A bulkhead for use in facilitating backfilling of a stope upon mining thereof includes a skid having a base and a pair of post members extending upwardly from the base. The bulkhead also includes a barrier having a primary grid assembly pivotally supported on the pair of post members, at least one secondary grid assembly selectively, and sequentially, stacked upon the primary grid assembly; and a brace selectively stacked upon an uppermost one of the primary grid assembly and the at least one secondary grid assembly. An aspect ratio of the barrier, prior to, backfilling, is operably adjustable by individually adjusting one or more of the primary grid assembly, the secondary grid assembly and the brace to confirm with an aspect ratio of an access tunnel, or a brow, adjacent to the stope for subsequently facilitating backfilling of the stope.

A cutter head includes a first member, a cutting bit, and a second member. The first member includes a first end and a second end and includes a first mass. The cutting bit is coupled to the first member proximate the second end. The cutting bit includes a cutting edge rotatable about the axis. The second member is rotatable about the axis and includes a second mass eccentrically positioned with respect to the axis. Rotation of the second mass causes the first member and the cutting bit to oscillate.

Controlling an output of a mining system. The control includes receiving, at a processor, a first signal associated with a position of the shearer, determining, using the processor, the position of the shearer based on the first signal, receiving, at the processor, a second signal associated with a load of a conveyor, and determining, using the processor, the load of the conveyor based on the second signal. The method further includes determining, using the processor, an output of the mining system based on the position of the shearer and the load of the conveyor and controlling a speed of the shearer based on the output of the mining system.

Controlling an output of a mining system. The control includes receiving, at a processor, a first signal associated with a position of the shearer, determining, using the processor, the position of the shearer based on the first signal, receiving, at the processor, a second signal associated with a load of a conveyor, and determining, using the processor, the load of the conveyor based on the second signal. The method further includes determining, using the processor, an output of the mining system based on the position of the shearer and the load of the conveyor and controlling a speed of the shearer based on the output of the mining system.

Embodiments of this invention relate to highwall mining, and more particularly to a launch vehicle adapted for use in highwall mining of downward angled seams of mineable material, such as coal. More specifically, the provided launch vehicle includes a substantially horizontally oriented control deck, a launch deck pivotally attached to the control deck, and a substantially horizontally oriented conveyor belt. A miner and at least one conveyor car are positioned on the launch deck while the launch deck is in a substantially horizontal orientation, then the launch deck is tilted upward relative to the conveyor belt to substantially match a planned entry dip angle of the seam to be mined. As the miner and at least one conveyor car advance into the seam, the launch deck is returned to a substantially horizontal orientation, an additional conveyor car is added to the launch deck, and the launch deck is again tilted to substantially match the entry dip angle of the seam to connect the additional conveyor car as the rearmost car in the conveyor train.

A method for adjusting a surface of an exploratory data model of a geological domain to take into account blast hole data, the method comprising; drilling a plurality of blast holes proximal to the geological domain; recording blast hole data samples for each of the blast holes in an electronic data storage apparatus; operating a processing assembly in data communication with said storage apparatus according to instructions stored in a memory accessible to the processing assembly to perform the following acts: labelling each said data sample as domain or non-domain; determining blast hole boundary samples for the geological domain at each of a number of elevations to produce blast hole boundaries for the geological domain; comparing the blast hole boundaries to a surface of the exploratory data model; adjusting the surface based on the blast hole boundaries for the geological domain to generate an adjusted surface; and mining the geological domain based on the adjusted surface to thereby improve efficiency of ore extraction.

The present invention relates to a mining method including the step of forming one or more sets of gate roads. Each set of gate roads includes at least two headings typically for providing and retuning ventilation. Dead end plunge cuts extend from the sets of gate roads. Each plunge cut is formed with a continuous miner coupled to a flexible conveyor system. Each plunge cut is greater than 30 metres in length. Advantageously, narrow elongate pillars may be left between adjacent plunge cuts, thereby resulting in greater material removal per volume and improved operating costs when compared with bord and pillar mining.

Systems and methods for extracting minerals from an underground mineralization zone located below the surface at an oil and gas drilling site. The system includes a vertical drilling means for drilling a vertical bore extending from the surface at the oil and gas drilling site into the mineralization zone, a second horizontal drilling means for drilling at least one horizontal production bore into the mineralization zone. The first horizontal drilling means and the second horizontal drilling means are configured to return material from the mineralization zone to the surface where the mineral content of the material is analyzed and a separator separates minerals, waste and drilling mud from the material. The method includes steps of drilling a horizontal assessment bore, analyzing assessment material for a desired mineral, drilling a horizontal production bore, producing production material containing the desired mineral, and separating the desired material from waste and drilling mud.

The present invention provides a mining method. The method includes: dividing a mining region into a plurality of federated mining regions; performing an open-pit mining operation in each of the federated mining regions and forming a pit in each of the federated mining regions; performing an underground mining operation on a slope of the pit and forming a plurality of excavated tunnels; and backfilling a pit of a previous federated mining region with a spoil of a subsequent federated mining region.

The present invention provides a mining method. The method includes: dividing a mining region into a plurality of federated mining regions; performing an open-pit mining operation in each of the federated mining regions and forming a pit in each of the federated mining regions; performing an underground mining operation on a slope of the pit and forming a plurality of excavated tunnels; and backfilling a pit of a previous federated mining region with a spoil of a subsequent federated mining region.