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Rock Mechanics.pdf - Mining and Blasting

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Figure 14.9 A method of pillar recovery<br />

in open stoping, using a cohesive<br />

backfill to control stope-wall<br />

behaviour.<br />

BACKFILL APPLICATIONS IN OPEN AND BENCH STOPING<br />

The ability of cemented backfill to undergo autogenous healing, during placement of<br />

superincumbent layers of the fill mass, is also determined by the composition of the<br />

cementitious materials, <strong>and</strong> the physical conditions existing during curing.<br />

Pillar recovery adjacent to backfill usually involves detonation of explosive charges<br />

in rock close to the fill–rock interface, <strong>and</strong> questions arise about the effect of the<br />

associated dynamic loading on the integrity of the fill mass. Using the terminology<br />

adopted in Chapter 10, the difference in the characteristic impedances of rock <strong>and</strong><br />

backfill is such that very little dynamic strain energy can be transmitted into the<br />

fill medium. Nevertheless, even a low magnitude stress wave in a fill mass may be<br />

sufficient to cause sufficient pore pressure increase to pose a risk of liquefaction,<br />

particularly where the fill is saturated <strong>and</strong> close to the critical state, in soil mechanics<br />

terms. In the case where a blast hole is located close to the interface, i.e. within about<br />

10–15 blasthole diameters, the risk arises of detonation product gases acting directly<br />

on the fill surface. There is then an obvious risk of superficial damage to the fill<br />

structure.<br />

A key issue in the effective use of backfill for artificial support during pillar mining<br />

is complete integration of the initial, primary stoping phase with the subsequent phase,<br />

mining of pillar ore as secondary stopes. This requires that the general mining strategy<br />

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