A Strong Motion Accelerograph (SMA) network and an eqServer data hub installed on Niolam Island listens for local & regional events.
Installing sensitive seismic instruments in a noisy open pit mine presented a number of challenges, particularly when the mine happens to be operating within an active geothermal zone located in an extremely active plate-boundary tectonic setting.
The island of Niolam is located in the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea, about 900km northeast of Port Moresby. The mine creates economic value for PNG and the local communities through employment, public infrastructure, use of local suppliers, as well as revenue.
Outcomes arising from the project include;
- Checking any recorded ground motion against unusual events – earthquake, slope failures, submarine slip etc.
- Using recorded data for verification of appropriate ground acceleration parameters for coffer dam and slope stability designs.
- Comparison of recorded ground motion on Bedrock and Fill sites
