Underground Mining Impacts on Geomechanical Stability
Summary
Underground mining alters the in situ stress distribution within rock masses, often leading to deformation, fracturing and failure of overlying strata. Removal of ore creates voids (goafs) that induce redistribution of loads, triggering stages of subsidence and shear‐tension within the overburden. Dynamic activities such as blasting or seismic events can amplify these effects, giving rise to progressive deformation, slope instability, landslides and, in some cases, sinkhole formation at the surface. Numerical simulation and physical modelling have been instrumental in elucidating the evolution of caving zones, fracture propagation and displacement fields around excavations. Improved understanding of these processes underpins risk assessment and early warning systems, guides support design in mine workings and informs land‐use planning in post‐mining landscapes. Globally, such insights support the mitigation of hazards to infrastructure, communities and ecosystems adjacent to active or abandoned underground mines.
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Underground Mining Impacts on Geomechanical Stability publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in underground mining impacts on geomechanical stability across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Subsidence: Vertical downward movement of the ground surface resulting from removal of underlying support.
Dynamic triggering: Initiation of ground or slope failure by transient loads such as blasting vibrations or seismic waves.
Goaf: The void space left in an underground mine after the extraction of ore or coal.
Caving zone: The region of overlying rock that collapses and fragments into a mined-out void.
References
- Damage features and dynamic triggering mechanism of the Jianshanying landslide induced by underground mining in Shuicheng County, Guizhou Province, China. Geomatics Natural Hazards and Risk (2024).
- Study on Three-Dimensional Dynamic Stability of Open-Pit High Slope under Blasting Vibration. Lithosphere (2022).
- The influence of selected mining and natural factors on the sinkhole creation hazard based on the case study. Environmental Earth Sciences (2021).
- Research on the Evolution Characteristics of Rock Mass Response from Open‐Pit to Underground Mining. Advances in Materials Science and Engineering (2021).
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