A historical review of the development of numerical cave propagation simulations

Cave mining methods allow for the bulk extraction of large, low grade ore bodies in a cost effective manner. The fundamental mechanics of caving involves the self-propagating yield (failure) of an in situ rock mass in response to production draw from a mining horizon located at depth. Since the inception of cave mining methods in the iron ore mines of northern Michigan, USA, during the early part of the 20th century, researchers have sought to understand and predict the nature of cave propagation through simple one-dimensional volume based relationships and empirical methods. Although these methods have successfully been applied to many cave operations to-date, numerical modeling is considered to be able to provide a more fundamental, rigorous and robust assessment of cave propagation behavior. Over the past 12 years, through funding provided by the International Caving Study (ICS) and Mass Mining Technology (MMT) Projects, significant advancement has been made with respect to the development and validation of numerical caving methodologies.