Settlement of open cast mine backfill : two large scale field tests

[摘要] The Electricity Supply Commission of South Africa (Eskom) have identified open cast coalmine backfill areas as potential disposal sites for the large volumes of coal ash producedby their power stations. As Eskom's power stations are mainly situated in agricultural andcoal rich areas of the provinces of Mpumalanga and the Free State, the sterilisation ofsubstantial areas of agricultural soil and coal deposits is thus reduced.The construction of a tailings dam or dump on uncompacted open cast mine backfillcreates various problems related to the settlement of the backfill. The scale of theoperation, the large particle size and heterogeneous nature of the backfill and its methodof placement complicates the prediction for settlement of the backfill.Areas in excess of 74 000 ha could be subjected to opencast mining in Mpumalanga andfor future development of these areas more information regarding the magnitude andmechanics of mine backfill settlement is required.This dissertation describes two large scale field tests in which the settlement of minebackfiil was studied during the construction of a test section of an ash tailings dam andthe construction of a dry ash dump.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand