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Mine Site Layout: Four Core Factors—Heijingang Reports
The overall mine layout serves as the critical link between underground mining operations and surface activities, directly influencing construction investment, production efficiency, and compliance. According to industry data, earthwork costs for mountainous projects typically account for 15%–20% of the total investment, while every 100-meter reduction in transportation distance can lower coal transportation costs by 0.3 yuan per ton. This article integrates insights from real-world projects such as the Zhongneng Coal Mine in Fuyuan County, Yunnan (300,000 tons/year), the Daqing Oilfield, and the Yingmaili Oil and Gas Field in Xinjiang, dissecting the design logic behind four key factors and offering practical, implementable solutions.
Surface Topography and Meteorological Conditions: Adaptation and Avoidance
- Differentiated Design Based on Terrain Conditions
- Mountain Area Project Layout
Take Fuyuan County Zhongneng Coal Mine as an example: Small- and medium-sized mines (with annual production capacity below 300,000 tons) adopt a "clearly demarcated zones with relative concentration" approach. Specifically, the production area—comprising the shaft entrance industrial site and the conveyor belt system—is kept within 50 meters of the auxiliary area, which includes the winch room and distribution room. Meanwhile, the administrative and residential zone is situated no more than 500 meters away from the production area. This layout not only meets the safety distance requirements outlined in the "Coal Mine Safety Regulations" but also significantly reduces the amount of land leveling required. As a result, the industrial site occupies only 2.66 hectares, representing an 18% reduction in land use compared to the conventional dispersed layout.
3. Utilization of Gully Areas
In areas with intricate gully networks, such as the Junggar Coalfield, the terrain's elevation differences are leveraged to optimize process flows: Gob piles are strategically placed in valley depressions to minimize earthmoving operations. Additionally, space beneath the conveyor belt corridors is utilized for storing equipment, further enhancing land-use efficiency. It’s important to note that gully locations should avoid areas prone to geological hazards, and the base of the stockpiles must undergo impermeability treatment—specifically, by applying HDPE geomembranes with an渗透系数 ≤1×10⁻⁷ cm/s.
Measures to Address Meteorological Conditions
- Wind Direction and Orientation Design
Referring to the local meteorological bureau's data from the past 10 years, the living quarters at the Yingmaili oil and gas field well site in Xinjiang are arranged on the upwind side of the prevailing wind direction throughout the year (the dominant wind in this area is northwesterly, occurring 32% of the time). Meanwhile, the concentrator plant and crushing workshop in Yunnan adopt a north-south orientation, with shaded eaves installed along the western wall, resulting in a 12%-15% reduction in air-conditioning energy consumption. This design complies with Article 4.1.6 of the "General Layout Design Code for Industrial Enterprises" (GB50187-93).
2. Flood Control and Sandstorm Prevention
The Daqing Oilfield station site is located more than 0.5 meters above the historical highest flood level. It is equipped with a 1,500-cubic-meter emergency containment pond (referencing the standards of the Kuitun Jin Yida Industrial & Trade Project), with the pond structure constructed using C30 concrete poured to a wall thickness of 300mm. In Xinjiang's region, which is prone to strong winds and sandstorms, a 20-meter-wide windbreak forest belt has been planted around the perimeter of the site (with Xinjiang Poplar trees selected as the canopy species, spaced 2 meters apart). As a result, equipment accumulation of sand has been reduced by 60%, and monthly maintenance requirements have dropped from four times to just once. 2
Mineral deposit occurrence conditions: Substrate constraints and compatibility
The Influence of Ore Deposit Geometric Characteristics
1. Ore Body Trend and Layout
The Yudong Block 7 oil and gas field in Xinjiang features an elongated ore body (4.2 km in strike length and 0.8 km in width). The newly constructed oil well site, along with a 1.33-km gathering and transportation pipeline, is arranged linearly along the ore body’s strike. The pipeline’s alignment deviation is kept within 5%, reducing pipe material usage by 12 tons compared to a perpendicular layout.
2. Burial Depth and Well Type Selection
Shallow ore bodies (buried less than 300 meters deep) are developed using inclined shafts. At the Zhongneng Coal Mine in Fuyuan County, the inclined shaft has a dip angle of 25°, and the hoisting equipment selected is a JK-2.5×2.0 winch. For deeper ore bodies (buried more than 500 meters deep), vertical shaft development is employed. At the Daye Nonferrous Copper Lüshan Mine, the new main shaft features a diameter of 5.5 meters, with a skip capacity of 12 cubic meters and a hoisting speed of 8 m/s. As a result, the time required to lift one ton of ore has been reduced by 15 seconds compared to the previous inclined shaft system.
Responding to Mineral Deposit Geological Attributes
1. Hydrogeological Processing
For high-hydrological-mining sections (aquifer water inflow exceeding 50 m³/h), waterproof gates (model FMG-4.0 × 3.5) are installed at the shaft and tunnel entrances. The pump room is located 10–15 meters below the shaft entrance, equipped with an MD450-60 × 9 multi-stage centrifugal pump capable of handling a drainage capacity that meets twice the expected water inflow.
2. Lithology and Facility Layout
In areas with loose rock formations (where the bearing capacity of the ground is less than 150 kPa), heavy facilities such as the maintenance workshop and material warehouse are arranged on stable bedrock, with foundations designed as pile foundations (pile diameter: 600 mm, pile length: 12 meters) to prevent site settlement. For the ventilation shaft area near the gas-bearing mine deposit, the fire separation distance from the boiler room must be at least 25 meters. Additionally, the air compressor station should be located away from dust-generating sources (such as the crushing workshop), and its air intake should be equipped with a dust-filtering mesh capable of capturing particles as fine as 10 μm. 3
Exploring Mine Development Projects: Integration and Alignment
Mine shaft and tunnel types coordinated with surface facilities
1. Main shaft supporting facilities
The main shaft (using skip hoisting) requires a配套井塔/井架, hoist house, and ore storage bin. At Daye Nonferrous Copper Lüshan Mine, the main shaft is equipped with a 35-meter-high井塔, and the ore storage bin has a capacity of 5,000 tons. A vibrating discharging machine (model ZSW-600×130) is directly connected to a belt conveyor (B1200mm), ensuring that ore-handling losses are kept below 0.5%.
2. Auxiliary shaft coordinated with ventilation shaft
The auxiliary shaft (cage hoisting) is located right next to the material stockpile yard (with a capacity sufficient for three days' usage), the machine repair workshop (covering 200㎡ and equipped with a 20-ton crane), and the narrow-gauge railway line (with a track gauge of 900mm) that seamlessly connects to the underground transportation system, boosting the efficiency of personnel and material transport by 20%. Meanwhile, the ventilation shaft area houses only the fan room (featuring an FBCDZ-8-No.24 model fan) and the duty station; the site was carefully chosen to avoid steep slopes, thereby reducing ventilation resistance by 15%.
Mine shaft and transportation network matching
Fuyuan County's Zhongneng Coal Mine employs inclined shaft development, with the ground-level conveyor belt arranged along the extension direction of the inclined shaft, spanning 300 meters. Raw coal is directly fed from the wellhead into the screening and crushing system (with a processing capacity of 150 tons/hour). In Daqing Oilfield, the distance between well shaft exits and gathering stations is no more than 300 meters, allowing oil, gas, and water pipelines to be laid in a centralized manner (with a combined overhead height of 3.5 meters), thereby saving land use by 15%–20%. Additionally, the distance between well shaft exits and waste rock stockpiles is kept within 1 kilometer. In the Junggar Coalfield, 5-ton mining trucks are used for transporting coal gangue, resulting in a transportation cost of just 0.8 yuan per ton of gangue. 4
Process of Ground Facilities: Balancing Functionality and Cost
Functional Zone Design
1. Small- and Medium-Sized Mines
Mines with a capacity of 30 wt/a or less adopt a centralized layout featuring "production area + auxiliary area." In Fuyuan County, Zhongneng Coal Mine has integrated the winch room, distribution room, and wellhead industrial square into a single complex. The administrative and living area is located 450 meters away from the production area, ensuring employees' commute time does not exceed 10 minutes.
2. Large-scale mines
Daqing Oilfield employs a "zone-based isolation plus pipeline network connection" approach, with production areas (oil wellsites and gathering & transportation stations) located 1–2 km away from auxiliary areas (well-workover workshops and substations). Residential areas are situated at least 25 meters away from liquid oxygen tanks, complying with the "Code for Fire Protection Design of Buildings" GB50016. Additionally, the wastewater treatment station—capable of processing 50 m³/h—is positioned downwind of the production area, ensuring that odor dispersion remains within a 100-meter radius.
Process Integration and Land Conservation
The surfactant storage tank (volume: 50 m³) for the Daqing Oilfield injection station is arranged on the roof of the valve room (with a load-bearing capacity of ≥2 kN/㎡), while the water tank is located on the roof of the auxiliary area within the pump house. Meanwhile, the grassroots team headquarters’ comprehensive building (3 stories, covering 1,200㎡) integrates office, dining, and garage functions, achieving a 26.6% reduction in land use compared to conventional layouts. The manufactured sand and gravel aggregate plant (referencing GB51186-2016) is designed according to the natural terrain slope (5°–8°), with crushing, screening, and ore-washing systems strategically positioned. Steel materials and spare parts are stored beneath the conveyor belt corridors, boosting land-use efficiency by 30%.
Xinjiang's oil and gas field well sites achieve a 90% reuse rate for drilling wastewater. The tailings pond is located 450 meters away from the beneficiation plant, and a slurry pump (model 100ZJ-I-A33) is used for transportation, with a per-ton cost of 1.2 yuan for transporting tailings.
The overall layout of the mine site needs to be adjusted continuously in response to mining progress, policy changes, and technological advancements. It is recommended to conduct an evaluation every 3 to 5 years. For instance, when the mine extends deeper underground, the original administrative and residential areas can be repurposed into auxiliary production zones. Additionally, integrating BIM technology (such as Autodesk Civil 3D) to simulate terrain and meteorological impacts can enhance design accuracy by up to 25%. Ultimately, this approach will help achieve safety compliance, optimize costs, and ensure environmental sustainability, thereby supporting the mine's operations throughout its entire lifecycle.
