Strike stabilizing pillars as a regional support strategy for ultra-deep gold mines |
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| Authors: | MC Maccelari A Cichowicz |
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| Institution: | (1) Division of Mining Technology, CSIR, P.O. Box 91230, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa;(2) Department of Geophysics, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050, South Africa |
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| Abstract: | Strike stabilizing pillars are included in the mine layout of a number of deep South African gold mines as a means of providing regional support with the principal aim of controlling rockbursts. Large seismic events associated with stabilizing pillars can cause extensive damage to working areas. Mining-induced seismicity recorded at Western Deep Levels Limited has been analysed in an attempt to improve the design of stabilizing pillars, and thereby reduce their associated seismic hazard. This work revealed that the vast majority of stabilizing pillars, regardless of their dimensions and those of their adjacent stopes, will, at some time, give rise to seismic events of magnitude, M 2. Contrary to expectations, this work strongly indicates that the rock mass in the near vicinity of the mined out areas does not behave in an elastic manner. Consequently, the currently employed design methodologies, based on elastic principles, should not provide the only criteria when designing strike stabilizing pillars. |
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| Keywords: | stabilizing pillar mine seismicity rock mass behaviour pillar failure |
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