The early understanding of the rock masses in which a mine will be constructed and operated is of fundamental importance and required for developing reliable designs. To assist such understanding, this contribution is focused on massive to moderately jointed rock mass domains, their behaviour under load, rock mass strength, assessment, and implications to some cave mine design elements. Since more cave mines are being studied, constructed, and operated at greater depths, the need to understand and design in high stress and in massive to moderately jointed rock mass conditions is critical. Cave mines, by their nature, are vulnerable to disruption from unanticipated rock mass behaviour and at risk for unreliability. Cave mine excavations and their geometric layouts are constructed early in the mine life (when there is limited understanding of the rock mass and its response underload) and have minimal flexibility to be modified as experience is gained in the rock mass. They are thus fragile systems. Many design aspects that have a large financial impact on the investment value of a cave mine have the potential to be negatively influenced by unplanned or inappropriately considered rock mass conditions.

早期了解将在其中建造和运营矿山的岩体，对于开发可靠的设计至关重要，并且是必不可少的。为帮助理解，此贡献集中于块状至中等节理的岩体域，其在载荷下的行为，岩体强度，评估以及对某些矿山设计元素的影响。由于正在研究，建造和经营更多深度的洞穴地雷，因此在高应力以及块状至中等节理的岩体条件下进行理解和设计的需求变得至关重要。就其性质而言，洞穴地雷很容易受到意料之外的岩体行为的破坏，并具有不可靠的风险。洞穴矿的开挖及其几何布局是在矿山生命早期（当对岩体及其响应欠载的了解有限时）进行构造的，并且随着岩体经验的积累，其灵活性几乎没有改变。因此，它们是脆弱的系统。对洞穴采矿的投资价值产生重大财务影响的许多设计方面，都可能受到计划外或未适当考虑的岩体条件的不利影响。