Observational study to mitigate seismic risks in mines: a new Japanese-South African collaborative project

Abstract

Mining-induced earthquakes pose a hazard to workers in deep South African mines, while natural earthquakes pose a hazard to people living close to plate boundaries. Researchers introduce a 5-year Japanese-South African collaborative project entitled "Observational study to mitigate seismic risks in mines". The principal investigators are H.Ogasawara (Japan) and RJ Durrheim (South Africa). The project, which seeks to develop human and instrumental capacity in South Africa, will build on previous studies carried out by Japanese and South African seismologists and rock engineers in deep gold mines. This knowledge will be used in efforts to upgrade seismic hazard assessment schemes and to mitigate the seismic risks in deep mines. The knowledge is also relevant to the study of the mechanisms that generate tectonic earthquakes. The project was conditionally approved in April 2009 by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), an external agency of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), an external agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is anticipated that the agreement between the Japanese and South African governments will be concluded by the end of the 2009 financial year and that research work will commence in 2010.