Associated Event
Caving 2026
11–13 August 2026 | Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Principal Hazard Management in Caving Mines Workshop
10 August 2026 | Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
This workshop will be held immediately prior to Caving 2026.
Cave mining is the most cost efficient and economically efficient underground mass mining method due to its exceptionally low unit production cost. However, the method is inherently exposed to a suite of principal geotechnical and operational hazards that need to be rigorously assessed, monitored and controlled throughout the construction and operational stages of mining. These challenges are even more pertinent as the industry progresses towards deeper, more challenging orebodies with higher stresses, reduced rock mass quality, and more demanding operating environments.
This interactive workshop will bring together leading international practitioners and subject-matter experts in cave mining hazard management to share and discuss their experience in current and emerging risks, and effective strategies and technologies for hazard identification, quantification, and mitigation through the different stages of the caving lifecycle. Participants will gain practical insights into best practice approaches that enhance safety, reduce uncertainty, and support robust technical and operational decision-making.
Workshop Topics
- Air blast
- Mudrush
- Seismic and rockburst
- Reserve recovery
Objective
To share, discuss and advance knowledge on the identification, quantification and mitigation of the principal hazards affecting cave mining operations, with a focus on practical application, learnings from industry case studies, and proven risk-management methodologies.
Who should attend?
This workshop is relevant to all professionals involved with cave mining projects or operations at all levels in the organisation.
Workshop facilitators:
Dr Daniel Cumming-Potvin
Project Lead – mXrap
Australian Centre for Geomechanics
Daniel completed his Bachelor of Mining Engineering and PhD at The University of Western Australia in 2012 and 2018, respectively. He has worked at a number of underground metal mines in Australia, specialising in the areas of ground support, monitoring and mine seismicity. He is project lead for mXrap.
Professor Johan Wesseloo
Director
Australian Centre for Geomechanics
Since obtaining a BEng (civil) and MEng (geotechnical) from The University of Pretoria, Johan has been involved in geotechnical engineering in open pit and underground environments throughout 14 countries. He commenced his career in 1998 as a geotechnical engineer at SRK Consulting, Johannesburg where he was involved in open pit and underground projects in varying geotechnical conditions. In 2005 he was awarded a PhD (geotechnical) from The University of Pretoria. Johan joined the Australian Centre for Geomechanics (ACG) in 2007 as a research fellow. During his time at the ACG, Johan has been involved in research, the supervision of postgraduate students and geotechnical training. He also performs geotechnical and mining-induced seismicity reviews providing him with the valuable opportunity to visit numerous operations worldwide. Johan was instrumental in the development of the mXrap software and many of the software routines and apps available in that platform. In 2019, Johan was appointed director of the ACG.
Workshop presenters include:
Professor Andre van As
Professor Deep Mining Geoscience
The University of Queensland, Australia
Andre is an underground mine geotechnical engineer that has spent most of his 30-year career working on caving operations and caving projects. Andre has worked on, or had significant involvement in, more than 10 major caving operations and projects, sits on several cave mining geotechnical review boards, and has published widely on cave mining and caving geomechanics.
In 1997, he and Dr Rob Jeffrey introduced hydraulic fracturing into the cave mining industry as a means of cave induction and rock mass preconditioning at Northparkes Mines. As a result of their work, they were awarded a CSIRO medal. After 22 years working for Rio Tinto, Andre formed his own consultancy in 2018, focussed on providing technical expertise to the cave mining industry. Most recently, Andre joined the Bryan Research Centre at The University of Queensland as the group lead for deep mining geoscience research.
Izak Morkel
Founder & Principal Geotechnical Consultant
IGM Geotechnical, Australia
Combining a Master of Science (Physics) with over 15 years of experience in operational rock mechanics, Izak specialises in translating seismological principles into practical geotechnical controls for complex underground environments. As the founder of IGM Geotechnical, his professional background spans onsite engineering at ultra-deep operations mining at depths of up to 4 km, applied research during his previous role at the Australian Centre for Geomechanics, and ongoing geotechnical consultancy for mining houses globally. He focuses on integrating mine seismology with operational strategies to manage seismic risk and high-stress ground control.
Izak is an active contributor to the geotechnical research community, with a publication record spanning over a decade. His applied research focuses heavily on practical mine seismology – covering re-entry assessment methodologies, seismic data quality, source parameters, and dynamic ground support testing.
Iain Ross
Principal Mining Engineer
CaveConsult Pty Ltd, Australia
Iain is a mining engineer with over 45 years of practical mining experience, obtained in a diverse range of underground operations including block caves and large-scale panel cave mines. He has worked in South Africa with DeBeers, and in Australia with companies including North Ltd and Rio Tinto. He also worked with Freeport McMoRan in the USA, assisting with the design of the Grasberg and Deep Mill Level Zone block cave mines.
His experience includes production operations (from shift boss through to mine manager), management of development projects, technical positions and consulting roles. He has also performed technical reviews, due diligence evaluations, safety audits and accident investigations, life of mine planning, feasibility studies and is a Competent Person (JORC) for Ore Reserves.
He left Rio Tinto in 2016 and has been consulting independently specialising in block and panel cave mines and projects with CaveConsult. He has now worked on over 40 block/panel caving mines, studies and projects.
Iain has had many papers published on cave mining covering various aspects of block cave design and operation, as well as major hazards – including mudrush.
Gert Van Hout
Owner
Gatco Consulting, Belgium
Gert holds a Master’s degree in mining engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven and is an underground mine geotechnical engineer with 25 years’ experience in caving operations and projects across the globe. He started his career with Itasca South Africa and moved to De Beers Consolidated Mines in 1998 before joining Rio Tinto in 2006. Gert established his consultancy in 2020, providing technical assistance to mining firms and other companies requiring his expertise on caving geomechanics. He has a keen interest in the fields of cave flow processes and draw control systems.
Claudia Vejrazka
Consulting Manager
Resolve Mining Solutions, Australia
Claudia has extensive experience across multiple caving projects and mining operations, in roles ranging from mining manager to leading complex, multi-orebody studies. She has worked in block cave, sub-level cave, and open pit environments, but her true passion lies in caving – particularly in advancing process safety management within caving operations.
Her expertise in airblast analysis and management was developed at Northparkes Mines in collaboration with the Rio Tinto Centre of Excellence. Managing airblast risk demands an integrated understanding of ventilation, geotechnical engineering, cave monitoring, and fluid dynamics – an interdisciplinary approach Claudia has mastered through both research and operational application.
A strong advocate for collaboration, she has developed industry-leading airblast models with partners across the mining sector and published several papers sharing practical advancements in this field. Her work continues to strengthen industry capability in managing one of caving’s most complex safety challenges.
Daniel Villa
Underground Mining Consultant
Dassault Systèmes Canada Inc, Canada
Daniel is a mining engineer holding a Master of Applied Science from the University of British Columbia. He has over 25 years’ experience in sublevel and block caving, covering feasibility studies to mine operations. Throughout his career, he has had the opportunity to work with all the major caving mines and projects around the world. Currently, he is a member of the global consulting team at Dassault Systèmes where he leads digital transformation projects for the mining industry, with a focus on caving.