Abstract
Three-dimensional structural maps are important in optimizing the design and safe development of stopes. As mines deepen, it becomes increasingly difficult to map potentially productive horizons by drilling or geophysical sounding from the surface. Geologists develop plausible 3D ore body images from the cores of underground boreholes drilled in vertical fans from mine galleries. However the fans usually sample the rock volume too sparsely to acquire the detail needed for accurate mining. Trials in Western Australian mines have established that wideband VHF borehole radars can be used to probe the rockmass between boreholes. There is evidence that ore bodies reflect VHF radar signals both specularly and diffusely, much as the ground-air interface does when it is overflown by synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Interferometric borehole radar (InBHR) is analogous to SAR interferometry (InSAR) but it differs in certain important respects. There is also evidence of diffuse backscattering, at least from sheet-like ore bodies. This paper will examine the differences between InSAR and InBHR, and discuss the possibility of tapping into this backscatter by using interferometric methods to map both fault-hosted and other ore bodies in three dimensions.
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