Draw control is a critical aspect of block cave mining operations. In this article, Kim Nesbitt, Associate Geotechnical Engineer at Cartledge Mining and Geotechnics, explores how draw control plays a pivotal role in ensuring the efficiency, safety and viability of the large-scale underground mining process and the importance of accurate data in planning, monitoring and execution.

With renewable energy and technology driving increased demand for ore and minerals at a time when extensive orebodies have become harder to access – block caving is more frequently hyped as the future of mining. But is this technique as efficient, safe, or as well understood as it should be?