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Critical Analysis of Process Cycle by Numerical Modelling for Faster Development of Drives in Hard-Rock Underground Mine–A Case Study


Affiliations
1 Tummalapalle Mine, Uranium Corporation of India Ltd,Jharkhand 832 102, India
2 Department of Mining Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad 826 004, India
3 Department of Mining Engineering, Malla Reddy Engineering College, Hyderabad 500 014, India
 

To extract deep-seated metallic minerals, an underground mine needs to be developed at a faster rate to access the ore body safely. There are various techniques to break the rock butstill drilling and blasting is considered the cheapest. Therefore, an effort was made to reengineer the mine development cycle time in order to achieve high advance rate. This study highlights the requirement of numerical simulation in rock excavation for its stability and design through the reengineered drill and blast operations. Implementation of the findings of numerical modelling and deployment of advanced drilling equipment helped reduce the total drilling time and overall cycle time by 30.70% and 15.90% respectively, in the two cases of drilling length considered, i.e. 3.4 and 4.0 m. Subsequently, in a further modified process, where the supporting activities were avoided till the third advance, there was significant improvement in the process cycle time by 43.10% for 3.4 m drilling and 39.30% for 4.0 m drilling length. We found that 15 m advance per day can be achieved by the deployment of double boom jumbo for drilling length of 3.4 m and drive size of 4.5 m ×3.0 m.

Keywords

Drill And Blast, Linear Excavations, Mine Development, Numerical Modelling, Process Cycle Time.
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  • Critical Analysis of Process Cycle by Numerical Modelling for Faster Development of Drives in Hard-Rock Underground Mine–A Case Study

Abstract Views: 427  |  PDF Views: 139

Authors

K. K. Rao
Tummalapalle Mine, Uranium Corporation of India Ltd,Jharkhand 832 102, India
B. S. Choudhary
Department of Mining Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad 826 004, India
Ajay Ghade
Tummalapalle Mine, Uranium Corporation of India Ltd,Jharkhand 832 102, India
Chandrahas
Department of Mining Engineering, Malla Reddy Engineering College, Hyderabad 500 014, India

Abstract


To extract deep-seated metallic minerals, an underground mine needs to be developed at a faster rate to access the ore body safely. There are various techniques to break the rock butstill drilling and blasting is considered the cheapest. Therefore, an effort was made to reengineer the mine development cycle time in order to achieve high advance rate. This study highlights the requirement of numerical simulation in rock excavation for its stability and design through the reengineered drill and blast operations. Implementation of the findings of numerical modelling and deployment of advanced drilling equipment helped reduce the total drilling time and overall cycle time by 30.70% and 15.90% respectively, in the two cases of drilling length considered, i.e. 3.4 and 4.0 m. Subsequently, in a further modified process, where the supporting activities were avoided till the third advance, there was significant improvement in the process cycle time by 43.10% for 3.4 m drilling and 39.30% for 4.0 m drilling length. We found that 15 m advance per day can be achieved by the deployment of double boom jumbo for drilling length of 3.4 m and drive size of 4.5 m ×3.0 m.

Keywords


Drill And Blast, Linear Excavations, Mine Development, Numerical Modelling, Process Cycle Time.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv118%2Fi10%2F1547-1556