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Artificial concrete pillars as temporal support system to stabilize active stopes at Al Masane Al Kobra Mine, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

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Abstract

This study focuses on evaluating the stability and suitability of the designed artificial concrete pillars. The study describes stability of artificial concrete pillars in terms of stress change, plastic zone distribution, and convergence and displacement changes. The study considered experimental works, field measurements, and numerical approach. The artificial concrete pillars were constructed in a wide section of the orebody (≥ 15 m span), with some ground instability problems ranging from weak footwall and hanging wall formation to structural failure. Welded wire mesh together 75–100-mm-thick Shotcrete was also applied to the peripheral of the artificial concrete pillars to provide confinement, improve the shear strength, and prevent movement of the packs. Samples were extracted from the mixed concrete at the construction stage and taken for laboratory testing. The samples were tested locally from civil engineering laboratory. Material properties that were tested from the sample are the strength, density, Poisson’s ratio, cohesion, and internal friction angle. Empirical approach was conducted to determine stope stability. The material properties from the experimental models were used as input parameters in FLAC3D numerical code to simulate the effective of artificial pillars before and during stoping. In FLAC3D, simulations were conducted before and after artificial concrete pillars installed. The study results have demonstrated that the designed artificial concrete pillars can bear the weight of the above overburden rock, showed good stability itself, effectively prevent the destruction of the surrounding rock and overburden rock of the orebody, and achieve the purpose of mining support. The designed artificial concrete pillars can meet the needs of safety operation; however, the real-time stability monitoring should be emphasized at some key positions.

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The datasets produced during and/or investigated during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the management of Al Masane Al Kobra mine for the permission to study and publish this piece of work. Credit goes to the Underground Mine Manager Mr. Sinan B AVCI for the support he provided to the Al Masane Al Kobra Geotechnical team to ensure this piece of work is conducted and published. The authors also give thanks to the Itasca consulting group for the support in providing the FLAC3D license.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mining Department, Al Masane Al Kobra Mine, Najran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Daniel Mabeti, Sinan B. Avci & Noble Chifwaila

  2. School of Mines, Mining Department, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia

    Daniel Mabeti & Radhe Krishna

  3. Department of Geotechnical Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China

    Victor Mwango Bowa

  4. School of Mines and Minerals, Mining Department, Copperbelt University, Kitwe, Zambia

    Victor Mwango Bowa

Authors
  1. Daniel Mabeti
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  2. Sinan B. Avci
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  3. Noble Chifwaila
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  4. Victor Mwango Bowa
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  5. Radhe Krishna
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Victor Mwango Bowa.

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Responsible Editor: Zeynal Abiddin Erguler

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Mabeti, D., Avci, S.B., Chifwaila, N. et al. Artificial concrete pillars as temporal support system to stabilize active stopes at Al Masane Al Kobra Mine, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Arab J Geosci 17, 56 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-024-11861-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-024-11861-3

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