A Study of Technical Measures for Increasing the Roof-Contacted Ratio in Stope and Cavity Filling

Due to the increasing depth of mines, fill mining is increasingly widely used in metal mines. As a result, supporting pit roofs has become an important issue to which an increasing number of people are devoting attention. This paper analyses the factors affecting the rate of supporting pit roofs under stope filling conditions, including filling slurry properties and the filling process. Building on this, the paper examines a number of potential measures for improving the rate of supporting pit roofs, including creating good conditions for filling, optimizing filling slurry properties, eliminating the problems caused by water and improving filling technology. Mining companies must select from these measures according to the particular conditions in which their mines operate, but given the right conditions all of the measures examined have the potential to increase the rate at which pit roofs are supported.