Evaluation of structurally controlled rockfall hazard for underground excavations in seismically active areas of the Kiirunavaara mine

Sublevel caving operations at great depths are subjected both to large stress concentrations that are redistributed as the mining front progresses and to mining-induced seismicity. This is the case for Kiirunavaara mine, Sweden’s largest underground mine. Since the mine was declared seismically active in 2007 / 2008, large rockfalls controlled by structures have happened in many parts of the mine, despite the use of rock support systems designed for bearing dynamic loads. A novel layout for sublevel caving operations, internally named “fork layout” is being tested at a satellite mine. This layout was conceived to place the ore-parallel longitudinal footwall drifts further away from the contact between the orebody and footwall drifts. That way, the differential stresses that generate stress-related damages are expected to be reduced. However, the effect of implementing the fork layout on the hazard potential for structurally controlled rockfalls has not been studied in detail yet. Large rockfalls that occurred in different parts of the mine were analysed with respect to their structures, location of the damage event and type of excavation. The majority of these occurred at footwall drift intersections. Information from damage mapping and seismic events that triggered these rockfalls was used to generate a conceptual model that illustrates the relative spatial relation between the seismic source and damage location. In addition, the seismic source parameters of the events that triggered these rockfalls were processed using scaling laws to obtain ground motion parameters such as peak particle velocity and acceleration at the damage site. The effect of implementing the fork layout on rockfall hazard was tested in the intersections between footwall drifts and crosscuts (FD-CC), and intersections between access and footwall drifts (AD-FD) in two production blocks, using the traditional layout for sublevel caving mining as a point of comparison. Two different fork layouts were tested, FD-CC at 80° (or AD-FD at 100°) and FD-CC at 70° (or AD-FD at 110°). Structural data available from face mapping and oriented core logging was used to define predominant joint sets at the investigated blocks. Using the structural input, wedge volumes at the intersections were modelled deterministically and probabilistically in Unwedge. The variations in wedge volumes formed at the intersections between layouts were used as a proxy for rockfall potential, meaning that if a layout reduced the wedge size, the smaller the rockfall hazard if triggered by a seismic event, and vice versa. It was concluded that most rockfalls at the FD-CC intersections are controlled by structures from three major joint sets. It was observed that rockfalls at FD-CC intersections occurred more often at certain footwall drift orientations. Many seismic events that triggered these rockfalls are located close to the ore passes and generated ground accelerations between 0.5 to 10 times the gravity acceleration. Implementing fork layouts with FD-CC at 80° intersection angle generates larger wedges than the traditional layout and thus, scenarios with a higher rockfall hazard. On the other hand, using fork layouts with FD-CC at 70° intersection angle reduces wedge size at the southern FD-CC intersections; hence, the rockfall hazard is reduced in these intersections. In the northern FD-CC intersections, the wedge volumes are increased and thus, a higher rockfall potential is generated in these intersections. AD-FD at 110° intersection angle generates also a smaller rockfall hazard than the traditional layout in both production blocks