What is room and pillar mining?
Auger mining is a surface mining technique used to recover additional coal from a seam located behind a highwall produced either by excavation or previously mined areas. An auger is a drilling device that consists of a rotating helical screw blade called a "flighting" that is used to move granular mRead more
Auger mining is a surface mining technique used to recover additional coal from a seam located behind a highwall produced either by excavation or previously mined areas. An auger is a drilling device that consists of a rotating helical screw blade called a “flighting” that is used to move granular material, such as coal, from the highwall back to the entrance of the mine.
The auger is mounted on a rig that is capable of moving horizontally along the highwall, and it is equipped with a cutting head that bores into the coal seam as the auger rotates. As the auger advances, the coal is broken up and carried back to the entrance of the mine by the flighting.
Auger mining is typically used to extract coal from seams that are too thin or steep to be mined using traditional surface mining techniques, or when the coal seam is located in an area that is not suitable for surface mining due to environmental or logistical constraints. It is a relatively low-cost and low-risk mining method, and it can be used to recover coal that would otherwise be left behind during traditional surface mining operations. However, auger mining can be less efficient than other surface mining methods, as it leaves much of the coal in place and can result in lower recovery rates
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Room and pillar mining is a method of underground mining that involves excavating a network of rooms, or "stopes," separated by pillars of uncrushed rock. The pillars are left in place to support the roof of the mine and prevent it from collapsing. In room and pillar mining, the ore is extracted byRead more
Room and pillar mining is a method of underground mining that involves excavating a network of rooms, or “stopes,” separated by pillars of uncrushed rock. The pillars are left in place to support the roof of the mine and prevent it from collapsing.
In room and pillar mining, the ore is extracted by creating a series of rooms, or stopes, connected by horizontal or slightly inclined tunnels. The ore is extracted from the stopes, and the pillars are left in place to support the roof of the mine. This method is used to extract coal, as well as other minerals such as salt, gypsum, and potash.
Room and pillar mining is typically used for relatively shallow deposits, and it is a good choice when the ore body is relatively flat and horizontal. It is also a good method to use when the ore body is too small to justify the construction of a longwall mining system.
The main disadvantage of room and pillar mining is that it can be less efficient than other methods, such as longwall mining, because it leaves a significant portion of the ore body untouched. This means that more rock must be moved in order to extract a given amount of ore, which can be more time-consuming and expensive
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