Stope and Mine Control

The mine has an engineering department that keeps the schedules, designs and plans up to date, and makes sure the ore is extracted efficiently and safely. Surveyors keep a running check on the progress of the workings of mines and on the volume of ore which is removed. Safety supervisors ensure that the workings remain stable and that the staff follows practices which are safe for working - or they don't, and sooner or later they are apt to having an accident.

The department of mine geology keeps plans and sections of all levels that are up-to-date - including information on ore grades and ground conditions. It also most of the time directs ongoing underground exploration for more ore. Development headings and stopes have to be sampled—in a large mine, this adds up to amounts of hundreds of samples, all of which must be evaluated or assayed on the same day. The results are used as guides and checks on production and serve as the quality control program of the mine.

Mine Services
Mines need compressed air, ventilation, electrical power, dewatering or pumping and backfill distribution; they don't just need machinery and explosives.

A typical underground mine handles a greater mass of ventilating air than ore in a day. The deeper the mine, the more air has to be moved — the ratios of air to ore can 14-to-l in the mines which are the deepest. The ventilation engineer maintains surveys which are up-to-date of the ventilation system to ensure that the workings throughout the mine are kept free of dust and blasting fumes.

Mines refer to holes in the ground, and any hole that extends under the water table will eventually fill up with water that seeps in by way of porous rock units or fractures in the walls. Mines are designed so that groundwater runs down to sumps to be pumped out.

Trackless diesel and electric-hydraulic equipment are used with much more frequency in mines. Increased mechanization permits greater flexibility in underground mining, but it also brings a necessity for more maintenance. Modern mine designs have to include garages which are underground, fuelling stations, and repair shops.