Transverse Stope Splitting

The Stope Splitting tools in MSO post-processing allows you to subdivide larger stopes into smaller units for more practical scheduling and operational implementation.

The Transverse method slices stopes across their width or height, depending on the orientation.

You choose this type of splitting using the Post Processing screen's Transverse Splitting Type.

In more detail:

Transverse Stope Splitting divides a stope across the width of the orebody, producing a series of stopes oriented perpendicular to the dominant geological direction or strike. This method breaks wide stopes into shorter segments that are mined across the orebody rather than along it.

This method is useful when:

The orebody is wide relative to its length
Mining progresses across strike rather than along it
Large stopes need to be subdivided for stability or control
Managing span, exposure, or ground conditions is a priority

By splitting across the orebody, transverse splitting can improve control over stope dimensions and reduce unsupported spans.

Things to watch out for:

Transverse splitting may interrupt geological continuity along strike
In narrow orebodies, it can create short or impractical stope sections
Care should be taken to ensure resulting stopes align with access and sequencing plans

A visual review is recommended to confirm that transverse splits produce practical, mineable layouts.

Transverse versus Longitudinal Splitting

The rule of thumb when choosing between these methods is:

Choose Transverse splitting when controlling stope width, span, or stability is the priority.
Choose Longitudinal splitting when preserving geological continuity and mining along strike is the priority.

Aspect	Transverse Splitting	Longitudinal Splitting
Split direction	Across the orebody width	Along the orebody length
Relation to strike	Perpendicular to strike	Parallel to strike
Best suited to	Wide orebodies	Long, continuous orebodies
Primary goal	Control span and stope width	Preserve along-strike continuity
Typical stope shape	Shorter, wider sections	Longer, narrower sections
Impact on geology	May break along-strike trends	Preserves geological trends
Mining progression	Across strike	Along strike
Common use case	Ground control or stability focus	Sequencing and continuity focus

Transverse Type Strategies

You control transverse stope division using different Transverse Type strategies.

Transverse Type	Strategies
Split from Center	Splits the stope symmetrically from the centre outward.
Split Equal	Divides stopes into equal length segments without specific anchoring.
Split from Near Side	Starts splitting from the near side of the stope.
Split from Far Side	Starts splitting from the far side of the stope.
Split from Footwall	Anchors split at the footwall side.
Split from Hangingwall	Anchors split at the hangingwall side.
Split from Floor	Anchors split from the stope floor (not available for vertical orientation).
Split from Roof	Anchors split from the stope roof (not available for vertical orientation).
Split from Grid	Uses a grid-based pattern starting from a global offset (not available for vertical orientation).
Split on Grid and Anneal	Similar to Split from Grid, but adds shape smoothing (annealing) at splits.

Create Transverse Splits

Activity steps:

Create an MSO scenario and define a block model.
Configure other settings as required.
Display the Post Processing screen.
Check Use Stope Splitting.
Expand Splitting Type and select Transverse.
Choose the method used to split stopes in a transverse direction by choosing a Transverse Type.

See "Transverse Type Strategies", above.
For Split on Grid or Split on Grid and Anneal types, Offset is used to define a distance from the framework origin to start grid-based splitting.
Specify an Interval to control the target distance between split sections (for example, 50m). This is required for all transverse splitting types.
Define a Min Range and Max Range. These are the allowable ranges for each stope segment after splitting.
Check Force Internal Walls to ensure hard internal walls are created at the split boundaries.
Check Force External Walls to force creation of external stope walls aligned with split boundaries.
Check Use Fixed Internal Wall Angle and enter an angle in degrees to force a specified internal wall angle for the split faces. This option cannot be set if either of the Force... options above are selected.
If you are either creating internal or external walls, or setting an internal wall angle, you can:
- Check Use First Offset to shift the first split by a defined offset.
- Check Use Average Strike to use the average stope strike for split alignment. This is only available with certain transverse types.
Save your settings and continue defining other post-processing options.