2. Classification of pillars
1. Square and rectangular pillars
2. Long-wall pillars
3. Irregular pillars
4. Rib and crown pillars
5. Safety and barrier pillars
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3. 1. Square and Rectangular Pillars
These are integral part of room and pillar mining.
Design is based on uniaxial stresses from supper
incumbent load.
Common in flat dipping mineral deposit.
Where the horizontal span exceeds the critical span,
Vein/seam allows one pass mining and
Overlying strata can not support itself without
strong pillars.
Application include coal, potash, uranium ( Canada),
copper (USA).
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4. 1. Square and Rectangular Pillars
Mining is carried out in two phases.
i. Rooms are mined in advance sequence
ii. Pillars are mined in all or partially in retreat
sequence.
o Fill may be used or the back is caved.
o Average pillar stresses are estimated on the bases of
o Supper incumbent loading and
o Pillar strength on the avg. rock compressive
strengths.
o Safety factor between 4 to 6 is considered adequate.
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5. 2. Long Pillars
Integral part of slot mining—a variant of room
and pillar mining method.
Used in gently dipping ore bodies.
Also called stope and pillar mining in Canada.
Room and pillar slot mining in Australia.
If ore is too thick to be mined in one pass,
Ore is extracted by benching.
Roof span and pillar design is similar to that of room
and pillar design.
Pillars either fail as a result of rock burst or
progressive slabbing at the pillar sides.
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6. 3. Irregular Pillars
Common to old methods such as breast
stoping.
Pillars are randomly placed.
Design follows the principal of room and
rectangular pillars.
Locations are dependent on ore grade.
Pillars are restricted to low grade and areas of
bad ground.
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7. 4. Rib and crown pillars
These structure provide support in manner
similar to room and pillar operations.
Geometry is different, since
Pillars are common to steeply dipping ore bodies
where open fill methods are used.
For example cut and fill method.
Rib and crown form the skeleton around the stope
Secondary recovery is common as not more than
50% extraction is possible in primary mining.
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8. Rib and crown pillars
Stopes are filled before secondary mining.
Rib and crown support can be approximated
as a series of columns supporting a panel.
Pillar load depend on its position relative to
the center of the panel where maximum
deflection occurs.
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9. 5. Protective pillars
These pillars protect----
Surface and underground structures due to pillar
failure.
They can be classified as
a. Barrier pillar:
Protect the active mining area from the adverse
effects of nearby mining.
Normally highly stressed.
Stresses extend to hanging and footwall rocks.
Be careful while designing nearby openings such as
haulage drifts.
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10. Rib and Crown pillars
b. Safety pillars:
Solid ore blocks left intact beneath surface
structures to protect the structures from
subsidence.
Size is determined on the basis of allowable
surface displacement for the of structure
overhead.
c. Shaft pillars:
Protect shafts.
Their design should take into account ground
movement induced by nearby mining.
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