Developing 3-D mine-scale geomechanical models in complex geological environments, as applied to the Kiirunavaara Mine

An understanding of the relationship between the geological environment and rock mass behaviour induced by mining activities can lead to hazard reduction through knowledge-based design. However, characterisation of complex and heterogeneous rock masses that typify mining environments is difficult. A methodology to characterise these types of rock masses, based largely on classical statistics, geostatistics and an extension of previous quantitative structural domaining work, is presented and applied to the Kiirunavaara Mine, Sweden. In addition to a new perspective on intact rock strengths of geological units at the mine, a correlation was found between modelled volumes of clay, modelled RQD, newly identified structural domains and falls of ground. These relationships enabled development of a conceptual model of the role of geology in rock mass behaviour at the mine. The results demonstrate that the proposed methodology can be useful in characterisation of complex rock masses.