Ekati Diamond Mine was the first diamond mine to be developed near Lac de Gras in the Northwest Territories of Canada and the mining method commenced as open pit at Panda pipe. Almost concurrently, planning was underway for underground mining at Panda and Koala pipes. At Ekati, three principal underground mining methods were utilized including Sub-Level Retreat (SLR), Sub-Level Caving (SLC) and Incline Caving (IC) mining. The focus of this paper is to document experiences with Incline Caving at Koala Mine and present some of the challenges related to mining in the Arctic.
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