Solution · Strategic Mine Planning for Caving
A life-of-mine plan for a cave, with every assumption still visible at the end.
A caving operation commits capital years before the first draw point produces. The strategic plan decides the method, the footprint elevation, the extraction sequence and the equipment behind it, and it has to survive new drilling, a different commodity price and a changed cost base. GEOVIA Strategic Mine Planning for Caving carries that work on one platform, so the assumptions, the risks and the approval steps stay recorded instead of living in someone’s spreadsheet. ACALA supplies the licences in Indonesia and runs the study when a client would rather hand it over.
The solution in one view
- InputAn assessment of the potential project, based on new data.
- Seven stepsObjectives, footprint, material flow, geomechanics, scenarios, financials, reporting.
- OutputA feasibility study report, a life-of-mine plan, and a go or no-go that can be ranked against other projects.
- Who runs itYour own planners on a GEOVIA licence, or the ACALA team on your data.
Where this starts
Three questions that usually bring a caving operation here.
A plan built for different conditions
Are you building or rebuilding a life-of-mine and strategic plan against costs, prices and constraints that no longer look like the ones the original plan assumed?
Strategy that reaches the design
Do you need business strategy to actually decide the mining method, the extraction sequence, the financial model and the caveability of the mine, rather than sitting beside them?
Governance you can show
Are the assumptions, the risks and the approval steps captured systematically, so the mine-planning process can be audited rather than reconstructed from memory?
The workflow
Seven steps, from objectives to a plan someone can approve.
Each step hands its result to the next on the same platform, so a change in an early assumption is carried through instead of re-entered.
Define objectives, KPIs and constraints
What the strategy is being optimised for, and the limits it has to respect.
Decided here
- Target KPIs such as NPV and ore recovery, production limits, capital envelope.
Result
- A stated basis every later scenario is measured against.
Optimise cave footprint elevation and economics
Where to establish the cave, traded off between grade, capital and development.
Decided here
- Footprint elevation and extent, with the economics attached to each option.
Result
- A chosen footprint with the alternatives still on record.
Simulate material flow, mixing and dilution
How ore actually reports to the draw points, and what it brings with it.
Decided here
- Draw strategy, expected grade at the draw point, dilution entry.
Result
- A grade forecast that reflects flow, not just the block model.
Simulate cave back and cave geomechanics
Whether the cave propagates as intended, and what it does to the ground around it.
Decided here
- Propagation behaviour, subsidence, risk to critical infrastructure.
Result
- Geotechnical risk stated in the plan rather than discovered later.
Scenario analysis
Many projections of mining cost, commodity price and other influencing factors, run against the same plan.
Decided here
- Which strategy holds up across the range, not only at the base case.
Result
- A preferred plan with its sensitivity documented.
Prepare financial models
The physical plan expressed as cash flow, against the KPIs set in step one.
Decided here
- Capital and operating profile, discounted value, ranking against other projects.
Result
- Numbers a board can act on, traceable back to the plan that produced them.
Reports and a shared view of the plan
The plan, its assumptions and its risks published to everyone who has to act on them.
Decided here
- What is approved, by whom, on which version of the data.
Result
- A feasibility study report, a life-of-mine plan, and a go or no-go decision.
The workflow at a glance
The same seven steps, end to end.
Swipe sideways to see the whole diagram
What it changes
What the solution is meant to give a caving operation.
Strategic KPIs optimised
Net present value and ore recovery are the targets the plan is built against, not a number checked at the end.
Robust life-of-mine plans
A plan that holds together across the whole mine life, with the sequence and the infrastructure it depends on.
Many scenarios, quickly
Projections of mining cost, commodity price and other influencing factors tested against the same plan.
Confidence in the inputs
The inputs and the final strategic plan sit on one platform, so what fed a decision can still be found.
Less rework
Analysis time and rework fall when a changed assumption flows through instead of being re-entered by hand.
Less loss and delay
Reserve loss, mining delays and risk to critical infrastructure are reduced by testing them in the plan first.
Where to go next
The tactical plan, the services, and the software behind them.
Strategy sets the direction. The tactical plan turns it into a schedule, and both run on the same GEOVIA data.
- SolutionTactical Mine Planning for CavingThe schedule that carries the strategy into the working week.
- TopicBlock Caving and Underground MiningHow the two plans fit together across the cave.
- ServiceUnderground Mine Design and PlanningDevelopment, stopes and caving designs by ACALA engineers.
- ProductGEOVIA softwareSurpac, Whittle, MineSched and Minex, licensed in Indonesia.
- Next stepRequest a quoteLicences, a study, or training on your own data.
Questions people ask
Strategic Mine Planning for Caving FAQ
How is this different from tactical planning for caving?
Does it cover block caving and sublevel caving?
Can ACALA run the study instead of our team?
Which reporting standards can the output follow?
How do we get pricing?
Next step
Tell us where the cave plan stands, and what has changed since it was written.
A quote for licences, a strategic study or training within a few working days.