The method allows leaving only 15-20% of ore reserves in the subsoil instead of 40-50% for similar products, and reducing contamination from 25-30% to 5-6%, the press service of the Ministry of Education and Science told TASS
YEKATERINBURG, September 13. /TASS/. Scientists from the Institute of Mining of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have developed a more environmentally friendly method for developing low-grade ore deposits. The new technology is 3-5 times more efficient in terms of extraction rates, and allows leaving only 15-20% of ore reserves in the subsoil instead of 40-50% for similar products, and reducing contamination from 25-30% to 5-6%, the press service of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science told TASS.
“A new efficient and environmentally friendly method of underground development of powerful deposits of poor ores with the utilization of mining waste in the mined-out space has been developed. <…> The operating costs for cleaning excavation with traditional and proposed geotechnology are comparable, and in terms of extraction indicators, the proposed method is 3-5 times more efficient. The environmental effect is ensured by placing 80% to 100% of all waste generated during mining and enrichment in the formed mined-out space,” they said there.
The scientists explain that the uniqueness of the method lies in the targeted formation of conditions for the placement of waste in the form of cementless backfill. A closed mined-out space is created, and ore losses in non-extractable parts of the deposit amount to only 15-20% instead of 40-50% for known analogues.