Olympic Dam Operation An Overview of Underground
Design and Planning
S Uggalla1
INTRODUCTION
Olympic Dam Operation is located in the Stuart Shelf Geological
Province approximately 520 km north-north-west of Adelaide in
South Australia. It is estimated to be one of the worlds top five
copper orebodies by size and the biggest single occurrence of
uranium. The deposit was discovered by Western Mining
Corporation in 1975. Exploration was based on a conceptual
model for the formation of sediment hosted copper deposits
together with gravity and magnetic anomalies.
The capital cost of the current expansion is estimated to be A$
1.64 billion. The underground expansion includes a total of 36
km of lateral development, a railway haulage system delivering
ore from a series of ore passes to a new crusher station and a
significant increase in ventilation capacity and mine services.
1. Mine Design Engineer, Olympic Dam Operation, Technical Services,
Western Mining Corporation, Roxby Downs SA.
FIG 1 - Location of Olympic Dam Mine.
Tenth Australian Tunnelling Conference 1999 Melbourne, Vic, 21 - 24 March 1999
In the current underground expansion the mining method will
essentially remain unchanged. The ore handling system will
incorporate some recent advances in technology, improving
efficiency and safety standards.
Major infrastructure excavations are designed by a team of
engineers attached to the Olympic Dam Expansion Project and a
number of consulting groups. Once the expansion is fully
completed it is expected to increase the current annual
underground production level from 3.4 Mt to 9.0 Mt of ore by the
year 2000. Mine design engineers working for the Olympic Dam
Operation have recently completed a three year final design plan
to achieve this target.
Access to the existing mine is through the decline and Whenan
shaft. The Whenan shaft was originally sunk as an exploration
access and later upgraded for hoisting. The 4 km long service
decline connecting to the Whenan shaft was later constructed to
accommodate the increase in service demand. The Robinson and
Sir Lindsay Clark shafts were developed at later stages to cater
for the hoisting during and following the expansion lead up.
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GEOLOGY AND RESERVES
The orebody extends over an area of 5 km by 3 km and
comprises of a number of ore zones. The ore consists of fine to
medium grain copper sulphides and pitch blende and is located
beneath some 350 m of unmineralised sedimentary rock. Gold
and silver occur as minor compounds. An extensive drilling
programme has been carried out to ascertain the ore reserves.
Datamine software is used in the reserve estimation process.
Based on the ore reserve statement 1997, the orebody consists of
82 Mt of Proved Reserves and 484 Mt of Probable Reserves.
Based on drill hole data a three-dimensional grid of blocks, 5
m 5 m 10 m, is generated throughout the orebody. Once this
process is completed contours can be generated for individual
metal concentrations and for total combined in situ dollar values.
Based on long-term predictions of metal prices and exchange
rates, individual metal concentrations of each block are factored
and added up to give a combined dollar value. Currently the $70
in situ value contour is taken as the stope design cut-off value.
The average dollar value of each stope has to be greater than $70
and Cu/S ratio should be greater than 1.4 to be included in the
Proved ore reserves.
DESIGN AND PLANNING
Geotechnical considerations
As the underground production expands to 9.0 Mtpa there will be
an increase in the intensity of mining activities. The mine will be
extended deeper and the in situ stresses will increase. In this
aspect, understanding the geotechnical implications for design
and planning is particularly important. To ensure the structural
integrity of the mine over the mine life a detailed geotechnical
program is being carried out.
The broad aim of the program is to:
a. achieve minimum stope wall and crown failures;
b. achieve minimum backfill failures;
c. enhance existing ground support systems; and
d. determine stope design guide lines so that issues associated
with mining induced stresses can be effectively managed.
Some of the areas under consideration are:
a. geotechnical and ground condition modelling;
b. stope sequence planning and numerical modelling;
c. in situ stress measurements;
d. review of ground support standards;
e. stope performance reconciliation; and
f. backfill performance.
These studies will help to improve stope performance by
minimising dilution while managing mining induced stresses.
Computer aided mine design
Olympic Dam Operation currently has a combined mine
planning system using Microstation and Datamine software.
Both of these software packages run on Unix workstations.
Considerable in-house programming has been undertaken to best
utilise the capabilities of both of these packages and to ensure the
efficient exchange of design information between them.
Datamine and Microstation can also be linked to the Geology
Database and survey files to extract drilling and survey
information.
Mine Works Planner software, together with few other built in
programmes is currently used for planning and scheduling
purpose. Arrangements are being made to link the schedule to
128 Melbourne, Vic, 21 - 24 March 1999
the Central Ore Reserves Database so that new additions or
modifications made to existing stopes will automatically be
reflected in the production schedule.
All designs are currently done using the system as described
above, thereby minimising the need for paper based designs.
Assessment of three-dimensional models as well as preparation
and evaluation of alternate design options are major advantages
of this system.
Stope design parameters
For the purpose of design and planning, the orebody has been
divided into a number of mining areas. These areas have been
defined by their relative geographic locations. In each mining
area, stopes are identified by different colours such as blue,
green, red, purple and brown.
Once the underground diamond drilling and grade analysis
process is completed for each area a Datamine model is
generated. Based on this model, preliminary stopes, perimeter
accesses and other infrastructures such as ore passes and
ventilation raises are designed.
Sublevel open stoping is the mining method used to extract
ore. Intermediate level intervals vary from 30 - 60 m. Stope
length along strike is largely based on mineralisation, geological
structures, geotechnical issues such as in situ stress distribution,
stope geometry and stope filling. The maximum transverse width
(across strike) and length has been determined as 60 m and 35 m
respectively. A typical stope indicating planned development is
shown in Figure 2.
In general the stope crown is domed wherever possible to
maximise crown stability. A flat crown with a span 10 m or
greater is supported by cable bolting. Perimeter drives are
positioned a minimum of 15 m away from stopes.
Based on the mine planning procedures, stopes are designed
by mine design engineers in consultation with the area mine
geologist and presented to the operating personnel. The
presentation is required to gain formal approval from the
underground production, development and services departments.
The final document incorporating their recommendations will
then be issued. This document will have the following details.
A three-dimensional view of the stope with planned and
actual development;
development level plans indicating actual and planned
development;
a summary of lateral and vertical development;
stope sequencing in the area;
design considerations detailing surrounding stopes and fill
masses;
geological information showing Cu and U3O8 grades, Cu:S
ratio and structural controls (to be provided by the area mine
geologist);
stope scheduling and concurrent activities;
preliminary ground support designs;
drill and blast design layouts and firing sequence;
ventilation during development and production (to be
provided by the senior ventilation engineer); and
preliminary backfill design.
Stope sequencing
Upon the completion of preliminary stope designs, the sequence
of stope extraction is determined. The mining cost including
filling and geotechnical consideration such as mining induced
stresses and their regional behaviour, are the key factors to be
considered at this stage. It is anticipated that XPAC software
which is currently being introduced will improve possible
sequencing maximising Net Present Value.
Tenth Australian Tunnelling Conference 1999
 OLYMPIC DAM OPERATION

FIG 2 - A stope with planned and actual development.

FIG 3 - A typical stope sequence.

Tenth Australian Tunnelling Conference 1999 Melbourne, Vic, 21 - 24 March 1999 129
S UGGALLA

Stope filling with cement aggregates (CAF) is a major
component of the mining cost. Primary stopes in many situations
need to be filled with 100 per cent CAF. For this reason smaller
primary stopes and larger secondary stopes are designed as
standard practice. This is particularly important in areas where
the orebody is relatively narrow.
Once primary stopes are extracted there are a number of
alternate secondary stopes which are under pillar stress
condition. These stopes will be subjected to a large and changing
mining stresses. It is essential to understand the behaviour of in
situ stress in determining the successful extraction sequence of
the orebody. Wherever possible larger stopes along the main
stress axis will be extracted first. This will effectively shadow the
extraction of smaller stopes. The stope sequence needs to be
designed to manage such effects.
The selection of primary/secondary stopes and their sequence
is essential with consideration given to the presence of structural
features and infrastructure in the area. Currently only a few
major geological structures have been identified at Olympic
Dam.
Mine scheduling
Mine scheduling plays an important role in the design process.
The current production scheduling at the Olympic Dam Mine is
mainly based on a combination of Copper and Uranium grades,
Cu/S ratio, ventilation and ore pass usage. The interaction of
mining activities on each stope has to be carefully analysed to
ensure efficiency in the production cycle.
In scheduling, each stope is taken as an individual project with
the start and finish of production being the over-riding drive of
all other activities. A five year production schedule is produced
in a spread sheet format using the area stoping sequence trees.
This information is then used in the scheduling package to
incorporate other activities such as development, drilling,
production and filling.
The short-term scheduling is performed by operations on a
rolling three month basis and linked to the five year schedule.
There is also a 12-day forecast for production bogging
(mucking, drilling, blasting and development) which details ore
sources and tonnages on a shift by shift basis.
Ventilation
Effective ventilation is a major consideration in a successful
extraction strategy. Owing to the presence of uranium, the
current underground mining practices at the Olympic Dam
Operation is primarily governed by the ventilation resources. The
principal contaminants in the underground are heat, diesel fumes,
dust and radiation products. To create a satisfactory working
environment a number of ventilation design standards have been
established by the Olympic Dam Mine. The overall design
criteria are summarised in Table 1.
The mine operates under negative pressure with several Return
Air Raises located on the surface exhausting air from
underground.
The overall ventilation requirement for the Olympic Dam mine
after the expansion will be 2915 m3/s.
In terms of ventilation the entire mine has been regionalised
allocating a specific intake (fresh air) and exhaust (return air)
raise for each ventilation district. These intake and exhaust raises
are linked via perimeter drives and stope drill drives. Based on
the current mining standards each ventilation district has the
capacity to operate between one to four producing stopes at a
time. Ventilation control in each district is achieved by the use of
regulators, temporary parachutes, shotcrete barricades and
ventilation doors. The ventilation network has been designed
such that stopes act under negative pressure with air being drawn
from draw points (when open) and drill levels and exhaust
through main ventilation returns.

TABLE 1
Mine ventilation design criteria.

Requirement Design criterion Reason

Minimum air velocity in all transport and personnel 0.5 m/s Heat control, diesel exhaust dilution
access openings (eg 15 m3/s for 30 m2 development)
Minimum air velocity in ore producing areas (not 1 m/s Control of radon decay products
including mined out areas which will be sealed and (eg 30 m3/s for 30 m2 development)
kept under negative pressure)
Minimum air velocity in development 0.5 m/s Heat and control of radon decay products
(eg 15 m3/s for 30 m2 development)
Maximum air velocity in horizontal or decline intake Unlimited
airways where employees travel or work
Range of air velocity in horizontal or decline intake 4 to 6 m/s Economic design
airways where employees travel or work
Maximum air velocity in downcast service shaft 10 m/s Movement of conveyances
Maximum air residence time after radon contact with 12 minutes Control of radon decay products
uranium ore in production areas before reaching
return airways
Velocity in downcast air shaft Up to 25 m/s Drag constraints
Velocity in upcast air shaft Below 7 m/s or above 12 m/s Raindrop entrainment
Re-entry time after blasting > 30 minutes Fumes dilution/removal
Ventilating air per kW of rated diesel engine power 0.040 m3/s Diesel exhaust dilution

Except where > 6 m/s and settled dust may become airborne, appropriate dust suppression measures must be taken.
(Source: Radiation management plan for mining engineering and ventilation control).
The overall ventilation for the Olympic Dam mine after expansion will be 2915 m3/s.

130 Melbourne, Vic, 21 - 24 March 1999 Tenth Australian Tunnelling Conference 1999

Drilling and blasting
Down holes are drilled (102 mm) by Atlas Copco Simba 4356S
electric hydraulic drilling rigs. Normal down hole parameters are
3.0 m burden and 4.0 m toe spacing. Up-hole rings are dumped
20 forward and drilled to 89 mm diameter by Solomatic jumbos
with 2.5 m burden and 3.5 m toe spacing. A powder factor of
0.25 kg of explosives per tonnes of ore is generally maintained.
Stope slots are opened up by firing into a 1.4 m diameter raise
bore hole. Ring designs are generated by the planning engineers
in consultation with the drill and blast engineer using the
Datamine Rings package.
Ore handling
Current ore handling practice is that trucks are loaded near stope
draw points and trucked to grizzlies. With the new system, ore
from each stope will be tipped by a LHD directly to an ore pass
which is connected to a surge bin. .
Design of underground ore pass and rail haulage system
The Ore Pass System is a major component of the expansion
project. It comprises 13 ore passes and 50 finger passes.
Tramming distance, the amount of ore to be fed through each of
the ore pass and the stoping configuration were the three main
criteria considered in designing the ore pass system. Ore from
each of the stope will be tipped through a grizzly consisting of
four panels of 1.2 m 1.2 m size into a 3.0 m diameter ore pass.
A portable rock breaker will be used to break over sized material.
Each ore pass is connected to a 4.5 m diameter surge bin below
which will have a capacity of around 1000 tonnes. The surge bin
will be between 60 - 80 m high.
An automated rail haulage system will be installed on 64L
(-740 mRL) for ore transportation from surge bins to the crusher.
This is based on the LKAB Kiruna Mine which is the largest
underground iron ore mine in the world. The rail haulage system
will be totally computer controlled with no personnel travelling
on the train. Once a surge bin exceeds a set minimum level of ore
the train will be directed to the respective ore chute.
Owing to the nature of the orebody, ore passes have been
designed at varied angles. The minimum dip angle has been set
at 65. No ground support requirement for the ore passes has been
anticipated at this stage. Owing to radiation and ventilation
issues all ore passes have been designed in the fresh air side of
the mine and operate under negative pressure. Normally an ore
pass can have three to five tipping points. Only one tipping point
can be active at any one time. A top exhaust ventilation system
will be used to control reverse flow resulting from tipping into an
ore pass.
Initially there will be two trains in operation, each containing
14 cars, with a nominal capacity of 400 tonnes per train. Each
mine car will have a capacity of 14 cubic metres. The rail system
will have a 1670 tonnes per hour haulage capacity.
Primary crushing
Based on the current design parameters a single train load of ore
can be unloaded into the dump station at a rate of 3000
tonnes/hour. This ore will be fed to the Gyratory crusher at the
base of the dump station directly. The Gyratory crusher will have
a design capacity of 2000 tonnes/hour and crush to a maximum
size of 300 mm.
Design of the crusher station is one of the major tasks
undertaken by the underground expansion project. Prior to the
commencement of the excavation a detailed geotechnical
evaluation was carried out in collaboration with Australian
Mining Consultants and Barrett, Fuller and Partners. As a part of
the program a series of underground holes were drilled and Rock
Tenth Australian Tunnelling Conference 1999 Melbourne, Vic, 21 - 24 March 1999
OLYMPIC DAM OPERATION
Mass Quality was ascertained. Virgin stress tests were carried out
to assess any significant influence of regional stress on the
crusher complex.
Hoisting
Crushed ore from the two fine ore bins will be discharged into
two conveyors via two vibrating feeders. Ore will then be hoisted
to surface by the newly constructed Sir Lindsay Clark shaft
which is equipped with a double compartment four rope hoisting
system. The skips are designed for bottom discharge with a
payload of 36.5 tonnes (21.5 m3)
Cavity monitoring system
Once a stope is mucked to empty, the stope void is surveyed
using the Cavity Monitoring System (CMS). This is a system
developed by the Canadian Company, Noranda Technology
Centre. The CMS system consists of a laser unit in a motorised
head that is capable of being pushed 4 - 5 m into the stope. Once
the instrument is set up it can locate up to 50 000 points on
concentric 3600 circles. The CMS has the capacity to pick up
stope voids up to 100 m in height when the visibility within the
stope is clear. The major advantage of the system is that it gives a
true volume of the void allowing stope reconciliation and stope
performance evaluation.
From the mine planning and design point of view CMS offers
the following advantages:
Based on the CMS survey stope over-break and under-break
can be accurately estimated and adjacent stopes can be
redesigned. This will be particularly helpful at the ring
design stage to optimise stope recovery.
Stope crown over-break can be clearly identified. This will
be helpful in assessing crown support requirement in nearby
stopes.
Possible sources of stope dilution can be identified.
Stope back filling
In the Olympic Dam Operation stope back filling plays a critical
role in stope sequencing and the design process . Following the
extraction, depending on the individual circumstances, stopes are
filled with CAF and underground mullock. A typical CAF
mixture will have 57 per cent of crushed rock by wet weight,
26.5 per cent of deslimed mill tailings and sands, 2.5 per cent of
cement, five per cent of pulverised fly ash and nine per cent
neutralised tailings liquor producing a nominal fill strength of 3
Mpa. Specific CAF mix designs exist to allow strengths to be
delivered from 1.0 Mpa to 5.0 Mpa. The CAF plant has been
upgraded and will continuously mix CAF in a pug mill at 6000
m3/day.
Filling cost is a significant portion of the mining cost. The
possibility of reducing this cost while maintaining the minimum
fill strength for the given stope geometry is currently being
investigated. Some of the areas under investigation are CAF mix,
stope geometry CAF strength and continuous CAF delivery
systems. An overall review is being conducted to identify areas
where the non cemented fill proportion can be increased.
Regular communication between the engineers of the mine
design and backfill departments is essential to ensure maximum
utilisation of resources and to get any cost benefit out of fill
placement.
CAF production prior to the plant upgrade was a batching
process. After a predetermined mixing time fill mixture is
discharged into dump trucks with a holding capacity of 12 m3
which transport the fill to the stope fill hole. The existing plant
has the capacity of 75 m3/hr while the new plant will have
maximum a capacity of 350 m3/hr and will operate at 300 m3/hr.
This is achieved by continuous mixing in a Pug Mill with
discharge in to CAF surge bins for loading in to CAF delivery
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trucks of 15 m3 capacity. CAF is delivered to a rock dropper hole
which delivers to the top of the stope. Underground pipe work
reticulation is currently testing with a view to establish a
continuous delivery from the CAF plant in the longer term.
Stopes with combined CAF and rock filling will require a
detailed back fill design. Such designs are performed using
Datamine Guide software. Assumptions made in such designs
are:
1. CAF rill angle =15;
2. mullock/rock rill angle = 37;
3. CAF hole to be generated immediately beneath the fill hole;
4. rock fill cone generated at the tipping point; and
5. leave 10 m CAF wall against adjacent stope/s to be extracted.
Stope review
Every effort is made to utilise information and experience
acquired during the production life of a stope in order to improve
the future design and planning process. Once the CMS is
completed, the mine design engineer will investigate factors such
as stope over-break/under-break, crown failure, stress related
problems, geological structure evaluations and variation of ring
grades against actual tonnes produced. They will also collate
information relating to drilling, blasting, ventilation,
development, drainage, concurrent activities that took place,
draw point condition, ground support strategy adopted,
fragmentation, remote loader layout, trucking path, raise drilling,
CMS survey location and backfill process. Information gathered
is presented to both planning and operating personnel. Following
the meeting, the mine design engineer will issue a
recommendation/action statement. To ensure such a process is
successful, each relevant officer will need to maintain a record of
events that took place within his/her area of responsibility.
Future developments
Tele-remoting
Ore from the stope is currently mucked using conventional
loader units. Remote loading is used only to allow retrieval from
the open stope areas to some distance away from the operator. It
is likely that this technology will be improved to a remote
control operator station system where the operator can be
centrally located. Automation and remote control of mobile
132 Melbourne, Vic, 21 - 24 March 1999
equipment such as LHDs can be more challenging than the track
bound train system. Such a system however will relax some of
the existing ventilation standards improving system efficiency.
Availability of geological/geotechnical data in the design
process
Currently, preliminary on screen designs and stope sequencing
are determined with a limited geological and geotechnical data.
It is anticipated that in the future data will be available in an
on-screen format so that the design engineers can optimise the
final stope design taking into account this information.
Understanding the complexity of the orebody
Owing to the large size and complexity of the deposit it is
essential to understand the varying geological and geotechnical
characteristics in term of different mining areas. Mine designs
including ring designs can then be modified to suit local
conditions improving blasting efficiency while maximising
output.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author wishes to thank the management of the Olympic Dam
Mine for the permission to publish this report. The input to this
paper by personnel from the Technical Services Department is
also acknowledged.
REFERENCES
Adriana, P, 1998. Three modern metal mines using rail system, World
Mining Equipment, 5:40-41.
Cope, B, 1996. Geotechnical Programme (Internal Document).
Hardcastle and Richards, 1997. Engineering specification for Automated
Underground Rail Haulage system (Internal Document), pp 1-21.
Jones, G, 1995. Optec gives MIM a head start on production, Australian
Mining, 9:60-61
Kinhill Engineers Pty Ltd, 1997. Olympic Dam Operation Environmental
Impact Statement (Internal Document) pp 1-10.
Olympic Dam Operation, 1998. Mine Planning Guide Lines (Internal
Documents).
Olympic Dam Operation, 1993. Geology and Mining Technical Hand
Book, pp 1-42.
Philpott, S, 1997. Geotechnical Programme Requirement (Internal
Document).
Western Mining Corporation, 1997. Ore Reserve Statement, pp 1-9.
Tenth Australian Tunnelling Conference 1999