Proposed Methodology For The Selection Of A Stoping Method For Base-Metal Deposits

The selection of a mining method for a particular deposit must be based on certain technical and economic criteria. This can be interpreted as maximizing extraction and productivity while maintaining safe working conditions and minimum costs. The methodology developed here examines some of these aspects. The proposed methodology was tested on copper deposits that could be mined by underground stoping methods such as sublevel stoping, cut-and-fill stoping and their variants. In general, it provides a practical approach to both method selection and optimum stope design for base-metal deposits.