Further Enquiries:

School of Civil, Environmental
and Mining Engineering
Engineering North N136,
North Terrace Campus
The University of Adelaide
SA 5005
AUSTRALIA
Email

Telephone: +61 8 8313 5451
Facsimile: +61 8 8313 4359


			Researchers
			Postgraduate Researchers
			Facilities and Activities

The Mining and Geotechnical Engineering
Research Group

Introduction

The Mining and Geotechnical Engineering Research Group brings together capabilities in geostatistics, operations research, rock mechanics, and geotechnical engineering. We bring these capabilities together with a focus on improving the efficiency of mining operations, both below and above ground .

The major areas of research focus are:

Geostatistics research, focussed on mining, petroleum and environmental applications.
Rock fracture modelling, applied to geothermal applications, enhanced coal seam gas extraction and stability assessment of rock excavations.
Geomechanics, investigating rock failure mechanisms and early warning systems, rock fracture mechanics, fracture detection using piezoelectric sensors, and rock cutting mechanics.
Geotechnical Engineering, in particular, ground improvement, slope stability assessment, borehole stability for solid rock and unconsolidated ground.
Mining Operations Research, focussed on mining optimisation, planning and simulation.

Deep Exploration Technologies CRC.
Of significance to our research is our partnership in the $112M Deep Exploration Technologies CRC which was officially launched on November 4, 2010. The CRC is an eight year program funded by $28M cash from the Australian Government's CRC Program, $21M cash (and $12M in-kind) from industry participants, and $50M in-kind from its research providers.The vast majority of existing mines are located where prospective basement rocks outcrop. To ensure the future of the minerals industry, new technologies must be developed to explore to greater depths in the vast areas of deep, covered prospective basement. This is the goal of the DET CRC and the Mining and Geotechnical Engineering Research Group is currently contributing to five CRC projects.

Inquiries about collaborating with or joining our research group as a postgraduate are always welcome. For further infornmaton, please contact Assoc Prof Chaoshui Xu.