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Monitoring the performance of rock reinforcement

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Abstract

A rock mechanics program has been developed and implemented in order to achieve a safe and economical room and pillar extraction of the shallow dipping orebodies at the McArthur River Mine in Australia. Three closely spaced tabular orebodies have been targeted for extraction over the life of the mine and due to economics the lowermost number 2 orebody is being mined first. This paper formulates the calculation of the 2 Orebody hangingwall spans and the appropriate rock reinforcement design for the long-term stability of the room and pillar excavations. The field trials suggested that a rock beam was formed within the hangingwall of the room and pillar operations, arresting any vertical movement of the roof. The results indicated that the weight of the beam is transferred to the pillars via an arching process and there is no need for deep-anchored reinforcement.

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References

  • Logan, R.G., Leung, K. and Karelse, G.J. (1993) The McArthur River Project. In Proceedings of the International Symposium — World Zinc, Hobart.

  • Schubert, C.J. and Villaescusa, E. (1998) An approach to hard rock pillar design at the McArthur River Mine. The AusIMM Annual Conference, Mount Isa, pp. 255-259.

  • Villaescusa, E., Sandy, M.P. and Bywater, S. (1992) Ground support investigation and practices at Mt Isa. In Proceedings Rock Support in Mining and Underground Construction, P. Kaiser and D. McCreath (eds), Balkema, Sudbury, pp. 185-193.

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  • Villaescusa, E. and Wright, J. (1997) Permanent excavation reinforcement using cement grouted split set bolts. The AusIMM Proceedings, 1, 65-69.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mining Geomechanics, Western Australian School of Mines, PMB 22, Kalgoorlie, WA, 6430, Australia

    E. Villaescusa (Professor of)

  2. McArthur River Mining Pty Ltd, PO Box 36821, Winnellie, NT, 0821, Australia

    C.J. Schubert (Rock Mechanics Engineer)

Authors
  1. E. Villaescusa
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  2. C.J. Schubert
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Villaescusa, E., Schubert, C. Monitoring the performance of rock reinforcement. Geotechnical and Geological Engineering 17, 321–333 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008909123732

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008909123732

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