Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Open cut coal mine'

Two types of fish attractors, brush attractors made of cedar trees and Berkley and Company's Fish-Hab modules, were placed in a final cut coal mine lake and evaluated for fish concentrating effectiveness. Dives were conducted biweekly and numbers and species of fish at attractors were recorded. Data were then evaluated using Analysis of Variance tests.A total of 623 fish were recorded on attractors during the eight dives made from July 21 to October 24, 1986. Brush attractors held 485 fish or 78% of the total. Module attractors concentrated 105 fish (17%) and 33 fish (5%) were observed in the control areas. Brush attractors concentrated nearly five times as many fish as the modules and 15 times as many fish as the control area. The modules concentrated over three times as many fish as the control area. Results indicated there was no significant difference (0.05) in numbers of fish attracted by brush and modules with an Analysis of Variance With Repeated Measures test but density of individual species was not considered. Furthur analysis of attractors by date and specie over the study period using a One-Way Analysis of Variance revealed that brush attractors concentrated significantly (0.05) more fish than modules in mid to late summer, but not in the early fall. Modules were much less effective at concentrating fish and were never significantly different than the control areas.Scuba diving worked well as a method of evaluation for the attractors. Water clarity was adequate for visual observations and fish did not display a fright response or leave when the diver approached. At no time was there difficulty in identifying or counting fish greater than 10 cm.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

This thesis investigates factors that impact the energy efficiency of a mining operation. An innovative mathematical framework and solution approach are developed to model, solve and analyse an open-pit coal mine. A case study in South East Queensland is investigated to validate the approach and explore the opportunities for using it to aid long, medium and short term decision makers.

Il lavoro di tesi studia le condizioni geologiche e strutturali della roccia, prima dell'estrazione mineraria, all'interno di uno specifico sito minerario, Meandu Mine, situato nel Queensland, in Australia. Tale analisi è stata condotta nell'ambito di un progetto di ricerca, finanziato dal programma di ricerca associato al carbone australiano (ACARP) e condotto dall'Università di Newcastle e CSIRO (Australia). In particolare, è stata eseguita l'analisi strutturale di tre strisce di parete appartenente al sito minerario (circa 1000 m di lunghezza × 300 m di larghezza × 100 m di profondità) mediante strumenti di modellazione geo-strutturale e tecnologie sviluppate da CSIRO (Australia).

A value-shift began to influence global political thinking in the late 20th century, characterised by recognition of the need for environmentally, socially and culturally sustainable resource development. This shift entailed a move away from thinking of ‘nature’ and ‘culture’ as separate entities – the former existing to serve the latter – toward the possibility of embracing the intrinsic worth of the nonhuman world. Cultural landscape theory recognises ‘nature’ as at once both ‘natural’, and a ‘cultural’ construct. As such, it may offer a framework through which to progress in the quest for ‘sustainable development’. This study makes a contribution to this quest by asking whether contemporary developments in cultural landscape theory can contribute to rehabilitation strategies for Australian open-cut coal mining landscapes. The answer is ‘yes’. To answer the research question, a flexible, ‘emergent’ methodological approach has been used, resulting in the following outcomes. A thematic historical overview of landscape values and resource development in Australia post-1788, and a review of cultural landscape theory literature, contribute to the formation of a new theoretical framework: Reconnecting the Interrupted Landscape. This framework establishes a positive answer to the research question. It also suggests a method of application within the Australian open-cut coal mining landscape, a highly visible exemplar of the resource development landscape. This method is speculatively tested against the rehabilitation strategy of an operating open-cut coal mine, concluding with positive recommendations to the industry, and to government.

Fanny Creek drains from Island Block opencast coal mine, near Reefton on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, and is impacted by acid mine drainage (AMD). The objectives of this study were to characterise drainage chemistry in Fanny Creek catchment, and to determine optimal passive treatment strategies for Fanny Creek AMD for future pilot or full-scale application. This was undertaken by monthly monitoring in Fanny Creek catchment between February 2008 and January 2009 to collect drainage chemistry and flow data. Laboratory trials of suitable passive AMD treatment systems were conducted and their treatment performance assessed to select and design optimal passive treatment strategies for Fanny Creek AMD. Oxidation of pyrite in Brunner Coal Measure sediments at Island Block mine generates AMD. Fanny Creek originates from a number of AMD seeps on the eastern waste rock slope of Island Block mine. Seeps have low pH (<3.23) and a single detailed metal analysis indicates drainage is enriched with aluminium and iron, and contains elevated concentrations of manganese, copper, nickel, zinc and cadmium relative to applicable water quality criteria such as ANZECC guidelines. Acidity and metal loadings of drainage in the catchment indicates AMD from the northern waste rock slope contributes most of the acidity (~70%) and metal (60%) in Fanny Creek, and acts to re-dissolve additional metals upon mixing with drainage from other slopes. The most suitable location for a passive AMD treatment system in Fanny Creek catchment is on the Waitahu Valley floor, near monitoring site R12, because this allows for sediment removal prior to a treatment system. Fanny Creek AMD at site R12 was characterized in detail because this data assists with selection and design of passive AMD treatment systems. Fanny Creek at site R12 contains on average 6.0 mg/L aluminium, 1.3 mg/L iron, 3.1 mg/L manganese, 0.49 mg/L zinc, 0.14 mg/L nickel, 0.0071 mg/L copper and 0.00048 mg/L cadmium. Average pH at site R12 was 3.95, calculated acidity averaged 42.7 mg CaCO₃/L, and flow rate ranged from 1.5 L/s to about 30 L/s. Acidity and metal generation from Island Block mine increases linearly with flow in the catchment, and therefore Fanny Creek drainage chemistry is not significantly affected by rainfall dilution. Natural attenuation of AMD occurs by addition of un-impacted alkaline drainage from Greenland Group basement rocks, wetland ecosystem processes, and geochemical reactions along Fanny Creek that decrease acidity and metal concentrations before AMD discharges into the Waitahu River. During low flow conditions (summer months), surface flow of AMD into the Waitahu River does not occur because of subsurface flow loss. Three suitable passive AMD treatment options for Fanny Creek AMD were selected and trialed at ‘bench top’ scale in a laboratory. These included a sulfate reducing bioreactor (SRBR), a limestone leaching bed (LLB), and an open limestone channel (OLC). The potential to mix Waitahu River water with Fanny Creek to neutralize AMD was also investigated. Fanny Creek AMD was employed for laboratory trials, and influent flow rates into SRBR, LLB and OLC systems were regulated to assess performance at different hydraulic retention times (HRT). Optimal HRTs for future treatment system designs were determined from effective AMD treatment thresholds, and include 51 hours, 5 hours and 15 hours for SRBR, LLB and OLC systems, respectively. To determine optimal treatment options for Fanny Creek AMD the effectiveness of each trial option was compared to applicable water quality criteria, and scale up implications of treatment options was assessed. The SRBR system had most effective AMD treatment, with water quality criteria achieved for metals, greatest alkalinity generation, and highest pH increase. However, a full scale SRBR system has significant size requirements, and long term treatment performance may be limited. The LLB system decreased metals to below, or just slightly above criteria for all metals, and has significantly smaller size requirements compared to a SRBR system. The OLC system was least effective, with effluent above water quality criteria for all metals except iron, and with lowest alkalinity generation. The Waitahu River is capable of neutralizing AMD because it is slightly alkaline. The flow volume of river water required for neutralization is between 65 L/s and 140L/s, which can be gravity fed to mix with Fanny Creek. These results indicate that either a LLB treatment system or the Waitahu River Mixing option are the optimal passive treatment strategies for Fanny Creek AMD. On site pilot scale testing of SRBR and LLB systems, and the Waitahu River Mixing option is recommended because of AMD treatment uncertainty, and to more accurately select and design full scale passive treatment strategies.

A drenagem ácida de mina (DAM) gerada no processo de mineração de carvão, na presença de minerais sulfetados, tem provocado danos ambientais significativos no ecossistema de sua abrangência. Tecnologia de tratamento ativo baseada em processos de Neutralização, Precipitação e Sedimentação tem sido empregada para atenuar a carga de poluentes no efluente, antes do seu descarte em corpos receptores. A mesma, apesar da sua eficiência vem se mostrando bastante onerosa quando aplicada durante um longo período, devido aos custos com insumos, manutenção, potencial humano e energia. Nos últimos anos, vem sendo desenvolvidos sistemas que socorrem-se da ocorrência natural de processos químicos, biológicos e físicos para purificar água de mina contaminada. Estes são designados sistemas passivos, cuja implantação e funcionamento tem se mostrado menos onerosa em relação ao sistema ativo. Capão da Roça, situado no município de Charqueadas é uma das regiões do Brasil onde ocorre contaminação de solos e rios pela DAM gerada a partir de um depósito de rejeitos. Aplicando o fluxograma recomendado por diversos autores para a seleção do sistema passivo, tomando em conta as características do efluente achou-se viável instalar um canal aberto de calcário para o tratamento da DAM do Capão da Roça em virtude de a mesma apresentar acidez maior que a alcalinidade, oxigênio dissolvido maior que 5mg/l, Fe+3 maior que 25% em relação ao Fe2+. A quantidade de efluente e a declividade do terreno da área estudada permite que se opere com vazão maior que 12m3/h no sistema passivo. De acordo com a acidez do efluente foi determinado o tempo de detenção de 1hora para o tratamento da DAM no sistema. A partir de estudos similares sobre o uso de calcário em sistemas passivos, encontrou-se a massa de 338,6 toneladas para o empreendimento funcionar em 10 anos, considerando uma dissolução de calcário de 100%, num canal com 10% de declividade, 1m de profundidade e 2, 5 metros de largura para tamponar uma solução de DAM com vazão de 1000 L.min-1 num canal de 47metros de cumprimento. De acordo com cálculos baseados num modelo empírico, ficou demonstrado que o diâmetro e área de superfície do calcário poderão diminuir ao longo do tempo, considerado a sua dissolução.
Acid mine drainage (AMD) generated in the coal mining process in the presence of sulfide minerals, have been causing significant environmental damages to the ecosystem of its coverage. Active treatment technology based on neutralization, precipitation and sedimentation processes, has been used to alleviate the load of pollutants in the effluent prior to discharges into receiving bodies. Despite their efficiency has proved quite costly when applied over a long period due to input costs, maintenance, manpower and energy. In recent years project defined 'passive treatment' has been developed as the improvement of water quality using only naturally occurring chemical, biological and physical processes, hence, the deployment and operation have been less costly compared to the active systems. Capão da Roça, located in the municipality of Charqueadas is one of the regions of Brazil where occurs contamination of soils and rivers by AMD generated from a waste dump. Using the flowchart recommended by several authors for selecting the passive system, taking into account the wastewater characteristics, was found to be feasible to install an open limestone channel for the treatment of AMD because it has higher acidity than alkalinity, dissolved oxygen greater than 5mg / l, Fe3+ greater than 25 % in relation to Fe2+. The amount of effluent and the slope of the study area terrain allows to operate with a flow rate greater than 12m3/ h in the passive system. According to the acidity of the effluent was determined retention time of 1 hour for the treatment of the AMD system. From similar studies on the use of limestone in passive systems, was found the mass of 338.6 tons for the enterprise operating over 10 years, assuming a 100% limestone dissolution channel with a 10% slope, 1 meter deep and 2,5 meters wide to buffer an AMD solution with a flow rate of 1000 L.min-1 in channel with 47 meters of length. According to the calculations based on empirical model, it was shown that the diameter and the surface area of limestone may decline over time, considering its dissolution.

"This research was aimed at developing a statistically rigorous prognostic success assessment protocol for evaluating ecosystem rehabilitation. The protocol needs to be repeatable, adaptable and simple enough to be easily applied across a diversity of mining operations and sites ... A five class success rating and valuation was developed and the assessment protocol was demonstrated and tested using real mine data, as a case study from the Bowen Basin, Queensland, Australia"--Abstract.

Mining operations exploit mineral deposits, processing a portion of the extracted material to produce salable products. The concentration of valuable commodities within these deposits, or the grade, is heterogeneous. Not all material has sufficiently high grades to economically justify processing. Cut-off grade is the lowest grade at which material is considered ore and is processed to create a concentrated commodity product. The choice of cut-off grade at a mining project can be varied over time and dramatically impacts both the operation of the mine and the economics of the project. The majority of literature and the accepted industry practices focus on optimizing cut-off grade under known commodity prices. However, most mining operations sell their products into highly competitive global markets, which exhibit volatile commodity prices. Making planning decisions assuming that a given commodity price prediction is accurate can lead to sub-optimal cut-off grade strategies and inaccurate valuations. Some academic investigations have been conducted to optimize cut-off grade under stochastic or uncertain price conditions. These works made large simplifications in order to facilitate the computation of a solution. These simplifications mean that detailed mine planning data cannot be used and the complexities involved in many real world projects cannot be considered. A new method for optimizing cut-off grade under stochastic or uncertain prices is outlined and demonstrated. The model presented makes use of theory from the field of Real Options and is designed to incorporate real mine planning data. The model introduces two key innovations. The first is the method in which it handles the cut-off grade determination. The second innovation is the use of a stochastic price model of the entire futures curve and not simply a stocastic spot price model. The model is applied to two cases. The first uses public data from a National Instrument 43-101 report. The second case uses highly detailed, confidential data, provided by a mining company from one of their operating mines.
Thesis (Master, Mining Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2012-04-30 22:36:51.257

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, University of Witwatersrand, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master Science in Engineering
The Electricity Supply Commission of South Africa (Eskom) have identified open cast coal mine backfill areas as potential disposal sites for the large volumes of coal ash produced by their power stations. As Eskom's power stations are mainly situated in agricultural and coal rich areas of the provinces of Mpumalanga and the Free State, the sterilisation of substantial areas of agricultural soil and coal deposits is thus reduced. The construction of a tailings dam or dump on uncompacted open cast mine backfill creates various problems related to the settlement of the backfill. The scale of the operation, the large particle size and heterogeneous nature of the backfill and its method of placement complicates the prediction for settlement of the backfill. Areas in excess of 74 000 ha could be subjected to opencast mining in Mpumalanga and for future development of these areas more information regarding the magnitude and mechanics of mine backfill settlement is required. This dissertation describes two large scale field tests in which the settlement of mine backfiil was studied during the construction of a test section of an ash tailings dam and the construction of a dry ash dump.
Andrew Chakane 2019

This thesis investigates the application of pattern recognition techniques to rock type recognition using monitoring-while-drilling data. The research is focused on data from a large electric blasthole drill operating in an open-pit coal mine. Pre-processing and normalization techniques are applied to minimize potential misclassification issues. Both supervised and unsupervised learning is employed in the classifier design: back-propagation neural networks are used for the supervised learning, while self-organizing maps are used for unsupervised learning. A variety of combinations of drilling data and geophysical data are investigated as inputs to the classifiers. The outputs from these classifiers are evaluated relative to the rock classification made by a commercially available rock type recognition system, as well as relative to independent labelling by a geologist. Classifier performance is improved when drilling data used as inputs are augmented with geophysical data inputs. By using supervised learning with both drilling and geophysical data as inputs, the misclassification of coal, as well as of the non-coal rock types, is reduced compared to results of current commercial recognition methods. Moreover, rock types which were not detected by the previous methods were successfully classified by the supervised models.
Thesis (Master, Mining Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2007-11-28 15:22:17.454
I would like to thank the financial support provided by the George C. Bateman and J. J. Denny Graduate Fellowship, as well as funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) provided via NSERC grant support to Dr. Daneshmend.

A series of pot trials were undertaken to test the growth of indigenous grasses (Themeda triandra and Cynodon dactylon) on mine capping soil, treated with various soil ameliorants. The capping soils were obtained from open cast coal mines (Optimum Mine and Syferfontein Mine) in the Mpumalanga Highveld, south of Witbank. However, because mine soil was not available at the commencement of the project, the initial pot trial used soil from the Umlazi Landfill in Durban. The trials were the Umlazi Landfill Trial, Microbe Trial, Legume Trial and Fly Ash Trial. For the Umlazi Landfill Trial, landfill top and subsoil was used along with fertilizer, sewage sludge, K-humate, lime and microbes. The soil ameliorant treatments for the Microbe trial were Trichoderma harzianum (Eco'T), Bacillus subtilis Strain 69 (B69) and Bacillus subtilis Strain 77 (B77), for the Legume Trial, Medicago sativa, phosphorus and/or potassium were applied. For the Fly Ash Trial, lime and fly ash were introduced. From the Landfill trial it was shown that fertilizer and sewage sludge significantly increased the above ground, below ground and total biomass of T. triandra, further, there were no significant treatment differences between fertilizer and sludge. The lime treatment for this trial, surprisingly, significantly reduced below ground biomass but the application of microbes (B69 and BcoT) alleviated this negative effect. However, in the Microbe Trial the microbes (BcoT, B69 and B77) had a negative or no effect on the biomass of T. triandra and C. dactylon. In the Legume Trial it was shown that the above ground biomass of T. triandra was significantly reduced when grown with M. sativa. The Fly Ash Trial revealed that the lime and fly ash treatments had no effect on the biomass of M. sativa and T. triandra, and they did not maintain a reduction in soil acidity. The results therefore indicated that either organic fertilizer or sewage sludge could be used to significantly improve the growth of T. triandra. It was also suggested that lime not be applied to soils with an acid saturation of approximately 1%, as this could retard plant growth. The application of microbes and the growth of a legume with grass, although both have been recorded to have beneficial effects in aiding plant growth, in the short-term however, the application of T. harzianum, B. subtilis Strain 69 and 77 applied to the soil while growing T.triandra and C. dactylon and the growth of M. sativa with T. triandra is not recommended.
Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Mining for gold and copper was undertaken for nearly 100 years from 1882 at Mount Morgan in Central Queensland. Re -processing of. tailings ceased in the early 1990s and no

mining has been conducted since. The legacy of the historical mining practices is an open cut (threatening to overflow) and acid mine drainage (AMD) extending for a considerable distance along the -Dee River.

The first -18 km- of the river downstream- of- the mine, to its junction with Fletcher Creek, is severely impacted with pH consistently below 3.5. Water metal concentrations are many times higher than the water quality standards for freshwater biota. For example, the filtered mean concentrations of Al and Cu at 4 sites in this section of the river were 87.3 and 6.45 mg/L, respectively. Fish, molluscs and shrimp were absent and macroinvertebrate species richness was limited to only insects in this severely impacted region. Water quality of the river improves at the junction with Fletcher Creek and downstream the water quality is only severely impacted during periods of flow following rain events.

This study examined the biological impacts downstream of the mine including the response of biota to flows in the river. Whilst previous studies had investigated spatial variations in macroinvertebrate communities this study also examined temporal variation and response to flow. The metal content of fish and mussels from the river were determined for the first time.

Project makes an in-depth study of the background, personality and behaviour of major characters dominating the period from 1929-1950, and of their influence on the 'Board room politics' behind the decisions affecting Company investment and staffing. It is the intention of the thesis to argue that the complex personality of Adam Alexander Boyd dominated the Company, supported, although opposed as well, by Eric Campbell.

Soil organic matter (SOM) is highly important for soil quality and the global carbon cycle. SOM content is influenced by a complex interplay of many different factors such as time, climate, parent material, vegetation, and others. The effect of time is often studied using the chronosequence approach using a set of study sites differing in age but comparable in other soil-forming factors. The effect of other factors can be studied by comparing two or more chronosequences. An important assumption of these approaches is that the SOM quantification methods produce comparable results both among sites of each sequence and among different sequences. In this thesis, I explored the key factors in SOM accumulation and dealt with SOM quantification methods. I studied SOM accumulation in two model situations - in post-mining sites after open-cast coal and oil shale mining and in landslides in the Western Carpathians. The results of this thesis are summarized in one book chapter accepted for publication and four papers, out of which three have been published and one is prepared for publication in an international journal with impact factor. The key factor affecting the rate of SOM accumulation after a major disturbance is time. The accumulation rates found in the first 40 to 100 years in both post-mining sites...