Rock Monitor Case Study 4

The issue?

• A risk assessment deemed that a buffer zone should be maintained around a main ventilation shaft at the coal mine.
• This resulted in the longwall having to be stopped approximately 400m away from the shaft.
• A significant business loss incurred due to not extracting the expected coal reserve.

The Solution!

After the technical services department at the mine researched possible solutions to manage the risk safely, it was concluded that the Nome RockMonitor STRATA monitoring system was to be put in place. The real-time monitoring capabilities of the system would reduce the risk profile to an acceptable level while allowing mining to continue to a 200-metre buffer zone.

The system was designed in a way that meant cabling and instruments were installed away from areas where they could be damaged while still providing access for maintenance and compliance activities. The software with implemented into on-site servers with predetermined alert levels to allow for early prevention if any deterioration of the STRATA surrounding the ventilation shaft started to occur. The live system could be accessed and viewed by personnel underground, on the surface and remotely off-site.

Conclusion

Implementing the Nome RockMonitor real-time STRATA monitoring system ensures that the ventilation shaft is safely monitored throughout the entire extraction process.

This allows the mine to extract an additional >200,000 tonnes of coal reserve at an approximate > USD 25m revenue gain over a 3 month period from a $150,000 outlay.

This is a 16,000% ROI over the study period, projecting an enormous annualised ROI of 66,000%!