Abstract

The prediction of rock mass stability in sublevel open stoping (SLOS) and narrow vein (NV) mining is performed in the design process to estimate the stope size required to reduce operational hazards and achieve continuous production. For almost four decades, the Stability Graph method has been used for this purpose. Several improvements of the Stability Graph method have taken place through the years. However, there is still work to be done. Accordingly, new case studies need to be continuously collected to update the Stability Graph. Then, in the back-analysis of open stopes, performance parameters related with the geometry are calculated, and a stability state is assigned to each case study. When these tasks are systematically performed, the Stability Graph can be calibrated, delineating more reliable new stability boundaries to a specific site condition. However, some problems in the collection of new case studies in SLOS and NV operations such as disorder in geotechnical data or miscalculation of performance parameters impede the correct improvement of the stability boundaries. To deal with these problems, several computational tools have been developed and integrated into the software MineRoc®. This paper shows a geotechnical process of a narrow vein mine using MineRoc®. New features of the software and the illustration on how MineRoc® positively impacts on the mine design and planning processes are also presented.