MINING METHOD OF THE WEEK – RILL-CUT STOPING!!

Rill cut, or rill stoping, as shown at B in the figure below, has the principal advantage that when filling is used it can be run down through a raise at the apex of the stope and will fill the stope without shoveling. Its disadvantages, on the other hand, are as follows:

• When waste filling is run in from the raise it has a sloping surface which makes it difficult to keep ore and waste from mixing, and is unhandy for men to work.

• Raises must be put in at frequent intervals, and the added cost of these raises may exceed the cost of spreading the filling in a flat-back stope.

• Ore chutes must be carried up through the filling, and the timber used in their construction cannot be recovered. This is a disadvantage as compared with shrinkage stoping.

• At F in the figure below, it is shown a method of rill stoping in which the benches are inclined so that down holes can be used. Down or water holes give off no disagreeable dust, and can be drilled faster with piston machines - 911 Metallurgist.