• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.525-534
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• 2014

Environmental problems typically occurring in abandoned mine lands (AML) include: contaminated and acidic surface water and groundwater; stockpiled waste rock and mill tailings; and ground subsidences due to mining operations. This study examines the effectiveness of various geophysical techniques for mapping potential hazard and contaminated zones. Four AML sites with sedimentation contamination problems, acid mine drainage (AMD) channels, ground subsidence, manmade liner leakage, and buried mine tailings, were selected to examine the applicability of various geophysical methods to the identification of the different types of mine hazards. Geophysical results were correlated to borehole data (core samples, well logs, tomographic profiles, etc.) and water sample data (pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and heavy metal contents). Zones of low electrical resistivity (ER) corresponded to areas contaminated by heavy metals, especially contamination by Cu, Pb, and Zn. The main pathways of AMD leachate were successfully mapped using ER methods (low anomaly peaks), self-potential (SP) curves (negative peaks), and ground penetrating radar (GPR) at shallow penetration depths. Mine cavities were well located based on composite interpretations of ER, seismic tomography, and well-log records; mine cavity locations were also observed in drill core data and using borehole image processing systems (BIPS). Damaged zones in buried manmade liners (used to block descending leachate) were precisely detected by ER mapping, and buried rock waste and tailings piles were characterized by low-velocity zones in seismic refraction data and high-resistivity zones in the ER data.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.455-465
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• 2016

The collapse of underground mine development void for mineral resources can cause the subsidence of ground surface. In order to prevent the subsidence of ground, data such as maps or pictures of past mining site is important information for current mine reclamation works. In particular, mine subsidence management was based on mining maps and pictures. The process of the mining area surveys, safety evaluation, and ground reinforcement are normally possible with information such as maps and pictures in past mining. During the Japanese colonial period and 1960's, a lot of mines were developed in Korea indiscriminately. However, mining information at that time is limited to use. In the future, mining information will become even more rare. MIRECO intends to establish a realistic alternative solution. In this study, the basic numerical information of developed mine tunnels in Korea is statistically reviewed, and advanced underground cavity measuring technology was studied. 4,473 mine tunnel opening data of 1,784 abandoned mines in korea were collected and sorted. As a result of the analysis, the average value of small mine tunnel openings in Korea was 1.982 m in height and 1.959 m in width. The mean value of shape factor was analyzed as 0.485. The summary of these numerical mine data will be helpful for understanding and researching Korean abandoned mines. Therefore, the development of measurement technology for abandoned mine cavities and tunnels is expected to facilitate more effective mine subsidence management works in Korea.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.387-399
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• 2018

Mine reclamation project is closely related to human's past mining activities and the current human's living environment. It is a reason for the national management. In order to efficiently carry out mine reclamation projects, a precise investigation and analysis of the underground space of the abandoned mine is required. Korea MINE RECLAMATION Corp. is developing a practical technology that is effective in investigating and actually measuring underground cavities. MIRECO EYE system is an exploration equipment for 3D digitization and figuration of underground cavities. As combining a laser, sonar and image acquisition technology, it enables access to information about inaccessible underground cavities and effective management of subsidence risk of mined area. and currently it is also utilized for various purposes in related areas such as investigating urban sinkholes. This article is precise numerical and geometric information analysis obtained through MIRECO EYE system.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.62-71
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• 2000

The abandoned mines causing settlement of the surface above and collapse of the cavities are the major influencing factor on the stability of the nearby underground structures. To prevent the harmful effect, the backfill methods are commonly applied to the cavities although the design criteria and the analysis method are not properly addressed in some cases. An approximate analytical method together with the numerical technique is considered in this study to simulate the gradual deterioration of the rock masses around the cavities and, therefore, the influential zone to the underground structures passing through the cavities. Also considered in this study is the backfill effect on the stability of the rock masses around the cavities. Specifically, the incomplete backfill effect is compared with that of the idealized backfill method by adopting elasto-plastic analysis involving a strain softening material law.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.534-544
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• 2009

The collapse of the underground cavity can cause the abrupt local subsidence of the ground surface. It can be hazardous to the stability of road and building for human activity. Therefore it is necessary to develop reinforcement methods for the filling of the underground cavity. This study was executed to improve the material quality and systems to fill the calcium-aluminate mineral $(C_{12}A_7)$ environmentally, and minimize the loss of filling materials for the steep underground cavity. Filling material which was developed in this study is composed of rapid hardening material and additives. The developed material had rapid hardening and non-separation ability in the water cavity condition, so it made the effective underground dam in the cavity with prevention of material loss when it was poured in the water cavity. Results of heavy metal leaching test for environmental assessment showed that it was environmentally suiTable material for the filling in the mine cavity.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.174-181
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• 2001

The cavities created by underground mining, if remained unfilled, can cause ground settlement and surface subsidence as a result of relaxation and breakdown of the carven roof. Construction of structures above the underground mine cavity will have serious problems concerning both structural stability and safely even if the cavity is back-filled. This study was conducted to confirm the location and condition of the cavern as well as the state of the back-fill in A mine area using core logging and borehole camera. The bearing capacity and other mechanical properties of the ground were also measured by the standard penetration test(SPT). Obtained data were used to assess the stability of the ground and the structures to be built by numerical analysis using FLAC. The site investigation results showed that the mine cavities were filled with materials such as boulder and silty sand(SM by unified classification). Result of the numerical analyses indicated that constructing building structures on the over-lying ground above the filled cavities is secure against the potential problems such as surface subsidence and ground settlement.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.181-186
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• 2005

Gravity method produces subsurface density distribution, which is direct information of soundness of basement. Therefore, microgravity is one of the most effective method for detections of limestone cavities, abandoned mine-shafts and other tunnels, The paper show the effectiveness of microgravity by three different field cases.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.12a
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• pp.15-25
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• 2007

Gravity method could be one of the most effective tool for evaluating the soundness of basement which is directly correlated with density and its variations. Moreover, Gravimeter is easy to handle and strong to electromagnetic noises. But, gravity anomaly due to the target structures in engineering and environmemtal applications are too small to detect, comparing to the external changes, such as, elevation, topography, and regional geological variations. Gravity method targeting these kinds of small anomaly sources with high precision usually called microgravity. Microgravimetry with precision and accuracy of few ${\mu}Gal$, can be achieved by the recent high-resolution gravimeter, careful field acquisition, and sophisticated processing, analysis, and interpretation routines. This paper describes the application of the microgravity, such as, density structure of a rock fill dam, detection of abandoned mine-shaft, detection and mapping of karstic cavities in limestone terrains, and time-lapse gravity for grout monitoring. The case studies show how the gravity anomalies detect the location of the targets and reveal the geologic structure by mapping density distributions and their variations.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.35-44
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• 2005

Recently, underground cavities such as limestone cavity and abandoned mine give rise to a lot of damage in SOC facilities. But there are many difficult problems such as delay of the working terms and enormous economic losses in finding a new method and changing construction design. In this study, a new filling material for underground cavities was developed using the stone-dust classified as industry waste polluting environment. As a result of test, filling material properties was that a compressive strength was $34{\~}60\;kgf/cm^2$, a change ratio in length was $0.268{\~}0.776\%$ and water absorption was $34.3{\~}46.9\%$. Also as a result of suspended mass test and pH test, it was confirmed that the developed filling material has a characteristic of non-separating in water and it was an environmentally friendly material.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.195-208
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• 2013

We employed electrical resistivity and optical borehole imaging methods to identify underground cavities and determine ground subsidence rate at the study area affected by land subsidence due to abandoned underground mines. At the study site 1, the anomalous zones of low resistivity ranging between 100 ohm-meter and 150 ohm-meter were observed and confirmed as an abandoned underground mine by subsequent borehole drilling and optical borehole imaging. Although the electrical resistivity survey was unavailable due to the paved surface of the study site 2, we were able to locate another abandoned underground mine with the collapsed mine shaft based on the distribution of the ore veins and confirmed it with borehole drilling. In addition, we measured vertical displacements of underground features indicating underground subsidence by conducting optical borehole imaging 6 times over a period of 43 days at the study site 2. The displacement magnitude at the deep segment caused by subsidence appeared to be 3 times larger than those at the shallow segment. Similarly, the displacement duration at the deep segment was 4 times longer than those at the shallow segment. Therefore, the combination of electrical resistivity and optical borehole imaging methods can be effectively applicable to detect and monitor ground subsidence caused by underground cavities.