Technological Resources Pty. Limited

Max Edward Oddie

Fredric Christopher Delabbio

Colin Ian Jones

Pierre Labrecque

In developing an underground mine a mine shaftis formed by excavating earth and removing excavated material from the shaftby a material transport system comprising skipsmovable up and down on skip guides within the shaft. Tunnelsare launched from a bottom part of shaftby excavating a cavernin which a tunnel boring machine is assembled and operated to bore the tunnels. Material from the tunnel excavation is transported from the tunnels via conveyorto the material transport system established within the shaft during formation of the shaft which is operated to transport that material to an earth surface region.

Underground mining

A method of block cave mining comprising excavating undercut tunnels () at an undercut level; drilling undercut blast holes () through the undercut tunnel roofs and setting and detonating explosive charges in those holes to blast rock above the undercut tunnels to initiate the formation of broken rock caverns () above the undercut tunnels (); excavating extraction level tunnels () at an extraction level below the undercut level; drilling drawbell blast holes () upwardly from the extraction level tunnels at selected drawbell locations toward the broken rock caverns () and setting and detonating explosive charges in those holes to blast drawbells () through which broken rock falls down into the extraction level tunnels (); and progressively removing such fallen rock from the drawbell locations through the extraction level tunnels (); wherein some of the excavation is done mechanically by tunnel boring machinery.

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Sorrento, Australia

Max Edward Oddie