Cleaner Production In Mining Industry: A Flowsheet For Underground Mining Of Iron Ore Deposit

The paper addresses a possibility of Cleaner Production approaches application in an underground iron ore mining at deep horizons. In order to minimize the environmental impact such common ways as technology change and on-site waste recycling are proposed to be used. The main idea consists in combining a bottom-up mining process with the ores enrichment at an underground complex. The basic mining scheme is developed for Estunino iron ore deposit (Urals, Russia). The scheme includes: opening of the ore deposit by means of skip shaft and storey crosscuts (height of a storey - 100 m); ore extraction; ore enrichment at the underground complex; usage of waste rocks and enrichment tails for stowing in the goaf; transportation of iron concentrate to the surface. Preliminary assessment has shown that for conditions of Estunino iron ore deposit the proposed technology may be cost efficient and simultaneously much more environmentally secure, in particular because of full or partial absence of tailing storages, rock dumps, pipeline systems and other hazardous objects on the earth surface. Preliminary assessment has shown, that the proposed technology may be cost efficient and simultaneously much more environmentally safe due to full or partial absence of tailing storages, rock dumps, pipelines and other hazardous objects on the earth surface.