Block caving is a mining system which involves undermining an ore body and then allowing it to collapse under its own weight, a process that opens access to deeper deposits.
Although the caving mining system was initially used for shallow orebodies, it has recently been applied at depths of 2km underground In addition, the method has been used successfully as an alternative for developing new mines or extending the operation of open pits; for this reason it has been referred to as an underground version of open-pit mining (Cholteeva, 2020).
Another added benefit of block caving is the large reduction in surface waste disposal. As opposed to open-pit mining, during which ratios of waste rock to ore often get higher, block caving reduces surficial land impacts. The amount of waste rock generated from underground methods like block caving, with waste placed in surface storage areas, is much lower.
