Backfilling Materials for Underground Mining, Volume II

Dear Colleagues,

Backfilling of mined-out areas is a fundamental component of many underground mining operations. The backfill material supports the surrounding rock mass, reduces wasteful dilution, enables a safe working area for production activities, and mitigates surface subsidence risk. Combining tailing materials in the backfill makes it possible to reduce a mine's environmental footprint and assists with the final site rehabilitation. Therefore, cemented paste backfill (CPB) has become an essential component of underground mining operations. CPB is a mixture of tailings, water, and cement used to fill underground stopes. Reducing the backfilling cost by decreasing the cement content may increase ore dilution from poorly performing backfill exposures. Alternatively, increasing the cement content will raise the costs, though it could increase productivity through improved mining system cycle times. The use of other binder materials can reduce the costs, while maintaining optimal strength performance of the backfilling. Moreover, tailings’ particle size and density significantly alter the strength, microstructure, water demand, and economic costs of backfill mixtures. Besides CPB, solid waste backfilling has become popular in underground mining activities, especially coal mining. In many mining projects with cement paste backfill (CPB), backfill samples retrieved from the underground mine show higher strength properties than those prepared in the laboratory. Previous studies demonstrated that the properties of CPB are also dependent on placement condition during curing. In coal mining, backfilling of the gob area is performed in conjunction with the mining operations. The properties of solid-waste backfilled materials may significantly influence local strata behavior. This Special Issue aims to bring together studies from all these areas, including experimental studies, constitutive model developments, analytical and numerical analyses, to characterize backfill materials. We welcome studies on mine stability and operation issues in mining with backfill, as well as backfill mining case studies.

Dr. Abbas Taheri
Guest Editor

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