Evaluation of the Impact of Production Rate on Mine Seismicity: Mechanized Deep to Ultra-Deep Level Gold Mining Case Study Available to Purchase

According to the annual accident statistics released by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) in South Africa, a significant percentage of fatalities in South African Gold Mines emanates from faceburst incidents due to seismicity. As mining has been progressing towards deep to ultra-deep levels using conventional and mechanized mining methods, the occurrence of facebursts is still considered to be a problematic issue faced by the mines. In order to address this problem, a detailed study was undertaken at a deep to ultra-deep gold mine in South Africa. This paper assesses the relationship between the seismicity of the mine and the production rate. The results of the study have shown that seismicity of the mine rapidly increase when longhole stopes are extracted. On the other hand, the study also found that, when mining closer to geological structures, seismicity of the mine increases and the Rate of Energy Release also increases.