Technologies to improve cemented paste backfill transport to deep levels in Talnakh mines

Abstract

At the present time, it becomes increasingly difficult to get access to ore bodies, to perform mine support, to use mining equipment and to ventilate underground openings; moreover, the quality and completeness of mineral extraction become limited, the lift of rocks to ground surface and the transport of cemented paste backfill to long distances get very complicated. These factors directly affect mining safety. The Talnakh and Oktyabrskoe deposits of high-grade copper-bearing and porphyry copper ore are developed using mostly open stoping systems with cemented paste backfill. This article discusses the technology of cemented paste backfill transport now in use in Taimyrsky Mine of Norilsk Nickel’s Polar Division. When the horizontal length of transportation essentially dominates the vertical length of a backfill borehole, the flow velocity of the backfill decelerates up to its full stop in the backfill pipeline. With a view to avoiding these adverse effects, the Siberian Federal University, under order of Norilsk Nickel’s Polar Division, is designing a laboratory plant for aeration (saturation with air bubbles) of cemented paste backfill to increase its flow velocity in horizontal transportation to long distances. The effective solution of the problems which arise in transport of cemented paste backfill to deeper levels with regard to introduction of new technologies and materials can improve the backfill transport process and raise the level of its automation. Eventually, this is a step toward the unmanned mining technology and enhanced mining safety. The authors appreciate participation of the members of Norilsk Nickel’s Polar Division A. A. Kisel, A. E. Lytneva, K. E. Kolotkova, A. E. Yanakova and A. Yu. Rogacheva in this study.