reef, in South Africa, with a resource of 203 million Troy ounces, currently worked to approximately 2,200 m depth.
• The most dangerous hard rock mining is in the Witwatersrand mine, where workers toil in temperatures of up to 45 °C.

World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the... General Name, Symbol, Number nickel, Ni, 28 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 10, 4, d Appearance lustrous, metallic Atomic mass 58. ... Sudbury Basin is the oval structure, next to the much younger lake-filled Wanapitei crater The Sudbury Basin is the second largest impact crater on earth, and a major geologic structure in Ontario, Canada. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Official languages English, French (in some areas) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 106 24 Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 4th 1... A meteorite is a small extraterrestrial body that impacts the Earths surface. ... General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance metallic brown Atomic mass 63. ... General Name, Symbol, Number zinc, Zn, 30 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 4, d Appearance bluish pale gray Atomic mass 65. ... General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish white Atomic mass 207. ... Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia Mount Isa is a city located in north western Queensland, Australia. ... Motto: Audax at Fidelis (Bold but Faithful) Nickname: Sunshine State/Smart State Other Australian states and territories Capital Brisbane Government Governor Premier Const. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... Witwatersrand is a low mountain range which runs through Gauteng in South Africa. ... General Name, Symbol, Number platinum, Pt, 78 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 10, 6, d Appearance grayish white Atomic mass 195. ... General Name, Symbol, Number palladium, Pd, 46 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 10, 5, d Appearance silvery white metallic Atomic mass 106. ... Troy weight is a system of units of mass customarily used for precious metals and gemstones. ...

Hardrock mining terms

• stope and pillar
• room and pillar
• longhole stoping
• benching
• vertical crater retreat
• block caving
• sub level caving

See also

• Mining Act of 1872