Overall some great nickel ore intersections, but going from my time a Mt Edwards there must be a note of caution. Of the nickel ore mined at Mt Edwards,there is at least 20% plus still there in the long hole stopes.I doubt if the 600 level is still there. It would have fallen for the most part into the 750 stope. The 750 stope was mined at 5M wide,that was the width of the massive ore, after long hole mining it became over 100m wide If it's the same geology then the hanging wall is extremely weak & the dirt cannot be recovered. We used to be in the mill holes with a machine & airleg drilling the oversize & run away if there was any movement of dust or a trickle of fines. Would not be allowed in today's mining. Which is a good thing. The ground especially the wedges were coated in a very slimy, light blue/grey material which would drop out with out any warning. These could be from 5 kilos to 100 tonnes plus. There is a way to mitigate & control the weak hanging wall failures, but that means thinking outside the square/box & i worked that out a long time ago, but then again i was always just a shiftboss not an engineer. But it can be done.
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