The next 20 years will see an increase in block and panel caving in the copper industry as ore is mined from greater depths. The method has been in use for many years and though conceptually simple, is perhaps the most technically challenging of all underground methods. The key item of interest, the amount of metal recovered, is a function of a complex set of inter-relationships between geology, rock properties, stress, cave propagation, fragmentation, layouts, draw strategy, draw compliance and time. Metal forecasts have largely been based on sets of rules and empiricisms established through trial and error in previous operations, most of which had poor data to validate their success. As such, they poorly replicate the physics of the caving; that is, the fragmentation and ore flow ore (and waste) processes that occur as material moves from its original location in the ground down through the cave column to the various collection points on the extraction level.Modern caving operations are scheduled to produce at substantially higher tonnage rates from deeper ore bodies located in more competent ground, than has been the case in the past. Additionally, a focus on capital has led to changes in layouts with the advent of high lift caves and increased drawpoint spacing. These changes require accurate predictions of cave behaviour and metal schedules. Recent experience has, however, brought into question the robustness of the various rules of thumb and empiricisms that have stood the industry in good stead in the past. In particular, the relationship between orebody knowledge, design, schedule and performance, the major value drivers, is not well understood. It is difficult to forecast value accurately if the underlying processes, mechanisms and relationships are poorly defined.Substantial effort is required to obtain the data that describes cave performance before design and forecasting techniques can be further advanced. This entails a return to quality measurements of key performance data such as cave back propagation, fragmentation size, material movement in the draw column, draw control and drawpoint availability. Such data must be fully integrated with operational information and be available in real time. Measurement of caving processes is therefore considered a key component in successfully achieving the scale change in production that is proposed for future caving operations._x000D_
* This is an abstract only. No paper is available for this abstract. * FORMAL CITATION:Moss, A, 2011. Caving - the need to measure, in Proceedings Second International Future Mining Conference 2011, pp 3-12 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).