Mining-induced microseismicity: Monitoring and applications of imaging and source mechanism techniques

The study of microseismicity in mines provides an ideal method for remote volumetric sampling of rock masses. The nature and uniqueness of microseismic monitoring is outlined in the context of acquisition hardware and software requirements. Several topics are used to highlight the potential for novel applications of microseismicity and to outline areas where further study is required. These topics reflect some of the current interest areas in seismology, namelyb values and source parameters, fault-plane solutions, modes of failure and moment tensor inversion, imaging and seismicityvelocity correlations. These studies suggest potential correlations between zones of high seismic velocity, high microseismic activity and maximal stress drops, which can be interpreted spatially to be the locations of highly stressed ground with a potential for rock bursting. Fault-plane solutions are shown to be useful in determining the slip potential of various joint sets in a rock mass. Source parameter studies and moment tensor analysis clearly show the importance of non-shear components of failure, andb values for microseismicity appear to be magnitude-limited and related to spatial rather than temporal variations in effective stress levels.

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