The boundary element method is one of a number of tools that have found
wide application in geomechanics for mine design and stress analysis.
Two examples are presented in this paper, illustrating the use of the
boundary element method to find potential problem regions in large-scale
excavations. These examples are from a Papua New Guinea open cut
mine and an Australian sub-level caving operation. Because of the scale
of the mines and the complexity of the excavations, the boundary element
method is the only practical numerical modelling technique to account for
the major influences. Although the boundary element method uses only
linear elastic models of the rock mass, the paper illustrates techniques for
dealing with non-homogenous and anisotropic rock masses, as well as
clasto-plastic effects associated with an excavation.