Tendencies of Mining Technology Development in Relation to Deep Mines

Mineral demand rapidly increases; as a result, underground mining activities gradually dig into the earth’s crust to deeper levels. For instance, the depth of coal mines has reached 1500 m, whereas the depth of mines for nonferrous metals has already achieved around 4500 m. Deep mining faces a number of technical and environmental challenges, first of all, great rock mass stresses, high temperature and long winding distance. The traditional technologies are hardly capable to provide the development and extraction efficiency and safety. That is why the need in developing and implementation of new modern mining technologies arose. In roadheading, TBM (tunnelboring machine) method is gradually introduced. A TBM combines the functions of rock breaking, support installation, mucking and conveying rock. In mining industry, smart mining based on mechanized and automated mining methods is successfully implemented at coal mines. Besides, a technical concept of fluidized mining for deepseated mineral resources (6000 m and more) was proposed. This paper presents the review of the current global status of deep mining and highlights some of the newest technological achievements in roadheading and the mineral extraction processes.