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The article addresses the issues of geomechanical monitoring in underground mineral mining. A brief review covers existing software and hardware for estimation of stress state and properties of rocks and the results of in situ trial of an integrated tool set. The authors offer the geomechanical monitoring structure using a package of instrumental, visual and numerical methods for the assessment of mechanical condition and its alteration in rocks and in structural components of mines. Thereupon, the geomechanical state control system have been developed and introduced in a number of operating mines. For the stability assessment of structural elements in mines and for the decision-making on mining safety, the rock mass limit state criteria are defined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article gives an account of process designs accepted and introduced in mines at Norilsk-1, Talnakh and Oktyabrsky deposits and describes new promising patented mining methods successively trialed at a commercial scale or proposed for industrial testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]