Strategies and tactics to control seismic risks in Mines

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Abstract

The risk associated with mining induced seismicity is one of themajor threats to the safety and sustainability of deep undergroundmines. This paper describes techniques that allow site practitionersto efficiently control such risks in mines. The proposed approachesrely on ground support to strategically control seismic risk and reentrytime to tactically control this risk. The strategic approach isbased on the detailed understanding of past seismicity to ascertainthe seismic hazard of individual sources throughout the mine. Thisapproach also relies on assessing the potential damage that thesesources can induce on nearby excavations using the excavationvulnerability potential (EVP) and rockburst damage potential (RDP)concepts proposed by Heal et al. (2006). It is then possible toinvestigate how to reduce the risk of experiencing damagingseismicity in mine drives by locally enhancing the ground supportsystem. The tactical approach relies on a proposed methodology toestimate reliable re-entry times or exclusion periods based on theseismic decay following blasting. Some examples of how thesetechniques have been applied in Australian mines are given.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)177-186
JournalJournal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
Volume109
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 2009

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