Deep stratum well hole cave wet mining system and method

Abstract

The invention relates to a deep stratum well hole and cave mining system and method. The system comprises a well pattern and cave system which is composed of at least one main well hole communicated to a mining position from a well mouth, a plurality of branch well holes and a broken and expanded space; the flow control system is arranged in the well pattern cave system and is used for regulating and controlling injection or discharge of fluid in the broken and expanded space; the system comprises a plurality of branch well holes which are small in spacing and high in curvature and are used for forming the crushing and expanding space. The multilateral well holes are communicated with the crushing and expanding space and are used as channels for injection and discharge; the crushing and expanding space is composed of a plurality of cavities, groove-shaped spaces, seam-shaped spaces or large-diameter well holes formed through reaming, and the crushing and expanding space is filled with gravel piles generated through impact crushing and used for leaching mineral substances. The in-situ wet mining technology for the non-high-permeability stratum is achieved, the wet metallurgy technology is carried out underground from a factory, and an effective path is provided for mineral resource development of the deep stratum.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of mining, and more particularly to a wet mining method for deep formation wellbore tunnels. Background Technology

[0002] With the increasing global emphasis on sustainable development and the green economy, the strategic value of high-value mineral resources will become even more prominent. Various tools and equipment needed for production and daily life consume vast amounts of mineral resources. For example, cutting-edge equipment such as deep space and deep-sea exploration, basic scientific research, nuclear fusion devices, supercomputing, and high-speed transportation are generating ever-increasing demand for precious metals and other rare elements. The abundant and valuable mineral resources hidden within deep strata are crucial for future human survival and development, as well as for technological progress. Therefore, mining technology must evolve to reach deeper regions. However, developing mineral resources deep within the Earth presents more complex, demanding, and unpredictable engineering and geological environments. With increasing mining depth, traditional mining techniques lead to exponentially increasing risks of major accidents and development costs, making large-scale deep mineral development virtually impossible with current traditional methods. Therefore, a new technological system is urgently needed to effectively develop mineral resources within deep strata and subsurface marine strata.

[0003] In existing technologies, the mining of underground solid mineral deposits mainly adopts the vertical shaft tunnel method. This involves transporting mining equipment into the strata through vertical shafts, inclined tunnels, and horizontal tunnels, carrying out mining operations underground, and using transportation equipment such as vehicles or conveyor belts to transport the ore out. However, as the mining depth increases, more and more strata become unminable due to problems such as rock bursts, outbursts, roof falls, collapses, and water infiltration. Mining using the above method creates huge underground spaces, requiring the use of complex support equipment to support the formed chambers. However, collapses can still occur when mining deep strata or non-hard strata, leading to the interruption of mining operations.

[0004] Since the Song Dynasty in China, when water was injected into wells to dissolve salt ore, people have been exploring new methods for extracting deep minerals. How to mine minerals from deep strata has long been a matter of great concern. In the 1970s, scholars proposed using high-pressure water jets to impact the well walls in rock or coal seams to create cavities for mining solid minerals. While this method could create cavities for low-hardness minerals, it was limited by the jetting distance, making it difficult to control the extraction volume. Furthermore, the jet used for impact could not be controlled, making it impossible to precisely break the rock. With the formation of cavities, the broken mineral particles could not be effectively carried out of the wellbore by circulating water, making it impossible to form large, controllable-shaped pits, hindering industrial-scale mining and making it difficult to achieve the desired morphological orifice shape for the mining space. Furthermore, while existing technologies such as "in-situ leaching mining" may appear similar to the technology described in this invention, "in-situ leaching mining" targets ion-type minerals hosted in shallow, highly permeable sandstone strata, whereas this invention targets mineral deposits from which minerals can be leached using hydrometallurgical methods. The technical objectives and approaches of this invention are significantly different from those of "in-situ leaching mining." Additionally, traditional shaft mining methods are unsuitable for mining minerals within strata beneath water bodies (oceans, lakes), and in-situ leaching mining, which is prone to causing significant pollution, is also difficult to apply. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop an effective technology for developing deep mineral deposits and minerals within strata beneath the ocean.

[0005] Therefore, this invention proposes a wet mining method for deep formation wellbore tunnels to overcome the shortcomings of existing technologies. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to provide a deep-seated wellbore wet mining method. This method involves prefabricating a breccia space and fracturing the surrounding rock within it, followed by in-situ heap leaching to achieve wellbore wet mining. This technology does not require permeability of the formation and is not targeted at ion-adsorption minerals, unlike existing "in-situ leaching mining" techniques. This invention is effectively applicable to the in-situ development of deep, non-high-permeability ore layers or subsea ore layers.

[0007] The objective of this invention can be achieved through the following methods:

[0008] This invention provides a wet mining system and method for deep formation wellbore tunnels.

[0009] It includes a well network cave system consisting of at least one main wellhead connected to the mining location, multiple branch wellheads, and a swell space; it also includes a flow control system, which is installed within the well network cave system to regulate the injection or discharge of fluid within the swell space;

[0010] The main wellbore has a diameter of less than 1 meter and the branch wellbore has a diameter of less than 0.5 meters; it includes at least multiple branch wellbores with a spacing of less than 50 meters and a turning section curvature of more than 90° / 100ft to form the rupture space; it includes at least multiple branch wellbores that communicate with the rupture space to serve as channels for injection or discharge;

[0011] The crushing and swelling space is composed of multiple cavities, trough-shaped spaces, and / or large-diameter wells formed by enlargement, used to contain ore after in-situ crushing; the crushing and swelling space is filled with piles of crushed stone generated by impact crushing; the crushing and swelling space is connected to the main well and / or branch wells.

[0012] This invention provides a wet mining method for deep formation wellbore tunnels, comprising the following steps:

[0013] S1, Drill the main wellbore;

[0014] S2, lower the branch well drilling tool with trajectory control function;

[0015] S3, drill the first to Nth branch wells sequentially at intervals of less than 50 meters along different positions on the main well wall;

[0016] S4, drive the impact crushing assembly into multiple branch wells;

[0017] S5, activate the impact crushing assembly to break the rock and form a fracture zone;

[0018] S6, inject chemical agents or microbial solutions into the main wellbore;

[0019] S7, extract the mineral-containing solution to the outside of the wellhead.

[0020] This invention provides a wet mining method for deep formation wellbore tunnels, comprising the following steps:

[0021] Step S1 completes the well construction work for the injection well system and the liquid collection well system; wherein the injection well system and / or the liquid collection well system includes branch wells and expansion spaces;

[0022] Step S2 connects the injection well system and the liquid collection well system by drilling branch well holes or by impact fracturing; wherein, at least the impact fracturing is used to blast the expansion space and form a pile of rubble in the expansion space.

[0023] Step S3: Inject chemical agents or microbial solutions into the fragmentation space from the injection well system, and extract the chemical agents or microbial solutions leached from the fragmentation space from the collection well system.

[0024] As described above, the characteristics and advantages of the deep formation wellbore tunnel mining system and method of the present invention are as follows:

[0025] This application utilizes wellbore excavation to create a controllable fracturing space underground. Subsequently, blasting operations are conducted through the wellbore to in-situ break the target ore body to a predetermined size, constructing an artificial "ore heap" with good permeability underground. Based on this, leaching agents are injected or sprayed into the artificial ore heap through multiple branch wellbores, and the leaching solution is collected and pumped to the surface for treatment. Specifically, this system employs multiple closely spaced, short-radius branch wellbores, and based on these branch wellbores, controlled fracturing is performed through close cutting, achieving uniform modification of the underground strata from "line" to "surface" and from "surface" to "volume," thereby significantly improving the injection, leaching, and soaking effects of fluids. This method provides an efficient and controllable underground modification technique for the in-situ wet development of hard solid ore bodies.

[0026] Furthermore, this application targets low-permeability or impermeable mineral formations, thus preventing the outflow of working fluids in wet mining. In addition, the process flow of this application includes backfilling and solidification, as well as the establishment of an anti-seepage modification layer through a well network, effectively protecting the working fluids from leakage.

[0027] In summary, this application is particularly suitable for large-scale, high-efficiency mining operations in deep strata or in the lower marine strata. Attached Figure Description

[0028] The following figures are intended only to illustrate and explain the present invention and do not limit the scope of the invention. Wherein:

[0029] Figure 1 This is a top view of one of the schematic diagrams of the deep formation well-hole wet mining system of the present invention in wet mining within a well-hole;

[0030] Figure 2 This is a top view of one of the schematic diagrams of the deep formation well-hole mining system of the present invention in wet mining within a well;

[0031] Figure 3 A side view of one of the schematic diagrams of the deep formation well-hole mining system of the present invention in wet mining within a well;

[0032] Figure 4 The second schematic diagram of the deep formation well-hole tunnel mining system of the present invention in wet mining within the tunnel;

[0033] Figure 5 The second schematic diagram of the deep formation well-hole tunnel mining system of the present invention in wet mining within the tunnel;

[0034] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the flow control valve for the deep formation wellbore and tunnel mining system of this invention;

[0035] The reference numerals in the accompanying drawings of this invention are:

[0036] 1-Main wellbore; 11-Branch wellbore; 12-Brewing section; 2-Brewing space; 21-Gravel pile; 3-Injection well system; 4-Collecting well system; 5-Anti-seepage modification layer; 141-Residue crushing assembly; 15-Wellhead; 16-Blasting assembly; 161-Energetic material; 162-Start-up module; 17-Pump; 18-Flow control valve; 181-Outer casing; 182-Valve; 183-Inner casing; 184-Control module; 185-Packer. Detailed Implementation

[0037] The technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. After reading the present invention, any modifications of the present invention in various equivalent forms by those skilled in the art fall within the scope defined by the appended claims.

[0038] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "set on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or there may be an intervening element. When an element is referred to as being "connected to" another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or there may be an intervening element. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," and similar expressions used herein are for illustrative purposes only and do not represent the only possible implementation.

[0039] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. The terminology used herein in the specification of this application is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. The term "and / or" as used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0040] Implementation Method 1

[0041] like Figures 1 to 6 As shown, this invention provides a wet mining system and method for deep formation wellbore and tunnel groups, characterized in that...

[0042] It includes a well network cave system consisting of at least one main wellbore (1) connected to the mining location, multiple branch wellbores (11), and a swell space (2); it also includes a flow control system, which is set in the well network cave system to regulate the injection or discharge of fluid in the swell space;

[0043] The main wellbore diameter is less than 1 meter and the branch wellbore diameter is less than 0.5 meters; at least multiple branch wellbores with a spacing of less than 50 meters and a turning section curvature of more than 90° / 100ft are used to form the rupture space (2); at least multiple branch wellbores are connected to the rupture space and are used as channels for injection or discharge;

[0044] The crushing space is composed of multiple cavities, trough-shaped spaces, and / or large-diameter well holes formed by enlargement, used to contain ore after in-situ crushing; the crushing space (2) is filled with a pile of crushed stone (21) generated by impact crushing; the crushing space is connected to the main well hole and / or branch well holes.

[0045] The flow control system includes a flow control valve (18), a packer (185), and / or a pump (17).

[0046] It should be noted that in this invention, the initial expansion of deep underground space is achieved through wellbores with a diameter much smaller than that of vertical shaft tunnels, and these spaces are further utilized as fracture expansion spaces to form fractured piles (21). Sufficient fluid flow is achieved by creating a cave-well network seepage structure, enabling in-situ underground hydrometallurgy for low-permeability or even impermeable ore bodies. The connection between multiple branch wellbores and fracture expansion spaces in this invention can be multiple branch wellbores connected to multiple fracture expansion spaces separately, or multiple branch wellbores connected to one fracture expansion space simultaneously. Furthermore, the multiple fracture expansion spaces in this invention can be multiple spaces formed in a single excavation, or they can be gradually excavated during the hydrometallurgical leaching process. For example, after a certain fracture expansion space is developed, it can be consolidated by injecting cement, gel, or filling material, and then new fracture expansion spaces can be excavated in its adjacent area to continuously expand the modified volume and improve the overall recovery rate of the ore body.

[0047] The swell space described in this invention is a swell space (2) formed by high-pressure abrasive jet erosion, high-pressure water flushing, acid dissolution, hole enlargement equipment, and downhole cavity enlargement equipment. This allows the fracture network within the fractured body to have a wider fracture, which is beneficial for the retained fragments in the fractures to support them. The crushed rock pile (21) fills the swell space and easily forms a dominant seepage channel. The swell space alters the stress field, facilitating the formation of shear fractures, resulting in complex fracture morphology and self-supporting fractures. The swell space reduces local stress concentration, lowers the rock strength, and facilitates fracture.

[0048] Leaching is a hydrometallurgical unit process that selectively extracts certain soluble components from solid materials such as ores, concentrates, and roasted sand using a solvent. It does not dissolve all the ore; therefore, by utilizing the expansion space (2) created by the wellbore to form a pile of crushed stones (21) underground, the specific surface area can be significantly increased. Through temperature changes, chemical agents, and shock waves, more microcracks are generated in the ore at a relatively coarse particle size, improving the permeability of large pieces of ore that have collapsed or fallen within the well, thus significantly increasing the leaching efficiency.

[0049] In an optional embodiment of the present invention, fluidized development of the ore body is achieved by including an oxidant injection channel, a heating channel, a refrigerant injection channel, a microbial injection channel, and / or a chemical agent injection channel. The aforementioned oxidant, high-temperature fluid, low-temperature fluid, microbial solution, and chemical agent all belong to wet mining working fluids.

[0050] In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the flow control device includes a flow control valve, or a towable injection string can also constitute a flow control device. As a more preferred option, it includes multiple flow control valves (18) disposed within the main wellbore for precise control of the fluid injection and production areas; or, as a simpler option, it further includes an injection string traveling device that changes the injection position by dragging or pulling the injection string to precisely control the injection or production area.

[0051] Its advantages lie in the fact that, through precise control of injection or extraction, chemical agents and microorganisms can be accurately delivered to designated locations and concentrated on a limited area, significantly improving the sweep effect. Furthermore, it allows limited pressure fluctuations and temperature changes to be concentrated on the target area, increasing the rate of pressure and temperature change and avoiding energy waste caused by excessive diffusion. Figure 4 As shown, a tubing string equipped with flow control valves (18) and packers (185) can be run into a well for injecting working fluids in wet mining. To precisely control the rock piles within multiple chambers, multiple flow control valves (18) and packers (185) can be spaced apart within the injection tubing, and flow control is achieved by controlling the opening or closing degree of the flow control valves (18). For a simpler operation, such as... Figure 4 As shown, the tubing string, equipped with a packer (185), precisely injects a microbial solution or chemical agent into the injection area, similar to a rock pile. During injection, the packer (185) sets, and injection is achieved by controlling the flow control valve (18). Alternatively, when the injection volume is large, two packers can be installed at the end of the tubing string, with a hole drilled between the packers. By dragging the tubing string, the hole position is aligned with the injection area, and the flow control of the injection can be achieved solely by the sealing effect of the packer (185).

[0052] In an optional embodiment of the invention, at least two channels are connected to the cavity, including an injection channel and a discharge channel. The injection channel and the discharge channel can be a specific tubing string or wellbore, or they can be used alternately according to process requirements.

[0053] In an optional embodiment of the invention, a plurality of channels communicating with the cavity are included, including at least a plurality of injection channels for improving injection sweep efficiency to achieve uniform hydrometallurgical processes.

[0054] In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the equipment system of the present invention further includes an impact crushing assembly or multiple impact crushing assemblies capable of multiple operations, for crushing rock mass to form a pile of crushed rock (21); the main wellbore, branch wellbore and / or crushing space are provided with multiple crushing operation positions for arranging the impact crushing assembly to carry out crushing operations.

[0055] like Figures 1-5 In this context, the blasting assembly (16) is a type of impact crushing assembly. Impact crushing can produce fragments smaller than 500 mm, or fragments smaller than the volume of the crushing space, facilitating fluidized development of the ore layer. The impact crushing operation position is arranged at intervals with the crushing space.

[0056] In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the impact fracturing assembly is a jet assembly, an electric fracturing assembly, a pulse fracturing assembly, a high-energy gas fracturing assembly, or a blasting assembly. When the jet assembly, electric fracturing assembly, or pulse fracturing assembly is used as the impact fracturing assembly, it can move gradually along the branch wellbore at preset intervals to continuously and repeatedly fracture the formation at multiple locations in the wellbore. When the blasting assembly is used as the impact fracturing assembly, multiple blasting devices are arranged at preset intervals to achieve impact fracturing.

[0057] In an optional embodiment of the present invention, such as Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 5 This includes multiple crushing operation sections, each less than 10 meters from the boundary of the erosion space. These multiple crushing operation sections are branch wells, and their axes do not intersect with the cavern. In this embodiment, the multiple crushing operation sections are located around or near the erosion space, used to impact-crush the surrounding rock of the erosion space to create a pile of crushed rock within it. For example... Figure 1 , Figure 2In this invention, the branch wellbore (11) used for crushing operations and the branch wellbore (11) that generates the fragmentation space (2) are adjacent to each other. The crushing operation section is the operation section in which the blasting assembly or impact crushing assembly is arranged within the branch wellbore. In this embodiment, the crushing operation section and the fragmentation space are arranged alternately. Alternatively, part of the fragmentation space can also be used as a substitute for the crushing operation section. In this invention, the shock wave generated from the crushing operation section fills the fragmentation space with the blasted rock, which can effectively improve the degree of rock crushing. The fragmentation space provides free space or free surface in impact crushing operations.

[0058] In an optional embodiment of the present invention, such as Figure 5 In the middle, the branch well (11) has a bottom section (12) for crushing operations. The axis of the crushing operation section intersects the surface of the cave. Multiple crushing operation sections (12) are set inside the crushing operation well, and these multiple crushing operation sections (12) are sequentially moved away from the cave. During operation, the crushing operation begins from the crushing operation section that is closest to the surface of the cave. The crushing operation section is formed by drilling from the inside of the cave outwards.

[0059] In an optional embodiment of the present invention, when the fragmentation space is groove-shaped or crack-shaped, it is formed by a slit-shaped space or groove-shaped space cut by the well wall of the branch well; the rock-breaking assembly is arranged in the branch well, and the fragmentation space and the working position of the rock-breaking assembly are arranged at intervals.

[0060] In an optional embodiment of the invention, a residue crushing assembly is further provided in the main wellbore and / or branch wellbore for cleaning or crushing solid residues or sediments in the discharge channel. In this embodiment, the residue crushing assembly is a roller mill 141 located at the bottom of the main wellbore for discharge. The crushed stone and residue are ground into a slurry.

[0061] In an optional embodiment of the present invention, an injection well system (3) and a collection well system (4) are included; the injection well system is located above the collection well system, forming a double-layer structure from top to bottom; both the injection well system and the collection well system are connected to the fragmentation space; both the injection well system and the collection well system include at least one main wellbore, at least one of the main wellbores includes multiple branch wellbores connected to it, the branch wellbores are branch wellbores formed by side-drilling the main wellbore wall using a branch wellbore drilling tool, the multiple branch wellbores are connected to the main wellbore; the spacing between the multiple branch wellbores is less than 100 meters; the branch wellbores include short-radius turning sections with a curvature higher than 90° / 100ft. Figure 4 As shown, in this embodiment, the main wellbore (1) of the injection well system includes multiple branch wellbores (11), the bottom of which is a blasting operation section (12), in which a blasting assembly (16) is installed.

[0062] In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the system includes a sandwich structure consisting of a well network cave system modified by a formation volume modification system and at least two anti-seepage modification layers (5) arranged vertically from top to bottom.

[0063] The system comprises at least three multi-branch well systems: an injection well system (3) and / or a liquid collection well system (4), an upper anti-seepage modification well system, and a lower anti-seepage modification well system, each comprising at least one multi-branch well system; each multi-branch well system comprises at least one, and each main well has at least multiple branch wells connected to it, wherein the branch wells are branch wells (11) formed by side-drilling the main well wall (1) using branch well drilling tools, and the multiple branch wells are connected to the main well; the spacing between the multiple branch wells is less than 100 meters; each branch well includes a short-radius turning section with a curvature of not less than 30° / 100ft. By constructing a sandwich-like interlayer structure, pollutants are controlled within the anti-seepage modification layer, preventing pollutant spillage.

[0064] Implementation Method 2

[0065] This invention provides a wet mining method for deep formation wellbore and tunnel groups, comprising the following steps:

[0066] Step S1: Drill the main wellbore;

[0067] Step S2: Lower the branch wellbore drilling tool with trajectory control function;

[0068] Step S3: Drill the first to Nth branch wells sequentially at intervals of less than 50 meters along different positions on the main well wall;

[0069] Step S4: Insert the impact crushing assembly into multiple branch wellbores;

[0070] Step S5: Start the impact crushing assembly to crush the rock to form a fracture zone;

[0071] Step S6: Inject chemical agents or microbial solutions into the main wellbore;

[0072] Step S7: Extract the mineral-containing solution to the outside of the wellhead.

[0073] like Figures 1-5As shown in S5, when the impact crushing assembly is a remotely activated blasting assembly, a remote-controlled activating device can be lowered into the main borehole (1) to move the activating device to the vicinity of the branch borehole (11) entrance, activating the activating module (162) inside the blasting assembly. After receiving the signal, the activating module activates the energetic material (161) to crush the rock. The remotely activated blasting assembly can also be replaced by a timed-activated blasting assembly. The timed-activated circuit is located inside the activating module (162), and the timed-activated time is longer than the time required for the blasting assembly to be arranged. After the blasting assembly is arranged, the activating module activates the energetic material (161) to crush the rock. Figure 1 As shown, the injection of chemical agents or microbial solutions and the flowback of mineral-containing solutions can be achieved through the same main wellbore and its branch wellbores, using a huff-and-puff method for injection and production. Figure 4 In the process, a pump (17) is used to extract the working fluid containing minerals from the well. To further improve the crushing effect, the stress on the surface of the swelling space is expanded to be less than the critical stress that causes it to break, which can achieve better results when the rock mass is impacted and crushed. In order to further enhance the destructive effect of the shock wave, gas is injected into the swelling space through the wellbore to drain the water inside the swelling space before impact crushing. This is conducive to the formation of rock fragments with smaller particle size and block size inside the swelling space.

[0074] Implementation Method 3

[0075] This invention provides a wet mining method for deep formation wellbore and tunnel groups, comprising the following steps:

[0076] Step S1 completes the well construction work for the injection well system and the liquid collection well system; wherein the injection well system and / or the liquid collection well system includes branch wells and expansion spaces;

[0077] Step S2 connects the injection well system and the liquid collection well system by drilling branch well holes or by impact fracturing; wherein, at least the impact fracturing is used to blast the expansion space and form a pile of rubble in the expansion space.

[0078] Step S3: Inject chemical agents or microbial solutions into the fragmentation space from the injection well system, and extract the chemical agents or microbial solutions leached from the fragmentation space from the collection well system.

[0079] like Figure 4 , Figure 5 As shown, this embodiment includes two main wellbores, with the upper main well containing branch wellbores. The injection well system and the liquid collection well system can be used alternately. However, in typical operation, the lower main wellbore and its branch wellbores are used as the liquid collection well system. Simultaneously, a fragmentation space is also provided within the lowered main well or its branch system. In this embodiment, the fragmentation space is located within the lower liquid collection well system.

[0080] In an alternative embodiment of the invention, step S4 involves injecting gel, cement, paste, or resin to seal the bulging space.

[0081] The features and advantages of the deep formation wellbore tunnel mining system of the present invention are as follows:

[0082] I. When the ore body is hard and has poor permeability, it is difficult to directly use borehole leaching technology. This invention proposes a technical solution to construct a fracturing space underground using wells. First, a controllable fracturing space is formed underground through well excavation; then, blasting operations are carried out using the wells to break the target ore body in situ to a predetermined size, constructing an artificial "ore pile" with good permeability underground. On this basis, leaching agents are injected or sprayed into the artificial ore pile through multiple branch wells, and the leaching liquid is collected and pumped to the surface for treatment. Specifically, this system arranges multiple closely spaced, short-radius branch wells, and based on these branch wells, close-cutting controllable fracturing is carried out to achieve uniform underground strata modification from "line" to "surface" and from "surface" to "volume," thereby significantly improving the injection, leaching, and soaking effects of fluids. This method provides an efficient and controllable underground modification means for the in-situ wet development of hard solid ore bodies.

[0083] Second, the enlarged aperture creates space that allows for wider fractures within the fractured body, facilitating the retention of broken particles within the fractures and providing support. The filling of the fractured space by the material also facilitates the formation of dominant seepage channels. The formation of the fractured space alters the local stress field, promoting the generation of shear fractures, complicating fracture morphology, and enabling self-support. The enlarged aperture also alters the peri-well stress field, increasing rock permeability and facilitating crushing operations. For chemical mining of sulfide ores, a process can be employed that involves initial heating or oxygen injection for oxidation followed by leaching. Heating enhances the reactivity of minerals, for example, converting dense α-spodumene into porous β-spodumene, thereby increasing its chemical reactivity. For sulfide ores, simultaneous heating and oxygen injection can also be used to oxidize the sulfide into oxide minerals. For gold-bearing quartz veins, heat treatment makes the ore more easily liberated, increasing cyanide leaching rates by approximately 10% to 15%.

[0084] Third, this deep-stratum borehole-tunnel mining system can achieve ore granulation within the tunnel and extract it in fluid form, thus eliminating the need for roadways or ore chutes as ore transport channels and enabling better tunnel-free mining. For deep strata, it can eliminate significant underground engineering construction costs. In cases where the surface is covered by water, this invention can isolate the mining system from the water body through a water-proof pipe and shaft, enabling the development of mineral resources within the water-covered strata through the borehole 1, achieving the goal of safely and efficiently developing underground mineral resources while protecting water bodies (such as oceans on the Earth's surface).

[0085] Fourth, for situations where there is groundwater or inhabited areas near the surface, this invention uses a seepage-proof modification layer to form a sandwich-like interlayer structure, and a filling and solidification process to prevent mining circulating fluids from seeping into other strata. Furthermore, this invention targets non-high-permeability strata, which naturally provide a sealing effect against mining circulating fluids.

[0086] It should be noted that in the description of this application, "front" refers to the direction of the wellhead mining device facing away from the well opening, and not the absolute direction shown in a certain picture.

[0087] It should be noted that in the description of this application, the terms "first," "second," etc., are used only for descriptive purposes and to distinguish similar objects; there is no order between them, nor should they be construed as indicating or implying relative importance. Furthermore, in the description of this application, unless otherwise stated, "multiple" means two or more.

[0088] The various embodiments described in this specification are presented in a progressive manner. The same or similar parts between the embodiments can be referred to each other. Each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments.

[0089] The above are merely a few embodiments of the present invention. Although the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are as described above, the content is only for the purpose of facilitating understanding of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any equivalent changes and modifications made by those skilled in the art without departing from the concept and principles of the present invention should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A wet mining system and method for deep formation wellbore tunnels, characterized in that, It includes a well network cave system consisting of at least one main wellhead connected to the mining location, multiple branch wellheads, and a swell space; it also includes a flow control system, which is installed within the well network cave system to regulate the injection or discharge of fluid within the swell space; The main wellbore has a diameter of less than 1 meter and the branch wellbore has a diameter of less than 0.5 meters; it includes at least multiple branch wellbores with a spacing of less than 50 meters and a turning section curvature of more than 90° / 100ft to form the rupture space; it includes at least multiple branch wellbores that communicate with the rupture space to serve as channels for injection or discharge; The crushing and swelling space is composed of multiple cavities, trough-shaped spaces, and / or large-diameter wells formed by enlargement, used to contain ore after in-situ crushing; the crushing and swelling space is filled with piles of crushed stone generated by impact crushing; the crushing and swelling space is connected to the main well and / or branch wells.

2. The deep formation wellbore and tunnel wet mining system and method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Fluidization development of the ore body is achieved through oxidant injection channels, heat injection channels, refrigerant injection channels, microbial injection channels, and / or chemical agent injection channels.

3. The deep formation wellbore and tunnel wet mining system and method as described in claims 1 and 2, characterized in that: It includes multiple flow control devices, which are installed inside the main wellbore for precise control of the fluid injection and production areas; or, it also includes an injection string traveling device, which changes the injection position by dragging or pulling the injection string for precise control of the injection or production area.

4. The deep formation wellbore and tunnel wet mining system and method as described in claim 1, characterized in that: It includes at least two channels connected to the cavity, including an injection channel and an exhaust channel.

5. The deep formation wellbore and tunnel wet mining system and method as described in claim 4, characterized in that: It includes multiple channels communicating with the quarry, including at least multiple injection channels, for improving injection sweep efficiency to achieve uniform hydrometallurgical processes.

6. The deep formation wellbore and tunnel wet mining system and method as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The equipment system described in this invention also includes an impact crushing assembly or multiple impact crushing assemblies capable of multiple operations, used to crush rock masses to form a pile of crushed rock; the main wellbore, branch wellbore and / or crushing space are provided with multiple crushing operation positions for arranging the impact crushing assembly to carry out crushing operations.

7. The deep formation wellbore and tunnel wet mining system and method as described in claim 6, characterized in that: The impact fracturing assembly is a jet assembly, an electric fracturing assembly, a pulse fracturing assembly, a high-energy gas fracturing assembly, and an explosive assembly. When the jet assembly, electric fracturing assembly, or pulse fracturing assembly is used as the impact fracturing assembly, it can move gradually along the branch wellbore at preset intervals and continuously fracture the formation at multiple locations in the wellbore. When a blasting assembly is used as the impact crushing assembly, multiple blasting devices are arranged at preset intervals to achieve impact crushing.

8. The deep formation wellbore and tunnel wet mining system and method as described in claim 6, characterized in that: It includes multiple crushing operation well sections, the distance between the multiple crushing operation well sections and the boundary of the crushing and swelling space is less than 10 meters, the multiple crushing operation well sections are branch wells, and the axis of the crushing operation well sections does not intersect with the cave.

9. The deep formation wellbore and tunnel wet mining system and method as described in claim 6, characterized in that: The axis of the crushing operation section intersects with the surface of the cave. Multiple crushing operation sections are set inside the crushing operation well, and the multiple crushing operation sections are sequentially moved away from the cave.

10. The deep formation wellbore and tunnel wet mining system and method as described in claim 6, characterized in that: When the fracture space is groove-shaped or crack-shaped, it is formed by the slit-shaped space or groove-shaped space cut by the well wall of the branch well; the rock-breaking assembly is arranged in the branch well, and the fracture space and the working position of the rock-breaking assembly are arranged at intervals.

11. The deep formation wellbore and tunnel wet mining system and method as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The main wellbore and / or branch wellbore are also equipped with a residue crushing assembly for cleaning or crushing solid residues or sediments in the discharge channel.

12. The deep formation wellbore wet mining system and method as described in claim 1, characterized in that: It includes an injection well system and a collection well system; the injection well system is located above the collection well system, forming a double-layer structure from top to bottom; both the injection well system and the collection well system are connected to the expansion space; both the injection well system and the collection well system include at least one main wellbore, at least one of the main wellbore includes multiple branch wellbores connected to it, the branch wellbores are branch wellbores formed by side-drilling the main wellbore wall by a branch wellbore drilling tool, the multiple branch wellbores are connected to the main wellbore; the spacing between the multiple branch wellbores is less than 100 meters; the branch wellbores include short-radius turning sections with a curvature greater than 90° / 100ft.

13. The deep formation wellbore wet mining system and method as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The system includes a well network cave system modified by a formation volume modification system and a sandwich structure consisting of at least two anti-seepage modification layers, arranged vertically from top to bottom. The system comprises at least three multi-branch well systems: an injection well system and / or a liquid collection well system, an upper anti-seepage well system, and a lower anti-seepage well system, each comprising at least one multi-branch well system. Each multi-branch well system comprises at least one branch well system, and each main well has at least multiple branch wells connected to it. The branch wells are formed by side-drilling the main well wall using branch well drilling tools. The multiple branch wells are connected to the main well. The spacing between the multiple branch wells is less than 100 meters. Each branch well includes a short-radius turning section with a curvature of not less than 30° / 100ft.

14. A wet mining method for deep formation wellbore tunnels, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: Step S1: Drill the main wellbore; Step S2: Lower the branch wellbore drilling tool with trajectory control function; Step S3: Drill the first to Nth branch wells sequentially at intervals of less than 50 meters along different positions on the main well wall; Step S4: Insert the impact crushing assembly into multiple branch wellbores; Step S5: Start the impact crushing assembly to crush the rock to form a fracture zone; Step S6: Inject chemical agents or microbial solutions into the main wellbore; Step S7: Extract the mineral-containing solution to the outside of the wellhead.

15. A wet mining method for deep formation wellbore tunnels, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: Step S1 completes the well construction work for the injection well system and the liquid collection well system; wherein the injection well system and / or the liquid collection well system includes branch wells and expansion spaces; Step S2 connects the injection well system and the liquid collection well system by drilling branch well holes or by impact fracturing; wherein, at least the impact fracturing is used to blast the expansion space and form a pile of rubble in the expansion space. Step S3: Inject chemical agents or microbial solutions into the fragmentation space from the injection well system, and extract the chemical agents or microbial solutions leached from the fragmentation space from the collection well system.

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