Gallery Stoping at Gold Resources Paringa Operations

Gallery Stoping, an old but little used stoping method, has been reintroduced to workings at the Paringa South Shaft.Orebodies which are amenable to such a method are being mined in this manner with considerable advantages and savings.The advantages of gallery stoping as used at Paringa, compared with traditional mining methods are:1. constant cash flow2. low set up cost and initial stope development3. nearly 1005 recovery 4. no access problems 5. quicker tonnagesAs compared with highly mechanized mining methods, it has been found to be slower but requires less development, gives improved grade control, has less impact on the surrounding rock and fragmentation is much better, reducing secondary blasting costs.This paper examines the mining method and illustrates the advantages of gallery stoping at Paringa.