Underground Mine Design Near Shafts of a Potash Mine in Southern Russia

This paper describes several variants of placement and design, from a technical and economic point of view, of shafts, ore bunkers and drifts near shafts of a Russian potash mine. Advantages and disadvantages of the position of different workings are shown as well as an analysis of stratigraphic and geological layers and their use for excavating pit bottoms, haulage drifts and bunker installations. The potash mine consists of two hoisting shafts and one service shaft. The hoisting capacity of one of these skip shafts is planned to be approx. 7 Million tons of crude potash salt per year. Both shafts together will have a hoisting volume of about 14 Million tons. When the mine will increase their highest level of production, it will be one of the biggest potash mines in the world. The skips, the hoist drives and the bunker near the shaft will belong to the largest ones worldwide, too. This paper specifies the features of such a double skip shaft pit in detail and demonstrates problems, which depend on the fact that the pit bottom is in a depth of nearly 1200 m.