The Role of Passive Seismic Imaging in Near-Mine Exploration

The future of the mineral mining industry relies on the ongoing success of exploration projects. In this paper, the use of near-mine passive seismic imaging is discussed as a solution to exploration demands. We explore the issues currently being faced by mines worldwide and the advances in technology that have led to an increase in passive seismic imaging abilities. Traditional shortcomings with passive seismic imaging are presented, along with proposed solutions by utilising these methods specifically in a near-mine environment. We performed a multi-scale imaging experiment at an underground gold mine in Western Australia. Here we installed a dense, temporary surface geophone array and used these stations in conjunction with an existing permanent in- mine seismic array to produce high resolution images adjacent to and below the existing mine. Ambient noise surface wave tomography and passive seismic reflection imaging were applied to both the surface and in-mine arrays. The resulting images were used to delineate the orebody near the existing mining infrastructure and to identify drilling targets below and adjacent to the current mine. We show that passive seismic methods have the potential to reduce the amount of drilling needed for mineral deposit detection and delineation.