Block y Panel Caving

An Introduction to
Block and Panel Caving

Allan Moss,
General manager Rio Tinto Copper Projects
Agenda
Context – why the interest in caving
How block caving works and key technical considerations
Risks
Value drivers
1 March 2011 BMO Capital Markets 2011 Global Metals & Mining Conference 2
Greater Depths of Mining
Trends in Mining ~ to 2013
Trends in Mining ~ after 2013
Why Caving?
• Use of gravity to break the rock (instead of explosives), thus low
operating cost compared with other underground methods
• High production rates can be achieved allowing economies of
scale
• Allows high degree of mechanization
• Safe
However
• High initial capital costs
• Conceptually simple – let gravity do the work - but technically
very challenging
• Requires large design effort; high quality construction; and
rigorously managed operations
Cave Mining ~ When is it Applicable?
• Orebodies with a substantial

vertical dimension; massive
or pipe like
• Rock strength not a
limitation but need sufficient
orebody dimensions
• Primarily used in copper
mining but also
molybdenum and diamonds,
Evolution of daily production rates
New generation Caves; under construction
160000
140000
Palabora
Henderson
Homestake - S Dakota
Magma
Western Deeps
1000m
Kidd Creek
Open pits Super
120000
TONNES PER DAY
2000m
caves
3000m
100000
4000m
80000
60000 San Manuel

Climax Henderson “Conventional”
40000
Andina underground
Kiruna Olympic Dam
Palabora
Malmberget
20000 Miami Premier
Freeport IOZ/DOZ
Ridgeway
Kidd Creek
Mount Isa Salvador
0
1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020 2040
YEAR (after Brown 2004a)
Modernisation of an Old Method
LHD
Grizzley
Block
Block
CaveCave
With Increasing Production comes need
for Size
Questa Perseverance Parkes Premier San Manuel Palabora
DOZ Henderson Oyu Tolgoi Resolution
Waste
Unexploited resource
Caved waste
Exploited resource Note: size is for illustrative purpose only and has been sourced from published information
Major block and panel cave mines
Rio Tinto
Planned
Currently operating
Closed mines
Rio Tinto – a leader in cave mining
• Involved in 5 block caves in operation or

development
• Applying experience from operating mines to
developing next generation block cave mines
• Advancing technology and innovation in block cave
mining
• Building an Underground Technology Centre to
ensure objectives are met, particularly with regard to
people
Agenda
Risks
Value drivers
Where Does Caving fit in the Spectrum of
Underground?
Method T / Manshift Avg. T / Day Relative Operating

Cost per tonne
Resuing 0.2 - 0.5 50 - 100+ 70+
Cut and Fill 12 - 48 500 – 1,500 20 to 70
Shrinkage 20 - 28 200 - 800 20 to 50
Room and Pillar 15 - 150 1,500 – 10,000 7 to 20
Open Stoping 20 - 115 1,500 – 25,000 7 to 25
Sub-level Caving 65 - 180 1,500 – 50,000 7 to 17 Underground mining
methods modified
Block Caving 300 - 2000 10,000 – 100,000 1 to 2.5 from Brown, 2003
Five Key Components of a
Cave Mine
• Orebody access
Undercut Level
– Shafts
Orebody
– Tunnels
Extraction Level
• Undercutting
Vent Raise
– The level where caving is initiated Ore Pass
• Extraction
Exhaust Level
– Where ore is removed from the broken rock
• Ore flow
– Sizing and transfer of ore to surface
• Infrastructure
Haulage Level
– Support systems, ventilation, power, water, supplies, men
Block Cave Concept
Plant
Crushed Ore
Shaft
Ore body
Draw bells
Haulage
system
Production tunnels
Caving Process • Block cave mining is based on
the principle that, once a
sufficiently large area of a block
has been undercut by drilling
and blasting, the overlying
20 block of ore will start to cave
under the influence of gravity.
Progressive spalling • The process will continue until
caving propagates through the
entire block to surface or to the
open pit above
25 35 45
1. Develop undercut level 3. Drill and blast undercut rings

2. Develop production tunnels 4. Open troughs
What are we trying to achieve?
Caved
Ground
Undercut
Extraction
LHD
Loading
Block Caving Concept
VALUE REALIZATION
CAPITAL INVESTMENT
100 %
Vyazmensky © 2007
CAVE DYNAMICS
SOURCES OF
UNCERTAINTY
TIME
CAVE MANAGEMENT
Section Through Cave
Key Technical Issues
cave propagation
cave flow
cave fragmentation
Critical dimensions to initiate caving
Geometry of drawbells
DRAWBELLS
Fragmentation: the key to a successful
operation
Impacts of Fragmentation
IMPLICATIONS ON PRODUCTIVITY
RESOURCE RECOVERY
SECONDARY
BLASTING
VALUE
AT RISK
Caving the block
Primary
Index of Interruptions Frequency Fragmentation
(Salvador mine, draw point 04W20)
Secondary
fragmentation
HoD
Initial secondary
fragmentation
Blasting effect
Blasted undercut material
Flow Interruption Index Secondary
(events/tons x 1000) Fragmentation
Rock Structure and fragmentation
Fragmentation is complex: risks!!!
Primary
zone of loosening fragmentation
expansion
Secondary
void
fragmentation
fragment
size
evolution
f(fragment size)
with draw Fine material
higher
mobility of
finer
fragments
within a
draw Coarse material
column
IDZ
Cave Flow
Zone of Loosening
(blocks that were displaced
vertically at least once)
waste
Waste
Entry
ore
waste
waste
ore
ore ore
HoD
IDZ ~ Ellipsoid of Motion
(extracted blocks)
Flow dictates Revenue Stream
WASTE ROCK
CAVED ORE WASTE

ENTRY
UNCAVED cylindrical IEZ
ORE
elliptical or frustum
shaped IEZ;
height equivalent
to~100-200 mean
EXTRACTED ORE fragment size
RILLING and MASS FLOW PREDOMINATLY MASS FLOW
What do we draw?- the recovery issue
High grade ore Dilution entry
ORE BODY
$
WASTE ROCK WASTE ROCK
Vyazmensky
Vyazmensky ©
© 2008
2008 TIME
REPEAT
What do we draw?- the recovery issue
High grade ore Dilution entry
ORE BODY
$
WASTE ROCK WASTE ROCK
Vyazmensky
Vyazmensky ©
© 2008
2008 TIME
Undercutting
UNCAVED ORE
Rings to
be blasted
CAVED ORE
Blasted
undercut rings
Purpose of the Extraction Level
ALLOW DEVELOPMENT OF DRAWBELLS ACCESS TO ORE ABOVE
Light at the End of the Tunnel
A video of some of the concepts outlined can be found

http://www.argylediamonds.com.au/video_block_cave.html
Agenda
Risks
Value drivers
Can’t define risk - Can’t define value
Block caving is not for marginal projects
 Complete knowledge of the future is an impossibility

 The question then becomes “how representative is
the information we have on hand?”
 This information is used to develop a robust enough
plan to cater for the inherent uncertainty.
 Uncertainty translates to risk (Flexibility costs money)
Differences in Knowledge
therefore differences in Uncertainty
Initiation point close to

surface Substantial information
No geotechnical constraints
Ore drilled and typically sampled

as part of mining process – detailed
knowledge for short term planning
Initiation point remote from surface

Limited information Substantial
geotechnical constraints
Limited knowledge of ore- sampling after the fact
Scale
Access and Extraction Complexity
DOZ Mine – Freeport, Indonesia
GBT Area I & II
Escondida, Chile
IOZ
DOZ
Courtesy of PTFI
Control
OPEN PIT MINING CAVE MINING
uncertainty
reduced knowledge
well established method
good control limited control
more certainty
BETTER TECHNOLOGY IS A KEY TO
BETTER VALUE
Risk
Characterisation – the resource; understanding the size of the prize

Design – resource to reserve; time for imagination
Construction – the big spend and first taste of reality

Operation – recovery and payback
Paper (Design) Value vs. Actual Value
1,5 m
CONCRETE
DAMAGE
CONCRETE
DAMAGE
Lesson learned at Palabora
Palabora
successfully
transitioned from an
open pit to a 30,000
tpd underground
block cave but…….
Surface subsidence
infrastructure
Mine
dilution of the ore
reserve and
subsequent
reduction in life of
mine
Agenda
Risks
Value drivers
Ore grade and value
1. The resource grade; a

measure of the metal that is
Value is a function of in the ground
Run of Mine (ROM) 2. The reserve grade, a

measure of the effectiveness
grade which is an of the design
outcome of three inter-
3. The recovered grade, a
related factors measure of how the cave is
managed and cave dynamics
Indicative Costs
Capital The capital and operating costs shown are relative
and provide an indication of the spread. Both green
field and brown field projects are included as are
operations where access is via shaft or by decline.
They were developed simply by normalising to
lowest cost producers in terms of capital and
operating cost.
Operating
How Soon do you Get your Money Back?
Realising Value
New generation of Cave Mines
• represent a step change in the size of operations

• require investment levels of $2 to 10 billion and
• require significant time to achieve operating targets
There are value drivers common to any mining project:

1. Costs (capital and operating)
2. Revenue
3. Time
Investment in technology and innovation
to drive value
Cave dynamics
• Block caving is inflexible and value
locked in at the design phase
• Important to understand cave
behaviour and reliably forecast metal
production (tons and grade)
Mine of the Future™ Intelligent Mining

• Autonomous equipment
• Block cave operations well suited to
concept of intelligent mining; real time
information
• Operating efficiencies
Investment in technology and innovation
to drive value
Rapid development
• Tunnelling concepts that are more
productive and cost effective than
traditional methods
• Integrated shaft boring machinery
with the potential
to dramatically improve safety while
reducing construction time
Optimised design and management

• Building on ability to predict cave
behaviour
• Improved planning techniques and
software to improve grade
sequencing
The Vision – an Ore Factory
Required
Fragmentator
In Situ
Fragment Crushing
Size and Grinding
Energy
(Distance Traveled)
Reliable
Ore Flow
Predictable Ore Transport

Fragmentation and Sizing
(+ grade)
The Ore
The RockFactory
Factory
Thank You
Allan Moss,
General manager Rio Tinto Copper Projects

Block y Panel Caving

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An Introduction to

Block and Panel Caving

Context – why the interest in caving

How block caving works and key technical considerations

• Orebodies with a substantial

New generation Caves; under construction

60000 San Manuel

Questa Perseverance Parkes Premier San Manuel Palabora

DOZ Henderson Oyu Tolgoi Resolution

• Involved in 5 block caves in operation or

Context – why the interest in caving

How block caving works and key technical considerations

Method T / Manshift Avg. T / Day Relative Operating

– Support systems, ventilation, power, water, supplies, men

1. Develop undercut level 3. Drill and blast undercut rings

with draw Fine material

CAVED ORE WASTE

RILLING and MASS FLOW PREDOMINATLY MASS FLOW

ALLOW DEVELOPMENT OF DRAWBELLS ACCESS TO ORE ABOVE

A video of some of the concepts outlined can be found

Context – why the interest in caving

How block caving works and key technical considerations

 Complete knowledge of the future is an impossibility

Initiation point close to

Ore drilled and typically sampled

Initiation point remote from surface

Limited knowledge of ore- sampling after the fact

GBT Area I & II

Characterisation – the resource; understanding the size of the prize

Construction – the big spend and first taste of reality

Paper (Design) Value vs. Actual Value

Context – why the interest in caving

How block caving works and key technical considerations

1. The resource grade; a

Run of Mine (ROM) 2. The reserve grade, a

• represent a step change in the size of operations

There are value drivers common to any mining project:

Mine of the Future™ Intelligent Mining

Optimised design and management

Predictable Ore Transport

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