Conventional mine planning processes result in the selection of pushback widths that maximize equipment productivity. This paper challenges the current notion that pushback width should be set at the distance that assures maximum equipment productivity. A hypothetical case study is presented, which shows that the value of a project may increase beyond that determined by traditional planning practices. It was found that it may be better to deploy more aggressive mining strategies, which are likely to result in greater operational complexity and thus reduced equipment productivity. A higher equipment productivity, which often corresponds to wider (and therefore a lower number of) pushbacks, will also often result in later ore extraction and require higher capital costs. 

Grey and white carbonate mylonites were collected along thrust planes of the Helvetic Alps. They are characterised by very small grain sizes and non-random grain shape (SPO) and crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO). Presumably they deformed in the field of grain size sensitive flow by recrystallisation accommodated intracrystalline deformation in combination with granular flow. Both mylonites show a similar mean grain size, but in the grey mylonites the grain size range is larger, the grain shapes are more elongate and the dynamically recrystallised calcite grains are more often twinned. Grey mylonites have an oblique CPO, while the CPO in white mylonites is symmetric with respect to the shear plane. Combustion analysis and ТЕМ investigations revealed that grey mylonites contain a higher amount of highly structured kerogens with particle sizes of a few tens of nanometers, which are finely dispersed at the grain boundaries.

During deformation of the rock, nano-scale particles reduced the migration velocity of grain boundaries by Zener drag resulting in slower recrystallisation rates of the calcite aggregate. In the grey mylonites, more strain increments were accommodated by individual grains before they became refreshed by dynamic recrystallisation than in white mylonites, where grain boundary migration was less hindered and recrystallisation cycles were faster. Consequently, grey mylonites represent 'deformation' microfabrics while white mylonites are characterised by 'recrystallisation' microfabrics. Field geologists must utilise this different deformation behavior when applying the obliquity in CPO and SPO of the respective mylonites as reliable shear sense indicators

Faults are important controls on hydrocarbon migration and ore mineralization and, in areas of active deformation, are the most important source of seismic hazard. However, faults are rarely discrete surfaces and the internal structure of fault zones (e.g., the thickness, nature and continuity of the fault rocks, the distribution and segmentation of slip surfaces, and the orientation, distribution and connectivity of subsidiary faults and fractures) is a key control on their bulk fluid flow and mechanical properties.

Geochemical data are generally derived from government and industry geochemical surveys that cover areas at various spatial resolutions. These survey data are difficult to assemble and integrate due to their heterogeneous mixture of media, size fractions, methods of digestion and analytical instrumentation. These assembled sets of data often contain thousands of observations with as many as 50 or more elements.