Destressing strategies for mining under highly stressed conditions in the deep mines of Sweden

The overall aim of this project is to explore and develop destressing strategies that allow mining engineers to mitigate rockburst risk and deformation potential of rock under highly stressed conditions in the deep mines of Sweden.

This would lead to:

• Improved safety (safer workplace)
• Improved production and energy efficiency

The detailed objectives of the project are to:

• Improve the understanding of the effects of construction methods on the burst-proneness and deformation potential of excavations,
• Develop a methodology for assessing burst-proneness and deformation potential of excavations,
• Evaluate the effectiveness of destress blasting technique in comparison with the conventional blasting,
• Improve the blasting design to maximize the effectiveness of destress blasting and minimize damage to the surrounding openings, and
• Develop destressing strategies to mitigate rockburst risk and deformation potential under highly stressed conditions in the deep mines of Sweden.

The project is funded by Swedish Mining Innovation and runs between 2021-2024.

Project partners: LKAB, Boliden, Zinkgruvan Mining AB