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Chapter

5
UNDERGROUND NARROW
TABULAR MINING

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Knowledge and understanding of
• General description of mining method
• Support requirements
• Long-wall mining method
• Dip pillar systems
• Sequential grid mining method
• Sequential down-dip method
• Closely spaced dip pillar method
• Macro layout of each mining method
• Evaluation of each mining method.

Application of
• Long wall mining method
• Sequential grid mining method
• Sequential down-dip method
• Closely spaced dip pillar method.

REFERENCES
de la Vergne, JN. Hard Rock Miners Handbook, McIntosh Engineering.
2003, North Bay, Ontario.

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5.1 Selection of Mining Methods

There are many mining methods available for ore extraction in the
mining world. The selected mining method depends on a few factors:
• Dip of the reef plane
• Thickness of the ore body
• Depth below surface.
This study focus on an ore body that dips between five degrees and
20 degrees, reef thickness between one – and two metres and depth
below surface from zero to 3 000 metres.
A conventional mining method will be discussed but the model will
be built to cater for any type of mining method. The direction of
mining relative to the true dip of the ore body (reef plane) is normally
the deciding factor when describing the specific conventional
extraction method.

Two main alternatives exist:

• Strike mining: Strike refers to a main extraction direction 90°

on true dip or parallel to the zero inclination line inside the ore
body. The most commonly known strike mining layouts are
scattered breast and long wall mining where extraction takes
place in a strike direction with the advancing front being parallel
or slightly off parallel to the true dip line. Well-known strike
mining variations are scattered breast, long-wall, overhand,
underhand and breast-retreat layouts.
• Dip mining: When the advancing face progresses in a direction
generally parallel to the dip direction, it is referred to as dip
mining. Down-dip is when mining takes place in the direction of
dip, and up-dip mining is when the extraction takes place 180°
against the dip direction – in other words, mining from the
bottom upwards. Well-known dip-mining variations are:
o Down-dip
o Up-dip
These main mining activities can be broken down into:
▪ Development
▪ Ledging
▪ Equipping
▪ Stoping
▪ Sweepings
▪ Vamping
▪ Reclamation.

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The following mining methods will be discussed in this chapter:

•
°
Tabular Deposits < 35 dip – narrow reef width (5.2)

•
°
Tabular Deposits < 35 dip – wide reef width (5.3)

5.2 Tabular Deposits < 35º dip – narrow reef

width
Critical evaluations to be conducted for ultra-deep mining:
• Efficiency and cost of providing ventilation and refrigeration
• Efficiency and cost of transporting men, material and rock
• The degree to which rock engineering criteria, such the energy
release rates, average pillar stress, excess shear stress, and
stresses in footwall excavations were met.
5.2.1 Long-Walling

Considerations • Depth > 2000 m

• High grade – total extraction possible although not
desirable
• Geological complexity.
Advantages • Follow behind development
• Can be trackless
• Concentrated stoping.
Disadvantages • Inflexibility
• Variable geology
• Highly stressed abutments.

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Figure 5.1 Plan view Long-wall mining

The panel shapes can be carried in an over or underhand

configuration.

Overhand:
• Mining starts from the bottom of the stope and proceeds
upwards
• The drilling is horizontal drifting or inclined upward holes
• The ore is cut out in relatively thin, 3 to 6 meter slices,
depending on the width of the stope and rock strength
conditions.
Underhand:
• Underhand methods are suitable for weak rock conditions and
start from the top and proceeds downwards
• They require little development work and extraction of the ore
can start right from the surface or the top of the ore body
• However, this alternative is expensive and time consuming as
slices mined above have to be cement filled before excavation

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of the lower slice begins.

5.2.2 Scattered Mining

Considerations • Narrow reef 2-5 m

• Depth intermediate.
Advantages • Advanced knowledge of geological
complexities pre-development
• Flexibility in choice of stopes – value.
Disadvantages • Less concentrated stoping
• Change in stress of tunnels as over –stoping
takes place
• Highly stressed abutments.

Figure 5.2 Plan view of long wall mining

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5.2.3 Caving

Considerations • Application – weaker hanging wall than

footwall
• Controlled bulking.
Advantages • Cost effective
• Face stresses lower.
Disadvantages • Back area support compromised
typically gullies
• Controlled cave difficult to obtain.

Figure 5.3 Plan view of Caving layout

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5.2.4 Sublevel Stoping in a Narrow Steeply Dip Ore Body

Sublevel stoping is a mining method which allows the ore to be
excavated in open stopes. The method makes use of sublevels. The
sublevels are blasted simultaneously with the lowest sublevel of a
block being farthest advanced and the sublevels above follows one
another at short intervals. The sublevels are partly caved upon
blasting and then drawn off from the level via a chute.

Figure 5.4 Sublevel open stoping layout

Sublevel stoping will be done with sublevels spaced ±40 m apart. In
addition, it will include an ore pass system between the sublevels for
development ore and a transport raise. It is important to keep dilution
low by preventing blast damages to the walls.
The preferred hole diameter for the drill holes is 38 mm and a low
charge ANFO explosive will be used to prevent wall damages. Drilling
long holes from the bottom up between sublevels (3 holes spaced 0.6
m apart) and blasting with the bottom level leading, cleaning will be
done at the bottom level draw points.

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5.2.5 Cut-and-Fill
Cut and fill is a mining method suitable for steeply dipping to vertical,
irregular ore-bodies that have a relatively high grade. The method is
applicable to ore-bodies having weak surrounding rock. Cut and fill
is exactly what it name suggests; ore is cut out in horizontal slices
from the centre towards the edge of the block and after the cut has
been completed, it is backfilled to fill the void left by the cut. The
backfill accounts for the weak surrounding rock and acts as support
until all the ore has been removed.

Figure 5.5 Cut and fill stoping

[Link] Development Cost for Cut and Fill Mining

The development cost for performing cut and fill mining is broadly
summarised in the following points:
• Cost of preparing the next block of ore to be mined
• Cost of accessing a cut after filling a cut
• Shared services cost:
o Compressed air
o Hoisting
o Pumping, etc.
• Ventilation and refrigeration.

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5.3 Tabular Deposits < 350 dip – wide reef width

The mining of wide reef band in an underground mining environment
is challenging because of the height of the operation. The heights
contribute to gravity induced energy and that may lead to uncontrolled
rock falls. The mining sequence is important and cognisance must be
taken in the cleaning operation due to huge volumes of broken ore due
to reef heights. The installation of support must be done timeously to
keep the hanging-wall beam intact. The different mining methods for
wide reefs are discussed in the next sub-headings.

5.3.1. Wide Reef: Bord-and-Pillar, Drift and Fill

Considerations • Span between pillars

• Fill material availability
• Subsidence
• Geological weaknesses
• Depth relatively shallow.
Advantages • Mechanization
• Total extraction can be achieved.
Disadvantages • Economies of scale – lower value
ore
• Ore oxidation, groundwater control.

Figure 5.6 Bord-and-pillar

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5.3.2 Methods of Pillar Removal in Bord-and-Pillar Stoping

Pillar removal in bord-and-pillar stoping consists of slabbing some ore
off each pillar containing the high-grade portion of the ore as the area
is retreated:
• Completely removing a few of the most valuable pillars, leaving
enough pillars untouched to support the back
• In narrow stopes, completely removing all pillars in a controlled
retreat.

5.3.3 Wide Reef: Step Room and Pillar

Step room and pillar mining is used when the dip of the ore body is in
the range of 15-30° and the thickness is in the range of 2-5 m. It is not
practically to use equipment on tires at the specified range of angles.
To make mining possible a special orientation of transit and stope
galleries creates areas with horizontal floors to make it possible for
equipment on tyres to be used. The mining is done in panels and starts
at the top and moves downward.

Figure 5.7 Step Room-and-Pillar mining

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5.3.4 Sub-level (Open) Stoping

Considerations • Steep dip

• Favourable geotechnical characteristics
• Regular ore-body geometry.
Advantages • Mechanization – drilling carried out in
advance of stoping
• Extraction on retreat.
Disadvantages • Extensive development prior to
extraction.

Figure 5.8 Sub-level Open Stoping

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5.4 Hybrid Mining

Hybrid mining is a mixture of conventional and mechanized mining
(Figure 5.9). It takes advantages of faster and safer mechanized, as
well as low dilution and higher shaft head grades of conventional
mining (McGill, 2010). All operation can take place on reef horizon
in the form of production panels above the drives. Development is
fully mechanized, but stopping are done conventionally as per the
following features:
• Stoping is by hand held pneumatic drilling
• Rock handling is with scrapers and throw blasting into
Advanced Strike Gullies
• Excavation (development) is on reef.
• The ore-body is with low-profile trackless equipment
• Trackless excavations are supported with roof-bolts, while the
face is supported with elongates/roofbolt
• The trackless excavations result in dilution and reduce the shaft
head grade.

Figure 5.9 Hybrid Mining layout

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5.5 Long Hole Stoping

Long-hole stoping is where long-holes are drilled between two
pre-developed gullies, the long-holes are charged-up with
explosives and cleaned with a waterjet to ensure that no person
enters the stope face.
The objective of long-hole stoping is to ensure:
• Man free stopes
• Support free stopes
• Reduce in-stope dilution
• Overcome shortage of rock drill operators
• Improved productivity and efficiency
• Optimize mechanization.

Figure 5.10 Plan view of a Long-hole stoping lay-out

Operating procedure for a long-hole stoping operation is:

• Drilled 15 m holes at 70 degrees, 500 mm apart, one line, 150
mm below top reef contact
• Double primed (200 ms delays) 48 mm bits
• Blasted 15 holes at a time resulted in a stope width of 50 cm.

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Figure 5.11 Section view of a long-hole stoping lay-out

5.6 Ore Reserves

Ore reserves has many definitions, but the only meaningful
definition for the purpose of this study (and to truly manage a mine)
is the mine-able ore reserve, which implies that all the relevant
development required starting ledging and/or stoping in a specific
area is complete.
The mining industry is of the opinion that an 18-month ore reserve
should be maintained. This should mean that if the primary
(minimum up-front development to extract a block of reef effectively)
is stoped, ore could be extracted at the steady-state rate for at least
another 18 months.
This has huge financial implications and should thus initially be
created during the capital phase of the mining project. It is also part
of management's responsibility to maintain this reserve, but cost-
cutting initiatives often cause development quantity cuts resulting in
ore reserve shrinkage – normally irreversible without a reduction in
ore production. Reducing the ore reserve size has short-term
financial benefits due to development cost reductions but has
resulted in total mine closure in the past – an extremely dangerous
situation to be in.
The 18-month requirement mentioned before should also not be
applied generically. Each layout has to be assessed on its own merit.
The optimum steady state ore reserve calculated by means of the
planning model designed for this study varies from around 10 to 23
months (for different layouts) and the basis for this statement lies in
the build-up to steady-state production.

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This is referred to as the natural ore reserve and is automatically

created when developing from the start of the half level to the point
where steady-state mining activities are reached. It is also equal to the
period that steady state stoping can continue after all the primary
development on the half level has been completed.
Ore reserves refer to the ore body that is adequately exposed for
evaluation and exploitation, and expressed in a time frame of
months. The time indicates for the period that the stoping operations
can continue before the stoping operation ceases. The ore reserve
is managed as a global figure that is a bottom line figure.
The bottom line figure seems to be in order but when this figure is
breakdown to the requirement per mine there are major discrepancies.
In some cases, there are too many months’ ore reserves on half-levels
and other half-levels there are not enough.
The imbalance of ore reserves is also trend on shafts in the group, on
some half-levels on a shaft there are too many ore reserves and on
other half-levels there are too little ore reserves.
The mining operations are broken down into activities to ensure a
process flow. The following activities were identified:
• Resources
• Capacity
• Scheduling
• Inventory
• Standards
• Control.
The mining operations are big and it is important to break the operation
down into manageable activities. The value chain must be maintained
from resources to control to ensure an effective operation.

5.7 Mine Planning

Production planning is done according to a mine master plan. The
previous year’s results are not taken into consideration, because lost
blasts and poor advance per blast, which are expressed as blast
efficiency, are not used when the planning is done. This plan is done
with the knowledge that the targets cannot be met.
The average blast efficiency was 74% (between 64% and 84%) for
stoping and 86% (between 81% and 91%) for development at the shaft
where the study had been done. This means that 74% of the
production plan was achieved, but the planned production cost spent,
because the cost component is fixed.

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There are different production plans on the mine. These include:

• “Business Plan”, as required by Corporate Office
• “Mine Plan” as required by the mine manager, where the
production targets are 10 % higher than the
business plan
• “Shaft Plan” where the targets are 10% higher than the Mine
plan.
These different planning parameters result in confusion and
inefficiencies on the mine.
Production planning is done in the following areas:
• Shaft type
• Production target per shaft level
• Face advance
• Ore reserves
• Development
• Available panel lengths for stoping
• Number of panels for rehabilitation
• Panel ledging
• Panel equipping
• Mine equipment requirements

5.7.1 Development
In hard rock mines a standard of 30 metres per month is planned for
haulage advance metres. The problem lies therein that some levels
produce more square metres per month than others. The replacement
factor, which is defined as square metres opened for every
development metre achieved.
This means that for every square metre blasted a certain amount of
development metres are required to replace the blasted square
metres. The actual development that was achieved during 2004 was
25 metres average advanced in haulage as indicated in Table 5.1.

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End Type Best Worst 12 11 Month Recommended

Monthly Monthly Month Average
Advance Advance Average
Main Haulage’s 30.15 15.71 23.8 24.2 25
Cross-cuts 23.94 15.54 19.4 20.8 20
Box-holes 19.14 7.25 15.2 15.4 15
(conventional)
Box-holes (drop- 36.94 16.72 19.7 20.6 20
raising)
Travelling 25.42 16.25 19.7 20.5 20
Raise 22.23 19.90 20.5 21 20
Winze 16.36 9.28 12.2 12.4 15
Table 5.1 Benchmark development parameters (m/month @ 23 shifts)

5.7.2 Ledging
The ledging phase follows the primary development and is the
front-runner for the equipping activity. (Figure 5.12)
Ledging is done by over-stoping over the crosscut. The over-stoping
is done where the middling between the reef and crosscut is less than
ten metres. The raise is ledged on either side for seven metres.
The ledge is supported with pre-stressed elongate sticks and roof
bolts. This practice delivers erratic ledged metres When the ledging
activity is behind schedule the chance is good that the equipping
stage will also be late. The planned time-span for ledging is four
months.

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Figure 5.12 Ledging procedure at Boschfontein Shaft

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5.7.2 Stope Equipping

The equipping stage follows the ledging stage and this stage takes
normally two months to complete. When the ledging is completed the
raise-line equipping commences. This process involves the installation
of:
• Air- and water pipes
• Mono-winch
• Blasting of winch beds
• Blasting of advance scraper gullies up to where ledging was
completed
• Winches.
Grout packs are installed as permanent support. When this activity is
completed the panels are equipped and ready for stoping operations.

5.8 Half- Level Planning

To check the bottom line to check the ore reserve status per shaft is
wrong due to the distribution ratio per half-level. The total figure gives
the wrong impression to management, in that the figure seems to be
fine but is actually not fine after a proper analysis.

5.8.1 Shortcomings of Ore Reserve Management

The following problems were identified during the meetings between
the various role players mentioned above:
• The management of ore reserves
• Blast efficiency is not taken into consideration when targets
are set
• Different production targets – due to no formal planning
systems on the mine. Non-existences of leave planning,
because there are different labour requirements on a monthly
basis. The labour plan is erratic; it is difficult to get a workable
leave plan
• In any operation there is a difference between what
production should be possible to achieve with specific ore
reserves and mine planning, and what has actually and
practically been achieved.

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5.8.2 Requirements of an Effective Ore Reserve Model

The purpose of the study is to:
• Determine the optimum ore reserve required
• Ensuring a safe working environment
• Ensuring the maximum return on capital.
The ore reserve requirements have to be calculated on a daily basis
in terms of production requirements. These requirements have to be
constant throughout the financial year, so that the necessary
planning can be done in terms of manning and costing.
Conventional mining optimisation revolves around sustaining the
optimum blasting efficiency for the life of the mine. This implies getting
the most possible blasts at the best possible advance per blast from
the appropriate ends (blast attack fronts). In addressing these
improvements, the following questions exist:
• Which development ends should be blasted and what
advance rate is required to sustain and maintain an optimum
production rate?
• Is the mining layout optimised?
• Is the equipment adequate and can the services support all
the mining activities in the production area?
• Is the capital replacement rate synchronised with the ore
extraction rate?
• Is there a simple planning system in place that can assist the
operations to supply answers to all of the above questions?

5.8.3 Overview of Ore Reserves

These standards fix the outputs per half-level per shift after which the
development requirements can be calculated by using a replacement
factor as supplied in the specific mine standard. This is a very rigid
approach but will be supported if the variance between underground
mining methods proves to be limited.
The development ends and required metres, that have to be blasted
on a daily basis, are calculated to ensure that enough stope panels
are available for stoping. The panels that have to be blasted on a
daily basis are also calculated. This gives management a simple
method of managing the daily production by comparing the daily
panels to be blasted and the actual panels that have been blasted.
Corrective can be taken immediately.

Ore reserves are now based on a constant production target for the
year.

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5.8.4 Contributions
The ore reserve model which was developed encapsulates all the
important elements regarding ore reserve management. The following
areas are approved upon:
• Ore Reserve Management: The difference between the old
ore reserve management is that the focus changed from
checking the bottom line to check the ore reserve status per
half-level. The total figure gives the wrong impression to
management, in that the figure seems to be fine but is actually
not fine after a proper analysis.
• Production Planning: The fundamental difference between
the old and the new approach is that, instead of dividing the
annual production target by 12 to obtain the monthly production
targets (from which the daily targets are then derived). To obtain
the daily targets, the annual target is divided into the total
number of blasting shifts that is available annually.
• Half-level Planning: Half-level model standardise the planning
system on a mine, a fixed list of mining parameters that have
been derived from on-mine studies are used for inputs.
• Fix Planning Standards: The old planning system used only
parameters for development and stoping operations, but
nothing for mining services. The new planning system uses all
the parameters that have an effect on the total mining
operations. half level planner is built-up by using production
targets and production parameters.
• Blasting Efficiency: to calculate constant production targets
on a daily basis, which includes blasting efficiencies, for the
calendar year?

[Link] Blast Efficiency

Blast efficiency as indicated in Table 5.2, refers to the blast frequency
or lost blasts (actual number of blasts per month: possible number of
blasts per month) multiplied by the advance efficiency (actual advance
[metres] per blast: planned advance [metres] per blast).
Because the planning system did not take the blasting efficiencies in
the development ends and stoping panels into consideration, the
production plan is overstated and impossible to achieve.

Type Development Stoping

Shifts in month 23 23
Blast frequency (%) 92 84
Advance efficiency (%) 93 88
Blast efficiency (%) 86 74
Table 5.2 Blast efficiency

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Calculate the required monthly development rate. The required

development metres for the month per half-level are 77 metres. The
number of half-levels to be worked on the mine is 42 as indicated in
previous paragraph. The total required development metres are
obtained by multiplying 77 metres per half-level with 42 required half-
levels, which gives 3 234 metres per month.
The daily required development metres for the mine is calculated by
dividing the total number of development metres by the number of
blasting shifts in a month, which is 134.75 metres per day.
The total development meters to be blasted; are calculated and is also
broken down to the required development metres to be blasted per
end type as indicated in Table 5.3 and this is constant for the calendar
year.

Development – Daily Meters

Haulage 35.13
Cross-cut 25.47
Box 1 7.90
Box 2 6.15
Box3 4.39
Funk hole 2.43
Step-over 1.00
T/way 1.41
Raise 34.07
Sub-development – all
ends in block 16.9
Total 134.75
Table 5.3 Daily development meters per end type

To ensure harmony in the mining operations the planned daily

development per development type has to be maintained that there is
sufficient number of panels available for stoping operations. In practise
it is easier to develop haulage’s than boxes, the manager must see to
it that the box development is not lagging.
The development ends are drilled with different lengths of drill steel
and this gives different advance rates. Table 5.4 shows that 86
development ends have to be blasted in order to achieve a perfect
replacement for the stoping operations.

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Development Ends
Haulage 18

Cross-cut 13
Box 1 7
Box 2 6
Box3 4
Funk hole 3
Step-over 1
T/way 1
Raise 22
Sub development –
all ends in block 11
Total daily ends 86
Table 5.4 Daily development ends

[Link] Stoping
The inputs into half-level planner are used to calculate the daily
required stoping targets - they are:
• Panel length
• Pillar sizes
• Stoping widths
• Crew advance
• Relative density of the rock.
When the required tons per month are entered into half-level planner
the required metre to be blasted is calculated by using the
above-mentioned factors.
The new stoping target is divided into the stope panel lengths to obtain
the number of stope panels and development ends that have to be
blasted. Figure 5.13 shows that in the old plan, different m² per day
was planned ranging, depending on the number of shifts per month,
between 5 950 m² and 5 036 m² per shift.
According to the new plan, in order to achieve 5 474 m² per day, an
effective plan of 7 397 m² (5 474 m² divided by blast efficiency of
74 %) per day must be set. This will mean that even if the efficiency is
not reduced, the desired production target of 5 474 m² per day will be
met.
The total number of square metres required for the year is calculated
by multiplying the daily square meter target with the total number of
shifts for the year.

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AMANDELBULT- Daily Square metres

8,000

7,000

Square 6,000
metres 5,000

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

0
Apr- May- Jun- Jul- Aug- Sep- Oct- Nov- Dec- Jan- Feb- Mar- Apr- May- Jun- Jul- Aug-
05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 05 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06

Old Plan Actual New Plan

Figure 5.13 Daily square metre planning

Production planning optimisation revolves around sustaining the

optimum blasting frequency for the life of the mine. This implies
getting the most possible blasts at the best possible advance per
blast from the appropriate ends (blast attack fronts). In addressing
these improvements, the following must be remembered:
• The equipment should be adequate and the services should be
able to support all the mining activities in the production area
• The capital replacement rate should be synchronised with the
ore extraction rate
• A simple planning system should be in place that can assist the
operations to supply answers to all of the above questions
• The required labour force should be at work.
The fundamental difference between the old and the new approach is
that, instead of dividing the annual production target by 12 to obtain
the monthly production targets (from which the daily targets are then
derived). To obtain these daily targets, the total number of shifts is
divided by the annual target.
Calculate square metres that have to be blasted per month, the square
metres to blast and the number of panels to be blasted on a daily basis.
The daily square metres remain the same for the year but the monthly
square metres differ due to different number of blasting shifts per
calendar month.

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Description Jan-06 Feb-06 Year

Number of blasting shifts (a) 25 23 287
m2 per day (b) 7 133 7 133
Panels to be blasted – daily 273 273
m2 (calendar) [a*b] 177 825 163 599 2 041 431
Table 5.5 Stoping targets (red - inputs, blue - outputs)
Table 5.5 shows the square metres for the year as 2 041 431 and daily
square metres of 7 133, which is constant for the entire year.
The monthly square metres are calculated by multiplying the daily
square metres with the number of shifts in that specific month and
calculated that 273 panels to be blasted on a daily basis to obtain the
stoping target.

5.9 Basic Mining Equation

General mining calculations are recorded in Table 5.6 below. These
calculations will give you an understanding of the basic yet important
factors that every mining engineer should be able to do.

Table 5.6 Profitability Calculations

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