Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference (RIC 2023)

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Geotechnical Risk and Risk Mitigation in Deep Underground Mines in Hard, Brittle Rock

Authors
W. F. Bawden1, 2, *
1University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
2Mine Design Technologies, Kingston, Canada
*Corresponding author. Email: will.bawden@utoronto.ca
Corresponding Author
W. F. Bawden
Available Online 8 November 2023.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-258-3_5How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Deep mining; geomechanical risks; risk mitigation measures
Abstract

The paper reviews the challenges, and in some cases, extreme risks commonly encountered when mining at great depth in hard, brittle rock masses. For context, mining at great depth is assumed to imply mining at depths in excess of 1.0 to 1.5 km below ground surface. The paper focuses primarily on rock engineering risks to mine personnel and equipment [e. g. very high rock stresses; mine induced seismicity; rock bursting; ground support failure; falls of ground; etc.]. The paper also addresses risk due to extreme temperatures, [e. g. heat stroke; extremely hot water; etc.], commonly associated with mining at great depth as this can also pose serious risk to mine personnel. Potential risk mitigation measures, [e. g. robust mine design, numerical modelling, instrumentation; dynamic support; exclusion zones; re-entry times; destress blasting; automation; etc.], and the present limitations of such techniques, are discussed. Associated risks [e. g. infrastructure damage; cost control; etc.] are also briefly discussed. The author has also encountered many of these same risks in much shallower mines where an appropriately robust mine design has not been implemented.

Copyright
© 2023 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference (RIC 2023)
Series
Atlantis Highlights in Engineering
Publication Date
8 November 2023
ISBN
978-94-6463-258-3
ISSN
2589-4943
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-258-3_5How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2023 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - W. F. Bawden
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/11/08
TI  - Geotechnical Risk and Risk Mitigation in Deep Underground Mines in Hard, Brittle Rock
BT  - Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference  (RIC 2023)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 31
EP  - 47
SN  - 2589-4943
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-258-3_5
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-258-3_5
ID  - Bawden2023
ER  -