Study of Drainage Through Hydraulic Fill Stopes using Method of Fragments

A good understanding of the pore water pressure developments within the hydraulic fill stope and the discharge through the drain is essential for improving the designs of barricades and the safety in the mines. A finite difference software FLAC was used to study the drainage and pore water pressure developments within a two dimensional rectangular stope with a single drain at the bottom. Using the method of fragment, a simple solution was proposed for determining the discharge and the maximum pore water pressure within the stope, when the height of water is greater than the width of the stope. The predictions are within 1% of those obtained from FLAC.