ROCK MECHANICS

Design guidelines for open stope support

Y. Potvin, M. Hudyma and H.D.S. Miller, The University of British
Columbia

ABSTRACT However, it is in cut-and-fill applications that cable bolts have

Artificial stope support has become an essential component gained tbeir popularity. The installation of long cable bolts in cut-
of many underground mining operations. Because the use of cable and-fill backs have the advantage tbat they cover three or four
bolts in open stopes is a relatively new concept, most support is lifts. This reduces the rehabilitation work necessary after each blast.
still designed by trial and error or by rules of thumb. This often Furthermore, because the reinforcement is installed prior to blast-
results in costly overdesigned support or inadequate support which ing, it considerably limits the degree of disturbance in the rock
leads to stope failure. mass induced by blasting. This concept is known as prerein-
This paper proposes guidelines to determine support require- forcement.
ments using the stability graph method. The stability graph method In recent years, the Canadian, Australian and Swedish min-
is an empirical open stope design technique that takes into account ing industries have attempted to transfer the cable bolt technolo-
the key factors that influence stope stability. The factors for the gy from cut-and-fill to open stope mining. At the beginning,
design of a cable bolt support system include bolt length, bolt in- because the fundamental clifferences between the two mining
tensity and the original rock mass competency and can be esti- methods with regard to cable bolt application were not well un-
mated using empirically calibrated charts. The empirical charts were derstood, this tecbnique bad little success. Fabjanczyk (1982)
developed based on more than 60 case histories of cable bolting reported, in a survey of ten Australian mines that 750/0 of open
success and failure in Canadian open stope mines. stapes using cable bolts suffered overbreak. The principal source
The concept of prereinforcement and support stiffness will also of the problem was the lack of access for the installation of cable
be discussed. bolts in open stoping situations. This problem was particularly
acute in hanging walls but also existed in 'stope backs, when the
drilling horizon was not fully open. As a result, only a low densi-
ty of cable bolts could be installed and usually with unfavourable
INTRODUCTION patterns and cable orientations. Another major clifference between
Artificial support, in the form of rock anchors, has become cut-and-fill and open stoping, is that open stoping usually involves
an important component of all underground mining operations larger stope spans than cut-and-fill and rapid changes in geome-
because its stabilizing effect contributes to make underground try, thus frequent stress reclistributions.
workings safer. There are several types of rock anchors featuring Although the application of cable bolts in open stope mining
different properties and having a variety of functions. This paper is relatively new, the popularity of this support technique is in-
focusses on grouted cable bolt applications in large open stope creasing. Among the thirty-four Canadian mines visited during
mining. Such a support system may improve the competency of a two-year study (1986 to 1988), twenty mines used cable bolts
the clisturbed rock mass to a point approaching the undisturbed to some extent, with a rate of success of approximately 75%. This
rock quality by limiting joint movement and dilation. This results shows the progress made in the recent years to overcome the
in more stable, possibly larger and, thus, more efficient produc- problems mentioned above and the great potential for cable bolt
tion stopes. application in open stope mining.
However, there are still no accepted design guidelines for cable
bolts and the rules of thumb originally developed for convention-
Keywords: Rock mechanics, Mine design, Design techniques, Open stope al r9cKbolts are sometimes applied. This explains the majority
mining, Cable bolting. of the 25% of underdesigned case histories as well as other cases
that are suspected to be overdesigned.
Paper reviewed and approved for publication by the Rock The different options available for the design of cable bolt sup-
Mechanics and Strata Control Committee. port systems for open stope are presented in this paper. The com-

Yves Potvin graduated from l'Univer- 1988 and is now the geornechanics program leader.
site Laval in 1982 with a [Link]. in min-
ing engineering and worked until 1983 Marty Hudyma graduated from The
as an underground mine planning en- University of British Columbia in 1986
gineer at Mines Gaspe in Murdochville, with a [Link]. (mining and mineral
Quebec. He attended The University of process engineering). In 1988, he gradu-
British Columbia from which he ob- ated from the same institute with an
tained an [Link]. in 1985 and a Ph.D. [Link]. in mining engineering (rock
in 1989. His research work was funded mechanics).
by NSERC, Noranda Technology and Currently, he is working for the
Falconbridge Ltd. and focussed on em- Centre de Technologie Noranda, relat-
J pirical design methods applicable to ing seismicity in mines to geomechan-
Canadian open stope mining condi- ics and mines design.
tions. Yves Potvin joined the oranda Technology Centre in August

elM BULLETIN, JUNE 1989 53

 ROCK MECHANICS DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR OPEN STOPE SUPPORT

plex interaction of the cable bolts with the ground conditions and Stiffness of the Support System
opening geometry will be looked at in a simplified empirical man- The stiffness of a material represents its capacity to deform
ner using the open stope stability model (Paper No. 44, 90th when submitted to stress. Stiff materials show small deforma-
Annual General Meeting of CIM, Edmonton, Alberta, 1988). tion before failing and are prone to violent failure. Materials hav-
ing a low stiffness may sustain large deformations before
collapsing. In order to obtain the maximum advantage of a cable
Design Concept bolt support system, its stiffness must be designed according to
the rock mass stiffness. If the support is too stiff, the rock mass
Prereinforcement will be restrained from deforming but the energy usually dissi-
Originally the support philosophy was to suspend the loose pated through deformation will build up and could cause the sud-
rock in the periphery of the excavation to the more competent den failure of the support system. However, if the stiffness of
and undisturbed layers remote from the opening surface. A bet- the support is very low compared with the rock mass stiffness,
ter understanding of rock mass behaviour and support systems the stabilizing effect may be insignificant.
have lead to a more efficient technique called prereinforcement. The stiffness of a cable bolt system is dependent on several
The concept of prereinforcement consists of installing the sup- factors. The density of bolting and the length of cables are im-
port prior to excavating the rock adjacent to the excavation. The portant factors and will be discussed below. The bonding strength
principal effect is to limit the displacement of the rock mass to between the grout and rock and the grout and steel also plays
small values. Fuller and Cox (1978) suggested that when prerein- a major role because they constitute the weakest points of the
forced, the rock mass displacement is limited to less than two mil- system. A full discussion on this subject is [Link] scope of
limetres. This minimizes the shear and dilation along existing this paper and can be found elsewhere (Stheeman, 1981; Jerern-
geological structures and preserves their in-situ cohesion and fric- ic and Delaire, 1983). Although there are certain variations in
tion angle. The rock mass becomes "self-supporting". cable bolting practices in Canadian mines, in general Vs-inch di-
Another interesting advantage of the prereinforcement tech- ameter cables are used with a water cement ratio less than 0.5.
nique is that blasting is done against an already reinforced sur- Sometimes additives will be used to reduce the amount of grout
face, reducing the amount of damage caused by blasting vibrations. slumping in the hole. When only a low density of cable bolts
As well, the effect of the sudden changes in the surrounding stress is employed, some operators will double the number of cables
field resulting from the change in opening geometry (after each in each hole. It is important to notice that quality control in the
blast) can be better controlled by a prereinforced rock mass. installation of cables can have a large influence on their strength.
The principal limitation in applying the prereinforcement tech- Fuller (1983) reported that the grout-steel bond can be damaged
nique to open stopes is the lack of access for cable bolt installa- by dirt or debris if the cables are not properly cleaned before
tion. Typically, open stope development is located in the footwall. their installation. On the other hand, the bond strength will in-
The mucking horizon (undercut, drawpoints) is developed first, crease when the cables are slightly rusted. The "bird cage" type
followed by the opening of the drilling horizon (overcut or drill- of cable bolts have been specially designed to improve the grout-
ing drift [s D. The ore between the two horizons can then be cable bond but are not widely used in Canada at this time.
retreated vertically or horizontally (Fig. 1). Contrary to cut-and- The designer may also adjust the stiffness of the cable sup-
fill mining, at no time during this sequence is access available to port system for specific applications, using different techniques
install cable bolts in the overcut and undercut before they are during the installation. These adjustments increase or decrease
opened. the support stiffness.
However, the use of prereinforcement may be attempted by
installing the cable bolts in the overcut as soon as possible after
it is open. A certain amount of displacement is expected to occur, Increasing the Support Stiffness
but if careful blasting is used and the time delay before the sup- A stiffer 'support system may be more efficient in zone of
port is installed is minimized, the open stope back should be effec- stress relaxation where additional reinforcement is required. This
tively supported. The advantage of having the roof reinforced for can be achieved by tensioned cable bolts. At first, tensioned cable
the heavy production blasting remains. This has become the most bolts were applied in all situations. It was later realized that the
commonly employed cable bolting procedure and it has been expansion of the rock mass after excavation in most cases was
proven effective. sufficient to naturally tension the cables. Because it is a time con-
suming technique and in most cases redundant, it is now prac-
About the concept of pre-reinforcernent, Hoek and Brown ticed only in s ecific applications such as clamping layers of
(1980) concluded that: relaxed roe ogether in a hanging wall.
The principal objective in the design of excavation sup-
port is to help the rock mass to support itself. Pre-placed
grouted reinforcing elements areprobably the most effec- Decreasing the Support Stiffness
tive means of achieving this objective and the authors have When a large amount of deformation is expected, it is .desir-
no doubt that the future will see a great increase in this able to design a cable bolt system capable of high deformation
support technique. without losing its support capacity. Matthews, Tillmann and
Worotnicki (1983) described a debonding procedure to decrease
the stiffness of cable bolts. The procedure includes the installa-
Dr. H. Miller is an associate professor at The University of British tion of supplementary anchors (swages) and artificially debond-
. Columbia and has been with the Department of Mining and Mineral ing sections of the cable with plastic tubing or paint. This
Process Engineering since 1980. He received an undergraduate degree minimizes the risk of premature strand failure due to the local-
from Cardiff University and a Ph.D. from the University of Newcastle- ized movement of a joint. Matthews, Tillmann and Worotnicki
upon-Tyne, where he also lectured from 1975 to 1980. In 1973 he be- also reported a successful applicaton of this technique in the case
came project manager of the Rock Mechanics Department of Anglo
American (Western Deeps) in South Africa. of a highly stressed crown pillar where lateral expansion was ex-
Dr . Miller is a Registered Professonal Engineer in the Province of cessive. However, none of the case histories collected for this
British Columbia. study used the above debonding technique.

54 VOLUME 82, No. 926

 ROCK MECHANICS DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR OPEN STOPE SUPPORT

Primary Secondary
Stope Stope
Length Length

Footwoll
Access

Drawpoint
Spacing

Primary Secondary
Stope Stope
length length

, I

Footwall
Access

Distance
Houloge-Orebody

FIGURE 1. Isometric view of open stope mining methods showing vertical and horizontal retreat.

This constitutes the most commonly used system and is general-

Cable Bolt Support Systems in Canadian Open ly applied when the over cut is fully open. According to the data
Stope Mines base, the length of cable associated with this pattern varies from
Cable bolt support systems should be installed according to 10 m to 25 m while the density of bolting is designed at 0.1 to
the nature of the rock mass to be supported, the access avail- 0.4 cable bolts per square metre (cb/m-), In some cases, a set
able and the specific function of the support system. The differ- of 2 m to 3 m grouted reinforcing bars is installed inbetween the
ent cable bolt patterns observed in Canadian open stapes are cables with a pattern intensity of about 0.7 rebar/rn-. The ob-
illustrated in Figures 2 to 9 and will be discussed in this section. jective is to create a reinforced rock beam with a high density
Typical cable bolt length and density of cables are also given. of short bolts, and tie that beam into more competent layers with
However, these values should not be used as design guidelines long cable bolts. This is shown in Figure 2(b). Some mines have
because cable bolt systems should be designed according to the also added fan patterns of cable bolts in the sidewalls in an at-
rock mass conditions and the potential rock mass failure tempt to provide a localized wall support as the stapes above
mechanism. are extracted.
The second support system tries to take better advantage of
the concept of prereinforcement. The overcut in this case is driven
Cable Bolt Patterns for Open Stope Backs in two stages. The central section (C) is opened first and cable
The principle of the system shown in Figure 2(a) is to create bolts are installed vertically in the back of the open 'section (Fig.
a regular parallel pattern with a uniform distribution of cables. 3). Supplementary cable bolts are also installed at an angle, over

elM BULLETIN, JUNE 1989 55

 ROCK MECHANICS DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR OPEN STOPE SUPPORT

4 ,

FIGURE 2(a). Uniform cable bolt pattern installed in open stope overcuts. FIGURE 3. Cable bolt support system using inclined cables and two
phases of overcut development for prereinforcement.

// \ \' ,\"'/

FIGURE 2(b). Uniform cable bolt pattern installed in open stope over-
cuts and supplemented with short rebar. FIGURE 4. Cable bolt support system using an interlaced support pattern.

the sides (S) that will be "slashed" during the second stage of drilling drifts are used as the drilling development, cable bolt de-
overcut development. At the only mine using this design, the sign has been done as shown in Figure 5. The original spans to
length of cable bolt used was 9 m with a density of bolting of be supported were very small but will become wider as the stope
0.16 cb/rn-. As in the preceding case, 2.7 m long rebar were uti- is extracted. Once again, this takes advantage of the concept of
lized in between the cables with a density of 0.44 rebar/rn-. prereinforcement. The bolt length observed in these cases were
Another modification of open stope roof bolting is shown roughly 10 m with a density of bolting of 0.2 cb/m-.
in Figure 4. Cable bolts (in this case 6 m long) are installed at
an inclination of 76 degrees in one direction for a given row while
in the next row the cables are inclined in the opposite direction. Cable Bolt Patterns for Open Stope Walls
This alternate inclination produces an interlaced pattern which The first application of cable bolts in stope walls attempted
aims at intersecting geological discontinuities at more favourable to distribute the cables as uniformly as possible over the sup-
angles. The density of bolting achieved in this type of design varies ported wall (Fig. 6). Because of the restricted access, the drill,
from 0.2 to 0.25 cb/m>, holes had to be fanned which does not necessarily produce a
When temporary pillars are left in the overcut, or parallel favourable bolt inclination for support. Only a low bolting den-

56 VOLUME 82. No. 926

 ROCK MECHANICS DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR OPEN STOPE SUPPORT

/
/
I
/
/

FIGURE S. Cable bolt support system designed for overcuts containing I

small piJIar(s). / /
/ I
/
sity of approximately 0.06 cb/m- was achieved with such design FIGURE 6. Uniform cable bolt pattern installed in an open stope wall.
and the bolt lengths were variable. '-.
The approach illustrated in Figure 7 consists of creating a
reinforced beam in vertical or inclined walls. This can be done
by installing cable bolts in a high density fan pattern at every Development of Cable Bolt Design Guidelines
sublevel. The concept of this form of reinforcement is to limit The philosophy adopted for the development of cable bolts
the wall spans to effectively only one stope height. The length design guidelines is based on the investigation of sixty-six case
of cable bolts in this case varies with the stope wall dimensions. histories collected in Canadian open stope mines. The perfor-
The most expensive but certainly the most efficient cable bolt mance of each case has been assessed using the stability graph
support system for hanging walls is when the cables are installed technique (paper No. 44, 90th Annual General Meeting of CIM,
from a bolting drift running paralJel to the supported wall (Fig. Edmonton, Alberta, 1988). In this method, the key parameters
8). The concept of prereinforcement can be fully applied and characterizing the rock mass and stress conct~are quanti-
cable inclination is near optimum. Because of the high cost of fied in order to determine optimum stope dimensions. Assum-
the bolting drift development, this approach has been used only ing that all factors having a major effect on stability are taken
occasionally in two mines of the data base. into account, this type of analysis allows the empirical quantifi-
The last example involved the support of pillar walls (or sec- cation of the supporting effect of cable bolts. Furthermore, this
ondary stapes) in transversal blast hole mining. As shown in method can assist in the determination of the most suitable cable
Figure 9, cables are installed from the undercut at such angles bolt system and orientation by analyzing the possible failure
that half of the pillar is supported by the stope on its left and mechanism.
the second half by the stope on its right. The main purpose of
the system is to prevent the detachment of blocks from the pil- Application of the Stability Graph Design
lar in order to maintain the integrity of the pillar.
In the preceding discussion, the principal options of cable
Method
bolt support systems and their applications have been reviewed, In the stability graph method, two factors are developed: the
as well as the concept of prereinforcement and stiffness. All these (modified) stability number representing the capacity of the rock
elements must be considered in the optimization process of a sup- mass to stand up under a given stress condition, and the hydraulic
port system. The remainder of this paper will focus on the de- radius accounting forstope plane size and shape. These two fac-
sign of three variables characterizing cable bolt support: the tors can be plotted on the revised stability graph in order to as-
density of bolting, the length and the relative orientation of cable sess stope stability. The calculation of the modified stability
bolts. number (N') is given in Table 1with the range of values for each

TABLE 1. Calculation of the modified stability number (N')

Block size Effect of stress Effect of joint orientation Effect of gravity

Critical Jt. Gravity Fall

N' = RQO/Jn Camp. Relax. Angle e Shear Jr/Ja Slabbi ng o R__ S_I_id_in....:g::..-_
(0.2-720) 1-90 (0.1-1) (1.0) (0.2-1) (0.05-3) (2-8) (2-8)
Reference A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6,

elM BULLETIN. JUNE 1989 57

 -
ROCK MECHANICS DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR OPEN STOPE SUPPORT

/
I \
/ \
\

/
I
\
\

/
I I
/ /
/

FIGURE 7. Creation of a rock beam in the hanging wall by installing

a localized high density of cable bolts ..
\
\
parameter. The figures required to estimate each of these
parameters, as well as the revised stability graph are reproduced
\
, \

in Appendix. The hydraulic radius is calculated by dividing the

stope plane area by its perimeter. FIGURE 8. Cable bolt support system for a hanging w 11,installed from
The modified stability numbers and hydraulic radius have a parallel bolting drift.
been calculated for all sixty-six case histories and are plotted on
the revised stability graph as shown in Figure 10. The assessment
of the cable bolted stope planes was divided into three groups.
Stable stope surfaces are represented by round shaped points. should be related to the frequency of jointing. The ratio of the
Cases where the support system failed are shown on the graph block size parameter (RQDI Jn) and the hydraulic radius of the
by triangles. The empty triangles represent failed cases where the stope surface are useful parameters in representing the relative
cause wasattributed to bad grouting. The square shaped points size of blocks. It is expected that a higher density of bolting (closer
are the unstable cases where ravelling of rock occurred between spacing) should be used when the relative block size is small.
the cables. A couple of interesting conclusions can be derived Figure 11 shows a plot of the ratio of (RQDI Jn) and hydraulic
from Figure 10. radius, vs the density of bolting used in the case histories. Only
I. Most case histories plot in or below the transition zone be- the cases involving stope backs are included in this analysis. The
tween stable and caving. Assuming that the reviewed stability convention regarding the shape of the points is the same as the
graph is accurate this means that cable bolts in general have been one in the stability graph in Figure JO. Once again, several in-
used by open stope mine operators only when it was necessary. teresting observations can be made from this data.
2. Only one cable bolt support system had success when plot- J. The first observation is the scatter of the data. This implies
ting below the dashed line drawn in Figure 10, while twelve other that for similar rock mass conditions the intensity of bolting used
attempts have been reported unsuccessful. This suggests that cable at different mines varied greatly. Some cases must have been
bolts are an impractical means of support when plotting below designed conservatively while others have been near under-
the dashed line because of the combination of bad ground con- designed. This also reflects well the trial and error approach used
diton and large openings. The only stable case was heavily bolt- in most cases.
ed with three different sets of cables. 2. The horizontal dashed line indicates that with only one ex-
The conditions in which cable bolt systems are capable of ception, the minimum bolting density used in open stope backs
stabilizing open stapes have been defined on the revised stabili- is 0.1 cb/rn-.
ty graph. It seems reasonable to assume that the intensity of bolt- 3. In the zone between the vertical dashed line and the y-axis only
ing should. increase as a case plots closer to the dashed line. two cases have been reported stable out of a total of ten attempts.
This suggests that cable bolts are not likely to be effective when
the relative block size factor (RQDI Jn/hydraulic radius) is smaller
Density of Bolting than 0.75.
The purpose of cable bolts is to prevent the movement along 4. The band shown in Figure 1J indicates the trend or' using a
existing discontinuities. Consequently, the density of bolting higher density of bolting for smaller block size (the smaller

58 VOLUME 82, No. 926

 ROCK MECHAi'iICS DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR OPEN STOPE SUPPORT

I I I
I I I
I I ------
I I I z
I I '-"
I I
I L
<lJ 100
I I I -D
, I E
I I ::J
I I I Z
I I I >,
I I -+-'
I I I .D
10

I I 0

I I I +'
(f)
I
I I I -0
I I <lJ
1.0
I I I 4=
-0
I I 0
I I :2
I I
I I I
I I I
I I I
I I I
Hydraulic Radius Cm)
I I I •. Stable Stope Surface
I I
I I • Unstable Stope Surface
I
I I 1
.•• Caved Stope Surface

I I I FIGURE 10. Revised stability graph-data base: 66 case histories.

I I I
I I I
0.<0.,----.--.....,.-----.1-"------ ---,

I I
I I [Link]
o Stable Slopo Surface
o Unsiabie Slope Surfoco

I I I q Coved Slope Surfoco

FIGURE 9. Cable bolt support system stabilizing pillar walls.

~
:g
.s 0.20

c-,
(RQD/Jnlhydraulic radius). It can be noted that most cases plot- "0; 0.15
ting inside this zone are stable. Consequently, it appears that a o
:ii
conservative design guideline for the density of bolting is to use (5 0.10

the centre of the band. This corresponds to the average density CD

of bolting used with success in similar rock mass conditions. 0.05

+---'.--r--~----r--~-___,--_._-___,r__-__1
0.00
o
Cable Bolt Length (RQDjJn)
5

j Hydroulic Radius
The length of cable bolts should reach far enough into un-
disturbed ground to ensure a proper anchor. According to FIGURE 11. Design chart for cable bolt density.
numerical modelling analysis, the disturbance effect of stress in
the rock mass surrounding underground openings is a function.
of the relative size and shape of individual stope surface. Con- approximately equal to the span of opening. It also constitutes
sequently, a rough relationship is expected to exist between the an approximate average of what Canadian open stope operators
hydraulic radius of stope surfaces and the length of cable bolt have been using with success.
used. These two parameters have been plotted in Figure 12, for
the cases of supported backs in the data base, and the following
observations can be made. Cable Bolt Orientation
1. As in the bolt density plot, Figure 12 shows that the data is The design of cable bolt orientation is a three-dimensional
quite scattered. Once again it is believed that this can be attributed problem in which the optimum strike and inclination must be
to the lack of guidelines for support design and a trial and error defined. At the optimum orientation, the cable bolt system should
process. develop a maximum' strength against the forces acting on the
2. The use of cable bolts in very large open stope surfaces has cables. These forces are dependent on the potential mode of
had little success. It can be seen in Figure 12 that for hydraulic failure of the stope surface. For instance, in the case of gravity
radius exceeding ten, seven support systems out of nine have col- fall the principal forces generated on the cables are tensile. The
lapsed. cable bolts should then be oriented vertical in order to maximize
3. The minimum stope plane dimension in which cable bolts have the tensile strength acting against gravity.
been installed has an hydraulic radius of approximately three. For a sliding mode of failure, the shear force acting along
4. The minimum cable bolt length included in the data base is the potential sliding plane is the one that may induce stability
three metres. This was arbitrarily decided prior to the data col- problems. Miller (1984) based on a three-dimensional analytical
lection in order to differentiate cable bolt action and other kinds model suggested that cable bolts develop a maximum shear
of shorter rock anchors. strength when installed in the same direction as the shear plane
5. A rough and conservative guideline can be derived from the but having an inclination of 17 degrees to 27 degrees.
plot of cable bolt length and hydraulic radius. This is shown in The optimum orientation of bolting when dealing with slab-
Figure 12 by the line "L" which corresponds to a cable design bing or buckling mode of failure is perpendicular to the folia-

elM BULLETIN. JUNE 1989 59

 ROCK MECHANICS DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR OPEN STOPE SUPPORT

30,------------------,----------------------, It is important to mention that these guidelines have not been

28
I
I used in actual design at this time and still need to be proven.
2.
I Nevertheless, the guidelines appear to be conservative when com-
2. I
I pared with some past experience and offer an interesting alter-
22
I native to the trial and error process.
~ 20 o I
E
~ 18
s:
~
c
16 APPENDIX
~ H

~ 12 "cl~
o
U la
I. IIQClt qUAllr"Y OESICHATIC-'1 .'IQl

o o steete Stope Surroce A. Very ;lOO" e -::s I. """c'c JilQ.O ;:s t'c~,.ud 0" uured.1S
o 0 0 0 !. 10 ( IM;I~jll'J 0 ). a _i.ul ",.• 1",..
o
v Coved Stopo Surface 3. Poe •• 15 - 51
0' 10 i, •••
,cd CO c .•.• lo,u,te Q.
c. r",. 50 -1S
-----------~--------------- a. Cood 1S -10'
1. iIIQO ill[c,"'.;Ils
e ee $1.I"[Link]
of S.
.•eece
i .•. 100.95.90
ae e •
e ee

'0 - 104

8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22
t. JOLNT srr HU",[R
Hydraulic Radius Cm)
A. ' •• usi ••e , 1"0 or few joint) 0.5 -1.0

a. [Link]"( see 1
FIGURE 12. Design chart for cable bolt length.

E. T'-'O joi"t lCCl plu~ ran60"

r , Thr". jOi"t se t s.

tion because it is the direction of potential movement. The C. Th'ee jo;"t UtJ plus r'ndO'll 12

It. fou, or jOi"t Uti,

intention in this case is to clamp the layers of rock together. ,,"dO<!',
ft'OOr.

he .• ,,;'y joil'{"Q
·lu9 .• r [Link]':..· •• tC 'I
The mode of failure can be easily determined using stereo- J. ('u,h.d roc ••••",:1'11;11.. 20

graphic projection techniques or a simple "sketching" method.

(Section 3.4, Paper No. 44, 90th Annual General Meeting of
CIM, Edmonton, Alberta, 1988). FIGURE AI. Estimation of RQD and In according to Barton et al. (1974).

Summary and Conclusion

The use of cable bolt support systems in open stope mining
. / I
has become increasingly popular and efficient. The original
problem of a lack of proper access for cable bolt installation can
be partly solved by using the support patterns described in the .. / (·1
sections above.
Two important design concepts for the optimization of a sup- .'
V I
port system have also been discussed. The concept of prerein-
forcement contributes to make the rock mass self-supporting and , /
helps to minimize the disburbance of the rock surrounding the
opening during the excavation process. Consequently, when
,~
, .. I. I

designing support systems, prereinforcement should be used <I, •

~ • U"';o.;ol
If"ductd
:cmpo-fU;Vf

(O'TlQrtll'Wf)lrfU
lIr""Il'" of ••.••oCI 'o'~

whenever it is possible.
The stiffness can have a large influence on the performance FIGURE A2. Compressive stress factor according to Mathews et al.
of a support system. In most applications it is desirable to match (1980).
the stiffness of the support system with the stiffness of the rock
mass. However, for specific applications it might be useful to
increase or decrease the stiffness of the cable bolts. This can be . Difference In Strike
90· 90·
done using special cable bolting installation techniques such as 1.0 ----------------- ~:;:3
pre-tensioning or debonding. -/.
The three principal variables to be designed in a cable bolt 0.9
50·_~::::......-r::
~ /.r:
system are the density of bolting, the length of cable bolts and 50· -...;.-~ //./
L-
their relative orientations. The orientation of cable bolts should 0 0.8 --- 45"// /
be designed according to the possible mode of failure. When U /
.E /
gravity fall or slabbing are anticipated, the cable should be in- ~c:: 0.7 I /
stalled vertically. In the case of sliding, the most efficient design I /
Q)
/ 30;
is when the [Link] installed at an angle between 17 degrees .§
0.6
Vl 45:""'/ /
and 27 degrees to the shear direction. .a // I
/
Based on the compilation of actual Canadian experience, "
« 0.5 ./

I
some rough design guidelines have been proposed for the deter- c::
/
mination of density and length of cable bolts. It has been found .2
0.4 /
.3 /
that a rough relationship exists between the density of bolting c:: 30·/
and the relative size of blocks formed by jointing. Figure 11 can ·c 0.3 /
Q)

be used to estimate an appropriate density of bolting according 0 /

-' /
to the block size factor (RQDIJn/hydraulic radius). It has been c:: 0.2
·0
..,
found that cable bolts are not efficient in heavily jointed rock
masses where the block size factor is less than 0.75. 0.1 Relative Difference in Dip Between
Similarly, the length of cable bolts has been related to the the Critical .Joint and Stope Surface
size and shape of the supported stope surface and Figure 12 can
assist in the determination of adequate cable bolt length. Most 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
attempts at supporting very large stope surfaces (hydraulic radius
> 10) have been unsuccessful. FIGURE A3. Influence of joint orientation.

60 VOLUME 82, No. 926

 t,
ROCK MECHANICS DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR OPEN STOPE SUPPORT '1'.

8
c. Rocic ua!;; cor.~: cnd
b .. ~ock :.l::lt Cr:71<;ZC: !J.i(;'rll
L
10 C::':l: "nila::-.
0 7
+-'
:l,. Dj sco •.•(inuou, joints
0
,. i\ol,Uj" or ; r'-o::o; •..•I,,., IJodul:o!in9 ) 0
C. Sorootl'l, undur't;ng 2
LL 6
O. Slickensidcd. undul"tj"9 1.5
I. k:1l loG jf (ht ....,~,. ~;l,ci"9 of ~he +-'
L ,"oug'" or irrco;ut~ •.• pl:o,. ••, 1.5 rdc"lI'.t joint see I, ~rc ••tcr ch:on Ja. C 5
(1)----
s,
c,
S_~h.

Slic:"~"~;ctcd. phnu'
pl,,".IIO'" 1,12

a.s
1. J,." a.s
••••sided
':0"
jOi'Hl
;:.1.,,,:0 •. ,
l:Ie vud
I;n.,.('on,.
lu"ing
for ,Iic~-
provided
E g'
+-' .-
the I' •.•
"",(io,., .re o";e,.(".,d (or ",in;",,,,,,
c. ,'fo e-ee.c :.:c:Z<: C'Or.c.:c: Hr""'itl'l.
UJ"D 4
""'.,. s;'ccz~d. ::J:=
'~(f)
"D '-../
:i. Za"" (0"'("''';1'''. doly •••;"e •.••I'
Chick f;nouo;h to prt;-ItH'I{ reell. 4: 3
•••'" I I con (.le ~ . 1.:)

J. 5.1nd1. 9' ••••.••'1'1 or er •••shed >-

+-'
:0""
reclt
chic;" "nou9" to
.••.11 I eee e ac t •
prcv.,,.(
1.:1
.s; 2
0
L
t.?
Io. JOINT .ll~;:.'MIOl'/ [Link].

rilhCly :'le •• ''''', "':ord. 1\0.,·

soiccnitlg. i"'-l:I~r'"'c .• ble 'illino; 0.75"

10 20 30.640 50 60 70 80 90
~. Utll I tcrcd jo' ne ••a I1 ~. surface
H~inin9 only 1.0 Inclination of Critical Joint
C. $ I i 91'1[ I Y ~ 1 t e e ed j 0; nt •••••11 ~
1\00· ~of ten; n9 ""oerl I ee ••['n9~,
I. ~;:~~:0~r"~9ie~h:r:e~!~~:~_
undy p ••rticle~. cl ••y-frcc
d;, ;tltcg, •• l.,d ro~l.., etc 'z.o ed.1t .•" ••opro"i ••••te9u;de
to t"e "'i ••er~109icllol ~ro- FIGURE A6. Influence of gravity for the sliding mode of failure.
O. Silty-, Ot und.,-Chy (ouiogs, pert;e, of :he •• 1terHion
s•.•• 11 chy-fr ••ctiOn {notl- Clroduca. if present.
~of[e.,i"9J '.0
~. Softeni"9 or 10-0 I,.ictio" et ••.,
•••;nerll coatings, i .c .••..• otieie e .
mic ••• AI,o chlotite. uk. 9yp ••.••• 1000
.•"d 9' ••01'1; te ecc ...• n" ".,,11 o••~"-
ti[iu of ''''ellinq cllys. fOis-
(O"t;, ••.•
o ••s (0 ••t;"9', 1·2 ••.•••or
less in t •••i("ne3~1 v.e

b. ROCK :...c!t 1:'0'71:":':= OiIjore

~
;0 =~ "iI"c:r. z
.......,
~. Satldy fI .• r c i(1 e s . (1 ••.,-1e ee cl; s-
intc~rlted rock etc c.e (2So • )0°) '- 100
ID
G. $[(onql.,. over-<on,olid ••ted. "On- .c STABLE
s c r c e •• in9 <llIo1 ",;"cr.,1 fi I1in9s
fCO"Ilir:uous. c ~ thiCk) U (160 _ 1°) E
rI. '"'cdi •.•• or 10-. Over'co",ol id ••tion.
:::l
,olte"';"9. cl ••., .;.,cnl fillin91. Z
So- ,,0)
(conci.,,,,, •••• ~ thiCk) '.0 112° -
c-,
S",ell'''9'c1ay fill ;nqL i.e. +-'
10
,",nt<fOrillo"ite
J.
(continuo ••s , - 5
CAVED
""" thiC'" V •• I •• e s of J .• "eO<l:"" .a
On pcrco:nt of ,"ell in9 c'~"'-, ilO:
,,~rt; et e s • .:Ind .ccc" to ••• t ee 8.0· 11.0 (6°- 12°)
+-'
0

c. 110 ~ci< uc:lt C'o"'!..:;:ct:

VJ
[Link]. ,ilr:ar~d. -0
1(. lo"'c) or 1:1.10<1$of [Link]".,d 6.0 .(1)
'-. or c:,ruined roc:;k .••• 0$ c:;hy Ls ee '.0 1.0
.'\. G.1i Ind J for cl,y c:;ot'ldltionl)
8.0 - 12.0 { ;0 • l~o} ""-0
Jot. .i:onei or b ••nds ot lilt,~ :::or 0
$.1''''1 <hy. s_11 <I • .,. ("ction. 2
(non-softening) s.e
Thick. continuous 10"", or
10.0- iJ.O
? "[Link] of cl ••y ( s ee G. HInd ( 6° - 1~0)
J for cl,y conditions)
u.e > 20.0

0.1
FIGURE A4. Estimation of Jr and Ja ratings according to Barton et
o 5 10 15 20 , 25
al. (1974). Hydraulic Radius Cm)

8 FIGURE A 7. Revised stability graph-data base: 175 case histories.

L
0 7
+-'
0
0
LL 6 Acknowledgments
+-' The authors wish to express their gratitude to all the mines
C -0 5 that have provided data and time to this study.
(I) LL
E >- As well, special thanks to NSERC, oranda Research and
~~ 4 Falconbridge Limited for their continuous feedback and finan-
::J >
.~ 0 cial support of the project.
"D L
4:t.? 3
'-../
»-,
+-'
.s; 2 REFERENCES
0 BARTON, N. LIEN, R. and LU DE, J.;Engineering classification of
L
t.? rock masses for the design of tunnel support; Rock Mechanics, Vol.
6, No. 4, pp. 189-236, 1974.
FABJA CZYK, M., Review of ground support practice in Australian
underground metalliferous mines; Proc. Annual Conf. Aust. Inst.
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Min. Metall" Melbourne, pp. 337·349, 1981.
Inclination of Stope Plane FULLER, P.G., and COX, R.H.T., Rock reinforcement design based
on control of joint displacement-a new concept; 3rd Aust. Tun-
FIGURE AS. Influence of gravity for the slabbing and gravity fall and nelling Conf., Sydney, pp. 28-35.
slabbing modes of failure. FULLER, P.G., Cable support in mining: a keynote lecture; Proc. Int.

elM BULLETIN, JUNE 1989 61

 ROCK [Link] DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR OPEN STOPE SUPPORT

Symp. on Rock Bolting, Abisko, Sweden, pp. 511- 522, 1983. fied cable bolt system for the support of underground openings;
HOEK, E., and BROWN, E.G., Underground Excavations in Rock; AUSL Inst. Min. Metall, Conference, Broken Hill, .S.W., Aus-
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, London, 1980. tralia, July 1983.
JEREMIC, M.L., and DELAlRE, G.J.P., Failure mechanics of cable bolt MILLER, D.R., Design of cable reinforcement patterns to resist shear
systems; C1M tiuu., Vot. 76, No. 856, pp. 66-71, Aug. 1983. failure in open stope walls; in Stability in Underground Mininz Il
MATHEWS, K.E., HOEK, E., WYLLIE, n.c., and STEWART, A.B. Swilski and C.O. Brawner , eds., Lexington, Kentucky, Aug:
S.B.V., Prediction of Stable Excavations for Mining at Depths Below 6-8, 1984.
1000 Metres in Hard Rock; CANMET Report 802-1571, 1980. STHEEMAN, [Link], A practical solution to cable bolting problems at
MAITHEWS, M., TILLMAN, V.H., and WOROTNICKI, G., A modi- Tsumeb Mine; C1M Buff., Vot. 75, No. 838, pp. 65-77, Feb. 1982.

Geoecological approaches to land reclamation

The Worlel Association of Soil and will also emphasize the assessment and Institut, Christian Albrechts Universitat zu
Water Conservation will sponsor a work- management of chemical and physical en- Kiel, Ludwig-Meyn-Strasse, 14-16, D-2300
shop on land reclamation, Symposium 2 of vironmental hazards, the geoecology of Kiel I, Federal Republic of Germany.
the Second International Conference on devastated land, methods of landscape A title and 200 word abstract should be
Geomorphology and Geoecology. The reconstruction and the aesthetics of land- . submitted as soon as possible.
workshop, which precedes the main con- scape design. Contributions are already Those wishing to attend the larger con-
ference, will be held in Bonn, Federal promised from workers in the United ference should contact:
Republic of Germany, September 1 - 3, States, U.S.S.R., Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, 2. IGC - Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Arno Semmel,
1989. Germany, India, Poland and the United Institute for Physiche Geographie, Univer-
The focus will be on problems of soil Kingdom. sitat Frankfurt, Senchkenberganlage 36,
reconstruction, recultivation and the con- Anyone interested in presenting papersl Postfach 11 1932, D-6000 Frankfurt-am-
trol of erosion and sediment pollution on posters or attending this small and infor- Main, Federal Republic of Germany.
lands which have been disturbed by surface mal workshop should contact: r'
mining and other industry. The workshop Professor Dr. O. Franzle, Geographisches

7th Thematic Conference

The Seventh Thematic Conference on countries. Seven pre- and post-conference gy field trips will be offered. For information
Remote Sensing for Exploration Geology- training activities are planned. The program on training programs, contact: (workshops)
Methods, Integration, Solutions will be held treats all aspects of geological remote sens- Tim H. Perrott, clo Alberta Remote Sens-
at the Calgary Convention Centre in Cal- ing, from fundamental principles and 'tech- ing Centre, Alberta Forestry, Lands & Wild-
gary, Alberta, October 2 to 6, 1989. niques to advanced data processing and life, 9th Floor, 9942 - 108 St., Edmonton,
The program is primarily concerned with geological interpretation, to provide an ef- Alberta, T5K 2J5; Tel.: (403) 427-2381; or
the application of remote sensing to mineral fective learning experience for all attendees. (field trips) Mic H. Portigal, chief geologist,
and hydrocarbon exploration, with special More than fifty commercial, government UNOCAL Canada Ltd., P.O. Box 999, Cal-
emphasis on data integration, methodolo- and academic organizations will showcase gary, Alberta, T2P 2K6; Tel.: (403)
gies, and practical solutions for geologists. the latest remote sensing and geographic in- 268-0352.
The program is designed to benefit both formation system products and services in For registration information, contact:
small, independent operators and large cor- the exhibits program. INTERAlThermatic Conference, Diane
porate users of remote sensing; it will be Proceedings of all conferences on remote Thompson, 2500, 101 - 6th Ave. S.W., Cal-
composed of more tban 150 technical sensing for exploration geology are pub- gary, Alberta, T2P 3P4; Tel.: (403)
presentations by experts from more than 20 lished. Pre-meeting workshops and geolo- 266-0900; Fax: (403) 265- 0499. [IM

Sesame data base

Operational since 1983, the factual data 1978 respectively, plus R&D projects. dresses of associated equipment manufac-
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62 VOLUME 82, No. 926