Modern Mining January 2019

PRODUCT News

Thin-skin liner stabilises Tweefontein highwall coal mines. Hours of testing and chang- ing mix designs improved the adhesion, biaxial flexural and tensile strengths. The two part and single part TSL are available in natural grey and a brilliant white.

and optimising mining production and processes. It integrates all relevant data into one source, delivering both power- ful real-time and predictive insights to improve operations. OptiMine® is open and scalable, providing flexibility to grow as needed, and incorporate other equip- ment, systems and networks. BMM’s current operation comprises two underground operations – Deeps and Swartberg – and a processing plant. The Deeps shaft produces copper, lead and zinc, with silver as a by-product, while the Swartberg mine produces primarily copper and lead, with silver as a by-product. BMM is also developing the Gamsberg project (see page 48), a new zinc mine near Aggeneys. Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, tel (+27 11) 929-5300 In addition to providing soil stabilisa- tion of tunnel works and a reinforcement protection barrier against rock strain movements, CHRYSO® TSL LP can be used as a permanent surface. It can also be used to stabilise areas that are prone to soil movements, as a protection barrier against weathering and soil erosion, and as a liner to prevent rock from oxidising. Chryso Southern Africa, tel (+27 11) 395-9700, website: www.za.chryso.com was successfully completed in June 2018. The CHRYSO® TSL LP two-part package comprises fillers, cement and additives, and polymer. The dry powders are pre- mixed to make the mixing process more convenient. Sprayed onto the required surface at a thickness of between 5 mm and 10 mm, the product’s excellent flowability ensures deeper penetration into crevasses and cracks in the laminated sandstone and shale substrate. It also offers a cost sav- ing and less rebound, as well as quicker application when compared to gunite or shotcrete equivalents. The application is less labour-intensive and is easy to mix. CHRYSO® TSL LP offers significant health and safety benefits to those work- ing in the environment of the mine or tunnel as it is dustless, non-flammable and non-toxic. Its fast-setting quality gives it early strength gains, whiles its high flexural strength properties provide a flexible bar- rier. The lining also displays good tensile strength when applied to a large portion of the substrate.

To provide effective stabilisation against geological disturbances, CHRYSO® TSL liq- uid polymer (LP) dustless, thin-skin liner has been applied over 1 400 m 2 of high- wall at the Tweefontein coal mine central pit near Ogies in Mpumalanga. The main contractor on the job was the highly experienced Witbank-based min- ing roof support contractor Martiq, whose owner, Japie Kleinhans, has spent over 20 years in this sector. The choice of CHRYSO® TSL LP, which is a two-part product, was to ensure durability by blocking off the rock strata from weathering and oxidation. The two-part CHRYSO TSL system was specially modified and adapted by new business manager, Frans Bakselerowicz, and chief chemist, Warren Delaney, for the

In this application, the access from the top of the 23 m highwall made the process easier, as the contractor needed to reach the top of the wall area and 5 m over the edge. The gravity feed of the 30mpipe also facilitated the successful spraying process. Five portal entrances giving access into the mine were also treated with CHRYSO® TSL LP to stabilise the coal substrate. With its extensive expertise in concrete, cement and additives, CHRYSO Southern Africa was able to assist the contractor with consulting services on the project, which

The top of the highwall cleaned, meshed and sealed. All cracks have been filled with CHRYSO TSL liquid polymer dustless thin skin liner and all loose rock consolidated.

Black Mountain Mining selects OptiMine® Sandvik will deliver a full OptiMine® plat- form to Vedanta Zinc International’s Black Mountain Mining (BMM) operations at Aggeneys in the Northern Cape in 2019, accelerating the site’s data-driven opera- tion for world-class mining safety, efficiency and productivity.

mining operations,” said Andre Trytsman, General Manager, Black Mountain Mining. “It was important to us to have the full scope, from scheduling to analytics, to ensure we’re optimised for the safest and most productive operation possi- ble. The OptiMine® platform is the next step in Black Mountain’s digital jour- ney, delivering efficiency and increasing operational performance allowing us to unlock more value. We are excited to partner with Sandvik and incorporate the OptiMine® technology into Vedanta Zinc International’s exciting digital strategy.” OptiMine® is a powerful, OEM-indepen- dent suite of digital tools for analysing

The OptiMine® digital platform includes: equipment/asset location tracking; plan- ning and task management; scheduling; monitoring equipment and operations; and OptiMine® Analytics with IBM Watson IoT. The scope includes trucks, loaders and drills. “OptiMine® gives us end-to-end visi- bility and control over our underground

68 _ MODERN MINING _ January 2019