Shaft sinking

Shaft mining or shaft sinking is the action of excavating a mine shaft from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom. Shallow shafts, typically sunk for civil engineering projects, differ greatly in execution method from deep shafts, typically sunk for mining projects. Shaft sinking is one of the most difficult of all mine development methods: restricted space, gravity, groundwater and specialized procedures make the task quite formidable. Shafts may be sunk by conventional drill and blast or mechanised means. Historically, mine shaft sinking has been among the most dangerous of all the mining occupations and the preserve of mining contractors called sinkers. Today shaft sinking contractors are concentrated in Canada, Germany, China and South Africa. The modern shaft sinking industry is gradually shifting further towards greater mechanisation. Recent innovations in the form of full-face shaft boring (akin to a vertical tunnel boring machine) have shown promise but the use of this method is, as of 2019, not widespread. Mine shafts are vertical or near-vertical tunnels, which are "sunk" as a means of accessing an underground ore body, during the development of an underground mine. The shape (in plan view), dimensions and depth of mine shafts vary greatly in response to the specific needs of the mine they are part of and the geology they are sunk through. For example, in North and South America, smaller shafts are designed to be rectangular in plan view with timber supports. Larger shafts are round in plan and are concrete lined. Mine shafts may be used for a variety of purposes, including as a means of escape in the event of an emergency underground and allowing for the movement of: People Materials Mine services (such as compressed air, water, backfill, power, communications and fuel) Ventilation air Broken rock (in the form of payable ore, or non payable waste) Or any combination of the above When the top of the excavation is the ground surface, it is referred to as a shaft; when the top of the excavation is underground, it is called a winze or a sub-shaft.

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Excavation à ciel ouvert

alt=Refer to caption.|vignette|Côtés inclinés et en gradins de la mine d'or du barrage Sunrise, en Australie. Une exploitation à ciel ouvert (en open-pit mining, open-cast mining), ou excavation à ciel ouvert (en open cut excavation, surface mining), est une technique d'exploitation minière qui consiste à extraire de la roche ou des minéraux de la terre par leur retrait d'une fosse à ciel ouvert, parfois appelée emprunt (borrow). Une excavation à ciel ouvert peut désigner une carrière ou une mine à ciel ouvert.

Drift mining

Drift mining is either the mining of an ore deposit by underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. A drift mine is an underground mine in which the entry or access is above water level and generally on the slope of a hill, driven horizontally into the ore seam. Random House dictionary says the origin of the term "drift mine" is an Americanism, circa 1885–1890. Drift is a more general mining term, meaning a near-horizontal passageway in a mine, following the bed (of coal, for instance) or vein of ore.

Galerie (mine)

Une galerie, dans le domaine minier, est un tunnel creusé pour exploiter les ressources minières du sous-sol. La plupart des galeries étaient étayées avec du bois, souvent exposé au risque radon, et exposé au risque d'explosion du grisou dans le cas des mines de charbon. Après arrêt de l'exploitation de la mine et cessation des pompages miniers, les puits ont été simplement abandonné et/ou obturés ou comblés. Les galeries situées sous le niveau naturel de la nappe phréatique sont alors condamnées à être ennoyées, puis à s'effondrer (ce qui se traduit en surface par des affaissements miniers).

Hydromechanical modelling of shaft sealing for CO2 storage

Anne-Catherine Adolphine M Dieudonné

The geological sequestration of CO2 in abandoned coal mines is a promising option to mitigate climate changes while providing sustainable use of the underground cavities. In order to certify the efficiency of the storage, it is essential to understand the ...

Elsevier2015

For the highly loaded pressure tunnels and shafts that are used for the extension of storage power plants with pumped storage and to increase installed capacity, alignments of the waterway system with high overburden are of great importance from the econom ...

Ernst & Sohn Verlag2013

Monitoring of steel-lined pressure shafts considering water-hammer wave signals and fluid-structure interaction

Fadi Hachem

High head pressure tunnels and shafts of hydropower plants with low rock overburden have to be steel-lined. Since the water can reach in an uncontrolled way the rock surface in case of failure of these water-conveying systems, high damages due to landslide ...

EPFL - LCH2011

Systèmes dynamiques : cartes et stabilité PHYS-460: Nonlinear dynamics, chaos and complex systems

Explore les cartes unidimensionnelles, les solutions périodiques et les bifurcations dans les systèmes dynamiques.