Stoping (mining method)

Stoping is the process of extracting the desired ore or other mineral from an underground mine, leaving behind an open space known as a stope. Stoping is used when the country rock is sufficiently strong not to collapse into the stope, although in most cases artificial support is also provided.

The earliest forms of stoping were conducted with hand tools or by fire-setting; later gunpowder was introduced. From the 19th century onward, various other explosives, power-tools, and machines came into use. As mining progresses the stope is often backfilled with tailings, or when needed for strength, a mixture of tailings and cement. In old mines, stopes frequently collapse at a later time, leaving craters at the surface. They are an unexpected danger when records of underground mining have been lost with the passage of time.

Stoping is considered "productive work", and is contrasted with "deadwork", the work required merely to access the mineral deposit, such as sinking shafts and winzes, carving adits, tunnels, and levels, and establishing ventilation and transportation.

A stope can be created in a variety of ways. The specific method of stoping depends on a number of considerations, both technical and economical, based largely on the geology of the ore body being mined. These include the incline of the deposit (whether it is flat, tilted or vertical), the width of the deposit, the grade of the ore, the hardness and strength of the surrounding rock, and the cost of materials for supports.

It is common to dig shafts vertically downwards to reach the ore body and then drive horizontal levels through it. Stoping then takes place from these levels.

When the ore body is more or less horizontal, various forms of room and pillar stoping, cut and fill, or longwall mining can take place. In steeply-dipping ore bodies, such as lodes of tin, the stopes become long narrow near-vertical spaces, which, if one reaches the surface is known as a gunnis or coffen. A common method of mining such vertical ore bodies is stull stoping, see below.

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