Block Caving at King-Beaver Mine

INTRODUCTION The King and Beaver mines of Asbestos Corporation Limited (ACL) were joined in 1957 to form the King-Beaver mine. In 1964, ACL purchased the Johnson's Asbestos Company. The combined underground workings are a part of the King- Beaver mine. Asbestos ore is mined at the rate of 4080 metric tons per day (mtpd) to provide 15% of the company's daily requirement in the Thetford Mines area. Figure 1 shows the location of Thetford Mines. Two shafts service the underground. No. 3 shaft, 457 m deep, is used for personnel and material transportation, downcast ventilation, and ore hoisting. No. 4 shaft, 820 m to the south, is 389 m deep. It is used for material transportation and upcast ventilation. Figure 2 shows the relative locations of the shafts and the underground workings. The ore is mined by block caving. HISTORY The orebody outcropped at surface and was first mined as an open pit. Underground mining commenced when open pit mining became impractical. Shrinkage stoping, used initially, was unsatisfactory in the highly fractured ore. Sublevel stoping improved ore recovery and safety, but did not overcome the adverse effects of the un- stable rock. Observations of the rock failures indicated that block caving would be satisfactory. This was confirmed by careful investigation and testing. A method of block caving similar to that used at the Miami Copper Company was adopted. The first block commenced production in June 1933. BLOCK CAVING General A large block of ore is undercut above pre- pared drawpoints. The ore above the undercut caves by its own weight. Caving progresses up- ward as the caved ore is drawn. A large proportion of the rock breaks up in the caving action so that it will pass through the drawpoints. Oversize blocks are broken by drilling and blasting or mudcapping. Figure 3 shows the progressive stages of block caving. In the central part of the ore zone, the vertical dimension of a block is determined by the 132 metres between production levels. When isolated ore pockets are developed, the vertical dimensions of a block depend on the extension of the ore zone above the undercut. The minimum horizontal dimension of an under- cut determines the cavability of the overlying block. When necessary, caving is assisted by drilling long horizontal holes into the block above the undercut and blasting them. This procedure speeds up or restarts caving. It will not ensure complete caving of blocks having undercuts less than 30 m wide. Orebodies suitable for block caving are highly fractured and wide enough to cave freely without excessive dilution. Undercutting must