GROUND SUPPORT
Getman’ s ProScale mechanical scaler is engineered specifically for underground scaling
designed to reduce exposure to airborne dust particulates while improving comfort during extended shifts. This approach aligns with the mining industry’ s increasing focus on cab air quality and operator health, as reflected in standards such as ISO 23875.
Additional features include a ¾-inch ballistic glass windshield with optional protective steel bars, intuitive joystick controls, and Getman’ s Machine Repositioning function, allowing operators to reposition the machine while remaining in Scaling Mode. An optional IntelliLight system enables adjustment of LED intensity and colour temperature to optimise visibility as underground dust conditions change.
Weber Mining and resin based pillar consolidation
A longhole block was scheduled for extraction between two pillars, one directly abutting a multi-level historic collapse. The rock mass within and around the pillars was fractured, heterogeneous, and partially saturated, with a credible risk that drilling, blasting, and subsequent stress redistribution could reactivate the collapsed zone and propagate instability into adjacent excavations. Anthony Ferrenbach, General Manager Americas at Weber Mining & Tunnelling, part of Jennmar, says it implemented a preventive, resin-based pillar consolidation program using MARISIL E to increase the internal cohesion and load-bearing continuity of both pillars in the active longhole influence zone.
In fractured, partially saturated ground subject to dynamic loading, MARISIL E provides wet-condition reliability, migration into discontinuity networks, non-expanding cure behavior, and an elastic structural response that tolerates deformation and vibration.
The consolidation template design intent followed a controlled, staged logic: targeted borehole coverage; sectionalised injections; and real-time response control using pressure and saturation cutoffs to avoid unintended hydraulic communication, fracture extension, and material loss outside the treatment envelope.
The outcome was a cohesive, reinforced pillar volume that supported safe execution of longhole drilling and blasting with no reported instability during the operation, while achieving efficient resin consumption due to strict sectionalisation and responsebased stop criteria. Following injection, the two pillars were described as cohesive, loadbearing structures within the treated zones. Mechanistically, the intended result is a composite pillar volume where discontinuity networks are bonded and bridged by cured resin, increasing effective continuity and confinement within the longhole influence zone.
Sika on injection technologies
Injection technologies provide mining operators with precise, adaptable tools for managing water ingress and stabilising ground conditions. Sika told IM:“ Microcement, structural PU, foaming and non-foaming urea-silicate, and acrylate-based systems, offer unique advantages tailored to specific geological challenges. When designed and implemented rigorously, these interventions contribute to safer, more predictable, and environmentally responsible mining. Their application across global case studies validates the broader role of injection as a core component of modern water management in mining.”
However, it adds that injection must be treated as part of mine planning and water management, not a standalone fix. By working from a full mining-ecosystem view, taking into consideration the geological background and designing deposit-specific solutions, Sika helps prevent downstream issues and enables faster, safer, higher-performing operations.
It says effective injection programmes require hydrogeological and geotechnical / geological investigation plus injection selection based on the conclusions drawn from the previous study, fracture characteristics, and water chemistry. It also needs precise control of injection pressures and stage sequencing, plus use of packers, probe holes, and pressure monitoring, as well as coordination with ground support and lining systems. Injection should be integrated with mine planning and water management strategies.
International Mining | AUGUST 2026 37