RESPEC PROJECT

RESPEC has been engaged by several confidential clients to evaluate their mine plans to assess reserves in stacked ore zones or in domal deposits that often have limited interburden thicknesses. The objectives of the studies were to assess the stress concentrations and rock damage caused by mining one ore zone and the likelihood of the existing workings perpetuating problems on subsequent ore zones or levels. RESPEC has performed several case studies to quantify this interaction and to evaluate the response of a stacked ore body under multiple scenarios. Results have been used to define a set of design criteria, an optimal sequence of ore zone extraction (i.e., top-down, bottom-up, or alternating), and to identify adequate time-delays between multiple ore zone extractions to limit adverse interactions between ore zones.