Institute of Integrated Mineral Resources Development—IPKON, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia:

Rylnikova M. V., Head of Department, Professor, Doctor of Engineering Sciences, rylnikova@mail.ru

UGC Management Company, Chelyabinsk, Russia:

Strukov K. I., Founder and President, Candidate of Engineering Sciences

The closing stage of mining is characterized by the induced alteration of minerals, which entails aggravating environmental, geotechnical and geomechanical effects that complicate mining production activities. Efficient decision-making in this case depends on innovation of mineral mining and processing technologies, increment in mineral reserves owing to refinement of quality standards as well as on reorganization of mining companies. The maximum efficiency to be reached at the closing stage of production requires using the whole resource potential of the subsoil area under development — standard quality ore and waste, off-grade ore and nonmetallic associates, middlings of processing circuits, current tailings, old mine waste, mined-out voids, and power and heat generation utilization products. It is important to emphasize that such mineral reserves are altered as a consequence of long-term mining activities, occur in concentration zones of shear and normal stresses, or in the zones of weakening and fall of enclosing rocks, and are subjected to secondary structural and compositional changes. The best mineable ore is already extracted, and the remaining reserves occur in local pinchouts, in productionaltered areas with the old elements of timber support and in safety pillars. Such reserves are characterized by lower content of valued components as compared with the average grade of proven reserves, and by more difficult geotechnical and geomechanical conditions. Regarding some mineral deposits repeatedly put under mining, the geological and technical documentation data are lost, which entails new complications connected with the necessary geological exploration and justification of mine-technical system parameters. All that calls for a new more responsible approach to the conceptual baseline and to selection of a technology for the closing stage of mining when 75–80% of proven reserves have already been extracted.

The study has been supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Grant No. 14-37-00050.

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