Malan, D & Jooste, Y 2019, 'Layout design criteria for deep tabular mines: Quo vadis?', in W Joughin (ed.), Deep Mining 2019: Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Deep and High Stress Mining, The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Johannesburg, pp. 1-14, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1952_01_Malan
(https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/1952_01_Malan/)
Abstract: This paper describes aspects related to two design criteria used in the deep gold mines of South Africa, namely, average pillar stress (APS) and energy release rate (ERR). Early layout designs were based on trial and error and most of the recommendations of the 1924 Witwatersrand Rock Burst Committee are still valid today. The introduction of APS and ERR assisted greatly in reducing areas of high stress concentrations. Both criteria are of limited use, however, as it is not clear what the maximum value of APS for remnants should be, and ERR has a significant drawback as no dissipative mechanisms are incorporated to allow for rock failure. A numerical modelling study is described that illustrates the effect of total closure on the simulated APS and ERR values of a remnant. It is recommended that stress measurements are conducted below remnant areas to better calibrate the numerical models.