Assessing the cave mining collapse process of Recursos Norte project at El Teniente mine

Authors: Garcés, D; Lobiano, C; Andrades, R; Hidalgo, F Download Paper

Cite As:
Garcés, D, Lobiano, C, Andrades, R & Hidalgo, F 2024, 'Assessing the cave mining collapse process of Recursos Norte project at El Teniente mine', in Daniel Johansson & Håkan Schunnesson (eds), MassMin 2024: Proceedings of the International Conference & Exhibition on Mass Mining, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, pp. 659-671.



Abstract:
ecursos Norte mine is an expansion project of Reservas Norte and Dacita mines, aiming to provide 195 million tons of reserves at an average grade of 0.75% to the northern part of the El Teniente mine. Recursos Norte is a post undercutting panel caving operation that uses hydraulic fracturing in order to mitigate the seismic responses during cave growth. The lithology primarily comprises the El Teniente mafic complex with the intrusion of dacite porphyries in the central part of the orebody, indicating a competent rock mass with low porosity and permeability. However, the main faults system has played a significant role in opening sealed stockworks as mining progresses northward, where deformation rates increase with the abutment stress, initiating a collapse process in the eastern part of both production and undercut levels. This article provides the main elements that describe the operational strategy to manage the collapse process at the Recursos Norte mine. Such conditions required additional rock support design, intensive extraction rates, comprehensive geomechanical analysis, new approaches for drilling and blasting, and cave growth sequencing. Ultimately, the analysis of conditions before and after implementing this risk mitigation strategy is discussed, highlighting the success in ensuring the continuity of operations for this mining project.