Influence of mining excavation on energy redistribution and rockburst potential

G. Lafont (1, 2) , Yann Gunzburger (2) , H.S. Mitri (3) , Marwan Al Heib (1) , Christophe Didier (1) , Jack-Pierre Piguet (2)

1 INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques
2 GeoRessources
3 McGill University = Université McGill [Montréal, Canada]

With the increase of mining depth, rockburst is one of the most serious disasters which threaten the safety of mine operators and the surface stability. Several approaches have been developed since the sixties to assess rockburst potential in underground hardrock mines. Some of the approaches are based on energy balance around mining excavations such as the Energy Release Rate (ERR) that was developed in South Africa and more recently the strain Energy Storage Rate (ESR). This paper presents the results of a detailed numerical modeling case study for the assessment of rockburst potential in a room-and-pillar copper mine in Poland. The method of numerical simulation is a quasi-static finite difference method (FDM - FLAC3D). The Energy Storage Rate (ESR) is numerically calculated to predict burst occurrence.

Keywords: DEEP MINE; NUMERICAL MODELING; ROCKBURST; ENERGY BALANCE

Domains: Earth Sciences; Environmental Sciences

G. Lafont, Yann Gunzburger, H.S. Mitri, Marwan Al Heib, Christophe Didier, et al.. Influence of mining excavation on energy redistribution and rockburst potential. 23. World mining congress, Aug 2013, Montreal, Canada. pp.NC. ⟨ineris-00973704⟩