Time-Space-Quantity-Energy Coupling in Intelligent Caving Mines: A Review of Ore-Flow Control and Mining-Processing Coordination

Intelligent caving mining requires not only equipment automation, but also the coordinated regulation of production timing, spatial structure, ore output, ore-flow quality, and energy consumption across the mining-processing chain. In caving mines, the state of broken ore flow, drawpoint activation, fragmentation distribution, dilution, ore loss, and ore-waste mixing affects not only underground production stability, but also downstream mineral processing performance, including feed-grade stability, particle-size distribution, pre-concentration potential, and the energy consumption of crushing, grinding, and separation. However, existing studies remain fragmented, with insufficient integration among production scheduling, spatial configuration, ore-flow and ore-output control, mineral-processing-oriented feed quality, and energy efficiency. To address this gap, this review systematically examines the time-space-quantity-energy collaborative feedback framework for intelligent caving mines. The four dimensions are defined as production timing, structural space, ore output and ore-flow quality and energy-consumption constraints, respectively. Recent advances are summarized in production rhythm analysis, spatial modeling, ore-flow and ore-output characterization, fragmentation recognition, energy monitoring and evaluation, digital-twin support, and intelligent control methods. On this basis, this review further reveals the coupling mechanisms by which time organization shapes spatial utilization, spatial structures constrain ore output and ore-flow quality, ore-output and ore-quality fluctuations affect energy-consumption evolution, and energy feedback reshapes production scheduling and spatial allocation. Key challenges are identified in multi-source data integration, mechanism modeling, evaluation methodology, and closed-loop execution. Future research directions are proposed toward digital twin-enabled, data-driven, mineral-processing-oriented, and human-machine collaborative regulation. Compared with existing reviews that discuss intelligent mining technologies, digital-twin architectures, ore-flow control, or underground production planning separately, this review clarifies their shared regulatory logic within a time-space-quantity-energy coupling framework oriented toward mining and processing. Overall, the unified time-space-quantity-energy framework provides a theoretical basis for transforming caving mines from isolated underground production optimization toward intelligent, efficient, low-energy, and mineral-processing-responsive collaborative operation.