Norilsk Nickel’s Polar Division, Norilsk, Russia:

M. P. Sergunin, Head of Department for Geotechnical Engineering Supervision of Mining, Center for Geodynamic Safety
A. E. Alborov, Director of Taimyrsky mine

Center for Geomechanics and Mining Practice, Saint-Petersburg State Mining University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia:
A. A. Andreev, Leading Engineer, aa-andlex@yandex.ru
M. A. Buslova, Engineer

The authors appreciate participation of V. P. Marysyuk, Yu. N. Nagovitsin, D. Kh. Gilyazev, A. A. Bazin and V. A. Gorpinchenko in this study.

The Oktyabrsky and Talnakh deposit are classified as rockburst-hazardous at the depths greater than 700 m. Protection of mining areas by stress relief drilling is advantageous for flexibility, low cost and high efficiency. The regulatory requirements set the minimal sizes for the protection zones (advance of the relieving front relative to the stoping front) to maintain the design performance of stoping with regard to safety berms. Optimization of the advance value based on geomechanical parameters is disregarded and unregulated. Purely economically, it is expedient to maintain a minimal advance as the relief drilling cost is the lowest in this case. It is found that widening of a stress relief zone is accompanied by a considerable decrease in the stress concentration factor in the maximum abutment pressure zone. The stress field pattern is the most favorable in this case, and the reduction in the maximal stresses mitigates the risk of events due to strata pressure in the leading development headings. Based on the accomplished analysis, with a view to improving geodynamic safety in rockbursthazardous areas in the test mines, it is recommended to enlarge the width of the stress relief zones above the minimal standard required by the conditions of stoping.

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