Hydraulic mining system

Claim 2

In hydraulic mining, the method including the steps of: a. storing water in a surface reservoir; b. downflowing a column of water to an underground reservoir; c. mining ore at an underground level; d. converting mined ore into slurry at said underground level by combining it with water from said underground reservoir; e. pumping said slurry upwardly by a pump that is mechanically driven by a turbine that is actuated by said downflowing column of water, with the assistance of an auxillary net power input system, and f. returning spent water to said surface reservoir.

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 in which the ore is mined hydraulically by water jets pressurized by water pumped through a bypass line by a pump.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1 in which the slurry is delivered under pressure to an ore separator, including a pressure autoclave, at the ground surface and water from the separator is conveyed to the surface reservoir.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1 in which the ore is mined hydraulically by water jets pressurized by water from said downflowing column.

Claim 6

The method of claim 4 in which the pressurized water is conveyed from the downflowing column to jet nozzles by a flexible tube and water and mined ore are conveyed to a slurry mix tank by a second flexible tube.

Claim 7

The method of claim 5 together with the step of conveying excess water from the locality of the water jets to the underground reservoir.

Claim 8

The method of claim 6 together with the steps of separating fine particles from the water that is conveyed from the locality of the water jets to the underground reservoir and transferring said particles to the slurry mix tank.

Claim 9

In hydraulic mining, apparatus installed in a ground formation having an upper surface and a lower mining level, a. a surface reservoir immediately below said upper surface; b. an underground reservoir below said mining level; c. a downflow tube extending between said reservoirs; d. a turbine included in said tube at a level closely adjacent to said underground reServoir; e. a slurry mix tank at said lower level; f. an upflow slurry tube having a lower end communicating with said slurry mix tank and an upper end at said ground surface; g. a pump included in said slurry tube; h. mechanical driving connections between said turbine and pump; i. net power input apparatus including a motor connected to said pump; j. ore mining devices at said lower level; k. means for conveying ore from ore mining devices to said slurry mix tank; l. a pipe communicating between said underground reservoir and said slurry mix tank, and m. means for conveying spent water to said surface reservoir.

Claim 10

In hydraulic mining, apparatus installed in a ground formation having an upper surface and a lower mining level, a. a surface reservoir immediately below said upper surface; b. an underground reservoir below said mining level; c. a downflow tube extending between said reservoirs; d. a turbine included in said tube at a level closely adjacent to said underground reServoir; e. a slurry mix tank at said lower level; f. an upflow slurry tube having a lower end communicating with said slurry mix tank and an upper end at said ground surface; g. a pump included in said slurry tube; h. mechanical driving connections between said turbine and pump; i. net power input apparatus including a motor connected to said pump; j. ore mining devices at said lower level; k. means for conveying ore from ore mining devices to said slurry mix tank; l. a pipe communicating between said underground reservoir and said slurry mix tank, and m. means for conveying spent water to said surface reservoir.

Claim 11

The mining apparatus of claim 8 together with a separator, including a pressure autoclave, at said upper ground surface communicating with said slurry tube and a tube between said separator and said surface reservoir.

Claim 12

The mining apparatus of claim 8 in which said mining devices comprise jet nozzles, together with a flexible tube extending from said jet nozzles to said downflow tube and communicating therewith between said turbine and said underground reservoir and in which the means for conveying mined ore to said slurry mix tank comprises a flexible tube including a pump.

Claim 13

The mining apparatus of claim 10 together with a drain pipe communicating between the locale of said water jets and said underground reservoir.

Claim 14

The mining apparatus of claim 11 together with a settling tank included in said drain pipe, together with a transfer tube communicating between said settling tank and said slurry mix tank and including a pump.

Claim 15

The mining apparatus of claim 8 in which the means for conveying spent water to said surface reservoir includes a return tube extending from said underground reservoir to said surface reservoir and including an electrically driven pump.

Claim 16

The mining apparatus of claim 8 in which the mining devices are mechanical and the means for conveying ore from the mining devices to the slurry mix tank is a mechanical conveyor.

Claim 17

The mining apparatus of claim 8 in which the mining devices are jet nozzles connected to said downflow tube by a flexible tube, the mined ore is conveyed to the slurry mix tank by a mechanical conveyor and water is delivered from said underground reservoir to said slurry mix tank by a pump that is actuated by an hydraulic motor connected to said downflow tube between said turbine and underground reservoir.

Claim 18

The mining apparatus of claim 15 together with a return tube communicating between said underground reservoir and said surface reservoir and including an electrically operated pump.

Claim 19

The mining apparatus of claim 8 in which said mining devices comprise jet nozzles, together with a flexible tube extending from said jet nozzles to said underground reservoir and being driven by a pump located thereat.

Claim 20

The method of claim 1 in which the step of returning spent water to the surface reservoir includes the pumping of water from said underground reservoir to said surface reservoir.