Development mining practices in the Lead/Zinc mine, Mount Isa

The application of bench stoping in the Lead/Zinc orebodies at Mount Isa Mines Limited, Mount Isa Operations requires large amounts of development mining to be undertaken each year in order to access the orebodies and develop the bench geometries. The cost of this development, contributes significantly to the overall mining cost for the operation. This paper describes a project undertaken to improve the productivity and quality of the development mining practices throughout the mine. Grade control within the excavations along with blast hole alignment were shown to be the main factors contro11ing the fina1 excavation profile. These two parameters were also found to have a significant influence on the mucking cycles through poor tramming surfaces. The potential for application of current technology to control the excavation size, profile and alignment was identified. Significant savings on ground support and ore dilution were also highlighted as benefits from the optimisation of development mining practices.