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By Steven Cordiviola, Richard Sergeant

The Kentucky Geological Survey(KGS) was established in 1854 as the official geologic research organization in the Commonwealth. Since that time the Survey has performed basic research in a number of geologic areas such as energy, applied geology, mineral resources, geologic mapping, and hydrogeology. Because of coal's importance to Kentucky, a significant part of the geologic data collected by the KGS is coal related. Coal-related data also occur in a variety of other KGS data sets such as the petroleum and water data files. To adequately respond to coal-related inquiries, the KGS maintains an inter- active, on-line data base in which various types of geologic and hydrologic information can be easily stored, retrieved, and manipulated. The KGS will continue to expand and update this data base through ongoing research, and by cooperating with the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet, Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals, U. S. Geological Survey, and University of Kentucky Institute for Mining and Minerals Research. Data in this comprehensive system is available to State, Federal, and local governments; industry; researchers; and the general public. These data facilitate coal exploration, mine planning and permitting, coal production, and research activities in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Jan 1, 1983

Project Hobson involves the replacement of an existing 90-year-old above-ground sewer that crosses Hobson Bay in Auckland, New Zealand, and which is nearing the end of its economic life, with a 3 km long, 3.7 m internal diameter segmentally-lined bored tunnel. The $118 M project will offer several benefits to the owner, Watercare Services Ltd, and the local community:provide capacity to meet projected growth in the region,virtually eliminate wastewater overflows into Hobson Bay and the Waitemata Harbour, andremove an obtrusive visual feature and open up the bay for recreational purposes. The geology in the region is a sedimentary formation, which has been significantly influenced by volcanic activity; 49 volcanoes are present within 20 km of the nearby city centre. The geology along the alignment is dominated by two palaeovalleys which have been infilled with a combination of marine alluvium and volcanic deposits. Watercare Services Limited has elected to manage and share tunnelling risk through, among other key measures, the implementation of a geotechnical baseline report (GBR); one of the first uses of this type of document in Australasia. This paper describes the general principles behind the use of a GBR, the development of the GBR used in Project Hobson and some lessons learnt.

Jan 1, 2008

By G. T. Lapidus, R. M. Luna-Sánchez

In the present study, a series of cyanidation experiments were performed on a bulk sulfide concentrate which contained silver in four distinct phases, to determine its extraction rate, varying the oxygen concentration. The results showed that three of the four phases were refractory, aguilarite (Ag,iSeS) being the only leachable phase, and that the effect of the oxidant concentration is minimal. Mathematical simulations were performed, adjusting only the Damkohler number to adequately fit the experimental data. This model, and the mechanism implied, was compared with that found for acanthite (Ag2S) in a previous study, and the differences between the two discussed.

Jan 1, 2005

By T. R. Eger

The Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) vehicle is a trackless, free-steered vehicle used in underground hardrock mining to move large quantities of ore/rock to haulage trucks, ore dump locations, or crushing stations. The purpose of this paper is to show, through case study examples, how principles of human factors can be applied to improve the overall design of the LHD vehicle to enhance line-of-sight (LOS), improve posture and decrease whole-body vibration exposure (WBV). Vehicle modifications (larger cab windows, lower engine profile, smaller buckets, angled radiator profile) can lead to improved line-of-sight. The use of secondary viewing devices, such as cameras, can also improve line-of-sight and allow the operator to adopt a more neutral sitting posture. Seating systems that are suited to the underground mining environment can result in vibration attenuation and less vibration transmitted to the LHD operator. The connection between vehicle design, line-of-sight and driving posture needs to be considered in order to continue to improve the design of the LHD and enable the operator to work in a neutral posture with minimal vibration exposure. Changes leading to improved line-of-sight, vibration reduction, and a neutral sitting posture will lead to fewer LOS related accidents and decreased risk factors for musculoskeletal injury.

Aug 1, 2013

By D. W. Fuerstenau

The flotation behavior of quartz in the presence of alkyl ammonium acetates as a. function of alkyl chain length has been interpreted in terms of hemi-micelle formation at the solid-liquid interface. The van der Waals cohesive free energy that is responsible for hemi-micelle formation has been found from these results to be 1.02 kT per CH group. This 2 is in excellent agreement with literature values obtained from research on the properties of micelles in bulk systems.

Jan 1, 1964

Jan 1, 1970

By YU. F. Vasyuchkov, K. Vasioutchkov, B. M. Vorobjev

Introduction It is now believed that, even with the environmental protection measures now being taken, the further application of traditional coal-mining and electric power-generation technologies will inevitably cause further irreversible damage to the global ecosystem. Further improvements in conventional coal-mining technologies, both surface and underground, are expected to have only limited impacts on the economical, ecological and social aspects of coal mining. In countries with a developed coal industry, coal reserves with favorable conditions at shallow depths are rapidly being depleted. Therefore, in the future, more coal will be mined from deeper levels, resulting in higher operational costs and lower labor productivity. The solution to this problem is to be found in developing, promoting and implementing unconventional coal-mining and advanced clean-coal technologies. This paper presents an unconventional concept that has been suggested by the authors. The basic goal is to achieve coal-methane energy resource conservation and to remove barriers to energy efficiency through the adoption of integrated, ecologically clean, innovative technology. The following principles form the foundation of this concept: Energy resource conservation: This principle concerns the exploitation of actual and potential coal-methane reserves in the most effective way with the lowest possible losses and with the application of the most energy-efficient electric power-generation technology. Energy conversion: Energy conversion means the conversion of solid coal to synthetic fuel gas (in situ or in-cycle), the conversion of methane bounded within the coal matrix to free-flowing drained meth¬ane, the conversion of solid coal in situ to a coal/water mixture (slurry), and the conversion of these gas fuels into electric power. Technological and managerial integration: This prin¬ciple means an integration of coal-gas methane min¬ing operations and electric power generation into one commercial mine-to-product enterprise with electric power as the final product. Thus, coalbed methane drainage and coal gasification (both in situ and in-cycle) integrated with a combined cycle of electric power generation constitutes a highly integrated coal-gas methane energy-generation system. The system can be materialized in the form of a local integrated coal-gas electric power complex (LICGEPC). General features of the new concept The coal-gas-methane electricity concept is actually a synthesis of the following four technological components: Coalbed methane drainage. This technique and its utilization attained recognition after commercial operations were proven successful in the San Juan and Black Worriers coalfields in the United States. Worldwide, extensive field experiments and research-and-development activities are being carried out in the area of coalbed methane exploitation and utilization. Recently, coalbed methane drainage for power generation has been undergoing intensive research and development. At the Harworth Colliery in the United Kingdom, a combinedcycle power plant has been built that uses coalbed methane. The plant has an installed capacity of 15 MW Also, Germany, Australia, the CIS and China have conducted various experiments and industrial tests on the use of coalbed methane power generation. Underground coal gasification. Another unconventional technological approach is underground coal gasification (UCG). A number of semi-commercial, demonstration and pilot projects have been undertaken in Russia, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and Belgium to demonstrate the technical and economical viability of coal gasification in situ. In Uzbekistan, the Angren coal-gasification station has been in full-scale commercial operation for two decades. The operation supplies a power plant with synthetic coal gas. Under sponsorship of the US Department of Energy's Morgantown Energy Technology Center, large-scale laboratory tests simulating coal gasification in situ were successfully completed by the

Jan 1, 1999

By Eugie Kabwe

The effective employment of a pretensioned bolt within support structures requires an appropriate installation tension as a result of sufficient bolt head/nut preload. In this paper, a load indicator washer (LIW) able to withstand an assigned static loading as well as provide an appropriate pretension is presented. The different LIW breadths are numerically analyzed with ABAQUS finite-element code to estimate deformation when a designated 60 kN preload is applied. The numerical simulation employs the bilinear isotropic hardening constitutive law governed by the von Mises yield criterion. The simulation also considers the nominal temperature of the nut-LIW-rock bolt connection. Therefore, long-term relaxation effect on bolt pretension as a result of stress relaxation is neglected. The compressive force required to achieve the LIW predetermined deformation is the bolt pretension. It is drawn from the simulation results that LIWs with thicknesses of 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 mm are completely flattened when subjected to 28, 42.5, 65, 76 and 88 kN preloads, respectively.

By A. G. Eccles

"INTRODUCTIONWestern Mines' copper-lead-zinc operations are located in Strathcona Provincial Park, near the geographic centre of Vancouver Island. This park includes Buttle Lake, which flows into the Campbell River water system. The latter provides domestic water for the Town of Campbell River, approximately fifty-eight miles from the mine site.Operation of the concentrator commenced in December 1966, at which time the tailings were discharged into a small tailings pond near the plant. On May 8, 1967 Permit No. 185 was granted to the company, allowing discharge of the tailings, through a submerged outfall, to the bottom of Buttle Lake.Needless to say, the concept of operating a mine within a park, and the discharge of tailings into Buttle Lake generated considerable controversy. However, this has all but been eliminated over the years by the proven effectiveness of Western Mines' pollution control program. In 1973 this program was further upgraded with the addition of an alkaline chlorination plant. Effluent treatment by this method became necessary as a result of process modifications, and has been effective in maintaining the levels of characteristics in the tailings within the ever increasing pollution control requirements imposed on the industry."

Jan 1, 1977

By W. M. Snoddy

The Montana Tunnels diatreme is a low-grade polymetallic ore body containing economically mineable quantities of gold, silver, lead, and zinc. Widely varying gold grades combined with the general erratic nature of the mineralization create a complex sampling, assaying, and ore control problem. In order to maximize productivity and profitability, a variety of procedures have been used. These include differing sample size, frequency and method. In addition, assay techniques have been adjusted and refined to fit specific requirements, the result of which is an accurate, functional sampling and ore control system.

Jan 1, 1991

In accordance with the requirements of By-Law LX,- I beg leave to submit herewith the report of the Library Committee for the year 1916. The activities shown by the sale of the Institute's publications during the year are somewhat larger than last year, due principally to the increased sale of special editions on account of the larger sale of the Posepny and Emmons Volumes, owing to increased advertising and to the reduction in price of the Emmons Volume. The sales were distributed as follows: Sale of Transactions $3,237.07 Sale of Special Editions 1,722.50 Sale of Bulletins and Pamphlets 2,263.95 Total $7,223.52, The Institute library has now been merged with the libraries of the. other three Founder Societies and is known and administered as the Library of the United - Engineering Society. When this merger, was effected, a proviso was made that the books contained in the Institute library up to the date of the merger were still to be considered as the individual property of the Institute, and this arrangement applied also to the libraries of the other two Founder Societies. At the time that the American Society of Civil Engineers joined as a fourth Founder Society, they immediately turned over their entire library to the United Engineering Society, relinquishing all property rights in the books entirely.

Jan 2, 1917

By Pell D

Mechanical cleaning of coal was porforined in a few small plants in New South Wales from 1577 brit the first large coal washeries were built by Broken Hill Wbprietary Company Limited and Australian Iron and Steel Pty. Limited in the late 1940's. Mechanization of colleries in the 1950bs was abcomp" anied by construction of many coal washing plants and in the 1960's the growth of the coal export trade gave further impetus to the coal preparation industry. Design of coal preparation plants in Australia is modelled on practice overseas. Planning of a new plant in- volves investigation of many factors both technical and economic and the preparation of a specification by the operator for the designer's guidance. A wide range of preparation processes and equipment is on offer, but the nature of the coal to be treated and the separating efficiency desired usually dictate process selection. Simple or moderately difficult separation can be achieved with jigs, shaking tables or water washing cyclones. Coal which is difficult to treat or which has to be cut at a specific gravity lower than 1.5 is normally washed in a heavy medium process. In large plants it is usual to separate the coal into large, small and fine fractions and concentrate each fraction in a circuit designed to suit the grain size handled.

Jan 1, 1969

By J. Mark Richardson, Mary S. Sredanovic

The use of computerized steady-state process design balance systems has reduced engineering man-hours by as much as 80 to 1 over conventional manual balance calculations. The popularity and widespread use of such systems by the minerals industry increased dramatically in recent years, but these systems were mainly available for use on large main frame computers and lacked graphic capability. A considerable amount of engineering manpower was required to "conceptualize" a process flowsheet. After sketching the flowsheet layout, the engineer was still faced in most cases with a time-consuming reduction of his graphic concept of the problem to numerical data required by the balance program. Furthermore, output from these early systems was usually in tabular numeric form. The computer results then were transferred manually to a pictorial representation of the process. A new process design balance system has been developed which runs on a popular and inexpensive personal computer. This system combines modern Computer Aided Design (CAD) principles and the graphics capabilities of the personal computer to allow the process engineer to define a flowsheet problem while creating a process flow diagram. The system provides balance results in both pictorial and tabular form. Past, present, and potential applications of the system are discussed, and an analysis of the cost benefits derived from its use are provided.

Jan 1, 1985

By Sheila E. Daniel

"Since 1989, the Mine Environmental Neutral Drainage Program (MEND) has sponsored research into ways of reducing the environmental impact and financial liabilities associated with Acid Mine Drainage from tailings and waste rock. Toward this overall objective, Kilborn was contracted to review the use and applicability of passive treatment systems for acid mine drainage.Experimentation using passive systems to treat acid mine drainage has been ongoing since the early 1980's in North America. Passive treatments are generally considered an attractive alternative to active lime treatment, since they require minimal human involvement, no power, and only seasonal or periodic care and maintenance after establishment. Most attractive is that initial capital cost to implement a passive treatement system is generally low to moderate. Ongoing operating costs are similarly low when compared to active treatment systems.Passive treatment systems currently used, or under investigation to treat acid mine drainage include: anoxic limestone drains, aerobic wetlands, reed bed wetlands, compost wetlands, microbial systems and bioabsorption systems. These wastewater treatment systems utilize the chemical, biological and physical removal processes that occur naturally in the environment to improve wastewater quality, including: oxidation, reduction, coagulation, adsorption, absorption and precipitation; microbial activity; and, gravity aeration and dilution. The rates at which these processes occur determines the loading which can be treated and the effectiveness of the system.The results of our literature review will be summarized, and insight provided into the applicability of passive systems to treat acid mine drainage from Canadian Mines."

Jan 1, 1995

By W. W. Weber

"The Mine property comprises some 700 acres in ranges VI and VII, Barraute township, about thirty-seven miles due north of Val d'Or in northwestern Quebec.The transformation of a small farming community into the youngest and largest zinc producer in eastern Canada began late in the autumn of 1950. At this time, a geological survey party of the Quebec Department of Mines discovered sphalerite-pyrite mineralization in a strong regional shear structure crossing range VII of Barraute township. Diamond drilling commenced in November 1950, and by June 1951 a total of more than 63,000 feet of drilling, at fifty-foot intervals, had explored an ore zone 2,500 feet in length and 102 feet in average width to a depth of 700 feet, the deepest ore intersection.Production started late in 1952, and is at present in excess of 4,000 tons per day. Production in 1954 of77,790, 166 lbs. of zinc and 989,610 oz. of silver, from 1,525,284 tons of ore, makes this mine the largest zinc producer in eastern Canada.General GeologyAll the consolidated rocks of the area are Precambrian, and most of them are volcanic. They consist mainly of subsiliceous Javas, with smaller amounts of siliceous to intermediate lavas and pyroclastic rocks. The lavas have been intruded contemporaneously by many sill-like bodies of coarser-grained diorite and gabbro. There are no sedimentary rocks within ten miles of the mine.A period of major folding and faulting was followed by intrusion of granite. The volcanic rocks have been compressed into isoclinal folds trending roughly east-west, and the granitic batholiths also show a rude lineal alignment in the same direction. The granitic masses vary consider-ably in composition, ranging from the potassic LaCorne granite, ten miles south of the mine, to the sodic Duverny mass, ten miles west. In addition there is a variation from a general granitic core to dioritic and gabbroic phases on the margins and in satellitic intrusions."

Jan 1, 1949

By Cong Shi, Cuiping Li, Enji Sun

"Tailings dam is a subsidiary facility of mining production. In order to decrease tailings dam accidents caused by the failure of flood drainage system, this paper proposed a framework of potential failure detection system of tailings dam flood drainage facility based on three dimensional panorama technology. A collection device of three dimensional panorama is designed to capture the onsite images of flood drainage system of tailings dam. The spatial information of flood drainage facility of tailings dam is recovered through projecting the image information to spherical surface by using three dimensional panorama technology. Two dimensional images are transformed into three dimensional images in three stages of panorama images process, which are pretreatment, registration and splicing. Combined with the framework of HTML5, panorama images are embedded into webpage. These web pages have the functions of user interface that the images could be displayed, moved and zoomed. With the function of interaction with panoramic display, 3D panorama scenes can be changed and scaled. Browsing the webpage is helpful to find potential risks such as possible holes, fractures and leakages of flood drainage system of tailings dam. The realization of this system can detect the potential safety risks of flood drainage system of tailings dam. The application of this system would improve the safety and provide the ability of accident pre-warning. It is useful to maintain the healthy and sustainable operation of tailings dam.Introduction It is reported by Xie et al (2009) that tailings dam are necessary facilities for mine production and places which constructed by damming troughs or encirclement used to store tailings that eliminated after ore selection in Metal and non-metallic mines. It is reported by Mei (2012) that tailings dam is a dangerous source of high-energy man-made debris flow, the collapse of the tailings dam takes devastating damage, which seriously threatens the safety of life and property of the enterprises and the downstream residents. It is reported by Dong (2011) that the collapse of the tailings dam causes secondary disasters such as environmental pollution at the same time. It’s a serious impact on regional economic development and social stability. The phenomenon of collapse of destruction is general excessively of tailings dams in China. It is reported by Zhang et al (2011) that most of these phenomena are caused by flood over the top of dams. The main reason is the lack of capacity or the failure of the drainage system. There are also accidents caused by the failure of drainage system in foreign countries in recent years. For example, November 5th 2015, the tailing dams collapsed because of the insufficient drainage capacity of the Germano mining area in Germano Mariana area in central Minas Gerais state in Brazil. After a small post-earthquake, the liquefied tailings fill sand submerge downstream cities and towns. It finally destroyed 158 houses, killed at least 17 people, polluted 663km river and destroyed 15 square kilometres of land along the river. It is reported by Rico et al (2008) that it’s necessary to continuous monitor and control the tailings drainage system in order to reduce the occurrence of tailings accidents and guarantee the sustainable production of the mine. The traditional artificial detection methods of flood drainage system of tailings dam exist many problems such as heavy workload, low efficiency, and susceptible to meteorological conditions. And it is reported by Luo (2013) that the tailings dam wastewater is corrosive which result a certain disease in flood discharge facilities such as tailings drainage culvert, etc. In order to realize the effective monitoring, management and maintenance of flood drainage system of tailings dam, advanced technologies need to be used to acquire the information of collection and management of flood drainage facilities of tailings dam."

Jan 1, 2017

By D. R. Tesarik, F. M. Jones, J. B. Seymour

As part of safety and stability studies at three underground mines in the United States, researchers installed earth pressure cells and embedment strain gauges in cemented rockfill to measure stress and strain changes as mining progressed and the rockfill was loaded. Data from these instruments were used to calculate the in situ modulus of the rockfill for two of the mines. A three-dimensional numerical model of a cemented rockfill cap was validated with data from extensometers anchored in the mine roof and sill; this model was then used to estimate deformation modulus at the third mine because the earth pressure cells and embedment strain gauges recorded negligible changes. Rockfill binder used at these mines ranged from 4 to 8 per cent of the dry components by weight, the water-to-cement ratio was from 0.42 to1.0, and the largest aggregate size in the three mixes ranged from 5 to12 cm (2 to 4.7 in). The range of the calculated in situ deformation modulus values was large, but as expected, it was bracketed by modulus values for cemented tailings and roller-compacted concrete with similar cement contents and water-to-cement ratios. Dans le cadre d’études sur la sécurité et la stabilité de trois mines souterraines situées aux États-Unis, les chercheurs ont installé des palpeurs de pression des terres et des extensomètres d’encastrement dans les remblais cimentés afin de mesurer les variations relatives à l’effort et à la déformation des terrains durant l’exploitation minière et le chargement du remblai. Les données recueillies à l’aide de ces instruments ont servi au calcul du module in situ du remblai dans deux de ces mines. Le modèle numérique tridimensionnel de la semelle d’un remblai cimenté a été validé à partir des données recueillies par les extensomètres ancrés dans la voûte et dans la semelle de ces mines; ce modèle a ensuite été utilisé pour estimer le module de déformation à la troisième mine, étant donné que les palpeurs de pression des terres et les tensiomètres enfouis avaient relevés des variations négligeables. La matière d’agrégation de l’enrochement utilisée dans ces mines comportait entre 4 % et 8 % des composantes sèches par poids; le rapport eau-ciment se situait entre 0,42 et 1,0; et la taille des agrégats les plus gros dans ces trois mélanges était de 5 cm à 12 cm (2 po à 4,7 po). L’écart entre les valeurs calculées des modules de déformation in situ était grand, mais comme on s’y attendait, cet écart a été compensé par les valeurs modulaires des résidus cimentés et du béton tassé au rouleau avec des teneurs en ciment et des rapports eau-ciment semblables. [Als Teil der Sicherheits- und Stabilitätsstudien an drei Bergwerken in den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika installierten Forscher Erddruckgeber und Einbindungsdehnungsmesser in zementierter Steinschüttung, um Spannungs- und Dehnungsveränderungen während der fortlaufenden Bergarbeiten und der Belastung der Steinschüttung zu messen. Daten von diesen Instrumenten wurden dazu verwendet, das In-Situ-Modul der Steinschüt-ung für zwei Gruben zu berechnen. Ein dreidimensionales numerisches Modell einer zementierten Steinschüttungsschwelle wurde mit den Daten von den im Grubendach und in der Schwelle verankerten Extensometern validiert; dieses Modell wurde dann dazu eingesetzt, um das Deformationsmodul in der dritten Grube zu schätzen, da die Erddruckgeber und Einbindungsdehnungsmesser nur geringfügige Messabweichungen feststellten. Das in diesen Gruben verwendete Steinschüttungsbindemittel variierte zwischen vier und acht Prozent an Trockenkomponenten nach Gewicht, der Wasser-Zementfaktor betrug zwischen 0,42 und 1,0 und die größte Zuschlagstoff-größe in den drei Mischungen schwankte zwischen fünf und zwölf Zentimetern. Die Reichweite der berechneten Werte des In-Situ-Deformationsmoduls fiel etwas breit aus, aber es fand erwartungsgemäß eine Klammerung der Modulwerte zwischen den Zemen-trückständen und dem durch Walzen verdichteten Beton mit ähnlichem Zementanteil und Wasser-Zementfaktor statt.]

By R. L. Roller

In recent years, there have been many articles and papers written on the use of specially designed belt conveyor systems in mining operations, either economic studies or actual experience. These papers generally conclude that the use of these systems can reduce overall costs from 10% to 40% over conventional methods using general purpose equipment (truck/shovel, scrapers, etc.). However, they also generally conclude that conveyor systems are inflexible and capital intensive. With the increasing cost of mobile equipment, the capital cost conclusion is losing steam, particularly when the costs of maintenance shops, road and ramp construction and other related start-up costs are thrown in. Attention here will be focused on answers to flexibility related questions, but first, a look at costs in general. Basic production economics tell us that when we have a small job to do, it is cost effective to use simple, low cost, general purpose tools which will have a minimum impact on total cost. It also tells us that when we have a large project, we can employ methods using special, relatively expensive production tools. Figure 1 illustrates what occurs on projects, of different sizes, with various quantities of production. With small quantities of work, the cost per unit of work starts out much lower using general purpose equipment, rather than using special purpose methods and equipment. However, at a relatively low quantity of work, the cost hits a lower limit and, regardless of how great the quantity of work, the unit cost can never go any lower.

Jan 1, 1985

By D P. Proudfoot, S G. Keith, D P. Onagi

A number of aspects of the Canadian concept for nuclear fuel waste disposal are being assessed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) in a series of experiments at its Underground Research Laboratory (URL) near Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba, Canada. One of the major objectives of the work being carried out at the URL is to develop and evaluate the methods and technology to ensure safe, permanent disposal of Canada's nuclear fuel waste.

Jan 1, 1996

By D Moss, P Ganza

There are continuing developments in underground narrow vein mining, from innovative mining methods using low-profile equipment to adaptations of current mining methods using equipment such as road-headers. The development of new mining methods and mining equipment has one purpose in mind û to extract narrow reef orebodies keeping dilution to a minimum, whilst maximising mining recovery. Achieving this will increase the head grade of the ore mined and reduce the tonnes delivered to the mill. Narrow vein mining in Australia has been limited to traditional hand held or mechanised drill and blast methods using existing æoff the shelfÆ equipment. Numerous trials have been undertaken using rock cutting technology and lower profile equipment, but these mining trials have not resulted in the full implementation of any new mining method or the adoption of low profile equipment in narrow vein mines as an accepted mining methodology. Mine operators in Canada and South Africa have teamed up with a number of equipment manufacturers and have taken steps to further mechanise and automate the mining of narrow vein orebodies, in particular to increase safety and productivity. The challenge to Australian narrow vein mining projects is to capitalise on work undertaken by overseas mining companies and equipment suppliers and to investigate the adaptation of low profile coal mining machinery to specialised metalliferous mining. With the inevitable fall in metal prices, it is necessary for Australian mine owners and mining contractors to apply these specialised methods and equipment to make narrow vein mining profitable.

Jan 1, 2005