Engineering & Mining Journal

DEC 2013

Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr

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V E N T I L AT I O N A Good Air Flow As mines become deeper and hotter, with more diesel-engine vehicles in use, ventilation systems need careful design and tuning. E&MJ; looks at some of the opportunities—and the critical need for a responsible approach to fresh air supply. By Simon Walker, European Editor Diesel-engine equipment underground at Garpenberg, where the installation of an ABB control system brought a 40% cut in ventilation energy costs. (Photo courtesy of Boliden) Presenting one of the keynote addresses at the 35th International Conference of Safety in Mines Research Institutes, held in London in October, Stewart Bell provided a harrowing account of the Pike River coal mine tragedy in New Zealand in November 2010. Bell, the commissioner for Mine Safety and Health at the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines, was a member of the Royal Commission of Inquiry established by the New Zealand government to investigate the accident and to make 60 E&MJ; • DECEMBER 2013 recommendations over future practice in terms of both technology and statutory oversight. In summary, the commission's findings were shocking. A raft of factors had contributed to the methane explosions that wrecked the new mine and cost 29 lives. And a key contributor to the disaster was the inadequately designed and operated ventilation system. Coal mines and hard-rock mines both need ventilation networks that provide a sufficient quantity of fresh air, albeit sometimes for different purposes. Typically using more electric-powered equipment, underground coal mining relies on a reliable ventilation stream not only to provide fresh air, but also to remove heat and maintain methane at levels below the 5% lower limit of ignition. Hard-rock mining, in contrast, has more widespread usage of diesel-engine machines, so ventilation systems in this environment have to provide sufficient oxygen for efficient engine performance as well as for removing heat and exhaust www.e-mj.com

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