Unexpected or uncontrolled movement, whether natural or man-made (e.g. mine-induced seismicity), is one of the major risk factors within Canadian underground mines. Being aware of this movement, and reacting to it with appropriate action, countermeasures etc., is one of the keys to improving mine safety and ensuring uninterrupted production.

Being constantly aware of any significant movement within an underground mine requires intensive, real-time monitoring. Of course, this can be a challenge, especially when much of the movement occurs, or at least starts, within rock masses or soil deposits where it is not obviously visible. This type of monitoring requires mine engineers in Canada to be able to “see” what is happening beyond rock faces and other parts of the mine visible to the naked eye.

Accurate, easy-to-use, geotechnical monitoring instrumentation devices provide a good solution to this problem. These instruments continually gather data about the status of geological formations where they interact closely with the mine, for example, within tunnels, stopes, at the working faces, etc.

Some of the most common types of geotechnical instruments used in underground mines are:

• Extensometers, including Multi Point Borehole Extensometers (MPBX)
• Contractometers
• Sloughmeters
• Ground Movement Monitors

At Mine Design Technologies (MDT), we design and manufacture a range of top-quality geotechnical monitoring instrumentation products that are ideally suited for use in underground mines in Canada. All of our geotechnical monitoring instrumentation products are fully customizable, adaptable, and can be made to suit a client’s operational requirements and specifications.

Click here to get more information about our geotechnical monitoring instrumentation and other mining-related products.

Geotechnical Monitoring Instrumentation