Water jet mining system and method
Abstract:
A water jet borehole mining system controlled and operated aboveground includes a high-pressure cutting nozzle that is delivered to an underground resource body through a relatively small diameter borehole. A series of water and air streams at various pressures are delivered to the resource body, and the target resource is disaggregated and/or fluidized and conveyed back to surface via the water jet borehole mining pipe which serves as the conveyor of the system. The mining pipe is used to transport a high-pressure stream of water fluids that have been directed and aligned into laminar flow to a focused water jet cutting head. The central bore of the mining pipe brings the disaggregated and slurrified resource to the surface. The mining pipe transports the slurry via airlift, fluid eduction or a combination of both.
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