Mining applications of seismic tomography

The Bureau of Mines has advanced the state-of-the-art seismic tonography for applications to maining, since the late-1980's. The ability for engineers to "see" into the rockmass using Bureau developed technology, such as PC-based tomographic software and various source-receiver systems, In various arrangements, such as crosshole, VSP and RVSP, provides a more comprehensive and cost-effective subsurface assessment than 1s possible by conventional drilling programs alone. The results of Bureau seismic tomographic investigations under various acquisition and processing constraints are presented. Recent applications of seismic tomography at various U.S. mining and other properties include delineating lateral stratigraphice continuity, locating a mine drift in crystalline rock, evaluating modified blast designs on overbreak, monitoring of vadose zone plume migration, detecting fracture zones for solution control, and stress relief/concentration. The extreme heterogeneity and anisotropy associated with abandoned coal mine workings present a state-of-the-art challenge to accurate image reconstruction.