You are mining under the town of Bendigo, is there any risk of ground caving or collapse?
The Company is extracting ore from beneath the historic workings at depths of greater than 1000 m. The old workings, consisting of some large underground openings, are mostly open and stable. Large-scale collapse into our mined-out voids is not possible due to the relatively small openings that are created relative to the depth of extraction below the City and the fact that most of the voids are back-filled with waste rock. However, the existing feature of collapsing historic shaft collars and other old near surface workings is likely to be an ongoing occurrence. These small collapses due to failed shaft cappings or near surface pillars are unrelated to our activities; they occurred before we started mining, have continued since we commenced mining and can be expected to continue into the future, particularly after significant rainfall events.
