CAVING 2026
11–13 August 2026 | Shangri-La Ulaanbaatar, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
The only dedicated cave mining international event globally
- View the preliminary program in the event brochure.
- View the list of attending companies.
- View the associated workshops that will be held alongside Caving 2026.
- View the Caving 2022 and MassMin 2020 and 2024 papers freely from the ACG Online Repository of Conference Proceedings.
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
Local Partner
View the preliminary program in the event brochure
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 2026 in Mongolia.
This follows previous events held in Cape Town, 2007; Perth, 2010; Santiago, 2014; Vancouver, 2018 and Adelaide in 2022.
Collaborating Organisation
Conference Co-chairs
Professor Andre van As
Professor Deep Mining Geoscience
The University of Queensland and Van As Geotechnical Pty Ltd
Dr Daniel Cumming-Potvin
Project Lead – mXrap
Australian Centre for Geomechanics
Professor Johan Wesseloo
Director
Australian Centre for Geomechanics
Past, present and future cave mining projects in Australia*
| Past Mines: | Block/Sublevel | Argyle Maggie Hayes Mount Marion Ridgeway |
|---|---|---|
| Operating Mines: | Block Caving | Cadia Northparkes |
| Sublevel Caving | Big Bell Black Rock Cave Capricorn Copper Carrapateena Ernest Henry Telfer | |
| Future Projects: | Block Caving | Perseverance Savage River |
| Sublevel Caving | Carrapateena Mt Lyell (currently closed, may re-open) |
*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, May 2026
ACG Online Repository Testimonial
