The
Mining process follows various
phases, from the initial process of thorough study the site, decide the process
to apply for extracting the ore, digging out the ore, and then make it ready
for export to the market.
Although,
there are 2 methods used for the mining purposes, i.e Underground and Surface mining.
But surface mining is restricted for depths above 200 feet, and become inefficient
above it. Here, the use of underground mining becomes more useful in the cases,
of depth about 750 meters into the earth and even more deep, if required.
Mining in India has taken so many folds
of changes from past centuries. From the
time when people with shovels manually
make sure that the underground air was not toxic, modern mines contain proper
ventilation, water drainage systems, high-tech communication networks and
increasingly computerized machines.
A
typical underground mine possess few of the necessary components for its smooth
working and satisfactory results.
- Escape routes
- Proper ventilation shafts to clear toxic fumes from drilling and blasting
- access shafts to lower workers and equipment
- ore-transport tunnels;
- recovery shafts for carrying excavated ore to the surface; and
- Smooth communication systems to send information back and forth between the surface and the depths
No
two mines are the same actually, and this can differ the technology
applications and basic decisions about design and mining method based on
factors like type of ore being mined, composition of surrounding rock, shape
and orientation of the ore deposit, geologic features persist underground, and
simple economics there.
There
exist 2 kinds of underground mines, namely-
- Soft-Rock Underground Mining (longwall and room and pillar)
- Hard-Rock Underground Mining
The
minerals like coal, salt, uranium ad phosphate live in relatively soft
sedimentary rock, while gold, diamond, copper, silver, nickel and zinc deposits
persists in igneous or metamorphic rock, which is relatively hard. But, no
matter which type of mine is there, basic techniques are there which are
commonly followed.