Mining initiative on ground support and equipment: 12 years of accomplishments

Abstract

Ground support and its associated equipment have a significant impact on safety and productivity in both mining and construction. Since 2007, the industry-funded Rock Tech Centre's Mining Initiative on Ground Support Systems and Equipment (MIGS) consortium has initiated and managed a variety of projects representing the collective and non-competitive interests of the global mining and service industry. From the beginning, using an agreed program of projects and seminars, the goal has been to obtain a beneficial advance in the capability of ground support and its installation equipment technology by:• Promoting a rationalised approach to ground support system design and testing.• Seeking a standardisation of equipment functionality and productivity improvements.• Evaluating innovative methods of monitoring support systems and their interaction with the rock mass.• Seeking the development of rock support with greater dynamic capacity to deform for deep mining applications.• Exchanging technical and operational information.This paper elaborates on the above goals and summarises some of the major achievements and key conclusions of a 12-year program of 25 work packages.