Measurement of rock mass properties for mine design

Rock mass classification is a basic component of mine design. Unfortunately, determining classification values for a rock mass is often a highly subjective procedure, prone to significant variations between the engineers or geologists conducting the work. Much of the classification work conducted for Canadian mines uses the NGI Q system, and this paper outlines new procedures being developed to remove the subjectivity in the system. One of the main design techniques used in Canadian mines is the Stability Graph method which relies on a modified NGI system to characterize the rock mass. This method is introduced and the effect of the assessment of intact block geometry and discontinuity strength on design is highlighted.

• 1 INTRODUCTION

• 2 STABILITY GRAPH DESIGN METHOD

• 3 BLOCK GEOMETRY ASSESSMENT

• 4 JOINT SURFACE CONDITION

• 5 CONCLUSIONS

• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• REFERENCES