A system and method are described for excavation of gravel from a gravel formation including an elongated cylindrical casing surrounding and supporting a rotating auger extending a chosen distance beyond an open end of the casing, and having openings through its upper surface for permitting gravel to enter the casing in addition to entering through the open end thereof, a source of vibration for vibrating the casing, a conveyor for removing material excavated by the system through an opening in the bottom surface of the casing, and a tracked excavator or other suitable vehicle for preventing the casing from rotating and for pushing the casing in a chosen horizontal direction into the gravel formation.

A slope monitoring system for monitoring deformation of a wall or slope from a virtual point of view. A slope monitoring device directs signals at a slope or wall and compiles direction data, range data and amplitude data from signals reflected from the slope or wall. The direction data, range data and amplitude data comes from a first real position and a second real position. The data may be recorded sequentially or concurrently.

The present invention discloses an in-situ leaching method and system. The ISL mining method provided by the present invention includes: constructing a vertical guiding well into an ore body; constructing a horizontal well towards the vertical guiding well, where the horizontal well includes a vertical section and a horizontal section; one end of the horizontal section is connected to the vertical section, and the other end of the horizontal section is connected to the vertical guiding well; constructing a plurality of vertical extraction wells towards the horizontal section; and simultaneously injecting lixiviant into the vertical section and the vertical guiding well by means of pressurized injection, and extracting leachate through the vertical extraction well. The ISL mining method and system provided by the present invention accomplish the injection through a horizontal well.

A mining system includes: a first tunnel that reaches a dump site and includes a first road surface; a second tunnel that crosses the first tunnel, reaches a mining site, and includes a second road surface positioned above the first road surface; a frame that includes a lower surface provided above the first road surface of the first tunnel and forming a transport passage between the first road surface and the lower surface and an upper surface forming a work road surface, on which a loading machine operates, together with the second road surface; and a moving vehicle that is capable of traveling on the first road surface and is capable of passing through the transport passage.

A method and an apparatus for creating a void, low-density fill or combination of void and low-density fill for underground mining having at least one module of formwork to be positioned in an open slope of an underground mine prior to carrying out a backfilling operation.

A method and an apparatus for creating a void, low-density fill or combination of void and low-density fill for underground mining having at least one module of formwork to be positioned in an open slope of an underground mine prior to carrying out a backfilling operation.

A method for controlling a subsidence area caused by underground mining in an adjoining open-pit mine, applied in an open-pit and underground coordinated mining process. In the method, a ground subsidence area caused by underground mining and production is directly filled and covered with overburden materials such as soil and rock discharged from an adjoining open-pit mine; small and medium fracture zones and large fracture zones caused by mining are timely backfilled, tamped, and levelled according to areas before the ground subsidence area appears, the thickness of the levelled soil layer is kept above 1 m, and the area slope is controlled within 7°. By fully using overburden materials from an adjoining open-pit mine, the method controls a subsidence area caused by underground mining and greatly shortens the discharge distance of the overburden materials from the adjoining open-pit mine, also solves the safety problems such as air leakage and spontaneous combustion of coal caused by fractures in mine subsidence, and brings significant economic and social benefits.

A method for controlling a subsidence area caused by underground mining in an adjoining open-pit mine, applied in an open-pit and underground coordinated mining process. In the method, a ground subsidence area caused by underground mining and production is directly filled and covered with overburden materials such as soil and rock discharged from an adjoining open-pit mine; small and medium fracture zones and large fracture zones caused by mining are timely backfilled, tamped, and levelled according to areas before the ground subsidence area appears, the thickness of the levelled soil layer is kept above 1 m, and the area slope is controlled within 7°. By fully using overburden materials from an adjoining open-pit mine, the method controls a subsidence area caused by underground mining and greatly shortens the discharge distance of the overburden materials from the adjoining open-pit mine, also solves the safety problems such as air leakage and spontaneous combustion of coal caused by fractures in mine subsidence, and brings significant economic and social benefits.

Methods and systems of monitoring and controlling a longwall mining system. One system includes a shearer including a cutter drum and a sensor mounted to the shearer. The system also includes an electronic controller including a processor and a memory, the electronic controller communicatively coupled to the sensor. The electronic controller is configured to receive vibration data from the sensor and determine a current vibration level experienced by the cutter drum. The electronic controller is also configured to compare the current vibration level to a target vibration threshold associated with a target material seam. The electronic controller is also configured to provide a visual output to an operator of the longwall mining system when the current vibration level exceeds the target vibration threshold, where the current vibration level exceeds the target vibration threshold when the cutter drum of the shearer cuts outside of the target material seam.

An equipment system for a self-retaining mining method mainly comprises a transition support, an end support, a following support, and a fast-retracting support. Working face gateroads do not need to advance in mining, and a coal mining machine may be used to cut a neat coal wall at the end of a district. The entry rib is automatically formed after roof caving, thus forming a gateroad in a re-mining process. The coal mining machine is under digital control when its end cuts the coal, automatically enabling the end to laterally cut the coal wall to form a vertical straight line, which is used as the entry rib of the gateroad. A scrapper conveyor works in coordination with an arc-shaped coal grabbing plate of the coal mining machine to clean up float coal at the end as much as possible.