Challenges in Understanding and Managing Seismicity in Mines
There are multiple challenges in understanding and managing seismicity in mines.
Identifying Hazardous Situations from Seismic Events. Seismic events are dynamic stress waves, caused by rockmass failures. Some rockmass failures emit significant or large seismic events, but cause no visible rockmass damage. Some rockmass failures emit large seismic events, and have associated rockmass damage. In some occasions, this damage is severe.
The largest seismic events are more likely to be associated with rockmass damage, but the occurrence of large seismic events is relatively infrequent. Smaller seismic events are much less likely to result in rockmass damage, but they occur more frequently. Smaller seismic events can often be used to understand the occurrence of large seismic events. So, which seismic events are most important, and how do we best use that information?
Quantity of Data. In many mines, more than 5000 seismic events are recorded per year. How do we process and analyse the vast quantities of seismic data to give timely and useful mine planning and mine management information?
Retaining Knowledge Learned from Past Seismicity. Through the daily operation of seismic monitoring systems, geotechnical engineers often develop a quantitative or qualitative understanding of the most seismically active parts of the mine, and the cause-and-effect relations associated with mine seismicity. However, turnover of geotechnical personnel at mines is high. How do ensure that knowledge and past understanding of seismicity can be retained at minesites?
MS-RAP offers a solution to these challenges.
What is MS-RAP?
MS-RAP is a purpose built database with seismic data analysis and data interpretation tools. Seismic data is: imported manually or automatically into the database, filtered for data integrity, and stored in the database. The data can be: edited, sorted, plotted on mine plans, and analysed using mine seismology techniques. The intent of the program is to simplify the data analysis of mine seismicity, so that more emphasis can placed on data interpretation.
A key feature of MS-RAP is the sorting of seismic events into spatial clusters. High precision seismic data, which is seismic data with an average location error generally less than about 10 metres, has a strong tendency to cluster spatially. It is believed that each spatial cluster potentially represents a separate "seismic source". Each seismic source is caused by a unique combination of stress, structural geology, mining geometry, and mining practices. By analysing data on a cluster-by-cluster (or source-by-source) basis, it may be possible to determine the mechanism of the rock mass failure causing the seismicity. It is also possible to quantitatively rate the relative seismic hazard of each seismic source.
How to Get MS-RAP
MS-RAP is only available to the sponsors of the ACG's mine seismicity research. Short-term evaluation licences are available. Contact the ACG for further details.