CURRICULUM VITAE
T R STACEY
Profession:
Date of Birth:
Employer:
Position:
Geotechnical Engineer
17 October 1943
University of the Witwatersrand, School of Mining Engineering
Professor Emeritus
South African Nationality:
Professional Qualifications and Affiliations:
Professional Engineer (South Africa)
Honorary Professor, University of Natal, Durban (1996-2000)
Honorary Life Fellow, S A Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
Fellow, International Society for Rock Mechanics
Fellow, S A Academy of Engineering
Honorary Life Fellow, S A National Institute of Rock Engineering
Vice-President for Africa, International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) (6000+ members world wide at the time) 1991-1995
Council Member, S A Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 1995-2013
President, S A Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 2003-2004
Chairman, S A National Group on Rock Mechanics (450+ members) 1988-1992
Member of ISRM Commission "Rock failure mechanisms around underground openings" 1986-
1991
Executive Committee Member, S A National Council on Tunnelling 1991 to 2003
Chairman, S A National Council on Tunnelling, 1996-1998
External Examiner: has acted as external examiner for Masters and Doctoral Theses in the science and engineering faculties of the Universities of the Witwatersrand, Natal, Pretoria,
Cape Town, New South Wales, Nanyang, Western Australia, Queensland, Lulea, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad.
NRF Rating 2007 and 2012: B(1) – “All reviewers concur that the applicant enjoys considerable international recognition for the high quality and impact of his recent research outputs, with some of them indicating that he is a leading international scholar in the field.”
Awarded the Brigadier Stokes Medal of the S A Institute of Mining and Metallurgy for the very highest achievement in the South African Mining and Metallurgical Industry 2008.
Education: BSc Eng (Mech) (Cum Laude) Natal University, Durban, South Africa, 1965
MSc Eng (Mech) Natal University, Durban, South Africa, 1968
DSc Eng (Mining: Rock Mechanics) University of Pretoria, South Africa, 1973
DIC (Engineering Geology) Imperial College of Science and Technology,
University of London, 1974
Languages: English
Countries of Work Experience: Australia, Botswana, Canada, Chile, Congo, Kenya, Lesotho,
Namibia, Philippines, South Africa, Swaziland, Sweden, USA,
Zambia, Zimbabwe
RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
January 2009 – Present UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND
Position: Visiting Professor. From September 2011, Professor Emeritus.
Involved in postgraduate teaching and research in rock engineering, and technical consulting activities, on a part-time basis. Member of the Geotechnical Advisory Board, El Teniente Mine,
Chile; Member of Geotechnical Review Board, Bingham Canyon Mine, USA; Member of the
Technical Mining Advisory Board, Stornoway Diamond Corp., Canada; Member of the Seismic
Mine Advisory Board, LKAB, Sweden.
December 2000 – December 2008 UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND
Position: Centennial Professor of Rock Engineering
Involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research in rock engineering.
Actively involved in research into performance of rock support (rockbolts, wire mesh, shotcrete and other elements) under severe static and dynamic loading conditions; stresses in rock masses; support provided by thin spray-on liners; fracturing of massive rock in very low stress conditions; rock fracture and guttering in coal mines; stress and structural influences on rock slope stability in three dimensions.
Consulting activities have included: expert witness for the arbitration on a project regarding the excavation and support of underground LPG storage caverns, Sydney, Australia; rock support design review, urban motorway tunnels, Sydney, Australia; expert witness on arbitration regarding the Bakun tunnel, Luzon Hydro, Philippines; expert opinions on a hydroelectric water tunnel in Kenya; specialist review activities regarding rock engineering aspects on mines in
South Africa, Australia, Chile and Zimbabwe. Member of the Geotechnical Advisory Board, El
Teniente Mine, Chile; Member of Geotechnical Review Board, Bingham Canyon Mine, USA;
Member of the Technical Mining Advisory Committee, Stornoway Diamond Corp., Canada.
1976 – November 2000 STEFFEN, ROBERTSON AND KIRSTEN (SRK Consulting)
Position: Geotechnical Engineer/Principal
Commenced with the firm as a geotechnical engineer, becoming a principal in the firm,
Chairman of the South African company Steffen, Robertson and Kirsten (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, and a member of the Board of the international holding company Steffen, Robertson and
Kirsten (Global) Ltd. In 1976 the firm consisted of fewer than 30 employees, and in 2000 it was an international organisation with approximately 500 employees, with offices in South Africa,
USA, Canada, UK, Chile, Peru, Australia, Zimbabwe and Lesotho. Consulting assignments have been carried out in the following countries: South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia,
Zimbabwe, Zambia, DR Congo, Kenya, Australia, Philippines, Chile, USA and Canada involving the following mining commodities on numerous mining operations: gold, platinum, chrome, copper, diamonds, nickel, coal.
Significant activities during this period included:
- Participation in the investigation and design of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, ongoing from 1986 to 2000.
Technical Representative on the following :
Delivery Tunnel South Contract (about 20km, 5m diameter bored tunnel, in massive
Clarens sandstone);
Mohale Tunnel Contract (about 32 km, 5m diameter bored tunnel, in Lesotho
Basalt).
Specialist on:
Transfer Tunnel (about 45km, 5m diameter bore, in Lesotho Basalt);
Matsoku Diversion Contract (6km, drill and blast, in Lesotho Basalt).
Chairman of the Management Committee of the Matsoku Diversion Partnership until
November 2000. Board member of Highlands Delivery Tunnel Consultants, the consulting organisation responsible for the design and construction supervision of the Delivery
Tunnel North.
Project manager, on behalf of Steffen, Robertson and Kirsten (UK) Ltd, for the specialist geotechnical investigations contract for the proposed Batoka Gorge Hydroelectric Scheme on the Zambezi River.
Review of the design and rock support requirements of the 14m span underground crusher chamber at Middelplaats Managanese Mine.
Project director for the shallow 7,5m span pipeline tunnel (~ 200m long, with two shafts about 50m deep) in layered dolomite rock beneath the Vaal River.
Investigation and analysis of stress fracturing around deep level bored tunnels and shafts, making use of detailed two and three dimensional stress analysis.
investigation, analysis and stabilisation design with regard to the shallow undermining, for construction of the Standard Bank Superblock in Johannesburg.
Geotechnical feasibility investigation, analysis and design for the proposed Mvumase
Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Scheme on the Tugela River, including a large span cavern in
Natal Group (Table Mountain) Sandstone.
Detailed rock mechanics investigations into the mechanical mining of gold reef by the
Stopecorer machine, which drills a series of overlapping 600mm diameter core holes.
Geotechnical prefeasibility investigation for the Palmiet Pumped Storage Hydroelectric
Scheme (contract value unknown).
Investigation of the failure of a raisebore operation due to fracturing of rock under high stress conditions, involving two and three dimensional stress analyses as well as kinematic stability assessments.
Rock engineering input for the Palabora Underground Mine over a period of 10 years. This activity involved analyses of the stability and support requirements for the underground crusher chambers (about 12m span at about 1200m depth), management of rock slotter and conventional in situ stress measurement programmes, back analysis considerations, evaluation of shaft stability and prediction of potential rock failure in the 1200m deep ventilation shaft, evaluation of caving potential and prediction of cave limit locations.
Rock mechanics aspects, in particular rock-backfill interaction, of the implementation of soft tailings backfill for support in deep level gold mining operations. This involved significant non-linear stress analysis of the rock mass, taking into account the preferential orientations of jointing and fracturing.
Specialist review of the rock support design for the wide span, shallow depth motorway tunnels (up to 22m spans, 20m below surface in an urban area, in Hawkesbury Sandstone)
of the Sydney Eastern Distributor, Australia (contract value unknown).
Expert witness in an arbitration case regarding the construction of an underground liquid petroleum gas storage facility involving the excavation of multiple caverns of 14m span,
Sydney, Australia. The geotechnical case revolved around the stability of the caverns after rockfalls had occurred and the rock support required to ensure stability (contract cost ~
R800 million)
Expert witness in an arbitration case regarding a 6+ km pressure tunnel for the Bakun hydroelectric scheme in the Philippines. One of the central issues was the requirement for, and adequacy of, rock support in the tunnel (contract value unknown).
Expert input regarding rock engineering aspects encountered during the construction of the
6km, 4.5m diameter headrace tunnel for the Sondu/Miriu hydroelectric scheme in Kenya
(contract value unknown).
Member of a 4 person Technical Advisory Board for the world's largest underground mine in Chile regarding geotechnical and mining issues.
Contract research projects into the following: the behaviour of rock support under large deformation static and dynamic stress conditions; stope panel spans and pillar design methodology; the performance of orepasses at ultra deep levels; a simple method of in situ rock stress measurement; hazards associated with drawpoints, tips, passes and chutes; and mudrushes in diamond and base metal mines. Project leader on many of these projects.
Consulting input on numerous mining and civil engineering geotechnical feasibility studies, including both underground and surface projects.
Specialist appointment by the South African Government Mining Engineer to provide independent opinions of rockburst occurrences involving fatalities.
Specialist input regarding many projects over shallow undermining in the Central
Witwatersrand and Rustenburg areas.
Specialist geotechnical input on more than 23 civil engineering tunnels, and on many kilometres of mining tunnels.
Preparation of a book "Practical Handbook on Underground Rock Mechanics" which was published by Trans Tech Publications in Germany.
1974 - 1975 D L WEBB AND ASSOCIATES
Position: Geotechnical Engineer
Geotechnical engineer involved in general site investigation work, in particular the assessment of alternative sites for Sasol 2.
1973 - 1974 IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, LONDON
Position: Academic Visitor (invited position) in the Engineering Geology Department
Participated in some of the course work for the MSc course in Engineering Geology, and conducted specific research work into the seismic assessment of rock masses for the purposes of the Diploma of the Imperial College.
1967 - 1973 CSIR, PRETORIA
Position: Junior to Senior Research Officer
During 1967-68 in the Strength of Materials Division of the National Mechanical Engineering
Research Institute. The work content included both research and contract work for industry, involving mainly the stress and strain behaviour of materials.
In 1968 transferred to the Rock Mechanics Division in the same Institute. Research was carried out over a 5 year period into the stability of rock slopes, particularly with regard to the stress and deformation behaviour of slopes. In addition, applied research work relevant to this area of research was carried out for industry. The most significant activities carried out during this period were:
- Testing of photoelastic models of slopes under centrifuge (simulated gravity) loading to determine stress distributions in slopes.
- Implementation of a finite element stress analysis method for continua in 1969.
- development of a computer program for three dimensional finite element stress analysis and its application to mining problems in 1970.
- Development of a computer program for two dimensional finite element analysis of nonlinear, jointed rock masses in 1971.
- Centrifuge testing of two and three dimensional rock slopes using discontinuous
(simulated jointed rock mass) physical models.
- Stress analyses as an industry contract for the underground chambers of the Ruacana
Hydroelectric Scheme in Namibia and the transfer horizon of the South Vaal Gold Mine.
POSTGRADUATE SUPERVISION
During the period from December 2000 to the current date, the following numbers of postgraduate students have been supervised to graduation:
PhD degree: 6 students
Masters degree by dissertation: 13 students
Masters degree by research report: 12 students
Currently supervising 4 PhD students and 4+ MSc students by research report.
Many students have graduated with the MEng, the coursework degree, involving 10 modules and a small research module. Has coordinated 10 such postgraduate modules over the period, and currently runs 4 of these regularly, 2 in each alternating year.
PUBLICATIONS
Author or coauthor of more than 200 publications.
PUBLICATIONS OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS
STACEY, T.R. (2010) Preconditioning by hydraulic fracturing – what does it do and what are the issues in modelling it?, Deep Mining 2010, Proc. 5 th Int. Seminar on Deep and High Stress Mining, 6-8 October 2010,
Santiago, Chile, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, pp 135-141.
CHIWAYE, H.T. and STACEY, T.R. (2010) A comparison of limit equilibrium and numerical modelling approaches to risk analysis for open pit mining, Jl S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall., Vol 110, No 10, pp 571-580.
WATSON, B.P., KUIJPERS, J.S. and STACEY, T.R. (2010) Design of Merensky Reef crush pillars, Jl S. Afr. Inst.
Min. Metall., Vol 110, No 10, pp 581-591. (SAIMM Silver medal and SANIRE Salamon Prize)
STACEY, T.R. (2011) Support of excavations subjected to dynamic (rockburst) loading, Keynote Paper, Proc.
12 th Int. Cong. Int. Soc. Rock Mech., Beijing, CRC Press/Balkema, pp 137-145.
RWODZI, L., JOUGHIN, W. and STACEY, T.R. (2011) Rockfall risk — how well do we understand the consequences of the decisions we make?, Proc. Strategic 2011, Proc. 4 th Int. Seminar on Strategic vs
Tactical Approaches in Mining, Perth, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, pp 179-194.
HADJIGEORGIOU, J. and STACEY, T.R. (2011) The absence of strategy in ore pass planning, design and management, Proc. Strategic 2011, Proc. 4 th Int. Seminar on Strategic vs Tactical Approaches in Mining,
Perth, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, pp 129-140.
MOYO, T. And STACEY, T.R. (2012) Mechanisms of rockbolt support in jointed rock masses, Deep Mining
2012, Proc. 6 th Int. Seminar on Deep and High Stress Mining, Perth, Australia, ed Y. Potvin, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, pp 91-103.
STACEY, T.R. (2012) A philosophical view on the testing of rock support for rockburst conditions, Keynote
Paper, Proc. 2 nd Southern Hemisphere International Rock Mechanics Symposium, Sun City, South Africa,
Symposium Series S71, S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall., pp 227-245.
LE ROUX, P. J. and STACEY, T.R. (2012) Measurement and prediction of dilution at Target Mine operating with open stoping mining method, Proc. 2 nd Southern Hemisphere International Rock Mechanics
Symposium, Sun City, South Africa, Symposium Series S71, S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall., pp 779-795.
STACEY, T.R. (2012) A philosophical view on the testing of rock support for rockburst conditions, Jl S. Afr.
Inst. Min. Metall., Vol 113, No , pp 227-245.
GENC, B. And STACEY, T.R. (2012) Towards benchmarking of Safety Performance in the Platinum Sector,
Proc. The 5 th Int. Platinum Conf. “A Catalyst for Change”, Sun City, South Africa, Symposium Series S72, S.
Afr. Inst. Min. Metall., Vol 1, pp 123-141.
STACEY, T.R. (2013) Dynamic rock failure and its containment – a Gordian Knot design problem, Rock
Dynamics and Applications State of the Art, Proc. Int Conf. RocDyn 1, Lausanne, CRC Press/Balkema,
Taylor & Francis Group, pp 57-70.
STACEY, T.R. and ROJAS, E. (2013) A potential method of containing rockburst damage and enhancing safety using a sacrificial layer, Jl S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall., Vol 113, July 2013, pp 565-573.
HADJIGEORGIOU, J. and STACEY, T.R. (2013) The absence of strategy in ore pass planning, design and management, Jl S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall., Vol 113, October 2013, pp 795-801.
OSASAN, K.S. and STACEY, T.R. (2014) Automatic prediction of time to failure of open pit mine slopes based on radar monitoring and inverse velocity method, International Journal of Mining Science and Technology,
Vol 24, Issue 2, March 2014, pp 275-280.
NYUNGU, D. and STACEY, T.R. (2014) Time-dependent tensile strengths of Bushveld Complex rocks and implications for rock failure around mining excavations, Proc. SARES 2014, S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall., 69-84.
MPUNZI, P, MOYO, T. and STACEY, T.R. (2014) The use of simple physical models to illustrate important mechanisms of thin spray-on liner and rock bolt support in jointed rock excavations, Proc
SARES 2014, S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall., 269-284.
LE ROUX, J. and STACEY, T.R. (2014) Estimating dilution in open stopes using numerical modelling, Proc.
SARES 2014, S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall., pp 49-67.
RIZWAN, M, CHAUDHARY, M T A, ILYAS, M, RAJA RIZWAN HUSSAIN and STACEY, T R (2014) Computer based estimation of backbone curves for hysteretic response of reinforced concrete columns under static cyclic lateral loads, Computers and Concrete, Vol 14, No 2, pp 193-209.
STACEY, T R, ARMSTRONG, R and TERBRUGGE, P J (2014) Experience with the development and use of a simple DFN over a period of 30 years, Proc. Discrete Fracture Network Engineering Conf., Vancouver,
Paper 103, 11p.
NYUNGU, D. and STACEY, T.R. (2014) Time-dependent tensile strengths of Bushveld Complex rocks and implications for rock failure around mining excavations, Jl S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall, Vol 114, No 10, pp765-
772.