Case Study:

Dyke Excavation and StrataFill® Installation at Integra Underground

Project Overview

Integra Underground excavated a large dyke from an active longwall block in the Maingate. The dyke was removed using shotfiring, after which formwork was installed and the resulting void was filled with StrataFill®. The StrataFill® was tailored to the geotechnical design requirements while minimising the impact the project had on the mine’s logistics.

Challenges

The dyke removal and fill had a number of challenges;

• Minimal disruption to longwall production
• Longwall conveyor operational during project
• Logistics of the fill material
• Scheduling of dyke removal and infill emplacement
• Geotechnical design for infill material

Solution

Working with the Integra to tailor the StrataFill® to allow approximately 495m3 of infill material to be emplaced in the extracted area. The StrataFill® was required to be 3 MPa as per the geotechnical design.

The StrataFill® was emplaced at an average of 38m3/shift and was filled over 13 Shifts.

Results

The project was praised by the client, who was satisfied with the end result. The longwall successfully mined through the area without incident and there was no impact to the longwall production schedule.