The three most common rock mass classification systems in use in the South African mining industry
today are Bieniawski’s (1976) Geomechanics or RMR System, Barton et al.’s (1974) Q-System and
Laubscher’s (1990) MRMR System respectively. Of these three systems, only the MRMR
Classification System was developed specifically for mining applications, namely caving operations.
In response to the increased use of the MRMR Classification System in the mining industry, and
concerns that the MRMR System does not adequately address the role played by discontinuities,
veins and cemented joints in a jointed rock mass, Laubscher and Jakubec introduced the In-Situ
Rock Mass Rating System (IRMR) in the year 2000. A quantitative comparison of the MRMR and
IRMR Classification Systems has been undertaken to determine a correlation between the two
classification systems, the results of which indicate that there is not a major difference between the
resultant rock mass rating values derived from the two Classification Systems. Therefore, although
the IRMR System is more applicable to a jointed rock mass than the MRMR System, the MRMR
System should not be regarded as redundant, as it still has a role to play as a mine design tool.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/4858 |
| Date | 20 May 2008 |
| Creators | Dyke, Gregory Paul |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 945233 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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