Comparison of Mining Methods

		Unsupported
Factor	Room and Pillar	Stope and Pillar	Shrinkage	Sublevel
Mining Cost	30%	30%	50%	40%
Production	Large	Large	Moderate	Large
Productivity	High	High	Low	High
Investment	High	Moderate	Low	Moderate
Development	Rapid	Rapid	Rapid	Moderate
Depth	Limited	Limited	Limited	Moderate
Selectivity	Low	High	Moderate	Low
Recovery	Moderate	Moderate	High	Moderate
Dilution	Moderate	Low	Low	Moderate
Flexibility	Moderate	High	Moderate	Low
Stability	Moderate	High	High	High
Subsidence	Moderate	Low	Low	Low
Health/Safety	Good	Good	Good	Good
Other	Good Ventilation	Fair Ventilation	Labour Intensive	Good Ventilation

		Supported
Factor	Cut & Fill	Stull	Square Set
Mining Costs	80%	70%	100%
Production	Moderate	Small	Small
Productivity	Moderate	Low	Low
Investment	Moderate	Low	Low
Development	Moderate	Rapid	Slow
Depth	Moderate	Limited	Unlimited
Selectivity	High	High	High
Recovery	High	High	Highest
Dilution	Low	Low	Lowest
Flexibility	Moderate	High	High
Stability	High	Moderate	High
Subsidence	Low	Moderate	Low
Health/Safety	Moderate	Moderate	Poor
Other	Requires Backfill	Labour Intensive	Timber cost

		Caving
Factor	Longwall	Sublevel Caving	Block Caving
Mining Cost	20%	50%	20%
Production	Large	Large	Large
Productivity	High	Moderate	High
Investment	High	Moderate	High
Development	Moderate	Moderate	Slow
Depth	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate
Selectivity	Low	Low	Low
Recovery	High	High	High
Dilution	Low	Low	High
Flexibility	Low	Low	Low
Stability	High	High	Moderate
Subsidence	High	High	High
Health/Safety	Good	Good	Good
Other	Expensive moves	Expensive moves	Draw control critical