Insight into undercut-induced ground deformations in cave mines
Batbayar Batkhuu*, Andre van As
Deep Resources Engineering. 2026, 3(2): 100239. 
doi.org10.1016j.deepre.2026.100239.pdf
Abstract: As underground cave mines transition to greater depths, they face the unavoidable challenge of managing stress-driven instabilities on the extraction level, particularly those resulting from high abutment stresses induced during the undercutting process. The primary objective of undercutting is to establish an adequate stope to initiate caving. However, in deep and high-stress caves, undercutting must also aim to mitigate the impact of high abutment stress effects resulting from the undercutting process. This paper primarily aims to review previous studies on undercut-induced deformation analysis. Secondly, it seeks to understand ground responses to understand the ground responses to undercutting using common displacement monitoring measurements including Multi-Point Borehole Extensometer (MPBX) and convergence pins. Three cave mines objectively selected to compare ground deformation trends and patterns during undercutting stage. Findings illustrate that the same deformation pattern observed during undercut passes over monitoring locations in all three cases and its rate and magnitude increase as undercut expands. Higher deformations during undercut stage tended to show resumption after undercutting. This highlights the importance of predicting and mitigating stress-induced deformations during undercutting in cave mines.
Highlights:
• A comprehensive review of undercutting-induced deformation studies and comparison of the common deformation patterns.
• Consistent ground deformation trends during undercutting reveal how mining-induced stresses affect rock mass response.
• The study highlights the predictable nature of ground response to undercutting and underscores the need to minimise undercut-induced damage by optimising undercut sequence and expanding monitoring coverage to improve preventive ground support maintenance strategies.
Keywords: Undercutting; High-stress caving; Ground response to undercutting; Deformation monitoring
Cite: Batkhuu, B.; van As, A., Insight into undercut-induced ground deformations in cave mines, Deep Resources Engineering 2026, 3 (2), 100239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.deepre.2026.100239
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