UGC Management Company, Chelyabinsk, Russia:

K. I. Strukov, Founder and President, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, information@ugold.ru

The article presents the main trends of improvement of underground mining technology, ensuring considerable growth of production output and productivity of labor, as well as cost saving. These trends include transition to open stoping, replacement of portable equipment by self-propelled heavy-duty machines of high unit capacity, development of crushed veins and non-profitable ore reserves at the depleted upper horizons and under the town of Plast, withdrawal of the conventional descending method for the benefit of the ascending mining system. The possibility of earlier mined-out tunnels at the upper levels to be used for preparation and development of new blocks is illustrated. The implementation of the technology improvements allows an increase in production output to 4–5 Mt yearly, higher productivity of labor by 2–3 times, cost saving by 1.5 times and reduction in land withdrawal for tailings storage.

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