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Materials properties of barricade bricks for mining applications

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Abstract

Barricade bricks are fundamental to the safe operation of a mining site. Past failures have lead to loss of life and reduced mine efficiency or even shut down. The fundamental material property that determines the operational characteristics of barricade bricks is their permeability, which must be tailored to suit the operational environment of the mine. The ability of the barricade to control the hydraulic pressure within a stope application is crucial for safety and economic returns. In the current work practical barricade bricks were tested for permeability. As well, the strength and modulus of bricks were measured after being soaked in water for either 7 or 90 days so that a measure of their engineering functionality could be determined. The primary conclusions of this work are as follows. There was substantial deviation in permeability between bricks; however, the average permeability of the barricade bricks was several orders of magnitude larger than the values obtained for the hydraulic fill. This difference indicates that modelling efforts can assume that the barricade does not contribute to the pore pressure development within the fill. Hence the drainage of the system is not related to the permeability of these bricks provided that the barricades are built from the bricks in such a way that the construction or future migration of fines from the fill does not impede the drainage performance.

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Notes

  1. These ratios are based on estimates of mix proportions from one of the Australian barricade brick manufacturers.

  2. Ormonoid Brushable Waterproofer–Heavy duty brush on bitumen coating.

  3. Ormonoid Duraseal Bitumen based waterproofing putty.

  4. Selleys Space invader expanding filler, (300 g can).

  5. Selleys Roof and gutter translucent silicone

  6. 300 kPa was selected as the reference applied pressure because this value was more clearly marked on the dial gage; therefore minimising error.

  7. Hydraulic gradient, i, is defined as the energy (or head) loss, h, per unit length of material (l).

  8. These ratios are based on estimates of mix proportions from one of the Australian barricade brick manufacturers.

  9. Two independent laboratories were used to ensure validity of results, and there was no significant discrepancy between control samples.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to many companies who contributed to this work by providing samples, and their knowledge, insights and practical experiences. These companies are BHP Billiton, Mount Isa Brickworks, Newmont Australia, and Placer Dome Inc.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, James Cook University, Room EE110, Townsville, 4811, QLD, Australia

    Christopher C. Berndt, Kirralee J. Rankine & Nagaratnam Sivakugan

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11793, USA

    Christopher C. Berndt

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  1. Christopher C. Berndt
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  2. Kirralee J. Rankine
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  3. Nagaratnam Sivakugan
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Correspondence to Christopher C. Berndt.

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Berndt, C.C., Rankine, K.J. & Sivakugan, N. Materials properties of barricade bricks for mining applications. Geotech Geol Eng 25, 449–471 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-007-9122-y

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