ABSTRACT
Empirical mine design methods are used extensively by industry, partly because of their ease of use. Another advantage is they allow the engineer to easily compare their mining conditions with conditions at other mines. Some rock mechanics practitioners suggest that empirical design methods are ideally suited to initial design assessments, but more ‘advanced’ numerical approaches should be taken when underground development has provided better data for modeling. Both empirical design methods and numerical modeling methods rely on good input data and both methods should be applied throughout the life of a mine.
