A client wished to increase the ventilation capacity of an underground mine to allow the working area to be expanded. There was some disagreement about the air flow specification that the system should meet inside the mine, the best technical approach to delivering the required air flow and the best location for a large vertical shaft required to connect the mine workings to the surface. A prefeasibility study had become bogged down with disagreements about major design criteria and trade-offs.

Broadleaf was engaged to facilitate a quantitative risk assessment of the initial plans generated by a study team consisting of in-house personnel and a consulting engineering firm. The process exposed the important decisions that had to be settled before a firm plan could be developed. This helped to break the deadlock so the study could proceed. The analysis was repeated a few weeks later, after key decisions had been made and further engineering, estimation and planning had been undertaken.

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