Composite paste barricade performance at Goldcorp Inc. Red Lake Mine, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Appropriate strength barricades and fill fences are a necessary component of underhand cut and fill mining operations and stoping operations in general. These important structures are subject to a number of stresses and strains as a result of the deposition and curing of the backfill material. Parametric monitoring of fill fences gives the engineer the required data to predict not only the behaviour of the paste backfill as it is being deposited, but also the ability to predict the deformation and eventual failure of the barricade. A study was undertaken to determine the performance of the paste barricades at Goldcorp Inc.'s Red Lake Mine using real time instrumentation to monitor the stresses, strains and deformation of paste and paste barricades during placement. The barricades at the mine are a standardised barricade comprised of 10 cm of shotcrete applied to a rebar skeleton spaced nominally 60 cm apart. In total, eight fill barricades were instrumented to determine the behaviour of the paste during the loading. Complementing the eight barricade tests, an instrumented destructive test was carried out to determine the ultimate capacity of the composite barricade. It was determined that the paste backfill behaves as a Rankine-like soil in the initial stages of placement with an average coefficient of lateral earth pressure, K a , of 0.56. The destructive test determined that the yielding stress of a paste barricade is approximately 100 kPa. The results of the investigation have resulted in operational changes in the placement of paste at the mine.

Analytical solution for determining the required strength of a side-exposed mine backfill containing a plug

“…Backfill composed of tailings or waste rock is commonly used to improve ground stability and to reduce ore dilution (Hassani and Archibald 1998;Li et al 2003Li et al , 2005Henderson 2004;Aubertin et al 2005Aubertin et al , 2008Aubertin et al , 2011Caceres et al 2006;Dirige and De Souza 2008;Aubertin 2009a, 2009b;Simms and Grabinsky 2009;Hughes et al 2010). It also helps reduce the environmental impact of mining operations (Aubertin et al 2002;Bussière 2007;Simms et al 2007).…”

Arsenic speciation in cemented paste backfills and synthetic calcium–silicate–hydrates

“…Such a backfilling provides mechanical strength to the mine stopes while ensuring improved ground stability (Belem and Benzaazoua, 2008;Hassani and Archibald, 1998;Hughes et al, 2010;Landriault et al, 1997). The main advantages of this technique are to provide better safety to the mine workers, as well as to enhance the recovery of the remaining ore.…”

Ground control in mining steeply dipping coal seams by backfilling with waste rock

“…Regarding the barricade for the backfilling of mined-out gob ( Figure 2), field measurement showed that the barricade tends to be stable in large stopes with a high binder content in cemented paste backfill, indicating the significance of the early development of bearing capacity in backfill (Thompson, Bawden, and Grabinsky, 2012). Hughes et al (2010) introduced a novel destructive fill fence test to evaluate the ultimate capacity of a barricade. To ensure stability, an optimal position exists for a barricade to bear a low backfill load Aubertin, 2009, 2011).…”