NG ENG NEERS

CALLER NO. D, LITTLETON, COLORADO 80127

PREPRl NT NUMBER

HAS B O K CAVING A FUTURE I N M I N I N G ? LC

C . M.

Brinckerhoff

Anaconda Company New York, New York

For p r e s e n t a t i o n a t t h e SME-AIME Annual Meeting Los Angeles, C a l i f o r n i a - February 26-March 1, 1984

Permission is hereby given to publish with appropriate acknowledgments, excerpts or summaries not to exceed one-fourth of the entire text of the paper. Permission to print in more extended form subsequent to publication by the Institute must be obtained from the Executive Director of the Society of Mining Engineers of AIME. If and when this paper is published by the h i e @ of Mining Engineers of AIME, it may embody certain changes made by agreement between the Technical Publications Committee and the author, so that the form in which it appears here is not necessarily that in which it may be published later. These preprints are available for sale. Mail orders to PREPRINTS, Society of Mining Engineers, Caller No. D, Littleton, Colorado 80127. PREPRINT AVAILABILITY LIST IS PUBLISHED PERIODICALLY IN MINING ENGINEERING

Has Block Caving a Future in Metal Mining? Much has been written i n the mining technical magazines about the caving system. Many of these a r t i c l e s were published i n the Transactions of the American I n s t i t u t e of Mining Engineers prior t o World War 11. In recent years 1 i t t l e has been written on mining methods o r on the detailed planning always required. Block caving had primarily been used t o mine deep copper ores i n Africa, the United S t a t e s and in Chile, although other ores had been mined by t h i s same system. Asbestos ore had been caved in Canada, t i n ore in Bolivia, molybdenum ore in Colorado, iron ore in Wyoming and Sweden, and limestone in California. The caving of copper ores in the Western United S t a t e s , Rhodesia, an@ i n Chile were very important and successful operations but by the end of the nineteen s i x t i e s , costs of production s t a r t e d t h e i r upward spiral and the future 1ooked uncertain. Finally, the e f f o r t s t o change the mining systems t o open p i t and take advantage of the new equipment which was then available following World War 11, was made in several mines in the United States. W i t h higher prices f o r copper, new mines in t h e western s t a t e s using open p i t methods, were brought i n t o production and these newer operations a r e now twenty years old o r more. I t i s known t h a t as open p i t mines become deeper, the r a t i o of waste rock removed t o a ton of ore produced, uncontrol 1ably increases. I t now looks as i f our open p i t mines eventually will have t o 'bite the b u l l e t " and switch t o underground mining by the end of t h i s century. Higher prices f o r copper may delay t h i s change temporarily but eventually i t has to take place. This will be the time when block caving, as -3, system in copper mining, will be "born again. For this reason, i t seems worthwhile t o get some personal observations and experiences on This may encourage caving i n t h e record. others t o do the same which one day will be appreciated by the mining operators of the future. M mining experience s t a r t e d i n the early y nineteen twenties. M experience with caving y s t a r t e d in l a t e 1926 a t Inspiration, Arizona, The Mine Superintendent there a t the time was Felix McDonal d, who had been brought t o I n s p i r a t i o n , Arizona by L.D. Ricketts and his associates i n 1912. This was the same era t h a t Louis Cates was sent t o Ray, Arizona t o i n i t i a t e caving there. A t I n s p i r a t i o n , m work was as a S h i f t y Boss, Foreman and 1a t e r General Extraction Foreman. During t h i s period there was worry over the amount of waste t h a t had been drawn with the ore during the World War I years. Clyde Weed, Assistant General Manager and McDonald selected m as General Extraction e Foreman t o work with the Division Foreman and t o be a p a r t of the operating s t a f f . In prior y e a r s , extraction had been handled by the Mine Engineering Department. This change meant t h a t both the tonnage produced and i t s quality was an operating responsi bil i ty. Seven years l a t e r I was transferred t o Chile as Assistant

Mine Superintendent a t the P o t r e r i l l o s Mine of the Andes Copper Mining Company, again a caving operation. Thirteen years l a t e r i was transferred t o the Chile Exploration Company a t Chuquicamata as General Wanager. Planning was underway f o r the development of Chuqui as an underground block caving operation, a change t h a t I was successfu'l i n reversing i n favor of continuing open p i t operations f o r another f i f t e e n t o twenty years when the matter coul d be restudied. During the Inspiration-Andes period, many changes were made in planning always i n an e f f o r t t o improve costs and especially t o improve ore drawing. A copy of a short report A t t h a t time the written in 1928 follows. change was made from a four post s e t located i n the r a i s e t o the undercut from the grizzly level t o a control s e t a t the grizzly. The r e s u l t s of the change were b e t t e r ore recovery and a lower per ton cost. This unpublished report written i n 1928 f o l l ows: Ore Extraction a t the Inspiration Consolidated Copper Company "The Inspiration Consolidated Copper Company mine consists of three separate divisions, each one differing radically i n the character of the ground and consequently in the d e t a i l s of caving and ore extraction. In the 01 dest division, the Inspiration Main Shaft, both oxide and Sulphide ore are drawn. In general, the ground when undercut caves e a s i l y , but otherwise i t stands we1 1 . A t the Live Oak Division the production i s mostly sulphide ore although on one level both classes of ore are drawn. In t h i s division the ore caves e a s i l y a f t e r undercutting and packs rapidly i f not drawn. The grizzly and haulage d r i f t s are extremely heavy and d i f f i c u l t t o hold open. The Sulphide Tunnel Division i s the main source of the oxide ore a1 though a small quantity of sulphide i s drawn. As t h i s l a t t e r l i e s below the oxide, i t must be drawn out f i r s t before any oxide W i t h the exception of the can be produced. area crossed by a f a u l t , the ground i n t h i s division stands well. In t h i s respect, i t l i e s between the Live Oak Division and the Inspiration Division. The main problems met in the work can be classed as: ( 1 ) selecting the mining system, ( 2 ) making the ground cave, ( 3 ) maintaining the permanent workings, ( 4 ) recovery of ore and control of waste, (51 separating the two classes of ore, and ( 6 ) transporting of the ore. In the succeeding pages these problems as r e l a t i n g t o ore extraction will be discussed. In general, the character of the ground being caved i s indicated by the area drawn by one drawing point. Thus a block of hard, coarse-breaking ore hasl a drawilng point a t the In the same center of rectangle 21 by 25 type of ground b u t where greater control of drawing i s necessary because of the waste overburden, the drawing point i s a t the center In another block of areas 12-1/2' by 1 6 ' . which had considerable overburden above the ore, drawing was effected by means of square s e t s from which four fingers were run out to

2 the undercut l e v e l . The area over the square s e t was 25' by 21' and t h a t drawn by each I n similar finger was 12-1/2' by 10-1/2'. ground a second method was found t o have a very great advantage over the square s e t system, I f the ground does take weight, i t i s much easier t o keep the fewer drawing points which are located on the g r i z z l y d r i f t i n a running c o n d i t i o n than t o have t o keep i n r e p a i r the g r i z z l y d r i f t , square s e t and the main r a i s e serving it. I n the weak ground encountered i n the L i v e Oak Division, square sets have been l a r g e l y replaced as a drawing control s e t i n favor of a system o f drawing points so close t o the g r i z z l y d r i f t . The main troubles w i t h the square sets were t h a t (1 ) the repairs were excessive and ( 2 ) the backs o f the f i n g e r raises would cave and the spacing o f drawing p o i n t s could n o t be maintained. Both o f these f a c t o r s caused poor extraction. There are i n operation i n t h i s weak ground several blocks using the g r i z z l y l e v e l control b u t the actual d e t a i l s i n each case are s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t , The system most favored a t the present time has the g ~ i z r l y located a t the center s f rectangles 25' by 15'. Vars'ations o f t h i s system have been mainly i n the spacing o f g r i z z l i e s and g r i z z l y d r i f t s . G r i z z l i e s a t the center o f areas 20' by 20' 20' by 15', 20' by 12-l/Z1, 25' by 75' and 2' ; by 12-1/2', have been t r i e d w i t h 15' spacing, A s l i g h t advantage t o the 25-y V-set constructed on both sides o f the g r i z z l y i n place o f the advance sets was t r i e d b u t the l a t t e r i s simpler i n construction. This 1a t t e r i s an exceedingly important p o i n t i n t h i s ground which "funnels" and packs. It i s evident t h a t by staggering the g r i z z l i e s i n one d r i f t w i t h respect t o those i n the next d r i f t , a more s a t i s f a c t o r y d i s t r i b u t i o n o f drawing p o i n t s would be made, There are c e r t a i n d i f f i e u l t i e s i n developing a block l i k e t h i s which have up t o the present prevented i t s adoption. The most important operation i n making the ground cave, regardless o f the system, i s the undercutting. I n the very weak ground i t i s o f t e n d i f f i c u l t t o hold open the workings on the undercut l e v e l long enough t o make a thorough undercut, However, i f t h i s i s done and a good undercut i s made, the ground caves e a s i l y and without f u r t h e r help, I n the stronger ground i t i s necessary t o weaken the sides o f the block. This i s accomplished by v e r t i c a l raises on the corners o f the block w i t h peripheral d r i f t s running around the block connecting the v e r t i c a l raises. I t was found t h a t the system promoted caving and retarded the tendency o f the block t o shear along i t s boundaries as might happen i f t h i n shrinkage stopes were used t o c u t o f f the block, I t also helps t o f l a t t e n o u t the natural arch formed during the caving process, and w i t h the v e r t i c a l raises t o prevent rounding o f the corners o f the block. Both o f these things c o n t r i b u t e t o poor e x t r a c t i o n i f the block i s o v e r l a i n by easy-running waste, A f t e r an area has been undercut, whether o r n o t the chutes are kept i n working c o n d i t i o n I f the p i l l a r between a f f e c t s the extraction. the undercutting l e v e l and the g r i z z l y l e v e l has been too t h i n , the weight may crush i n the

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d r i f t s and case spotty drawing. This weight possibly may be t r a n s f e r r e d t o the haulage d r i f t , which complicates the trouble, In p a r t s o f the mine where a weak sulphide ore l i e s below the oxide, i t has been noticed t h a t the weight i s heaviest as long as sulphide ore i s drawn, and t h a t the keying a c t i o n o f the oxide boulders protects the g r i z z l y d r i f t s . Usually fewer r e p a i r s are necessary i n those d r i f t s which are close t o the periphery o f the block, This i s undoubtedly due t o the supporting a c t i o n o f the boundary p i 11ars. One hears o f drawing an area t o reduce the weight; a c t u a l l y t h i s i s improbable. In caving blocks o f ore i t i s n o t possible t o ease the weight by drawing heavily, Drawing small amounts a t frequent i n t e r v a l s may help b u t unusually heavy drawing i s bad a1though i t does shorten the time t h a t the area must be maintained, E x t r a c t i o n i s o f t e n considered a problem o f c o n t r o l l e d drawing. However, i t i s more than j u s t this, other f a c t o r s enter i n t o the problem and i f they are n o t handled c o r r e c t l y , c o n t r o l l e d drawing i s l i t t l e help, As nearly as possible, the human f a c t o r should be Bl ocks should be removed from e x t r a e t i on. planned w i t h every possible precaution t o secure caving and t o keep o u t and n a t u r a l l y control the waste. I n a l l b u t the weakest ground, as i n p a r t s o f the L i v e Oak Division, p i l l a r s should be l e f t on a11 sides o f the block. The block should be weakened from t h i s p i l l a r by the usual method o f v e r t i c a l r a i s e s and peripheral d r i f t s . The s i z e o f the block should be such t h a t i t can be drawn r a p i d l y a f t e r caving s t a r t s . A v e r t i c a l height o f 3 ' per 24 hours over the block i s as r a p i d as normally advisable. Frequently the haul age d r i f t capacity i s the l i m i t i n g f a c t o r i n drawing a block. Blocks 150' x 150' have been s a t i s f a c t o r y i n size. I n a l l except the strongest and most r e s i stant-to-caving blocks, opening up, undercutting. and drawing i s progressive, As waste appears i n chutes where e x t r a c t i o n i s 80% o r greater, and the grade o f the ore does n o t improve on packing and reopening, the back o f the d r i f t i s glory-holed. Overdrawing frequently brings i n the waste before the ore i n the block i s more than 30% extracted, Sl ower drawing , a1 though appearing t o r e q u i r e the d r i f t s t o be maintained longer than would be desired, permits a greater area t o be drawn. Frequently the s h o r t p e r i o d o f packing between s h i f t s i s s u f f i c i e n t t o r e q u i r e a simp1e re-undercutting. This a c t u a l l y i s good procedure and keeps the drawing area l a r g e r than would be possible i f the chutes ran f r e e l y and funnel l@d natural ly. Occasionally the waste runs i n under the ore before the l a t t e r has caved. This i s u s u a l l y due t o an i n s u f f i c i e n t p i l l a r o r having a v o i d too close t o the waste adjacent, I n the l a t t e r case the boundary p i l l a r breaks up and the waste sweeps i n under the ore. I n order t o draw evenly and t o the best i n t e r e s t o f extraction, a special organization was developed. This includes a Chief E x t r a c t i o n Foreman, represented a t each d i v i s i o n by a d i v i s i o n e x t r a c t i o n foreman.

Chute checkers working w i t h the division extraction foremen operate i n the blocks supervising the drawing and handing in a t the end of the s h i f t a distribution report of the ore drawn. S h i f t bosses and foremen a r e furnished weekly w i t h a record of every chute in t h e i r blocks, the tons estimated, tons drawn, and the remaining. This same record i s posted in the block a t each grizzly. Special e f f o r t i s made t o t r a i n the chute checkers i n judging ore. They take daily samples and because of t h i s work are i n a good position t o judge the material drawn. A keen sense of r i v a l r y e x i s t s i n t h i s judging of ore, which benefits the system. In certain parts of the mine the sulphide ore i s overlain by oxide ore. A separation of these two classes i s required by the reduction plants. This is largely accomplished by the chute checker who receives instructions as t o what i s oxide and sulphide. In drawing a block of t h i s mixed ore there are f i v e stages: (1 the sulphide stage, ( 2 ) the mixed oxide and sulphide stage, ( 3 ) the oxide stage, ( 4 ) the oxide and waste stage, and ( 5 ) waste. Approximately 70% of the sulphide ore i s removed i n the f i r s t stage, the r e s t i s drawn in the second stage although often due t o the breaking up of a p i l l a r a chute of mixed ore will r e v e r t back t o sulphide. Efforts a r e directed towards keeping the chutes i n t h e same c l a s s of ore. This makes the separation easier. The actual separation of the ore i s made in the control s e t by drawing only one c l a s s of ore a t a time. The usual method i s t o draw a prescribed number of t r a i n s of one c l a s s of ore and then change t o the other class. This system i s simple and generally successful. In closing out the block, glory holing operations usually bring the sulphide extraction t o about 90%. The s e r v i c e a b i l i t y of the r a i s e s from the grizzly t o the haulage level a f f e c t the extraction i n the stope. Raises which hang up frequently, o r a r e too f l a t , i n t e r f e r e w i t h the production and the drawing schedule. For muck which breaks f i n e and has a tendency t o pack, s i x t y degree r a i s e s were found t o be more s a t i s f a c t o r y than i f they were f l a t t e r . In running much of t h i s type, especially through 1ong r a i s e s , i t occasional 1y i s necessary t o draw by telephone, running the muck without stopping i t , d i r e c t l y i n t o the cars. Muck of t h i s type i s l e f t in these r a i s e s f o r a short time requires frequent blasting before i t runs again. Coarse muck can be handled through r a i s e s as f l a t as 50". I found t h a t 54' r a i s e s were the b e s t and gave l e s s trouble than any others. A short vertical section immediately below the grizzly prevents a hang-up j u s t below the grizzly a f t e r the r a i s e has been f i l l e d . It a l s o helps speed up muck passing through a r a i s e f l a t t e r than desirable. In short r a i s e s , grizzly d r i f t s should r u n parallel to the haulage d r i f t . Greater speed and supervision in drawing i s possible than i f grizzly d r i f t s r u n a t r i g h t angles t o the haulage d r i f t . In r a i s e s of 10 cars,, o r more capacity t h i s is of l i t t l e importance. While I was a t Inspiration, a serious legal

conflict developed between two mining companies in Nevada. While attending t h a t case, I made the acquaintance of many mining people who were interested i n caving. These include Louis Cates, Will iam Boyd, Walter Larsh and John Kinnear Sr., Dean Probert of the University of California and many others. Three of us rode w i t h Cates every day of the long drawn-out t r i a l and enjoyed the informal t a l k s w had driving from Reno t o Carson City. e In the f a l l of 1935, I was transferred t o P o t r e r i l l o s , Chile, and had only a few months to break in before the fine Mine I.L. Superintendent Bob Van B u s k i r k retired. Greninger was then Assistant General Manager. Greninger had previous mine experience and had a good understanding of the problems his s t a f f were facing. Operations a t the P o t r e r i l l o s Mine were s t r a i g h t forward and without much trouble from A t Inspiration there weight and crushing. were areas of the Live Oak Division on the 1200 level in which one had t o crawl. Squeezing ground would close in grizzly d r i f t s , r e s t r i c t i n g the passage of men and supplies. The weight was even a problem on he 1200 haulage l e v e l , and required four t o s i x repair crews a s h i f t t o s e t back posts and n r a i s e caps in the haul age 1 evel. O the upper 1evel s , however, t h i s problem did not e x i s t . As mentioned above, ground weight was not a serious problem a t the P o t r e r i l l o s Mine, except i n one area. During the World War I1 years, w mined oxide ore, sulphide ore and e p y r i t e a s our source of s u l f u r f o r the acid plant. I have been asked many time how we knew whether the ground wool d cave well f o r mining. . Professor Philip Buckey of Columbia always wanted t o discuss t h a t problem. Actually one does not know and h i s judgment i s based on his experiences. After two episodes with blocks t h a t did not cave a s expected, you approach t h i s problem carefully. The ore body as well as the rock above i t must be examined f o r s l i p o r fracture planes. I occasionally carried a hamer so I could tap the sides of the d r i f t s o r a t times, even s t r i k e a rock w i t h a 4-pound hammer. If the sound was d u l l , i t probably would cave. However, i f the blow resulted in a ringing noise, I would have doubts about i t s caving qualities. While a t Inspiration we developed a block i n the Pinto area, undercut i t and then waited f o r i t t o s t a r t caving. There was no weight and only occasionally would you hear any rock f a l l from the back of the undercut zone. W e the area undercut by f i n a l l y en1 arged undercutting 20% of the adjacent block. Several weeks l a t e r , I received a phone c a l l from Bob Watts, the S h i f t Boss. I t was 2 a.m. and Bob told m t h a t there was constant e cracking noises in the block and he had taken the men out of the area but had l e f t the equipment. H was told t o get everyone away e from the area. Within two hours the e n t i r e block had sheared on i t s four sides and crushed out every opening i n block--haulage d r i f t s , main r a i s e s and grizzly level. W e never attempted to open up and repair the block.

Ten years l a t e r a block of oxide ore a t Tunnel 16 a t Andes was devef oped, and then undercut. There was no sign of caving, no weight a t a l l b u t suddenly a t 10 a.m. one morning, there were heavy sounds of rock dropping from the back i n the undercut, The men were sent out t o the surface t o e a t an early lunch, Suddenly the whole back broke up and dropped the 15 t o 20 f e e t t o the undercut level and i t s finger raises. The suddeness of the collapse forced the a i r out of every r a i s e b u t did no damage. One man who was s i t t i n g on a r a i l outside the portal of the a d i t was badly h u r t by an ore car which was pushed out of the a d i t a t a high speed by the a i r blast. Two engineers who had remained in the mine managed t o cling t o timbers and pipe until the pressure dropped t o normal. A t the request of Patino management a t Siglo Veinto in Bolivia, I went t o t h e i r major mine to give an opinion as t o whether they should change t h e i r mining system t o Block Caving. After a week of examination I reported t h a t caving would work except i n one area called Las Animas. Kanagement decided t o change to caving. I have heard since t h a t caving worked well in every p a r t of the mine except the Las Animas area i n which a block failed t o cave. The best dimensions f o r a block which was t o be undercut and allowed t o cave depended on the physical characteristics of the rock. In weak ground, the best s i z e might be 100' x 100'. Draw point spacing would be close and the r a t e of draw 3 ' a day or even more.. The l i f e of the block would be relatively short. For medium t o strong rock the block would be developed w i t h an area 150' by 150' or even as large a s 180' by 180' and the r a t e of draw would s t a r t a t 8 t o 10 inches a day. After i t was certain t h a t caving was proceeding well the rate of draw could be steadily increased, The area of the caving blosks was always rectangular. I f any weakening of the s o l i d sides of the ore blocks was considered advisable, caving could be speeded up by weakening the block corners. This was done by d r i f t s , raises, or even carrying short shrinkage stopes from the vertical corner raises t o the sides of the block. However too much block weakening might cause a block t o shear and s e t t l e as happened i n the cases previously mentioned. Although i t has not been t r i e d , making ore blocks c i r c u l a r instead of square seems t o have some merit. I t would eliminate the block corners which always are a source of worry and i t should eliminate the cost of weakening the solid sides of the block, The irregular pi l 1a r s between the c i r c u l a r bT osks coul d be recovered a s a secondary operation, Blocks t h a t have been observed, almost invariably break t o the surface f i r s t as a round hole, about twenty o r t h i r t y f e e t i n diameter. I t would be months before the full rectangular shape of the block i s evident a t the surface above the block. Tom Dudley, w i t h a l o t of caving experience behind him, suggests t h a t in the future when mining i n rough t e r r a i n t h a t caving be s t a r t e d under the high points of the surface. I t is his throught t h a t many of the surges of weight

i n a block come as a r e s u l t of ground cracking above and outside of a block. This would r e s u l t i n the grizzly 1evel of the block carrying not only the weight directly above i t b u t supporting also a t l e a s t p a r t i a l l y the weight of the large rock mass t h a t has cracked loose from a high point and i s sliding over and down toward the block being drawn. There were never any weight problems i n the oxide blocks. Cracking and subsidence above the sulphide blocks did extend outward from them a t an angle as f l a t as 20 t o 25 degrees. The question has been asked whether there i s a maximum height of ore which can be drawn. W mined our p y r i t i c blocks i n one e l i f t of more than 350 f e e t with no problem. The grizzly level stood u p well and we never had any problems w i t h caving i t or drawing i t . This i s a question of wear i n he raises and on the grizzly s e t s . I f the grizzly level had been d i f f i c u l t t o maintain f o r ore drawing, there were times when the chance t o get below the block on a deeper level looked pretty attractive. However i n good ground, the height of the ore blocks could be increased and 400 t o 600 f e e t l i f t s should not be avoided. Dilution: Dilution by surface waste i n a sulphide block often shows up a f t e r a block has been drawn 25% t o 301. The s l i g h t change i n color, t o include a l i t t l e brown, i s the only early evidence t h a t caving i s above the ore zone. Ore drawing properly done, i s the key t o good r e s u l t s such as completely drawing a block w i t h 110% of t h e tonnage and 90% of the copper. Using the caving system in mining i s very challenging. There i s always the question of whether the block will cave well and what r a t e of production would produce the best results. I s the ore body wide enough? Is i t fractured enough t o cave well? 1s the material above the ore body well fractured? I s the material above the ore body sand o r gravel, which doul d badly d i l u t e the ore? What would be the best spacing of the drawpoints i n the block? Will the rock below the ore body support the d r i f t s and raises which will be needed there? In mines where I have worked the rock seems t o be l e s s fractured i n the deeper levels. This did not hold t r u e a t the Live Oak Division of Inspiration, where the 1200 level had some of t e most severe maintenance conditions of m y experience. These are some of the subjects which must be considered i n the pianning f o r a new Block Caving mining operation. Nevertheless, Block Caving i s a marvelous mining system i f i t s underground organization i s experienced. It is m belief t h a t in a new operation a t l e a s t y two of the senior employees of the mine should have had previous experience i n several different block caving mining operations. The most c r i t i c a l period i s the undercutting of a new block which must be done completely and rapidly. I f i t is too slow, the block can s t a r t t o take weight, crushing p i l l a r s and d r i l l holes and even crushing the grizzly 1evel There have been many improvements i n mining Grizzly d e t a i l s i n the past twenty years.

r a i l spacing has been widened t o 16 inches, improving the chute tapper's production, Big b l a s t s i n the undercut can use Primacord instead of Blasting Fuse. I t i s much safer as you have complete control until a moment LHD loaders have been before the blast. successful i n a block where there i s no grizzly level. Seven foot diameter vertical r a i s e s dropped the caved ore d i r e c t l y t o the f l o o r of the transportation level t o be picked up and transported t o the nearest t r a n s f e r r a i s e by the LHD loaders. This was done by Dudley and NOVAC a t t h e E l Salvador Mine in Chile. The use of scrapers on the draw o r grizzly d r i f t s , a1 though they save some development costs, have not been s a t i s f a c t o r y as t h e i r use r e s u l t s in slow car loading. Scrapers used a t the haulage level elevations t o load t r a i n s of ore cars resulted in slow loading and was discarded f o r t h a t reason. I t was found t h a t main ore r a i s e s between the grizzly level and the haul age level were more s a t i s f a c t o r y i f they were not lined with timber cribbing. When the r a i s e s a r e raw, they become 1arger w i t h wear, hang-ups sel d m occur and the capacity of the r a i s e is increased. In the early days a l l main r a i s e s Today no were lined w i t h 42 inch cribbing. cribbing i s used unless the host rock i s very weak. BIBLIOGRAPHY Brickerhoff, C.M., "Underground Haulage A t t h e ~ o t r e r i l l o sMine", ~ r a n s a c t i o n s of American I n s t i t u t e of Mining tngi neers, 1946. Brickerhoff, C.M., "Safety in Mining a t the Andes Copper Mining Company ' s Property, P o t r e r i l l os, Chi1 e , Transactions of American I n s t i t u t e of Mining Engineers, 7 949. El Salvador Development, Andes Copper Mining Company, Mining Engi neeri ng , 1960. Greninger, I. L., "Mine Development and Underground Construction of Andes Copper Mining Company a t P o t r e r i l l os, Chile" , . ~ r a n s a c t i o n s of American I n s t i t u t e of k i ni ng Engineers. Stoddard, A.C., "Practice a t the Inspiration Mine", Information Circular 6169, 1929, revi sed 1939. Weiss. H.M., "Evolution of alock Caving a t ~ a t a v i ( ~ oivia I", Engineering an2 Mining l Journal, Vol. 149, No. 9.