Shareholder value is driven by how well we, as the mining industry, can design, plan and mine. Well established reconciliation processes and reporting standards are utilised to ensure that the actual mining activities and the different planning cycles are effective and efficient for the specific life-of-mine plan. Its success is driven by the robustness of the specifications set out in the design. From a geotechnical perspective this means that there is a good understanding on how the different identified mechanisms can be controlled in a specific design option. In order to successfully control the mechanisms, an understanding of what drives the potential failure mechanisms and what can be considered as realistic amelioration options is required. This presents the geotechnical engineers with several challenges:  How confident can they be in their knowledge of the rock mass and understanding on how it will react to the loading conditions imposed during mining?  How reliable is the data available and what assumptions will have to be made during design?  How effectively and efficiently can the available information be assessed and evaluated?  How can geotechnical engineering move from simply providing design guidance, to becoming an integral part of optimising the business through a risk-benefit approach? The solution begins with having reliable data. Geotechnical data is not very complex, however, the availability of suitable and accurate data, and quantum of data, drives the number of assumptions within a geotechnical design and thus the complexity thereof. One of the key challenges facing geotechnical engineers is the various forms and quality of geotechnical data available at operations and projects, in particular the more mature ones. The inherent uncertainty surrounding the data impacts how it can be evaluated and assessed. Assuming that the data is reliable, the geotechnical engineer faces a further challenge to complete a repeatable and auditable design. This starts with the processes and software used to evaluate and assess the data. This paper deals with the building blocks leading up to the actual design, discussing frameworks to obtain reliable data and to assess the data. Ultimately, the authors aim to provide the reader with an insight into the frameworks being implemented in AngloGold Ashanti's International Operations, which allow the practitioners to:  Ensure that their data is reliable.  Formalise a repeatable and auditable process to evaluate and assess their data.  Use the reliable data and processes to assess their design options and risks.

The Target Mine orebody is situated approximately 2400 m below surface and is accessed via a vertical shaft and decline system, totalling approximately 6000 m in length. This requires that all modes of transport be optimised. As a result of the heavy burden on the mine's logistical transport system, the mine was unable to deliver sufficient quantities of wetcrete material to the underground batching plant. This resulted in a relatively large backlog of wetcrete work building up over a number of years. The mine utilises a system of batching wetcrete underground using conventional material such as sand, cement and chemical additives.Through creative thinking, a system was designed to replace the current wetcrete infrastructure with a surface batching plant where cycloned tailings are used to prepare a wetcrete mix on surface. This system promises not only to impact positively on the mine's logistical system, but also reduces the direct cost of supplying wetcrete material underground. This paper discusses the philosophy behind the design and implementation of tailings based wetcrete as well as the quality assurance requirements at Target Mine.

The recent global downturn in the mineral industry bought about a re-structuring of the geotechnical services and resources within the Mincor Operations, with an emphasis on ensuring maximum utilisation of available resources.A back-to-basics approach led to the development of goals and an action plan, whereby instrumentation and geotechnical resources were optimised. The action plan included the following:• The installation of SMART cables to monitor deep-seated movements of structures in drives of strategic importance, to understand failure mechanisms and ground support reaction.• Review and validation of the structural and ground support data to ensure the minimum ground support requirements are met.• Review and validate the geotechnical data to delineate a new domain that was often the source of significant rehabilitation costs.

AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) has developed a concept to integrate geotechnical input into long-term mine planning using a 'block model approach' referred to as a geotechnical model for rapid integration (GMRi). The GMRi is a simple spatial collection of rock mass data integrated with empirical evaluations, numerical modelling results and monitoring data for a specific mine plan. In this paper, the value of using the GMRi to manage geotechnical risk and identify opportunities associated with ground support design, stress-induced damage, design stope spans and total extraction is demonstrated. The GMRi concept allows for the rapid evaluation of spatially distributed geotechnical data and identifies areas of risk and opportunity, demonstrated at two recent underground studies completed at AGA's Australian operations.