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Journal of Mining Science

, Volume 45, Issue 2, pp 152–163 | Cite as

Stope design and geological uncertainty: Quantification of risk in conventional designs and a probabilistic alternative

  • Roussos Dimitrakopoulos
  • Nikki Grieco
Mineral Mining Technology
First Online:

Abstract

This paper adopts risk-based concepts developed in open pit mining to the underground stoping environment and shows examples using data from Kidd Creek Mine, Ontario, Canada. Risk is quantified in terms of the uncertainty a conventional stope design has in expected: contained ore tones, grade and economic potential. In addition, a new probabilistic mathematical formulation optimizing the size, location and number of stopes in the presence of grade uncertainty is outlined and applied, to demonstrate the advantages of a user-defined level of acceptable risk.

Keywords

Stope design risk analysis optimization stochastic simulation economic evaluation 
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Copyright information

© Pleiades Publishing, Ltd. 2009

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.McGill UniversityMontrealCanada

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