Utilisation d'une approche photogrammétrie-DFN pour l'évaluation des conditions structurales du projet minier souterrain Éléonore

La caractérisation des discontinuités mineures à l’échelle d’une galerie est cruciale en ingénierie minière, car elles contribuent à augmenter localement la perméabilité d’un massif rocheux et engendrer des instabilités structurales. L’utilisation de modèles discrets de joints (DFN) permet une représentation fidèle de ces conditions structurales. Cependant, les cartographies linéaires traditionnellement utilisées pour acquérir les intrants sont coûteuses en temps et entrainent des biais de mesures. Des logiciels disponibles commercialement reposant sur la photogrammétrie permettent d’opter pour la cartographie numérique surfacique. Les travaux réalisés permettent de confirmer que cette méthodologie réduit les biais engendrés par la cartographie linéaire. Lorsqu’intégrée à la calibration des modèles DFN de Baecher et de Veneziano, l’approche surfacique permet une représentativité statistique des conditions structurales d’orientation, de longueurs traces et d’intensité de fracturation observées sur le terrain. L’utilisation de DFN calibrés permet d’évaluer la conductivité hydraulique et le potentiel de génération d’instabilités structurales à l’échelle d’une galerie minière

Evaluation of methods for stope design in mining and potential of improvement by pre-investigations

The importance of stope design for mine planning is considerable. Therefore, stope design and its challenges have been in the focus of research for the past 50 years. Empirical, numerical and analytical methods for stope design have been developed over the past decades in order to improve this process. This thesis is assessing which areas for improvement there still are and which problems are still only unsatisfactorily solved. After establishing background knowledge about the importance of stope design for mine planning and evaluating the factors influencing stope design, the focus is laid on the development of stope design methods in the past, as well as current research related to the topic, to create a comprehensive overview of recent and future developments. This is done by means of a literature review and research analysis. On the other side, the mining industry´s needs and challenges related to stope design are assessed, by means of survey, mine visit and interview. The insights gained in both parts are compared and checked for potential harmonies and disharmonies. Finally, from those conclusions practical recommendations for the GAGS-project are extracted and consecutively presented. In stope design research the focus and dominance of empirical methods has slowly shifted towards more research being conducted in the area of numerical and analytical methods. It can also be concluded that numerical methods and personal expertise are far more important for stope design within industry than commonly assumed. It was identified that in order to improve stope design, it is desired to increase the amount of geotechnical data acquired, the software improved, and stope design integrated within the general mine planning process. Additionally, interesting insights were gained by an in-depth analysis of survey responses, for example, the outstanding importance of the cut-off grade for stope design within gold mining operations. In order to allow for an optimal acceptance of novel geotechnical methods for stope design, the acquired data should be implementable into stope design within three days, preferably be compatible or implemented within a software and allow for stope design to be integrated into general mine planning. To promote the benefits a comprehensive scientific case-study demonstrating the realized benefits should be performed

Emergent properties of microbial activity in heterogeneous soil microenvironments:Different research approaches are slowly converging, yet major challenges remain

Over the last 60 years, soil microbiologists have accumulated a wealth of experimental data showing that the usual bulk, macroscopic parameters used to characterize soils (e.g., granulometry, pH, soil organic matter and biomass contents) provide insufficient information to describe quantitatively the activity of soil microorganisms and some of its outcomes, like the emission of greenhouse gases. Clearly, new, more appropriate macroscopic parameters are needed, which reflect better the spatial heterogeneity of soils at the microscale (i.e., the pore scale). For a long time, spectroscopic and microscopic tools were lacking to quantify processes at that scale, but major technological advances over the last 15 years have made suitable equipment available to researchers. In this context, the objective of the present article is to review progress achieved to date in the significant research program that has ensued. This program can be rationalized as a sequence of steps, namely the quantification and modeling of the physical-, (bio)chemical-, and microbiological properties of soils, the integration of these different perspectives into a unified theory, its upscaling to the macroscopic scale, and, eventually, the development of new approaches to measure macroscopic soil characteristics. At this stage, significant progress has been achieved on the physical front, and to a lesser extent on the (bio)chemical one as well, both in terms of experiments and modeling. In terms of microbial aspects, whereas a lot of work has been devoted to the modeling of bacterial and fungal activity in soils at the pore scale, the appropriateness of model assumptions cannot be readily assessed because relevant experimental data are extremely scarce. For the overall research to move forward, it will be crucial to make sure that research on the microbial components of soil systems does not keep lagging behind the work on the physical and (bio)chemical characteristics. Concerning the subsequent steps in the program, very little integration of the various disciplinary perspectives has occurred so far, and, as a result, researchers have not yet been able to tackle the scaling up to the macroscopic level. Many challenges, some of them daunting, remain on the path ahead

Contribution to drift design using discrete fracture network modelling at the Éléonore mine in Canada.

Discrete fracture networks (DFN) were used to model the structural regime around mining drifts at the Éléonore underground mine in Canada. The generated DFN models were subsequently used to investigate the creation of rock wedges along the drifts that may impact the stability of the excavations. Photogrammetry tools were used to characterise the rock mass structural regime and provide the input data for the generated DFN models. The impact of the choice of employed DFN model on the analysis was investigated with reference to the stability of excavations. A series of parametric analyses demonstrated the sensitivity of the model to variations in the properties of the structural regime. The benefits of using stochastic modelling to capture the inherent variability are reviewed. The paper concludes with a discussion on the requirements for the appropriate implementation of the DFN methodology as part of a probabilistic design approach for mining drifts