Introduction to Mine Surveying

Terminologies
Adit – a horizontal or nearly horizontal passage driven from the surface for working or dewatering a
mine
Back – the top of a drift, cross cut or stope. Also called a roof.
Back fill – waste rock or other materials used to fill a mined out stope to prevent caving.
Bedded deposit – an ore deposit of tabular form that lies horizontally or slightly inclined and is
commonly parallel to the stratification of the enclosing rocks.
Cage – an elevator for workers and materials in a mine shaft.
Chute – a channel or trough underground, or inclined trough above ground, through which ore falls or is
shot by gravity from a higher to a lower level; can also be spelled shoot.
Cone – a funnel-shaped excavation located at the top of a raise, and it is used to collect rock from the
area above.
Collar – the term applied to the timbering or concrete around the mouth or top of a shaft
Cross cut – a horizontal opening driven from the shaft to a vein across the course of a vein in order to
reach the ore zone.
Drawpoint – a place where ore can be loaded and removed; it is located beneath the stoping area, and
gravity flow is used to transfer the ore to the loading place.
Dip – angle of inclination of the vein from the horizontal plane.
Drift – a horizontal opening in or near a mineral deposit and parallel to the course of the vein or long
dimension of the deposit.
Entry – manway, haulage, way, or ventilation way below the ground, of a permanent nature.
Face – end wall of a drift or cross cut or of bedded deposit.
Foot wall – the wall or rock under a vein or other steeply inclined mineral formation.
Finger Raise – used for transferring ore; the usual arrangement is as a system of several raises that
branch together to the same delivery point.
Gangue – undesired minerals associated with ore.
Gangway – a main haulage road underground.
Grizzly – an arrangement that prevents oversized rocks from entering an ore transfer system; consists of
a steel grating for coarse screening or scalping.
Headframe – a construction at a top of a shaft which houses hoisting equipment.
Hanging wall – the wall or rock on the upper side of steeply inclined deposits.
Level – horizontal passage or drift which starts from shafts and are commonly spaced at regular intervals
in depth. Either numbered from the surface in regular order or are designated by their actual elevation
below the top of the shaft.
Minerals – refers to all naturally occurring inorganic substance in solid, gas, liquid, or any intermediate
state including energy materials such as coal, petroleum, natural gas, radioactive materials, and
geothermal energy.
Ore – a mineral deposit that can be worked at a profit under existing economic conditions.
Ore pass – vertical or diagonal opening between levels to permit the movement of ore by gravity.
Outcrop – exposed part of the vein.
Pillars – natural rock, or ore supports, left in slopes to avoid or decrease the roof subsidence as mining
progresses.
Prospect – a mineral deposit for which the economic value has not yet been proven.
Raise – a vertical or inclined opening driven upwards in ore from a level.
Ramp – an inclined underground opening that connects levels or production areas; usually driven
downward.
Rib – wall in an entry; can also be called as wall.
Shaft – a vertical or inclined excavation in a mine extending downward from the surface or from some
interior point as a principal opening.
Sill – synonymous with floor.
Strike – the line of intersection between vein and the horizontal plane.
Slot – a vertical or inclined ore section that is excavated to open up for further stoping.
Stope – underground “room” or working area from which ore is removed.
Sump – an excavation made at the bottom of a shaft to collect water.
Tunnel – a horizontal or nearly horizontal underground passage that is open to the atmosphere at both
ends.
Vein – thin deposit of minerals between definite boundaries.
Winze – a vertical or inclined opening driven downwards (sunk) from a point inside the mine for the
purpose of connecting with a lower level.
Waste – mined rocks that do not contain minerals.
Design of Horizontal Control Networks in Underground mines
Control networks
Consist of traverses that must follow the existing net of mining workings and excavation.
Distance between survey stations are generally very short from 3 m to 6 m to an average of 50 m.
Only in the main transportation roads may the distance be increased to 100 m.
Consist of:
First –order loops
basic control & are run in permanent mine workings
Second-order traverses
run into headings & development areas
Third-order stations
used for detailed mapping of excavated areas & daily checks of mining progress in stopes and headings.
Establishment of the underground control network is done in a reversed sequence from that used on
the surface.
Lowest-order control is established first & replaced by higher-order control once developed area allows
longer sights & for loop closure of the traverses.

First order control

1:10,000 in small & medium size mines
1:20,000 in large mines extended over areas of several km in diameter
Second order control
1:5,000
Third order control
1:1,000
Monumentations & Marking of points
The stations of the horizontal control network called roof markers are usually in the roof (back) or walls
of the mining workings.
A hole is drilled, a wooden plug is inserted.
Markers may also be cemented directly in drilled holes using epoxy glue.
The wall markers require either a special type of a portable bar which is inserted into the marker during
the survey procedure or markers used as eccentric stations to which the positions of the survey
instruments is referenced by measurements of short distances and/or angles.
The method although requiring some additional measurements & trigonometric calculations, has the
advantage that the survey instruments can be set up in any convenient place without the time-
consuming task of centering under the marker.

Angle Measurement
Accurate centering of instruments is very crucial due to generally short sights in underground traversing.
Centering under the roof markers is more difficult than the conventional centering above the marked
points.
Small area, darkness, difficulties for setting tripod legs on an uneven floor, centering procedures
requires a lot of experience.
Centering is usually done by string plumb bob.
Tips of bob should be very sharp and protected against any damage to ensure a good accuracy of
centering.
Optical zenith plummets attached on top of telescopes are used in centering under the roof markers.
First order traversing is usually done by means of forced-centering traversing equipment using
theodolites or tragets fitted with detachable tribrachs.
Repeating theodolites with direct micrometer readouts of 20” to 1’ are usually sufficient for most of the
control surveys except first order traversing in very long headings & tunnels when precision theodolites
are required.
Plumb bob strings serve as the target in third and second order traversing.
Traversing equipment with lighted targets are used in first order surveys.
Special parabolic reflectors with 6-volt bulbs & changeable aperture have to be use as the target when
distances exceed few hundred meters.

Angle Measurement

A small helium-neon laser mounted on telescope of a precision theodolite & small corner reflectors used
as targets.
Very Steep sights are encountered when traversing through steep raises or inclined openings.
Setting & reading the micrometer on very steep sights may be most difficult or even impossible w/o
using diagonal eyepiece.

Angle Measurement

When using side telescope, the mean of an angle turned with the telescope direct & reversed is free of
the eccentricity influence of the side telescope.
Use of top telescope is inferior because it does not allow for direct & reversed measurements and
requires a very careful instrument adjustment.
Vertical angles measured with eccentric telescopes must be corrected for the eccentricity.

Angle Measurement

In some cases due to small space and inclined floor do not allow the use of tripods in angle
measurements.
The theodolite must be set up on special bars or supporting arms equipped with bracket screwed to the
timber.

Angle Measurement
Reversed hanging theodolites which fit on supporting bars screwed into wall timbering are used in third-
order surveys in coal mines.
They are very convenient to use in narrow & cramped conditions.
They allow for fast setting up & leveling.

Angle Measurement

Small targets in a form of small spheres or cones suspended on a short chain are interchangeable with
theodolite on the portable supporting arms thus allowing automatic centering.

Angle Measurement
Eccentric telescope

These are small telescopes attached to the main telescope to correct the value of the measured angles.
Eccentricity (e)
distance between the eccentric telescope and the main telescope.
Thank You!