The main underground mining operations can be summed up under seven headings corresponding to the life cycle of the operation: 1️⃣ Preparatory work to access the ore by shaft or chute : Depending on the configuration of the deposit (topography, depth, spatial envelope, etc.) and the geomechanical characteristics of the host rock and ore, access routes can be created by digging a shaft or a drift. Shafts and galleries are dug using drilling and blasting equipment (for hard and/or abrasive ground)💥, or using tunnel boring machines or point-attack machines (for softer and/or less abrasive ground). 2️⃣ Blasting 💣 Blasting is one of the basic operations involved in moving an infrastructure work forward (digging a downspout), but it is also part of the ore mining cycle (tracing) or digging the host rock. The ore blasting operation is carried out : 📍 Either using explosives🧨, in which case blast holes must first be drilled. 📍 Or directly by mechanical blasting using specific machines (spot blasters, cutters, etc.), blasting the materials according to their geomechanical characteristics and the opening of the blasting site. 3️⃣ Purging and underpinning ⚠️: 📍 The basic purging operation, which is quite delicate, consists of removing from the vault and the face any unstable blocks and flakes that may have been shaken by the blast. This safety measure must therefore be carried out systematically during the advance cycle before the underpinning operation. It can also be carried out before a manual drilling operation (depending on the terrain) and is a prerequisite for safe access to the site. 📍 The underpinning operation is carried out after the site has been made safe by purging. It consists of reinforcing the stability of the walls by various means, such as timbering or metal frames, anchoring, bolting, gunning and walking underpinning (which is rarely or never used at present). 4️⃣ Loading/Transport (Marining) 🚛: The marining operation consists of loading the cuttings and evacuating them quickly so as not to penalise the production cycle. Marining is generally carried out using wheeled loading equipment (more rarely on rails) adapted for the bottom and capable of driving to a stockpile at the bottom or to a lorry loading point for haulage. More rarely, on small, low-productivity sites, clearing is carried out using a winch for scraping towards a jet stack, or using a vibrating feeder (racking). 5️⃣ Dewatering 💧 Dewatering is the technical name given to operations to remove water from mining sites by pumping or gravity flow. 6️⃣ Ventilation 🌬️ Ventilation is essential to the safety and well-being of miners working underground. 7️⃣ Backfilling 🔄 This operation makes it possible to: ➕ Increase the recovery rate in certain cases (e.g. chamber and pillar mining). ➕ Resolve problems of ground instability. ➕ Minimise driving distances (rising/dependent sections, tamping).