Critical Analysis of Process Cycle by Numerical Modelling for Faster Development of Drives in Hard-Rock Underground Mine–A Case Study

To extract deep-seated metallic minerals, an underground mine needs to be developed at a faster rate to access the ore body safely. There are various techniques to break the rock butstill drilling and blasting is considered the cheapest. Therefore, an effort was made to reengineer the mine development cycle time in order to achieve high advance rate. This study highlights the requirement of numerical simulation in rock excavation for its stability and design through the reengineered drill and blast operations. Implementation of the findings of numerical modelling and deployment of advanced drilling equipment helped reduce the total drilling time and overall cycle time by 30.70% and 15.90% respectively, in the two cases of drilling length considered, i.e. 3.4 and 4.0 m. Subsequently, in a further modified process, where the supporting activities were avoided till the third advance, there was significant improvement in the process cycle time by 43.10% for 3.4 m drilling and 39.30% for 4.0 m drilling length. We found that 15 m advance per day can be achieved by the deployment of double boom jumbo for drilling length of 3.4 m and drive size of 4.5 m ×3.0 m.