NorNickel’s Polar Division, Norilsk, Russia

T. P. Darbinyan, Director, Department of Mining Practice, Candidate of Engineering Sciences

Research Center for Geomechanics and Mining Practice Problems, Empress Catherine II Saint-Petersburg Mining University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
E. S. Zherlygina, Senior Researcher, Geodynamic Safety Laboratory, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, Zherlygina_ES@pers.spmi.ru
A. A. Andreev, Head of Projects
A. K. Popov, Engineer, Laboratory for Ground Pressure at Metalliferous and Nonmetal Deposits

The long-term operating experience of mines reveals some adverse factors to affect safety of mining under water bodies. It is highly risky if water inflow jumps during mining in such conditions. The main criterion of safety in this regard is selected to be the safe mining depth under a water body. The safe mining depth can be expressed numerically in terms of the height of a zone of mining-induced water-conducting fractures. The authors propose an approach based on the calculation procedure of the fractured water-conducting zone height which is numerically equivalent to the safe mining depth since “the safe mining depth under water bodies is a minimum depth below which mining operations induce no water inrushes in underground openings from undermined water objects”. Since water inrushes occur in water-conducting fractures, it is valid to consider their propagation height as a value of the safe mining depth. The procedure is proposed by Professor V. N. Gusev, Surveying Department of the Saint-Petersburg Mining University. At the research stage and in the course of pre-projects works at ore mining companies, the procedure can be applied to various geological and geotechnical conditions. If the knowledge of geology of the impermeable rock mass is insufficient, the procedure can help perform an aggregative estimate of risk of water ingress to mined-out voids from an undermined water-bearing object. Using this estimate, it is possible to identify a portion of a deposit (ore body) which is safely mineable irrespective of the structure and properties of the impermeable rock mass, even in the most unfavorable conditions.

1. Baryakh A. A., Gubanova E. A. On flood protection measures for potash mines. Journal of Mining Institute. 2019. Vol. 240. pp. 613–620.
2. Galkin S. V., Krivoshchekov S. N., Kozyrev N. D., Kochnev A. A., Mengaliev A. G. Accounting of geomechanical layer properties in multi-layer oil field development. Journal of Mining Institute. 2020. Vol. 244. pp. 408–417.
3. Zambrano D., Kovshov S. V., Lyubin E. A. Risk assessment of accidents due to natural factors at the Pascuales—Cuenca multiple-use pipeline (Ecuador). Journal of Mining Institute. 2018. Vol. 230. pp. 190–196.
4. Lee S. C. H., Noh K. A. M., Zakariah M. N. A. High-resolution electrical r esistivity tomography and seismic refraction for groundwater exploration in fracture hard rocks : A case study in Kanthan, Perak, Malaysia. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. 2021. Vol. 218. ID 104880.
5. Zamorkina Y., Popov A., Belova M., Shabarov A. N., Pellet F. L. Complex approach to the allocation of hazardous areas within the mine field. Rock Mechanics for Natural Resources and Infrastructure Development—Full Papers : Proceedings of the 14^th International Congress on Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. Leiden : CRC Press/Balkema, 2020. Vol. 6. pp. 1456–1464.
6. Gusev V. N. Forecasting safe conditions for developing coal bed suites under aquifers on the basis of geomechanics of technogenic water conducting fractures. Journal of Mining Institute. 2016. Vol. 221. pp. 638–643.
7. Gusev V. N. Taking into account thickness, mechanical properties and location of rock mass layers when in bending. MIAB. 2000. No. 6. pp. 128–129.
8. Fatin H. J. Al., Mustafin M. G., Ismael H. S. Geodetic deformation monitoring in the dam-reservoir system. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. 2019. Vol. 698, Iss. 4. ID 044012.
9. Zherlygina E. S., Kiselev V. A., Savelyev D. S. Optimization of surveying works at mining enterprises in the conditions of using automated measuring instruments. Topical Issues of Rational Use of Natural Resources 2019 : Proceedings of XV International Forum-Contest of Students and Young Researchers under the auspices of UNESCO. Leiden : CRC Press/Balkema, 2020. Vol. 1. pp. 124–129.
10. Vásárhelyi B., Kovács D. Empirical methods of calculating the mechanical parameters of the rock mass. Periodica Polytechnica Civil Engineering. 2017. Vol. 61, No. 1. pp. 39–50.
11. Yakovlev V. L., Kornilkov S. V., Rasskazov I. Yu., Tkach S. M. Integrated subsoil use and territorial development in difficult natural environments and adverse climatic conditions. Gornyi Zhurnal. 2019. No. 6. pp. 84–89.
12. Zimin I. I. Geodynamic safety in implementation of coal mine closure. High-End Technologies of Mineral Mining and Use : International Conference. Novokuznetsk, 2015. No. 2. pp. 327–330.
13. Morozov K., Shabarov A., Kuranov A., Belyakov N., Zuyev B. et al. Geodynamic monitoring and its maintenance using modeling by numerical and similar materials methods. Problems in Geomechanics of Highly Compressed Rock and Rock Massifs : Proceedings of the 1^st International Scientific Conference. 2019. E3S Web of Conferences. 2019. Vol. 129. ID 01012.
14. Kotikov D. A., Shabarov A. N., Tsirel S. V. Connecting seismic event distribution and tectonic structure of rock mass. Gornyi Zhurnal. 2020. No. 1. pp. 28–32.
15. Marysyuk V. P., Sabyanin G. V., Andreev A. A., Vilner M. A. Mechanism of deformation in rock mass surrounding intersection of mine shaft and salt bed. Gornyi Zhurnal. 2021. No. 2. pp. 21–26.
16. Sidorov D. V., Ponomarenko T. V. Estimation methodology for geodynamic behavior of nature-and-technology systems in implementation of mineral mining projects. Gornyi Zhurnal. 2020. No. 1. pp. 49–52.
17. Annual report about the activity of the federal service for ecological, technological and nuclear inspection in 2022. Moscow, 2023. 380 p.
18. Shabarov A. N., Kuranov A. D., Kiselev V. A. Assessing the zones of tectonic fault influence on dynamic rock pressure manifestation at Khibiny deposits of apatite-nepheline ores. Eurasian Mining. 2021. No. 2. pp. 3–7.
19. Gospodarikov A. P., Morozov K. V., Revin I. E. A method of data interpretation in seismicity and deformation monitoring in underground mining in terms of the Kukisvumchorr deposit of Apatit company. MIAB. 2019. No. 8. pp. 157–168.
20. Sidorov D. V., Potapchuk M. I., Sidlyar A. V. Forecasting rock burst hazard of tectonically disturbed ore massif at the deep horizons of Nikolaevskoe polymetallic deposit. Journal of Mining Institute. 2018. Vol. 234. pp. 604–611.
21. PB 07–269–98. Safety rules for structures and natural objects to be protected from hazardous influence of underground coal mining. Saint-Petersburg : VNIMI, 1998. 291 p.
22. Gvirtsman B. Ya., Katsnelson N. N., Boshenyatov E. V. et al. Safe coal mining under water-bearing objects. Moscow : Nedra, 1977. 175 p.
23. Skvortsov A. G., Kostenko V. I., Butko V. V. et al. Method for determining thickness of the zone of water conducting joints in extracting coal seam under a water reservoir. Patent SSSR, No. 1661423. Applied: 03.05.1988. Published: 07.07.1991. Bulletin No. 25.
24. Gusev V. N., Maliukhina E. M., Volokhov E. M., Tyulenev M. A., Gubin M. Y. Assessment of development of water conducting fractures zone in the massif over crown of arch of tunneling (construction). International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology. 2019. Vol. 10, Iss. 2. pp. 635–643.
25. Temporary rules of buildings and nature objects protection from harmful influence of mining developing of deposits of non-ferrous metals ores with unstudied processes of mining rocks displacement. Leningrad : VNIMI, 1986. 76 p.
26. Gusev V. N., Ilyukhin D. A. Determination of water conducting fracture zone for mining and geological conditions of the Verkhnekamsk salt deposit. Innovation-Based Development of the Mineral Resources Sector: Challenges and Prospects : Proceedings of XI Russian–German Raw Materials Conference. Leiden : CRC Press/Balkema, 2019. pp. 195–204.

27. Kotlov S., Saveliev D., Shamshev A. Peculiarities of numerical modeling of the conditions for the formation of water inflows into open-pit workings when constructing the protective watertight structures at the Koashvinsky quarry. Geomechanics and Geodynamics of Rock Masses : Proceedings of the 2018 European Rock Mechanics Symposium. London : CRC Press, 2018. Vol. 1. pp. 827–832.
28. Sharma K. G. Numerical Analysis of Underground Structures. Indian Geotechnical Journal. 2009. Vol. 39, No. 1. pp. 1–63.
29. Kiselev V., Guseva N., Kuranov A. Creating forecast maps of the spatial distribution of dangerous geodynamic phenomena based on the principal component method. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. 2021. Vol. 666, No. 3. ID 032071.
30. Kochnev A. A., Kozyrev N. D., Krivoshchekov S. N. Estimation of the influence of fracture parameters uncertainty on the dynamics of technological development indicators of the Tournaisian–Famennian oil reservoir in Sukharev oil field. Journal of Mining Institute. 2022. Vol. 258. pp. 1026–1037.
31. Serebryakov E.V., Gladkov A.S. Geological and structural characteristics of deep-level rock mass of the Udachnaya pipe deposit. Journal of Mining Institute. 2021. Vol. 250. pp. 512–525.
32. Sergunin M. P., Darbinyan T. P. Identification of rock mass jointing parameters in geological models in modern geoinformation systems (in terms of Micromine). Gornyi Zhurnal. 2020. No. 1. pp. 39–42.
33. Mokhov A. V. A Rock Mass Permeability Model within the Subsidence Zone in Workings of Coal Fields. Doklady Earth Sciences. 2017. Vol. 473, Iss. 2. pp. 390–393.
34. Mokhov A. V. The hydrodynamic regime of groundwaters in coal and oil-shale mining leases. Doklady Earth Sciences. 2018. Vol. 483, Iss. 1. pp. 1380–1383.
35. Wang H., Jia C., Yao Z, Zhang G. Height measurement of the water-conducting fracture zone based on stress monitoring. Arabian Journal of Geosciences. 2021. Vol. 14. ID 1392.
36. Fan G.-W., Zhang D.-S., Ma L.-Q. Overburden movement and fracture distribution induced by longwall mining of the shallow coal seam in the Shendong coalfield. Journal of China University of Mining and Technology. 2011. Vol. 40(2). pp. 196–201.
37. Deshkovskiy V. N., Nevelson I. S., Novokshonov V. N. Calculation procedure of height of conductive fracture zones in mining series of potash strata. Marksheyderskiy vestnik. 2007. No. 3(61). pp. 48–53.
38. Krupnov L. V., Ozerov S. S., Midyukov D. O., Malakhov P. V. Rationale for selection of lowheat feed processing technology. Metallurgy of Nonferrous, Rare and Noble Metals : Proceedings of XV RAS Corresponding Member Pashkov International Conference. Krasnoyarsk : Nauchno-innovatsionnyi tsentr, 2022. pp. 237–242.
39. Wang F., Tu S., Zhan C., Zhang Y., Bai Q. Evolution mechanism of water-flowing zones and control technology for longwall mining in shallow coal seams beneath gully topography. Environmental Earth Sciences. 2016. Vol. 75. ID 1309.
40. Ren S., Cui F., Zhao S., Cao J., Bai J. et al. Investigation of the height of fractured waterconducting zone: A case study. Geotechnical and Geological Engineering. 2021. Vol. 39. pp. 3019–3031.