Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

An independent review and summary of geotechnical information pertaining to the sidewall stability of the Kimberley "Big Hole" mine, with specific focus on the weathering and deterioration of the Kimberley shales.

Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2017.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Maree, Wilmar
Other Authors: Fouche, Nanine
Format: Thesis
Language:en_ZA
Published: Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University 2017
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613842338480128
access_status_str Open Access
author Maree, Wilmar
author2 Fouche, Nanine
author_browse Fouche, Nanine
Maree, Wilmar
author_facet Fouche, Nanine
Maree, Wilmar
author_sort Maree, Wilmar
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv Stellenbosch University
description Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2017.
format Thesis
id oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/102831
institution Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
language en_ZA
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:42:33.557Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
publishDate 2017
publishDateRange 2017
publishDateSort 2017
publisher Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
publisherStr Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
record_format dspace
source_str SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
spelling oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/102831 An independent review and summary of geotechnical information pertaining to the sidewall stability of the Kimberley "Big Hole" mine, with specific focus on the weathering and deterioration of the Kimberley shales. Maree, Wilmar Fouche, Nanine Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Civil Engineering. Slope stability (Soil mechanics) Weathering -- Shale Geotechnical engineering UCTD Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2017. The Kimberley “Big Hole” Mine in the center of Kimberley experiences frequent small scale toppling and landslide slope failure events, which causes the sidewalls of the pit to slowly migrate outward towards surrounding businesses and infrastructure. The reason for slope stability problems and slope failures can be ascribed to the vast susceptibility of the underlying Kimberley shales to weather and deteriorate when exposed to the atmosphere and natural weathering conditions. This sets into motion a process known locally as “mine pit break-back”, where regression of the underlying shale unit causes the overlying dolerite cap to break off into large dolerite blocks or boulders, which eventually topples over and into the open mine pit as single block toppling slope failure events. In order to help combat this problem of undermining at the Kimberley “Big Hole” Mine, five different dust and erosion control liquids were identified on the basis of forming a waterproof and weather resistant base around the surface it is applied to. In theory, all five dust and erosion control liquids should prevent water ingress through the surface of the rock and create a protective layer that will increase rock durability and weathering resistance of the Kimberley shales. These products were tested by using various durability and weathering test techniques including absorption tests, cyclic wetting and drying tests, comparative accelerated weathering tests and slake-durability index tests. The ultimate aim of this project was to identify one of these dust and erosion control liquids as a viable solution towards the defined slope stability problem at the Kimberley “Big Hole” Mine and in turn stop the process of mine pit break-back by applying this product to the sidewalls of the pit. In addition, many non-conventional techniques of measuring ground movement or displacement around large open pits, such as the Kimberley “Big Hole” Mine for example, were used to identify the entire extent of slope stability problems at the Big Hole Mine, as well as determine the migration pattern for the sidewalls over the past 46 years. These ground movement measuring techniques included a direct visual inspection of the slopes and sidewalls of the Kimberley “Big Hole” Mine as well as the remote sensing and pixel tracking of aerial photographs between the years 1968 and 2014. The abovementioned procedures delivered significant result towards combatting the defined slope stability problem at the Kimberley “Big Hole” Mine and conclusions and recommendations surrounding further work at the open pit mine is worth further investigation. The Sasbind DECL product prevailed as the most successful and effective DECL product with regards to increasing the rock durability and weathering resistance of the Kimberley shales after each durability and weathering test, which lead to the conclusion that application of this product to the sidewalls of the Kimberley “Big Hole” Mine could prove to be highly successful in addressing the slope instability problem at the Big Hole Mine. Further testing in this regard is justified and recommended. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar 2017-11-16T07:12:57Z 2017-12-11T10:59:43Z 2017-11-16T07:12:57Z 2017-12-11T10:59:43Z 2017-12 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/102831 en_ZA Stellenbosch University 196 pages : illustrations application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
spellingShingle Slope stability (Soil mechanics)
Weathering -- Shale
Geotechnical engineering
UCTD
Maree, Wilmar
An independent review and summary of geotechnical information pertaining to the sidewall stability of the Kimberley "Big Hole" mine, with specific focus on the weathering and deterioration of the Kimberley shales.
title An independent review and summary of geotechnical information pertaining to the sidewall stability of the Kimberley "Big Hole" mine, with specific focus on the weathering and deterioration of the Kimberley shales.
title_full An independent review and summary of geotechnical information pertaining to the sidewall stability of the Kimberley "Big Hole" mine, with specific focus on the weathering and deterioration of the Kimberley shales.
title_fullStr An independent review and summary of geotechnical information pertaining to the sidewall stability of the Kimberley "Big Hole" mine, with specific focus on the weathering and deterioration of the Kimberley shales.
title_full_unstemmed An independent review and summary of geotechnical information pertaining to the sidewall stability of the Kimberley "Big Hole" mine, with specific focus on the weathering and deterioration of the Kimberley shales.
title_short An independent review and summary of geotechnical information pertaining to the sidewall stability of the Kimberley "Big Hole" mine, with specific focus on the weathering and deterioration of the Kimberley shales.
title_sort independent review and summary of geotechnical information pertaining to the sidewall stability of the kimberley big hole mine with specific focus on the weathering and deterioration of the kimberley shales
topic Slope stability (Soil mechanics)
Weathering -- Shale
Geotechnical engineering
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/102831
work_keys_str_mv AT mareewilmar anindependentreviewandsummaryofgeotechnicalinformationpertainingtothesidewallstabilityofthekimberleybigholeminewithspecificfocusontheweatheringanddeteriorationofthekimberleyshales
AT mareewilmar independentreviewandsummaryofgeotechnicalinformationpertainingtothesidewallstabilityofthekimberleybigholeminewithspecificfocusontheweatheringanddeteriorationofthekimberleyshales