Underground rock engineering
- Underground excavation stability
- Mine and stope design
- Ground control management
- Support design and rehabilitation
- Sub-level caving and cavity stability
- Seismic and rockburst risk
Engineering ground stability for safe, productive mining.
DAQ Geotech is an independent geotechnical and rock engineering consultancy. We take you from site investigation to a design your crews can install, and we stay to verify it works.
Led by a certificated rock engineer with 18+ years across underground and open pit operations in South Africa, the DRC, Tanzania and the wider region.
Four disciplines, one integrated view of the ground
Ground conditions, mine design and operational constraints interact. We work across all four areas so our recommendations hold up underground, on the bench and in the budget.
Open pit and surface geotechnics
- Pit slope and highwall design
- Bench and inter-ramp assessments
- Slope monitoring and radar
- Box cut and strip risk assessment
- Dumps and leach pad stability
- Blast vibration and structural response
Tailings and backfill engineering
- Tailings facility assessments
- Tailings re-mining
- Cemented paste and hydraulic fill
- Mix design and binder optimisation
- Rheology and pumpability
- Backfill plant concept support
Modelling, planning and risk
- Numerical modelling (2D and 3D)
- Geotechnical risk assessment
- Life-of-mine geotechnical inputs
- Mining method optimisation
- Pre-feasibility study support
- Operational technical services
Direct access to the engineer, when the ground won't wait
DAQ stands for Direct Access to Quality. You deal with the engineer doing the work, not a sales layer, and our response targets are written into every engagement.
24 hOn-site assessment for critical incidents
72 hMobilisation for routine site assessments
48 hPreliminary borehole logs after drilling
5 daysPreliminary rehabilitation design memo
Beyond the report
Many geotechnical studies end at a PDF. Ours are built to be implemented: support designs matched to your equipment, trigger levels tied to your risk register, and on-site support while the work is installed.
- Evidence-based: mapping, logging, testing and monitoring data first
- Risk-based: effort directed at the highest-consequence mechanisms
- Practical: designs compatible with your mining method and fleet
- Verified: ground behaviour checked against design assumptions
Recent work
A selection of engagements. Client names are withheld; details are available on request.
Tailings re-mining assessment
Geometry, bench configuration, water ingress and stability monitoring for re-mining an existing tailings facility at a chrome operation.
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Portal rehabilitation and backfill PFS
Long-term portal stability, historic voids, pillar recovery and a PFS-level backfill strategy for a historic underground gold mine.
Read the project