Watson, BPKuijpers, JMiovsky, P2010-04-082010-04-082009-12Watson, BP, Kuijpers, J and Miovsky, P 2009. In situ measurements of Merensky pillar behaviour at Impala Platinum. Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Vol. 109(12), pp 745-754http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4015Copyright: 2009 South African Institute of Mining and MetallurgyThe Bushveld platinum group metal deposits in South Africa are the largest in the world. These deposits occur as two distinct stratiform tabular ore bodies and strike for many hundreds of kilometres. Mining is extensive, with depths ranging from close-to-surface to 2300 m. The mining method is a variation of planar open stoping. Crush pillars are widely used to support the open stopes. These pillars are designed to fail and the residual strength provides the required support resistance to stabilize the stoping excavations. This paper describes the in situ measurement, of stress within a Merensky pillar from Impala Platinum. These measurements were used to derive a stress-strain curve that includes pre and post failure behaviour. 2D FLAC modelling, with strain softening, was done to investigate how damage expands into the hanging- and/or footwall. Although the so-called ‘squat’ effect is always present, the modelling suggests that it does not dominate the pillar system behaviour at larger width to height ratios. Punching of the pillar into the hanging- and/or footwall increasingly controls the pillar system behaviour with larger width to height ratios. The paper investigates the behaviour of a system that incorporates the immediate hanging- and footwall, as well as the pillar itself.enMerensky pillarBushveld platinumImpala platinumPillar system2D FLAC modellingMiningMetallurgyArticleWatson, B., Kuijpers, J., & Miovsky, P. (2009). In situ measurements of Merensky pillar behaviour at Impala Platinum. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4015Watson, BP, J Kuijpers, and P Miovsky "In situ measurements of Merensky pillar behaviour at Impala Platinum." (2009) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4015Watson B, Kuijpers J, Miovsky P. In situ measurements of Merensky pillar behaviour at Impala Platinum. 2009; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4015.TY - Article AU - Watson, BP AU - Kuijpers, J AU - Miovsky, P AB - The Bushveld platinum group metal deposits in South Africa are the largest in the world. These deposits occur as two distinct stratiform tabular ore bodies and strike for many hundreds of kilometres. Mining is extensive, with depths ranging from close-to-surface to 2300 m. The mining method is a variation of planar open stoping. Crush pillars are widely used to support the open stopes. These pillars are designed to fail and the residual strength provides the required support resistance to stabilize the stoping excavations. This paper describes the in situ measurement, of stress within a Merensky pillar from Impala Platinum. These measurements were used to derive a stress-strain curve that includes pre and post failure behaviour. 2D FLAC modelling, with strain softening, was done to investigate how damage expands into the hanging- and/or footwall. Although the so-called ‘squat’ effect is always present, the modelling suggests that it does not dominate the pillar system behaviour at larger width to height ratios. Punching of the pillar into the hanging- and/or footwall increasingly controls the pillar system behaviour with larger width to height ratios. The paper investigates the behaviour of a system that incorporates the immediate hanging- and footwall, as well as the pillar itself. DA - 2009-12 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Merensky pillar KW - Bushveld platinum KW - Impala platinum KW - Pillar system KW - 2D FLAC modelling KW - Mining KW - Metallurgy LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2009 T1 - In situ measurements of Merensky pillar behaviour at Impala Platinum TI - In situ measurements of Merensky pillar behaviour at Impala Platinum UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4015 ER -