ABSTRACT
The Creighton ore-bodies are contained primarily in norite host rocks, dipping generally 60 NE. The ore is found as massive or disseminated sulphides with large granite inclusions. In 1983, three-dimensional elastic modelling was used to study the effectiveness of a large “destress slot”. This slot was to extend continuously over 200 m all the way from the hanging wall to the foot wall of the ore contacts, for the full height of the level. Similar modelling techniques have been used in the past to evaluate the conditions necessary to induce fault slip. Ryder has had considerable success in identifying “geologically hazardous structures”, by determining which faults are subjected to excess shear stress. In contrast to the effect, by permitting the over-stressed regions immediately adjacent to the mining, and surrounding the ore pass to deform plastically, the safety factor in this same pillar tends to decrease.
