Guidewire Leaching Line Deployment on Mine Slopes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mining techniques fail to efficiently extract minerals from mine slopes due to hazardous and inefficient deployment of leaching lines, resulting in unrecovered minerals and safety risks for workers.
Innovation Solution
A system involving an elevated guidewire and leaching line deployment apparatus that allows for vertical deployment of leaching lines along the slope, enabling safe and efficient delivery of leaching solutions to the slope surface, including a guidewire elevated from the top to the bottom of the slope, and a deployment apparatus that moves along the guidewire to distribute leaching lines equidistantly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional horizontal deployment methods are used along the slope, then workers can access the slope surface, but deployment becomes hazardous and inefficient with minerals remaining unrecovered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from horizontal deployment along the slope to vertical deployment through boreholes perpendicular to the slope surface. This dimensional change allows leaching lines to be installed in the subsurface without requiring workers to access hazardous slope surfaces, thereby improving safety while enabling complete mineral recovery from both slope and subsurface regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces boreholes as an intermediary medium to deliver leaching lines to the subsurface. Instead of directly placing leaching lines on the hazardous slope surface, the boreholes serve as safe conduits that allow vertical installation of leaching lines, eliminating worker exposure to slope hazards while maintaining deployment efficiency.
2Quantity of substance
If leaching lines are deployed along the slope surface, then some minerals can be extracted, but the increasing slope length and steepness make deployment hazardous and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves the deployment operation from the two-dimensional slope surface to the three-dimensional subspace by drilling vertical boreholes. This allows leaching lines to be installed at any location on the slope without requiring worker access to difficult-to-reach areas, as all deployment occurs from the relatively accessible slope surface through vertical borehole access.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of deploying leaching lines horizontally along the slope surface from top to bottom, the patent inverts the approach by deploying vertically downward through boreholes from the slope surface. This reversal of deployment direction eliminates the need for workers to traverse hazardous slope surfaces while maintaining complete coverage for mineral extraction.
3Reliability
If vertical deployment through boreholes is implemented, then worker safety improves and mineral recovery increases, but deployment system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a multi-functional deployment apparatus that can perform multiple operations: drilling boreholes, installing leaching lines, and potentially monitoring subsurface conditions. This universal apparatus consolidates what would otherwise require multiple separate systems, managing the complexity increase by combining functions into a single integrated platform that delivers safety and efficiency benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The deployment apparatus is designed to autonomously perform critical functions such as self-positioning on the slope surface, self-driven borehole drilling, and self-guided leaching line installation. These self-service capabilities reduce the need for complex manual control systems and external assistance, managing system complexity while maintaining the safety advantages of remote vertical deployment.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a system for vertical deployment of leaching lines onto a slope of a mine leach pad. The system includes an elevated guidewire having a first end disposed at a top of the slope and a second end disposed at a bottom of the slope; the elevated guidewire being elevated above a surface of the slope; a deployment apparatus moveably coupled to the elevated guidewire and having one or more attachment mechanisms disposed thereon; and one or more leaching lines coupled to the attachment mechanisms; wherein movement of the deployment mechanism from the top of the slope to the bottom of the slope pulls the one or more leaching lines down the slope and deploys the one or more leaching lines vertically onto the surface of the slope.