Characterization of the rock mass of the Boukhadra mine (Algeria)

Currently, the calculation of the sustainability of the mountain range is one of the main tasks during the design of underground structures at the Bukhadra ore deposit. Each technique involves its own calculation and classification of categories of sustainability. This article presents the results of our research. As a result of laboratory studies, the physical properties of the samples were studied. For each sample, the density, porosity, the degree of saturation of the soil with water, and the degree of cracking of rocks were determined. As a result of the research, it can be concluded that the rocks of the Bukhardra iron mine are very resistant to various factors. A classification developed by the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute to classify mountain ranges and predict further work was used to analyze the rocks of the Bukhadra iron mine. It should be noted that in order to understand the variability of the strength characteristics of the ore, the rock strength index is used. It is a leading indicator of poor quality rock zones. According to the physico-mechanical tests in the laboratories, it was noted that the Bukhadra mine massif has good resistance to compression, tension and shear, this suggests that stability problems in this field are associated with technical factors, such as surface and underground mining.