Stability Analysis of a Backfilled Room-and-Pillar Mine

摘要

Displacement and stress changes in cemented backfill and ore pillars at the BuickMine, near Boss, MO, were monitored by engineers from the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) and The Doe Run Co., St Louis, MO. A test area in this room-and-pillar mine was backfilled to provide support when remnant ore pillars were mined. Objectives of this research were to evaluate the effect of backfill on mine stability, observe backfill conditions during pillar removal, and calibrate a numeric model to be used to design other areas of the mine. Two-dimensional, finite-element and three-dimensional, displacement-discontinuity codes were used to model the study area. Combined with instrument data, these codes identified two failed pillars.