The overall objective of this project is to reduce the injuries and fatalities associated with ground falls in underground mines by developing a state-of-the-art stability mapping system which tightly integrates geo-mechanical stress analysis, geological mapping and roof support design. The primary output of this project will be a user-friendly software program which takes the site-specific mining plan, geology, and stability criteria as input and produces a map of the mine showing the relative stability index of the different mining areas and the recommended support requirements for those areas. The calculated stability index in this program will include the appropriate geologic influences at the mine along with the geo-mechanical stress effects from overburden depth, pillar design, adjacent seams, stream valleys and other user-defined influences. The roof support recommendations in the program will be derived from present NIOSH research (Mark et al., 2001). The proposed software development will incorporate/modify/enhance present software (Auto CAD - drafting/mine mapping, SurvCADD - geologic modeling, and LaModel - mine stress analysis) as much as possible in order to speed the development and provide software that is already familiar to the mine design engineer. Once the software is created, the program will be field tested and validated with field studies at a couple of mines. Through this field-testing process, practical weighting factors for the various inputs to the stability index and practical support requirements can be developed and validated. Also, by working with producing mines, the practical application of the developed software can be evaluated and enhanced with input from practicing mine design professionals. Ultimately, the final stability mapping system will be transferred to the mining industry through publication, workshops, and other presentations as appropriate.
