Patent ID: 7192092

Claim:
A method for selective underground mining, comprising: excavating a material with a plurality of excavating devices, each excavating device being in communication with and providing excavated material to a separate input for the excavated material, wherein the excavating devices do not rotate about a common axis maintained in a substantially constant position relative to the material to be excavated and wherein the plurality of excavating devices comprise first and second sets of excavating devices; directing first and second streams of the excavated material into corresponding first and second inputs, the first input being associated with at least a first excavating device in the first set and the second input being associated with at least a second excavating device in the second set, wherein a barrier separates the at least a first excavating device from the at least a second excavating device; determining a respective value of each of the first and second streams, wherein the respective value is indicative of a valuable mineral content of the material; when a first value of the first stream is significant, selectively directing the first stream from the first input to a first location for recovery of the valuable mineral content in at least a portion of the first stream; when a first value of the first stream is not significant, selectively directing the first stream from the first input to a backfill apparatus to backfill at least a portion of the first stream; when a second value of the second stream is significant, selectively directing the second stream from the second input to the first location for recovery of the valuable mineral content in at least a portion of the second stream; and when a second value of the second stream is not significant, selectively directing the second stream from the second input to the backfill apparatus to backfill at least a portion of the second stream, wherein the barrier maintains the first and second streams from contacting one another before the selectively directing steps.