NorNickel’s Polar Division, Norilsk, Russia

T. P. Darbinyan, Director of Mining Practice Department, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, DarbinyanTP@nornik.ru
I. V. Samosenko, Leading Specialist of Geotechnical Mining Surveillance Department at the Center for Geodynamic Safety

Fedorovsky Polar State University, Norilsk, Russia

G. I. Shchadov, Head of Department, Candidate of Engineering Sciences

NUST MISIS’ College of Mining, Moscow, Russia
M. S. Pleshko, Doctor of Engineering Sciences, Professor

The Oktyabrsky Mine of NorNickel’s Polar Division was and remains the key asset of the Company in the 21^st century. Moreover, it is scheduled to increase the production volume at the Mine by 2.5 Mt annually by 2030. The problem solution assumes preparation of new production sites, as well as prompt redesign and, sometimes, closure of the existing mines and stopes. A crucial component of success of such projects is careful examination of possible alternate solutions to geotechnical problems, and selection of the optimal solution based on an integrated approach. This article discusses implementation of the approach as a case-study of closure of an auxiliary skip shaft (ASS) and modification of skip shaft SS-1 at the Oktyabrsky Mine. The proposed procedure, based on the elaborate general engineering designs, including revision of the construction graphs and cost performance of a project, includes comparison of the project alternatives through the expert appraisement and the parallel analysis of all risks. The research and comparison of 4 variants of reconstruction and 8 variants of closure of the test shafts shows that the optimum scenario of SS-1 redesign is the construction of an internal tubing support, without tear-down of the existing support, and with filling the annulus with fine grain concrete in mass. With a view to closing ASS, the preliminarily adopted variant assumes construction of a drainage system, with the subsequent fill of the shaft with crushed stone, and with the additional perfection of engineering decisions on minimization of risk of the drainage system failure. The implementation of the optimized variants also needs their careful correlation with the long-range plans of mining, repair of other shafts and permanent roadways at the Mine, as well as modernization of the mine system of ore haulage and water disposal.
The authors highly appreciate participation of skilled professionals in this study, namely, A. S. Manzhosov, Head of Geophysical Mine Shaft Survey Service at the Center for Geodynamic Safety (GMSSS CGS), I. S. Kibroev, Hydrogeologist, GMSSS CGS and A. A. Lukyanov, Geophysicist, GMSSS CGS, and A. D. Mormyl, Chief Manager at the Mining Practice Department.

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