Research Reports

It is the ACG’s policy to make the results of research available, wherever possible, through publication of final reports. The following reports are available for purchase.

Underground Mining

• Towards the Elimination of Rockfall Fatalities in Australian Mines
• Australian Rockfall Research Phase II

Open Pit Mining

• Further Research into Methods of Analysing the Stability
  of Deep Open Pit Mines
• Integrated Monitoring Systems for Open Pit Wall Deformation
• Three-Dimensional Evaluation of In-Situ Stress Field at Mt Whaleback
• Stability Analysis for Deep Open Pit Mines

Environmental Geomechanics

• Metallurgical Mine Tailings Rehabilitation
• Saline Tailings Disposal and Decommissioning

Generic

• An Integrated Study of Foundation Systems in Calcerous Sediments

Metallurgical Mine Tailings Rehabilitation

Authors: D. Jasper (Centre for Land Rehabilitation, UWA) and Z.Yibin, W.Yunming and Y.W. Shen (Maanshan Institute of Mining Research, P.R.China)
Published: October 2002
Number of Pages: 196 pages
Report No.: ACG:1010-02

Table of contents

Introduction

Readership: Mine managers, site supervisory personnel, environmental officers and operators.

The project involved a trial study of rehabilitation of the side slopes of embankments raised by the upstream construction method to be undertaken on a large tailings facility at Gushan and for associated laboratory trials to be undertaken by MIMR at Maanshan. In order to equip MIMR personnel with the appropriate skills, a qualified Chinese researcher undertook a 12 months training program with the Centre for Land Rehabilitation (CLR) at the UWA in Perth, and in addition, various items of equipment were purchased for MIMR. Together, these provided MIMR with the capability to undertake similar work on other projects in China.

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Saline Tailings Disposal and Decommissioning

Authors: T.A. Newson and M. Fahey (UWA)
Published: April 1998
Number of Pages: Volume 1: 268 pages, Volume 2:
Report No.: ACG:1004-98 (A) and (B)
MERIWA Project M241 (MERIWA Report No. 189)

Readership: Mine managers, site supervisory personnel, environmental officers and operators.

This report is an essential source of information on the consolidation behaviour of tailings, particularly the saline tailings produced by the gold industry of Western Australia. The findings from the consolidation modelling and evaporation studies are significant.

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Further Research into Methods of Analysing the Stability of Deep Open Pit Mines

Authors: C.F. Swindells (Golder Associates), M.A. Coulthard (Coulthard & Associates), D.P. Adhikary (UWA), and C. Wang, R. Ganeswaran and T.S. Golosinski (WA School of Mines)
Published: October 2000
Number of Pages: 243
Report No.: ACG:1007-00

Table of Contents

Introduction

Readership: Mine personnel involved in the management and operation of open pit mines.

This extension to the collaborative research project on slope stability consists of a study of the interaction between open pit slopes and underground workings relevant to Western Australian operations. Case histories are being used from China and Western Australia.

The work included centrifuge modelling of underground openings;
numerical modelling of the proposed underground mine at Daye (China) as well as the centrifuge models; physical testing of backfilling materials which are proposed for use in the mine backfill at Daye (China).

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Integrated Monitoring Systems for Open Pit Wall Deformation

Authors: X. Ding, S.B. Montgomery, M. Tsakiri (Curtin University), C.F. Swindells (Golder Associates), and R.J. Jewell (ACG)
Published:  June 1998
Number of Pages: 148 pages
Report No.: ACG:1005-98
MERIWA Project M236 (MERIWA Report No. 186)

Report content:

• Review of slope monitoring techniques and practices
• Development of an automatic slope monitoring system
• Study of robotic survey systems for pit slope monitoring
• Development of techniques and software for survey data processing and analysis
• Analysis and modelling of deformation monitoring data
• Study of GPS technology for pit monitoring

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An Integrated Study of Foundation Systems in Calcareous Sediments

Authors: M.F. Randolph, P.G. Watson, M.F. Bransby and M. Fahey (UWA)
Published: October 1999
Number of Pages: 108 pages
Report No.: ACG:1006-99
MERIWA Project M268 (MERIWA Report No. 207)

Future developments of offshore facilities around Australia must address the challenges of deep water and the potential lack of any substanial cemented sediments near the surface. The report explores the design framework for alternative foundation systems in weak, calcareous sediments, calibrated through physical model tests. Attention was focussed on two main foundation types, namely piles under lateral loading, and skirted foundations (caissons) under combined vertical, moment and horizontal loading.

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Towards the Elimination of Rockfall Fatalities in Australian Mines

(Phase I Report)

Authors: Y. Potvin (ACG), P. Nedin (Underground Mining Solutions), M. Sandy (AMC Consultants), K. Rosengren (Kevin Rosengren and Associates) and M. Rosengren.
Published: December 2001
Number of pages: 54 Pages
Report No.: ACG:1009-01
MERIWA Project M341 (MERIWA Report No. 223)

Table of Contents

Readership: Underground mining engineers, OHS personnel, research institutions, rock mechanics engineers, trainers and geotechnical engineers.

Rockfall: An uncontrolled fall of ground of significant size in an entry area, or an uncontrolled fall of ground of any size that causes (or potentially causes) injury or damage.

It is estimated that in the last decade, falls of ground caused 25% of all lost time injuries and 40% of all fatal accidents in Western Australian underground mines. This one-year industry project created arguably the most comprehensive database on rockfalls, investigating more than 750 incidents that occurred between 1993 and 2001. The research findings provide industry with an essential source of information to reduce the incidence of rockfall related injuries and accidents.

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Australian Rockfall Research

(Phase II Report)

Authors: Y. Potvin (ACG) and P. Nedin (Underground Mining Solutions).

Published: March 2005
Number of pages: 59 Pages
Report No.: ACG:1018-05
MERIWA Project M360 (MERIWA Report No. 247)

Table of Contents

Executive Summary and Introduction

Readership: Underground mining engineers, OHS personnel, research institutions, rock mechanics engineers, trainers and geotechnical engineers.

Following on from the successful Phase One of the rockfall research, phase two sought to more accurately identify the magnitude and consequences of mine rockfall. 

The database was expanded to further explore how rockfall injuries occur near the face. In particular, the exposure of personnel to potential rockfall injuries while carrying out their daily tasks is investigated by "mapping" the processes involved in the different mining activities near an active development mining face. New data was collected to better characterise the rockfall risk away from active faces, including intersections.

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