Economic Expediency of Copper Ore Mining with Waste Rock Fill of Secondary Stopes in the West Wing of the Oktyabrsky Deposit

Abstract

The economic expediency of developing the west wing reserves of Oktyabrsky Mine by cutand-fill method with cemented backfill of primary stopes and waste rock fill of secondary stopes has been determined. This method shows better performance in terms of ore loss and dilution as compared with the current mining system at the same quality of ore produced. Feasibility study of two variants of process design in the full cycle of mining, processing and recovery of primary metal (nickel) and associated metals (copper, platinum, etc.) shows that the proposed mining system allows higher profit per unit of ore mining and processing.