Risk Mitigation for Mining Highly Stressed Ore Bodies at Depth
Purpose
The GeoRisk project is focused on evaluating and mitigating the risks associated with underground mining in high stress, structurally complex ore zones. Mining investors are increasingly sensitive to risk when making large capital expenditures. This can be alleviated if the time required to develop a mine and ramp-up production can be shortened significantly and if the most appropriate mining method, means of access and equipment type can be selected with confidence.
Value Proposition
This strategic research project takes an approach leading to producing a manual of completed new research and development projects addressed at dealing with risk assessment, mitigation and management within underground high stress structurally complex ore bodies. It is expected that the manual will be a valued tool for use by educators and practitioners alike.
Solution Team Members
Component projects are underway, or are soon to be, in the following strategic areas:
- Case histories from high stress ore bodies with known geomechanical stability issues
- Site characterization techniques to monitor rock mass changes during mining to minimize risk of failure
- Structural geology guidelines to assist in data collection and treatment when dealing with high stress ore bodies leading to greater mining method/sequence flexibility
- Stoping sequence optimization when mining in burst-prone ground- guidelines which consider structural networks and stress distributions
- Risk quantification guidelines and a confidence-based approach to dealing with geomechanical risk in high stress ore bodies
- Assessing the economic impact of rock bursting caused by fault slip failure mechanisms in high stress mines
- A workflow weights of evidence approach to the assessment of hazard accompanying fault slip rock bursting in deep mines and using it to lower the associated risks and make better project design decisions
- Uncertainty reduction through the optimization of existing software tools
- A new software tool to assist in developing ground support strategies for burst-prone ground
All projects are scheduled for completion by no later than Q1 2011.
What's New?
Work has begun on a parallel initiative focused on trying to identify ways and means of engineering the risk associated with the vast amount of energy released in mines due to fault slip-caused rock bursting.
This project, called IFSCRI, (International Fault Slip Control Research Initiative) is currently being scoped, will involve multiple companies, researchers and research institutions and is anticipated will costs to multimillion to complete over at least 5 years. Initial funding applications are expected to be submitted this fall.
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