Surface Mining
Can old bord-and-pillar workings be mapped from surface?
2016
Desktop review updating two earlier assessments, weighing borehole scanning, robots and unmanned aerial platforms as routes to locating old workings ahead of opencast drilling and blasting.
What this report foundNo surface geophysical method can map individual bords and pillars at the depths typical of the Witbank coalfield, a limit the review attributed to physics...
Develop Methods to Prevent and Control Spontaneous Combustion Associated With Mining and Subsidence
2003
Fourth year of work at South African collieries, using borehole and infrared temperature monitoring, moisture testing and sealing trials, with control measures for opencast and underground operations.
What this report foundNo standard technique for predicting, controlling or extinguishing spontaneous combustion emerged, and the methods in use proved expensive and not routinely...
Small Scale Coal Mining Guidelines
Plain language manual for newcomers to the coal industry, written for historically disadvantaged entrants with limited technical background and no route into the ownership and permitting process.
What this report foundSets out the steps to establish a small scale coal mine in South Africa, from mineral rights and regulatory approvals through finance, mining and processing...