In the past three decades, modern mechanised cave mining has proven to be a successful mining method for the exploitation of large low-grade deposits that could not otherwise be economically extracted. In this decade, cave mining projects are moving to new frontiers with higher desired production rates, stronger rock masses, high caving lifts and greater depth than in the past.
The increasing speed of computing and the sophistication of numerical modelling codes enable experts to model more complex mining problems.
However, sophisticated visualisation is ahead of predictive reliability for many numerical models. The challenge is not only the complexity, but the need for accurate input information, which is typically only available after the cave is operating. The success of predictive models without comprehensive calibration, especially for greenfield projects, is not very high and does not necessarily increase confidence in the design compared to other empirical tools and benchmarking. Basic cave mining principles have been postulated and proven. Moving to a new frontier requires an update of those basic principles in light of new experience. Dr Dennis Laubscher was instrumental in the development of such techniques. He recently celebrated his 90th birthday and his appetite for news from the cave mining world has not diminished. We would like to wish him all the best for the next decade.
Although cave mining was very successful in the past two decades in safety improvements, the increasing awareness of environmental legacy to future generations will also require reconsiderations for responsible mine decommissioning and closure.
