This study encompasses the development of a rock mechanics' design methodology applicable to steeply dipping orebodies, typical of many underground hard rock mines. The Trout Lake Mine near Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada was used as a representative case study site for which the developed system was applied. The methodology utilizes elements of laboratory testing, in situ characterization and numerical modelling. Laboratory testing was performed to characterize the mechanical properties of the intact rock. The laboratory study also focused on anisotropy in the foliated rock, and the mechanical properties of the rock with respect to the two directions required for a transversely isotropic model. Limitations concerning the comparison of small scale laboratory values and large scale rock mass values were examined with respect to rock mass classification systems and their application in hard rock mining.

The second phase of this study involves the evaluation of selected numerical modelling techniques in the investigation of ground performance in the near-field rock surrounding steeply dipping, tabular orebodies. The analysis methodology developed emphasizes the importance of understanding rock deformation and failure mechanisms as opposed to predicting absolute behaviour. Simple 2-D boundary element modelling was first undertaken in order to characterize stress distributions. This was followed by 3-D boundary-element analyses to examine the influence of neighbouring stopes. Comparisons between the 2-D and 3-D results show that 2-D models tend to overestimate stresses and are thus conservative for design purposes.

The second phase of the modelling process was undertaken using the displacement-discontinuity method to incorporate varied failure criteria including elastic and pseudo elasto-plastic material models. The use of these models allows an investigation into the effects of mine sequencing and an assessment of the dynamic changes in energy during mining. The final stage of the modelling process incorporates more sophisticated finite-difference modelling to illustrate the effects of plastic deformation on the stability of stope pillars and the progressive nature of ground failure. Finite-difference models provided results duplicating the failure sequence observed in the actual stope failure.

The findings of the study show that the use of several numerical methods in conjunction, allowing for the advantages of each method to be maximized, provides a more comprehensive analysis of the different perspectives of stope design. This approach deviates from those more commonly employed, which rely on one technique capable of performing a limited set of tasks.