Methods for maintaining unpaved roads

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016237301-A1
Application number	US-201615013375-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 2, 2016
Priority date	Feb 18, 2015
Publication date	Aug 18, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods are described for maintaining unpaved roads. The methods include applying an aqueous composition to a section of an unpaved road (such as a mine haul road in a mine). The aqueous composition includes from 5 to 10,000 ppm of a synthetic polymer in water, and may be applied periodically. The synthetic polymer may be compatible with chemical processes employed by the mine, and the method may also include subsequently mining the section of the mine haul road.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for maintaining an unpaved road, the method comprising:
periodically applying an aqueous composition to a section of the unpaved road, the aqueous composition comprising from 5 to 10,000 ppm of a synthetic polymer in water.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the polymer is an emulsion polymer. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polymer has a molecular weight of from 10,000 to 10,000,000 g/mol.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the aqueous composition includes from 10 to 5,000 ppm of the synthetic polymer.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the aqueous composition includes from 100 to 1,000 ppm of the synthetic polymer.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the aqueous composition is applied to the section of the mine haul road by spraying the aqueous composition from a vehicle driving on the section of the mine haul road.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the aqueous composition is sprayed at a rate of from 0.1 to 10 L/m 2 .

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein an amount of the synthetic polymer on a surface of the section of the mine haul road after applying the aqueous composition is from 10 to 10,000 mg/m 2 .

9 . A method for maintaining a mine haul road, the method comprising:
applying to a section of the mine haul road a first application of an aqueous composition comprising from 5 to 10,000 ppm of a synthetic polymer in water; and after a time period in which there is no aqueous composition applied to the section of the mine haul road, applying to the section of the mine haul road a second application of the aqueous composition.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein, in the time period in which no aqueous composition is applied to the section of the mine haul road, a visual opacity behind wheels of a vehicle driving on the section of the mine haul road is 10% or greater.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the time period in which no aqueous composition is applied to the section of the mine haul road is from 30 minutes to 4 hours.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the time period in which no aqueous composition is applied to the section of the mine haul road is from 1 hour to 4 hours.

13 . The method of claim 9 , wherein a time between the first application of the aqueous composition and when visual opacity behind wheels of a vehicle driving on the section of the mine haul road reaches 10% is 30 minutes or greater.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the time between the first application of the aqueous composition and when the visual opacity reaches 10% is 1 hour or greater.

15 . A method for maintaining a mine haul road used in a mine that employs chemical processes to extract a raw material, the method comprising:
applying to a section of the mine haul road a first application of an aqueous composition comprising from 5 to 10,000 ppm of a synthetic polymer in water, the synthetic polymer being compatible with the chemical processes; after a time period in which there is no aqueous composition applied to the section of the mine haul road, applying to the section of the mine haul road a second application of the aqueous composition; and subsequently mining the section of the mine haul road.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein:
the synthetic polymer is a cationic polymer, and the mine employs at least one of (i) flotation and (ii) solvent extraction and electrowinning to extract the raw material.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the mine is a copper mine.

18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein:
the synthetic polymer is an anionic polymer, and the mine employs heap leaching to extract the raw material.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the mine is a gold mine.

20 . A method for maintaining a mine haul road used in a copper mine, the method comprising:
periodically applying to a section of the mine haul road an aqueous composition comprising from 100 to 1,000 ppm of a synthetic cationic polymer in water, the synthetic cationic polymer having a molecular weight of from 2,000,000 g/mol to 10,000,000 g/mol.

Assignees

• Chemtreat Inc

Inventors

• Roe Donald
• Wilkins James

Classifications

• E01H3/00

  Applying liquids to roads or like surfaces, e.g. for dust control; Stationary flushing devices (combined with removal of undesirable matter E01H1/00; spray heads, other outlets B05B {; applying hot water for melting snow E01H5/10; applicators for melting liquids E01H10/00; weed destruction E01H11/00}) · CPC title

• C09D133/26 Primary

  Homopolymers or copolymers of acrylamide or methacrylamide · CPC title

• E01C11/005

  Methods or materials for repairing pavings (E01C7/35 takes precedence; for concrete coverings E01C7/147; for bituminous coverings E01C7/187; devices for repair works E01C23/06; repairing bridge floorings E01D22/00) · CPC title

• E01C7/356

  with exclusively synthetic resin as a binder; Aggregate, fillers or other additives for application on or in the surface of toppings having exclusively synthetic resin as binder · CPC title

• C09K3/22

  for dust-laying or dust-absorbing · CPC title