The Value of Early Geotechnical Assessment in Mine Planning

摘要

Valuable data for geotechnical interpretation and integration into effectivernAustralian underground mine planning may often be available, yet is notrnalways fully appreciated or utilised, particularly in the early stages ofrnmine planning or in due diligence studies. There may be considerablernbenefits associated with early prioritisation of geotechnical evaluationrnand impact on mine planning.rnUnidentified, misinterpreted, or ill-defined adverse geological andrnrelated geotechnical resource characteristics can pose significant businessrnrisk to underground coal projects and operations. Preliminary resourcerndefinition in the early conceptual mine planning stages attributesrnsignificant focus (entirely warranted) on resource quality and structuralrngeology constraints. Yet detailed geotechnical data analysis andrninterpretation, which may have a substantial down stream impact andrnsensitivity with respect to future mine planning strategies, at times isrngiven lower priority, or scoped and resourced in the later stages of arnbankable feasibility study. Through extensive mine planning experiencernand observation of downstream process impacts, it has been found therernis often data available for geotechnical analysis that does not readilyrnstand out or is not adequately understood or utilised, available at the earlyrn(conceptual) stages of mine planning. Part of the issue may be thatrnexploration geologists are not necessarily experienced geotechnicalrnengineers and do not necessarily recognise or understand all importantrnparameters. Subject to appropriate application of experiencedrnprofessionals data can be manipulated to provide key geotechnical hazardrnassessment at minimal cost, and provide a framework for understandingrnand optimising the mine planning process.rnAlthough there is no single prescribed strategy for resource evaluationrnfrom a geotechnical perspective, potential business risks and mitigationrnapproaches can and should be adopted at the conceptual mine planningrnstage. There has been a recent focus in the metals industry to provide arnreporting framework for geotechnical classification of mining projects.rnThis paper outlines the strategies and gives examples of key analysesrnadopted in mine planning and discusses the relative merits of adopting arnreporting framework as a tool for geotechnical classification in minernplanning.