Services
Stoping Methods
Beck Engineering specialises in application of advanced, multi-scale, discontinuum modelling tools to simulate open stope overbreak, access conditions, filling and induced seismicity. We are the only provider of probabilistic simulation for stope overbreak potential.
About
Why Beck Engineering Leads the Field
Most consultancies still treat stopes as isolated problems and run small “stope-scale” models that struggle to capture the knock-on effects through the rest of the mine. Beck Engineering (BE) takes a different path. For more than 20 years we have modelled entire underground operations—thousands of stopes, kilometres of development, and decades of production—in a single high-resolution finite element simulation.
At the core is our proprietary LRx constitutive model. It brings the fidelity normally reserved for narrow, high-detail studies to the whole-of-mine scale, without compromising speed or accuracy. The result is a digital twin that takes into account all the available data at its highest resolution, and not only an approximation of it or only part of it.
What sets us apart
Beck Engineering Approach
- Whole-mine FE simulation with every drive, stope, lithological unit, and structure
- Full Resolution data are used as received, without oversimplification of the geometries (mine voids, domains, and structures)
- Direct, data-driven calibration against stress, displacement, and seismic monitoring
- Probabilistic overbreak forecasting—unique in the industry
- Multi-physics coupling (hydro-mechanical, thermal, stress-path)
- Transparent, 3D results database handed to the site team
Conventional Approach
- Localised “patchwork” models with manual hand-offs
- Oversimplification of the mine voids, structures, or domains, and hence reduced resolution
- Limited back-analysis; heavy reliance on empirical rules
- Deterministic “best-guess” envelopes
- Single-physics models run in isolation
- Static PDFs with fixed cross-sections
Unified Modelling Across All Stoping Methods
(Including but not limited to Longhole Open Stoping, Cut & Fill, Narrow Vein)
- Capture overbreak, brow stability, and fill performance in one run
- Real-time design checks as drill and blast parameters evolve
- Simultaneous assessment of extraction sequence, backfill stiffness, and pillar recovery
- Ground support pressures can be calculated as a post-processing option (with some assumption for support system) for every access, every step
- Fine-scale vein representation inside a mine-scale mesh
- Detailed post-stoping convergence and dilution forecasts
Advanced Capabilities
1. Open Stope Overbreak & Seismicity
- Explicit discontinuities plus strain-softening, dilatant rock behaviour
- Probabilistic envelopes quantify uncertainty and risk—not just a single curve
- Automated comparison of measured and simulated deformation/energy for continual model refinement
2. Hydro-Mechanical Coupling
- One-way and two-way transient coupling captures the real interaction between pore pressure and rock damage
- Dynamic update of hydraulic
- Proven at some of the worldBs largest, most water-charged underground operations
3. Surface Subsidence & Shaft Integrity
- End-to-end deformation path from extraction level to surface infrastructure
- haft-liner degradation forecasts guide remediation plans before problems escalate through rigorous analysis of damage, deformation, and angular distortion
Deliverables You Can Use Immediately
- 3D results database - slice, query, and export any variable at any timestamp
- Actionable design envelopes for support pressures, overbreak likelihood, and seismic potential
- Transparent model files so your site team can rerun and update as new data arrives
The Bottom Line
BE’s technology compresses decades of rock mass behaviour into days of computing, turning mine planning into a fully informed, simulation-aided engineering process. Where others guess, we quantify. Where others model a stope, we model the mine. That difference translates directly into safer operations, tighter dilution control, and production schedules you can trust.