ABSTRACT
The GeoRessources Laboratory (University of Lorraine, France) in collaboration with the Research Institute on Mines and the Environment (RIME-University of Québec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Canada), have developed an innovative experimental set-up to allow us reproduce a rock barricade within a drift leading into an exploitation chamber (called stope). For this study, we reproduce the mining-operations scheme at the LaRonde mine in Québec (Canada) by our 1:50 scale model. The objective of the experimental program is to measure the barricade-backfill and barricade-gallery interactions during emplacement of the backfill. The barricade is observed with a high-definition camera to determine the eventual displacements of the barricade using digital image correlation method (DIC). Also, mini pressure sensors are placed on the upstream side of the barricade to measure the pressure applied by the backfill.
