At times of high metal prices, mining projects that have previously been put into the too hard basket' are now being more closely examined. Typically these projects include the potential recovery of small mineable tonnes with high contained metal values and often with poor ground conditions._x000D_
For many underground mining projects, the drift and fill method is viewed as a high-cost method and a method of last resort'. As a result the method is not well known in Australia and it is the authors' view that the method is under utilised._x000D_
The drift and fill method can be applied to a variety of underground mining situations and is a preferred method for some orebody geometries and where ore recovery is viewed as a key to project success. This paper examines some of the critical mine planning and backfill issues involved with the drift and fill mining method.