Abstract
There is no reason to question the fact that pulling from the cave resulted in fracturing the rock mass around the mine. Above the mine this process is validated by the fact that there was and still by the end of 2015 is production from the cave. If above the mine the rock mass would form one or a limited number of blocks then it would not be possible to mine out such rock mass. This is obvious. The rock mass above the mine was fractured and this fracturing process was recorded in form of seismicity. Seismicity was recorded not only from above the mine but also from below the mine. What more the amounts of recorded seismicity above and below the mine are not random in size and distribution but follow a specific consistent pattern. This pattern is controlled by the caving process and its milestones. From the beginning of 2002 until the end of 2013 about 50 % of the recorded seismicity, released seismic energy and seismic moment took place below the extraction level. This seismicity at some stage migrated down to −1200 m. This elevation will be the future Lift 2 Mine extraction level. In this chapter I have compared the seismicity recorded above the mine extraction level where the caving process took place and the rock mass was successfully mined out with that recorded below the mine. The rock mass below the mine will become Lift 2 cave. The main conclusion from this analysis is that the top volume of the potential Lift 2 rock mass is already de-stressed/preconditioned and fractured so it will cave rather than form an arch that will not cave resulting in the formation of a significant air void.
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Glazer, S.N. (2016). Seismic Preconditioning Below Lift 1 and Its Influence on the Cavability of Lift 2 Cave. In: Mine Seismology: Data Analysis and Interpretation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32612-2_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32612-2_10
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