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block-caving

Underground mass mining technique which allows the bulk mining of large, lower grade ore, where the mineral ores are extracted by collapsing mineral deposits under their own weight, depending largely on the action of gravity.

By removing a thin horizontal layer at the mining level of the ore column, using standard mining methods, the vertical support of the ore column above is removed and the ore then caves by gravity. As broken ore is removed from the mining level of the ore column, the ore above continues to break and cave by gravity. The term "block caving" probably originated in the porphyry copper mines, where the area to be mined was divided into rectangular blocks that were mined in a checkerboard sequence with all the ore in a block being removed before an adjacent block was mined. This sequence of mining is no longer widely used. Source: Infomine, Mining Dictionary.

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Mining Techniques

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