Insights from seismic analysis at Kiruna mine

Authors: Westley-Hauta, R; Meyer, S; Earl, P

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DOI https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/2465_91

Cite As:
Westley-Hauta, R, Meyer, S & Earl, P 2024, 'Insights from seismic analysis at Kiruna mine', in P Andrieux & D Cumming-Potvin (eds), Deep Mining 2024: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Deep and High Stress Mining, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 1383-1398, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/2465_91

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Abstract:
Kiruna is a sublevel caving mine in Kiruna, Sweden that produced more than 25 million tonnes in 2023. As mining gets deeper at Kiruna mine, analysis of seismic data to understand the nature of seismic risks has become more critical and the mine has had to continue developing strategies that mitigate the impact of seismicity. This paper will cover the evolving trends in mine seismicity since a large ML4.2 event in May 2020 resulted in changes to Kiruna’s production strategy and the closure of many mining areas. This includes a description of the mine’s seismic system and expansion plans, various quantitative analyses of the mine’s seismicity and insight into the use of moment tensor decompositions to understand the source mechanisms of rock mass failures.

Keywords: mine seismicity, seismic systems, source mechanisms

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