This is a special course that introduces to students the methods of applied geophysics that can be used in specific mining environment. This is a course of A-level, so it is supposed that some of the students (particularly those who specialise in geology) have some basic knowledge about geophysical techniques and understand what "geophysics" means. For students specialising in mining engineering it is probably not completely clear from the previous courses. But you have gained already some basic knowledge about mining and understand that mining is a complicated process that is changing the bedrock and its state and this process requires constant control of mining operations, using measurements by special sensors and measurement systems installed on the surface or underground in the mining area.
So why we, at Oulu Mining School, decided that a special course of Mining geophysics is necessary? What is the difference between this course and more traditional courses of applied geophysics?
The main reason is that for a long time the geophysical techniques in mining were used mainly for the purpose of exploration of mineral deposits. In geophysical exploration measurements are mainly made on the surface (ground-based techniques) or using instruments installed on aircrafts (aerogeophysical, or air-borne geophysical techniques). Geophysical measurements in marine areas with the equipment installed on special ships are widely used in oil and gas exploration. So traditional applied geophysics teaching is mainly concentrated on these techniques. But mining usually starts when exploration is finished, and it is a number of problems during mine life circle which require application of geophysical techniques in specific conditions (for example, inside tunnels of underground mines, on the slopes of open pit mines, in the areas of mining tailings etc.). Such measurements cannot be done using instrumentation developed for surface geophysical measurements. Nowadays there is a number of special geophysical techniques developed for measurements in underground conditions, and the purpose of the course is to familiarise future mining specialists with these techniques. One example of such special technique is mining seismology dealing with the problem of rock bursts in underground mines that can be very dangerous for personal and equipment. The knowledge of mining seismology is required for geologists and rock mechanics specialist working in the mines, but teaching of mining seismology is usually not included into traditional geophysical courses. The second example we considered in our course is application of traditional applied geophysics techniques to monitoring of mining tailing storage facilities (TSF).
In summary, our course is an attempt to give to the future mining specialists some knowledge about geophysical techniques and equipments that can be used in specific mining environment in order to solve practical tasks arising on different stages of mine life circle. The techniques used for exploration are not considered in this course, because they are explained in other applied geophysical courses provided by Oulu Mining School.
- Opettaja: Elena Kozlovskaya