US A4 US ISSUE NUMBER 86 3RD QUAR TER 2012 IN THIS ISSUE: A CONVERSA TION WITH SANTIA GO CASTRO 02 APPL YING DEEP MINING EXPER TISE T O THE FRONTIERS OF RESEARCH 03 ROCK SUPPOR T DESIGNED FOR SUBMERGED TUNNEL 04 INNO V A TIVE APPROA CH T O MONIT ORING UNDERGROUND STRESSES 05-06 GEOHAZMAP© DA T A T OOL CAN POINT T O PO TENTIAL HAZARDS 07 PREDICTING IN SITU CONDITIONS T O AID WELL DEVELOPMENT 07 COLLABORA TIVE SPIRIT DELIVERS ROCK MASS CHARA CTERISA TION 08 NE WS FROM GOLDER 09-10 KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE 10 RIDD ARHOLMEN G amla stan SODERM ALM S oderstr om R ock R ock P iling S oil –20 –40 m –0 –20 –40 m 0 100 m 200 m 300 m –0 Submer ged tunnel C oncr et e tunnel R ock tunnel IN TODA Y’S WORLD MINES ARE DEEPER, CA VERNS ARE LARGER, TUNNELS ARE LONGER. PROJECTS COME UNDER INCREASED SCRUTINY DUE TO ENVIRONMENT AL AND SOCIAL A W ARENESS, AND T AKE LONGER TO DEVELOP AND BUILD. OFTEN, PROJECTS ARE LOCA TED IN MORE CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENTS, SUCH AS REMOTE AREAS OR DENSEL Y POPULA TED URBAN ZONES. W h i l e t h e s c i e n c e o f r o c k m e c h a n i c s i s a p p l i e d t o c i v i l e n g i n e e r i n g w o r k s a s w e l l a s m i n e s , t h e r e a r e f u n d a m e n t a l d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n t h e t w o w h e n i t c o m e s t o t h e a c t i ve l i f e o f e x c a va t i o n s a n d t h e l e ve l s o f a c c e p t a b l e r i s k . A n d , f o r a l l p r o j e c t s – w h e t h e r m i n i n g , o i l a n d g a s , o r c i v i l – t h e p r i c e t a g o f d o i n g b u s i n e s s f o r o u r c l i e n t s h a s s i g n i f c a n t l y i n c r e a s e d ove r t h e la s t f e w d e c a d e s . G i ve n t h e s i z e o f i n ve s t m e n t i n vo l ve d a n d g r e a t e r p u b l i c i n t e r e s t , c l i e n t s a r e i n c r e a s i n g l y c o n c e r n e d a b o u t a s s e s s i n g a n d m a n a g i n g r i s k . T h e s e r i s k s c a n r e la t e t o h e a l t h a n d s a f e t y i n vo l v i n g i n j u r i e s a n d f a t a l i t i e s; p r o j e c t d e la y s , a b a n d o n m e n t o r s h u t d o w n ; a n d a s s e t i m pa i r men t f rom d a m a g e d i n f r a s t r u c t u re or , i n t h e c a s e o f m i n i ng , d i l ut e d or s t eri l i s e d ore re s er v e s . R i s k a s s e s s m e n t r e s t s o n a d e q u a t e e va l u a t i o n o f r o c k m a s s b e h a v i o u r a n d r e s p o n s e t o e x c a va t i o n b a s e d o n a p p r o p r i a t e a n a l y s i s a n d m o d e l l i n g m e t h o d s . T h u s , i n i t i a l s i t e e va l u a t i o n a n d r o c k m a s s c h a r a c t e r i s a t i o n f o r m t h e f o u n d a t i o n o f a n y m i n i n g o r c i v i l p r oj e c t . O u r c l i e n t s t u r n t o u s a s r o c k e n g i n e e r i n g s p e c i a l i s t s t o b r i n g t e c h n o l o g y i m p r ove m e n t s i n f e l d d a t a a c q u i s i t i o n a t s i t e s . T h e s e i n c l u d e r e m o t e s t r u c t u r e m e a s u r e m e n t s a n d i m p r ove d c o r e o r i e n t a t i o n t e c h n i q u e s , w h i l e b o r e h o l e g e o p h y s i c s p r ov i d e t h e m e a n s t o a s s e s s t h e i n t e ns i t y o f f ra c t u r i n g i n s i t u . D a t a m a n a g e m e n t a n d a n a l y s i s h a ve a l s o e vo l ve d s i g n i f c a n t l y , w i t h t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f 3 D G I S p a c k a g e s a n d t h e a b i l i t y t o d e ve l o p r e a l i s t i c 3 D f r a c t u r e n e t w o r k s u s i n g i n n ova t i ve t o o l s s u c h a s Fr a c m a n ® . S o p h i s t i c a t e d n u m e r i c a l m o d e l l i n g t o o l s a r e a va i la b l e t o p r e d i c t i n s i t u a n d m i n i n g - i n d u c e d s t r e s s c o n d i t i o n s a n d t h e s e l e c t i o n o f t h e a p p r o p r i a t e e x c a va t i o n a n d gr o u n d s up po r t m e th od s . F or o p er a t i ng m i n e s , re a l - t i me mon i t ori ng me t h o d o l o g i e s , s u c h a s s e i s m i c mon i t ori ng n e t w o r k s t o t r a c k t h e r e s p o n s e o f t h e r o c k m a s s t o m i n i n g a n d a s s e s s h a z a r d s r e la t e d t o s e i s m i c a c t i v i t y a n d g r o u n d f a l l s , a r e ve r y i m p o r t a n t . W h e t h e r m i n i n g o r c i v i l , d e ve l o p e r s w a n t t h e m o s t c o m p r e h e n s i ve p a c k a g e o f a s s e s s m e n t a n d a n a l y s i s a va i la b l e , a s w e l l a s t h e e x p e r i e n c e t h a t a f r m s u c h a s G o l d e r h a s d e ve l o p e d ove r m o r e t h a n 5 0 y e a r s w o r k i n g a r o u n d t h e g l o b e i n r o c k e n g i n e e r i n g d e s i g n a n d p r o j e c t m a n a g emen t . ROCK MECHANICS MANA GING EDIT OR: ERIN JOHNSON DESIGN: MONIQUE GLO VER COPY WRITING: KAREN RAIHILL RAAJ CHANDRAN