Benchmarking of stope design and reconciliation practices

In 2019, the Australian Centre for Geomechanics organised a benchmarking workshop in Perth, Australia, followed by a second workshop in Rouyn-Noranda, Canada, under the sponsorship of BHP Olympic Dam. The workshops aimed to document the current stope design and reconciliation practices in open stoping operations from Australia and Canada. A total of 19 underground mines—including copper, gold, and base metal mines—provided data to the benchmarking study. The benchmarking study has provided data to further our understanding of the stope design and reconciliation process. The process can be simplified into four main steps: The main input and output for each of the steps, which are common to all mines, will be summarised in the paper. Standard and advanced practices within each step of the process will be described. Our interpretation of what are the main gaps in the design and reconciliation process will be discussed.