Zibulo Colliery (Underground)
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""" " """""" Report' Resource'Engineering' Company'Visits'2012''''' South'Africa' SME&TMS"Joint"Student"Chapter"Delft" 1" " When we were planning this trip we were sure about one thing, we are going to South Africa. Being a real ‘mining country’ with, amongst others, the deepest mines in the world South Africa was a great attraction to us. We knew some of the mines they had there but only because they were mentioned in lectures or maybe from Discovery Channel, we didn’t have a clue what it would be to be in one of those mines in real-life. To help organising the tour we found a very enthousiastic and helpful partner in the Mining Department of the University of Pretoria (Tuks). Coincidentally they were having their yearly excursion around the same time as we were there and they were about to visit some of the mines we wanted to see too. This sounded like a great opportunity to see some mines and meet some fellow mining engineering students too. So we did. As you can see in the programme we joint the Tuks group in our second week and had a great time with them. Meeting all this people from all different cultures and background was certainly a valuable addition to our excursion (and maybe even theirs too). The mines we saw were very impressive, some of a scale you cannot imagine without having been there. The variety of resources South Africa has is stunning, seeing how different approaches and methods are used to extract them makes it very interesting. Really being on site is when you realise why these Company Visits are so important. All these little things that come peeking around corners in an operation you cannot learn from books or Powerpoint slides, you cannot imagine it unless you’ve seen it. For example, textbooks don’t teach you the baboons mess up your extensometers (Palabora). On the other hand, being in the mines gives you a good illustration to the textbooks too. Now you can really see why certain types of rockbolts work in a situation and others won’t. We had a wonderful excursion in a very nice country where we saw some beautiful mines and met many interesting people. Therefore we would like to thank all the sponsors for their support because without them this wouldn’t be possible. Also a big thank you to Prof. Webber-Goodman and his staff from Tuks Mining for their very kind and elaborate help. Last but not least we very much thank the staff at the Resource Engineering Section at the TU Delft for their help and support. Jan-Douwe Wansink Machiel van der Linde Joint SME-TMS Student Chapter Delft 2011-2012 2" " Programme Date% Activity% Location/Mine% Note% vrijdag"6"juli"2012" Departure"to"SA" Schiphol" " zaterdag"7"juli"2012" Arrival"in"SA" ORT"Int."Airport" " zondag"8"juli"2012" Day"off" Pretoria" Game"Drive" maandag"9"juli"2012" Mine"Visit" Zibulo"Coliery" UG&Coal" dinsdag"10"juli"2012" Mine"Visit" Barberton"Nkomati" UG&Nickel" woensdag"11"juli"2012" Day"off" Kruger"Park" Game"Drive" donderdag"12"juli"2012" Mine"Visit" Palabora" UG&Copper" vrijdag"13"juli"2012" Travel" Polokwane" to"Pilanesberg" zaterdag"14"juli"2012" Day"off" Pilanesberg/Sun"City" " zondag"15"juli"2012" Travel" Pilanesberg" Meet"UP"in"Krugersdorp" maandag"16"juli"2012" Mine"Visit" Hotazel"Mamatwan" Surface&Manganese" dinsdag"17"juli"2012" Mine"Visit" Black"Rock"Mine" UG&Manganese" woensdag"18"juli"2012" Mine"Visit" Kathu"Sishen" Surface&Iron"Ore" donderdag"19"juli"2012" Mine"Visit" Westonaria"South"Deep" UG&Gold" vrijdag"20"juli"2012" Mine"Visit" Cullinun"Diamonds" UG&Diamonds" zaterdag"21"juli"2012" Day"off" Pretoria" " zondag"22"juli"2012" End"of" Pretoria" " excursion" " " " " 3" " Remember, this excursion would not have existed without our sponsors!! Main Sponsors: 4" " Sub Sponsors: 5" " How To: Quick evaluation of a mining operation Goal: Understanding the operation, its environment to define success factors and critical impacts factors. Questions on Operations environment: What is the holding structure- owner? What is the commodity? How is the market defined (geographic location, price, uncertainty in price and demand, competitors)? Political, legal, environmental, social or other restrictions on the operation? ... Operation set up: Exploration strategy, Resources, Reserves, annual production, life of mine… Critical factors in transferring resources to reserves & Technical (equipment, losses, dilution, SMU sizes, ore grades, depth …) & Environmental & Permitting issues Long term mine planning – strategy (Which factors influence the strategic development of the mine)? Operation organisation (management, contractors) HSE (Health, safety and environmental program…) Labour skills ... Operation process: Mining process (exploration, planning, extraction, logistics, blending, pre-crushing, shipping…) Technical Highlights Daily process organisation: Planning, surveying, Grade control, Reconciliation... Auxiliary processes Equipment availability, maintenance strategy, ware housing... 6" " Questions: What are success factors of the operation in the market environment? What are best practices in the operation? What are potential critical developments/factors for the operation? What are potentials for improvement? What is a possible strategy for the future? 7" " Zibulo Colliery (Underground) By Kasper Speth Facts: Ownership: Anglo American (73%) and Inyosi (27%) Commodity: Coal Location: Mpumalanga, South Africa Number of employees: 650 (+ 390 contractors) Mining method: Room and Pillar Fleet: 7 Joy HM Mega Head Continuous Miners 3 Cable Shuttle Cars 3 Joy Battery Haulers Annual mine production capacity: 8 Million tons Production start: 2009 Expected life of Mine 20 years Product: Domestic and Export Thermal Coal (25-30% Ash) Location: surface monitors every machine Zibulo Colliery is situated some 25 km underground. And automation is tried south-east of Ogies, Mpumalanga, South where possible to reduce man force Africa, about 100 km to the East of underground and therefore reduce risk. Johannesburg. This mining complex consists of three mines producing for the Mining Method: nearby situated Eskom’s Matla power The Room and Pillar method is used at station. Zibulo Colliery. This because there is no subsidence allowed at the surface. This is General: achieved, even in the soft coal, by taking Zibulo Colliery is Anglo’s newest coal mine no risks and keeping the rooms small in South Afrika, Zibulo is Zulu and stands compared with the pillars. Pillar for “first born”. The goal for Zibulo is to be dimensions are 22 by 22 meters with “the safest mine”. This is proven by the rooms of 6 meters, with a maximum fact that during sinking of the 110 meter height of 5.5 meters. deep main shaft (11 meter diameter, 80 In Seam 2 roof conditions are not ideal ton capacity) there were no fatalities. This therefore fully grouted roofbolts are used. is a first in Afrika. This keeps a guaranteed stable situation. The Zibulo Colliery is also a test ground for The mining is done with continuous new technologies. A control room at the miners, which have a service contract. 8" " Coal is transported to the coal handling producing coalfield, on a tonnage basis, in system by both shuttle cars and battery South Africa. haulers. Coal Handling System: The coalfield is host to up to five coal Seams contained within the middle Ecca To get the mined coal to the Eskom power Group sediments of the Karoo Supergroup, plant there is a 16 kilometer long approximately 280 million years in age. conveyor, the longest single flight And is characterized by the fact that in the overland conveyor in Afrika. Which has a northern regions, almost all the coal capacity of 1650 tons/hour. Seams, attain mineable thicknesses with The coal is transported to the Phola economic potential. At Zibulo Colliery only processing plant (an Anglo American Seam 2 and Seam 4 are mined. Inyosi Coal/ BHP Billiton joint venture) First seam 2 is mined, seam 4 which is where it is prepared for direct use in the easier and shallower will be mined at a Eskom power plant. later point in time. Geology: The depth to the coal Seams increases in The Highveld Coalfield is located in south- a southerly direction, it can be mined by eastern Mpumalanga Province, opencast in the Kriel (northern) district, immediately south of the Witbank while it occurs at a depth of around 200m Coalfield. The width of the coalfield is in the Standerton (southern) district. The some 95km, stretching from Nigel and coal Seams are generally flat-lying to Greylingstad in the west to Davel in the gently undulating with a slight regional dip east, and is about 90km long, from just to the south. north of Kriel to beyond Standerton in the Structurally, the coalfield is relatively south and covers an area of approximately undeformed with no prominent folding 7,000km2. After the Witbank Coalfield, the having been identified. Large areas of coal Highveld Coalfield is the next largest have been rendered uneconomical due to the effects of dolerite intrusions. 9" " Sources: http://www.exxaro.com/pdf/icpr/a/geology/coal.htm http://www.im-mining.com/2010/06/07/innovation-and-nature-work-hand-in-hand-at- exxaros-matla-coal-mine-south-africa/ http://saisc.co.za/saisc/downloads/publications/issues/vol_34_july_2010/Projects%20Zibulo. pdf http://www.angloamerican.co.za/our-operations/thermal-coal/operations.aspx http://www.pamodzi.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=159:anglo- inyosi-coal&catid=39:investments-at-a-glance&Itemid=61 http://www.joy.com/Joy/Products/Haulage-Systems/Batch-Haulage-Systems/Battery- Haulage-Options.htm! 10" " IT TAKES A SPECIAL KIND OF PERSON TO WORK FOR ANGLO AMERICAN’S EXPLORATION TEAM. PEOPLE LIKE MATTIAS JOHANSSON, WHO HAVE THE SKILLS TO FIND MINERALS IN THE HARSHEST ENVIRONMENTS BUT WHO ARE ALSO DRIVEN TO FIND WAYS TO MINIMIZE THE IMPACT ON THAT ENVIRONMENT.