A method for expanding a mature brine well cavern includes determining the position and depth of an insoluble deposit and the volume and depth of a salt formation in the well. An outer drill casing is used to penetrate the soluble deposit and the salt underneath the insoluble deposit. The method further includes drilling continuously through the insoluble deposit and drilling into the salt formation.

A method for expanding a mature brine well cavern includes determining the position and depth of an insoluble deposit and the volume and depth of a salt formation in the well. An outer drill casing is used to penetrate the soluble deposit and the salt underneath the insoluble deposit. The method further includes drilling continuously through the insoluble deposit and drilling into the salt formation.

A mining system with an inertial guidance system configured to enable precise excavation of geological material without a need to advance a survey line over a long distance and/or nonlinear excavation path, thereby maximizing productivity of the mind by minimizing a width of un-mined material necessary for support between adjacent excavation paths and minimizing equipment downtime.

Processes and configurations for subterranean resource extraction are provided. The processes include installing borehole strings, such as by drilling a plurality of boreholes, for example, first and second boreholes, that extend from a surface region into a resource deposit. The first and second boreholes are situated adjacent to each other. Portions of the first and second boreholes laterally extend in a penannularly fashion and connect terminally at a nodal space situated within the resource deposit. Carrier fluid is injected from the surface along fluid paths defined by the boreholes to in situ leach resource materials from the resource deposit into the carrier fluid, and carrier fluid containing the resource materials is brought back to surface for resource extraction.

Processes and configurations for subterranean resource extraction are provided. The processes include installing borehole strings, such as by drilling a plurality of boreholes, for example, first and second boreholes, that extend from a surface region into a resource deposit. The first and second boreholes are situated adjacent to each other. Portions of the first and second boreholes laterally extend in a penannularly fashion and connect terminally at a nodal space situated within the resource deposit. Carrier fluid is injected from the surface along fluid paths defined by the boreholes to in situ leach resource materials from the resource deposit into the carrier fluid, and carrier fluid containing the resource materials is brought back to surface for resource extraction.

A mining system with an inertial guidance system configured to enable precise excavation of geological material without a need to advance a survey line over a long distance and/or nonlinear excavation path, thereby maximizing productivity of the mind by minimizing a width of un-mined material necessary for support between adjacent excavation paths and minimizing equipment downtime.

According to embodiments described in the specification, an exemplary method is disclosed for hydraulically hoisting potash (or other evaporite ore) ‘fines’ material from an underground mine. The method includes mining an ore deposit using a boring machine to generate Run-of-Mine (ROM) material at a mine face, conveying the generated ROM material to an underground ore screening plant, screening the ROM material relative to a threshold size wherein the threshold size is a feed size of one or more flotation cells at a surface processing plant, mixing ‘fines’ material, comprising ROM material that is below the threshold size, with a saturated brine to create a slurry mixture wherein the saturated brine prevents the ‘fines’ material from dissolving into the slurry mixture, and pumping the slurry mixture to a surface location via one of a shaft and a borehole to the surface product separation plant.

According to embodiments described in the specification, an exemplary method is disclosed for hydraulically hoisting potash (or other evaporite ore) ‘fines’ material from an underground mine. The method includes mining an ore deposit using a boring machine to generate Run-of-Mine (ROM) material at a mine face, conveying the generated ROM material to an underground ore screening plant, screening the ROM material relative to a threshold size wherein the threshold size is a feed size of one or more flotation cells at a surface processing plant, mixing ‘fines’ material, comprising ROM material that is below the threshold size, with a saturated brine to create a slurry mixture wherein the saturated brine prevents the ‘fines’ material from dissolving into the slurry mixture, and pumping the slurry mixture to a surface location via one of a shaft and a borehole to the surface product separation plant.

A method for expanding a mature brine well cavern wherein the brine well comprises an existing casing extending from the surface into a cavern, an insoluble deposit at a bottom of the cavern, the method comprising an initial drilling operation including removing existing strings, if any, from the brine well; determining position and depth of the insoluble deposit; determining volume and depth of a salt formation present below the existing brine well; providing an outer drill string casing with sufficient length to penetrate the insoluble deposit and penetrate the salt formation; providing a drillable drill bit at a bottom end of the drill string casing to penetrate the insoluble deposit and salt lying under the insoluble deposit; drilling continuously through the insoluble deposit; and drilling into the salt formation is provided.

A method for expanding a mature brine well cavern wherein the brine well comprises an existing casing extending from the surface into a cavern, an insoluble deposit at a bottom of the cavern, the method comprising an initial drilling operation including removing existing strings, if any, from the brine well; determining position and depth of the insoluble deposit; determining volume and depth of a salt formation present below the existing brine well; providing an outer drill string casing with sufficient length to penetrate the insoluble deposit and penetrate the salt formation; providing a drillable drill bit at a bottom end of the drill string casing to penetrate the insoluble deposit and salt lying under the insoluble deposit; drilling continuously through the insoluble deposit; and drilling into the salt formation is provided.