The New Prediction Model for Progressive Caving of Goaf Induced by the Caving Mining Method

The progressive caving process of goaf was important for the mining and support system design. This paper investigated the progressive failure phenomenon of goaf under the caving mining method by virtue of dome theory. Firstly, considering the dynamic process of ore drawing and overlying rock collapse, the prediction model for profile curves of the caving goaf was deduced on the basis of the moment balance principle. Moreover, the model was also used to estimate whether the stability of goaf and the height of caved rock would be accurate or not. Then, the distribution rules for lateral pressure with different particle size distributions of broken rock were researched under the ore drawing and overlying rock collapse, and subsequently complemented the above model. Finally, the comparisons of the results between analytical prediction obtained from this paper and monitoring data of the Paishanlou Gold Mine were conducted to demonstrate the validity of the proposed prediction method.