Invention Grant
- Patent Title: Surface access borehole resource extraction method
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Application No.: US15108029Application Date: 2013-12-31
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Publication No.: US10267147B2Publication Date: 2019-04-23
- Inventor: Daylan Healy , Louis-Pierre Gagnon , Sylvain Eckert , Tyson Pederson
- Applicant: AREVA Resources Canada Inc.
- Applicant Address: CA Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
- Assignee: AREVA Resources Canada Inc.
- Current Assignee: AREVA Resources Canada Inc.
- Current Assignee Address: CA Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
- Agency: Dinsmore & Shohl LLP
- International Application: PCT/CA2013/001090 WO 20131231
- International Announcement: WO2015/100481 WO 20150709
- Main IPC: E21B7/18
- IPC: E21B7/18 ; E21C37/12 ; E21B43/29 ; E21B7/00 ; E21B43/34 ; E21C45/00

Abstract:
A non-human-entry method for extracting a desired subsurface material such as ore, wherein an access hole is drilled from surface downwardly to the material, a high-pressure fluid injection tool is lowered with or after the drill string to the material and injected outwardly to disaggregate the material and form a cavity, and the material is optionally ground to a desired size by a drill bit or other means to enable suction up production tubing with a carrier fluid to the surface. The injection tool and grinding means are preferably part of an integrated bottom hole assembly at the lowermost end of a drill string, which may include surveying equipment to measure the cavity dimensions at intervals during target material disaggregation to allow fluid injection adjustment to seek to achieve a desired cavity geometry. Deck cementing is optionally employed for ground support.
Public/Granted literature
- US20160326871A1 SURFACE ACCESS BOREHOLE RESOURCE EXTRACTION METHOD Public/Granted day:2016-11-10
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