New Life for the Argyle Diamond Mine – Block Cave Style and Beyond

摘要

The Argyle AK1 orebody was discovered in 1979 and subsequently found to be a large, economicallyrnviable reserve with high grade diamondiferous ore. Production began via an open pit operation atrnthe end of 1985 and has continued for some 25 years to present day. This, however, will come tornan end in the next few years with production moving to an underground operation via block-cavernmining methods.rnA series of studies from 2001 - 2005 was carried out; diamond drilling commenced after approvalrnin 2006, from an exploration drive to determine the likelihood of the current proposed block cavernoperation.rnIn 2006, development of the block cave project began, in order to realise the part of the orebodyrnbelow the extent of the open pit mining operation.rnDevelopment of the block cave technique, comprising an undercut level beneath the target zonernof the orebody with subsequent extraction level 15 - 20 m beneath, relies largely on a number ofrnblock-caving parameters (hydraulic radius, rock type, structure and orientation of stress and gradernof the orebody). These all have an infl uence on cave ability and eventual profi t of the operation.rnEvaluation of further potential for taking this orebody beyond the block cave phase with optionsrnsuch as sublevel-caving are being considered for the UG-2 portion of the resource/reserve.rnDiamond drilling for this work is currently under revise.rnThe challenges faced in transitioning form the surface operations to the underground, comprisingrna changing workforce, converging development drives, underground aquifers, major excavationsrnand transportation of ore via automation are intriguing.