Cut and fill, Drift and fill

Cut and fill
Where the rock that is around the ore zone is not strong enough to utilize long hole stopping, or when the sides of the ore zone are uneven and drilling long holes would generate too much dilution or overlook too much ore, then cut and fill mining techniques is something often times used. In this technique, top and bottom access is for a second time created, although the ore is taken out in flat slice from the base. Once a piece is blasted and the broken ore is has been taken away, the void needs to be backfilled to make available a platform for the equipment to rest and to sustain the side walls. This method is done over again until the block of ore is extracted. In wide ore areas, this method can be exceedingly mechanized, but in smaller ore areas it can be very hard work and could possibly even have a harmful impact on cost for every ton. As a consequence of its higher costs, this technique by and large calls for higher grade ore than that for long hole stopping. On the odd occasion, where the ore zone is particularly weak, the cut and fill technique can be done in an underhand arrangement. In this case mining takes place downwards. The plus is that the miners are working beneath a roof of cemented fill, which may at times be sturdier than the in-situ ore. 

Drift and fill
Drift and fill is a moderately pricey method of mining that is done in areas where rock conditions are very fragile. Instead of taking a risk by opening a big excavation that in feeble rock settings may be hard to hold up, ore is taken out by a big number of tunnels or drifts that are mined through the ore zone and which are then consequently crammed with cemented fill. This has the plus that the rock roof or span above the miner's heads that must be supported can be only around six feet across.