Risk, lessons and opportunities: a unified knowledge management approach for mass mining

Abstract

How companies operate caving mines can differ, often extensively, from what was originally envisioned during planning stages. Realities change as the project shifts from a paper design through construction, the first encounter with actual conditions, to cave establishment and steady state production. Much is learned along the way, including how an organisation functions and responds to change, how the rock mass itself responds to caving, the robustness of the original plan against actual conditions, and whether the cost and schedule estimates were reasonable or achievable. Once a mine is operational, strategy and tactics continue to evolve from initial plans as changes are made to deal with the realities of ground conditions, project logistics and market pressures. Invariably, such changes tend to result in schedule delays and cost increases. The intent of risk analysis is to capture the likelihood and consequence of such changes and to have mitigation processes in place to deal with the new conditions. As a planning and operational necessity, risk management at larger operations is typically established and maintained to at least a basic level. However, the systematic capture and application of lessons learned and opportunities (i.e. the feedback loop), tends to be less formally implemented. Critical institutional knowledge can be lost with staff departures or poor records capture. Case examples are provided to illustrate the benefits of risk, lessons learned and opportunity registries across multiple disciplines in large panel caves. Experience is shared on the linked utilisation of these tools, which has led to stronger organisational collaboration with more desirable safety and production outcomes.