The reduction of rockburst damage in SouthAfrican gold mines follows a number of strategies. The paperdescribes some of these including the concept of energyabsorption criteria for stope support and the methodology ofdetermining whether a given support system meets the criteriaThe use of energy absorbing hydraulic props is also described.The incidence of stope face bursting hiss been addressed by theuse of preconditioning where explosives are used to reduce thelockup of fractured material in the fractured zone ahead of thestops face which can result in high stresses and consequently face bursts.Rockburst damage and tunnel deformation can be severe insome of the gold mining districts. The use of yielding groutedtendons in combination with mesh and lace forms a supportsystem that is both able to absorb energy and confine thefractured rockmass and this support system is described in the paper.
展开▼
