U.S. patent application number 14/862122 was filed with the patent office on 2016-03-24 for borehole mining system and methods using sonic-pulsed jetting excavation and eductor slurry recovery apparatus.
The applicant listed for this patent is Gilbert Alan Hice, Thomas Joseph Hice. Invention is credited to Gilbert Alan Hice, Thomas Joseph Hice.
Application Number | 20160084083 14/862122 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 55525310 |
Filed Date | 2016-03-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160084083 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hice; Gilbert Alan ; et
al. |
March 24, 2016 |
Borehole Mining System and Methods Using Sonic-Pulsed Jetting
Excavation and Eductor Slurry Recovery Apparatus
Abstract
A borehole subsurface mining system and methods for generating
sonically pulsed hydraulic jets for subsurface excavation and
slurry extraction, combining modulated oscillating energy at
relatively low frequencies produced from a sonic drill head of
working sonic core drilling rigs in combination with energy and
water flow from a pressurized pumping system, to perform pulsed jet
slurry mining of underground resource deposits through at least one
partially cased subterranean borehole using a sonic drill head
member and rod string members in relation to which the attached
inventive pulsed jetting apparatus and methods operate. The system
design and methods includes an adaptably attachable, sectional,
tubular combination apparatus assembly with at least one casing
member in general axial alignment comprised of sonic rod, jetting
educator coupling, transition rod, jetting sub-coupling and jetting
shoe rock bit members. Also includes methods for sump heavy
concentrate core barrel extraction and for optimizing high density
slurry extraction.
Inventors: |
Hice; Gilbert Alan; (Gold
Hill, OR) ; Hice; Thomas Joseph; (Gold Hill,
OR) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Hice; Gilbert Alan
Hice; Thomas Joseph |
Gold Hill
Gold Hill |
OR
OR |
US
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
55525310 |
Appl. No.: |
14/862122 |
Filed: |
September 22, 2015 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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62071420 |
Sep 23, 2014 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
299/1.05 ;
175/202; 175/217; 299/17 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E21C 25/60 20130101;
E21C 45/04 20130101; E21B 7/24 20130101; E21B 7/18 20130101 |
International
Class: |
E21C 45/04 20060101
E21C045/04; E21C 25/60 20060101 E21C025/60; E21B 21/06 20060101
E21B021/06 |
Claims
1) A sonically pulsed hydraulic jetting system assembly intended to
be used with a commercial sonic drill rig with movable tower
attachments for subterranean modulated low-frequency (equal to or
less than 300 Hz) for sonically pulsed jet borehole mining having a
sonic drill head, wherein the sonic drill head can be securely
attached to a relatively elastic sonic rod, to which the system is
attached and functions when adaptably attached by hydraulic conduit
to a high pressure high volume operating pump system with a water
reservoir, and within a borehole that is at least partially cased,
comprising: a. At least one or more transition rod members that is
generally tubular having a top end for attachment to the bottom end
of a sonic drill rod, in tubular fluid communication with the sonic
drill string functioning to minimize stress between the sonic drill
water flow stream and the sonically pulsed hydraulic jetting system
assembly by applying additional weight to the system as well as by
incorporating in its internal structure such as guide vanes to
reduce flow turbulence supporting the sub-coupling nozzles to
generate more coherent sonically pulsed jetting bolts, having a
bottom end for attachment to the pulsed jetting sub-coupling; b. At
least one or more sub-coupling members that is generally tubular
with one or more convergent-type nozzles, e.g. quartic with guide
vanes, directed laterally for pulsed jetting with a top end
attached to a transition rod or may also be otherwise attached to a
sonic drill rod directly and a bottom end attached to a pulsing
rock bit or may be manufactured to incorporate the structures of
the shoe rock bit, so that the sub-coupling member may have
qualities of all three components of the system assembly
structurally incorporated into one sonically pulsed jetting system
and rock bit apparatus attached to the bottom end of a sonic rod
string, but is preferably a separate sonic jet mining component for
increased variability; c. a sonically jet pulsing shoe rock bit
member having at least one downwardly directed convergent pulsing
jetting nozzle to cut and agitate rock and slurry relative to a
sump member oriented beneath the sonically pulsed jetting system
assembly and having one or more crushing plates or wedges to
crushingly fragment large rock fragments or boulders by moving the
rod string and attached rock shoe bit with at least one downwardly
pulsing jet, up and down and in rotation to generate
rock-fracturing torque and compression force from the sonic
drilling rig as well as by using the immediately oriented jet
pulsing effect, having a top end for secure attachment to a
sonically pulsed jetting sub-coupling; d. at least one or more
sonically pulsed eductor coupling members being substantially
aligned in the sonic rod string, attaching a sonic rod above and a
sonic rod below, having one or more sonically pulsed jetting
nozzles directed upwardly, having associated partial chambers to be
used for eductor siphon function, used within the annulus in
association with sonic casing and hydraulic gradient forces
generated within the mining cavity to facilitate lifting of slurry
through the annulus to the surface; e. an elastic sonic rod or rod
string that is adaptably attached on its top end to a sonic rod
attached to a spindle of a sonic drill head that oscillates at a
low frequency (usually less than or equal to 300 Hz) facilitating
pulsing energy transfer into a high-pressure high-volume fluid
column moving through the tubular sonic rod open-ended hydraulic
system that will include in fluidic tubular communication at least
one rod with a sonically pulsed hydraulic jetting system assembly,
that includes a pulsed jetting eductor coupling, transition rod,
pulsed jetting sub-coupling and pulsed jetting shoe rock bit or any
combination, for receiving high-pressure and high volume fluid flow
from a pump member with at least one check valve as well as
simultaneously transferring adjustably tunable oscillating energy
from a sonic drill head member through its spindle with sonic
energy wave transfer through and from the elastic (generally
meaning to be deformable but not deformed permanently) sonic rod or
sonic rod string and its fluid column generating pulsed water jets
through the eductor coupling's one or more jetting nozzles into the
fluid filled annulus from the interfaced internal fluidic column,
also resulting in pulsed fluid volume streaming from the sonically
pulsed rock shoe bit and sub-coupling nozzles; f. a sonic casing
member or combination string of sonic casing members, elastic or
inelastic, to be used for emplacement in the ground, with adding or
subtracting casing sections to a casing string and recovery by a
sonic drill rig and secured to the surface but independent of the
sonic drilling rods, used to facilitate slurry extraction using at
least one sonically jetting eductor coupling member positioned
within the casing's internal space in tubular attachment and
alignment with at least one sonic drill rod, facilitating the
benefit of sonically jet pulsed mining using the sonically pulsed
hydraulic jetting system assembly plan and methods, having its top
most end usually above the surface of the ground, its bottom end
oriented above or within proximity of the subsurface mining
targeted mineral. g. a water pump member with a driver and conduit
attachments allowing for communication of fluid to drill head
member and sonically pulsed hydraulic jetting system assembly,
presenting continuous flow high-pressure and high volume
capabilities, preferably with automatic adjustment capabilities to
adjust pressure and volume to jet mining variable demands, usually
functioning on average per mining site between 200 psig and 2000
psig, and with a flow capacity between 20 gallons and 2000 gallons
of water per minute depending upon and being variable with the
objectives attached to the pulsed jet mining operation, though
these are only estimations of pumping parameter required using
various situational constraints by equipment and are not intended
to be limiting but representing a common effective range for
applying the sonically pulsed hydraulic jetting system assembly to
perform subsurface mining production of slurry from a targeted
mineral source with efficiency, but specific parameters will be
dictated by the analysis and constraints of each mining site's
situation and logistics; h. a sonically pulsed jetting borehole
mining system combining high-volume fluidic column's hydraulic
energy from a surface pumping member as well as simultaneously
transferring of relatively low-frequency sonic oscillation energy
waves from a sonic drill head member into an attached inelastic or
elastic sonic rod or rod string that interfaces with a pressurized
water column and attachable sonic pulsed jet mining apparatus
generating a subsurface sonically pulsed jetting mining system and
methods, to be called Hice Hydro-mining.
2) A system of claim 1 wherein the pulsed sonic rod and sonically
pulsed jetting system assembly fluidly communicates to a conduit
attached to a pumping mechanism with at least one check valve
interposed in relatively inelastic conduit that prevents
oscillation energy from the sonic drill head and drill head spindle
to communicate fluid transfer back toward the high-pressure liquid
pump mechanism that supplies reservoir fluidic material to the
elastic sonic rod and rod string, which can contract and expand
with energy wave propagation that may help generate pulsing fluid
streams, to flow one way through pulsing jetting nozzles integrated
into the sonically pulsed hydraulic jetting system assembly
positioned below the borehole casing string with pulsed
semi-discrete or discrete bolts of water delivering momentum flux
into the target deposit and subterranean excavated cavity and also
with eductor coupling nozzles pulsing jet streams being directed
upwardly into the annulus between the sonic casing and sonic rod
string using one or more eductor-type couplings to facilitate
slurry lift and to minimize blockage potential of slurry flow.
3) A system of claim 1 wherein the relatively low-frequency
adjustable oscillation energy is not directed into or through the
casing string directly during pulsed jet mining process, with the
sonic casing string being independent of the sonic rod, only having
oscillating energy directed applied during its emplacement, or with
adding or subtracting casing sections from the mining borehole
during coring sampling operations or with removing the sonic casing
from the borehole, with a sonic rod string positioned within and
through the central space of the stable borehole casing string
establishing a variable annulus space separating the movable sonic
rod string from the generally stable sonic casing string to
facilitate slurry extraction.
4) A system of claim 1 wherein differences in nozzle size, nozzle
shape, guide vanes and other structural dimensional variation are
used with different components and sections of the sonically pulsed
jetting system assembly to generate different pulsed jetting
streams with different effects as determined by task performance,
such as for rock fracturing or slurry lift.
5) A sonically pulsed jetting system as claimed in claim 1 wherein
the members and supporting equipment and tools can be variable in
design but generate similar low-frequency sonic drill head
propagated sonically pulsed jetting for subsurface mining,
comprising the sonically pulsed hydraulic jetting system assembly
members.
6) A system of claim 1 wherein the sonic rod string is fluidly
communicated to a pumping mechanism by conduit in contiguous fluid
communication by conduit with a water reservoir having at least one
high-pressure release safety valve and at least one one-way check
valve interposed in relatively inelastic conduit between the
pumping mechanism and the sonic drill head that prevents
inadvertent excessive pulsed peak fluid pressures from exceeding
the safety limits of the equipment.
7) A system of claim 1 wherein the pulsed jetting eductor couplings
would not be added to the sonic rod string allowing only for a
contiguous sonic rod string and for only pulsed jetting through
nozzles located below the bottom end of the casing string and
directed toward fracturing, cutting and agitating the targeted
mineral into slurry.
8) A system of claim 1 wherein the sonic core drill rig has a tower
mechanism to raise, lower and rotate the spindle member to which an
adapter is attached and receives fluid and energy waves transferred
through the adapter to a sonic rod and sonic rod string attached to
the sonically pulsed jetting system assembly which can be movably
raised, lowered and rotated to generate improved subsurface slurry
production rates.
9) A method for mining minerals, gems and metals from a target
deposit comprising the steps of identifying a target deposit
examining sonic core samples, emplacement of a casing string into
or to the top-most part of the deposit using a sonic core drill
rig, which may be modified with additional sonically pulsed jetting
system assembly facilitating features including a high-pressure and
high-volume fluid pump, conduits, seals, pressure release valves,
one-way check valves, and other supportive equipment, an uncased
borehole extension is left beneath the casing to be used as a sump
member to collect concentrated heavy debris and for progressive
insertion of the sonically pulsed jetting system assembly attached
to the sonic rod string to facilitate cutting and disaggregating
the subsurface target minerals from the uncased borehole in 360
degrees rotation, inserting a sonic rod string having an adjustable
length by adding or subtracting various sections (i.e. rods,
couplings, transition rod, sub-coupling and bit members) sufficient
to obtain the desirable depth for mining, into the securely placed
sonic casing string that has been inserted into or to the top-most
level of a subterranean mineral target deposit to be excavated,
slurry generated and recovered using sonically-pulsed jet nozzles
that are structurally positioned in components of the sonically
pulsed jetting system assembly and structurally manufactured by 3-D
printing, machined or threadably integrated within a shoe rock bit,
sub-coupling and also with pulsed jetting eductor-type couplings
that attach sonic rods together to facilitate slurry lift in the
annulus within and through the casing string, attaching a
high-pressure fluidic pumping member, with a communicating fluid
reservoir, to a conduit with at least one check valve and at least
one safety pressure-release valve attached to the sonic core drill
rig's sonic head fluid transfer conduit system, or to a modified
swivel adaptor apparatus, to allow fluid flow one way from the
sonic drill head into and through the sonic rod string, inserting
the sonic rod string and attached sonically pulsed jetting system
assembly through the casing member string and into the borehole so
that the bottom-end of the sonically pulsed jetting system assembly
having laterally cutting one or more pulsed jetting nozzles to cut,
fracturing and disaggregate mineral target below the casing member
and juxtaposed to the targeted mineral deposit, generating fluid
flow by engaging the pumping member to pump fluid into the sonic
rod string while oscillating the sonic head at an appropriate
frequency for energy transfer to the fluid column, rotating the
resonating sonic rod string and attached sonically pulsed jetting
system assembly 360 degrees or any less angulation for different
excavation cavity shapes and at varying speeds while moving the
pulsed jetting streams up and down in the borehole beneath the
casing bottom end and against the targeted mineral matrix,
fracturing and cutting matrix to form slurry, observing the lifted
slurry exiting out of the annulus at the top-end of the casing
string into a slurry catch box, or monitoring slurry density meters
from where it is pumped by slurry pump to a processing plant, e.g.
slurry box at a processing platform where the slurry is classified
using one or more screens, jigs, sluices, gravity concentrators,
where water separated from slurry particulate matter and is
clarified using at least one hydrocyclone and/or screen that is
collected in a cistern and either pumped to the clarified water
reservoir or filtered by a bone char filtration system or used in
further processing or to another water-holding reservoir, using a
plurality of fluidic pulsing jetting nozzles and division of water
with pump and sonic head adjustable cyclic volume and pressure
transfers to generate multiple mining effects including lateral,
either horizontal or angled, which may be on diametrically opposite
sides of a sub-coupling to neutralize reactive thrust
destabilization, for pulsed jetting to fracture mineral matrix and
also downwardly directed pulsing jet or jets for further cutting
and dispersing subterranean excavated cavity bottom slurry and sump
slurry back into solution allowing greater potential for it to be
lifted through the annulus by the Venturi effect from the
eductor-type pulsed jetting eductor couplings with the pulsed
jetting eductor nozzles oriented to partial vacuum and diffusing
chambers in the annulus to facilitate lift of slurry to the top of
the casing and into the slurry catch box from which slurry can be
pumped using one or more slurry pumps to a processing plant for
further classification and water separation with clarified or
filtered water recycled back to a fluid reservoir, immediately
reused at the processing platform or to be stockpiled, gravel that
is classified from slurry as large, not captured in traps and
separated out as gangue may be crushed by a gravel crushing machine
to a uniform small size and again run through the classification
processor for gravity concentrator separation of valuable minerals
and elements with rejected small gravel sands collected for
reinsertion into the subterranean cavity as fill, thereby
completing the mining process at the site. A high hydrostatic fluid
level will be monitored and adjusted automatically by a sensor,
either mechanically or electronically, as needed, being maintained
by a conduit and high-volume low-pressure water pump with a water
reservoir source to provide for immediate insertion of fluid into
the annulus' top end, with the conduit communicating for fluid
emplacement through a nozzle connected to a collar secured to the
top end of the casing, which also attaches the slurry catch box to
the casing, to maintain effective eductor function and hydrostatic
stability of the subterranean cavity.
10) A method for mining minerals, gems and metals from a target
deposit comprising the steps of recovering a sump concentrate
periodically using the core barrel with or without extending
additional casing members, whereby a sump will be maintained on the
floor of the subterranean excavated cavity during pulsed jetting
subterranean excavation to trap large heavy elemental nuggets and
gems and other heavy debris for recovery with a sonic core barrel,
with interruption of the pulsed jet mining process, removing the
sonic rod string and jet pulsed mining apparatus from the borehole,
then inserting the sonic core barrel or similar barrel device on
supporting sonic rods into the borehole to the sump member, coring
the sump contents with or without over-coring the sump, preferably
deepening the extracted sump member to seal unconsolidated
concentrates within the core barrel with a cap of non-concentrate,
preferably extending the depth of the sump and then removing the
core-barrel and its heavy and large slurry contents from the
subsurface mining site and sump member to the surface for
processing.
11) A method for mining minerals, gems and metals from a target
deposit comprising the steps of recovering slurry from a deeply
extended deposit where extending the casing string further into the
mining cavity and around the sonic jetting rod string with added
sonically pulsing jetting eductor couplings to the sonic rod string
is employed to facilitate improved dense slurry recovery, with
periodically adding additional casing members to a casing string as
needed to position the pulsed assembly deeper into a deepening
mining cavity where dense slurry may gravitate and collect, with
the sonic casings bottom-end extending below the top of the mining
cavity's ceiling, such that a more efficient and denser slurry
extraction is accomplished using a single borehole method,
providing for better use of more pulsed jetting eductor couplings
with adding additional sonic rods and additional casing members to
function with a downwardly extended annulus into a sonically pulsed
jetted excavation cavity.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional
application No. 62/071,420, filed Sep. 23, 2014 and entitled
BOREHOLE MINING SYSTEM AND METHODS USING SONIC-PULSED EXCAVATION
AND EDUCTOR SLURRY RECOVERY APPARATUS, which provisional
application is incorporated by reference herein in its
entirety.
REFERENCES
[0002] Dehkhoda, S., "Experimental Study of Rock Breakage With
Pulsed Water Jets", 8.sup.th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium,
Sapporo, Japan, October 2014; Foldyna, J. et al., "Transmission of
Acoustic Waves", Proceedings of the International Congress of
Ultrasonics, Vienna, Apr. 9-13, 2007 Paper ID. 1458; Lohn, P. D. et
al., "Improved Mineral Excavation Nozzle design Study", Bureau of
Mines Open File Report 33-77, April 1976; Nebecker, E. B.,
"Percussive Jets--State-of-the-Art", Proceedings of the Fourth U.S.
Water Jet Conference, The University of California, Berkeley, Aug.
26-28, 1987; Nebecker, E. B., "Standoff Distance improvement Using
Percussive Jets", Proceedings of the Second U.S. Water Jet
Conference, School of Mines & Metallurgy, University of
Missouri-Rolla, May 1983; Savanick, G. A., "Hydraulic Mining:
Borehole Slurrying", SME Mining Engineering Handbook, p. 1930-1938;
Savanick, G. A., "Hydraulic Mining Experiments in an Underground
Mine in St. Peter Sandstone. Clayton Iowa", Proceedings of the
Second U.S. Water Jet Conference, School of Mines & Metallurgy,
University of Missouri-Rolla, May 1983; Savanick G., et al.,
"Prototype Borehole Miner Selectively Extracts Gold From
Permafrost", Technology News, No. 40, July 1997; Simpson, A.,
Positive Preliminary Evaluation of Borehole Mining at the Hansen
Uranium Deposit, Black Range Minerals ASX Release, 13 Feb. 2012;
Stabler, Nate, Terra Sonic International LLC, video research,
"Water Pulsation Test", Reno Business Park, 27825 State Route 7,
Marietta, Ohio 45750, Mar. 20, 2015; Summers, D., et al.,
"Considerations in the Comparison of Cavitating and Plain Water
Jets", Proceedings of the Second U.S. Water Jet Conference, School
of Mines & Metallurgy, University of Missouri-Rolla, May 1983;
Wu, W. Z. et al., "Dynamic Characteristics of Waterjets Generated
from Oscillating Systems", Proceedings of the Fourth U.S. Water Jet
Conference, The University of California, Berkeley, Aug. 26-28,
1987.
PATENTS
[0003] Archibald, W., et al., "Underground Mining System", U.S.
Pat. No. 3,797,590, March 1974; Bodine, A., "Sonic Apparatus and
Method for Slurry Well Bore Mining and Production", U.S. Pat. No.
4,366,988, January 1983; Claringbull, Peter, "Apparatus for
Waterjet and Impact Drilling and Mining", U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,784,
Mar. 16, 1982; Coakley, J., "Borehole Mining Valve Actuation", U.S.
Pat. No. 4,440,450, April 1984; Drivdahl, K. S., et al., "Methods
of Preloading a Sonic drill head and Methods of Drilling Using the
Same", U.S. Pat. No. 8,356,677 B2, Jan. 29, 2013; Hall, M., et al.,
"Apparatus for Boring Through Earth Formations", U.S. Pat. No.
3,897,836, Oct. 18, 1973; Huffman, L. H, et al., "Hydraulic Mining
Method", U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,035. Aug. 20, 1985; Smith, B., et al.,
"Sonic Drill Head", U.S. Patent No. 20120255782 A1. Apr. 8, 2011;
Webb, L. A., et al., "Well tubing/casing vibrator apparatus", U.S.
Pat. No. 7,066,250, Jun. 27, 2006; Wenneborg, Z. et al.,
"Subterranean Slurry Mining Apparatus", U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,696,
July 1973; Vijay, M., et al., "Ultrasonic Waterjet Apparatus", U.S.
Pat. No. 8,006,915 B2, August 2009.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0004] Illustrative embodiments of the disclosure generally relate
to subsurface borehole mining and sonically pulsed jet mining. More
specifically, illustrative embodiments of the disclosure relate to
a sonically (i.e. acoustically) pulsed jet mining system design and
methods, which describes fluidic communicated tubular,
multi-sectional pulsed jetting apparatus and methods that can be
combined or integrated with existing attachable sonic mining tools
and pumping members to engage attach-ably with a sonic drill head
of an existing sonic core-drilling machine and also to the attached
elastic sonic rod string and emplaced sonic casing for the purpose
of deep hydraulic pulsed jet excavation while facilitating
extraction of subsurface mineral deposits as slurry to the surface
through a single borehole; sonically pulsed jet mining slurry
production efficiency and economic benefit can be significantly
increased as compared to corresponding continuous-stream jet mining
and can be used in association with an innovative sump trap/sonic
core barrel recovery method employed to concentrate and extract
heavy debris from a pulsed jet mining site to the surface that
eductor siphoning or other pumping methods fail to extract.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0005] in recent years, establishing the knowledge of generating an
effective pulsation in a high-pressure open hydraulic system has
been actively pursued, in particular by interests related to
industrial uses, such as in mining and pressure-washing. This is
because by pulsating water streams into more discreet bolts the
cutting and eroding efficiencies increase with water impact
pressure and impact stress upon a target material; pulsating
hydraulic jets also can increase effective range (i.e. stand-off
distance from a target) as compared to a corresponding
continuous-flow jet system.
[0006] Research and development of various methods and systems
relating data and results that confirm the benefits and potential
of pulsed jetting in mining, have been conducted. Such research has
examined a range of frequencies, pressures and other aspects of
modifying pulsating jet advantages particularly within
non-submerged analysis parameters, notably including research by:
Dehkhoda, S., Experimental and Numerical Study of Rock Breakage by
Pulsed Water Jets; Foldyna, J. et al., "Transmission of Acoustic
Waves"; Nebecker, E. B., "Percussive Jets--State-of-the-Art" and
"Standoff Distance improvement Using Percussive Jets"; and Wu, W.
Z. et al., "Dynamic Characteristics of Waterjets Generated from
Oscillating Systems". The research results show that pulsed jets
can be: more efficient at eroding and breaking target mineral
materials by applying intermittent stress pulses as compared to
continuous-flow jets; electrically, mechanically and acoustically
propagated pulsed waves can be generated and modulated in a
high-pressure hydraulic system; effective pulse energy can be
propagated at significant stand-off distances from a jetting
nozzle; and nozzle design can significantly produce different jet
stream and pulsed characteristics. As such, a pulsed jetting mining
system can be economically more efficient by consuming less amounts
of water and energy as compared to a correspondingly effective
continuous-flow jetting system. Unfortunately for the mining
industry, as related by Dehkhoda, S., "Experimental and Numerical
Study of Rock Breakage by Pulsed Water Jets", the breakage
mechanism by pulsed water jets is "poorly understood" and, as such,
has not as yet resulted in wider use of hydraulic pulsed jetting in
mining. However, advancements are being made; a mineral cutting
mechanism has been described and developed that produces
high-energy, ultra-sonically pulsed waterets for limited use in
mining and can be applied to effectively cut solid mineral targets,
resulting in Vijay, M., U.S. Pat. No. 8,006,915 B2, describing a
surface ultra-sonic pulsed jetting hydraulic cutting apparatus with
a very short but effective range for cutting stone, but which is
not suitable for commercial subsurface submerged mining.
[0007] Submerged hydraulic jet mining has been researched for
years. Dr. G. A. Savanick, a mining authority in the art of
hydraulic jet slurry mining, discusses its general historical
progress in the SME Mining Engineers Handbook, Chapter 22.4,
Hydraulic Mining: Borehole Slurrying", also describing various
industrial-scale jet mining projects from the early-twentieth
century to more current times reviewing different continuous-flow
jet mining methods and site parameters, e.g. phosphate mining
showing an average of 32 tons/hour removed by submerged
continuous-flow jetting in one project. He also personally
researched, funded by NIOSH, the problems encountered with
constructing a small-scale subsurface borehole jetting system using
one and also multiple jets and eductor mechanisms, noting that
certain problems inherent primarily to the slurry recovery system
required solving (which he could not do) before the system could be
economically used. He further elucidates with additional jet mining
research conducted on an open-face surface St. Peter Sandstone that
meeting certain commercial parameters (jetting 25-50 tons/hour with
eductor recovery of 40 tons/hour) is possible in achieving
synchronous jetting excavation and eductor slurry recovery of
sandstone. He does not, however, give mention of any successful
commercial pulsed jetting operation in the industry; but he does
relate that in spite of certain economic constraints the process of
subsurface continuous-flow jet slurry mining can be commercially
viable in very specific situations, as recently indicated by
Simpson in his report, "Positive Preliminary Evaluation of Borehole
Mining at the Hansen Uranium Deposit".
[0008] Research and patents do indicate a continuing interest in
borehole mining for increased mining efficiency using pulsed
jetting methods, which is especially evident in submerged
borehole-related mining projects. Hall, M., et al., as an example,
in, "Apparatus for Boring through Earth Formations", U.S. Pat. No.
3,897,836, describes an apparatus and method for mechanically
generating a peripheral pulsed hydraulic jetting action at the
drill bit to facilitate drill-bit boring of a borehole. Also used
to achieve pulsed jetting are high-pressure high-frequency pulsed
cavitating jets, which may sometimes be referred to in the prior
art as self-modulated jets, and can be similar to the patented
design as described by Johnson, V. E. et al., "Enhancing Liquid Jet
Erosion", U.S. Pat. No. 4,389,071, which presents apparatus and
method for pulsed jet mining (with very short stand-off distance)
by generating significant cavitation effects within associated
complex nozzle structures producing a pulsed jetting action that
erodes closely associated target minerals. However, the search
continues for an improved economical pulsed-jetting mining
apparatus system and methods that will allow for expanded
commercial mining of submerged subsurface mining sites with
acceptable economic production rates and an effective stand-off
distance. Continuous-flow jet nozzles, such as the commonly
employed Leach & Walker 3-D type nozzle, continue to be used
predominantly in industry for hydraulic jetting and washing. David
Summers in "Considerations in the Comparison of Cavitating and
Plain Water Jets" discusses the difficulties associated with
generating various jetting effects when submerged and otherwise,
which includes a very limited jet range with cavitating pulsed
jetting methods. According to David Summers, continuous-flow jet
nozzles, such as the Leach & Walker 3-D type, do not tend to
cavitate when submerged and thereby provide a greater stand-off
distance in mining excavation as compared to using cavitating
ultra-sonic pulsed jets. However, as a result of the lack of viable
commercial subsurface jetting system and methods, the mining
industry must use continuous-flow jetting in some mining situations
where jetting can be applied, even with its relatively low mining
production efficiency. The mining industry has generally not
embraced the existing subsurface jetting methods provided by the
prior art for recovery of subsurface mineral deposits. Traditional
mining methods of mineral deposits are most commonly used by the
mining industry since they are more economically feasible than
existing borehole jet mining systems and methods.
[0009] Various submersible borehole-related jetting mining
apparatus and methods are patented, some even have a sonic
mechanism attached, though the prior art does not indicate sonic
wave energy being propagated to generate pulsed jetting slugs at
significant stand-off distances from a nozzle for commercial mining
use. However, the present inventive system and methods application
proposes a new and innovative submersible, low-frequency,
acoustically-pulsed pressurized hydraulic jet mining system and
methods; the system and methods describes a process capable of
subsurface mining excavation and simultaneous eductor recovery
facilitation (without submersible valves or complicated tooling)
that can be attached to a sonic core-drilling machine (i.e. sonic
drill head) for subsurface pulsed jetting mining in a commercially
efficient manner. Capable of interchangeably using the rods and
casing of the sonic drilling system the inventive system has
attachable component tools that transform a sonic core drilling rig
into a sonic mining rig. It is not described in the art of
subsurface borehole mining. Such a system and methods can provide a
new and improved economic alternative for efficient subsurface
mining using sonically pulsed high-pressure high-volume jetting
with simultaneous excavation and slurry recovery. This is in
addition to using established and traditional sonic core-sampling
methods, with minimal lead-time from discovery of a valuable
mineral deposit to its sonically pulsed jetting excavation and
recovery in an eco-friendly way, which is characteristic of using a
sonic core drilling rig.
[0010] Different drilling technologies and systems have been used
to discover mineral deposits for years and continue to improve the
logistical approach to profitable mining. Sonic drilling using
sonic drilling rigs is one such drilling system that has evolved
with time. However, sonic drilling principles, in practice and
theory, have been available for years, the original idea commonly
credited to George Constantinesco in 1910, providing the current
general concept for sonic core-drilling. The idea itself was
documented by A. G Bodine first filed in 1956 for U.S. patenting.
In 1965 "Method and Apparatus for Sonic Jarring with Fluid Drive",
U.S. Pat. No. 3,168,140 was granted to A. G. Bodine describing an
acoustic method for retrieving drilling pipe stuck in a borehole,
which economically facilitates the proposed inventive mining system
and methods where tools can be retrieved in a caving incident while
mining and also in retrieving unstable sump concentrates using a
core barrel. Sonic drills and drilling machines have been developed
over the years and are used to vibrate a drill pipe at frequencies
usually between 80 to 150 cycles per second (i.e. Hz) and higher,
to fluidize contacted ground and thereby allows a drill pipe to
sonically bore into the ground with minimal resistance or to be
salvaged. Minimal fluid circulation in the borehole is usually used
with sonic drills while drilling to obtain core samples or
retrieving rod string tools. The material ahead of the sonic drill
bit is pressed into the surrounding formation or is captured in the
core barrel and is recovered at the surface through a stable
borehole casing as a core sample (for analysis). Sonic drills and
drilling machines have the disadvantage of a relatively high
purchase cost. Efforts over the past fifty some years have resulted
in improved reliability and desirability of this tool for use in
demanding commercial surface drilling and core recovery operations.
Sonic drills are currently particularly efficient tools for
drilling primarily unconsolidated and some consolidated materials
to maximum depths of usually less than 1000 feet for small
commercial rig models. As compared to the more commercially used
mud or pneumatic rotary drill rigs that incorporate mechanical
means of drilling--the sonic drill uses approximately 50% less
horsepower, advances in depth in aggregate much faster due to
liquefaction of contact material, and produces up to 70% less waste
in cuttings while using only small amounts of water for flushing
and bit cooling and has relatively no seismic registration to
destabilize surrounding ground. Many patents have made applications
of the "sonic" vibration technology, allowing sonic drilling to be
a well-established and commercialized core-drilling system in
modern times. It has not however been described in prior art as
being used as a sonic (acoustic) source and mining platform of a
system using acoustically pulsated hydraulic jets for subsurface
excavation and slurry recovery to the surface, as this patent
application proposes.
[0011] An experiment was conducted in March of 2015, at the request
of the inventors of the inventive system design and methods, to
investigate the inventive proposed system and methods, performed
under the direction of Nate Stabler at Terra Sonic International (a
sonic core drilling rig manufacturer in Ohio). The research effort
was recorded on video showing the propagation of energy waves
through a low-pressure water column as a semi-discrete to discrete
pulsating stream of water moving through an elastic metal sonic
drill rod, exiting from the sonic rod's bottom end, attached at its
top end by adaptor to a sonic rig's activated sonic drill head
oscillating at approximately 150 Hz. Though only an oscillating
low-pressure open hydraulic tubular rod system, this pulsing result
provides strong evidence and support for economic development and
commercialization of sonically pursed jetting from a sonic drill
rig's sonic drill head and is in accord with the study by Foldyna
J. et al., "Transmission of Acoustic Waves", 2007 that shows
propagation of acoustic pulsing waves in a high-pressure hydraulic
system. Therefore, based on this study by a manufacturer of sonic
drill rigs directly and in correlation with other research
indirectly, the proposed inventive system design and methods, with
the proposed inventive apparatus attached by sonic drill rods to a
sonic core drilling rig's sonic drill head, can become a
high-pressure pulsating hydraulic jetting system. This inventive
system design can result in a subsurface modulated pulsed jet
mining operation that is efficient in production and mobile,
generally speaking but not in a limiting sense, using a sonic drill
head mounted on a sonic drill rig platform for providing pulsing
energy through the spindle to the sonic rods, use of the proposed
inventive sonic jet tooling and sonic rod string in conjunction
with a high-pressure (e.g. 500-1500 psig), high-flow (e.g. 300-600
gal/min) water pump, water source and supportive equipment, working
within and beneath an unattached sonic borehole casing and using
appropriate efficient short nozzle designs, such as a quartic-type
nozzle design for rock breakage as described by Lohn, P. D. et al,
"Improved Mineral Excavation Nozzle Design Study" in April 1976, in
conjunction with hydraulic pump continuous-flow pressure jet mining
consistent with prior associated research in jet mining.
[0012] Sonic drill head construction is variable in design, with
many patents pertinent to the proposed invention, including such
as, Smith, B. et al., "Sonic Drill Head", U.S. Patent No.
20120255782 A1, and Drivdahl, K. S., et al., "Methods of Preloading
a Sonic Drill Head and Methods of Drilling Using the Same", U.S.
Pat. No. 8,356,577 B2, and Webb, L. A., et al., "Well tubing/casing
vibrator apparatus", U.S. Pat. No. 7,066,250. Such patents are
pertinent to this application primarily in that they describe
mechanisms producing oscillating waves of energy of vibrational
force that are transmitted and propagated into an attached drilling
rod string, which can usually be both rotated and vibrated at
variable and relatively low frequencies (usually between 0-150 Hz,
which is only limited in range by the design of the oscillating
head) to effect ground penetration of attached tooling members,
such as drill rods, casing, core barrel. Combined energy from at
least one pressurizing water pump and the sonic drill head, with
conduit fluidic communication, can be propagated as pulsed jets
through jetting nozzles of the proposed system and methods
apparatus to generate a repetitive pulsing hydraulic jetting
effect, according to research. This requires the use of
appropriately designed nozzle members for functional specificity
within the constraints of each system, which can be a
high-pressure, high-volume hydraulic process for subsurface
commercial mining functions. With the proposed system and methods
an industrial well-proven sonic drill head and sonic drilling rig
(Terra Sonic international TSi 150CC) will be used in conjunction
with a water reservoir, high-pressure energy pumping member (e.g.
Gould's model 3393 pump) that are in fluidic communication using
high pressure conduits, check valves and sonic rods to the
inventive pulsed jetting apparatus. These are only examples of
appropriate standard equipment known to the mining industry in
prior art that can be used, not to be considered to limit the scope
of this application to similar equipment in the present or future,
with the proposed inventive pulsed jetting mining system and
methods. This equipment, or generally similar equipment, is
required to supply adequate water volume and pressure to pass
through the sonic drill head member, through its spindle, attached
to a rod or sonic rod string to which is attached the tubular
inventive apparatus with nozzles to generate hydraulic pulsed jets.
Usually in the sonic drill head there is at least one rotating
eccentric mass mounted and mechanically activated in an inner
housing to generate acoustic or vibrational energy waves, usually
sinusoidal, that are propagated as energy wave pulses to the
traversing conduit and attached tubular spindle and into the rod
string and inventive system and methods apparatus. Such energy wave
propagation is prevented from returning through the contained water
column to the high-pressure water pump member by one or more check
valves in the interconnecting conduit member between the pump and
the sonic drill head. Rotational and wave energy from the sonic
drill head is imparted to the spindle that is attached to a sonic
drill rod and drill rod string with vibrations of the rotating
eccentric mass being usually isolated from an outer housing of the
sonic drill head, protecting the drill tower (i.e. mast) and drill
rig from inordinate vibration and from dampening the energy
transfer to the sonic drill rod string.
[0013] Archibald. William, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,590, has a
pertinent patent in that it describes a composite mining capsule
inserted into a small borehole for subsurface submerged mining
using a single non-pulsing jet and includes a downhole positive
displacement pump (not an eductor siphon as used by the proposed
inventive system and methods) and inlet pipe for lifting dense
slurry to the surface within a designated conduit from depths of
100 feet or deeper. Archibald addresses the problems of using
two-foot diameter boreholes and the difficulty of recovering dense
slurry with his invention, thus he attempts to provide an
economical manner of borehole mining, in part by not using an
eductor siphon-type pumping mechanism. Archibald's design orients
his pump member in a sump, which can be blocked by large boulders
that can gravitate to his sump and may even trap his pump with
boulders from a caving incident. The proposed inventive system and
methods does not have this potentially disastrous problem because
it uses a sump to trap large heavy slurry solids for later recovery
using a sonic core barrel; it also produces and uses positive
hydraulic pressure inherent to recycling approximately 400 to 500
gallons of water per minute through the mining site, initially
entering the site by exiting from the mining tools into the mining
site and then upwardly into the annulus space and onto the surface.
The proposed systems and method sub-coupling with nozzles is a
pulsed jetting member using usually a plurality of pulsed jetting
streams to fracture and erode target mineral as well as to agitate
dense slurry moving it into the ceiling entrance of the annulus
space between the rod and casing strings, with high-density of
slurry being maintained as it is transported upwardly to the
surface in part by means of eductor couplings with pulsing jets.
Slurry recovery through the annulus is facilitated by a
multiplicity of inventive eductor couplings using small pulsed
jetting streams entraining the slurry and helping to lift slurry
and facilitate the inherent hydraulic forces moving fluid up
through the annulus. The inventive tooling also uses preferably two
diametrically opposed laterally pulsed jets as opposed to one
continuous-flow jet that Archibald uses, whereby pulsed jetting can
provide increased efficiency for cutting mineral target and
agitation and thereby better economics of slurry production,
especially logical with using multiple jets. Further, using the
sump member to trap heavy and large mineral fragments, sometimes
referred to as a rat hole in the mining industry, the inventive
system and methods becomes very economical since the lighter jetted
debris material tends to agitate quickly upward through the
annulus, separating from the heavier elements which gravitate to
the sump along with boulders which can be easily fractured by
applying pressure from the terminal shoe rock bit having the
additional benefit of downwardly pulsing jet with fragments further
agitated and flushed up to be fragmented further with the lateral
pulsing jets, which are positioned immediately above the terminal
shoe rock bit. A terminal shoe rock bit with its central pulsing
jet can also constantly agitate the contents of the sump trap,
which is located immediately below the shoe rock bit, as well as
perform fracturing of any boulders that gravitate to and block the
sump. Using an impingement pulsed jetting force as well as shearing
rotational and compressive forces applied by mechanical contact of
the shoe rock bit to a boulder; boulders at the sump do not present
a problem of capturing and sticking the inventive system and
methods since it is part of a sonic rod string system, that by
design is known by prior art to be retrievable from such
occurrences. Periodically the rod string and inventive system and
methods apparatus are removed from the mining site. The sonic core
barrel can then be reattached to the sonic rod string and can be
reinserted into the borehole recovering the sump contents, in an
innovative method to recover extra heavy jetting debris, which are
extruded at the surface, with core barrel detachment at which time
the mining tooling is reattached to the sonic rod string for
continuing the pulsed jet mining, but with a newly opened sump.
This exchange can be done very quickly. This mining process can be
accomplished through a small borehole, e.g. 9.25 inch diameter
borehole to easily excavate a 300 to 400 foot deep resource site
and much deeper. In comparison, Archibald's combination mining tool
and methods can result in boulder blockage at the sump as well as
expensive loss of tooling and do not use an eductor pump. Multiple
pulsing jets, as with the proposed invention, when applied in a
coherent manner can be very efficient regarding time, safety and
production in mining, which Archibald does not use. Further, the
inventive tooling, including a sub-coupling with multiple lateral
pulsing jets having nozzle exit dimensions being flush with sonic
rod string external wall dimensions allows for unimpeded sonic
retrieval of the inventive sonic apparatus and sonic rod string
from the subsurface mining site should a caving incident occur and
still allows recovery of the sump contents using a sonic core
barrel. The proposed inventive system allows for surface processing
of slurry and recycling of water or storage. The proposed inventive
system and methods allow for refilling the site with gangue and
recovery of sonic casing, as is considered standard practice in the
art of borehole mining. Archibald's mining capsule and method of
mining are very different from the proposed inventive system and
potentially much less economical to operate.
[0014] Bodine, Albert, U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,988, has a pertinent
patent in that it discloses a sonic drill head type attached to a
composite tool with a "sonic pump" that removes slurry from the
mining site by vibratory action creating intermittent pressure
differentials facilitated by downhole foot valves located within
the composite tool. Bodine does not describe entraining of fluid as
described by the proposed inventive system and methods which uses
an entraining eductor siphon pumping action with multiple eductor
couplings using pulsed jetting to facilitate slurry lift in
addition to hydraulic forces moving slurry through the annulus up
to the surface. Also, Bodine describes a recovery method
facilitated by vibration helping to move slurry and oil that rises
to the surface as a "floating" extraction method. He does not
address the difficulty in maintaining high density slurry
throughout his extraction process. Bodine uses vibratory action to
move the liquid and mineral material in the side walls of said well
bore and uses check valves within the piping assembly, which is a
recovery method that is much less efficient than the eductor pulsed
jet recovery slurry method (through the annulus) as described in
the inventive system and methods. Also, Bodine describes jet
action, but the swing jet rotors (source of resonant vibration)
effect only the inner tubing member not the jetting conduit members
(column 3; line 5) and springs isolate the vibratory energy from
the jetting conduits (column 3; line 21), so this system cannot
generate a vibratory pulse to the jetting system from resonant
vibration and essentially describes a continuous-flow jetting
system. So this embodiment represents an oscillating head that is
detached from its jetting conduits and cannot generate a pulsed
jet, which is proposed by the inventive system and methods.
Bodine's invention of an oscillating head is essentially different
from modern sonic drill heads (as used with modern sonic core drill
rigs) that have an attached tubular rod member traversing through
and interfacing with the drill head member, with the tubular member
transferring pumped water through the sonic drill head into the
borehole through the rod string to the inventive apparatus and
jetting nozzles to generate pulsed jets. Therefore, sonic energy is
not described by Bodine to generate "pulsing" jets of water in his
invention, as it does in the inventive proposal. Also, Bodine's
invention does not use the annulus to transport slurry to the
surface, but uses a dedicated conduit with check valves, whereas
the inventive system has no moving parts within the borehole aside
from the sonic rod string itself that moves with the drill head
spindle attachment, up and down and in rotation. Bodine's system is
described as being within a borehole casing but does not use the
annulus between the casing and the complex rod system to transport
slurry as does the inventive system and method. Bodine a so
describes using a complex "rod" comprised of external and internal
rods welded concentrically together to form an annulus in stable
"concentricity" and does not represent a single sonic rod or rod
string that is independent though partially positioned inside of a
sonic casing as does the proposed inventive system with inventive
mining tooling attachments. The inventive system and methods
describe the sonic drill head function and drill rig as an
established platform and source of sonic wave energy. Therefore it
is an object of this proposed invention to economically enhance the
subsurface borehole exploratory and mining process in multiple
ways. Primarily it achieves this by using pulsed jetting to
generate more efficient jetting excavation and eductor coupling
movement of slurry, simultaneously being performed with the single
tubular and attachable multi-sectional mining apparatus system and
methods. Further, the proposed system and methods benefit from
drilling the borehole quickly using an established sonic drill rig,
emplacing a sonic borehole casing string, removing the sonic core
barrel tool member from the rod string to determine value of a
discovered mineral site and to attach the inventive mining tools
that are reinserted into the borehole for efficient pulsed jetting
to erode and cut mineral deposit. Simultaneously, pulsed jetting in
one or more eductor coupling apparatus help facilitate slurry
movement up to the surface through the annulus for processing and
recycling water for reuse. By sonically propagating and using sonic
wave energy in addition to pump energy, various hydraulic pulsed
jets are generated through appropriate nozzle design and
application, for either a cutting/agitating function or an eductor
function in the proposed invention, which is different than
Bodine's invention, which requires downhole moveable hardware and
must have intermittent movement of slurry that can settle. Having a
sonic head attachment interfaced with a high-pressure high volume
water column is critical for pulsing the jet, which is central to
the purpose of presenting a more economical means of mining mineral
material than is presented by prior art, including Bodine's
invention. Otherwise a jetting system without a pulsing influence
can only present a continuous-flow high-pressure jetting operation,
as Bodine invention describes, which is less efficient and not as
economical as the pulsed jet mining system proposed in the
inventive system and methods. Even without the pulsing component to
the jets, the proposed system used with a sonic drill rig is
different in its simpler design and uninterrupted eductor
facilitation of recovery of slurry through the annulus. Also, the
inventive system and methods provides additional benefit from the
recovery potential provided by the sonic rig supported sump/core
barrel recovery method.
[0015] Coakly, John, U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,450, describes a combined
rotating mining apparatus which comprises multiple conduits with
internal valves and moving parts that allow changing the function
of the apparatus between mining and drilling modes while still in
the borehole and having modulation function of alternating pressure
levels to facilitate higher system pressures at the jetting nozzle
and eductor when in mining mode. This apparatus washes cuttings
from the base of the tool not allowing concentration of fragmented
debris around the base of the tool and ejects them into the jetting
stream and mined space. A drilling bit, an eductor and continuous
flow jet are described by Coakly as basically comprising his
complex apparatus used for borehole slurry mining. In comparison,
the proposed system and methods uses a shoe bit with at least one
pulsed jetting nozzle to fracture boulders that gravitate to the
sump member and also to agitate lighter mineral fragments into the
slurry and into the annulus in the ceiling of the mined cavity. The
sump is used to trap heavy material that will periodically be
retrieved using a core drill, which is periodically quickly done to
also analyze the mineral site and deepen the cavity. Once the
cavity becomes too deep for dense slurry to enter the annulus space
in the cavity ceiling an independent eductor which is commonly used
in the prior art can be inserted through a second borehole into the
cavity as an independent eductor mechanism as a facilitating method
to improve the rate of recovering large deposits using the
efficient pulsed jetting excavation method or the site can be
abandoned if deemed uneconomic. The proposed system and methods can
pulse its jets with a mean pressure in a range of approximately
500-1500 psig, with a flow rate of approximately 300-600 gal/min
and with a sonic frequency of approximately 150 Hz, which can be
varied in different ways depending on multiple factors, such as
mineral type, nozzle type and oscillating rate. There are no moving
parts in the proposed inventive system and methods as compared to
Coakly's invention, with less tendency to break down. Though
similarities exist for borehole mining, Coakly's invention does not
generate more efficient pulsed jetting as the proposed system can
do with dual cutting jets and Coakly presents a less efficient
drilling process as compared to the proven sonic drilling process,
which is only required in the proposed system and methods initially
to reach the target depth and periodically to retrieve sump
concentrate. Though the Coakly invention uses a single eductor
above the mining jet in his complex tool, which can conceivably be
lost with a caving event, the proposed system and methods can be
retrieved and provide multiple methods for slurry extraction
whereby it is capable of using multiple eductors and eductor
couplings along more options to modify the mining rate for optimal
recovery.
[0016] Huffman, Lester, et al. describes multiple boreholes and use
of an inserted pumping tool and crusher to pump slurry up from a
sump member, as it particularly pertains to mining an inclined seam
of coal. Huffman's system though having similarities to the
inventive system, such as using recycled water, at least one sump
and a possible use of multiple boreholes is different from the
proposed inventive system and methods and less efficient primarily
because it does not use pulsed jetting and is subject to caving
with loss of pumping tooling in the sump. With the proposed
inventive system and methods, multiple boreholes can also be used
to generate higher slurry recovery rates with a deep deposit,
especially since more efficient sonically pulsed jet mining is used
to generate slurry. In the situation of a significantly inclined
seam a modified sub-coupling using three pulsed jetting nozzles may
be used, depending on the logistics of maintaining rod stability at
the mining site. At an incline and with denser coal slurry the
depth that the proposed inventive system and methods can work
should be much greater than in a vertical orientation and may not
even require an additional independent eductor in a sump
orientation, especially extending the casing string length by
adding sections of additional sonic casing thereby positioning the
sonic casing string and slurry collecting annulus lower opening
into the mining cavity and closer behind the advancing pulsed
jetting sub-coupling with additional eductor sub-couplings being
added to the rod string, Being able to add casing section to
facilitate denser slurry engagement is a preferred embodiment of
the inventive system plan and methods to increase recovery, as
needed and to recover certain deposits in specific instances. In
any case, the proposed inventive system and methods with a sonic
drill rig and pulsed jetting system and methods should improve the
rate of coal slurry recovery and mining coal seam economics,
including reducing the chance for equipment loss as compared to the
Huffman invention. This embodiment is not identified by prior art
of borehole mining of inclined seams of coal.
[0017] Wenneborg, William et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,696,
describes an invention that is pertinent to subsurface slurry
mining and the proposed system and methods in that this prior art
uses a combination slurry drilling and mining system. It is,
however, different in that it is a complex borehole apparatus with
multiple inner conduits and moving valves, with mechanical
hydraulic systems and modes for drilling and mining without
requiring that the apparatus (having an eductor nozzle and mining
nozzle and drill bit foot valve) be pulled out of the borehole or
well cavity. This uses a rotary-type drilling rig and does not use
borehole casing. This is not a sonic-related system and is without
pulsed jetting, therefore is likely to be less efficient for
excavation of a subsurface mineral deposit as compared to the
proposed system and methods. Further it requires significantly high
positive pressure differentials to shift from drilling to mining
mode and is likely to be subject to more problematic maintenance
issues from higher pressures impacting the more complicated
apparatus as compared to the relatively simplistic proposed systems
and methods, which are more efficient and work without moving parts
within a borehole stabilized (in part) using a casing. Catastrophic
collapse with a caving incident is always a potential for loss of
borehole tooling, but is much less likely with sonic core drilling
apparatus tooling, as is used with the proposed system and
methods.
[0018] Claringbull, Peter, U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,784, describes an
impact driver system that is pertinent to the proposed system and
methods in that it uses a casing with either one or two drill rods
freely moving within the casing that have a drilling shoe on the
inner pipes. The outer casing is intermittently struck with a
piston to provide periodic impulses to advance the casing as a
drilling method. As a mining method it describes using
continuous-flow pressurized water or air being injected down
through the annulus in association with the casing, using a
rotatable inner dual-pipe system with a drilling shoe and a
plurality of jet passages and jetting nozzles forcing mining debris
up to the surface centrally through the inner pipe. This is a
percussion-type of casing drilling system that advances the casing
with an associated continuous-flow jet mining system using a rotary
bit with water and air for mining. This patent does not use a sonic
drill head and does not propagate energy pulses to generate a
repetitive pulsed jet from a central tubular rod for the purpose of
mining. It uses differential water and air pressure to retrieve
mining debris to the surface through a central pipe. It does not
provide an entraining flow with an eductor structure or anything
similar to an eductor coupling mechanism for retrieving slurry.
This is a system that is limited to mining at relatively shallow
depth especially due to percussion energy dampening and has
predictably low production capacity potential due primarily to the
problem of retrieving dense drilling cuttings and debris with
particle bridging and other issue inherent to moving slurry through
conduits. In comparison, such issues have been addressed within the
constraints of the proposed inventive system and method with its
sonically pulsed jetting apparatus facilitating excavation and
slurry recovery through the annulus, as well as its method for sump
concentrate recovery, used with an existing sonic core drilling rig
that will potentially generate high production rates with
subsurface borehole mining.
[0019] Unfortunately current knowledge does not provide a viable
wide ranging economically feasible subsurface jet mining system and
methods, especially with more environmentally problematic or
incremental deposit discoveries, primarily because of
inefficiencies of current subsurface jet mining systems and methods
that the present invention addresses.
[0020] What is needed is an innovative and improved cost-effective,
comm ercial-scale, efficient and adaptive subsurface borehole
mining system design and methods that will allow for the immediate
mining site analysis and mining of subsurface mineral resources,
providing the mining industry and particularly sonic core drilling
rig operators, the opportunity to mine a valuable discovered
mineral deposit almost immediately by using a simple pulsed jet
mining system design and methods that are adaptable to the sonic
drill mining rig and adjustable for improved production rates and
recovery of subsurface slurry, while minimizing environmental
impact. The inventive design and methods should provide a dynamic
interaction between the sonic core drill rig operator, sonic drill
head, a high-pressure high-volume hydraulic pump and a discovered
and recoverable resource site that can be hundreds of feet deep but
not available to traditional mining practices because of economic,
safety or regulatory concerns. Other features of the system and
methods of the invention will become apparent from time to time
throughout the discussion and claims as hereinafter related.
Summary and Objects of the Invention
[0021] Generally speaking, this invention relates to a new dynamic
pulsed jet hydraulic mining system and methods using an existing
sonic core drilling machine's sonic drill head attached to a rod
string as a pulsing energy source in combination and simultaneously
with a high-pressure and high-volume pumping member that comprises
a fluid communicated tubular apparatus assembly member at the
bottom end of an attached sonic rod string, sectioned into three
member parts two of which have jetting nozzles that jet high-energy
water pulses for mineral excavation and agitation and another
tubular apparatus, a pulsed jetting eductor coupling, which is
interconnected between the sonic rods of the rod string positioned
in the annulus of the borehole to facilitate slurry lift to the
surface. In addition, a sump trap method with sonic core barrel
recovery is incorporated into the inventive system and methods as a
method for recovering slurry fragments too heavy to be recovered by
an eductor siphon. The inventive system design and methods
integrate use of the common and proven mobile sonic drill head
suspended on an established sonic drill rig's tower, using
established sonic casing, sonic drill rods and core barrel tooling
used to perform the function of sonic core drilling. By sonically
core drilling a site, a sonic rig can discover a valuable
subsurface deposit by means of core sampling then by employing the
inventive design's apparatus that is attachable to the sonic rod
string as a pulsed hydraulic jet mining system, while using
additional methods as needed, the site can be mined. Water is
supplied to the system and methods depending on the situation
having many possibilities for options including mining water
recycling, with respect to legal allowances and availability, e.g.
water truck. Use of water for mining can include ancillary systems
well known by the industry, such as a hydrocyclone system for
improving water clarity, bone char containment channeling for water
filtration, and by using a collapsible and movable reservoir, since
relatively little water may be required for pulsed jetting using
the inventive system and methods per site. Slurry is processed on
the surface using standard methods, such as by employing wet
gravity separation techniques of heavy precious gems, minerals
(e.g. monazite with europium) and metals, such as gold, with
preference being given to filtering slurry for recycling of water
resources and using settling ponds, all components of mining and
standard methods well known to the mining industry. Slurry may also
be stored for processing at another time or transported to another
site for refinement processing, depending on the constraints
related to the equipment, crew and material being excavated, also
regarding local laws, weather, geography and special processing
requirements. Reclamation at completion of a borehole mining
project is generally known in the mining industry to be a
relatively low-cost and effective method as compared to more
traditional mining reclamation methods with reclamation of a
borehole site consisting primarily of backfilling the borehole with
a gangue of washed sand. Unfortunately, the overall economic
benefit of borehole mining is lacking. In the present art, borehole
mining is a high-cost operation. With prior art the costs are very
high because of expensive and specialized equipment that cannot
generate significant production. Ideally, a borehole drilling and
mining system should provide not only a specific sampling
opportunity but a simple and efficient system design and methods
that can be combined with an existing system to immediately begin
mining the discovered deposit, facilitating immediate recovery of a
commercially valuable subsurface resource identified during the
sampling, which provides an economic advantage with the present
invention.
[0022] Primary evidence of the present invention was demonstrated
and recorded by an experiment conducted in Ohio, August of 2015, at
the request of the inventors who are both experienced in core
drilling and mining, by Terra Sonic International (a sonic core
drilling rig manufacturer) with related documented statement of
results herein submitted (video also available) as direct evidence
to support the claims of a new system design and methods using an
activated sonic drill head to generate pulsing energy waves. The
sonic, i.e. acoustic, energy that is produced in the sonic drill
head is interfaced with and oscillates a flowing water column's
energy state, that is in association with a tubular elastic metal
sonic drill rod's walls that also oscillate, while the water column
is moving through the sonic rod having an exit opening in the
open-ended system that can be used with one or more convergent-type
nozzles. Such a sonic system using a sonic drill head as an
oscillator, when pressurized, can generate a relatively low
frequency cyclic pulsed jetting stream emitting from the aperture
of a nozzle, which has not been recognized by prior art as of a
manner of generating a commercial pulsed jetting apparatus for
pulsed jet mining. It is the claim of the inventors that the energy
differentials of such waves produced by a sonic drill head and
combined with a high energy pressure and high flow pumping system
can be concentrated by an established nozzle design, e.g. quartic
nozzle, and associated apparatus to generate pulsing jets of either
a discrete or semi-discrete nature, or both, and that the resultant
modulated sonically pulsed jetting bolts with hammering effect will
have significant stand-off distances and commercial application to
increase jet cutting efficiencies, especially in subsurface
hydraulic borehole jet mining, though surface mining applications
are also possible. Other research disclosed in the prior art,
including Foldyna, J. et al., "Transmission of Acoustic Waves",
2007, also supports the claims of the inventors that a
high-pressure system can propagate energy waves, but prior art does
identify a commercial way for doing so or a design for a relatively
low-frequency pulsed jetting system using a sonic drill head with a
system design and methods for simultaneous excavation and
extraction of slurry, as described by the inventors.
[0023] With the present invention a network of core sampling
boreholes can be quickly drilled using a sonic core drilling rig, a
characteristic speed of operating the sonic drilling machines that
is well known in the industry and an advantage to a mining system's
economic advantage. An efficient and quick core analysis process is
also well known to the industry, e.g. handheld X-ray spectrometer,
which can help reveal a target site's dimensions and content,
allowing mining feasibility to be established quickly to determine
economic logistics of borehole mining the site. With the proposed
inventive system and methods having increased mining efficiency,
not getting tools stuck in the borehole, having easily replaceable
inventive apparatus, taking less time with the addition of
relatively few additional components, i.e. a pumping system and
sonic rod string attachable pulsed jetting apparatus--many mining
sites not currently available to mine because of mining economics
and traditional mining restrictions will become economically
feasible to mine and will have a short lead time because of the
portability of the proposed invention. A single borehole pulsed jet
mining method can be used at certain sites following a sonic casing
emplacement with its bottom end above the target mineral site.
Pulsed jetting excavation and eductor coupling facilitation of
slurry extraction can commence almost immediately by applying the
invention apparatus to a rod string. As an example, a sonic core
drilling rig can discover an approximate ten to fifteen cubic yard
gold-containing placer "glory hole" at one hundred and fifty feet
depth that will require on average about two hours to sonically
core drill, with emplace casing string and perform sample analysis,
and less than one hour following that will be required for pulsed
jet mining extraction, assuming conservative rates of corresponding
continuous-flow jetting systems, but with much greater efficiency
than continuous-flow jetting. Pulsed jet mining, removal of casing
and refilling the excavated site should require much less time than
a continuous-flow jetting system, if it can even do a comparable
job. Using the jetting pulsed system and methods with a sonic drill
head as a pulsing source and a sonic drill rig platform will
predictably prove to be a faster and more efficient process for
mining using the invention, with pulsed jetting excavation to be
fast, and done simultaneously with efficient slurry recovery
through the annulus of the single hole borehole. With pulsed
jetting into the annulus space there will be fewer tendencies for
particle bridging with higher slurry density transport as
facilitated by eductor coupling pulsed jetting. Another advantage
of the inventive system is the use of the sonic drill rig's minimal
tendency to lose equipment from being stuck and lost in a borehole
from a caving incident. Multiple boreholes can also be
simultaneously and quickly used employing at least one additional
independent eductor syphon, another advantage of the system and
methods, to quickly and economically increase slurry extraction
rate if required by sonically pulsed jetting high excavation rates
and the particular logistic parameters of the site, e.g. small
cobbles and sandy shallow alluvial deposit with few boulders
allowing faster excavation as compared to a deep paleo-channel
having large boulders and a predictable slower borehole mining
excavation rate.
[0024] Following core sample inspection and favorable mining
feasibility logistics, one or more borehole sonic casings can be
positioned, as practiced in prior art, relative to the mining
target depth to minimize any unnecessary subsurface ground removal
using the subsurface pulsed jet mining process' systems and
methods. When more than one borehole may be required for efficient
mining, it will be cased for the possibility of using the addition
of an independent eductor siphoning mechanism, another preferred
embodiment of this inventive process, which is an option for
increasing efficiency of slurry extraction from the mining site in
the event that a higher efficient rate of slurry production from
pulsed jet mining exceeds the rate of extraction through the
annulus by the inventive coupling eductors. This is an option for
further minimizing costs of mining, requiring less time on a mining
site. Sonic casing strings can be emplaced into each borehole
related to a subsurface mining site (easily done with a sonic core
drill rig having a sonic drill head attachment, sonic rods, casing
members and other equipment required for standard sonic core
drilling operations, all of which are preferred embodiments of this
invention) so that the bottom end of each emplaced casing or casing
string is positioned at approximately the top of the targeted
mineral deposit level. The top of each emplaced casing is
positioned at or above the surface ground level. The lead time from
subsurface mineral discovery to excavation with this present
inventive system and methods can be very short since the sonic
drill rig is used to retrieve core samples and can drill boreholes
quickly and more effectively as compared to other core drilling
methods in addition to the inventive mining system and methods
capability.
[0025] In further discussing the situation in the prior example of
discovering a ten cubic yard "glory hole", at least one borehole is
over-drilled through the deposit to form a sump member, a preferred
embodiment of the present invention method, which is significantly
deeper than the deposit's lower level and that the sump member will
be significant for trapping and removing larger and heavier pulsed
jetted debris from the slurry circulation that may not be extracted
through the annulus or an independent eductor siphoning method,
occurring as the process expands the borehole to a subsurface
mining cavity. In this example, the "glory hole" may be considered
a relatively small concentrated alluvial deposit, so with jet
mining of the deposit generally completed the sonic rod string is
tripped out of the borehole with the core barrel being exchanged
and substituted for the inventive pulsed jetting apparatus
assembly. The core barrel is then inserted into the cased borehole
on the rod string, through the mining cavity to the sump member
where it re-bores the sump member capturing its contents for
returning to the surface. This may require several repeated steps
to make certain that all concentrated contents of the sump trap
member are recovered to the surface. This describes an innovative
method for subsurface recovery of mining debris used in
coordination with the inventive sonic pulsed jet mining system and
methods, and is a preferred embodiment of the inventive system and
methods.
[0026] Establishing a high orientation of the bottom of the casing
and opening into the annulus in the upper portion, i.e. ceiling, of
the expanding jet mined cavity is another preferred method and
embodiment of the present invention. This is potentially a more
economical method to use as described with the invention's single
borehole slurry extraction as compared to prior art, where the
slurry intake mechanisms for extracting slurry to the surface may
be in a pumping tool or siphon where the intake is on or near the
bottom of the borehole mining cavity and can result in
gravitational catastrophic blockages by boulders of the intake
mechanism, tool damage or tool loss. This is an obvious potential
problem in prior art remediated by the present invention orienting
its casing bottom and annulus to a high orientation in the cavity.
In certain instances, such as with an inclined mineral seam, the
sonic casing string may be periodically extended and stabilized
with its bottom being intermittently advanced deeper into the
mining cavity, above and closely following the pulsed jetting
mining apparatus as it excavates the seam to allow for more
efficient slurry lift using the eductor coupling pulsed jetting
effect within the annulus in closer approximation to the excavation
in order to better facilitate upward movement of dense slurry to
the surface, which is another preferred method and embodiment of
the invention.
[0027] The sonic core drill has a small seismic signature also
facilitating minimal ground disturbance with less de-stabilizing
forces compared to impact rotary drills, with sonic drill rotations
of approximately 200 rpm compared to percussion rotary drills
having 600 rpm or more. Catastrophic subsiding, or caving in, at a
subsurface mining site that has an actively mined borehole cavity
has not been reported in prior art as a problem with subsurface
jetting, but it is always an improved and desirable protocol with
mining operations to minimize any disturbance to untargeted ground
stability, which provides for a safer work environment. This is
also a benefit of having a water-filled mining cavity and borehole
where a relatively maintained hydrostatic pressure level in a
water-filled mining site helps stabilize the integrity of the
mining cavity while mining, which is also a preferred embodiment of
the invention.
[0028] With a casing string properly emplaced in a borehole and
stabilized, using commonly known methods for casing stabilization,
with the casing's bottom just above the targeted deposit site, the
borehole having a sump member by over-drilling the target zone, the
mining process can begin. Using another preferred embodiment, a
sonic rod or rod string will be of appropriate diameter size to fit
within the emplaced casing internal dimensional space allowing at
least three times the size of the preferred particle size that is
expected to be extracted through the annulus from the mining cavity
site to the surface. This spatial ratio requirement is known
commonly in the pumping industry to inhibit particle bridging with
eductor siphon mechanism spaces. For example, with a standard sonic
casing having an 8.4 inch internal diameter it would be recommended
that an acceptable standard rod diameter be used of 4.25 inches,
for extracting 0.5 inch slurry fragments. The appropriately sized
sonic rod is threadably attached to the sonic head spindle member
and adaptor.
[0029] Pulsed water jetting eductor couplings, a preferred
embodiment of the system and methods invention, can be added
intermittently between sonic rods in the sonic rod string that will
predictably function with pulsed jetting within the annulus to
facilitate slurry lift to the surface through the annulus space
from the mining cavity using the Venturi effect. The Venturi effect
is a commonly known siphoning effect of pumping describing kinetic
energy of pressurized jetted motive fluid from a pump being used to
entrain another less pressurized fluid (i.e. slurry). A pulsed
jetting hydraulic stream from an eductor coupling nozzle enters the
annulus through a partial vacuum chamber and then mixes with the
slurry fluids in a partial diffuser chamber, i.e. a figure-eight
concavity in the outer coupling surface which is contiguous with
the aperture from the upwardly angled convergent nozzle, against a
counter pressure provided in part by the internal sonic casing
wall. This generates a suctional pulse upwardly in the annulus
drawing dense slurry upwardly and tends to disrupt bridging of
slurry particles. Inventive pulsed jetting eductor couplings can
have one or more convergent small nozzles circumferentially
positioned with associated partial chambers angled upwardly that
produce pulsed water eductor jets. Though pulsed eductor jets may
inherently be relatively small and inefficient individually, as
compared to one with fully formed chambers, the inventive system
and methods provide that a multiplicity of small pulsed jets and
chamber indentations per coupling be used to facilitate dense
slurry lift along with the net movement of the slurry up the
annulus by virtue of a net positive suction head and hydraulic
gradient, i.e. adding hundreds of gallons per minute by pulsed jet
mining to the mining cavity. A regulator on the pump adjusts for
volume changes. An eductor will fail by cavitation if it does not
receive enough net positive suction head, which is a circumstance
generally avoidable by the proposed subsurface mining system and
methods that uses a water-filled mining site, another preferred
embodiment of the invention. Failure of the invention's eductor
system is especially unlikely since there are no moving parts in
this basic eductor design, which facilitates slurry lift with a
beneficial hydraulic head gradient orientation and proper pump
size, but also because this process can have an additional back-up
source of fluid and pump, another embodiment of the system and
methods. Water can be pumped into the casing annulus if fluid
levels fall, as may be monitored by an actuating sensor at the
casing's top most edge where a casing collar can be attached to
funnel effluent slurry from the annulus into a slurry catch box. An
example that might cause a temporary eductor failure would be a
subsurface crevice draining the excavation site. If an eductor
mechanism fails the slurry recovery system can easily be restarted
once the source of cavitation is corrected. There are many
corrective methods for such an occurrence that are commonly known
to the mining industry, such as applying calcium carbonate to the
borehole. The borehole can also be refilled with sand with all
tooling removed and the site abandoned, pending site logistic
evaluation. Pulsed coupling eductor jetting can add extraction
efficiency for moving slurry through the annulus by intermittent
agitation of slurry lift flow, inhibiting particle bridging and
annulus blockage. Eductor couplings can be manufactured in various
lengths and dimensions such as by machining, 3-D printing or
molding, fitting and threadably adapting to sonic rod string
matching material specifications of the sonic manufacturing
industry requirements for safety and longevity of use.
[0030] The inventive sonically pulsed water jetting mining system
and methods employs a tubular sectional apparatus assembly, in
addition to the sonically pulsed jetting eductor couplings, that is
another preferred embodiment of the system. The inventive system
and methods tubular sectional apparatus assembly is comprised
preferably of a transition rod, a jetting sub-coupling and a shoe
rock bit, in addition to at least one sonic rod, one or more
jetting educator couplings and one or more casing members, in
multiple sections, though they may be manufactured as combined
sections, that are generally attached to one another in tubular
alignment, in at least one preferred embodiment of the inventive
system, and attached, except for the casing, to the bottom end of a
sonic rod that is in fluidic communication with a water column by
way of adaptor and spindle to the sonic head.
[0031] The top most, or first, section of the single tubular
apparatus is comprised of at least one transition rod that may be
weighted to facilitate rotational balance of the rod string and
provide additional stability with pulsed jetting and may also be
formed to allow additional guide vanes or extending length of guide
vanes originating in the conduit interior of the pulsed jetting
sub-coupling member section that is immediately below and attached
to the transition rod's bottom end to facilitate improved pulsed
jet coherency as water flow exits a nozzle as a cutting pulsed
hydraulic jet, in either semi-discreet or discreet bolts depending
on many factors. The pulsed jetting sub-coupling is the preferred
second section, i.e. middle section, of the inventive system and
methods apparatus assembly. It incorporates one or more jetting
nozzles, preferably two diametrically opposed to reduce reactive
thrust, that facilitate formation of coherent jets preferably using
guide vanes to optimize rock fracturing capability at significant
stand-off distances for commercial slurry production. Considering
the relatively small cross-dimension of the sonic rod string and
apparatus which have the same outer diameter, generating a coherent
pulsed jet requires a short nozzle design known to prior art as a
quartic-type nozzle, which one or more are incorporated into the
design of the jetting sub-coupling. The quartic-type
(4.sup.th-degree polynomial) combined with taper is a nozzle design
that can be variously modified in shape as required by the
dimension of the apparatus using guide vanes to reduce turbulence
and to generate significant jet impact fluxes for optimal rock
breakage and disaggregation of mineral targets. Significant
commercial slurry production at significant stand-off distance can
be achieved using such known short nozzle designs, or modifications
thereof, in the inventive system and methods that will generate
pulsing and increased efficiency in slurry production. Several
known nozzle-type designs can be used in the invention and modified
to optimize function with an approximate 90 degree flow direction
change and acceleration with pulsed static head potential energy
being converted to pulsed kinetic energy at the nozzle to generate
jet pulsing that can be modulated in frequency at the sonic head,
as well as rotated, as well as moved up and down by rod string
connection to the movable sonic head on the sonic drilling rig
tower. The third and bottom section of the inventive system and
methods apparatus consists of a sonic shoe rock bit that has at
least one sonic pulsing nozzle placed between crushing plates (e.g.
made of carborundum) or wedges to crushingly fragment large rock
fragments or boulders by moving the rod string and attached rock
shoe bit with at least one downwardly pulsing jet, up and down and
in rotation to generate rock-fracturing torque and compression from
the sonic drilling rig as well as using the immediate jet pulsing
effect. The pulsing jet nozzle, which can incorporate a standard
Leach&Walker-type nozzle design, is directed downwardly into
the sump beneath the shoe rock bit to cut and to agitate light
settled slurry fragments back into the slurry solution for
transport to the surface through the annulus space, while
concentrating heavy fragments in the sump trap. The sonic shoe rock
bit can also include laterally directed nozzles to generate
additional pulsing jets that laterally project a pulsed cutting
fluidic stream for fracturing mineral matrix similar to the
function of the jetting sub-coupling, as a modification which is
another embodiment of the invention. The preferred method for
integrating one or more pulsed laterally cutting jets is to
incorporate nozzles in a sub-coupling, with at least one pulsed
jetting nozzle immediately above the sonic shoe rock bit, which is
at the bottom end of the sonic rod string. The laterally pulsed
jetting nozzles with guide vanes can be most effectively
manufactured using 3-D printing and angled generally laterally to
project a horizontal pulsed jet stream to one angled slightly (e.g.
10 degrees) upwardly to facilitate floor inclination to facilitate
gravity's force to continually move fragments into the cutting
stream and towards the sump trap. The transition tool that
interconnects the bottom end of the rod string to the sub-coupling
member may also be manufactured with guide vanes to compliment the
guide vanes in the sub-coupling. Also, the sonically pulsed
sub-coupling jetting nozzle can be constructed to be angled
slightly downward to facilitate pressure washing of the excavated
cavity floor into the sump or an independent eductor. A sonic shoe
rock bit nozzle may be thread-ably attached or machined or
manufactured into the sonic shoe rock bit member. The jetting
nozzles integrated into the inventive systems and methods
components are designed for liquid pulsed laminar stream jetting
and to minimize turbulence with cutting pulsing jet streams, which
are the primary excavating nozzles, but also for producing
effective downwardly pulsed jetting stream for agitating sump
slurry for lift facilitation of lighter material. A jetting nozzle
must operate within specific constraints of design, ejecting fluid
into a coherent stream balancing laminar flow with turbulence to
achieve the different tasks required of subsurface mining using the
inventive system and methods.
[0032] The inventive sonically pulsed system and methods may
efficiently pulse hydraulic jets with a mean pressure in a range of
approximately 500-1500 psig, with a flow rate of approximately
300-600 gal/min and with a sonic head frequency of about 150 Hz,
(approximately in a range between 1 and 300 Hz, which can be higher
depending on sonic head frequency production capabilities) which
can be further varied with borehole mining of various subsurface
sites in different ways depending on multiple factors, e.g. mineral
type, nozzle type and oscillating rates of a particular type of
sonic drill head. Logistical analysis will in part determine the
working parameters with each site to be within constraints of the
equipment.
[0033] The goal of this inventive mining process, which as a total
system plan and methods may herein be referred to as Hice
Hydro-mining, is to provide an improved system design and methods
for subterranean fluidic jet mining not present in prior art using
a sonic core drilling rig's sonic head as a pulsing energy source
in combination with a water pumping member as a hydraulic source
adding high-pressure and--high water volume with sonic mining tools
adaptable to use with the inventive system's design and methods in
order to generate sonically pulsed jetting streams to fracture and
disaggregate mineral subsurface targets more efficiently and in a
commercially economic manner, excavating slurry while providing
simultaneous eductor extraction of slurry through a borehole
annulus with a minimized potential for slurry blockage using a
single partially cased borehole and recovery of slurry concentrates
with use of a sump member and sonic core barrel. The system and
methods use preferably two laterally-directed diametrically opposed
pulsed jetting nozzles incorporated in a pulsed jetting
sub-coupling tool attached axially between a shoe rock bit having a
downwardly directed pulsed jetting nozzle and a transition rod that
connects the sub-coupling to a sonic rod string using
intermittently spaced eductor couplings with sonically pulsing jets
to facilitate slurry recovery through the annulus space, performed
through a single and partially cased borehole. A method is provided
for recovering slurry fragments too heavy to be removed by eductor
siphon function that uses the advantage provided by a sonic core
barrel of retrieving sump trap contents quickly and without getting
stuck. This total system and methods may also be expanded by adding
additional sonic casing members to the sonic casing string in
conjunction with adding more eductor couplings to the sonic rod
string to facilitate deeper and denser slurry recovery using a one
borehole mining system plan and method. Another method is provided
with the pulsed jetting system and methods for use of an
independent eductor mechanism for increasing extraction rates of
slurry, which may optimize high-efficiency subsurface excavation
rates and used as an adjunctive method for slurry extraction by the
efficient pulsed jetting apparatus design provided by the
invention. General advantages of the invention over prior art are
several, but generally speaking it provides improved efficiencies
in slurry production, borehole mining economics and
eco-friendliness, especially because of its variable energy-sizing
potential with various efficient sonic drill rig platforms and
adaptable apparatus and methods of applying pulsed jet mining to
increase production rates, given the variable mining situations
that are available.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0034] FIG. 1 is a broken sectional view in elevation of apparatus
embodying the present inventive sonically pulsed apparatus for
sonically jet mining a subsurface mineral site, including fluid
flow for jetting excavation and simultaneous jetting eductor
coupling extraction functions of the invention.
[0035] FIG. 2 is a top view section taken on the line 2-2 of FIG.
1.
[0036] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a typical inventive pulsed
jetting eductor coupling member, with a cutaway showing jetting
nozzles with vacuum and diffusing chambers profiled.
[0037] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a typical inventive pulsed
jetting sub-coupling member, with a cutaway showing diametrically
opposed nozzles and guide vanes for sonically pulsing coherent
hydraulic streams for optimizing range for mineral target
excavation.
[0038] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a typical inventive pulsed
transition rod member that attaches the sonic rod string above to
the pulsed jetting sub-coupling below, with a cutaway view showing
guide vanes that may be incorporated to help reduce turbulence and
optimize pulsed coherent water jet production by the attached
sub-coupling short nozzle members.
[0039] FIG. 6 is a perspective view with a cutaway section of a
typical pulsed jetting rock shoe bit member with a centrally
located jetting nozzle and two crushing plates that facilitate
boulder breaking and general slurry agitation and sump
concentration of heavy mining debris.
[0040] FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic elevation side view of the
inventive pulsed jet mining apparatus assembly in a borehole before
sonic pulsed jet mining begins.
[0041] FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic elevation side view of the
inventive pulsed jet mining apparatus assembly with an attached
eductor coupling shown in FIG. 7 but at a later time having started
mining excavation with sonic jet pulsing and slurry recovery.
[0042] FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic elevation side view of the
inventive pulsed jet mining apparatus with an attached eductor
coupling as shown in FIG. 8 but at a later time, having been mining
for a significant time.
[0043] FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic elevation side view of the mining
site as shown in FIG. 9 at a later time, with a sonic core barrel
now inserted into the mining site sump to extract heavy
particulates not extracted by the inventive eductor coupling as an
embodiment.
[0044] FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic elevation side view with the
inventive pulsed jet mining apparatus reinserted into the mining
site as shown in FIG. 9 but at a later time than FIG. 10, and with
a mining cavity that can develop slurry density layering.
[0045] FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic elevation side view of innovative
method with modification of inventive pulsed jet mining apparatus
as shown in FIG. 11 but at a later time showing an efficient
alternative embodiment using pulsed jet mining with deep mining
cavities and slurry density layering.
[0046] FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic side view of the subsurface
borehole pulsed jet mining operation using the inventive apparatus
with a side view perspective illustrating relative positions of
surface mining equipment and apparatus supporting the borehole
mining operation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0047] The following table lists the part numbers and part
descriptions as used herein and in the figures attached hereto:
TABLE-US-00001 Part Number: Description: 12 Pulsed jetting shoe
rock bit 13 Pulsed jetting sub-coupling 14 Transition rod 15 Sonic
rod or rod string 16 Pulsed jetting eductor coupling 17 Fluid
column and flow direction of high-pressure and high-volume 18 Sonic
drill head spindle 19 Adapter attaching sonic rod string to the
sonic drill head spindle 20 Sinusoidal waves propagated by
oscillating parts of the sonic drill head 21 Sonic wave expansion
and contraction of a sonic rod 22 Pulsing energy transferred by
interfacing to high-pressure liquid column 23 Sub-coupling's
convergent pulsed jet nozzle 24 Shoe rock bit's convergent pulsed
jet nozzle 25 Eductor coupling pulsed jetting nozzle 26
Subterranean pulsed jet mining excavated cavity 27 Casing string's
bottom end 28 Annulus space between the sonic rod string and casing
29 Casing 30 Casing string's top end 31 Ground level 32 Slurry 33
Eductor coupling vacuum chamber 34 Mineral target being cut by
pulsed fluidic jetting streams 35 Pulsed jetting stream 36 Eductor
coupling diffusing chamber connected to the vacuum chamber 37
High-pressure fluid flowing through a sonic rod 38 Oscillating
sonic drill head 39 Sump for collecting large, heavy slurry for
core barrel retrieval to surface 40 Slurry catch box 41 Hydrostatic
maintenance pump conduit and sensor connected to casing collar 42
Sump slurry concentrate 43 Tower of the sonic drill rig supporting
the sonic head 44 High-pressure fluid conduit 45
High-pressure/high-volume flow fluid pump 46 One-way check valve 47
Pressure release valve 48 High-volume main slurry pump 49 Slurry
conduit flowing to accessory slurry pump and slurry sex 50 Slurry
box on processing platform 51 Hydrostatic maintenance conduit
connecting annulus to reserve reservoir 52 Hydrostatic maintenance
high-volume low pressure pump 53 Hydrocyclone/screen water
clarification member 54 Clarified water conduit with high-volume,
low-pressure pump pump 55 Main water reservoir 56 Cistern on
processing platform 57 Processing platform with sluice, jigs,
screens, gravity concentrator 58 Sonic drill rig 59 Collapsible
water reservoir 60 Discharge gravel gangue 61 Uncased borehole 62
Slurry lift 63 Water swivel 64 Rotation 65 Guide vane to assist
turning flow performance to 90 degrees tonozzle inlet 66 Shoe rock
bit crusher plate 67 Sonic core barrel
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment
[0048] Referring now to FIG. 1, several embodiments of the
invention are illustrated. The present inventive pulsed jet mining
apparatus includes a shoe rock bit 12 and a pulsing jetting
sub-coupling 13 with two nozzles 23 demonstrated in the
illustration that are oppositely positioned to one another to
negate the destabilizing reactive force of one nozzle; the
transition rod 14; and the jetting rod string with at least one
sonic rod 15 and with pulsing jetting eductor couplings 16 that may
join multiple sonic rods in extending a rod string deeper into the
borehole, being attached by an adapter 19 to a sonic drill rig's
spindle 18 and working in conjunction with an independent casing
string 29. A fluid column 17 from a high-pressure and high-volume
pump (generating a continuous-flow of fluid from a water pump with
flow volumes being adjustable and usually estimated effective
jetting between 200 and 600 gpm and operating at a mean pressure
usually between 500 and 2000 psig depending on nozzle-design
laminar flow properties) contiguously flows into a water swivel 63
on the top of the sonic drill rig's oscillating sonic drill head
member 38 moving centrally through the sonic drill head as a
central fluid column that is isolated from the sonic head, then
through the sonic head spindle 18, where an adapter 19 attaches by
threads to the spindle 18 on its 19 upper end and on its lower end
to the uppermost rod 15 of the sonic rod string, comprised of two
or more sonic rods. This inventive system and methods is adapted to
be operated by attachment of at least one elastic sonic rod to a
functioning sonic drill rig's sonic head 38 and its spindle 18,
which can be rotated 360 degrees at adjustable speed, lowered or
raised with a sonic drill head 38 on a tower attached to the sonic
core drill rig, allowing all components of the sonic rod string to
be added or subtracted, included sonic rods 15, eductor couplings
16, transition rods 14, pulsed jetting sub-couplings 13 and pulsed
jetting shoe rock bits 12. Oscillating waves of energy 20, which
are typically described as sinusoidal, are transferred with
resonance from the sonic drill head 38 to the spindle 18, then to
the adapter 19 and into the sonic rod string 15 where resonant
contraction and expansion of the string component walls occur 21
which is considered to be highly contributory to energy transfer,
though not as yet thoroughly studied to a definite conclusion, to
propagate energy transfer from the sonic drill head 38 pulsing
energy 22 across the high-pressure fluidic interface of the fluid
column generating cyclic high-energy pulses from fluid-contiguous,
convergent, wave-compression occurring at jet nozzles 23 in the
sub-coupling 13 resulting in semi-discreet or discreet water bolts
35 directed toward cutting target mineral 34, for agitating and
cutting bottom and sump fragments 32 in the subsurface jet mining
cavity 26 with pulsed streams expelled from a rock bit nozzle 24
and for an eductor jet nozzle 25 to generate slurry lift 62 at the
eductor coupling chamber 33. Fluid flows with laminar properties
into the excavating cavity 26 filled with a turbulent mixture of
water and gravel (slurry) cutting and fracturing the target mineral
by pulsed jet nozzles' 23 streams integrated into the sub-coupling
13 and shoe rock bit 24 The eductor jet nozzle 25 expels pulsed
jetted water into the annulus 28 between the sonic rod 15 and the
casing 29 through the pulsed jetting nozzles 25 of the eductor
coupling 16. Slurry generated by the cutting and agitating action
of the pulsed jetted streams from the sub-coupling 13 and shoe rock
bit 12 contributing to slurry flowing with jetting agitation and
pressure gradient into the annulus at the casing's bottom end 27,
lifted in part by the jetting siphon action of the Venturi effect
actuated from the pulsed jetting eductor couplings 16 and from the
dynamic flow generated by the hydraulic gradient and inflow of
fluid into the cavity from jetting excavation. Slurry is lifted out
of the annulus 28 and over the casing's top end 30 above ground
level 31 where slurry 32 can be examined, collected and further
processed. Heavy slurry concentrate 42 is collected in the sump
member 39.
[0049] It should be understood that the jetting members, including
the sonic rod 15 and rod string 15, transition rod 14, sub-coupling
13 and shoe rock bit 12 herein, include nozzle and threading
incorporations with variations in type, shape, size, material
content with one member being comprised of parts or of all
inventive jetting members so that one inventive jetting member may
perform the function of two or more sonic jetting members, and
thereby can be of variable construction to adapt to the
particularities of corresponding sonic drill rigs, sonic drill
heads, sonic rods and casing, and pump elements but are all
permutations of similar function and intent are contemplated as
being representative and consistent with the inventive sonically
pulsed jetting system plan and methods presented with multiple
permutations implicit.
[0050] Referring now to FIG. 2, shows the annulus 28 oriented
between an inner positioned sonic rod member 15 and outer casing
member 29. High-pressure and high-volumes of cyclically wave
energized water are directed down to pulsed jetting members with
nozzle components, through the rod's central tubular space 37. The
sonic rod moves freely up and down and in rotation moving freely
within the annulus 28, is generally concentrically centered to the
inner casing walls and is not attached to the casing member 29,
oriented circumferentially as an outer positioned sonic casing
tubular member 29 that acts to contain slurry and is in general
alignment with the sonic drilling rod member 15 moving in and
through the casing member 29. The annulus 28 allows slurry 32 to be
lifted from the pulsed jet mining site to pass upward to the
surface as facilitated by hydraulic pressure gradient and the
eductor coupling jetting siphoning action. High pressure
oscillating fluid 37 passes through the center of the sonic rod
member 15 passing out of fluidly communicated jetting nozzles of
members of the invention to generate pulsing water jets.
[0051] Now referring to FIG. 3 showing a cutaway perspective of an
innovative pulsing jetting eductor coupling 16 that is adaptably
attached in fluid and structural alignment between sonic drill rods
and generally oriented within the annulus to facilitate slurry lift
through the annulus to the surface by generating a siphon effect
and, also, by inhibiting the forming of particle bridging that
commonly causing blockages. Having three small convergent jet
nozzles 25 angled lineally from about 5 degrees to 20 degrees from
the surface of the coupling toward the threaded top end of the
coupling and immediately over depression of the exterior wall of
the coupling's surface, comprising a vacuum chamber 33 component of
an eductor siphon jet pump for mixing fluid and sharing momentum of
a pulsed jetting stream 35 with slurry in the annulus and then
channeled into a diffusing chamber 36 for moving the shared fluid
back into the general slurry solution with momentum added to the
flow of slurry up through the annulus. Within the coupling 16 flows
the source of cyclic high-pressure fluid 17 for the pulsed jetting
nozzles. The casing wall, which is juxtaposed across the annulus
forms a complete chamber complex for sharing momentum between the
high-pressure fluid column 17 and the slurry, providing lift to the
slurry up the annulus.
[0052] Now referring to FIG. 4 showing a cutaway perspective view
of an innovative pulsed jetting sub-coupling 13 showing pulsed
jetting nozzles 23 directed generally laterally and perpendicular
to the longitudinal axis of the pulsed jetting sub-coupling 13.
From above and through the sub-coupling 13 flows the source of
cyclic high-pressure fluid 17 for wave compression by the
convergent proven short jetting nozzles 23, such as with the known
design combining a 4.sup.th degree polynomial with straight tapered
section complex nozzle, using guide vanes 65 to help form laminar
pulsed fluid streams for cutting and fracturing mineral targets at
significant stand-off distances. This embodiment shows a male
threaded lower end and a female threaded up end, however,
thread-able attachments can be varied to meet requirements of the
sonic equipment and protocols, such as material and stress
tolerances.
[0053] Now referring to FIG. 5 showing a cutaway perspective view
of an innovative tubular transition rod member 14 that can be
modified in length, weight and internal design to facilitate fluid
flow 17 and stability to the attached sub-coupling nozzle function
and shoe rock bit function. In this particular embodiment the
internal tubular dimension has guide vanes 65 to facilitate a
ninety degree fluid-flow turn prior to a nozzle entrance in the
adaptably attached sub-coupling member. This member 14 is attached
on its top end to a sonic rod member and to its bottom end to a
sub-coupling member.
[0054] Now referring to FIG. 6 showing a cutaway perspective view
of an innovative shoe rock bit 12 with pulsed energized fluid flow
17 being directed through and downwardly as a pulsed jet out its
bottom end's convergent nozzle 24 to agitate lighter slurry out of
the sump and back into solution and to help the crusher plates 66
to crush, cut, fracture and disperse boulders and stone fragments
that gravitate or into over the sump member.
[0055] Now referring to FIG. 7. This illustration begins a
succession of illustrations, FIG. 7 through FIG. 12, that
demonstrates multiple embodiments expressed by this new system plan
and methods for borehole pulsed jet mining with its efficient and
simplistic approach to pulsed jet mining using a sonic drill rig, a
pumping member an assembly of tools and proper methodology, as
previously discussed. FIG. 7 depicts diagrammatically the very
beginning stage of pulsed jet surface mining with preparation of a
site for mining. At a chosen mining site where a valuable mineral
deposit 34 has been discovered, a borehole has been drilled into
ground 31 with a two casing 29 member string being emplaced so that
the bottom end of the casing 29 is just above a mineral target 34
with uncased borehole 61 being deeper than the cased borehole. The
pulsed jet mining apparatus has been assembled and attached to a
sonic drill rod string, including a pulsed jetting eductor
coupling, attached between two sonic rods 15. The eductor coupling
is unseen within the casing string 29 in the illustration. The
sonic rod string 15 is attached on its bottom end to a transition
rod 14; pulsed jetting sub-coupling 13 and a pulsed shoe rock bit
12 are also attached at its top end to a sonic drill head in
communication with a high pressure water pump. The sonic rod string
15 and inventive pulsed jetting components have been inserted into
and through the casing 29 and are in position to start mining. The
annulus 28 is empty since no water has been introduced into the
borehole, as is the slurry catch box 40.
[0056] Referring now to FIG. 8, a further description of the
invention is illustrated, but at a later stage. The pulsed jetting
mining process has started; it is a dynamic process as compared to
where it was depicted in FIG. 7. Pressurized fluid 17 is being
pumped into the mining site 26 through the sonic rod string 15 and
the sonic rod string 15 is being rotated 64 and moved to generate
maximum slurry production by the pulsed jetting apparatus, as
monitored in part by slurry 32 density exiting the annulus at the
slurry catch box 40. The mining cavity 26 has begun to expand. The
pulsed jets are cutting and disaggregating mineral 34, agitating
the slurry 32 and the concentrating heavy slurry 42 in the sump 39.
The single pulsed jetting eductor coupling within the two section
casing string 29 is facilitating moving slurry 32 to the slurry
catch box.
[0057] Now referring to FIG. 9. This illustration describes further
the inventive system and methods depicting subterranean pulsed jet
mining of a target deposit 34, in a later stage of subsurface
pulsed jet mining than depicted in FIG. 8. The illustration depicts
using essentially the same components as described in FIG. 8, using
pressurized sonically pulsed fluid 17, except the mining cavity 26
has been enlarged using the sonic drill rig to direct movements of
the pulsed jet mining apparatus, including rotation 64, pulsed
jetting 35 and other sonically pulsed mining functions resulting in
slurry 32 excavation and recovery, resulting in the extraction of a
significant volume of targeted mineral 34 through the annulus 28
facilitated by an attached pulsed jetting eductor coupling 16 with
a mining cavity 26 forming into a general spherical shape as slurry
32 is progressively moved into and through the slurry catch box 40
and then to the processing plant or storage. At approximately this
stage of pulsed jet mining the pulsed jetting process is halted for
collection of the sump concentrate 42, in a remnant of the original
borehole 61, also referred to as a sump member 39, with sump
concentrate 42 to be recovered as illustrated in FIG. 10.
[0058] Now referring to FIG. 10. This illustration describes
further the inventive system and methods depicting subterranean
pulsed jet mining of a target deposit 34, in a later stage of
subsurface pulsed jet mining than depicted in FIG. 9. The uncased
borehole 61, also referred to as the sump member 39, positioned in
alignment and at a distance beneath the bottom end of the casing
27, has filled during sonically pulsed jet mining with heavy
concentrate resulting in the sump 39 containing a significant
amount of heavy concentrate 42, that requires extraction. With
sonic pulsed jet mining apparatus removed from the mining site
cavity 26 and detached from the sonic drill head apparatus, a core
barrel 67 and attachments are adaptably connected to the sonic
drill head and inserted into and through the two sectioned cased 29
borehole to the deeper sump member 39 to remove the concentrate 42,
as seen through a cut out section of core barrel 67, while
extending the sump member 39 deeper for further site mineral sample
inspection and also to obtain a plug to minimize loss of any heavy
concentrate with extraction of the concentrate 42 to the surface.
With recovery of the concentrate and sample for analysis it can be
determined whether to continue mining deeper.
[0059] Now referring to FIG. 11. This illustration describes
further the inventive system and methods depicting subterranean
pulsed jet mining using oscillating pressurized liquid 17 of a
target deposit 34, in a later stage of subsurface pulsed jet mining
than depicted in FIG. 10. In FIG. 11 the same equipment and tooling
are reintroduced to the target mineral site 34 to resume mining as
illustrated in FIG. 8. Pulsed jet mining can be resumed. However,
after generating a certain variable distance from ceiling to floor
in the excavated mining cavity 26 the slurry 32 becomes less dense
towards the ceiling and is not lifted efficiently into the bottom
end of the casing 27 where slurry is lifted into the annulus 28
where it can be directly influenced by the pulsed jetting eductors
16 siphoning effect inside the casing to be lifted to the surface
slurry catch box 40. This distance that produces density layering
will be dependent on a variety of factors; the single borehole
recovery system and recovery will become less efficient when high
slurry density cannot be maintained toward the cavity's 26 ceiling.
This situation is remedied with the inventive sonically pulsed
jetting system and methods as described in FIG. 12.
[0060] Referring now to FIG. 12, further description of another
embodiment of the inventive pulsed jetting system and methods is
depicted following a determination that slurry density is layering
away from the bottom of the casing 27, as a possibility causing
less recovery production with pressurized water 17 as discussed
with FIG. 11. In the case of slurry density gradient concentrating
lower in the mining cavity 26 with a fully filled hydraulic mining
site, one inventive method to maintain high production from a
single borehole mining operation is to extend additional lengths of
casing 29, as is known to be done by the core drilling industry for
traversing cavern spaces to obtain sonic core samples. Also,
additional pulsed jetting eductor couplings 16 should to be added
with additional casing 29 sections to more efficiently move slurry
through the annulus 28 because of frictional factors within the
annulus 28 that can also generate density layering in the annulus
28, which periodic pulsed jet eductor couplings 16 can remedy. In
FIG. 12 an additional section of casing 29 is added and an
additional pulsed eductor coupling 16 is added, placing the annulus
into a deeper position in the excavation cavity, closer to the
pulsed jetting sub-coupling 13 and pulsed jetting shoe rock bit 12,
with a higher slurry density layer increasing the siphoning benefit
through the lengthened annulus to recover slurry 32 at a faster
rate in the slurry catch box 40.
[0061] Now referring to FIG. 13, showing a side-view with
subsurface cutout and surface perspective, schematically
illustrated is just one of many envisioned working pulsed jetting
borehole mining sites with equipment performing the subsurface
pulsed jet mining process in a generally closed water cycle method,
conserving water. Several large mobile equipment members work
together, comprising the sonic core drilling rig 58 on a
power-tracked transport, a water reservoir 55 on track-driven
transport and a slurry processing plant 57 on a tracked trailer. A
sonic rod string 15 is supported and rotated 64 by a sonic drill
rig 58 that is pulsed jet mining a subsurface mineral deposit 34
and creating a subsurface mining cavity 26 on the bottom side of a
cased borehole 27. The casing 29 was emplaced prior to mining using
the sonic core drill rig's 58 tooling into an identified valuable
mineral deposit 34. In direct association with the top most edge of
the casing 30 is a slurry catch box 40 that catches slurry 32 as it
exits the annulus 28 which is then pumped by high-volume slurry
pump 48 by conduit 49 with accessory pump to the slurry box 50 at
the processing platform 57, where slurry is separated into gangue
60, valuable material and water. A trommel or scrubber is not
needed since the subterranean slurry-making process using
high-pressure turbulence and pulsed jetting and as such provides
such a processing step before slurry is collected on the surface.
Valuable materials in this illustration are separated by common
methods such as screens, sluice, jigs and gravity concentrator.
Water can be clarified by screens and hydrocyclone 53, collected in
a cistern 56 and circulated back to the clarified water reservoir
55 for recycled jet mining use. Also attached to the casing s top
end 30 by an attachable collar is a water level sensor with pump
actuator 41 and an attached conduit 51 which is communicated by
high-volume pump 52 to a water reservoir 59 to provide hydrostatic
level backup. Also illustrated is a high-pressure/high-volume water
pump 45 connecting the water reservoir 55 by conduit 44, having a
check valve 46 and pressure release valve 47, connecting to the
water swivel 64 on the drill rig's 58 sonic head 38 transferring
water to the sonic drill head through its spindle to the sonic rod
connecting adapter 19. High-pressure, high-volume water and
oscillating wave energy 21 is passed into the upper-most rod 15 in
the rod string, by means of an adapter. On the very bottom end of
the rod string and attached pulsed jetting assembly in the
expanding mining cavity 26 is an attached a water pulsed jetting
shoe rock bit, 12, jetting pulsed streams 35 into a sump member 39
collecting heavy concentrate 42, which is a diminished remnant of
the original borehole and will be re-cored and the heavy valuable
concentrate will be collected as part of an innovative extraction
process, periodically recovering a core sample from the sump member
39 using a core barrel as an innovative recovery method. Just above
the thread-ably attached shoe rock bit is a high-pressure laterally
pulsing and rotating water-jetting sub-coupling, 13, expelling in
this illustration two oppositely pulsed jet streams 35 to fracture
mineral matrix 34 into slurry 32 in an expanding subterranean
cavity 26, then a transition rod 14, then sonic rods 15
interconnected by a sonic pulsed jetting eductor coupling 16, shown
in a cutout section of the casing pulsing water to lift slurry 32
up within the annulus 28 passing between the rod 15 and casing, 29,
facilitating slurry movement upwardly with hydraulic gradient
forces, upwardly to a slurry catch box 40 that is in fluid
continuity with the slurry box 50 at the processing plant 57. Also
illustrated are arrows showing a contiguous fluid flow, starting
with an arrow 17 at a pump 45 near the water reservoir 55, water
moves through the swivel head 64 on the sonic rig's 58 elevated
tower 43 through the sonic drill head 38 and sonic rod adapter 19
and then into the sonic rod string's subsurface pulsed jetting
process where it facilitates slurry siphon extraction with pulsed
jetting from one or more sonically pulsed eductor couplings 16 and
simultaneously generates pulsed jets 35 to degrade mineral target
material. Water mixes with gravel as slurry 32, which is lifted to
the surface to be pumped 48 to the processing plant 57, where water
is separated and clarified using various methods, including
hydrocyclones 53, collected in a cistern 56 and collapsible water
reservoir 59 then pumped back in conduit 54 to the main water
reservoir 55. One or more movable dam structures 59 can be used for
water containment that can also be employed with use of additional
hydrocyclones 53. A high-flow water conduit 51 with a check valve
46 attached to a water pump 52 and water reserve dam structure 59
with fluidic continuity to casing collar 41, actuated by a collar
sensor to pump water into the annulus 28 helps maintain the
desirable hydrostatic level to the top of the casing 30 that
facilitates eductor coupling 16 function within the annulus 28 and
prevents the possibility of a subsurface excavated cavity 26
subsidence event. Once the the process of pulsed jet mining is
complete the gangue 60 is reinserted into the subterranean
excavated cavity 26.
[0062] While the inventive system and claims have been described
and illustrated in detail, it is to be understood that this is
intended by way of illustration and example only and is not to be
limited to such illustrations and examples. To those skilled in the
art to which this invention pertains, many modification and
adaptations thereof will suggest themselves. Accordingly, it should
be understood that the specific disclosures and descriptions
contained herein are to be taken in an illustrative sense and that
the scope and spirit of the invention is not to be limited thereby
except in accordance with the accompanying claims.
* * * * *