Analysis of geodynamic activity in rock mass at opencast mines and tailings ponds of the Kachkanar Mining and Processing Plant

Abstract

The article presents the procedure and findings of the research into the modern geodynamic activity of rock mass at the Kachkanar Mining and Processing Plant. The characteristics of the cyclic short-period movements are determined in the course of continuous monitoring by satellite geodesy facilities within a few hours or days. The geodynamic monitoring in opencast mines of Kachkanar MPP is conditioned by the specific tectonic structure of enclosing rock mass, in particular, by the impact of a set of the active tectonic faults intersecting opencast mines and tailings ponds. The amplitudes of displacements and straining are determined in horizontal plane, vertically and in three-dimensional space. The accuracy of geodetic data was analyzed using two independent methods. The Fourier analysis of space-and-time series of displacements determined prevailing frequencies of the cyclic short-period movements. The peak values in the periodograms fitted the period of the short-period strains. The role of the cyclic geodynamic movements in the formation of the general stress-strain behavior of rock mass in the area of opencast mines and tailings ponds of Kachkanar MPP, EVRAZ is illustrated. The geodynamic movements induce fatigue phenomena in structures and materials, loosening of adjacent rock mass of opencast mines, change in the strength properties of soil at the bottom of engineering structures and the thixotropy effect.