Abstract
A major challenge in deep and high stress mining is managing seismic risk associated with blasting of production stopes and drift development to access the ore zones. The location, magnitude, and frequency of occurrence of seismic events are influenced by changes in stress, lithology, structure, and mining sequence rock properties such as brittleness. Mining induced seismicity can have significant safety and economic consequences for a mining operation.This paper presents a methodology for quantifying and integrating the influence of geological and structural characteristics to provide an improved understanding of the seismic hazards associated with drift development blasts. The method is based on multivariate statistics using a factor analysis of mixed data (FAMD) approach. It was demonstrated that specific geological and structural variables, at each drift segment, are correlated to the intensity of seismic responses to development blasting. A greater understanding of the critical factors provides a greater confidence in managing of seismicity. A further significant benefit is that the FAMD results can be used to prioritize the data collection for geological characterization to improve our understanding of seismic response after development blasts. This can be fully integrated in a cost benefit analysis that is critical for seismic risk management.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are currently not publicly available. They will become available on the completion of a PHD thesis.
References
Agico Eagle (2023) LaRonde Complex, Cadillac, northwestern Quebec, Canada. https://www.agnicoeagle.com/English/operations/operations/laronde/default.aspx
Albrecht J, Potvin Y (2005) Identifying the factors that control rockbursts damage to underground excavations RaSiM6. In: Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium on Rockbursts and Seismicity in Mines Proceedings, Perth. https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/574_56_Albrecht/
Alcott JM, Kaiser PK, Simser BP (1998) Use of micro seismic source parameters for rockbursts hazard assessment. Pure Appl Geophys 153(1):41–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s000240050184
Andrieux P, Simser B (2001) Ground-stability-based mine design guidelines at the Brunswick Mine. https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=fr&lr=&id=N9Xpi6a5304C&oi=fnd&pg=PA207&dq=brad+simser&ots=AIICvdMiZd&sig=51gnJ1DvL5NAvMAsHeiaRc-zWww&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=brad%20simser&f=false
Andrieux P, Blake W, Hedley DGF, Nordlund E, Phipps D, Simser B, Swan G (2013) Rockburst case histories: 1985, 1990, 2001 & 2013. Sudbury, ON: CAMIRO Mining Division for the Deep Mining Research Consortium.
Van Aswegen G (2005) outine Seismic Hazard Assessment in some South African Mines RaSiM6: Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium on Rockburst and Seismicity in Mines Proceedings, Perth. https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/574_45_vanAswegen/
Atulya VLB, Espley S, Price M, Moreau-Verlaan L., Sampson-Forsythe A (2022) Seismic hazard assessment and mapping: a comprehensive case study at Vale’s Garson Mine, Sudbury, ON Canada. RaSim10 Rockbursts and Seismicity in Mines, Tucson, Arizona.
Brown LG (2021) Quantifying discrete seismic responses to mining. Can Geotech J 58(7):1023–1035. https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2020-0248
Brown LG, Hudyma MR (2017) Identification of stress change within a rock mass through apparent stress of local seismic events. Rock Mech Rock Eng 50(1):81–88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-016-1092-z
Brown LG, Hudyma MR (2018) Mining Induced Seismicity in Canada: A 2017 Update. Paper presented at the 52nd U.S. Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium, Seattle, Washington, United States.
Cai M, Kaiser PK, Martin CD (2001) Quantification of rock mass damage in underground excavations from microseismic event monitoring. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 38(8):1135–1145. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1365-1609(01)00068-5
Card KD (1990) A review of the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield, a product of Archean accretion. Precambr Res 48(1–2):99–156
Cheung DJ (2010) Design risk assessment for burst-prone mines Laurentian University Sudbury.
Chinnasane DR, Yao M, Landry D, Paradis‐Sokoloski P (2012) Performance of dynamic support system in highly burst prone ground conditions at Vale’s Copper Cliff Mine - a case study. In: Deep Mining 2012: Proceedings of the Sixth International Seminar on Deep and High Stress Mining, Perth. https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/1201_04_chinnasane/
Cochrane L (1991) Analysis of the structural and tectonic environment associated with rock mass failures in the mines of the Sudbury District: Unpublished PhD thesis, Queens University.
Coulson AL (2009) Investigation of the pre to post peak strength state and behaviour of confined rock masses using mine induced microseismicity. PhD Thesis, University of Toronto.
Daigneault R, Mueller WU, Chown EH (2002) Oblique Archean subduction: accretion and exhumation of an oceanic arc during dextral transpression, Southern Volcanic Zone. Abitibi Subprovince Canada Precambrian Res 115(1–4):261–290
Dodge DA, Sprenke KF (1992) Improvements in mining induced microseismic source locations at the Lucky Friday mine using an automated whole-waveform analysis system. Pure Appl Geophys 139(3):609–626. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00879954
Durrheim RJ, Roberts MKC, Haile AT, Hagan TO, Jager AJ, Handley MF, Spottiswoode SM, Ortlepp WD (1998) Factors influencing the severity of rockburst damage in South African gold mines. J South Afr Inst Min Metall 98(2):53–57
Eremenko VA, Eremenko AA, Rasheva SV, Turuntaev SB (2009) Blasting and the man-made seismicity in the tashtagol mining area. J Min Sci 45(5):468. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10913-009-0058-x
Escofier B (1979) Une représentation des variables dans l’analyse des correspondances multiples. Revue De Statistique Appliquée 27(4):37–47
Foucault A, Raoult JFO (2005) Dictionnaire de géologie, 6e edn. Dunod. Universciences. Sciences de la terre, Paris
Gibowicz SJ, Kijko A (1994) An introduction to mining seismology, vol 55. Academic Press, San Diego
Gibowicz SJ, Lasocki S (2001) Seismicity induced by mining: ten years later. Adv Geophys 44:39–181
Goulet A, Grenon M, Hadjigeorgiou J (2022) Understanding the impact of alteration on rock mass strength. Geotech Geol Eng 40(5):2533–2552. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-021-02044-y
Goulet A, Grenon M, Morissette P, Woodward K, Wesseloo J (2018) Properties of large-scale geological features and seismic responses affecting strainburst potential in deep underground mines. In: ISRM International symposium-10th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium. OnePetro, 2018
Gutenberg B, Richter CF (1944) Frequency of earthquakes in California. Bull Seismol Soc Am 34(4):185–188. Hanks et Jonhson 1976
Hanks TC, Kanamori H (1979) A moment magnitude scale. J Geophys Res 84:2348–2350
Heal D, Hudyma M, Vezina F (2005) Seismic hazard at Agnico-Eagle's Laronde Mine using MS-RAP'. Paper presented at the CIM Maintenance Engineering and Mine Operators Conference.
Heal D, Hudyma M, Potvin Y (2006) Evaluating rockburst damage potential in underground mining. Golden Rocks 2006, The 41st US Symposium on Rock Mechanics (USRMS),
Hudyma M, Heal D, Mikula P (2003) Seismic monitoring in mines–Old technology–New Applications. In: Proceedings 1st Australian ground control in mining conference, Sydney, p. 201–218.
Hudyma MR (2008) Analysis and interpretation of clusters of seismic events in mines. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Western Australia Perth.
Husson F (2018) FactoMineR–FAMD: multivariate exploratory data analysis and data mining. R Package Version 1:41
Karampinos E, Hadjigeorgiou J, Turcotte P, Mercier-Langevin F (2015) Large-scale deformation in underground hard-rock mines. J South Afr Inst Min Metall 115(7):645–652
Kgarume TE, Spottiswoode SM, Durrheim RJ (2010) Deterministic properties of mine tremor aftershocks. In: Van Sint Jan M, Potvin Y (eds) Proceedings of deep and high stress mining. Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Santiago, Chile, pp 227–237.
Kijko A, Skordas E, Wahlström R, Mäntyniemi P (1993) Maximum likelihood estimation of seismic hazard for Sweden. Nat Hazards 7(1):41–57
Malek F, Leslie I (2006) Using seismic data for rockburst re-entry protocol at INCO's Copper Cliff North Mine. In: Golden Rocks 2006, The 41st US Symposium on Rock Mechanics (USRMS),
McGaughey WJ (2014) 4D data management and modelling in the assessment of deep underground mining hazard Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Deep and High Stress Mining, Sudbury. https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/1410_04_McGaughey/
Mendecki AJ, Lynch RA (2004) GAP601a: Experimental and theoretical investigations of fundamental processes in mining induced fracturing and rock instability close to excavations. ISS International Limited, Johannesburg.
Mercer RA, Bawden WF (2005a) A statistical approach for the integrated analysis of mine induced seismicity and numerical stress estimates, a case study—Part II: evaluation of the relations. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 42(1):73–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2004.07.003
Mercer RA, Bawden WF (2005b) A statistical approach for the integrated analysis of mine-induced seismicity and numerical stress estimates, a case study—Part I: developing the relations. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 42(1):47–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2004.07.006
Mercier-Langevin F, Hadjigeorgiou J (2011) Towards a better understanding of squeezing potential in hard rock mines. Min Technol 120(1):36–44. https://doi.org/10.1179/037178411x12942393517372
Mercier-Langevin P, Dubé B, Hannington M, Davis D, Lafrance B, Gosselin G (2007) The LaRonde Penna Au-rich volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit, Abitibi greenstone belt, Quebec: Part I. Geol Geochronol Econ Geol 102(4):585–609
Mercier-Langevin F, Hudyma MR (2007) The Development and Implementation of a Comprehensive Seismic Risk Management Plan at Agnico-Eagle's LaRonde Mine. In: Proceedings of the fourth international seminar on deep and high stress mining, Perth. https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/711_15_Mercier/
Mercier-Langevin F, Wilson D (2013) Lapa Mine—ground control practices in extreme squeezing ground. Ground Support 2013, Perth, Australia.
Mollison L, Sweby G, Potvin Y (2001) Changes in mine seismicity following a mine shutdown. In: Proceedings First Australasian ground control in mining conference, Sydney, pp. 187–197.
Morissette P, Hadjigeorgiou J (2019) Ground support design for dynamic loading conditions: a quantitative data-driven approach based on rockburst case studies. J Rock Mech Geotech Eng. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2019.03.002
Morissette P, Hadjigeorgiou J, Thibodeau D (2014) Investigating the dynamic-load demand on support systems using passive monitoring data. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 67:115–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2014.01.012
Morissette P, Hadjigeorgiou J, Punkkinen A (2016) Characterisation of burst-prone grounds at Vale’s Creighton Mine. Min Technol 126(3):123–138
Nordstrom E, Dineva S, Nordlund E (2020) Back analysis of short-term seismic hazard indicators of larger seismic events in deep underground mines (LKAB, Kiirunavaara Mine, Sweden). Pure Appl Geophys 177(2):763–785
Norman GW (1946) Major faults, Abitibi region, Quebec. Can Min Metal Bull 39:129–144
Ortlepp W (1992) The design of support for the containment of rockburst damage in tunnels-an engineering approach. In: Kaiser P, McCreath D (eds) Rock support in mining and underground construction, pp 593–609.
Pages J (2004) Analyse factorielle de données mixtes. Revue Statistique Appliquée Tome 52(4):93–111
Poplawski R (1997) Seismic parameters and rockburst hazard at Mt Charlotte mine. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 34(8):1213–1228
R Core Team (2020) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL https://www.R-project.org/.
Sasseville G, Turcotte P, Falmagne V (2022) Control Measures to Manage Seismic Risk at the LaRonde Mine, a Deep and Seismically Active Operation. Paper presented at the ARMA, American Rock Mechanics Association, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
Scheepers L (2022) A case study of geotechnical conditions affecting mining-induced seismicity in a deep tabular mine. J South Afr Inst Min Metall 122(3):115–124
Scheepers L, Malan DF (2022) A case study of geotechnical conditions affecting mining-induced seismicity in a deep tabular mine. J South Afr Inst Min Metall 122(3):115–124
Simser B, Butler T (2022) The Value of Recording Small Mining Induced Microseismic Events with Examples from Glencore’s Nickel Rim South Mine. RaSim10 Rockbursts and Seismicity in Mines, Tucson, Arizona.
Simser BP, Andrieux PP, Peterson DA, Macdonald TA, Alcott JM (1998) Advanced monitoring and analysis of microseismic activity as an aid to mining at Brunswick Mines. Int J Rock Mech Mining Sci (Oxford, England: 1997), 35(4):389–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0148-9062(98)00089-8
Simser B (2006) Seismic Monitoring Applications at Falconbridge's Craig and Onaping Mines. Golden Rocks 2006, The 41st U.S. Symposium on Rock Mechanics (USRMS),
Simser B (2016) Design of rockburst support systems for deep hard rock mines. In X.-T. Feng (Ed.), Excavation, Support and Monitoring (Vol. 4). CRC Press. https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=fr&lr=&id=FTkkDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA279&dq=Design+of+rockburst+support+systems+for+deep+hard+rock+mines.+In:+Feng+XT,+editor.+Rock+mechanics+and+engineering&ots=gJ3laoEWv7&sig=EGaWKXpv9gTklJrsn5ntKamYNp8&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
Simser B (2022) Applied Seismic Monitoring for Decision Making in Deep Hard Rock Mines. RaSim10 Rockbursts and Seismicity in Mines, Tucson, Arizona.
Snelling PE, Godin L, McKinnon SD (2013) The role of geologic structure and stress in triggering remote seismicity in Creighton Mine, Sudbury, Canada. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 58:166–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2012.10.005
Spottiswoode SM (2010) Mine seismicity: Prediction or forecasting? J South Afr Inst Min Metall 110(1):11–20
Stacey TR, Hadjigeorgiou J (2022) Quantified Value-created Process (QVP) - A value-based process for mine design and operating decisions. J Southern Afr Inst Mining Metal 122(2):73–82. https://doi.org/10.17159/2411-9717/1691/2022
Tierney SR, Woodward KR, Wesseloo J (2019) Seismic exclusions and re-entry from a risk perspective. In: Wesseloo J (ed) MGR 2019: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Mining Geomechanical Risk, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp 181–194, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1905_08_Tierney.
Trifu CI, Urbancic TI (1996) Fracture coalescence as a mechanism for earthquakes: observations based on mining induced microseismicity. Tectonophysics 261(1):193–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(96)00066-2
Tuleau J, Woodward K, Grenon M, Lajoie PL (2018) Blast induced seismic response at the Goldcorp Eleonore mine: identification, delineation and characterization. In: Paper presented at the ISRM International Symposium—10th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium.
Turcotte P (2014) Practical applications of a rockburst database to ground support design at LaRonde Mine. In: Paper presented at the seventh international conference on deep and high stress mining, Sudbury, Canada.
Urbancic TI, Trifu CI, Young RP (1993) Microseismicity derived fault-Planes and their relationship to focal mechanism, stress inversion, and geologic data. Geophys Res Lett 20(22):2475–2478. https://doi.org/10.1029/93GL02937
Urbancic T, Young R, Bird S, Bawden W (1992) Microseismic source parameters and their use in characterizing rock mass behaviour: considerations from Strathcona mine. Proceedings of 94th annual general meeting of the CIM: rock mechanics and strata control sessions, Montreal
Vallejos JA, McKinnon SD (2008) Guidelines for development of re-entry protocols in seismically active mines. The 42nd US Rock Mechanics Symposium (USRMS),
Vallejos JA, McKinnon SD (2010) Temporal evolution of aftershock sequences for re-entry protocol development in seismically active mines. In: The 5th International Seminar on Deep and High Stress Mining Santiago, Chile.
Vatcher J, McKinnon SD, Sjöberg J (2016) Developing 3-D mine-scale geomechanical models in complex geological environments, as applied to the Kiirunavaara Mine. Eng Geol 203:140–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2015.07.020
Vatcher J, McKinnon SD, Sjöberg J (2017) Geomechanical characteristics inferred from mine-scale rock mass behaviour. In: Paper presented at the Deep Mining 2017: Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Deep and High Stress Mining, Perth. https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/1704_37_Vatcher/
Woodward K, Wesseloo J (2015) Observed spatial and temporal behaviour of seismic rock mass response to blasting. J South Afr Inst Min Metall 115(11):1044–1056
Woodward K, Wesseloo J, Potvin Y (2017) Temporal delineation and quantification of short-term clustered mining seismicity. Pure Appl Geophys 174(7):2581–2599. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-017-1570-6
Yao M, Chinnasane DR, Harding D (2009) Mitigation plans for mining in highly burst-prone ground conditions at Vale Inco Copper Cliff North Mine. In: Proceedings of the 3rd CANUS rock mechanics symposium.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the excellent collaboration and contributions of the LaRonde management and mining personnel. This project was made possible by the financial support of Fonds Nature et technologies—FRQNT.
Funding
Fonds Nature et technologies–FRQNT, Quebec Canada, funded this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Audrey Goulet performed material preparation, data collection, and analysis. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Audrey Goulet and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interests
Authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Ethics approval
The authors respected the rules of good scientific practice outlined in the submission guidelines.
Consent to participate:
All authors consented to participate in the redaction of this manuscript.
Consent to publish
All authors agreed with the content and gave explicit consent to submit and they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before the work was submitted.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Goulet, A., Grenon, M. & Hadjigeorgiou, J. Understanding Seismic Hazards Associated with Development Mining: The Role of Local Geology and Structures. Geotech Geol Eng (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-023-02721-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-023-02721-0