Method for recovering petroleum products or the like from subterranean mineral deposits

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of forming a kiln shaft is defined further to include: mining the kiln shaft upwardly utilizing vertical shaft forming apparatus, the vertical shaft forming apparatus fragmenting the mined minerals during the mining of the kiln shaft.

Claim 4

The method of claim 2 wherein the step of forming a kiln shaft is defined further to include: depositing the crushed minerals on the floor of the kiln shaft being formed, the crushed minerals forming a bed for supporting the vertical shaft forming apparatus during the forming of the kiln shaft.

Claim 5

The method of claim 2 wherein the step of forming a kiln shaft is defined further to include: crushing the fragmented minerals from the vertical shaft forming apparatus utilizing in situ crushing apparatus to crush the fragmented minerals to a relatively uniform particle size.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1 defined further to include the step of: leaching the shale ash retained in the kiln shaft to recover the minerals remaining therein.

Claim 9

The method of claim 6 defined further to include: removing to the surface the mined portion of the mineral deposit from forming of the upper access drift and the lower access drift; and retorting the portion of the mineral deposit removed to the surface via surface retorting means to recover the petroleum products therefrom.

Claim 10

The method of claim 6 defined further to include: forming a central access shaft generally vertically through a portion of the mineral deposit to provide a vertical access route for moving mining apparatus therethrough; and wherein the upper access drift and the lower access drift each extend generally radially from a portion of the central access shaft, one end of the upper access drift and one end of the lower access drift intersecting a portion of the central access shaft.

Claim 11

The method of claim 6 defined further to include: forming a plurality of vertically extending, horizontally spaced bore holes through a portion of the mineral deposit, each bore hole being centrally positioned through one of the kiln shafts for ventilation, retorting fluid injection, an emergency escape route and a pilot guide.

Claim 12

The method of claim 4 defined further to include: forming a plurality of additional upper access drifts generally horizontally through a portion of the mineral deposit; forming a plurality of additional lower access drifts generally horizontally through a portion of the mineral deposit, each additional lower access drift being spaced vertically from one of the additional upper access drifts; forming a plurality of vertically spaced additonal kiln shafts, each additional kiln shaft extending through a portion of the mineral deposit generally between one of the additional upper access drifts and the additional lower access drift spaced vertically therefrom, the upper access drifts, the lower access drifts, the kiln shafts, the additional upper access drifts, the additional lower access drifts, and the additional kiln shafts each spaced throughout the mineral deposit to recover the petroleum products and associated minerals from a substantial portion of the mineral deposit.

Claim 13

The method of claim 6 wherein each kiln shaft is spaced horizontally a predetermined distance from the upper access drift and the lower accEss drift.

Claim 14

The method of claim 11 defined further to include: forming a plurality of upper perpendicular access drifts, each upper perpendicular access drift intersecting a portion of the upper access drift and an upper portion of one of the kiln shafts to provide an interconnecting access route therebetween; and forming a plurality of lower perpendicular access drifts, each lower perpendicular access drift intersecting a portion of the lower access drift and a lower portion of one of the kiln shafts to provide an interconnecting access route therebetween.

Claim 15

The method of claim 12 wherein the step of forming the kiln shafts includes the forming of horizontally spaced kiln shafts along each side of the upper access drift and the lower access drift.

Claim 16

The method of claim 6 wherein the step of forming the vertical kiln shafts is defined further to include: mining each kiln shaft vertically upwardly utilizing vertical shaft forming apparatus, the vertical shaft forming apparatus fragmenting the mined minerals during the mining of each kiln shaft.

Claim 17

The method of claim 14 wherein the step of forming the kiln shafts is defined further to include: depositing the crushed minerals on the floor of the kiln shaft being formed, the crushed minerals forming a bed for supporting the vertical shaft forming apparatus during the forming of each kiln shaft.

Claim 18

The method of claim 15 wherein the step of forming the kiln shafts is defined further to include: crushing the fragmented minerals from the vertical shaft forming apparatus utilizing in situ crushing apparatus to crush the fragmented minerals to a relatively uniform particle size.

Claim 19

The method of claim 15 wherein the step of forming the kiln shafts is defined further to include: moving the kiln shaft forming apparatus into a position to initiate the forming of each kiln shaft via the lower access drift; and removing the kiln shaft forming apparatus from each formed kiln shaft via the upper access drift.

Claim 20

The method of claim 15 defined further to include: sealing a portion of the upper access drift generally adjacent the upper portion of each completed kiln shaft; and wherein the step of in situ retorting of the fragmented minerals is defined further to include: injecting retorting fluids into each kiln shaft via the bore hole centrally disposed therein; and removing the petroleum products or the like and associated minerals from the kiln shaft via the lower access drift.

Claim 21

The method of claim 6 defined further to include: removing the minerals remaining in each kiln shaft after retorting via conventional leaching techniques.