MINE8140 – Assignment 2

Submission Date: 4 July

Weighting: 30%

A new orebody is located in a high stress mining environment, and will be accessed via a decline
connecting to the surface. You are the person responsible for assessing the support requirements for the
access decline and assessing the stability of open stopes, and the corresponding geotechnical
instrumentation program(s).

Your task is to provide a formal technical report on the following issues.

a) Access Decline: Support requirements and instrumentation for the access decline.

b) Stope Stability: Assessing Stope Stability using the Matthews Stability Graph.

(A) Access Decline (15%)

The 5.5m wide decline will pass through the following geotechnical domains along its length. Your task is
to ensure that the stability of the main excavation is to be maintained throughout the mine life, and that
appropriate early warning is provided where any remedial work might be required.

Geotechnical Domains

• Domain 1: weak, wet, weathered rock requiring surface constraint,

• Domain 2: a region of squeezing ground exhibiting time-dependent closure,
• Domain 3: a highly stressed region,
• Domain 4: a heavily structured region.

Prepare the following for submission for all domains to your management for approval:

a) Use the Barton’s Q system, rule of thumb methods to assess the bolt length, spacing and
surface support requirements. Use Kaisers “RMR-Stress” chart to study the mode of failure.

b) Write a three page (max) essay outlining the things you would consider in a ground control
management strategy covering all four generic types of ground conditions, indicating potential
sources/types of instability and mode of failure, and appropriate ground control responses to
these;

c) Design an appropriate instrumentation program for application in these regions, as part of the
ground control management plan, indicating type, design, approximate, monitoring strategies.

[ Value: (a) 5%, (b) 5% (c) 5% ]

1
Geotechnical parameters for each domain are provided as:
Pre-mining stress gradient
S1 Stress Gradient: 0.065 MPa/m
Geotechnical Parameters

Domain 1 Lower Quartile Median Upper Quartile

Depth 50 55 65
RQD 24 30 31
UCS Data 22 32 33
Jn 15 15 15
Jr 2 2 2
Ja 5 3 3
Jw 0.66 0.66 0.66

Domain 2 Lower Quartile Median Upper Quartile

Depth 600 550 500
RQD 40 45 50
UCS Data 41 46 54
Jn 12 12 12
Jr 1.5 2 2
Ja 4 3 2
Jw 1 1 1

Domain 3 Lower Quartile Median Upper Quartile

Depth 650 620 550
RQD 70 73 75
UCS Data 87 65 103
Jn 4 4 4
Jr 4 4 4
Ja 1 1 1
Jw 1 1 1

Domain 4 Lower Quartile Median Upper Quartile

Depth 300 300 300
RQD 10 10 10
UCS Data 58 60 62
Jn 15 15 15
Jr 0.5 0.5 1
Ja 20 20 20
Jw 0.66 0.66 0.66
 (B) Open Stope Stability Assessment (15%)

Stope design work is being undertaken for excavations located at a depth of 450m depth. The ore is in a
2m wide vein system which dips 65 degrees to the east. Geological bedding structures dip 45 degrees at
Dip Direction of 270 degrees. The country rock has UCS of 120 MPa and RQD from 55 to 65. There are
three joint sets, including discontinuities parallel to bedding. The bedding-parallel discontinuities are
undulating and smooth with a thin (<1mm) chlorite infill.

The other two discontinuity sets have the same infill type but a planar-rough texture. Open stoping
between levels 30m apart is planned. Numerical modelling indicates that the maximum induced stress will
be approximately equal to the in situ horizontal stress. The rock density is 2.55t/m3 and the in situ
horizontal stress is two times the vertical stress.

Using the design tables provided during the lectures answer the following questions:

a) On a sketch show the excavation, structures and the potential failure mechanism that you
consider critical for analysis of this proposed excavation.

b) Select a Q’ value based on the data provided. What stope length would you recommend (with
explanation) using the modified Matthew’s stability method? (show all assumptions and
calculations)

c) What additional data would you request to refine your analysis?

[ Value: (a) 6%, (b) 6% (c) 3% ]