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Open Cut                                          reports

Open Cut

Safety, productivity and the right to operate are priorities for open cut mine research. We have supported work on an automated swing loading system for electric shovels, the science of rehabilitation and minimising mining impacts on neighbouring communities.


Drilling & Blasting (22 Reports)

Advanced blast modelling and geotechnical analysis tools

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C3403401/05/2023
Author: Yiran Zhu, Zhongwei Chen and Italo Onederra | The University of Queensland

This project was part of a renewed effort to bridge the gap between blasting and geotechnical engineering in surface coal mining, and supports the implementation of best practices in drilling and blasting. After the successful completion of project C28041, which introduced a protocol to link ....  read more

 

Alternative and Sustainable Explosive Formulations to Eliminate Nitrogen Oxide Emissions

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C2302906/06/2019
Author: Italo Onederra and Miguel Araos | University of Queensland and CRCMining

This technical report describes the technology of a novel mining explosive that was developed under ACARP project C23029 with the potential to solve the issue of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) fumes after blasting. Post blast fumes are toxic nitrogen oxides which are a direct product of the detonation ....  read more

 

Blast Hole Slotting Demonstration Trial

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c1803601/03/2010
Author: Matt Stockwell, Dihon Tadic, Peter Hatherly, Italo Onederra, Koya Suto | CRCMining, Coalbed Geoscience JKTech Terra Australis Geophysica

Coal loss remains a key issue for the mining industry, with some Australian mines reporting up to 20% coal loss during mining.  This provides an exciting opportunity for the development of innovative techniques and processes to improve coal recovery.  Since 2004, CRCMining has been ....  read more

 

Controlling Block Movement of Coal During Overburden Blasting

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C1105101/09/2004
Author: Sarma Kanchibotla, Pierre Grouhel, Martin Tucker, Kathryn Podoliak | Dyno Nobel Asia Pacific Limited

Several open pit coal mines in Australia recognise that overburden blasting especially cast blasting, increases the likelihood of coal damage and loss resulting in significant negative economic impact on their operations. Earlier ACARP Projects C3017, C5005 and C8040 investigated this ....  read more

 

Down Hole Drill Dust Extraction System

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C1203220/10/2003
Author: Brian Plush | Dust Management International

The objective of this project was to utilise wet bed scrubber technology, as opposed to existing dry bag systems to prevent fugitive dust entering the atmosphere during the down hole drilling process in Open Cut operations, by removing it at the source and preventing it becoming ....  read more

 

Effect of Blasting on Infrastructure

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C1405703/12/2008
Author: Alan Richards, Adrian Moore | Terrock Consulting Engineers

ACARP Project C14057 is an investigation into the effects of blasting on mine infrastructure.  The objectives of the project were to provide:

ยท A methodology for the assessment of infrastructure types and the establishment of realistic vibration limits for the prevention of ....  read more

 

Enhancing the sleep-time of hydrogen peroxide-based explosives

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C2702323/04/2021
Author: Andrew Kettle, Ewan Sellers, Raphael Picorelli, Eva Ho | Mining3

This project has focussed on the development of stable mining emulsion-type explosives using H2O2. Through the pursuit of an emulsion-type explosive in H2O2-based explosives, certain key advances have been exploited to achieve the density stability ....  read more

 

Field Instrumentation To Measure The Performance Of Low Density (Low Shock) Explosives

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C1802801/05/2011
Author: Gary Cavanough, Italo Onederra | CSIRO Earth Science and Resource Engineering, Sustainables Minerals Institute University of Queensland

Routine measurement of explosive's detonation pressure and temperature is not common practice in the mining industry. There is however a need to move beyond just measuring velocity of detonation. This is particularly important when new mixtures such as low density explosives are adopted in ....  read more

 

Improved Blast Outcomes

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C2302802/12/2015
Author: Peter Dean, Marc Elmouttie, George Poropat, Sarma Kanchibotla, Mark Jones, Alan Cocker & Anand Musunuri | CSIRO, Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre

The objective of the ACARP C23028 Improved Blast Outcomes project was to develop a methodology for drill and blast engineers to improve blast safety and performance by more accurately accounting for rock mass structure in their blast designs. This work involved integration of the blast energy ....  read more

 

MWD For Super-resolution Control Of R.A.B. Drilled Blast-hole Stand-off Distances

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C1902318/05/2017
Author: Iain Mason | University of Sydney

Open-cut coal mine blasting losses are serious. Incorrect blast stand-off cost the equivalent of one unnecessary mine for every 10 existing Australian open cut mines. The 3D models now used to prescribe drill-bit direction are constrained in accuracy by pierce point affordability until ....  read more

 

NOx Fume Evolution from Hydrogen Peroxide Based Hybrid Mixtures

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C2602512/04/2018
Author: Miguel Araos, Italo Onederra and Nathan Newton | The University of Queensland

The aim of this project was to develop new bulk explosive products that can completely eliminate NOx fume emissions. One of the key outcomes has been the development of explosives that use Hydrogen Peroxide (HP) as the main oxidiser together with a fuel phase that incorporates a sustainable ....  read more

 

Optimisation of Pre-Split Blasts in Coal Mines

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C500401/05/1997
Author: Alan Cocker | JKMRC, University of Queensland

ACARP Project C5004 "Assessment and Optimisation of Pre-Split Blasting in Open Cut Mines" ran from March 1996 to May 1997. Its aims were:-

  • to review and assess current pre-split practice in the Australian open cut coal industry;
 ....  read more

 

RAB Drill Rig Top Of Coal Detection While Drilling

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C2100518/05/2017
Author: Enver Bajram, Daniel Hudson & Scott Adam | CRCMining

Accurately detecting the approaching top of a coal seam prior to blasting is fundamental to efficient coal recovery. Previous investigations by member mining companies reported a 66% reduction in coal dilution through disciplined and detailed overburden drilling and blasting practises. Through ....  read more

 

Real-time Prediction of Coal Top Through Guided Borehole Radar Wave Imaging for Open Cut Blast-hole Drilling

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C2602226/02/2019
Author: Binzhong Zhou and Matthew van de Werken | CSIRO

Damage to the tops of coal seams caused by incorrect blast stand-off distances is a serious issue for the Australian coal industry. It results in coal losses of up to 10-15%, translating to ~40 million tonnes of lost coal per year. To date, there have been no effective and economically-sound ....  read more

 

Real-time prediction of coal top through guided borehole radar wave imaging for open cut blast-hole drilling

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C2905321/10/2022
Author: Binzhong Zhou, Iain Mason and Matthew van de Werken | CSIRO

The aim of this project was to demonstrate the feasibility of integrating a BHR onto a drilling string for coal-top prediction during blast-hole drilling.  The project asked two questions:

  • Can downhole radar data be communicated to the driller in the cab fast enough for
 ....  read more

 

Rotary Air Blast Drill Rig Top-of-Coal Detection While Drilling

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C2703409/09/2020
Author: Byron Wicks | Mining3

Accurate control of overburden blasthole depth has the potential to significantly improve mine profitability through reduced coal loss and dilution. Ideally, blast holes would be drilled to a predetermined stand-off from the top-of-coal interface for every drilled hole. However, the current ....  read more

 

Site Based Trials of Alternative Explosive Formulations to Eliminate Nitrogen Oxide Emissions

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C2500501/03/2019
Author: Italo Onederra, Miguel Araos | The University of Queensland

This report documents the outcomes of Phase 3 of this project and builds upon the developments of Phase 2 and project C23029. These series of projects have focussed on the development of novel mining explosives using hydrogen peroxide (HP) that have the potential to eliminate Nitrogen Oxide ....  read more

 

Slotting While Drilling for Reduced Blast Damage to Coal Seam: Stage 2

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C1405601/05/2007
Author: Matt Stockwell, D Tadic | CRCMining

This project was developed to address the coal loss and dilution issues that are faced in open cut coal mining.   An innovative Blast Hole Slotting System has been developed to reduce the significant amount of coal that is forfeited during the blasting and overburden removal ....  read more

 

Slotting While Drilling for Reduced Blast Damage to the Coal Seam

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C1303301/04/2005
Author: Mehmet Doktan, Dihon Tadic | CRCMining

This project has developed an innovative technique and tool to reduce blast damage to the coal seam. Blast damage that leads to coal loss in open cut mines is generally seen in two forms:

  • Damage to the top of the coal seam and loss of coal during mining
 ....  read more

 

Structure Response to Blast Vibration

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C904001/11/2002
Author: Alan Richards | Terrock

The structure response of brick veneer test houses in the Muswellbrook and Singleton areas to blasting has been measured and the strength of their structural elements have been determined.

Analysis has shown that the stresses due to blast vibration that are within currently enforced ....  read more

 

Top of Coal Program: Phase 4 - Validation of Different Overburden Types

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C700401/02/2000
Author: Janice Sendt | Thomson Marconi Sonar

The Top of Coal project sought to develop a system, which would allow the standoff distance to be monitored in real-time during a blast hole drilling.

The main source of damage to the surface of the coal seam during overburden blast hole drilling is incorrect standoff distance. If the ....  read more

 

Understanding and Controlling Coal Damage During Cast Blasting (including Workbook)

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C500501/02/1999
Author: Sarma Kanchibotla | JKMRC

The open cut coal mining industry in Australia recognised that cast blasting increases coal damage and loss associated with overburden blasting but very few mines have quantified its impact on  ....  read more

 

Underground

Health and safety, productivity and environment initiatives.

Recently Completed Projects

C34019Longwall Bretby Cable Handling Monitoring With Fibre Optics

This project examined the potential of using fibre optic sensing tec...

C27049Mine Machine Radar Sensor Integration

The aim of this project was to develop an integrated radar sensor an...

C29007Innovative Coal Burst System To Investigate The Influence Of Confinement Loss And Pre-Conditioning On Coal Burst Mechanism

The challenges associated with designing and operating a safe and pr...

Underground

Open Cut

Safety, productivity and the right to operate are priorities for open cut mine research.

Recently Completed Projects

C33035High Water Recovery, Low Cost Desalination Using PV-Powered Membrane Capacitive Deionisation (Mcdi)

Capacitive deionization is a robust, energy efficient and cost effec...

C28035Topsoil Deficits In Site Rehabilitation Accelerated Transformation Of Spoils To Functional Soils

The incorporation of commercial biological amendments (compost, worm...

C34036Tyre Handler Testing Rig Stage 2: Lifting Trials

Tyre handling is a major source of risk in surface mining operations...

Open Cut

Coal Preparation

Maximising throughput and yield while minimising costs and emissions.

Coal Preparation

Technical Market Support

Market acceptance and emphasising the advantages of Australian coals.

Recently Completed Projects

C34060In-Situ Investigation Of Coke Structure Formation Under Stamp Charged Coking Conditions

Stamp charged cokemaking has emerged as an effective technique to im...

C34062Improving The Classification Of Microstructure Distribution In Coke CT Images Using Deep Learning And Lineal Path Calculations

This project builds on a number of earlier projects that have helped...

C29071Source Of Variability Of Reactivity Of Coke In The CSR Test

The Coke Strength after Reaction (CSR) test is used worldwide to det...

Technical Market Support

Mine Site Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from the production of coal.

Recently Completed Projects

C28076Selective Absorption Of Methane By Ionic Liquids (SAMIL)

This third and final stage of this project was the culmination of a ...

C29069Low-Cost Catalyst Materials For Effective VAM Catalytic Oxidation

Application of ventilation air methane (VAM) thermal oxidiser requir...

C23052Novel Stone Dust Looping Process For Ventilation Air Methane Abatement

This multi‐phase project is concerned with the mitigation of m...

Mine Site Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Low Emission Coal Use

Step-change technologies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Recently Completed Projects

C17060BGasification Of Australian Coals

Four Australian coals were trialled in the Siemens 5 MWth pilot scale ga...

C17060AOxyfuel Technology For Carbon Capture And Storage Critical Clean Coal Technology - Interim Support

The status of oxy-fuel technology for first-generation plant is indicate...

C18007Review Of Underground Coal Gasification

This report consists of a broad review of underground coal gasification,...

Low Emission Coal Use

Mining And The Community

The relationship between mines and the local community.

Recently Completed Projects

C16027Assessing Housing And Labour Market Impacts Of Mining Developments In Bowen Basin Communities

The focus of this ACARP-funded project has been to identify a number...

C22029Understanding And Managing Cumulative Impacts Of Coal Mining And Other Land Uses In Regions With Diversified Economies

The coal industry operates in the context of competing land-uses that sh...

C23016Approval And Planning Assessment Of Black Coal Mines In NSW And Qld: A Review Of Economic Assessment Techniques

This reports on issues surrounding economic assessment and analysis ...

Mining And The Community

NERDDC

National Energy Research,Development & Demonstration Council (NERDDC) reports - pre 1992.

Recently Completed Projects

1609-C1609Self Heating of Spoil Piles from Open Cut Coal Mines

Self Heating of Spoil Piles from Open Cut Coal Mines

1301-C1301Stress Control Methods for Optimised Development...

Stress Control Methods for Optimised Development and Extraction Operations

0033-C1356Commissioned Report: Australian Thermal Coals...

Commissioned Report: Australian Thermal Coals - An Industry Handbook

NERDDC