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By M Chappell

This paper describes the design of the steel fibre reinforced precast concrete (SFRC) segmental lining for the intake and discharge tunnels for the Gold Coast desalination plant in Queensland. In addition, the key design requirements and design methods for the lining of these 2 km long, 2.8 m internal diameter tunnels, including structural, durability and maintenance requirements are discussed. Details of the segment configuration and erection process are presented along with information on the manufacture and trial testing of the concrete for the segments. The paper also gives a brief introduction to steel fibre reinforced concrete behaviour. Construction of the tunnels commenced in April 2007, and the authors believe this is the first application of this technology in Australia.

Jan 1, 2008

By A Li, H Jinto, M Laxman

The behaviour of tailings under cyclic loading has an impact on the stability and deformation of tailings dams and a good understanding of the cyclic behaviour of the tailings under earthquakes is important for tailings engineers and tailings operators for the design and safe operation of tailings dams. This paper presents an investigation into the cyclic behaviour of tailings using both laboratory cyclic direct simple shear (DSS) testing and numerical modelling. The laboratory testing involved cyclic DSS tests on gold tailings and zinc-copper tailings under different loadings and loading frequencies. The gold tailings specimen tested at a higher loading frequency and a higher cyclic stress ratio experienced spontaneous liquefaction during cyclic shearing and the zinc-copper tailings specimen tested at a lower loading frequency and a similar cyclic stress ratio exhibited ductile behaviour and liquefied due to cyclic mobility. The liquefaction behaviour of the tailings was modelled using an advanced constitutive model (UBCSAND), which was developed specifically to model soil liquefaction and strain softening under cyclic loading. The constitutive soil model presents the nonlinear soil behaviour under dynamic loading using a hyperbolic stress-strain relation. Dynamic analyses were carried out using a finite difference program FLAC. The cyclic stress-induced excess pore water pressures measured in the laboratory were modelled using numerical simulations of the laboratory tests under different loading conditions. The results of the non-linear dynamic analyses demonstrated the capability of numerical modelling of cyclic shearing induced excess pore water pressure and the onset of the spontaneous liquefaction. The laboratory investigation and numerical modelling technique provided the key properties and parameters for the dynamic analyses to assess the stability and deformation of tailings dams under design earthquake events. More importantly, the laboratory tests and numerical modelling provided some insights into liquefaction behaviour of the tailings during earthquakes. CITATION:Li, A, Laxman, M and Jinto, H, 2018. Liquefaction behaviour of tailings under cyclic simple shear testing, in Proceedings Mine Waste and Tailings Stewardship Conference 2018, pp 250–262 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 23, 2018

By C Armstrong, B Wentzinger

Upstream embankment raises often represent the lowest cost option for increasing the capacity of tailings storage facilities (TSF), but also pose the highest stability risk due to constructing on top of previously deposited tailings.This paper presents an overview of key aspects in the geotechnical investigation and design of upstream raises and some recent lessons learnt from experience across a number of TSFs in Australia. A summary of recommended field investigation and laboratory testing methods is provided with a focus on collecting quality information for design purposes. A strong focus is given in developing an accurate assessment of pore water pressures, which, if not correctly understood can have disastrous consequences on tailings strength parameter interpretation and wall stability assessment in static and post-seismic conditions.The assessment of the contractive or dilative shearing behaviour of the tailings material and rigorous interpretation of design characteristic values are presented. Some comments on stability analysis options and proposed methodology are also provided.CITATION:Wentzinger, B and Armstrong, C, 2018. Lessons learnt in geotechnical investigation and stability analysis for upstream tailings storage facility raise design, in Proceedings Mine Waste and Tailings Stewardship Conference 2018, pp 333–348 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 23, 2018

By N Redwood, N Fowkes, A Bassom, S Durkin

"It is well known that from time-to-time a vehicle will interact with a bund or windrow and often the barrier is insufficient to safely arrest that vehicle. The result of such an incident is often catastrophic. Regulations around the requirement for edge protection near pit edges vary between jurisdictions. Generally in Australia regulations tend to be around placing the responsibility on the mine operator to provide ‘adequate’ or ‘appropriate’ edge protection. Guidelines often place a minimum height of bund at between half and two-thirds the diameter of the largest tyre on-site.Safescape has identified the opportunity to improve safety in open pit edge protection and is currently developing the Edge Protector (EP) product. The EP is designed to create a vertical front face to a conventional broken rock safety bund. The fundamental premise of the product is that by creating a vertical front face to the bund, trucks cannot easily drive up over the bund and instead have to push through the rock to get to the other side.In addition to providing a safer system for arresting vehicles, the vertical front face also means that extra space is made available in the haul road. This can either be used to facilitate larger trucks or when designing a new mine, with an increase in overall pit slope.This paper outlines the research and development of a new edge protection product. Discussion will include project objectives, economic incentive for mines to apply the system, mathematical analysis of the truck/bund interaction and physical testing of the product.Citation:Durkin, S, Fowkes, N, Redwood, N and Bassom, A, 2016. Innovative Approach to Open Pit Edge Protection, in Proceedings Ninth AusIMM Open Pit Operators' Conference 2016, pp 138–149 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Nov 15, 2016

By M Sandy, A Vakili, J Albrecht

Although rock strength anisotropy is a well-known phenomenon in rock mechanics, its impact on geotechnical design is often ignored. No widely accepted guideline currently exists for its characterisation. Anisotropy can significantly control the failure mechanism and progression of damage into the rock mass, particularly in high-stress conditions. As such, it can play a key role in the stability of underground excavations and subsequent geotechnical design.This paper introduces the concept of anisotropy at both intact and rock mass scales. It then presents guidelines for measuring anisotropy and assigning rock mass strength properties. An improved unified constitutive model (IUCM), which can account for more complex failure mechanisms, is then briefly described. This IUCM is used to better understand the typical responses of anisotropic rocks to underground mining and to develop an improved damage classification scheme for these conditions.The application of conventional design methods in anisotropic conditions is shown to lead to significant errors. Two case histories are then presented, illustrating how the proposed methodology can improve the reliability and accuracy of the geotechnical analysis when compared with conventional design methods.CITATION:Vakili, A, Albrecht, J and Sandy, M, 2014. Rock strength anisotropy and its importance in underground geotechnical design, in Proceedings AusRock 2014: Third Australasian Ground Control in Mining Conference , pp 167–180 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 5, 2014

By J Simpson, M Johnston

Recently Mount Isa Mines undertook a study to review the lead-zinc orebodies to extent of resource and reserves and determine the new life-of-mine schedule, as the Mount Isa and Hilton orebodies had not be reviewed for many years. Also, the recovered value of the Mount Isa, Hilton and George Fisher orebodies had been increased by major performance improvements in the lead-zinc concentrator. The Mount Isa Lead-Zinc concentrator processes fine-grained lead-zinc ore from the Mount Isa, Hilton and George Fisher orebodies. These orebodies have varying levels of pyrite and large variation in the grain size and texture of the galena, sphalerite and pyrite. This variation has a large effect on the recovery of the lead and zinc in the concentrator. Some ores achieve 90 per cent recovery at target grades, yet other ores are unable to achieve æsaleableÆ concentrate grade, with no metal being recovered to concentrate and therefore effectively losing the contained metal to the final tailings. Models were created to predict the metallurgical performance of these orebodies, to better reflect the variation that occurs. These improved metallurgical models and economic data allowed the determination of the Net Smelter Return (NSR) for each block in the geological block model. This NSR is the return to MIM of the metals contained in concentrate. The NSR was used as the cut-off grade criteria when determining the value of the ore. This formed the basis of the lead-zinc life-of-mine schedule and the optimisation of the lead-zinc business.

Jan 1, 2003

By B Ghahreman‐Nejad, M Munro

Design of embankment dams often requires seismic analyses, or an assessment of earthquakeinduced ground and dam movements. There are a large number of cases where earthquakes have triggered sliding and lateral spreading of embankments, resulting in excessive crest settlements. In some instances, liquefaction and embankment failure has occurred resulting in loss of containment. Hence, evaluation of the effects of earthquakes on embankment dams is a critical design aspect. This paper discusses the methods and the results of a seismic liquefaction assessment and deformation analyses of a tailings dam. The tailings dam consists of a perimeter earth core rockfill starter dam which has been raised using upstream construction methods. The embankment raises (formed by an upstream clay blanket and an all-in rockfill body) are constructed over the impounded tailings, which are potentially liquefiable. Extensive field and laboratory tests were undertaken to assess the liquefaction potential of the tailings, and also determine the material properties required for seismic stability and deformation analyses. Numerical modelling of seismic liquefaction and deformation was carried out using FLAC (Itasca 2016) to predict the magnitude and spatial variation of deformations that may lead to an uncontrolled release of tailings. Primarily based on a parametric assessment of UBCSand and Finn-Byrne constitutive models, the results of the analyses are presented and compared for evaluation.

Jul 1, 2021

By H von Blottnitz, J L. Broadhurst

Eco-efficiency has been proposed by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development as an environmental performance indicator framework that contributes to sustainability by assisting corporate decision makers improve the environmental performance of their operations and processes, while also extracting additional economic value. Given that the recent engagement of the minerals industry with sustainability has highlighted the need for requisite tools and methodologies, it is therefore of interest to assess whether eco-efficiency indicators can drive sustainability performance improvement during process design within the minerals industry. Previous work indicates that the choice of sustainability performance indicators to be used for decision making needs to be governed by the decision context; ie the performance indicators need to be fit-for-purpose. Here, the strengths and weaknesses of eco-efficiency indicators are analysed using case studies. First, a more rigorous definition of eco-efficiency indicators for the minerals industry is proposed based on indicators currently offered in the literature. Two case studies are then selected to reflect typical decision situations encountered within minerals process design. For each case study, eco-efficiency indicators are computed and are compared to more traditional graphical representations of the economic and environmental performance of process design alternatives considered. The sensitivity of these indicators to various process design parameters is also investigated. Results confirm that the meaningful application of eco-efficiency indicators is strongly dependent on the decision context in which the process data is generated. Results also show that eco-efficiency indicators can be related to technical process design parameters to allow for richer communication of performance information for various decision trade-offs; however, in some cases, graphical approaches that provide more insights into the environmental-financial trade-offs should be preferred. The research thus contributes to guiding the selection of the appropriate tools for more environmentally sustainable design of minerals beneficiation processes.

Jan 1, 2009

By A Larsson, K Niiranen

The Palaeoproterozoic Leveäniemi iron oxide apatite (IOA) deposit of the so-called Kiruna type is currently mined by Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB (publ.), commonly known as LKAB. The mineralogy of iron oxides, ie magnetite, hematite, maghemite, and goethite is more complicated compared to the neighbouring and more famous IOA deposits of Kiirunavaara and Malmberget. Furthermore, the mineral chemistry of the iron oxides in the Leveäniemi deposit is also slightly different. Especially, the information about the deportment of titanium and vanadium in iron oxides and distribution in the deposit is essential since they can have an impact in the steelmaking process. For this study 50 samples were selected from exploration drill cores and investigated by optical microscopy, FE-SEM-EDS and EPMA at LKAB and the Geological Survey of Finland. Investigations revealed that magnetite is the predominant iron oxide mineral with secondary hematite being the second most abundant mineral. Primary hematite, maghemite, and goethite seem to be less abundant. It should be noted, however, that this investigation focused on magnetite which currently is the only mineral with economic value. Vanadium occurs as a substitution element in the crystal lattice of iron oxide minerals in the Leveäniemi deposit and not as discrete stochiometric vanadium minerals. In the investigated samples vanadium concentration in magnetite ranges from 0.12 to 0.32 wt per cent V2O3 with higher concentration in the southern part of the deposit. Contrary, titanium does not substitute for iron in the crystal lattice of magnetite or secondary hematite (less than 0.018 wt per cent TiO2). It either occurs as tiny inclusions of titanium oxide minerals or as exsolution lamellae of ilmenite in magnetite. The spatial distribution for titanium in the deposit, however, remains unknown. Furthermore, results of this study indicate that alteration of primary magnetite to secondary hematite has had no significant effect on the trace element chemistry of these minerals in the Leveäniemi deposit.

Nov 8, 2021

By G Davison, C Rossimel, M Bouazza

Expanding rock bolts anchor within a rock mass more efficiently than non-expanding varieties. This is of great importance in weak ground conditions, where grouted friction bolts perform less efficiently than in good ground conditions. Filling a Split Set with demolition concrete has been shown to double the load-carrying capacity when compared to conventional use of Split Sets. This report details verification of these results by installing and pull-testing 14 Split Sets of varying grout conditions within in a fault zone. These Expanding Split Sets achieved loads double and triple that of ungrouted and normally grouted conventional Split Sets. A literature review and chemical analysis were conducted to understand the expansion process better. It was found that 20 per cent more calcium is included in expanding cement, which is responsible for its growth. Factors most affecting the expansion process were identified. Furthermore, the expansion rate of a bolt outside a borehole was measured and 6 mm of expansion across its diameter was found. The compressive properties of the cement were compared with other types, due to expanding cement becoming uncohesive after the expansion process is complete. When confined within a Split Set, compression testing demonstrated that this grout is just as strong and rigid as normal grout. Finally, the bolts were tested by shear and it was found that the Expanding Split Set (ESS) has a similar shear capacity to grouted Split Sets, which is 70 per cent higher than that of ungrouted Split Sets. These results enabled the mechanism for improved performance in weak ground conditions to be verified. Expanding grout will expand the Split Set into its borehole of varying diameter and lock it into place, creating increased friction and resistance to pull-out. This paper shows that ESSs can be a useful reinforcement technique in weak ground conditions.CITATION:Rossimel, C, Davison, G and Bouazza, M, 2014. An investigation of expanding split sets in weak ground, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Underground Operators’ Conference 2014 , pp 159–170 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Mar 24, 2014

By G Williams

Somewhat to the surprise of many heavy mineral sands (TiO2 and zircon) producers, there are important geological structures within their typical placers and aeolian sands deposits that affect plant metallurgical performance. After many years of operations, even experienced producers have encountered unexpected changes in production, product quality and recovery. After looking in all the obvious (but wrong) places, it is recognised that the mine has advanced into ore with different separation characteristics. Metallurgical process response can vary significantly between ore sourced from different geological domains. The mineral characteristics that are exploited for effective separation may be associated with differences in the depositional environment, or be post-depositional in origin. Surface coatings that interfere with electrostatic separation might be associated with paleo-water table movements. Major storm events in the deposition history can also leave distorted mineral assemblage through stranded formations or incisions in older deposits.Apart from the influence on capital and operating costs, geometallurgical variances add another dimension to orebody modelling. Each domain could have specific recovery, mineral assemblage and product quality values to be considered in the value model. Project success is often directly dependent on understanding the geometallurgy of the resource. Tailoring the exploration and early process flow sheet development programs to account for such variances should be standard practice. Such practices have had a chequered history in the mineral sands industry, with sophisticated processes having been developed, only to be shelved for ‘economic’ reasons, and then once again ‘discovered’ when problems re-emerge.It is clear that knowledge gained through a higher level understanding of the changing mineral separation characteristics and advance warning of mineral behavioural differences can mean the difference between lost recoveries and disappointed customers or well timed capital plans and maximised revenues.

Oct 5, 2011

The object of this paper is to give an insight into various metallurgical operations involved in the making and shaping of steel for shipbuilding at the Newcastle plants of the Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd., Commonwealth Steel Co. Ltd. and the Port Kembla plant of Australian Iron and Steel Ltd. Whilst not steelmakers, inasmuch as their processes start with semi-finished. steel supplied by the Steelmaker, the plants of Stewarts and Lloyds (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. and their associate company, British Tube Mills, Rylands Bros. (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. and the Newcastle and Kembla plants of John Lysaghts (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. make substantial contributions to the Australian shipbuilding industry, principally by way of boiler tubing and wires for welding rods and sheet steel, including special silicon lamination sheet for electrical motors.THE MAKING OF STEELThe making of iron and steel began as an accident, slowly developed as an art and has not yet become an exact science. The iron age dawned on the day when, by chance, man's primitive ancestor built up the wall of his fire with ironstone. In the ashes of the fire he found pieces of sponge iron from which he hammered out the first sample' of wrought iron. For many centuries iron ·was manufactured in bloomeries and occasionally, when the temperature was excessive, the iron combined with some carbon and steel was produced. But it was not till '1740 that steel was manufactured under controlled conditions. In that year Huntsman invented the crucible process which held undisputed sway for over a 100 years until in 1856 the invention of the Bessemer process revolutionised the whole industry.From then on, rapid progress was made. The Siemens...

Jan 1, 1951

By S M. J Koleini, F Hedjazi

The purpose of this research was to study the calcination of lead-zinc flotation tailings from the Angouran lead and zinc flotation plant in Iran as a pre-concentration step prior to hydrometallurgical processing of the oxidised tailings. There is an abundance of these tailings in the Angouran region and making use of these tailings would help preserve national wealth and also reduce the serious problems of environmental pollution caused by the tailings. At the optimal conditions of calcining at 750 - 800¦C for 45 minutes, the sample showed a mass loss of about 19 per cent. Mineralogical analyses showed that under these conditions the carbonate minerals including smithsonite (ZnCO3), calcite (CaCO3) and dolomite (Ca Mg (CO3)2) decomposed to their respective oxides. Hemimorphite (Zn4Si2O7 (OH)2.H2O) converted into willemite (Zn2SiO4) and this transformation postponed the formation of silica gel in the leach solution. The grade of zinc increased from 22.20 per cent to 29 per cent. These mineralogical changes resulted in desirable reactions in the acid leach process.

Jan 1, 2004

By E A. Gunn, J Zhou

In this paper a project to develop a joint optimisation/simulation model for production planning in a mine-mill complex is presented. The system involves a mill receiving ore from a number of different locations, each with a unique mineral composition. The mill consists of several crushing and grinding circuits that function in series and parallel. Scheduling the flow of materials through the mill is complex due to constraints on throughput imposed by the millÆs design, the length of time material can be stockpiled on the surface, varying input mineral composition, and throughput targets for a range of output products.An optimisation model is used to create a set of campaigns (ore feed rates) over a given planning horizon under the assumption of deterministic mill throughput. A simulation model is used to evaluate the production plan under assumptions of stochastic machine failure and operational losses created by the need to cycle between input feeds. Campaign scheduling has two important implications for the simulation. First, during any campaign, multiple ore types may need to flow through the mill. However, the mill must be controlled to ensure that only one type of ore can be in a crusher, a grinder or a storage bin at any point in time. Second, as the mill switches from one campaign to another, the set of ores being processed may differ. Thus, the flow of ore through the equipment during a campaign changeover must be controlled to ensure that one or more of the ores from the current campaign can be completely eliminated before the ores from the new campaign are introduced.The simulation architecture employed for this project is Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) combined with MS-Excel as a user interface. A fixed step discrete event orientation is assumed as the simulation framework. A set of model constructs was built for the project with a specific Canadian milling operation in mind, but was designed to be representative of a broad class of milling operations. The constructs are implemented as class objects within the VBA structure, each with a number of properties and methods. The collection of VBA objects forms a composable modelling toolkit. These objects can be linked together by users, via MS-Excel, to represent a broad range of milling operations.

Sep 26, 2011

By Aziz NI, Beafi EY

In designing for a highly productive new mine during the present declining coal market, a very detailed ò planning is necessary. Attitudes of both management and coal operators may have to be changed, with more initial participation by the unions, governmental agencies, and the coal owners. A considerable number of Australian mines are remote from labour source and this trend is likely to increase particularly in the state of Queensland. Consequently such 'mines must be developed on the basis of the future technological and social changes in order to minimise both the capital and operating costs.

Jan 1, 1988

The Cadia Valley Operations currently hosts a large operational open pit, a large operational sublevel caving underground mine and two other underground projects at the study stage. This scenario creates an unusual situation for the evaluation and planning of a fifth major open pit project. The Cadia East Open Pit is a large gold-copper development located adjacent to the operational open pit and above one of the underground projects. A study team is conducting a comprehensive and robust analysis of the target orebody. Two key factors for this project include the existing and planned projects within the valley and the wide range of available mining methods. The aim for the study team is to present an optimal and practical case which suits the entire Cadia Valley Operation. A rigorous and robust analysis of the situation requires that each factor be properly evaluated. A modular system has been developed which allows the wide range of scenarios to be quickly and meaningfully considered. Sensitivities for each module drive the further development of that particular module. As each scenario progresses, an assessment is made evaluating its value, strategic value and practicality. In such a way, the number of scenarios is gradually reduced at each stage to produce a final short list of feasible cases. Each scenario on the shortlist is then assessed with regard to the existing operations and other projects. A qualitative and quantitative analysis is made. This ranking is used to provide the recommended case.

Jan 1, 2007

Hilton Mine is located 20 km north of the city of Mount Isa and Isa Mine in far north west Queensland. The sealed road used by the 500 employees to commute from the city is part of the Barkly Highway linking Mt Isa to the Northern Territory.Although discovered in 1947, major underground development did not start until late-1982 and first cut-and-fill production in mid-1987. The J53 exploration shaft was sunk in 1970-73 and the main P49 shaft in 1973-75. Since January 1990, most of Hilton ore production has been treated in the Hilton Concentrator, and concentrates trucked in slurry tankers to Isa for smelting or shipping.

Jan 1, 1993

By J Nortier, J Dray

There is no single factor that determines the appropriate capacity for a mining project. It is driven by the size of the resource, the capacity of the market, the availability of capital, the availability of power, the availability of water, and a myriad of other considerations. There is also no single solution to the question of how big the project should be. However, to develop a project, the study team needs to select the configuration options that it regards as the best for the project. To be able to make this selection, the study team should consider the range of available options and do so at a level of detail that gives it confidence in the conclusion but does not lead to multiple detailed design exercises. Having considered the range of options, and with a clear definition of the project owner’s objectives and constraints, the work to be carried into feasibility studies can be focused appropriately. This paper discusses the process of completing strategic mine planning to identify project configuration options to assist in the selection of the processing plant throughput rate (Capacity Study) for a large greenfield open pit mine. The processes described in this paper allow for the basis of design to be set for subsequent studies that meets the objectives at a risk profile acceptable to the owner.

Jun 22, 2022

By M Spagnolo, M Ashley, D, L Reemeyer

PasmincoÆs Century Concentrator in North West Queensland commenced operations in November 1999. The nameplate production capacity of 500 000 tpa of zinc metal production in concentrate was achieved in August 2002. Completion of the production ramp up was successful due to the culmination of a number of initiatives throughout 2001 and 2002. Mine to mill interaction to understand and eliminate head grade related bottlenecks affecting Concentrator production and reduce feed variation. Grinding circuit process development û operating and process control strategies to improve stability and reduce grind size to support zinc recovery. Pumping upgrades to control spillage in ultrafine zinc flotation Low density zinc flotation strategy û to improve silica-sphalerite separation to improve zinc recovery while maintaining acceptable silica in final concentrate. Flotation circuit process development û froth crowders, froth cameras and reagent control strategies to improve primary zinc flotation performance. Review and implementation of longer campaigns between planned shutdowns to improve availability. Team reorganisation û to improve setting and implementation of metallurgical strategies. This paper describes these initiatives and their contribution in achieving the production target. It also notes the ball mill motor failures that delayed the successful achievement of the ramp up, and CenturyÆs response to minimise the production impact. The paper also outlines the capital improvement program that was implemented to improve zinc recovery to design 82.5 per cent recovery once the production rate had been achieved.

Jan 1, 2003

By M Chaudhari, G Manekar, D Shome

MOIL Limited is operating 7 underground and 3 opencast mines in central India and producing annually more than 1.2 million tonnes of various grades of manganese ore. The underground mines are operating at shallow - 90 m at Munsar mine to moderate - 353 m at Balaghat mine below the surface with horizontal cut and fill (HCF) or its variant method of stoping with post filling by hydraulic sand stowing. The Munsar mine is being worked underground since 1903. The opencast mining is presently stopped. The ore body below the opencast quarry is geological continuity of the area excavated in past by opencast method of mining. The underground mining is done through the adit in three levels i.e. 270’L, 220’L, 170’L and by incline in western part of the property at 70’L. The horizontal drift development has been developed in the manganese ore body with sill drive of 5 m above the sill pillar in lower level at 70’L and barrier pillar of 5 m thickness is left for protection of upper level at 170’L. Valuable mineral has been locked in sill pillar and therefore rock mechanics investigations have been carried out. On the basis of study now the drift development has been carried out in footwall rock at 70’L, (-) 30’L and below levels and it has improved the mineable manganese ore by about 20%. In this modified HCF stope design, an alternative fill material in place of sand, which has been developed in house by use of overburden (OB) material after treatment, has been used for hydraulic stowing. The experimental trials find out that the alternative fill material of OB is more compact and forming a non expansion floor for the men and machines in the stope. This will certainly help in the introduction of mobile underground mining equipment for drilling in the stopes and mechanical mucking, transportation and loading of the ROM. The paper presents rock mechanics investigations and future use of alternative fill material of OB for better safety and productivity at Munsar Mine of MOIL. CITATION:Manekar, G, Shome, D and Chaudhari, M, 2018. Modified ground support with alternative fill material for ground control at Munsar underground manganese mine of MOIL Limited, India, in Proceedings The Fourth Australasian Ground Control in Mining Conference (AusRock), pp 58–65 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 30, 2018