CAVING 2030
August 2030 | Vancouver, Canada
The only dedicated cave mining international event globally
About the Event
The Block and Sublevel Caving Conferences provide a platform for mining companies to be kept informed of the latest technological developments and caving research carried out by industry and academia. The Australian Centre for Geomechanics, a not-for-profit mining research organisation at The University of Western Australia, looks forward to hosting Caving 2030 in Canada.
This follows previous events held in Cape Town, 2007; Perth, 2010; Santiago, 2014; Vancouver, 2018, Adelaide, 2022; and Ulaanbaatar in 2026.
- We are excited to be hosting Caving 2030 in Vancouver, Canada, August 2030.
- Learn more about our host city.
- We are calling for associated event hosts for this event.
- Opportunities are also available for authors and sponsors. Email us to express your interest.
- View the Caving 2026 and MassMin 2024 papers freely from the ACG Online Repository of Conference Proceedings.
Conference Co-Chairs and Editors
Dr Daniel Cumming-Potvin
Project Lead - mXrap, Australian Centre for Geomechanics
Corey Kamp
Director, Mining and Rock Mechanics, Coeur Mining, Inc, Canada
Professor Andre van As
Professor Deep Mining Geoscience, The University of Queensland
Conference Themes
- Cave monitoring and analysis
- Design and planning – drawbell, brow, and extraction-level geometry
- Numerical modelling of cave initiation and propagation
- Stability and monitoring of drives and infrastructure
- Production simulation, scheduling and economics
- Fragmentation
- Automation and management systems
- Geotechnical design and reconciliation
- Operational challenges
- Seismic data analysis
- Draw control
- Mixing and dilution
- Backfilling of subsidence zones
- Seismic monitoring – imaging the cave
- Mudrush/inrush
- Operational considerations – construction
- Rock mass characterisation and fracture modelling
- Rock testing
- Ground support
- Distributed acoustic sensing in caving mines
- Cave design
- Sensitivity analysis and calibration of numerical models
- Seismicity and rockburst hazard
- Gravity flow
- Management of principal hazards
Past, present and future cave mining projects in Australia*
| Type of Mine | Name of Mine | |
|---|---|---|
|
Past Mines: |
Block/Sublevel |
Argyle |
|
Operating Mines: |
Block Caving |
Cadia |
|
|
Sublevel Caving |
Big Bell |
|
Future Projects: |
Block Caving |
Perseverance |
|
|
Sublevel Caving |
Carrapateena |
Massmin and Caving conference series rotations*
| Year | Conference | Location |
|---|---|---|
|
2000 |
Massmin |
Argyle
|
|
2004 |
Massmin |
Content |
|
2006 |
Caving |
Cape Town, South Africa |
|
2008 |
Massmin |
Lulea, Sweden |
|
2010 |
Caving |
Perth, Australia |
|
2012 |
Massmin |
Sudbury, Canada |
|
2014 |
Caving |
Santiago, Chile |
|
2016 |
Massmin |
Sydney, Australia |
|
2018 |
Caving |
Vancouver, Canada |
|
2020/1 |
Massmin |
Chile (Online Only) |
|
2022 |
Caving |
Adelaide, Australia |
|
2024 |
Massmin |
Kiruna, Sweden |
|
2026 |
Caving |
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia |
|
2028 |
Massmin |
Sun City, South Africa |
|
2030 |
Caving |
Vancouver, Canada |
|
2032 |
Massmin |
Chile |
*to the best of ACG’s knowledge. ACG does not guarantee the accuracy of this information. If changes/updates are required, please contact ACG.
ACG Online Repository of Conference Proceedings
The proceedings of previous Caving and other underground conferences, are freely available to download from the ACG Online Repository of Conference Proceedings.
View the papers at papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/underground
Data source: ACG internal analysis, September 2026