“Belgorkhimprom” Institute (Minsk, Republic of Belarus):

Vagin V. B., Leading Researcher, Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, e-mail: geof@belgorhimprom.by
Musalev D. N., Head of Laboratory
Prokhorov N. N., Leading Researcher, Candidate of Engineering Sciences

“Belaruskali” Company (Soligorsk, Republic of Belarus):

Barbikov D. V., Chief Geologist

Underground geophysical researches have been held on Starobin potassium salt deposit since 1970`s. Researches (especially by seismic methods) were started for detection of outburst-prope geological breaches. From the end of the 1980`s to the beginning of the 1990`s there was put into practice the tomographic method for finding the outburst zones on Starobin deposit, with the usage of the seismic approaches. Since the middle of the 1990`s, the underground geophysical researches have been held in order to examine the geological structure of rock-mass of salt-bearing deposit and evaluation of the presence of pickles in it.
Since 2000, the work has been carried out using the method of reflected waves for study of thin-salt medium and complications of its structure in the zones of microcracks, discontinuous and local geological faults. The method is used most successfully for additional exploration of areas of the mine fields adjacent to tectonic faults.
Another area of the deposit geophysical research is the usage of ground penetrating radar method. Since 2007, the ground penetrating radar method has been used to study the structure of solid salt rocks, to allocate different types of anomalies of geological and anthropogenic origin in the study area.

1. Vagin V. B., Bylino L. V., Akhremchuk V. T. Kaliinaya promyshlennost — Potassium industry, 1979, Iss. 2, pp. 24−27.
2. Bylino L. V., Vagin V. B. Vysokochastotnye seysmicheskie metody vyyavleniya i okonturivaniya zon geologicheskikh oslozhnenii v podzemnykh usloviyakh Starobinskogo kaliynogo mestorozhdeniya (High-frequency seismic methods of identification and contouring of geological complication zones in the conditions of the potassium mines of Starobin deposit). Razrabotka kaliynykh mestorozhdeniy : Sbornik nauchnykh trudov (Development of potassium deposits : Scientific Proceedings). Perm, 1984, pp. 12−16.
3. Shablinskiy G. N., Vagin V. B. Izvestiya vuzov. Gornyi zhurnal — Proceedings of Universities. Mining Journal, 1986, No. 9, pp. 4−7.
4. Andreyko S. S., Musalev D. N., Andreyko L. V. Kompyuternaya sistema opredeleniya konturov vybrosoopasnykh geologicheskikh narusheniy v usloviyakh kaliinykh rudnikov Starobinskogo mestorozhdeniya (Computer system of contours definition of highly explosive geological violations in the conditions of potassium mines of the Starobin deposit). Problemy bezopasnosti truda na predpriyatiyakh s vzryvoopasnym proizvodstvom : Tezis doklada nauchno-tekhnicheskoy konferentsii (Problems of labor safety at the enterprises with high explosive production : Thesis of a report of scientific and technical Conference). Minsk, 1995, 52 p.
5. Andreyko S. S., Kalugin P. A., Shcherba V. Ya. Gazodinamicheskie yavleniya v kaliynykh rudnikakh (The gas dynamic phenomena in potassium mines). Minsk : Visshaya shkola, 2000, 335 p.
6. Vagin V. B., Kulagov E. V., Triletskiy A. D., Kafanova T. P., Prokhorov N. N. Marksheideriya i nedropolzovanie — Surveying and subsurface usage, 2009, No. 1, pp. 48−52.