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    Mine Management

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    Branden Oxford
    1. Once feasibility is accepted, further geological exploration and an environmental assessment would be completed to refine resource data and develop a Mine Operations Plan for approval. 2. Key factors to consider in mine design include location, geology, environment, community, infrastructure needs, and strategic fit. Infrastructure such as access roads, power, buildings, communications, and sewage would be developed. 3. Water management is crucial, requiring a water balance and systems for storage, treatment, and controlled discharge. Transportation of coal will primarily be via rail.

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    Mine Management

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    Branden Oxford
    159 views7 pages
    1. Once feasibility is accepted, further geological exploration and an environmental assessment would be completed to refine resource data and develop a Mine Operations Plan for approval. 2. Key factors to consider in mine design include location, geology, environment, community, infrastructure needs, and strategic fit. Infrastructure such as access roads, power, buildings, communications, and sewage would be developed. 3. Water management is crucial, requiring a water balance and systems for storage, treatment, and controlled discharge. Transportation of coal will primarily be via rail.

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    1. Once feasibility is accepted, further geological exploration and an environmental assessment would be completed to refine resource data and develop a Mine Operations Plan for approval. 2. Key factors to consider in mine design include location, geology, environment, community, infrastructure needs, and strategic fit. Infrastructure such as access roads, power, buildings, communications, and sewage would be developed. 3. Water management is crucial, requiring a water balance and systems for storage, treatment, and controlled discharge. Transportation of coal will primarily be via rail.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    159 views7 pages

    Mine Management

    Uploaded by

    Branden Oxford
    1. Once feasibility is accepted, further geological exploration and an environmental assessment would be completed to refine resource data and develop a Mine Operations Plan for approval. 2. Key factors to consider in mine design include location, geology, environment, community, infrastructure needs, and strategic fit. Infrastructure such as access roads, power, buildings, communications, and sewage would be developed. 3. Water management is crucial, requiring a water balance and systems for storage, treatment, and controlled discharge. Transportation of coal will primarily be via rail.

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    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 7

    Mine Management & Safety

    Branden Oxford

    a1202465

    Assuming you were analysing an open cut mine, or underground mine, once the feasibility for proceeding had been accepted, develop a set of steps for outlining the approach, addressing key issues such as general strategy and steps in the process, layout of mine, choice of equipment and recovering the ore, transport, and other key aspects. Make and state assumptions Once feasibility has been accepted an environmental assessment would be completed and an application for development consent including management of heritage areas. During this (assuming an exploration lease is already in existence and a mine lease is nearly in hand) further geological exploration would be undertaken to refine reserve data (quantity, location, and quality) and produce a Mine Operation Plan (MOP) which needs to be approved by the Department of Industry and Investment (DII) prior to the commencement of mining.

    Development
    The design or development of the mine would now need to be completed taking into account all the political, environmental and business variables that may be associated with the project. Some of the important variables to consider are:

    Location Factors- ease of transport of supplies and the mined mineral, availability of labour and supports services (schools, social facilities, health care, etc.) Natural and Geological Factors- the depth of the coal to be mined, rock properties (extent of blasting and its impact), topography, geotech considerations (stratigraphy of coal/waste, dip, faulting, dips) and chemical and metallurgical properties. Political and Social Economic- political views on mining from party in power, government restrictions and taxes, legislations and policies, occupational skills from surrounding labour pool. Environmental- Environmental legislation, sensitive receptors nearby (dust and noise monitoring), need for visual barriers and water management. Community- Blasting constraints, noise and pollution (sound suppression gear on equipment) and any traffic impacts such as (accessibility, road degradation and maintenance, road pollution, road safety or disturbance to residents)

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    Branden Oxford

    a1202465

    Strategic- looking at things like, is the mining operation going to expand? Are contractors going to be used? How does this project fit with other projects or operations within the business?

    Infrastructure
    Access Access roads would need to be developed to the mine site so materials and labour can enter for the construction phase and then continued operation of the mine. Adequate parking and unloading areas would also need to be constructed. Power Conventional grid power would be used this would be the best option as it is the cheapest. 66kv and 11kv power sources would need to be erected this will be provided by the energy supplier. Buildings Facilities to be constructed or installed within the site facilities area including: mine office toilet and ablution facilities crib hut hardstand and laydown area bunded fuel bay first aid building maintenance workshop, wash bay; and light vehicle parking facilities. Communication Off-site and on-site communications would be by a combination of phone/fax lines installed to service mine management and contract staff in the site facilities area, mobile communications and 2-way radio. Wireless-based Internet access would be provided. Sewerage Sewage treatment would be undertaken by an envirocycle septic system with effluent irrigation onto a designated waste water utilisation area

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    Branden Oxford

    a1202465

    Location Location is important, the issues that need to be considered are the depth, size and shape of the excavations and operating life of the project, potential ground and surface water problems, potential characteristics of the rock mass. A ground control management plan should be put in place to assure safe highwalls and blasting techniques. Water and Water Management including Life of Mine (LOM) water balance Water is crucial for mining operation, fresh water for use by the workforce at the administration, shower and maintenance facilities so water allocation would need to be considered. A waste water treatment system may need to be installed so that treated effluent can be utilised. It is also critical for dust suppression at the ROM, CHPP and around the pit on the haul roads. The design of dams, pipelines and associated drainage structures would allow for catchment of water from undisturbed areas to be diverted away from disturbed and sediment laden mine water. Stormwater and groundwater would be diverted to either mine water dams or pit voids to stop discharge of this water off the mine site. The predicted groundwater inflow to the pit would be expected to provide a large component of the mine operating water supply. Transportation The bulk of transport activities associated with the Project would revolve around rail transportation of coal from the Project Site to the Newcastle port and export markets. There would be a small number of additional transport movements associated with fuel deliveries, service vehicles and employees travelling to and from the Project Site. Dump and Pit Staging Because of the large volumes of waste removal from strip mining, 4:1 to 6:1 strip ratio waste: coal the removal and placement of waste would be very important. In the beginning suitable sites would need to be prepared to dump overburden top soil. The positioning and strategy is also important for the mine closer which will be outlined in the MOP.

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    Branden Oxford

    a1202465

    Plant and Equipment


    Dragline Draglines are good for low strip ratio mines where the material rehandled (due to the way it digs) is outweighed by not having a truck fleet. Draglines require a lot of room and flat benches, the mine geology cannot dip, say greater than 5%, otherwise a dragline will struggle and there may be stability issues. This would be a safety concern for both operator and machine. Shovels/Excavators Shovels/Excavators are good for medium strip ratio (say 4:1 to 6:1 that is waste: coal). Excavators are more versatile and can handle more finicky jobs. Shovels can be more productive but require a good setup they can also double side load which reduces spot times in trucks and theoretically should be up to 20% more productive. Shovels also dont require a dozer that much as they can clean up their floor but one major issue with shovels is that they dont work well on wedge dirt and can cause coal loss as more dirt is removed with the coal exposed than with an excavator. Haulage Truck-Basic rule of thumb is 4-6 passes. So the truck size would be matched with the bucket size of the production unit, something you can 3 pass load would mean you need more trucks to keep the machine busy. Electric machines (e.g. Komatsu 930/830/730E) are generally seen to be more productive as they have individual wheel motors and less moving parts so are easier to maintain. The only thing is electric drive trucks require more electrical qualified fitters so the costs of the extra labour will have to be worked out against maintenance costs. Haul Routes and Grades for Equipment Rim Pull Checks Throughout the life of the mine, a coal haul road would be retained to provide access between the open cut area and the coal processing area. This haul road would be extended and realigned during the life of the mine, as required and would be watered regularly to suppress dust. Rimpull is the force (in kg. or KN) available between the tyre and the ground to propel the machine (limited by traction) Rimpull Speed Grade-ability curves Maximum speed attainable, gear range and available rimpull can be determined from curves which are available from the manufacturers, when machine weight & and total effective grade (or total resistance) are known. Weight (GVW/GMW) = Machine + Payload

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    Branden Oxford

    a1202465

    Grade resistance and haul routes are very important cycle times can be improved and tyre costs greatly reduced along with machine performance, reduction in fuel usage and a reduced carbon foot print.

    Processing
    Preparation and Processing A Coal Handling Preparation Plant and ROM hopper would be constructed to crush and process the coal. The ROM hopper will be built close to the CHPP to cut down on overland conveyor and sand lining would be utilised to cut down on noise as well as automatic water sprays to reduce dust. All conveyers would be enclosed to further reduce noise and dust emissions. The processing equipment and coal stockpiles would be screened by an amenity bund, up to 15m high, which would provide both noise and visual screening. The ROM coal would pass through a primary crusher for crushing to <150mm after which it would be secondary crushed to <50mm and then pass via a conveyor under a permanent magnet to the 100t product bin prior to rail loading. The handling of all reject material from the CHPP is undertaken in accordance with MOP

    Tender Requests
    Once a rough fleet and MOP has been completed, further refinement would most likely be undertaken as the Geotech data is confirmed and detailed design of the infrastructure and productivity completed. The costing of the works becomes more advanced as the project progresses, and capital approval will be sought once a significant level of confidence is received in the accuracy of the Target Cost Estimates (TCEs). Then onto tender request, assessment, and contract award...

    References Ian C. Runge 1998 Mining Economics and Strategy Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration Inc, ISBN 0-87335-165-7 P50-59 Dr Victor Rudenno 2009 The Mining Valuation Handbook Wrightbooks, ISBN 9780731409839 P225-228

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    Branden Oxford

    a1202465

    Howard L. Hartman, Jan M. Mutmansky 2002 Introductory Mining Engineering, John Wiley and Sons, ISBN 0-471-34851-1 James White and John Cummings 2007 Mining Explained, The Northern Miner, ISBN 978-1-55257-147-7

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