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Prevalent mining risks necessitate more protection measures, says consultancy

18th September 2015

By: Mia Breytenbach

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: Features

  

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The pervasiveness of key risks to mineworker health and safety, notably silicosis and fall-of-ground incidents, underscores that much still needs to be done to protect workers, states multidisciplinary consulting engineers and scientists SRK Consulting South Africa (SA).

SRK Consulting SA chairperson and corporate consultant Roger Dixon stresses that the prevalence of silicosis suggests the need for a core focus on controlling dust levels in mines or finding ways of protecting workers who operate in environments with high dust levels.

“While there has been a large reduction in silicosis cases in recent years, the fact that the conglomerates of the Witwatersrand basin have a silica content exceeding 85%, cannot be escaped. Avoidance of silica dust when drilling a hole in a rock face is, therefore, well-nigh impossible,” he argues,

further highlighting the current topicality of the silicosis disease, citing the lawsuits involving claims filed by mineworkers.

The gold mining industry faces litigation issues, following a class action that was lodged by law firms Richard Spoor Attorneys, Abrahams Kiewitz and the Legal Resources Centre. The class action “aims to win compensation for up to 200 000 miners affected by silicosis or tuberculosis (TB) and their families”, Mining Weekly reported last month.

About 29 respondents have been cited, including JSE-listed miner Randgold & Exploration.

The South Gauteng High Court has yet to rule on accepting the class action, but a decision is expected next month.

Automation Mitigation
The only way to prevent exposure is to remove mineworkers from the source of the silica dust, which would mean mechanising or automating drilling operations, Dixon stresses.

“This might include putting the operator in an enclosed environment, such as the cab of a drill rig. Of course, it is not easy to mechanise operations in narrow-reef mines, but solutions could be found if industry role-players were more proactive in developing and applying innovative technology.”

He further advises that the percentage of mineworkers unavailable on a daily basis has increased significantly over the past decade. Mining companies have to make allowances for absenteeism, sickness and training, besides other issues.

“The percentage of workers who are unavailable for work on any day is [about] 20% to 25%. A mining company has to cost this into its budget before making allowances for people at work who are not able to perform at their peak for whatever reason,” Dixon points out.

Fall of Ground
SRK Consulting SA partner and principal consultant William Joughin highlights that fall-of-ground incidents are currently responsible for about 30% of worker fatalities in the South African mining industry.

While accident rates resulting from falls of ground in the local mining industry have declined significantly in recent years, owing to improved methods of prevention and better management controls, Joughin argues that, as fall-of-ground accidents continue to occur, more needs to be done in terms of protection.

“Consequently, SRK assists shallow and deep mines in designing mining layouts and support systems and is leading three significant research and technology transfer projects.”

Joughin explains that support systems required to manage rock stress and rockburst damage within mines – which increases with depth – are generally very expensive and require substantial effort to install. This affects operating costs and productivity in deep mines. Higher operating costs and lower productivity require higher metal grades to mine economically.

“To optimise mine viability under these conditions, numerical modelling techniques are used to simulate mining layouts and sequences; this allows for identifying those areas where excessive stress damage and seismicity can occur,” he says.

Mining layouts and sequences can be optimised to avoid excessive stress and rockburst damage in important mining excavations and areas where people are exposed to them, Joughin notes.

However, monitoring stress damage and seismic activity are essential to calibrate numerical models and validate prevention methods. Large databases of seismic events are recorded over time and this information is used to determine how the rock mass is responding to mining activities so that action can be taken in the interests of safety.

Joughin further highlights that SRK has also led several research projects for the Safety in Mines Research Advisory Council – under the Mine Health and Safety Council – to develop methods of preventing falls of ground.

“Additionally, SRK has developed methods of risk-based support design for the mining industry and is collaborating with the Australian Centre for Geomechanics to develop a risk-based support design method for international underground mines,” he concludes.

Edited by Leandi Kolver
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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