A Case Study on Economic Impact Assessment of Developing Single Drill Level in Sublevel Stoping Method: Fid-Bau Portal

A Case Study on Economic Impact Assessment of Developing Single Drill Level in Sublevel Stoping Method

Samanta, Gopinath / Sinha, Suranjan / Dey, Tapan

Sublevel stoping is one of the most successful mining methods in respect of higher production, mechanization and safety. The method is a cost-effective and safe mining solution for steeply dipping vein deposits where high-level mechanization can be adopted. Progress of stope development and rate of production drilling are vital aspects in mine economics and profitability. Any change in the stope design stage effect total stope development, production drilling and explosive consumption. Hence, to optimize the mining cost and to maintain sustainable ore production by preparing stope ready for production in lesser time, an innovative stope design solution and drilling and blasting design can be applied in the sublevel stoping method. In this paper, a case study has been discussed and analyzed from an Indian copper mine where stope design practice was changed from two sub-level to a single sub-level. This modification leads to a change in production drilling design with a 115 mm diameter hole in place of a 57 mm diameter hole. The explosive consumption is also varying with this change in mining method. From the case study in five stopes, it has been observed that the development and drilling costs have been reduced by 32% each. Although the explosive cost is slightly increasing, the overall cost is reduced by 24% in the modified design with the single sublevel stoping method. The stope preparation time is reduced by five months on average for each stope. Hence, the modified stope design, as per results available from the case study area are encouraging and this modified method can be widely applied in different mines.