US3758160A

US3758160A - Method and apparatus for mining vein material only

Info

Publication number: US3758160A
Application number: US00101082A
Authority: US
Inventors: A Hilton
Original assignee: MINING DEVE AG
Current assignee: MINING DEVE AG
Priority date: 1969-12-30
Filing date: 1970-12-23
Publication date: 1973-09-11
Anticipated expiration: 1990-09-11
Also published as: GB1344820A; CH517892A; CA929539A; ZA708723B

Abstract

A method of mining vein or reef type mineral deposits in which a series of elongate holes are cut or drilled above and below or to each side of the mineral vein or reef. The holes may be contiguous to form a continuous slot or adjacent but spaced, a wedging tool being used to remove the intervening pillars when the slots have been cut to the desired depth, the mineral deposit is removed by bursting out or the like.

Description

United States Patent 1191 Hilton 1451 Sept. 11, 1973 i METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MINING VEIN MATERIAL ONLY [75] Inventor: Allan Richard Hilton,

Westhoughton, England [73] Assignee: Mining Developments AG, Zug,

Switzerland [22] Filed: Dec. 23, 1970 [21] App]. No.: 101,082

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 30, 1969 Great Britain 63,237/69 [52] US. Cl 299/15, 173/105, 175/416 [51] Int. Cl. EZlc 37/02, E21c 3/30 [58] Fieldof Search 2.99/10, 15, 18, 20,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 486,10] 1l/1892 Githens l7 5/4l6 X Storrs 299/15 3,167,354 1/1965 Mac'aul et aL... 299/18 X 1,631,693 6/1927 Richey 175/416 X 395,105 12/1888 Wyckoff 175/416 X 740,906 10/1903 Owen 175/389 X 923,513 6/1909 l-lardsocg 175/389 Primary Examiner-Ernest R. Purser Attorney-Holman & Stern 5 7] ABSTRACT A method of mining vein or reef type mineral deposits in which a series of elongate holes are cut or drilled above and below or to each side of the mineral vein or reef. The holes may be contiguous to form a continuous slot or adjacent but spaced, a wedging tool being used to remove the intervening pillars when the slots have been cut to the desired depth, the mineral deposit is removed by bursting out or the like. v

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MINING VEIN MATERIAL ONLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method of mining and in particular to a method of winning reef or vein type mineral deposits.

PRIOR ART In the winning of reef or vein type mineral deposits,

is desired to handle is the gold ore. Thisis therefore laborious,.extremely expensive and time wasting and it is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate this disadvantageous practice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a method of winning reef or vein type material deposits comprising the steps of forming by a transversely elongated cutting bit subjected simultaneously to an axial percussive force and a limited transverse oscillatory movement, a series of substantially rectangular holes directly above and below and/or directly at each side of the reef or vein to provide slots around the mineral deposit to be extracted, and thereafter removing only the thus separated mineral deposit leaving behind all waste elements.

Adjacent elongate holes may be drilled or cut contiguous, or adjacent holes may be spaced, with the intervening material being later removed .by convenient means.

The present invention provides also a means for effecting a mining operation in accordance with the present invention, which meanscomprises a drilling or cutting tool having a configuration which is substantially rectangular, trapezoidal elliptical or similar shape, and a prime mover for operating the tool to effect a drilling or cutting action. The means may also include a wedging tool which may be manually operated or percussively driven to remove intervening material between adjacent non-contiguous holes.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:.-

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a diagrammatic perspective view showing a method of winning a reef type mineral deposit in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate diagrammatically a second method; and

FIGS. 4 and 5, illustrate in perspective view suitable drilling or cutting tools.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION First an apparatus suitable for winning a reef type unnecessarily vast quantities of material since all that .15

mineral deposit in accordance with the present invenports a power pack 11. including .a motor, a pump arrangement, a source of hydraulic liquid, various valves and controls. A boom 12 is supported on thc base I], which boom 12 ispivotal by a hydraulic ram (not shown) about axis l3-between the horizontal position shown and a substantially vertical position. The bootm, 12 at one end mounts a position-stationary guide 14 for a drill rod 15 (see FIG. 4). The guide 14 is preferably .a conventional semi-rotary actuator through which the drill rod 15 can move while being oscillated clue to the non-circular cross-section of the drill rod 15 cooperating with a complementary non-circular formation rotationally fast with the actuator rotor. The boom 12 at its other end, mounts an assembly 16 comprising a hammer for acting on the end of the drill rod 15 and driven by a hydraulic motor. This assembly 16 is supported on a carriage 17 which via convenient ropes and pulleys 18, '19 and a double-acting hydraulic ram can be moved along the boom 12 towards or away from the actuator 14. The drill rod 15 mounts by screw engagement at itsleading end a drill bit or cutting tool 20 (see FIG. 4). The drill bit 20 is of substantially elliptical form in front view and is provided with tungsten carbide inserts 21. The drill .bit 20 has a tapered nose 22 on to which can fit a circular pilot. bit 23 also provided with tungsten carbide inserts 24.

The pilot bit 23 creates a second face in advance of the main bit face and eases the cutting burden of the tool. The pilot bit also ensures accurate drilling.

.In FIG. 4, the pilot bit 23 is shown centrally of the main drill bit 20 while in FIG. 5 the pilot bit 23A is shown offset of the main drill bit 20A.

It will, of course, be manifest that the pilot bit can be omitted completely if desired.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the method of winning a reef or vein 25 is to drill or cut a series of adjacent and contiguous elongate rectangular section holes 26 to a predetermined depth directly above and below or on either side of the reef or vein 25. The reef or vein 25 is then extracted by conventional bursting out or simi-' lar means.

The drill or cutting is, of course, effected by the elliptical drill bit 20 possibly with the assistance of the pilot bit 23) on the end of the drill rod 15 which is subjected to the action of the hammer assembly 16 and the oscillatory movement of drill rod 15. The degree of oscillation should not exceed 229?.

The importance of the elongate hole, as opposed to a series of circular holes, is that a defined, straight clean line is established adjacent to the ore or mineral. This ensures no contamination to the ore when extracted by waste material belonging to the foot or hanging walls. Furthermore, the rectangular hole makes a clean slot without sides.

A second method of winning is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. This involves creating a similar series of rectangular elongate holes 27 but at fixed spaced intervals. The .material or pillars 28 left between the holes 27 is afterwards cut or extracted by suitable tools and actions to form the continuous slot .29.

A suitable tool for removing the material or pillars 28 is a wedge hammer 30 which is inserted in a hole 27 and then manually hammered or preferably subjected to a powered percussive, non-rotary action by a conventional air hammer or similar prime mover. The hammer 30 will have hard metal inserts to perform the actual breaking of the pillars along the zone of spitting.

The advantage of this method is that a proportion, as high as 60 percent if the material cut to form the slot,

can be done on the free face principle. in this, a tool such as the wedge hammer 30 covering the full width of material 28 between the holes 27 will chip away to produce the slot. Furthermore, the holes can be cut without difficulties of drill wander or slip (without provision of guide sleeves) due to pillar 28 being left between the holes.

Both the abovedescribed methods provide a means of winning ore or mineral by a selective system of extraction hence leaving behind all waste elements.

It will be manifest that the abovedescribed methods of drilling or cutting earth strata may also be employed to cut out blocks or material for whatever purpose, e.g. sampling and in the accompanying claims references to winning reef or vein type mineral deposits" should be construed broadly accordingly.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of winning reef or vein type mineral deposits comprising the steps of forming by a transversely elongated cutting bit subjected simultaneously to an axial percussive force and a limited transverse oscillatory movement, a series of substantially rectangular holes directly above and below and/or directly at each side of the reef or vein to provide slots around the mineral deposit to be extracted to separate the mineral deposits from the surrounding strata, and thereafter removing only the separated mineral deposits leaving behind all waste matter.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising the step of forming the series of substantially rectangular holes adjacent and contiguous to each other.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising the steps of forming the series of substantially rectangular holes adjacent but spaced from each other, and thereafter removing the intervening burden or material remaining between the adjacent holes.

4. Apparatus for wining reef or vein type mineral deposits comprising a base, a drill rod carried by the base, a percussive unit for acting on one end of the drill rod to apply axial percussive forces thereto, a transversely oval or elliptical cutting bit secured to the other end of the drill rod, a semi-rotary actuator mounted on the base and through which the drill rod extends and moves while being oscillated by the actuator, and means for advancing the percussive unit and hence the drill rod and cutting bit relative to the base to cut in a face substantially rectangular holes.