Research Outputs (Mining Engineering)

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Browsing Research Outputs (Mining Engineering) by Author "Cawood, F.T."

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    Design principles for optimizing an established survey slope monitoring system.
    (The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy., 2014) Mphathiwa, N.; Cawood, F.T.
    When slope angles are designed during open pit optimization, there is a risk factor applied in steepening the slopes. The steepening of slope angles has implications for the safety and economics of the mining operation. The steeper the slope angles, the greater the probability of slope failure. Although a slope failure will result in added costs, the challenge is to compile an accurate cost-benefit exercise optimizing the economic benefits of the project without exposing mine workers and equipment to unacceptable risk of rockfalls. A balance between the safety of the operation and the economics of the investment is therefore required. The ideal situation is to have a slope monitoring system that will predict slope failure by detecting any ground movement before the actual failure occurs. This early warning will allow the risk factor to be applied with a high degree of confidence, knowing that the risk will be adequately mitigated. The objective of this paper is to provide guidelines on how to design an optimal survey slope monitoring system. It is the authors' view that for a survey monitoring system to yield desirable results, it should adhere to survey principles such as working from the whole to part and consistently cross-checking. The case study used is Jwaneng Mine, and the design strategy outlined can be used as a guideline for developing a new slope monitoring system or to optimize an existing one.
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    Towards safer mining: Scientific measurement approaches that could be applied for imaging and locating the buried container lamp-room at Lily mine.
    (The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy., 2018-02) Hussain, I; Cawood, F.T.; Ali, S
    When the crown pillar at Lily mine collapsed on 5 February 2016, a lamp-room in a container on surface was engulfed in the sinkhole that formed, trapping three miners who were in the lamp-room at the time. In situations like this, it is imperative to locate and rescue the missing miners before the window of opportunity to find them alive closes. The Wits Mining Institute (WMI) at the University of the Witwatersrand was requested to assist with suggestions, and a conceptual study was undertaken to identify techniques that were likely to be successful. Several techniques that have the potential to locate the position of the container were identified, but the typical noise in the form of steel objects, mine cavities, and a combination of broken and solid rock in a complex geographical and geomechanical environment will pose significant challenges.