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NEPEAN aims to RESolutionise the underground coal mining sector

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Pillar extraction is back on the agenda again and NEPEAN Longwall is proving the coal mining doubters wrong with an ambitious and innovative project that, it says, may lead to an industry step-change, prolonging the life of underground operations by supplying a system that combines elements of both longwall and room & pillar mining methods.

Australia-based NEPEAN Longwall has a value proposition that spans all aspects of longwall mining equipment, including armoured face conveyors, beam stage loaders, shearers, drive units, electro-hydraulics, chain and flights, hoses, cables and other specific componentry.

It is known the world over for its tailored engineering capability, and its latest project – a world first – will do that reputation no harm.

“We are different to other major players in this sector as we embrace customised solutions for our customers to a greater extent,” Mark O’Toole, Business Development Manager of NEPEAN Longwall, told IM. “We are not trying to protect an inflexible supply chain, and that allows us to design the best solution for each customer.”

NEPEAN Longwall has recognised the changing market in Australia where new mine approvals are more difficult than ever, access to capital is constrained and customers are looking for cost-effective solutions to make the most of their underground reserves.

It was Centennial Coal’s Clarence mine in New South Wales and its Panel & Pillar Partial Extraction Project that gave NEPEAN Longwall the opportunity to focus on innovative mining methods using existing technologies. Centennial’s project started with concepts generated by Robert Langford (Engineering Manager, Clarence Mine), which NEPEAN Longwall turned into reality with the new system.

“There are now a number of new bord and pillar coal mining projects emerging in Australia as open-cut operations seek to access deeper reserves and head underground,” O’Toole said. “Bord and pillar operations can extract the resource quite efficiently, but this can drop off in some conditions such as lower seams.”

Longwall mines, on the other hand, rely on the complete extraction of the coal in a panel arrangement. As the panel is mined, complete subsidence or caving of the overlying rock strata occurs into the mined-out area behind the working mine face.

Pillar extraction disappeared to a large extent from Australian mines in the late 1990s due to safety concerns about the unpredictability of roof behaviour while mining. “Pillar extraction is not possible on all leases, but where it is an option, we now have a concept that provides a controlled area for safe mining,” O’Toole said.

The new concept is called the Resource Extraction System or RES for short.

This system is a hybrid between longwall technologies and bord & pillar technologies. It uses powered roof supports to control the roof in the mining area and a continuous miner to cut coal in front of the roof supports. The services to power the roof supports are able to be mounted in a centre roadway with supports laid out to the right hand and left hand. In a simple system, there may be as few as 14 roof supports used.

In a simple RES-based system, there may be as few as 14 roof supports used

“In discussions with customers and geotechnical staff there is a view that, due to the narrow working face, the roof supports will never be in yield conditions and the extraction may be viewed as sub-critical – not resulting in surface subsidence,” the company said.

For coal cutting, a continuous miner and shuttle cars are employed. The continuous miner breaks away to the right and cuts in front of the roof supports for a distance of around 12 m, as it does so the canopies advance behind the cutter head and a forepole is extended towards the face. The continuous miner withdraws from the cut and the roof supports are advanced to the face. The process is then repeated on the left-hand side. In this way the system advances through the two pillars leaving behind a goaf.

In some applications the entire pillar can be removed, which has advantages for ventilation of the face; in other applications, the pillar may be partially removed, leaving a remnant.

For a capital spend which is less than a new continuous miner the mine can benefit from increased yield from the resource while maximising the value from existing production machinery, the company says.

The RES is designed to safely remove all or part of the pillar in a room & pillar environment, with operators and equipment under the protection of roof support canopies and roof supported by traditional longwall roof support methods.

The patent-protected system also provides new opportunities for providing continuity of production during longwall relocation or during discontinuities in longwall production and the ability to mine areas in mining leases previously considered high risk, the company says.

“Reflecting on the lessons from our first project, we realised that we had to think differently about the powered roof support,” O’Toole said. “This is not a longwall. The application is quite different and the method of operating the roof support is quite different. This realisation has led to us developing lighter structures with different hydraulics that are able to move quicker. With this approach the roof support will be less costly than a typical longwall unit.”

Flexibility will remain a unique selling point of this solution, yet there are some fixed requirements to consider.

As is currently envisaged, a narrow head miner is needed for the continuous miner to work effectively. Mining operations will also have to have suitable ventilation in place to support the operations. The application of RES is best suited to geologically-stable areas with the aid of roof supports with load bearing canopy forepoles and face sprags.

The flexibility comes from the modular design of the equipment, as well as the ability to tailor the system dependent on the size of the area to be extracted and the inherent geology. The services to run the roof supports, power distribution, pumps and motors, hydraulic tank, dump valve and filters are all mounted on a modular skid, which is advanced down the roadway by the system. In other applications of the system, these services may be monorail-mounted or Pantech-mounted.

The services to run the roof supports, power distribution, pumps and motors, hydraulic tank, dump valve and filters are all mounted on a modular skid, which is advanced down the roadway by the system

Depending on the panel layout, roof supports may be added for increased width or removed for a narrower working face.

Advanced technology has been incorporated into the first project with remote operation planned from the start of production from an underground control pod. This pod, located hundreds of metres from the face, allows control of the roof supports and the continuous miner. Existing technology has been incorporated including cameras, infra-red sensors, inclinometers, transducers, Wi-Fi, flameproof screens, gas monitoring, etc. Having the operators underground allows them to double their role and perform maintenance and inspections as required, NEPEAN says.

“We have partnered with NEPEAN Conveyors to develop other applications of the concept,” O’Toole said. “Some seams will not tolerate the ‘tip to face’ requirement when a continuous miner is used, so we also have a system based around a single armed shearer and a cutting capacity of 500-800 t/h.

“It is attractive if these systems can operate as an advancing face as this eliminates costly gate road development. The panel turns out of the main headings and then starts to produce coal off the face immediately. Our current project is solving the coal clearance, ventilation and services requirements of the advancing face. It is an exciting development as the projected capital outlay is significantly less than for systems requiring a continuous miner and continuous haulage.”

He concluded: “We have been committed to the underground coal industry for the last 25 years and the addition of these systems into our portfolio allows us to cater to the changing needs of the industry over the next 25 years.”

Mastermyne to take on ‘Whole of Mine Operations’ at Sojitz’s Gregory Crinum

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Mastermyne Group says it has been awarded the Mining Services Contract to operate the Gregory Crinum underground mine in Queensland, Australia, owned by Sojitz Blue Pty Ltd.

The contract term is seven years, including re-establishment, with the value coming in at A$600-660 million ($464-510 million), the company reported.

During 2020, Sojitz appointed Mastermyne to undertake a feasibility study focusing on the development of a high productivity bord and pillar mining operation. In parallel, Mastermyne was also engaged as the Mine Operator to undertake the re-entry process. The underground mining area was successfully re-entered in late October 2020, with no issues encountered, according to the contractor. Mastermyne continued as the Mine Operator while Sojitz finalised internal approvals.

The re-establishment project scope includes the re-establishment of the underground infrastructure including conveyor systems, ventilation, associated mine services, remediation works and surface infrastructure, all of which is expected to take around six months. Following these works, the mine will immediately transition into production with a staged ramp up to three bord and pillar mining units.

The underground mine is expected to produce around 11 Mt run of mine over the life of the project, with mining production planned to commence later this year.

At full production, the underground mine is expected to employ 180 full-time personnel. Mastermyne will provide underground mining equipment from its current fleet, including three bord & pillar miners, multi bolters and shuttle cars along with a range of ancillary production equipment to support the operation. The contract is expected to deliver on average A$80-100 million of revenue per year once in full production, Mastermyne says.

“Initial funding for the project establishment will be a combination of Sojitz capital and Mastermyne capital with the company drawing on its strong cash position and available funding lines to finance the project,” Mastermyne said. “The company’s capital contribution will primarily fund the overhaul of the mining fleet and ancillary mining equipment, which will be recovered over the term of the contract.”

Mastermyne intends to retain ownership of its mining equipment throughout the project.

Mastermyne CEO, Tony Caruso, said: “The execution of our first Whole of Mine Operations contract is a major milestone for Mastermyne and is significant in transitioning the business into a commercial model that is not only complimentary to the existing contracting model, but will provide an even greater level of earnings certainty over the long term.”

Sojitz CEO, Cameron Vorias, said: “We are delighted to have Mastermyne as our highly regarded partner for this development and it will support our strategic plans for the growth of high quality hard coking coal from the area.”

Strata Worldwide ready for another HazardAvert first

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Strata Worldwide is building on its Australia-first application of proximity detection on underground shuttle cars in a Queensland coal mine and expects to see the same mine install and commission a vehicle-to-vehicle interaction component within the next 12-18 months.

Strata said earlier this month that, as a proactive safety measure, one of the world’s leading mining companies had been undergoing extensive research on Strata’s HazardAvert® proximity detection technology. The mining client and Strata Worldwide worked together to test and trial the technology in underground coal mining environments, with the miner’s primary goal being to reduce the potential risks to people working in close proximity to mobile equipment.

HazardAvert proximity detection field generators, installed on equipment, form electromagnetic warning and danger zones around the machinery, according to Strata Worldwide. These zones are detected by the HazardAvert Personal Alarm Devices installed on miner cap lamps or worn on the miners’ belt. When the zones are breached, either by a miner entering the zone or by the shuttle car approaching a miner, the system alarms and alerts both parties. To overcome situations where reaction time is limited, the system can be interfaced into the controls of the equipment to automatically slow or stop the machinery, the company added.

Proximity detection has been used on shuttle cars in the US and South Africa for a good few years as regulators in those regions mandated the use of the technology. This Queensland installation is the first approved system to be introduced in an Australia coal production scenario, however.

At the AIMEX 2019 event, Paul Mullins, Global Product Manager for Strata, provided IM with some more detail on this recent project win, which was the culmination of two years of due diligence work at the mine. Over this period, underground shuttle cars were fitted with the proximity detection technology required as they were brought in for overhaul, allowing the mine to keep up with its coal production targets.

The physical installation of the proximity detection system was undertaken at Komatsu’s Rockhampton facility, in Queensland. Komatsu worked with both Strata and representatives from the mine operation to re-design the control system of the shuttle cars to ensure the system effectively integrated with the machine, according to Komatsu.

“In doing so, Komatsu were able to ensure the shuttle car automatically functioned in the manner requested by the mine operation, in the event the proximity detection system alerted the presence of mine personnel,” Komatsu said.

The machine was designed to slow down when miner personnel entered a ‘warning zone’ and stop in the event mine personnel became too close to the shuttle car and entered the ‘stop’ zone.

Komatsu and Strata both worked with the mining operation over the two year period to ensure the relevant hazards were understood and controlled, which has led to incremental improvements being made to the integrated system throughout the trial period.

Strata’s Mullins said the system had been running in sections at the mine since the start of this year, with 40-50 people now equipped with HazardAvert Caplamps. The mine in operation has four production crews, with two of these crews currently using the vehicle-to-personnel proximity system, he said.

By the end of the year, Mullins is expecting all shuttle cars, personnel and continuous miners at the operation to be equipped with the technology. He then expects the mine to move towards vehicle-to-vehicle interaction, which involves adding proximity detection to LHDs at the mine, within the next 12-18 months.

Vehicle-to-vehicle interaction would be a global first in underground coal mining environments.

This is not all for Strata Worldwide, with Mullins saying the company is currently working with other coal mining companies in Queensland on similar proximity detection projects.

Strata Worldwide also used the AIMEX 2019 event to unveil its DigitalBRIDGE Plus+ solution to improve existing leaky feeder systems by “digitising the network and expanding connectivity capacity in the mining and tunnelling industries”.

The solution, produced through an established partnership with Australia-based RFI Technology Solutions, enables mines to upgrade their existing leaky feeder systems to achieve digital high-speed Ethernet capabilities without losing VHF (Very High Frequency) voice communications, according to Strata.

Strata Worldwide achieves HazardAvert proximity detection first in Australia

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Strata Worldwide says it has accomplished the first ever application of proximity detection on underground shuttle cars in an Australia coal mine.

As a proactive safety measure, one of the world’s leading mining companies has been undergoing extensive research on Strata’s HazardAvert® proximity detection technology. The mining client and Strata Worldwide have been working together to test and trial the technology in both surface and underground coal mining environments, with the company’s primary goal being to reduce the potential risks to people working in close proximity to mobile equipment.

HazardAvert proximity detection system generators, installed on equipment, form electromagnetic warning and danger zones around the machinery, Strata Worldwide explains. These zones are detected by the HazardAvert Personal Alarm Devices installed into the miner cap lamps or worn on the miners’ belt. When the zones are breached, either by a miner entering the zone, or by the shuttle car approaching a miner, the system alarms and alerts both parties. To overcome situations where reaction time is limited, the system can be interfaced into the controls of the equipment to automatically slow or stop the machinery, the company added.

Following a year of successful surface trials, the mine in question elected to take the technology underground at one of its coal mining operations in central Queensland. Over a six-month trial period, HazardAvert was fitted on two shuttle cars and incorporated into 30 miner cap lamps and used in production on selected development shifts, Strata Worldwide said.

“The mine reported encouraging results and the technology was well received by mining operators,” the company said. “The operation is now eager to expand the trial of the technology into further production panels and outfit the mine’s entire fleet of shuttle cars. This success marks the first Australian underground coal mine to utilise proximity detection technology on shuttle cars in production.”

The company is also considering a test of the systems on other mobile equipment, including personnel transporters, LHDs, shield haulers and a selection of surface equipment.

The head of project execution at the mine site commented that keeping its people safe is always its highest priority, so implementing this technology is a huge step forward in the future of underground mine safety. He continued by saying that the solution opens up the opportunity to use the technology across multiple pieces of mobile equipment and, if implemented correctly, can impact human behaviours in a positive way.

In a separate blog post back in May, BHP Mitsubishi Alliance said it had achieved an “Australia coal first” with a shuttle car proximity detection trial at its Broadmeadow coal mine, in Queensland.

BMA achieves ‘Australia coal first’ with shuttle car proximity detection trial

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The team at BHP Mitsubishi Alliance’s (BMA) Broadmeadow coal mine, in Queensland, Australia, have been looking at ways to use proximity detection technology to reduce the potential exposure and risk to its people while working underground, and has recently achieved an Australia first for coal.

Glenn Owens, Project Manager, and Dave Zanette, Project Execution Lead, brought together a team of experienced electricians and engineers, and using the knowledge of its operators, began trialling proximity detection in Broadmeadow’s underground shuttle cars.

“Shuttle cars are considered to be one of the more higher risk pieces of equipment in underground mines as they are used to transport coal from the development face to the coal clearance system,” BHP said. “This machinery can unload hundreds of tonnes of coal per shift and are critical to the mine’s operations.”

After many months in planning and development, the team launched an Australian first for coal – rolling out the first ever Proximity Detection Shuttle Cars in full auto and stop modes.

“Keeping our people safe is always our highest priority so implementing this technology is a huge step forward in the future of underground mine safety,” Zanette said.

“It opens up the opportunity for us to use the technology across multiple pieces of mobile equipment and, if implemented correctly, can impact human behaviours in a positive way.

“It also has the potential to be replicated across all of our BHP underground and surface assets and throughout the broader industry, ultimately making mining safer for our people.”

The Proximity Detection System uses low frequency magnetic field generators, which are installed in the Shuttle Cars. The magnetic fields can detect two zones – Zone 1 (Warning Zone) and Zone 2 (Danger Zone).

When a pedestrian is detected in the Warning Zone, the machine will automatically slow down and the operator and pedestrian are both alerted via flashing orange beacons and alarms on the vehicle and cap lamps (worn on each person’s helmet).

Once someone enters the Danger Zone, a red flashing beacon and alarms sound and, importantly, the machine automatically stops, BHP said.

“Unique to an underground mining environment, there’s moving machinery, noise, limited lighting and confined spaces, so it’s fantastic to know that this technology provides an engineering solution on top of the existing controls to help keep our people safe,” Zanette said.

The project is currently in trial phase, with two of Broadmeadow’s shuttle cars already fitted with the system. All shuttle cars in Broadmeadow mine’s development panels are on track to operate the system by the first quarter of BHP’s 2020 financial year.

The Project Team will be testing this technology on Broadmeadow’s other mobile equipment such as personnel transporters, LHDs, shield haulers and selected surface mobile equipment, it said.