Federated Mining Method with Spoil Backfilling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coal mining methods, both open-pit and underground, face challenges such as landform destruction, environmental pollution, and high costs due to increased mining difficulty and equipment requirements, particularly in ecologically fragile regions, leading to secondary disasters like subsidence and ecological degradation.
Innovation Solution
A mining method that divides the mining region into federated areas, combining open-pit and underground mining with backfilling of spoil from subsequent regions to recover the original landform and using paste filling to support the rock stratum and prevent subsidence, while afforesting the area to protect the environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If open-pit mining method is adopted, then resource utilization and recovery rate are improved, but landform destruction and environmental pollution worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The mining area is divided into multiple open-pit mining zones with different mining sequences. By segmenting the mining region into federated mining regions and implementing staggered mining and backfilling operations, the method enables partial landform recovery while maintaining continuous production, thus resolving the contradiction between high recovery rate and landform destruction
Solution Approach 2:
The method recovers waste rock and soil from completed mining zones and reuses them for backfilling adjacent active mining zones. This circular approach transforms waste materials into valuable backfill resources, achieving both high resource utilization and landform recovery, thereby resolving the contradiction between productivity and environmental harm
2Object-affected harmful factors
If underground mining method is adopted, then environmental impact is reduced, but mining difficulty and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of traditional underground mining that requires complex shafts and tunnels, this method inverts the approach by using open-pit mining with horizontal or near-horizontal excavation. The mining face is accessed from the surface rather than through deep shafts, dramatically simplifying equipment requirements while maintaining environmental benefits through controlled excavation and immediate backfilling
Solution Approach 2:
The method changes the mining angle and excavation parameters to enable horizontal or gently inclined mining faces accessible from surface openings. By altering the traditional vertical shaft approach to horizontal tunneling from surface pits, the equipment complexity is reduced while environmental impact remains controlled through precise excavation and backfilling operations
3Ease of operation
If conventional underground mining with multiple shafts is implemented, then mining access is achieved, but land recovery and ecological restoration become impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The mining system is segmented into multiple independent mining regions that can be accessed through separate surface openings. Each region is mined and backfilled independently, allowing mining access without requiring interconnected shaft systems. This segmentation enables complete landform recovery while maintaining operational flexibility and ease of access
Solution Approach 2:
Backfilling operations are performed preliminarily and sequentially as each mining zone is completed, before final landform restoration. This preliminary backfilling action stabilizes the underground structure and prepares the site for ecological restoration, achieving both mining access and landform stability without permanent damage
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method reduces environmental impact, minimizes costs, and enhances coal recovery rates by recovering the original landform and promoting ecological protection, thus balancing resource extraction with environmental concerns.
Implementation Method 1
filling the plurality of excavated tunnels with the paste through a filling pump and/or by gravity
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a mining method. The method includes: dividing a mining region into a plurality of federated mining regions; performing an open-pit mining operation in each of the federated mining regions and forming a pit in each of the federated mining regions; performing an underground mining operation on a slope of the pit and forming a plurality of excavated tunnels; and backfilling a pit of a previous federated mining region with a spoil of a subsequent federated mining region.