Ore-skin Design to Control Sloughage in Underground Open Stope Mining

In open stope underground mines, stope hangingwall (HW) sloughage is typically the main source of ore dilution. In cases where the immediate stope HW consists of a weak rock mass, the HW sloughage can be substantial and can result in increased dilution rates which have significant economic impact on the mine operation. This thesis presents an alternative design method which requires leaving a certain thickness of ore unmined (i.e., an ore-skin) to support the weak adjacent/overlying hangingwall. The ore-skin design approach is presented in the context of a hypothetical open stope mine to determine the feasibility of implementing this alternative design method to control HW sloughage. Both the economics and the geomechanical aspects of the ore-skin design are investigated. This study aims to determine the importance of considering alternative design approaches to optimize the open stope mining process.M.A.S