Hydraulic mining system for tabular orebodies utilising directional drilling techniques

摘要

A mining system for extracting ore using directional drilling techniques to obtain access to the orebody. Spaced apart roadways are formed in the ore formation with a downhill roadway being lower in elevation than the other roadway and the downhill roadway having a ditch therein draining downhill. A borehole is formed between roadways in the ore formation using the directional drill bit and then the end of the drill string is equipped with a jetting nozzle. The jetting nozzle is moved within the borehole to erode the formation and mine the ore. In one embodiment a slurry of mined ore and jetting fluid flows as a slurry down the intersection of the mined face and the floor towards a ditch formed in the downhill roadway. In another embodiment a slurry of the mined ore and the jetting fluid flows down the borehole and then down the ditch formed in the downhill roadway. In each case the ore flows down the downhill roadway to a sump. From the sump the ore is carried to the surface for transportation and eventual refining or use.