Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology
School of Engineering
Department of Mining Engineering
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
Improved techniques have resulted in more accurate locations of seismic events in mines without extra cost. The research undertaken with Simrac support points to the possibility of improving automatic location algorithm accuracy to the point that only 1 in 100 000 seismic events is mislocated. This would remove the cost of manual location and subsequent quality control procedures, while also freeing up time for the mine seismologist to interpret and act on incoming data.
Contact person: Prof MF Handley.
The unpaved road network on a surface mine is extensive, with highly variable traffic volumes. Existing haul road maintenance management systems result in sub-optimal road maintenance strategies with the attendant increase in total road-user costs and reduction in service. A real-time maintenance management system can overcome the deficiencies of existing systems for mine roads. Since most large mines operate trucks with on-board diagnostic data collation, linked through a centralised communication and GPS backbone, it is possible to monitor road condition on a real-time basis through truck on-board vibration signature analysis. This project develops a Condition-triggered Maintenance (CTM) real-time mine haul road management system. It integrates truck on-board vital signs and vibration signature data monitoring with existing mine-wide asset location and communication systems. It thus provides quantitative information on the location of haul road functional defects and makes it possible to identify, manage and remediate sub-standard sections of road across the network on a real-time basis. (Also see the section on Achievements elsewhere in this publication for information on awards made to this research.)
Contact person: Prof RJ Thompson.
During the process of coal pillar extraction it is inevitable that pillar remnants will be left behind. If these remnants are too large, they will result in the overburden not failing as intended with undesirable consequences on the stability of remaining pillars. If they are too small, they will fail prematurely, jeopardising the safety of mining personnel. A fundamentals-based method has been developed to determine the suitable sizes of pillar remnants in coal pillar extraction. This new method enables mining rock engineers to determine the appropriate size range of pillar remnants.
Contact person: Prof JN van der Merwe.
Previous research resulted in a method, based on indirect back analysis of failed coal pillars, to predict the life-span of pillars. At the core of the method was the indirectly derived rate at which coal pillars become smaller by a process of progressive scaling. That rate has now been confirmed by direct measurement of the amounts of scaling on over 350 pillars of different ages and physical/ geometric surroundings at 13 sites.
Contact person: Prof JN van der Merwe.
When support systems in deep level underground mines fail, it is important to distinguish between violent and gradual modes of failure. A method to predetermine the failure mode has been developed. It is done by comparing the stiffness of the support system during loading with the unloading stiffness characteristic of the rock overburden. This method can be applied by rock engineers to design suitable support systems for deep level underground mines.
Contact person: Prof JN van der Merwe.
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