Support of Mine Workings

operations for the construction of mine support in underground mines. It is one of the main production processes in mining technology using the underground method and in the building of underground structures.

Systematized information on the support of mine workings appeared in the 16th century, when G. Agricola described various types of supports. Technical instructions on the support of mine workings were given in The First Foundations of Metallurgy (1763) by M. V. Lomonosov. A section on the need for providing instructions for trainees regarding the support of mine workings appeared in the charter of the St. Petersburg College of Mines (1773). In Handbook for Mining Engineers and Technicians (1880), G. Ia. Doroshenko presented systematized data on the support of mine workings. The works of the Soviet scientists M. M. Protod’iakonov, L. D. Sheviakov, P. M. Tsimbarevich, F. A. Belaenko, and V. N. Semevskii are also well known.

A temporary face support is erected during the driving of permanent and development workings and during the process of removal of the rock mass; a permanent support is erected subsequently. In tough rock, a permanent support is erected immediately. Stoping is supported simultaneously with the extraction of minerals and by the same team of workers. Mine workings are supported according to an accepted support certificate, which is compiled for each mine working and indicates the type of support, the quantity of materials required, and the order of the production processes.

In most cases, the main support operations of permanent workings (shafts, shaft-bottom workings, and so on) using cast concrete and prefabricated reinforced-concrete supports are performed using powered and movable shuttering, concrete layers and pumps, and support placers (for prefabricated support). Mechanization of support in stoping is carried out by using movable powered supports.