The design and testing of pipe-sticks for underground stope support

Pipe-stick support in deep-level gold mines is first descriptionbed and illustrated, a pipe-stick being a mine pole trimmed to the required size and sleeved by a pipe. An account is then given of an investigation into this form of support that involved load-compression tests in a IOOO-ton press, tests in a rapid-loading machine simulating rock-burst conditions, a study of the load-compression behaviour of pipe-sticks installed underground, and a cost evaluation. Pipe-stick support was found to be very effective on the face and to cost less than conventional matpacks.