: a mining in which sections of a large ore body are undercut by working places and then permitted to cave in, the ore so crushed being recovered through drifts.

What is block caving method?

Block caving is an underground hard rock mining method that involves undermining an ore body, allowing it to progressively collapse under its own weight. It is the underground version of open pit mining. ... This broken ore falls into a pre-constructed series of funnels and access tunnels underneath the broken ore mass.

What is the difference between block caving and sublevel caving?

Sub-level caving also allows for a slightly more selective extraction of the orebody than is attainable through block or panel caving. Production rates achieved in sub-level caving operations are typically lower than for block caves but higher than for stoping methods.” Caving is a non-selective, bulk mining method.