Mine Seismology: Seismic Response to the Caving Process

252 Pages·2019·14.731 MB·English

by  S.N. Glazer

S.N. Glazer
Mine Seismology:
Seismic Response
to the Caving
Process
A Case Study from Four Mines
Mine Seismology: Seismic Response to the Caving
Process
S.N. Glazer
Mine Seismology: Seismic
Response to the Caving
Process
A Case Study from Four Mines
123
S.N. Glazer
Retired Mine Seismology Consultant
Phalaborwa, SouthAfrica
ISBN978-3-319-95572-8 ISBN978-3-319-95573-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95573-5
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Experto credite
Virgil, Aeneid, Book XI, line 283
For Jagoda my wife and my son Michał
Foreword
The book “Mine Seismology: Seismic Response to the Caving Process—A Case
StudyfromFourMines”,byStefanGlazer,isaimedatthetopicofmine-generated
seismicdata,analysisandinterpretation.Thetitleisanunderstatement.Thisbook,
as well as Stefan’s “trilogy”, provides significantly more—it offers us new per-
spectiveandinsight intowheremineseismologyfitsintheecosystemofthemine.
This book makes clear where mine seismology should be, what its role in the
miningenvironmentcurrentlyisandwhathasleadtothedeviancebetweenthetwo.
It is crucial to bring home the understanding that these questions are not purely
academic,afteralltheprimaryroleofmineseismologyistoprovideinformationon
the stage of the mined rock mass—information which translates directly into the
safety of people working underground.
I have a very personal relationship with the questions raised in Stefan’s books.
Morethan25yearsago,beingassociatedwiththeminingindustryinSouthAfrica,
I participated in the opening of the first digital seismic network in one of the gold
minesinKlerksdorp.Theemotionsofthedayareetcheddeeplyintheheartsofall
whowerethere.Wesawitasbeginningofsomethingentirelynew—thenascentera
inmineseismologywherefinallywewouldbeabletopredictfatalseismicevents.
The decade which followed was the decade of enthusiasm, hopes and high
expectationsasweinstalledhundredsoftopquality3Ddigitalseismicnetworksin
mines.Wenurturedadreamaboutearlywarningsystemsintheminesthatoneday
wewouldbeabletounderstandthestageoftheminedrockmasstotheextentthat
we would install a set of three lights—red, orange and green, at every mine to
reliably tell miners the danger levels.
Afterthedecadeofenthusiasm,slowlybutsteadilyitbecameclearthatinstalling
highly sophisticated recording systems and accumulating top quality of seismic
recordswillnotbeenough.Itbecameclearthatwewouldnotsucceedinpredicting
mine events until we understood the physics behind the generation of seismic
events. Nevertheless, the damage was done. The endless unfulfilled promises that
prediction is just around the corner came back to haunt us and have made it more
and more difficult to get funds for mine seismology. Rightly, the management of
mines has started asking difficult questions. Thus, the era of big expectations has
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endedandthecommunityofmineseismologisthasdispersed.Itdoesnothelpthat
someoftoday’skeyplayersinmineseismologycontinueintheveinofmisleading
and making false promises in order to secure funds and save face.
Stefanistheantithesisofthesepeople.Hecontinueshisdiligent,localizedwork
oninterpretationofmine-inducedseismicityinthebestwaypossible,steeringclear
ofillusoryearlywarningsystems.Heusesafinescientificscepticismforwhichhe
has often paid a high price even as he continues work with the highest integrity.
Stefan’s book “Mine Seismology: Seismic Response to the Caving Process—A
CaseStudy fromFourMines”summarizeshisvastexperience intheinterpretation
of mine-induced seismicity. Whether seismicity is induced by deep gold mines or
bythecavingprocess,Stefanbringsrationalitytotheroleofthemineseismologist.
Intypicalstyle,hesimplyandstraightforwardlyexplainswhatispossibleandhow
togetthere.Inhisjudgments,heisnotpessimistic,noroptimistic,heisarealistand
he is a realism based on enormous experience.
Stefanisstronglyagainstthelatestphenomenonofremovingmineseismologist
from mines to distant isolated environments where he believes their observations
willbeimpaired.Rather,tobesuccessful,mineseismologistsmustinteractwiththe
geologists,geo-technicians,rockmechanicsandminemanagersonadailybasis.In
addition, he strongly emphasizes the role of theoretical studies.
I found the parts of his books where he summarizes his experience and gives
concreteconclusionstobethemostvaluable.Sincethesegemsaresaltedacrossall
threeofhisbooks,Iwouldrecommendreadingthemall,especiallyforyoungmine
seismologists and mine managers, which would address and clarify role of seis-
mologist in the mine and clearly define what one can and cannot expect from his
work.
Wemustberemindedagainandagainthattheroleoftheseismologistinamine
istomakeuseofavailableknowledgetoimproveundergroundsafetystandardsand
save lives.
Pretoria, South Africa Andrzej Kijko
Preface
Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846–1916) a Polish writer and novelist wrote a famous
trilogywhich,whenallissetanddone,boilsdowntopresentingasimplefactthat
when the country was in danger, the knights and noblemen proved capable of
making huge sacrifices to save Poland. In the first book, they pushed back the
rebelliousCossacks,inthesecondtheystoppedtheSwedishinvasionandinthelast
they were victorious over the Tartar hordes. It is important to understand that
SienkiewiczlivedinerawhenPolanddidnotexistasacountry—theareathatnow
constitutes Poland was divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria. It was
Sienkiewicz’sintentiontoraisethemoraleofthePolishpeoplebystatingthatinthe
end courage and patriotism would restore Poland on the map of Europe.
Thisbookcompletesmyowntrilogyanditdealswithseismicdataanalysisand
interpretation. The first book described how to interpret seismicity induced by the
cavingprocess.Thesecondwasaboutinterpretingseismicityinducedwhilemining
for gold in a deep mine and then making use of that knowledge to improve the
underground safety standards. In the first two parts, the action was set in the mine
andillustratedhowmineseismologywasusedforminingandsafetyimprovements.
The final book is about seismicity induced by the caving process. While part one
andtwoarebasedondatarecordedinonemine,thethirdisbasedondatarecorded
in several mines. Not only does it describe the seismic signature of the caving
process, it also presents what possibilities exist when dealing with data that orig-
inate from different mines.
Iknowthatmywritingdoesn’tevencomeclosetoSienkiewiczskills.Twoyears
afterhedied,PolandwasbackonthemapofEurope.Thisdidnothappenbecause
ofreasonspresentedinhistrilogy,andSienkiewicz’srationaleappears tobenaïve
andidealistic.The purposeofmytrilogy ispracticalanddowntoearth.Iwantthe
mineseismologyscholarsandthesepracticingittounderstandthatthissciencehas
sound principles and theory which are no more complicated than those of other
sciences (even rocket science). As in case of other sciences what is required is
soundunderstandingofthedata.Theconceptofunderstandingiswideandincludes
knowledge not only of how the data was initially collected and then formatted but
also awareness of its limitations. Awareness of limitations is the key to remaining
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withintheboundariesofscience.Thosewhoarenotbotheredwithdatalimitations
passthisfrontierandfindthemselvesinrealmsofpseudoscience,andunfortunately
their ignorance tends to influence the general perception of mine seismology.
What at present is most devastating for the mine seismology is that the mine
managers perceiveit inawrongway they do notunderstand how itcancontribute
to the mining process. It is my opinion that today’s mine seismology is about
interpretationofthecurrentlyrecordeddataanditsintegrationwith otheravailable
data. Results of this analysis should be used in mining on daily basis to improve
mining operations and underground standards; this is why the mine seismologist
mustbelocatedatthemine.He mustcooperatewith theminegeo-technicians and
managersondailybases.Mineseismologywillneverbecomeausefulminingtool
while it is performed away from the mine. At present because of its remoteness
from the mine, it has become an exhibition room display rather than mine seis-
mology.Idounderstandthevalueofbackanalysisandwhileitisimportantbutnot
when the proportions between practice and theoretical studies are in favour of the
former. It is obvious that the theoretical studies should be concentrated on solving
genuine and practicable goals.
Phalaborwa, South Africa S.N. Glazer