Development of stope wall convergence-based design approach for subvertical narrow-vein mining systems at depth

Faculty Development Competitive Research Grant Program (General) 2024-2026

Narrow-vein orebody stope design is problematic. These type of orebodies hosts most of the worlds precious metals and critical minerals. Kazakhstan is endowed with natural resources including gold, zinc, and copper. Current stope design practices rely on empirical methods which are applicable near surface but have limited application at depth. Narrow vein orebodies have limited widths in the range of less than 5m. To design open stopes in these orebodies the strike lengths of the stopes must be increased to from the mine to achieve its production targets. Long stope strike lengths expose large sections of the orebody hangingwall and footwall. In high stress conditions the performance of these stopes is controlled by the stope wall convergence rather than by brittle and structurally controlled failure as assumed in the current approaches for the design of narrow vein orebody stopes. This proposal seeks to develop a narrow vein stope design approach based on stope wall convergence. The final product is intended to be a narrow vein stope design chart based on stope wall convergence. This is critical as mines get deeper and the rock masses become more inelastic rather brittle. The benefit of this novel design method is to improve narrow vein orebodies mining efficiency, prevent adverse mining effects such as surface subsidence and improve the lives of mining communities.