Northparkes Mines Current Air Blast Risk Assessment

Practices for Block Caving Operations

9 May 2016
Claudia Vejrazka
Outline
CMOC
Background
Modelling Assumptions & Parameters
Volume Flow Modelling
Ventsim Visual Modelling
Nomogram Creation
Conclusions & Future Work
CMOC Overview
High quality and diversified asset portfolio with strong leverage to China and emerging economies

Nibio Brasil Limitada East Gobi Project (65%)

& Fosfatos Brasil Molybdenum
Limitada (100%)
Niobium and Sandaozhuang (100%)
Phosphates Molybdenum /
Transaction to be Tungsten
completed in 2nd half
BRAZIL 2016 Xinjiang
Beijing
CHINA Moly Roaster & FeMo
plants
Henan Province

Luoyang City HQ
Shangfanggou (55%)
Molybdenum / Iron

Shanghai Regional
Office
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Overseas HQ

Northparkes (80%)
Copper / gold
AUSTRALIA

Sydney
Sydney Regional Office

(1) Actual 2015 First Half

CMOCs vision and strategy
Our objective is to become a leading globally diversified mining and industrial company with international base, specialty and precious
metals production, the building blocks of society

1. Continue to be a
leader in health safety &
environment

2. Build on our world

5. Leverage relationships class position in
to maximize asset values molybdenum, tungsten,
copper, gold

Objectives

4. Acquire & diversify -

3. Improve production
infrastructure assets as
technologies and
well as base, specialty
operational efficiency
and precious metals
5
Our place in Central West New South Wales
Great Australian Basin Ordovician
Volcanics
New South Wales

Elura
CSA
Mt Boppy
Peak
Broken Hill

Wonominta
Block Peak Hill
Northparkes Hill End

Cadia
Murray Basin Lake Cowal
Sydney
South Gidginbung

Australia
Victoria Woodlawn
Canberra
Captain's Flat

Lachlan
Orogen
Bendigo Currawong
Ballarat

Melbourne
0 200 km
Background Lift 1 Air Blast
On 24th November 1999 5.5Mm3 of
rock displaced 4.1Mm3 killing four of
our colleagues Colin Lloyd-Jones,
Stuart Osman, Ross Bodkin and
Michael House
Ross and van As prepared a detailed
background paper on the event for
the 9th Underground Operators
Conference in 2005

(van As and Jeffrey, 2000)

Background (cont.)
Air blast is a principal mining hazard of block caving
Mechanics are not very well understood
Published literature generally sparse
Quantitative approaches often very labour intensive
Limitations of models not always communicated well to operations

So what are we after?

 Modelling Assumptions

(Derrington, 2004)

(Derrington, 2004)

(Derrington, 2004)
=
Where p is pressure
1 V is volume of air
= ( ) is adiabatic index (1.4)

T is temperature

(Fowler, Hebblewhite & Sharma, 2003)

Modelling Parameters porosity
Varies widely
E26 Lift1 back analysis 25% Best estimate at
E26 Lift2N estimate 17% feasibility study stage
E48 at breakthrough 4% Triggers for a review
E48 March 2016 24% process required

1
~

(Vejrazka, 2008)
Modelling Parameters muckpile resistance
E26 Lift 1 back analysis: 0.0018Ns2m-7 per metre muckpile height

= 2 = 2 2

1
~ 2

Normalised to 10,000m2 undercut area: 0.0203Ns2m-7 per metre muckpile

height
Normalised measurements from other mine: 0.0299Ns2m-7 per m per 10,000m2
Volume Flow Modelling

Constrained to cave exits being on

similar level
Muckpile has to be relatively even
Ventsim Visual Modelling Model Creation
Ventsim Visual Modelling Monitoring Stations
Ventsim Visual Modelling Model Simulation
Conversion of ventilation model

Modelling Results

Model case creation Model simulation

Nomogram Creation

Location of
Caving event Max. volume flows
highest air speeds
small < 900m3/s CV10
medium 900m3/s -1500m3/s AD
large > 1500m3/s TOB
Conclusion & Future Work
Principal mining hazard that needs to be managed
Results in conservative estimates
Transparent & automated process
o time savings of 39% compared to previously used methods
o Repeatable/auditable results
Very little empirical knowledge
Basic cave geometries Investment in fundamental research
Limits to importing/exporting of data Include air blast modelling
to and from Ventsim into ventilation package
such as Ventsim

ALWAYS use engineering judgement when employing results in an operational context!

Bibliography
Derrington, A, 2004. Northparkes Mines - Airflow through muckpile from potential cave
collapse, AMC Report 303095.
Fowler, JCW, Hebblewhite, BK, Sharma, P, 2003. Managing the hazard of wind blast/ air blasts
in caving operations in underground mines, in ISRM 2003 Technology roadmap for rock
mechanics, SAIMM 2003.
Ross, I, van As, A, 2005. Northparkes Mines Design, Sudden Failure, Air-Blast and Hazard
Management at the E26 Block Cave, in Proceedings Ninth Underground Operators
Conference, pp 7 18 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).
Van As, A, Jeffrey, RG, 2000. Hydraulic Fracturing as a Cave inducement Technique at
Northparkes Mines, in Proceedings Third International Conference and Exhibition on Mass
Mining (MassMin 2000) (ed: G Chitombo), pp 165172 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy: Melbourne).
Vejrazka, C. 2008, Optimisation of block caving operations, master thesis submitted at the TU
Bergakademie Freiberg in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Diplom - Ingenieur
fr Bergbau.
Questions?