Room & Pillar
Room and Pillar mining is an effective way to mine flat-lying deposits that form in layers. These layers are accessed via a vertical shaft that leads down to the productive areas where the valuable deposits are to be extracted.
The productive areas at each level of the mine comprise a series of rooms, typically laid out in a grid formation, and supported by pillars which stop the overburden, or the overlying strata, from collapsing. The pillars are left standing in each room to provide support after the productive areas have been mined-out.
The Generate Room and Pillar Shapes tool allow the mine designer to determine where pillars should be located and which areas should remain open as rooms within a target orebody. A regular pattern that allows the best cost-effective, productive and safest access to valuable ore deposits is the goal.
The room and pillar shapes can then be extruded to a nominated surface. The geometric configuration of the triangulation you select will typically comprise of several flat-lying seam or stratiform deposits which are relatively shallow.
