Prospects of taking into account hypsometry of strata using ground penetration radar in heading operations at the Verkhnekamsk deposit of salt

Potash mining (sylvinite and carnallite ore) in the mines at the Verkhnekamsk deposit of salt uses the system of stopes and rib pillars. In this case, it is highly critical to ensure stability of stopes arranged in the productive strata. An operating roadheader can expose unstable roof rocks, which is connected with the occurrence features of the productive strata or their hard interbeds. The timely information on the actual position of strata can help make beforehand decisions on stope stability in complex geological environment, especially, in zones of heavy folding. One of the methods of geological structure determination during heading operations is the ground penetrating radar. The applicability testing of the method involved field trials in the roof and floor in the driven permanent roadways. The geological interpretation results of GPR data revealed their high agreement with the results of the direct observations. The expediency of the GPR installation on a roadheader for the real-time control of hypsometry of strata is validated. Emphasis is laid on the reduction of dilution of the mineral product during heading with the ground penetrating radar. According to the research results, dilution in complex geological conditions can be decreased by a few times. The theoretical calculations were performed for a stope headed with and without the GPR data. The recommendations are made for the improvement of the roadheader navigation system, which enable a switch to the automated remote control of roadheading machines and to the unmanned mining. 

Voroshilov V. A., Fatykhova O. N., Zhukov A. A., Tsarev R. I., Prigara A. M. Prospects of taking into account hypsometry of strata using ground penetration radar in heading operations at the Verkhnekamsk deposit of salt. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2026;(10):5-19. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2026_10_0_5.

V.A. Voroshilov¹, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Senior Researcher, e-mail: Vladislav.Voroshilov@uralkali.com, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3459-9264,
O.N. Fatykhova¹, Junior Researcher, e-mail: Olga.Fatyhova@uralkali.com, ORCID ID: 0009-0002-2144-5693,
A.A. Zhukov¹, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Head of Laboratory, e-mail: Aleksandr.Zhukov@uralkali.com, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-3819-4309,
R.I. Tsarev¹, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Research Area Manager, e-mail: Roman.Tsarev@uralkali.com, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-7794-411X,
A.M. Prigara¹, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Research Area Manager, e-mail: Andrey.Prigara@uralkali.com, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0129-6133,
¹ VNII Galurgii JSC, 614002, Perm, Russia.

V.A. Voroshilov, e-mail: Vladislav.Voroshilov@uralkali.com.

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