Date of Award

Spring 2017

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Mining Engineering

Committee Chair

Scott Rosenthal

First Advisor

Scott Carlisle

Second Advisor

Jeff Johnson

Third Advisor

Mary MacLaughlin

Abstract

The Underground Mine Education Center (UMEC) and World Museum of Mining facilities began as shallow underground mines in the 1880’s during the mining boom that populated Butte, Montana. The UMEC is a multi-disciplinary facility that provides an on-campus underground laboratory environment and a place for students to learn and practice practical underground mining techniques; therefore, the longevity of the facility is important to Montana Tech. The goal of this project is to develop a Ground Control Management Plan (GCMP) for the UMEC and World Museum of Mining facilities.

The World Museum of Mining (Orphan Girl) and UMEC (Orphan Boy) facilities are unique due to the shallow depth of underground mining activities that resumed in 2005 and in 2012, respectively. The Orphan Boy and Orphan Girl mines are connected at the 100-level. Ground support methods in these facilities consist of historic timber square sets in older workings, rock bolts with mesh, and some shotcreted areas in current workings. The GCMP contains a schedule for routine observational checks of the support systems to inspect for mesh tension, wire breakage, rock bolt plate bending, bolt head deformation, and shotcrete cracking (Carlisle, 2015). The GCMP defines a list of minimum geotechnical standards to uphold while developing new headings in these facilities. To construct the GCMP, geologic and geotechnical profiles for each mine were developed to aid in identifying areas of weakness due to rock alteration and/or adverse jointing caused by faulting or seismic activity. Locations in the UMEC that are believed stable regions will become permanent control survey regions to allow accurate measurements to monitor weaker areas for movement. A scanline survey (SLS) was conducted to determine the general direction joints in the granite occur. A joint surface map was created using Maptek Vulcan software. Rock support assessments based on the joint surfaces were completed using Rocscience DIPS software.

Comments

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Mining Engineering

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