Abstract: The inducing factors and occurrence mechanism of the roof sliding caving were studied by analyzing the temporal and spatial characteristics of microseismic events in Ashele Copper Mine. The results showed that the evolution of microseismic events directly reflects the changes of internal cracks in rock mass. Before the caving， the microseismic activity was obviously weakened， but the radiated energy was accelerated released according to a power law. In the monitored microseismic events， shear cracks play a dominant role， accounting for 68% of the total events， and are mainly concentrated in the ore-rock contact zone. To the contrary， the roof is the non-shear failure zone dominated by tensile fracture. The caving is caused by the combined action of the difference of physical and mechanical properties of rock mass on both sides of the contact zone and the strong blasting disturbance from nearby stope. When mining the boundary area of metal orebody， it is necessary to real-time monitor the rock mass stability and adopt measures such as timely filling and reducing blasting disturbance to weaken the risk of ground pressure disaster.

Key words: deep mining, microseismic monitoring, roof caving, fracture mechanism, [ES/EP]