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By S Withell, K Sheehan

Whitehaven Coal (WHC) is undergoing a transformative journey, deeply committed to the principles of a High Reliability Organisation (HRO) and the establishment of a mature, interdependent culture founded on psychological safety. This ongoing commitment is not merely aspirational but is supported by performance improvements backed by both quantitative performance data and qualitative evidence of cultural progression. WHC has strategically integrated leading and lagging indicators to target fatal risk. WHC focus areas include an emphasis on strategy and risk appetite, targeted data, informed learning, proactive addressing of fatal risk and the integration of data management and technology.

Apr 16, 2024

By P Scholtz

Sustainability is one of those fuzzy words like innovation: everybody has an idea what it means, but if one starts asking for concise definitions then it becomes clear that everybody puts their own nuance on the meaning of these words. It’s not because these are difficult words per se, but rather because our understanding of them is highly dependent on the environment we work, live and play in. To remove any ambiguity and aligned with the risks that are faced by the human population today, the definition for sustainability that will apply for this paper is: generating value in the short term without destroying value in the long term.CITATION:Scholtz, P, 2018. Sustainable post-closure development – is it achievable?, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2018, pp 58–59 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 25, 2018

By G Byrne, A Bowden

There is often a difference in opinion about the allocation of risk in the establishment of mine closure bonds or financial assurances. From the State’s perspective, protection is needed to ensure that the broader community is not left with the liability of properly closing a mine in the event of a default by the mine operator. Such a default might occur where an operator decides to abandon a site, perform incomplete rehabilitation, becomes insolvent or claims limited liability. On the other hand, mine operators who can demonstrate a strong financial position plus a record of social and environmental commitment and performance, argue that there should be some recognition of this in setting a bond that is less than the full cost of early closure. They argue that a mine rehabilitation bond based on the full cost of early closure is overly conservative and ignores the actual risk of the operator being in default. This paper examines an approach that incorporates the risk of default into the establishment of mine closure and rehabilitation bonds. CITATION:Bowden, A and Byrne, G, 2018. Mine closure bonds (financial assurances) – the ‘how much?’ conundrum, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2018, pp 32–34 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 25, 2018

By A Gibbs

The mining sector has been a leader in investing in safety improvement initiatives, yet relatively few mining organisations can accurately track the positive effects of these initiatives or identify areas that may require more attention. The consequences of not taking safety seriously are severe, and unfortunately injuries and fatalities are continuing to occur across the mining sector (Brady, 2019). There is a tendency to turn to lag indicators such as All Injury Frequency Rate (AIFR), Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR), and Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) to track these outcomes. As outlined below these approaches are inherently flawed and a renewed focus is needed on indicators within the control of leaders, indicators that have high predictive validity for future events and data that is used in a way to enable learning and change.

May 5, 2022

By C Tomlin, C Gimber

Historically, key closure risks have been studied during operations and then further assessed as cessation of mining approaches. Only in the past couple of decades or so has progressive rehabilitation and closure become an integral part of regulatory frameworks, sustainable mine planning and more recently, new project and development planning. It is now broadly accepted that the best closure outcomes occur when rehabilitation and closure are properly considered upfront, during the early stages of a mine development project and well before mining occurs. Increasingly, regulatory processes are requiring more diligence on early closure planning, often as part of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and approvals process, rather than later in dedicated closure study phases. There is an opportunity to use the information generated during this phase to make better decisions on project selection, design, mining methodology and all other facets of the mining operation.

Aug 2, 2023

By M Jara, R Nuñez

As the global interest in sustainable energy sources has increased, lithium has emerged as a vital resource, playing a crucial role in the transition towards a cleaner and more efficient economy, but with this comes important challenges, especially associated to health, safety, and environmental matters. So, it is imperative for the lithium industry to prioritise HSE measures to protect workers, environment and surrounding communities. Implementing robust safety protocols and technology helps ensure the sustainability of mining operations and contributes to the overall responsible development of the industry. In this work we present how the Chilean lithium mining industry becomes a safer and more compliant industry using digital transformation (Cochilco, 2018; Bradley et al, 2013; Cabello, 2022).

Apr 16, 2024

By T R. Gibbons, I Grayand

Geotechnically massive strata may lead to a host of problems during longwall mining. These include windblast on initial goaf fall, sudden loadings on powered supports, periodic weightings, fractures that may propagate to surface, and extreme subsidence problems. It is essential to identify these problems prior to mining and to appropriately deal with them. The problem is essentially that the rock mass does not breakup evenly and when it does so it tends to produce large blocks which may suddenly move. The rock types that produce these problems tend to be massive sandstones, massive siltstones and sometimes igneous sills. The fundamental problem with these is that they do not breakup readily. This is because the ratio of stress they are subject to compared to their strength is low. Thus, the shallower mines with lower stresses are more subject to this problem than deep highly stressed ones with similar strength rock.

Nov 29, 2022

By J H. Wood, I Gray

This paper examines the occurrence of outbursts, coal bursts and rock bursts in underground mining. It then examines them from the viewpoint of the failure mechanism and velocity of particles. The presence of gas is extremely important as it can both act as the fluid pressure component of effective stress leading to failure, and as a substantial energy source in projecting material during a burst. For gas to drive a dynamic event it must be present as free gas held in voids within the rock or coal mass. This can pre-exist the burst event or be released from desorbing gas during it. The latter is typically part of a multi-stage outburst event which can reach very large proportions. Rock and coal bursts are driven by strain energy release and can vary in form. These tend to be single events associated with failure and strain energy release. It is also possible to conceptually have hybrid events where the failure of the mass and the energy release are due to both stress and expanding gas.

Nov 29, 2022

By H J. J Boshoff, A J. Karrasch

Mine planners frequently face the challenge of mitigating the impact of climatic events on mining operations, such as floods and droughts. Specific water management infrastructure can be implemented to meet operational requirements in response to these events. However, the effect of flood protection, for instance, may reduce the resilience of the site to drought. The probability and duration of unfavourable climate sequences significantly influences the net present value (NPV) of implementing specific water management infrastructure.Good life-of-mine planning will consider the incremental development of the project, and provide staged development plans. Water management infrastructure and the timing of implementation are facets of this process.CITATION:Boshoff, H J J and Karrasch, A J, 2016. A decision-making framework for water supply and flood protection options in net present value terms, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2016 Conference , pp 196–199 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jun 28, 2016

By K Biegaj, S C. Dominy

A high-nugget effect and presence of coarse gold characterises many styles of gold mineralisation. The effective sampling of these deposits is often difficult because of the relatively low concentrations involved and erratic nature of the gold or other minerals. Geometric and/or metallurgical complexities often compound this effect. Underground development, in-fill drilling and bulk sampling/trial mining are generally required to delineate Ore Reserves. Similarly expensive definition strategies often apply to surface mining in complex orebodies of gold and other minerals, including precious stones. Development, particularly winzing is a historical technique that was used to gather geological, grade and metallurgical data during underground and near-surface exploration. It permits access to the mineralised structure below the surface datum to determine viability. Winzing has always been considered an arduous and dangerous task. Modern winzing technology has led to the development of the Mobile Supersucker – essentially a giant vacuum cleaner with underground and surface capabilities. By the elimination of shovel-loaded blasted winze material into a kibble and hoisting, this system permits safe and highly efficient winzing activities, and allows the collection of bulk samples for grade and metallurgical evaluation, as well as access to the mineralisation for geological and geotechnical mapping. Bulk samples from horizontal development have long been collected to help define mineable grade via pilot processing. However, when defining blocks below current development, there has been over-reliance on ineffective ‘small sample’ drill data. The Mobile Supersucker permits the development of winzes and off-winze sub-levels. These provide critical information to a mine technical team when trying to justify capital to go deeper or commence or deepen an existing open pit. CITATION: Biegaj, K and Dominy, S C, 2018. Lowering risk in complex mineralisation: application of mobile supersucker development, in Proceedings Complex Orebodies Conference 2018, pp 113–115 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 21, 2018

By A Densten, C Gimber

Surface water management and drainage is a key aspect of mine rehabilitation and closure planning. In the authors’ experience, drainage related problems are amongst the most common forms of failure in mined landscapes. The appropriate design of surface water infrastructure is therefore a key focus of practitioners. While there is currently a trend towards distributed drainage networks and avoiding hard engineered structures, in many situations (especially for existing landforms) engineered drainage structures cannot be avoided. CITATION:Gimber, C and Densten, A, 2018. A risk-based approach to drainage design standard selection for mine rehabilitation and relinquishment, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2018, pp 116–118 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 25, 2018

By S D. Fox, P B. Swart

Statistics showing that mine rehabilitation is falling behind rates of disturbance continue to be reported in the media. Unfortunately, most reported statistics do not account for the large growth-cycle that mining in Australia experiences, where there are typically significant new disturbances with large portions of these areas not being available for rehabilitation for a number of years. Many commentators assert that better planning is required to ensure that rehabilitation will be able to achieve a safe, stable, non-polluting landform that meets the agreed post-mining landuse.This paper focusses on the revegetation aspects of mine rehabilitation and in particular the matters that need to be addressed in the planning stage so that revegetation success is ultimately able to be demonstrated to regulators and other stakeholders.CITATION:Fox, S D and Swart, P B, 2018. Planning revegetation for relinquishment, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2018, pp 113–115 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 25, 2018

By J Isarua, R Mabiria

The Ok Tedi copper and gold project, located in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea, commenced operations in 1983. The open cut mine has undergone several significant transformations throughout its project life including changes of ownership, mine life extensions and varying production performance profiles. As of today, the Ok Tedi Mine is a 100 per cent PNG owned company (67 per cent State and 33 per cent Western Province and Communities) and has a life-ofmine plan extending out to about 2032.

May 5, 2022

By M Dalm

More and more mining companies are becoming aware of the potential benefits of sensor-based ore sorting and process optimisation. This is reflected by a growing number of analysers that are available for drill hole logging, conveyor belt scanning, ore sorting, slurry analysis, etc. These tools all rely on a specific sensor technology that can be used to detect a material property such as colour, density, mineralogy, or chemical elements. However, all sensors have restrictions on the minerals and/or elements that can be detected or inferred. This is caused by the physical mechanisms behind the technology and depends on mineral concentration and compositional heterogeneity of the ore. Since nearly every ore deposit is unique in composition and characterised by different geological features that drive heterogeneity, no one-size-fits-all sensor solution is available. This makes it difficult for mining professionals to find suitable sensing technologies that can help them solve problems and improve processes for their specific ore types.

Sep 1, 2024

By D Bush, F Goddard

The electrification of Australian mine sites will see a boom in the use of batteries of all chemistries. Lead acid batteries, a traditional mainstay of the mining industry, are expected to nearly double by 2030, however their use will be eclipsed by the explosive growth in lithium batteries. By 2030 the lithium battery market is forecast to be nearly four times the size of the lead acid battery market. Unfortunately, this will result in a corresponding avalanche of waste batteries to be disposed of. Barely a day goes by without battery generated fires being reported in the media and they have become an increasing nightmare for waste management companies and waste facilities. The safe recycling of batteries will also become increasingly important for mine sites to achieve their sustainability goals and reduce their environmental footprint. What are the risks posed by waste batteries, what are the regulatory requirements and how can you manage or eliminate these risks? What current practises does your mine site currently have for the safe management and disposal of batteries from your site? How prepared are you for the coming avalanche of waste batteries?

Apr 16, 2024

By D Asahina, T Endo, H Hosono, T Takemura

Changes in the stress field around faults due to the excavation of underground space or the extraction of underground resources induce fault reactivation. To understand the mechanism of fault reactivation, it is important to observe the deformation and sliding processes of the asperities, which is regionally contacted areas at the fault planes. In the laboratory, triaxial compression tests are commonly conducted to reproduce the stress conditions around faults and study their mechanical behaviours. The conventional measurement devices for triaxial compression testing (eg load cells, local deformation transducers, and piezoelectric sensors) uses sensors to measure changes in the physical properties of rocks, but the direct visual information for the sample condition inside the pressure vessel is limited and can only be estimated from the sample after the experiment. We recently developed a direct visual measurement system to observe the slip behaviour of rocks from the inside of the pressure vessel of a triaxial test apparatus. This paper introduces this visual measurement system and presents some preliminary experimental results. The visual measurement system consists of a steel housing with a built-in commercially available digital camera. The triaxial compression tests were conducted to visually observe the sliding behaviour of the pre-cut specimens and to measure its behaviour through the digital image correlation (DIC) method. The captured images and the DIC results show the displacement field of the specimens for different confining pressure. We verified the sliding behaviour and the failure at/around the triangular asperity under at different confining pressure.

Nov 29, 2022

By I Lipton

The existence of metalliferous mineral deposits on the deep-sea floor has been known since manganese nodules were discovered in the Arctic Kara Sea in 1868. Modern exploration to define commercially viable base and precious metal deposits began in the 1970s and gained further momentum in the last decade. High grade deposits have been delineated but investors remain cautious, many considering deep sea mining projects to be riskier than terrestrial projects. This paper compares opportunities and risks presented by terrestrial mining projects with those presented by deep sea mineral deposits (Table 1). The Solwara 1 volcanic-hosted massive Cu-Au-Ag sulphide deposit, the Atlantis II Deeps sedimentary base metal sulphide deposit, and the Mn-Ni-Cu-Co nodule deposits of the north-eastern Pacific Ocean are used as examples. These are advanced deep-sea projects with published Mineral Resource estimates, on the cusp of development. Off-shore diamond mines in Namibia are also considered. These examples provide a basis for comparing exploration and geological uncertainty, the technical risks of proposed mining systems, and the potential environmental and social impacts. CITATION: Lipton, I, 2018. A comparison of opportunity and risk in deep-sea and terrestrial mining projects, in Proceedings Complex Orebodies Conference 2018, pp 102–105 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 21, 2018

By R Morrison, P Walters, B Adair, V Jokovic

‘Grade Engineering<sub>®</sub> is an integrated approach to coarse rejection that matches a suite of separation technologies to ore specific characteristics and compares the net value of rejecting low value components in current feed streams to existing mine plans as part of a system-view’ (Walters, 2017). Two of these technologies are directly recoverable through screening stages: Natural Deportment and Induced Deportment. The potential for taking advantage of “Natural Deportment” by size following blasting and crushing has been demonstrated for a range of ore types. Simple and low cost screening can in some cases generate a fine product with improved grade and a lower grade oversize which can be directed to leach or to waste. Where an ore body consists of many different ore types, the traditional approach of blending to metal grade will often add to complexity of treatment, which will reduce the effect of “natural deportment” by size.CITATION: Jokovic, V, Walters, P, Adair, B and Morrison, R, 2018. Applying enhanced grade engineering to complex ore bodies, in Proceedings Complex Orebodies Conference 2018, pp 21–23 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 21, 2018

By T Baumgartl, B Noller, B Forsyth, J Park, M Edraki, P Pham

Understanding and quantifying residual risk is the key to the successful closure and rehabilitation of mines. An important aspect of residual risk is predicting the long-term chemistry of mine water and the long-term geochemical stability of mining wastes. This requires updating the characterisation data for mine wastes and monitoring mine drainage throughout the life-of-mine. The intrinsic properties of waste materials (ie the geology, mineralogy and the weathering processes, which in turn depend on the local climate and water balance in a waste storage facility) are the fundamental controlling factors of residual risk. In this paper, case studies of coal and metalliferous mines are used to discuss the definition of residual risk for a range of waste storage facilities and to highlight the benefits and limitations of current geochemical methods in predicting and quantifying residual risk. Consistent with the classification of mine drainage by the Global Acid Rock Drainage Guide, three case studies of acid, saline and neutral drainage are presented.CITATION:Edraki, M, Pham, P, Park, J, Baumgartl, T, Noller, B and Forsyth, B, 2016. Defining residual risk for successful mine closure – a geochemical perspective, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2016 Conference , pp 9–11 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jun 28, 2016

By N Armitage, C Young

In the dynamic realm of mining health and safety, addressing psychosocial hazards is crucial. Legislative requirements now demand employers navigate this complex terrain, but uncertainty often clouds effective management. The resource industry’s skills in managing physical hazards are showcased in their adaptability in this case study. Integrating the Critical Risk Management framework with organisational psychology, a mining company achieved a transformative breakthrough. They identified and assessed psychosocial hazards and established a sustained and risk based approach to managing these hazards within the workplace. This innovative approach encompasses strategic steps. Key learning from the case study was: - Beyond Bow-tie Analysis: Discover why a linear risk analysis tool, like Bow-tie Analysis, falls short in capturing the dynamic and interdependent nature of psychosocial hazards. - Psychological Safety Power: Learn why psychological safety is vital for gathering accurate data and ensuring control effectiveness. - Dive into how it creates a data-driven foundation for success. - Broadening the Brush: Explore the impact of preloading Broad Brush Risk Assessments, an educational and dynamic hazard-identification tool. Control Mastery: Gain insights into how the Critical Risk Management framework ensures ongoing control monitoring and effectiveness for psychosocial hazards. While this implementation’s outcomes are still in their early phases, promising key indicators such as absenteeism, turnover and cultural engagement have emerged. These metrics are set to experience positive shifts as controls prove adequate. As the conference nears, we anticipate having data to showcase these transformative results. Join us in this illuminating presentation as we journey toward a safer, more psychologically resilient workplace.

Apr 16, 2024