Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
  • E21D—SHAFTS; TUNNELS; GALLERIES; LARGE UNDERGROUND CHAMBERS
  • E21D1/00—Sinking shafts
  • E21D1/03—Sinking shafts mechanically, e.g. by loading shovels or loading buckets, scraping devices, conveying screws

Definitions

• This invention relates to the formation of shafts for underground mines . It has particular but not exclusive application to the formation of a mine shaft through which to provide access to underground mining activity and extraction of mined material after the mine shaft has been formed but it may also have application to the formation of shafts for other purposes such as for use as
• the present invention enables development of a more robust and effective removal system which allows the continued supply of excavated material to continue from such machines even if filling devices are not on station.
• a method of removing excavated material from a mine shaft during formation of the mine shaft for an underground mine comprising;
• the storage bin may be one of a plurality of such bins at the transfer station and the skip may be one of a like plurality of skips lowered and hoisted through the hole on guides to receive and transport material from the bins . More specifically, there may be a pair of storage bins at the transfer station and a pair of skips moveable up and down within the shaft along adjacent pathways sequentially to receive discrete loads of excavated material and to transport those loads to the earth surface region for discharge at the earth surface region and then to return downwardly to the transfer station.
• the skips may be constrained by respective skip guides to move along pathways disposed within a side segment of the shaft having a cross-sectional area which is less than 50% of the cross-sectional area of the shaft.
• the excavated material may be transported to the transfer station by a conveyor associated with the transfer
• the conveyor may have a vertically moveable lower end which is moved downwardly through a limited distance as excavation proceeds before moving the transfer station .
• the periodic movement of the transfer station may be in response to installation of shaft lining extensions below the transfer station.
• the invention further provides a method of forming a mine shaft for an underground mine, comprising:
• the excavation of earth may be performed by an earth boring machine comprising a rotary cutting head.
• the hole may be lined progressively with a shaft lining incorporating a guide for the or each skip by installation of successive lining and skip guide extensions below the transfer station so as to extend the lining and the skip guide for the or each extension of lining in advance of skip movements downwardly along the extensions .
• the invention further provides apparatus for removing excavated material from a mine shaft during formation of the shaft, comprising:
• an extendible conveyor for transporting excavated material upwardly from an excavation region to a transfer station; at least one storage bin located at the transfer station to receive excavated material from an upper part of the conveyor;
• the invention also extends to apparatus for forming a mine shaft for an underground mine, comprising:
• an excavator for excavating earth to form a hole extending downwardly from an earth surface region; and an apparatus as defined above for removing earth excavated by the excavator.
• Figure 1 illustrates a shaft sinking system constructed and operated in accordance with the present invention
• Figure 2 is a vertical cross-section through the shaft sinking system
• Figure 3 is a vertical cross-section through an upper part of the system
• Figures 4 and 5 are horizontal cross-sections through the upper part of the system.
• Figures 6 and 7 illustrate the construction of a pair of skips and skip guides incorporated in the system. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment
• FIG. 20 illustrates a mine shaft boring apparatus denoted generally as 20 located in a shaft hole 19.
• This apparatus comprises a boring machine 21 and an excavated material handling unit 22 disposed above the boring machine and operable to receive excavated material from the boring machine and to transfer it to skips for transport to ground level and discharge at ground level to appropriate conveying equipment or other transport for disposal.
• Earth boring machine 21 has a rotary cutting head 23 fitted with cutters 25 and is mounted at the lower end of a main machine frame 26.
• the cutter head is rotatable about a vertical axis so that the machine is operable to bore a generally cylindrically shaped hole.
• Bucket conveyors 45, 46 transport the excavated material from the cutter head upwardly to the material handling unit 22 disposed above the boring machine .
• the main machine frame 26 can be stabilised or locked into position within the bored hole by operation of
• the boring machine can be advanced downwardly by incremental advancement of the main frame 26 by operation of the stabilising jacks 27, 28 and grippers 29, 30 in known fashion.
• Material handling unit 22 comprises a galloway or main frame 31 formed by a series of platforms or decks 31a interconnected by circumferentially spaced vertical studs 32.
• Galloway 31 may be lowered into the shaft on cables and is supported independently of boring machine 21.
• Material handling unit 22 comprises a material transfer station 33 including a pair of storage bins in the form of hoppers 34 mounted side by side on galloway 31.
• the galloway also supports a bucket conveyor 46 which
• Conveyor 46 is operated while cutter head 23 is cutting to feed the excavated material into the bins and the material is discharged sequentially from the bins into a pair of skips 36 hoisted on cables 40 from ground level and fitted with wheels 37 which run on vertical guides 38 fitted to the shaft in the manner to be described below.
• Skips 36 may be arc gate bottom dump skips as shown in Figures 6 and 7.
• the top and bottom of each skip is fitted with two sets of wheels 37 to run on three sides of the respective vertical guides 38.
• Each skip is also fitted with open channel runners 50 lined with wear blocks to run along the guide.
• Skips 36 are operated in tandem so that as one skip is hoisted from the transfer station 33 to ground level, the other skip is lowered to the loading station.
• a skip 36 reaches the loading station the bottom floor of the respective bin 34 is moved to discharge material stored in the bin through discharge opening 39 into the skip.
• the contents of the bin empties quickly to discharge a predetermined discrete load of material into the skip and the bottom door of the bin is closed.
• Each bin has sufficient capacity to accumulate material from conveyor 46 as the skip is hoisted to the surface, its contents discharged by opening the bottom arc gate and the skip relowered to the loading station to receive another discrete load of material .
• Skips 36 are formed as long rectangular containers which are disposed so as to extend vertically along a side section or segment 52 of the shaft.
• This section of the shaft which occupies considerably less than 50% of the shaft cross-section may be divided from the remainder of the shaft space by steel formwork carrying the skip guides 38 and set into a shaft lining 42 installed within the shaft as boring progresses .
• the maximum width side segment 52 of the shaft may be no more than about one third of the shaft diameter .
• the shaft may be fitted with air ducts 43 and a delivery bucket or lift 44 for delivery of men and materials to the decks of galloway 34 and the mainframe of the boring machine, a central region 51 of the shaft remaining available as a heave lift compartment.
• skips 36 are constrained to run on guides which are firmly anchored to the shaft lining through the formwork 41 they can be of very robust construction and can be raised and lowered along the guides and within the protective formwork much more rapidly than the receptacles previously used for transmitting excavated material to the surface.
• the lining 42 may be formed of concrete and to enable progressive extension of the lining and the guides for the skips the shaft lining and skip guides may be extended by installation of successive lining and skip guide extensions below the transfer station 33 while material is being conveyed and transferred in advance of movements of the skips into the extensions of the lining as shaft sinking proceeds .
• the boring machine may be advanced in successive increments by alternate
• the bottom end of conveyor is vertically extensible by movement of a bottom loop 46a of the conveyor with compensating movement of an upper loop 46b to allow continued transport of excavated material by the conveyor to the transfer station and discharge into hoppers 34 without moving the transfer station as the cutter head of the boring machine and the conveyor 45 moves through a limited distance.
• an extension of the shaft lining 42 (not shown) can be installed below the transfer station, more
• the lining may be installed by spraying concrete directly onto the bored hole through a slick line extending from the surface and supplying concrete through a distributor to one or more , typically two , manually operated
• the concrete can be poured into formwork instead of being sprayed or the lining can be assembled from precast components and attached to the wall by bolting or other convenient means. Extensions of the skip guides and skip guide formwork can then be installed so as to be firmly anchored to the lining. The unit 22 can then be lowered so that the loading station is lowered and the skips 36 allowed to run onto the extended guides within the extended lining. If the lining is applied in wet form to the bore hole by spraying or other means, sufficient time will need to be allowed for the concrete to cure before the loading station is lowered.
• the transfer station As the transfer station is supported independently of the boring machine it can be moved in incremental steps or substantially continuous movements which may or may not match the movements of the boring machine . Typically such movements will be in response to the need to reposition to do another extension of the shaft lining.
• the invention enables the development of a material transfer and hoisting system as the hole progresses using skips which can be robust and can be hoisted and lowered more rapidly than kibbles and other unguided receptacles .
• the illustrated system is capable of moving excavated material at a rate equal to that required for removal of material in an operating mine.
• the capacity will depend on the size of the hoist at the surface and the depth of the shaft but a typical installation should be capable of moving at least 4,500 tonnes of excavated material per day. Accordingly, the transfer station and skip hoisting equipment as installed during the shaft sinking operation may be left in position and subsequently used for
• the illustrated system has been advanced by way of example only and it could be modified considerably including various skip guide arrangements .
• Various kinds of boring machines could be used in an apparatus or method in accordance with the invention . Such boring machines could use various types of cutters or may employ hydraulic or other types of excavation. The excavation may
• excavated material may be picked up for transport to the transfer station by any appropriate means such as by water slurry transport. It would also be possible to install a material sizing unit on the excavator to crush or

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
• Geology (AREA)
• Excavating Of Shafts Or Tunnels (AREA)
• Earth Drilling (AREA)
• Filling Or Emptying Of Bunkers, Hoppers, And Tanks (AREA)
• Underground Structures, Protecting, Testing And Restoring Foundations (AREA)
• Piles And Underground Anchors (AREA)

Priority Applications (9)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

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Cited By (11)

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Citations (6)

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• 2010
  • 2010-06-30 DE DE10793425T patent/DE10793425T8/de active Active
  • 2010-06-30 AU AU2010268761A patent/AU2010268761B2/en active Active
  • 2010-06-30 CN CN201080029789.3A patent/CN102472101B/zh active Active
  • 2010-06-30 EA EA201270083A patent/EA021979B1/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2010-06-30 DE DE202010017762U patent/DE202010017762U1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2010-06-30 MX MX2012000112A patent/MX2012000112A/es active IP Right Grant
  • 2010-06-30 PE PE2011002185A patent/PE20121376A1/es active IP Right Grant
  • 2010-06-30 CA CA2765758A patent/CA2765758C/en active Active
  • 2010-06-30 BR BRPI1014138-3A patent/BRPI1014138B1/pt active IP Right Grant
  • 2010-06-30 EP EP10793425.9A patent/EP2449214B1/en active Active
  • 2010-06-30 PL PL10793425T patent/PL2449214T3/pl unknown
  • 2010-06-30 WO PCT/AU2010/000820 patent/WO2011000037A1/en active Application Filing
• 2011
  • 2011-12-29 CL CL2011003356A patent/CL2011003356A1/es unknown

Patent Citations (7)

Non-Patent Citations (3)

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