RESEARCH SUMMARY 2015

DEPARTMENT OF MINING ENGINEERING

IN THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA

MAY 2016

Executive Summary The use of industry experts to support lecturers in doing full time lecturing and the appointment of some of them on a part time basis to support undergraduate as well as postgraduate studies was well received by the students. The industry specialists got involved within a number of designated academic programmes and specifically in research related activities. This is also of value to the research activities within the Guided Special Studies module.

In the field of mining there are many collaborative and cross-cutting research initiatives. Mining related research by various departments in the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology continues. These efforts are co-ordinated within the Mining Resilience Research Institute hosted within the Department. Support for the Chair in Safety, Health and Environment from Sasol mining in the form of a salary subsidy continued during 2015. The support for the Chair in Rock Engineering by Harmony Gold continues in this programme as industry directed research into specific Rock Engineering problems and the associated solutions.

The department is also involved in the following research areas with industry leaders within each of the mentioned disciplines:

• Mechanisation and Automation • Rock-breaking and Explosive engineering • Management and Leadership • Safety and Health • Risk Management • Mine Ventilation Engineering • Rock Engineering.

The department completed the establishment of the Virtual Reality Mine Design Centre and this was launched in August 2015. This included the construction of offices and facilities for the mining department on top of the current Mineral Sciences Building. The new modern facilities will further enhance the potential of the department to become a world leader in specific identified research themes and will also bolster our training capabilities as well as providing a first in terms virtual reality training in Africa.

There has been a marked increase in publications for 2015 compared to 2014, and it is expected that this upward trend will further continue for 2016 although the rapid growth may start to slow down in 2016. A total of 11 journal and 14 conference papers were prepared. To manage publications a comprehensive spread sheet based management tool was developed and quarterly reviews of progress have been undertaken. The outlook for 2016 is indicating a very healthy pipeline of publications. The challenge in the mining research area remains finding suitable, high impact academic journals within the mining research area.

The department has been in a growth phase with a lot of emphasis on establishing the infrastructure to ensure a sustainable future with regards the growth of student numbers and research activities. The department is continuing with the formalisation of the establishment of its Mineral Resources Resilience Centre (MRRC) as an inter-faculty based mining research initiative and in this way further our footprint in the mining industry globally. This initiative will, as part of its delivery strategy, support and enhance our teaching ability, foster and grow our research capability and further our consulting activities.

Further milestones were the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Mine Health and Safety Council for the establishment of a Centre of Excellence. The University of Pretoria was selected as one of four preferred service providers that forms part the Centre of Excellence that is part of the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC) efforts into streamlining Mine Health and Safety research into the future. In 2015 the department was successful in being awarded one of the MHSC research projects whilst in 2016, the department was awarded two projects to lead whilst involved in four more projects

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... 1

1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1

2 SASOL CHAIR IN SAFETY, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT .................................................................. 1

3 KUMBA VIRTUAL REALITY MINE DESIGN CENTRE .......................................................................... 1

4 MINING RESILIENCE RESEARCH CENTRE ...................................................................................... 2

5 INTERNAL STAFF DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................. 2

6 POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ........................................................................................................... 3

7 JOURNAL AND/OR CONFERENCE PROCEEDING DEPARTMENT OF MINING ENGINEERING IN 2015 ........ 6

6 CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................... 8

1 Introduction Over the past years the use of industry experts that were appointed on a part time basis to help the department with postgraduate studies (project and research related work) has continued. This was very well received by the students as industry experts got involved with the academic programme (especially with regards research related activities, required from the Guided Special Studies Module). Figure 1 shows a breakdown of the research capabilities and the environment in which postgraduate students can be assisted with in their studies within in the Department of Mining Engineering.

Figure 1 : Post graduate research focus areas

Research is fostered through a number of research initiatives. Each of the initiatives is briefly discussed and an update for the 2015 activities is provided in the following sections.

2 Sasol Chair in Safety, Health and Environment The Chairholder for the Sasol chair is Professor Jan du Plessis. It was expected that through the Sasol Chair in Safety, Health and Environment that further research opportunities within the coal mining environment will materialise. The current low oil price and the associated coal prices have suppressed the research activities and initiatives within the coal mining industry. A number of engagements with individual coal companies have mostly led to a free-advice service, but this will change again in the near future when energy prices recover.

Research in noise reduction and the impact on noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) continued in 2014 and 2015 and has led to further investment by the MHSC in additional equipment through a research based seed fund. Further initiatives in this area will have to include industry partners. Dust management and suppression within the surface as well as the underground environment formed part of the research activities in the department in 2015. This will continue into 2016, and the announcement of the new Mine Health and Safety Council Milestones will form the support base for future studies. Sasol has not made any further support available, outside the previous committed support.

In 2015 two courses were updated and presented:

• Occupational Hygiene • Ventilation Engineering for Managers

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A further two courses were developed that will be presented in 2016:

• Leadership • Social Responsibility and Community management

The support for this Chair will be concluded at the end of 2016.

Harmony Chair for Rock Engineering (Mr Johan Hanekom) The support for a chair in Rock Engineering by Harmony Gold continued in 2015, a position held by Mr Johan Hanekom. The project’s scope and action plan have been completed and progress in this regard will be given on a quarterly basis. The value of this sponsorship is R 4.7 million.

A summary of the research findings is shown in Table 1 below

Table 1: Summary of research outcomes reached

Nr. Achievement Description 1 Literature study /

historical trends Historical trends indicate the practice to reduce production to affect the seismic response of the rock mass is sound and have been implemented empirically for many years. A literature study shows that significant research has been done on seismicity and numerical estimation of the seismic risk, but that most of the processes or parameters are not used in the industry due to its lack of reality.

2 2D LE model The 2-dimensional version of the LE model was developed and tested using simple parallel side panels and indicated the potential of using this model, with seam crush capability to estimate the energy levels that have not been used to crush / compress the fracture zone.

3 Stress and closure profile

The 2D model indicated the capability of the LE code to predict a stress profile ahead of the face, and closure profile behind the face corresponds well to measured and known profiles. The LE code is thus capable of more realistic stress and closure profiles than common software codes used in the industry.

4 Energy increments A new method of evaluating the energy not dissipated by seam crushing or compression shows the capability of LE code to predict realistic trends in energy levels available to seismic rock mass responses. Actual values are not yet calibrated, but the trends are promising and show that reduced mining rates reduce the available energy.

5 3D LE model The 3-dimensional model was created and required solutions to the calculation process to reduce run-time method to determine the distance of any collocation point from the face so that appropriate strength values could be allocated.

6 Application in multi-reef areas

The application of this code to also address other issues was trialled and found to show potential for use in more than just seismic energy release problems. The modelling of a multi-reef situation indicated that care must be taken when applying the “rule of thumb” 45 degree as the de-stress angle below / above mined out areas. It also highlighted the need to look at off-reef processes in evaluating energy levels as shear along bedding between multi-reef stopes (as observed underground) could be included into this model to reduce the energy available for seismic rock mass response.

7 3D model improvements

Solved the “minimum distance to solid” problem that resulted in unusual energy trends in more complex 3 dimensional stopes with varying face advances on different panels.

8 Seismic parameter relation

Ability of the results obtained from the LE code to be used with known seismic risk parameters such as the b-value (Gutenberg-Richter) was shown and indicated the ability to indicate different seismic risk levels for different areas / panels / raises / mining sequences etc.

9 Long computational times

Improved long computational times by applying a lumping technique, but model is still very sensitive to areal extent included in the model and grid size applied (larger grid size provides faster calculation times) for the calculation times.

10 Impact of grid size on results

The LE code indicated that the closure and stress profiles are insensitive to the grid size applied but that stress peaks are “lost” when grid sizes increase, affecting the energy increments reported by under-estimating the energy. The energy release after the blast was shown to be immediate and was concluded to be the result of the strength allocation process where the drop of strength from intact, to initial failed, to residual is immediate

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when the individual strength envelopes are reached. 11 Failure criteria to

be applied Historically the LE code utilised the Mohr-Coulomb (MC) failure criteria (friction angle, cohesion), but the potential to utilise the Hoek-Brown (HB) as it is dependent on a single parameter only was evaluated and found to be possible, even though the energy results from the two different criteria were not similar. It was also indicated that the decay of the material strengths could be estimated by applying the half-life parameter to the material or through a reduction the interface friction angle between the “reef” and surrounding rock ahead of the face, but that both should not be applied at the same time.

12 Sensitivity to strength parameters

2D and 3D models indicated that strength parameters allocated (slope of intact, failed and residual strength envelopes) have an impact on the results provided by the model. When a large stress drop is caused by a large difference in strength envelope slopes, the indicated energy levels are high. Establishing accurate strength envelopes during calibrations will thus be critical.

13 Impact of method to evaluate energy and production

Results indicated that cumulative energy/m2 mined appears not to indicate any significant difference for different face advance rates. However, when the cumulative energy is expressed per time unit for the same trial layout, slower advance rates indicate lower energy release levels.

14 Sensitivity studies on impact of bedding on modelled results

2D Studies were executed to test the sensitivity of the LE model to bedding thickness and bedding plane strength. Initial results indicate that hangingwall bedding thickness or the number of beddings per metre in the immediate hangingwall affect the hangingwall closure profile. This alternative profile appears to be affected by the presence (or not) of face crushing. At the same time, a non-symmetrical impact on the closure profile of a symmetrical stope layout was indicated; the reasons for which is still being evaluated. The presence of more bedding planes (thinner beddings) seems to increase the amount of closure and appears to be logical, should the non-symmetrical profile be sorted out.

3 Kumba Virtual Reality Mine Design Centre In 2014 the establishment of the Kumba Virtual Reality Mine Design Centre started, and it was completed by mid-2015. This funding, together with funding from the University of Pretoria, established new Mining Engineering office facilities on the 5th floor of the current Mineral Sciences Building. The current manager of this facility is Mr Johann Louw.

Virtual Reality (VR) presents an environment for “immersive” experiences destined to change the face of education, research and design in mining and beyond. In a first for Africa, the University of Pretoria Mining Engineering Department with the visionary support of Kumba Iron Ore, a member of the Anglo American plc group, has created a world-class Virtual Reality Centre (Figure 2) that enhances education, training and research in operational risk across industries through an innovative approach to information optimisation and visualisation.

We envisage that the VR Centre will revolutionise the way industries create solutions to complex challenges.

Figure 2 : Visual of images inside the VR immersive dome

The VR Centre strives to be an innovative resource for bringing real-world scenarios to learners to enhance their exposure to their chosen industry and allowing technical and other practitioners to simulate plans and designs in a risk-free environment with minimal time and resource allocation. There are numerous operational benefits to be gained from interpreting and portraying actual data in the high-quality and realistic visual format offered by the VR Centre:

• Operational productivity and overall effectiveness can be achieved by playing out different scenarios before committing resources to a particular course of action.

• Engineers, planners and other stakeholders are better placed to make choices that take into account the long-term and socio-economic consequences of their financial and technical decisions by first considering these in a virtual environment.

• Incidents impacting operational risk can be minimised when one can simulate activities without actually exposing people or equipment to harm.

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• VR allows multiple data sets to be converted into strategic business information. Once decision makers are exposed to an immersive experience which portrays their data visually, it becomes easier to make decisions and improvements on their project design and other activities that operationalise their strategies.

By introducing this level of innovation into the educational space, faculties can differentiate themselves from the other learning institutions by offering unique learning opportunities. Companies and consultants in an operational environment can visualise activities, guiding decision-making and allowing them to be more competitive on the basis of cost and efficiency.

4 Mining Resilience Research Centre The department’s growth phase seems to have plateaued with a lot of the establishment of infrastructure completed. This is true for student numbers although research activities grew in 2015 and will reach even further heights in 2016.

During 2015 the department continued its efforts to establish its Mineral Resources Resilience Centre (MRRC). It is envisaged that this will further grow our footprint in the mining research industry globally. This initiative will have as part of its strategy teaching, research and consulting activities. As part of this development, a UP capability statement outlining research capabilities were prepared. This is included in APPENDIX A for reference. As part of the development, it was planned that the all MHSC Research be conducted through the MRRC and the Memorandum of Understanding with the Mine Health and Safety Council governing the establishment of a Centre of Excellence. The University of Pretoria was selected as one of four preferred service providers that forms part the Centre of Excellence.

In 2015 the Department was awarded one contract to conduct research into:

1. Develop feasible methodologies to aid escape in poor visibility in underground mining environments, Project leader Prof JJL du Plessis.

Numerous proposals were prepared and submitted to the MHSC, and UP was successful in securing the following research contracts starting in 2016. This involves a number of departments within EBIT and within UP:

1. Understanding the Impact of Technology on People in the SA Mining Sector

2. Underground and Surface Communication System

3. Rock-mass Condition Assessment Tools

4. Independent Support Testing Capability

5. Establishing a Test and Simulation Capability and Standard Verification Methods to Evaluate Collision Management Systems

6. Missing Person Locator System,

5 Internal staff development It is important to note that the department has a number of staff that is still considered to be junior in terms of academic development and their associated academic profile (when one considers it from a pure research prospective). There are also only 6 full time appointed lecturers in the department (which includes the HoD (PhD). This is in stark contrast to the department’s staff complement and their associated mining experience. Most of the staff members are busy with advancing their academic careers. Two of the staff members (lecturers), converted their honours degrees into master’s degrees and one staff member is registered for his master’s degree in mining engineering, one with a master’s degree is registered for a PhD, and the remaining senior lecturer (PhD) has more than 30 years of mining experience.

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We have four extraordinary professors to further enhance the academic profile and research related activities in the department, they are Professors Francois Malan, William Spiteri, Johan Napier and Bharath Belle. This forms the building blocks for the foundation for establishing an academic team that would be in a position to enhance the research output of the department in the future (with specific reference to Masters and PhD registered students).

Historically the department was not known to deliver a high number of research outputs annually. Over the last two years this has changed as several initiatives have been put in place to facilitate and foster research activities in the department. 2015 was only the third year that the department had a full academic staff complement and the necessary admin support staff in place, generously sponsored by the mining industry. The MQA also agreed to sponsoring 3 assistant lecturer positions per year for Historically Disadvantaged South Africans (HDSA’s) until 2016, of which currently only one is employed. The additional positions have been advertised and the process is on-going.

6 Postgraduate studies In addition to this, the department has also put in place a further new requirement for graduation of our B.Eng. (Hons) Mining Engineering students and that is that all registered students will have to submit an article for publication with their respective department supervisors, before they would be allowed to graduate. It has also been decided that as from 2016 Research Methodology will be a compulsory component of the special guided studies subject which in essence is an applied research investigation. It is the belief that this will further enhance the quality and quantity of our research outputs.

In 2015 (April and September) and 2016 (April) the highest number of postgraduate students in total ever graduated from the department, namely 18 B.Eng (Hons) Mining, 16 BSc (Hons) Applied Science Mining, and 2 students M.Eng (Mining), in total 36 postgraduate qualifications. The department has made the strategic decision to reduce its undergraduate number intake and to increase its postgraduate intake numbers so as to support its research drive objectives as indicated in Figure 3.

The intention is to have 50 students registered for an Honours degree in Mining Engineering, 30 students as Masters’ degree students and 20 students as PhD candidates (100 postgraduate students in total). This will represent 33% of the total Mining Engineering student body (undergraduate student numbers target set to be 200 students). Achieving the expected postgraduate number of 100 students will only be possible through strategic alliances with international Universities’ staff members to act as supervisors as well and also industry involvement and South African University collaboration strategies to further emphasise the importance of postgraduate research as part of the strategy to make mining safer, healthier and more profitable. The establishment of the Mining Resilience Research Centre at the University of Pretoria and the current Mine Health and Safety Council and Phakisa innovation solutions drive from government are great initiatives that will stimulate the increase in research activities in the mining industry even further. The next generation mining drive will be completely different than before.

Figure 3: Post graduate students intake in Mining Engineering (history to date)

Table 2 shows a breakdown of the research related topics and progress with regards our PhD and in Table 3 our Master’s students.

Table 2: PhD Research in progress, publications pending and in progress (2014 continuing 2015)

Title (PhD research) Name Program Status Supervisor 1 Development Of A Reliable Artificial Neural Network Cost Model

For Surface Coal Mines Mussa Budeba PhD: Mining Publication 2013 Completed April 2016 Under

review Prof. R. Webber-Youngman Prof. Johan Joubert

2 Underground Coal Mining Methods and Design Guideline to Best Practice including an Evaluation of Key Performance Indicators

Andre Dougall PhD: Mining In progress Prof. R Webber-Youngman Prof. Con Fauconnier

3 Pillar Design for general Geotechnical Conditions in Hard and Soft Rock Mines in South Africa

Kumendrie Naidoo PhD: Mining Under review Prof. F. Malan

4 An Enterprise Development Business Model for Small Mining Partnerships in the 2015 South African Socio Economic Environment

HJ Kriel PhD: Mining In progress Prof. R Webber-Youngman Prof. Con Fauconnier

5 The Design and Behaviour of Crush Pillars on the Merensky Reef Michael du Plessis PhD: Mining Publication 2013

Completed end of 2015 under review

Prof. F. Malan Prof. J. Napier

6 Pillar Design Aspects related to South African Underground Manganese Mines

Johan Hanekom PhD: Mining In progress Prof. F. Malan Prof. J. Napier

7 Active Suppression of Methane in Coal Mines Arend Späth PhD: Mining Engineering In progress Prof. JJL du Plessis

8 Development of Systematic Support Rules for Underground Mines in Namibia

Michael Jethro PhD: Mining Engineering In progress Dr. Bertie Meyer

9 Measuring the Efficacy of RFID Technology Being Integrated into Existing Mine Operational and Management Systems

Sezer Uludag PhD: Mining Engineering In progress Prof. William Spiteri

Table 3: Masters Research in progress, publications pending and in progress (2015 continuing 2016)

Title (M.Eng/MSc research) Name Program Status Supervisor

1 An Investigation into the Influence of Shear Stress on Pillar Strength - Board and Pillar Mining

Jannie Maritz M.Eng: Mining Engineering Publication

Completed with distinction 2015 Prof. F. Malan

2 Mechanical Rock Breaking in Hard Rock Narrow Reef Stopes Wolter de Graaf M.Eng: Mining Engineering Publication 2013

Planned completion 2016 Dr. A. Leuschner Prof. William Spiteri

3 Best Practices for Conducting an Open Pit Conceptual Study Ockert Buys M.Eng: Mining Engineering In progress Prof. R. Webber-Youngman

4 Optimization of Load and Haul System for Surface Mining Operation Using Simulation and Linear Programming

Phumudzo Ramashau M.Eng: Mining Engineering In progress Me. S. Uludag

5 Opencast Coal Mining Integrated Rehabilitation Refilwe Mabapa M.Eng: Mining Engineering Registration pending Mr Brian Hayes

6 Prevention of Spontaneous Combustion in Raw Coal Storage bunker Soobramoney (Mervin)Govender

M.Sc: Applied Science : Mining Engineering

Completed at the end of 2015, under examination

Prof. J. du Plessis Prof. R. Webber-Youngman Me S. Uludag

7 Not yet finalised Ramphele Chosi M.Sc: Applied Science : Mining Engineering

Registration pending

8 Explosibility Characteristics of South African Coals and Associated Risks

Seaphi Mthombeni M.Sc: Applied Science : Mining Engineering

Registration pending Prof. J. Du Plessis

9 Augmented Reality in Mining: The Smart Technology Push Approach Eugene Preiss M.Eng: Mining Engineering To be completed in 2016 Prof. R. Webber-Youngman

B.Eng (Hons) Mining Engineering and BSc (Hons)(Applied Science) Mining degree projects

Table 4 shows a summary of the 2015 honours degree topics and Table 5 the 2016 applied research topics and their relevant students and supervisors. As mentioned before, a further requirement for this year is that all B.Eng (Hons) mining students (as compulsory) will have to provide proof of publication with their respective supervisors, which will definitely have a major impact on the publication output of the department. It has also been suggested that BSc (Hons) Applied Sciences Mining selected students will be considered and chosen for research publications as well.

Table 4: Honours degree topics 2015

Title Last Name Name Initials Program and Plan Status

1 Benefits of a Rock on Ground Service Solution for Opencast Coal Mines – and the Metrics to Ensure Successful Implementation Brink D (Desiré) BEng (Hons) Completed

2 Continuous Miner Super Section du Plessis LJ (Lodewikus) BEng (Hons) Completed

3 Application of Augmented Reality in Mining Jacobs J (Jónatan) BEng (Hons) Completed

4 Dilution Control in Loulo Underground Mines from a Drill and Blast Prospective Kayumba Saleh JP (Jean-Paul) BEng (Hons) Completed

5 Proposed Building Design Guidelines over Previously Undermined Areas in South Africa Louw PJ (Pierre) BEng (Hons) Completed

6 Factors Influencing the Success or Failure of the Economics and Viability of Small Scale Coal Mining Mhlanga ZS (Ziyanda) BEng (Hons) Completed

8 Surface Ore Tramming at Lannex Mine Netshirando T(Tshifhiwa) BSc (Hons) Completed

9 Software Development in Seismic Prediction Okhuis BC (Brandon) BEng (Hons) In progress

10 An Investigation into the Determination of the Real Cost of Accidents at Bhp Billiton Energy Coal South Africa (Becsa) Open-Cast Coal Mines (Planner Proposal) Preiss EP (Eugene) BEng (Hons) Completed

11 Middelbult Colliery Economic Valuation and Optimisation of Mining the C2 Seam at Block 8 Adam R (Razia) BSc(Hons): Appl Sci In progress

12 Active Support Requirements and Possible Substitutions for the Modern Mechanised Shallow Mining Environments Couto PM (Paul) BSc(Hons): Appl Sci Completed

13 Regional Seismicity Related to Displacement Greeff H (Heinrich) BSc(Hons): Appl Sci In progress

14 The Opencast No.2 Seam Mining Opportunity Manenzhe DL (Dakalo) BSc(Hons): Appl Sci In progress

15 An Investigation into the Impact of the “Use-It-or-Lose-It” Principles Introduced in South Africa’s Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2002, on the Sustainability of Mining in the Platinum Sector

Scholtz J (Johannes) BEng (Hons) Completed

16 An Investigation into the Effectiveness of the Footwall Dust-Allaying on the Inlet Airways at Khutala Colliery van Zweel W (Wynand) BEng (Hons) In progress

Table 5: Honours degree students and topics 2016

No Last Name Initials (Name) Title Research Title Supervisor 1 Baloyi VD (Vukosi) Miss Fatigue Management in South African Mines Bertie Meyer 2 Boonzaier CP (Carel) Mr A Critical Comparison of Conveyor Belts vs Trucks in a Narrow Reef Tabular Mine Sezer Uludag 3 Guliwe MG (Mxolisi) Mr Not yet available 4 Habile TS (Thokozani) Mr Examining Mine Occupational Safety and Health Leading Practices in relation to Falls of

Ground at Moab Khotsong Mine Jannie Maritz

5 Karsas SG (Sebastian) Mr Haul Road Dust Suppression using a Polymer Additive as opposed to Traditional Water-Only Applications

Jan du Plessis

6 Lindeque GC (Gert) Mr Optimizing the Life of Mine Plan of Sishen Mine according to the New Reconfigured Mine Plan

Pierre Bredell

7 Mahlangu IPS (Innocent) Mr Not yet available 8 Matsimbi LJ (Lerato) Mr Not yet available 9 Mavimbela TT (Tutu) Mr High Wall Stability at Msobo Coal Tselentis Mine (Mimosa Pit). Wolter de Graaf

10 Mthombeni B.P Mr A Study Investigating Optimisation of Concurrent Mine Rehabilitation and Production using Current Resources and Material to Reduce Rehab Expenditure after Klipspruit Closure

Sezer Uludag

11 Ndhlazi SG (Sbonelo) Mr Impact of Poor Drilling on Blasting Outcome Wolter de Graaf 12 Ngwenyama L Mr A Trade-off between the Bord Only Collapse and the Bord and Pillar Collapse Techniques

Based on the Factors and Challenges Affecting Opencast Pillar Mining Jannie Maritz

13 Roets JJ (Jacobus) Mr Integration of Tunnel Boring Machine into Underground Development for Platinum Mines Bertie Meyer 14 Senda FM (Felly) Mr Automation in Drilling Application in Surface Mines (Coal and Hard Rock) Sezer Uludag 15 Sewpersadh S (Sachin) Mr The Impact of Economic Metrics in Geological Decision Making and on the Profitability of a

Coal Mine Pierre Bredell

16 Thompson WR (William) Mr Alternatives to Conventional Drill and Blast Shaft Access Development Bertie Meyer 17 Timothy MOT (Michael) Mr Thembelani 1 Shaft versus Khuseleka 1 Shaft: Performance Analysis Ronny Webber-Youngman 18 van Wyk FB (Frede) Mr Impact of Batch Washing on a Business Plan Pierre Bredell 19 Warschkuhl OW (Otto) Mr Waste Rock Dump Design Strategy: Vertical versus Lateral Extension – Equipment Model Wolter de Graaf

7 Journal and/or Conference proceeding Department of Mining Engineering in 2015 In 2015 we had more publications compared to 2014, and the department has a reasonable pipeline for 2016 (example shown in Table 6 of this report). Below is a list of published papers in refereed journals and conferences for 2015. A total of 11 papers were published in journals, but only 8 were accredited by DOE with a 7.34 departmental contribution. A total of 14 papers were presented at conferences of which all were submitted to the DOE. They have a potential department contribution of 10.49 with a department combined contribution of 17.83.

A list of the journal papers follows with only first authors listed

Journal Papers

RO-012180 Hager, J. Yadavalli, VSS and Webber-Youngman, R.C.W. Stochastic simulation for budget prediction for large surface mines in the South African mining industry RO-012191 Du Plessis, M. and Malan, D.F. Crush pillar support - designing for controlled pillar failure RO-012252 Hooman, M., Webber-Youngman, R.C.W., du Plessis, J.J.L. and Marx W.M. A decision analysis guideline for underground bulk air heat exchanger design specifications RO-012262 Lombard, K. Re-aligning the cutting sequence with general support work and drafting a support sequence at Simunye Shaft RO-012274 Lombard, R. Webber-Youngman, R.C.W, A critical evaluation of the water reticulation system at Vlaklaagte Shaft, Goedehoop Colliery RO-012413 Legote, T.C. Mining through areas affected by abnormal stress conditions at Syferfontein Colliery RO-012947 Budeba, M.D., Joubert, J.W. and Webber-Youngman, R.C.W. A proposed approach for modelling competitiveness of new surface coal mines RO-013049 Jooste, Y. and Malan, D.F. Rock engineering aspects of a modified mining sequence in a dip pillar layout at a deep gold mine RO-012194 Chambati, Y. and Meyer, L.D. Investigate the effect of the Smart rail Measuring System at Tumela Mine 15 East Shaft Presented Papers at Conferences

Below follows a complete list of journal publications RO-012330 Du Plessis, J.J.L. Strategy and Tactics Implemented to Achieve Energy-efficient Ventilation and Cooling of Mines RO-012333 Belle, B. Innovative Tailgate Mobile Goaf Gas Management in Two Gate Road Longwall Panels - Concept to Implementation RO-012347

Belle, B. and Cliff, D. Improved Trigger Action Response Plan Development Based Upon Mine-specific Data RO-02351 Belle, B. Development of Goaf Gas Drainage Strategies for Start-up Areas of Highly Gassy Longwall Panels RO-012358 Spaeth, A. and du Plessis, J.J.L. Enhanced Risk Reduction Using Early Warning Technologies Embedded in Active Explosion Suppression Systems RO-012364 Du Plessis, J.J.L., Ratner, G. and Viviers, S. Design and Development of Energy-efficient Secondary Axial Flow Fans RO-012366 Hanekom, J.W., Napier, J.A.L. and Malan, D.F. Effect of Mining Rate on Seismic Activity RO-012369 Du Plessis, J.J.L. and Potgieter, S.A.J. Dust Suppression on Open Pit Haul Roads - A Field Study RO-012373 Meyer, L.D. Diamond Wire Sawing in the Mining Industry RO-012388 Malan, D.F. Hard rock tabular excavations: Historic rock engineering solutions and future challenges RO-012389 Maritz, J.A. Pillar strength adjustments in the presence of shear stresses RO-012390 Du Plessis, M. and Malan, D.F. Assessing the behaviour of Merensky reef crush pillars RO-012413 Legote, TC. Mining through areas affected by abnormal RO-012180 Belle, B. and Foulstone, A. Explosion prevention in coal mine TBM drifts - An operational knowledge share RO-013674 Kizil, M., Wedel, D. and Belle, B. The effectiveness of a rapid stone dust compliance testing in underground coal

5 Publication outlook - 2016

The outlook for 2016 is indicating a very healthy pipeline of publications with 10 journal papers in the pipeline and 15 conference papers planned at the end of March 2016. The challenge to identify suitable, high impact journals within the mining research area remains a considerable challenge.

6 Conclusions

Further progress in growing research activities within the Mining Department continues. This is spearheaded through the establishment of the MRRC as well as through continued studies within the department. A number of staff continued their personal research activities, and this led to an improvement in the research outcomes as measured against published papers. Again, a number of journal as well as conference papers did not meet the DOE requirements, and this will need further focus to identify suitable journals for publication. In 2016, a consolidation of the research outcomes will be the minimum acceptable performance and a target of at least 10 journal publications is required. External research funding through the MHSC undertaken under the MRRC will further assist in keeping the current momentum even though the mining environment is extremely constrained when any funding is required and attempts to source any additional funding has not been successful.

Table 6: Publications outlook 2016

2016

Name Position Preparation potential Papers Papers submitted Papers Reviewed &

Re-submittedPapers approved &

Forthcoming Papers PublishedPro Rata

Contribution Papers Published

Preparation potential Papers Papers submitted Papers Reviewed

& Re-submittedPapers approved &

ForthcomingPapers

Published

Pro Rata Contribution

Papers Published

Final 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 1 0.5Hons 0 0 0 1 0 0.0 3 0 0 0 0 0.0

Masters 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0PhD 0 0 1 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 1 0.3

Belle B Prof 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0Bredell P Snr Lecturer 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 4 0 0 0 0 0.0

de Graaf W Snr Lecturer 0 0 0 1 0 0.0 4 0 0 0 0 0.0Du Plessis J Prof 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 3 1 0 0 1 0.5

Hanekom JWL Snr Researcher 3 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0Vac01 ' 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0

Malan DF Prof 3 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0Maritz JA Snr Lecturer 0 0 0 1 0 0.0 3 0 0 0 0 0.0Meyer B Snr Lecuter 0 0 0 2 0 0.0 10 0 0 0 0 0.0

Napier JAL Prof 3 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0Uludag S Snr Lecturer 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0

Webber-Youngman RCW Prof 4 0 0 0 0 0.0 4 0 0 0 2 0.8

Department Totals 13 0 1 5 0 0.0 31 1 0 0 5 2.0

2016 Conference Journal Books/Chapters

Name Position Plan Actual Research Effectiveness

Pro Rata Contribution Papers Published

Pro Rata Contribution Papers Published

Pro Rata Contribution

Chapters PublishedFinal Final 1 0.5 50% 0.00 0.50 0.00Hons Hons 0.5 0.0 0% 0.00 0.00 0.00

Masters Masters 0 0.0 0% 0.00 0.00 0.00PhD PhD 1 0.3 25% 0.00 0.25 0.00

Belle B Prof 3 0.0 0% 0.00 0.00 0.00Bredell P Snr Lecturer 2 0.0 0% 0.00 0.00 0.00

de Graaf W Snr Lecturer 2 0.0 0% 0.00 0.00 0.00Du Plessis J Prof 3 0.5 17% 0.00 0.50 0.00

Hanekom JWL Snr Researcher 2 0.0 0% 0.00 0.00 0.00Malan DF Prof 2 0.0 0% 0.00 0.00 0.00Maritz JA Snr Lecturer 2 0.0 0% 0.00 0.00 0.00Meyer B Snr Lecuter 2 0.0 0% 0.00 0.00 0.00

Napier JAL Prof 2 0.0 0% 0.00 0.00 0.00Vac01 ' 0 0.0 0% 0.00 0.00 0.00

Uludag S Snr Lecturer 2 0.0 0% 0.00 0.00 0.00Webber-Youngman RCW Prof 2 0.8 38% 0.00 0.75 0.00

26.50 2.00 7.5% 0.00 2.00 0.00Department Totals

Department of Mining Engineering Publication Pipeline Summary

Conference / Seminar Journal

Students

Department of Mining Engineering Publication SummaryPublication Progress (Conf/Journals)

0

1

2

3

4

5

No

of p

ublic

atio

ns

Publication Output Plan versus Actual

Plan

Actual

APPENDIX A

University of Pretoria Summary table showing the capability of the University to deliver on Mine Health and Safety Council Projects, Memorandum of Agreement and Centre of Excellence Area of Expertise Key strengths relevant to

MHSC Structures to deliver Documentation

Resilience and sustainability of Mining

Unique multi faculty integrated approach to researching Mining Resilience in Africa. Health and Safety is a core domain of MRRC capability

MRRC MRRC Business Plan

Mine Health and Safety Leaders in Noise, Dust ,

Ventilation control and behavioural safety management in mines

Mining Department Sasol Chair of Mine Health and Safety Occupational Hygiene collaboration

Sasol Chair Agreement MHSC Quick Win project on optical vibration measurement Occ. Hygiene agreement

Leaders in active prevention of Coal Dust Explosions

World Leading CSIR collaboration Kloppersbos explosion test facilities

CSIR Kloppersbos Agreement

Rock Engineering Leaders in Pillar Design in high

stress environments, Rock Mass Assessment and condition monitoring, support testing, slope design standards, Numerical modelling

Harmony Chair in Rock Engineering Access to world class support test facilities

Harmony Chair Agreement MHSC Quick Win Project on Rock Mass Condition Assessment Support test facility agreements Collaboration with UJ, Civil Eng,

Mining Leaders in Hard Rock Cutting Mining Department

Amplats Amplats Agreement

Leaders in integrated Mine Design World leading Kumba Virtual Reality Design Centre VR support agreements Commercialisation of VR Centre and Mobile unit

Kumba VR Agreement MHSC Quick Win Project on VR VR Business Plan

Leaders in mining vehicle dynamics

World class Mechanical Engineering Asset Integrity Management Labs

MHSC Quick Win Project on vehicle dynamics

Mining Continued

Leaders in designing communication systems for mines

World class Electrical Engineering and Comms Labs

MHSC Quick Win Project on mining communications systems

Leaders in Mining Education Mining Engineering Sasol Engineering Leadership Academy

SELA Agreement MQA agreement

Leaders in Mining Risk Management

Mining Engineering MHSC Quick Win Project on Escape in Poor Visibility

Socio Economic Impacts of Mining

Leaders in mining relationships, community relationships, post-apartheid workplace order, communications,

Highly regarded Sociology Department

Agreements with De Beers, Amplats, Anglo Coal, Goldfields, Anglogold Ashanti, Kumba, NUM,

Leaders in the design of mining communities

Highly regarded Department of Urban and Regional Planning

Multiple projects with Office of the President and Government Departments on distressed mining communities, land use etc., Agreement with City of Tshwane

Impact of Technology on people in mining

Mining Department BE at UP

MHSC Quick win project

Leadership and Governance in Mining

Leaders in Extractive Resource Legislation and Regulation

Newly established Faculty of Law Masters Programme Well established Centre for Human Rights

Leading research in Mining Ownership and Control

Department of Economics