meai july 2010

Mining Engineers' Journal 3 July 2010

Shri V.D. Rajagopal Chairman

Prof. Dr. - Ing M.A. Ramlu Member

Prof. Sushil Bhandari Member

Shri S.V. Satyanarayana Member

Shri B.K. Mohanty Member

Shri Dipesh Dipu Member

Shri Suresh Chandra Member

Dr. A.K. Raina Member

Dr. K.K. Sharma Member

Shri A. Sangameswara Rao Member(A.S. Rao)

EDITORIAL BOARD

EDITOR

Dr. K.K. Sharma (Tel : 040 - 23517205)

PUBLISHER

Shri A. Sangameswara Rao(A.S. Rao)

Secretary General,

Mining Engineers' Association of India

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Editorial 05

News from the Mining World 06

MEAI News 33

Conferences, Seminars, Workshops etc., 38

TECHNICAL PAPERS

1. Ripping practices in surface mines - A review 12

- P. Balamadeswaran, P. Arun Kumar & M. Kalishkumar

2. Design of ultimate pit slopes for opencast limestone mines

working under the constraints of surface structures - A Case study 19

- J.C. Jhanwar & D.S. Barsagade

3. Working close to contacts hazards and proactive measures 28

- B. Arunachalam

Vol. 11 No. 12 MONTHLY July - 2010

C O N T E N T S

The magazine will be despatchedpositively on 29th/30th of every monthby post to all the members andsubscribers. The publisher is notresponsible for its receipt by theaddressees.


EX - OFFICIOIMMIMMIMMIMMIMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENTEDIATE PAST PRESIDENTEDIATE PAST PRESIDENTEDIATE PAST PRESIDENTEDIATE PAST PRESIDENTShri R.P. Gupta - 93529 50025Shri R.P. Gupta - 93529 50025Shri R.P. Gupta - 93529 50025Shri R.P. Gupta - 93529 50025Shri R.P. Gupta - 93529 50025PAST PRESIDENTSPAST PRESIDENTSPAST PRESIDENTSPAST PRESIDENTSPAST PRESIDENTSShri Meda Venkataiah - 99002 56797Shri R.N. Singh - 98190 89120Shri T.V. Chowdary - 99493 59969Shri N.S. Malliwal

ELECTEDProf. Sushil Bhandari - 98296 71949Shri Y.C. Gupta - 94142 34746Shri C.S. Dhaveji - 94220 63909Shri M. James - 94442 89405Shri Santosh K Pattanayak - 99370 53927Prof. Gurdeep Singh - 0326-2206372Shri S. Chandrasekaran - 94433 91000Shri B.R.V. Susheel Kumar - 98480 94373Shri D.L. Choudhury - 93021 - 63994Shri K. Madhusudhana - 99002 56759Shri M. Srinivasa Shetty - 94480 24246Shri K.U. Rao - 98491 77677Shri M.C. Thomas - 93345 11343Dr. T.N. Venugopal - 98452 17692Shri P. Dharma Rao - 040-23396691

NOMINATED MEMBERSShri. B. Ramesh Kumar - 98480 99868Shri S.N. Mathur - 94273 08502Shri V. Lakshmi Narayana - 94402 79811Shri C.P. Parihar - 98874 82007Shri Sohan Singh Rathore - 94141 59605

CO-OPTED MEMBERSShri N.K. Nanda - 94907 60010Prof. A.C. Narayana - 99896 25346Shri S. Tiu - 94386 73600Shri V. Ramasubba Reddy - 99496 06060Shri B.P. Pandey - 94482 86155

MINING ENGINEERS' ASSOCIATION OF INDIA

Regd. Office : Rungta House, Barbil (Orissa)

COUNCIL MEMBERSCOUNCIL MEMBERSCOUNCIL MEMBERSCOUNCIL MEMBERSCOUNCIL MEMBERS

Chapter Chairman Secretary

Ahmedabad R.L. Bhatt S.G. PatelBarajamda Arun Misra Shailesh VermaBailadila A.K. Gupta K.K. BasuBangalore D.V. Pichamuthu D.H.M.V. SwamyBelgaum M.P. Itnal Dr.P.T.HanamgondBellary-Hospet D.Y. Mane Nagesh ShenoyBhubaneswar S.R. Singh J.K. HotaCulcutta Not functioningGoa K.D. Kulkarni Kishore B. HaldankarHimalayan Arun Sharma R.K. SharmaHyderabad A. Sivasankar G. Sreenivasa ChowdaryJabalpur C.V. Singh -Jaipur V.C.S. Shreemal Anil MathurJodhpur V.S. Mathur P.R. DaveNagpur - M. K. PrasherNew Delhi Prof. B.B. Dhar Prof. G.S. RoonwalRajasthan A.K.Kothari Dr. S.S. RathoreDalli-Rajhara Merged with RaipurRaipur S. Chakraborti P.Y. DhekneRourkela Not functioningRayalaseema P.V. Krishna Yadav S. RamamoorthySukinda Dr. Vinod P. Sinha H. BeheraTamil Nadu Dr. L. Ajay Kumar R. NatarajanVeraval-Porbandar N.K. Nuwal Shiva Moorthy Swamy

PAST PRESIDENTS & SECRETARIES

Period President Secretary/Secretary General

Mining Engineers' Association1957-64 B.L. Verma Late B.N. Kanwar1964-67 Late N.S. Claire Late R.C. B. Srivastava1967-68 L.A. Hill Late S. Chandra1968-69 Late H.L. Chopra M.G. Jhingran1969-70 S.S. Manjrekar V.S. Rao1970-71 Late R.C.B. Srivastava M.G. Jhingran1971-72 Late R.K. Gandhi B. Roy Chowdhury1972-73 I.N. Marwaha D.D. Sharan1973-75 Late R.S. Sastry M.S. Vig1975-76 G.L. Tandon K.K. Biran

Mining Engineers' Association of India1975-76 G.L. Tandon K.K. Biran1976-78 D.L. Patni A.K. Basu1978-80 R.C. Mohanty Late S.K. De1980-81 M.K. Batra R.C. Dutta1981-82 D.K. Bose S.B. Mukherjee1982-84 P.R. Merh M.K. Srivastava1984-86 V.S. Rao L.S. Sinha1986-88 M.A.Khan D.K. Sen1988-90 Saligram Singh A. Panigrahi1990-93 M. Fasihuddin B. Mishra1993-95 K.K. Biran S. Chandrasekaran1995-97 N.S. Malliwal Dr. P.V. Rao1997-99 T.V. Chowdary CLVR Anjaneyulu (S.G.)

1999-2001 -do- -do-2001-2003 R.N. Singh -do-2003-2007 Meda Venkataiah -do-2007-2009 R.P. Gupta CLVR Anjaneyulu & A.S. Rao

Aarvee Associates, Architects,

Engineers & Consultants Pvt. Ltd. (LIM-049)

ACC Ltd (LIM - 25)

A.P. Mineral Dev. Corp.Ltd., (LIM-12)

Aravali Minerals & Chemical

Industries (P) Ltd. (LM-048)

Associated Mining Co., (LIM-19)

Associated Soapstone

Distributing Co. (P) Ltd. (LM-057)

Bharat Alloys & Energy Ltd., (LIM-36)

M/s Designer Rocks (P) Ltd., (LIM-32)

Grasim Industries Ltd., (LIM-26)

Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd., (LIM-3)

Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd., (LIM-6)

Gujarat Mineral Dev. Copr Ltd. (LIM-18)

Gujarat Sidhee Cements Ltd., (LIM-4)

Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd. (LIM-9)

(Formerly IDL Industries Limited.)

India Cements Ltd. (LIM-16)

Indian Rare Earths Ltd., (LIM-35)

J.K. Cement Ltd (LIM - 058)

Jubilee Granites India Pvt. Ltd., (LIM-23)

Kariganur Mineral Mining Industry (LIM-41)

Kirloskar Ferrous Industries Ltd., (LIM-33)

Krishna Mines (LIM-27)

Madras Cements Ltd., (LIM-17)

Manganese Ore (India) Ltd., (LIM-37)

M.P.L. Parts & Services Ltd., (LIM-14)

MSPL Limited (LIM-30)

Mysore Minerals Limited (LIM-45)

National Aluminium Co. Ltd, (LIM-1)

NMDC Ltd. (LIM-20)

LIFE INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS

Contd. on page 5

National Head Quarters &: Permanent Secretariat

Vice Presidents :Dr. S.K. Sarangi - 94370 23134Shri A. Bagchhi - 99899 98600Shri T. Victor - 98221 23498

Secretary General :Shri A. Sangameswara Rao - 98498 70397(A.S. Rao)

Jt. Secy & Treasurer :Shri Koneru Venkateswara Rao - 92987 59625

Shri V.D. RajagopalMEAI - President

98491 22817, 94408 17700


Obulapuram Mining Co. (P) Ltd. (LIM-54)

Orient Cement (LIM-059)

Panduronga - Timblo Industries (LIM-056)

Pearl Mineral Ltd., (LIM-39)

Priyadarshini Cement Ltd., (LIM-5)

Radials International (LIM-29)

Rajgarhia Group of Industries (LIM - 050)

R.K. Marbles Pvt. Ltd., (LIM - 52)

Rajasthan State Mines & Minerals (LIM-053)

Sagar Cements Ltd., (LIM-21)

Sandvik Asia Limited (LIM-46)

Sesa Goa Ltd., (LIM-11)

Shree Cement Ltd. (LIM-051)

Shri Sharda Cold Retreads (P) Ltd., (LIM-24)

Shree Engineering Services (LIM-15)

South India Mines & Minerals Industries (LIM-2)

South West Mining Ltd. (LIM-40)

Sri Kumarswamy Mineral Exports (LIM-43)

Sudarshan Group of Industries (LIM-047)

Tata Chemicals Ltd., (LIM-7)

Tata Iron & Steel Co, Ltd (LIM-8)

Terra Reserves DeterminationTechnologies (P) Ltd., (LIM-055)

The K.C.P. Ltd., (LIM-22)

Thriveni Earthmovers (P) Ltd., (LIM-31)

Tungabhadra Minerals Pvt. Ltd. (LIM-42)

UltraTech Cement Ltd.,A.P. Cement Works, (LIM-28)

Ultra Tech Cement Ltd. (LIM-10)

Veerabhadrappa Sangappa & Company (LIM-44)

V. Thirupathi Naidu (LIM-34)

VS Lad & Sons (LIM-38)

W.B. Engineers International Pvt. Ltd., (LIM-13)

INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS

Singareni Collieries Company Ltd.,

Voltas Ltd.

LIFE INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS

Contd. from page 4 EDITORIALThe government has revised India’s greenhouse emissions estimates after 13 yerarsand has found one fact unchanged -- India has one of the lowest per capita emissionsof green house gases (GHG) in the emerging economics and at merely 1.5 tonnesof CO2 equivalent per capita, it continues to be way below that of the developedcountries. In 1994, Indian emissions stood at 1.3 b.t. of CO2. But despite this leap inemissions, even on gross basis, India’s emissions continued to be nearly 1/5th ofthat US, despite being home to nearly 17% of the world population.

Twenty Nepali climbers have set off to Mount Everest in the third week of April 2010to try and remove decades old garbage from the mountain in the world’s highestever clean-up campaign. Many foreign and Nepali climbers have cleaned MountEverest in the past but Namgyal Sherpa, leader of Extreme Everest Expedition2010, said no one had dared to clean above 8,000 metres, an area known as the‘death zone’ for lack of oxygen and in view of treacherous terrain. Sherpa and histeam of seasoned climbers, carrying empty rucksacks and special bags, will riskthe zone’s thin air and freezing temperatures to pick the garbage lying between theSouth Col and the 8,850 metre summit.

Scientists have known since the 1880s that increased snow over the Himalayascan be linked with weaker summer monsoon rains in India. However, according toReading University of UK., the mechanisim explaining this correlation has neverbeen properly understood. The latest research shows that greater snowfall reflectsmore sunlight and produces a cooling effect over the Himalayas. This, in turn, meansa weakening of the monsoon winds that bring rain to India. Dr. Andy Turner, leadauthor of the research at Walker Institute of the University, said, “Our work showshow, in the absence of a strong influence from the tropical Pacific, snow conditionsover the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau could be used to help forecast seasonalmonsoon rainfall for India particularly over northern India during the onset month ofJune.” These findings are highly significant because Indian agriculture is heavilydependent on early rainfall, lack of this in the crucial growing season tends to havea devastating impact on crops, as was experienced last year. The work is a part ofReadings Climate Programme of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science(NCAS).

Scientists from Australia’s University of New South Wales and Purdue University inthe United States found that rising temperatures in some places could mean humanswould be unable to adapt or survive. It would begin to occur with global – meanwarming of about 70 C calling the habitability of some regions would spread toencompass the majority of the human population as currently distributed. ResearcherSteven Sherwood said that there was no chance of the earth heating up to 70 C thiscentury, but there was a serious risk that the continued burning of fossil fuels couldcreate the problem by 2300. It is estimated that in 300 years, earth will be too hotfor humans.

(Dr. K.K. SHARMA)


IRON & STEELà JSPL to acquire Shadeed Iron & Steel for $464 million

Jindal Steel and Power is going to acquire Oman’sShadeed Iron and Steel for $464 million. The transactionvalue includes assumption of liabilities of up to$79 million. The company will finance the deal through$400 million debt that it has already tied up withinternational banks. Shadeed Iron & Steel has a 1.6 m.t.gas based factory that makes sponge iron used in steelmaking at Sohar in Oman. The unit happens to bestrategically located because of its proximity to the SoharIndustrial Port in Batinah, reducing input transport costs.

à Largest iron ore pelletizing plant commissioned inthe Middle EastIt is reported that the largest iron ore palletizing plantwas inaugurated at Gol Gohar (Middle East) in thepresence of Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President andOfficials of the Ministry of Industries and Mines of Iran.The plant has the production capacity of 5 m.t.p.a.

à India’s steel production 59.58 m.t. in 2009 - 10India’s steel production in 2009-10 was 59.58 m.t., 4.23%higher against 57.16 m.t. in the previous year, accordingto the Minister of State for Steel, Shri A. Sai Prathap.For the current fiscal year (2010-11), the Steel Ministryhas projected a production of 65 m.t. Shri Prathap alsosaid that prices of hot rolled coils in the current monthwere at Rs. 45,670 ($1028)/t, up 26% from March 2010.

à To curb illegal iron ore exports, Mines Ministerproposes windfall taxThe Mines Minister Shri B.K. Handique told the IndianExpress, “I have taken up the issue of imposing a windfalltax on iron ore exports with Finance Minister Shri PranabMukherjee recently and also discussed concerns onexports of the mineral extracted illegally.” He added, “MyMinistry is of the opinion that such taxation shouldaddress the concerns of soaring iron ore prices and atthe same time disincentivise profiteering. We are opento suggestions that will help the government collect afair portion of windfall profits earned by miners.” About50% of the iron ore produced in the country is exported.Exports have gone up from 37.49 m.t. (2000-01) to105.86 m.t. (2008-09). Between April 2009 and January2010, exports surged by 10.5% to 89.20 m.t. Ore fineswith 63% Fe were quoting at about $186/t. in the spotmarket in mid. April 2010. The proposal also seeks toneutralise the Steel Ministry’s demand for a 20% advalorem duty on ore exports. If the Finance Ministryagrees to the idea, in principle the Mines Ministry wouldwork out the modatities of the tax the threshold exportprice above which the tax--can be imposed, the rate of

NEWS FROM THE MINING WORLDtax, etc. The official said, “What we are concerned aboutis the money earned through exports by the illegal miningindustry. The Mines and Minerals Development andRegulation Act seeks to encourage value addition to theextent possible.”

à IGC announces 5 – year iron ore supply to oneChinese steelmakerIt is reported that India Globalisation Capital Inc.(Materials and Infrastructure Company in India) hassigned a 5-year contract with a leading Chinese steelmanufacturer, to begin supplying iron ore, valued atapproximately $160 million. The company will deliver63.5% Fe iron ore, initially 40,000t/ship load, rampingup to 80,000t/ shipload upto an aggregate of 1,600,000t.over the life of the contract. The iron ore will be suppliedfrom mines in India and shipped out of Visakhapatnamport (eastern coast) and Karwar port (western coast).Shri Ram Mukunda, CEO of IGC commented, "We nowhave a backlog of $160 million in our ore business, whichwe will begin to ship in this quarter."

à Annual benchmark pricing system of iron ore maychange to quarterly adjustmentsBrazil’s CVRD, Australia’s Rio Tinto and BHP Billitonhave insisted their customers switch from the annualbenchmark pricing system to a more market – orientedmechanism in which prices will be adjusted every threemonths. CISA had fought in vain to preserve thebenchmark system and declared death of annual ironore pricing, with a senior official telling a press conferencethat 2010 negotiations had stalled and Chinese steelmills were free to pursue their own deals. The minershave demanded 90% - 100% increase in prices and thecurrent prevailing prices are somewhere between$110-120/t. Chinese buyers are agreeing to the sameterms as Japanese and Korean steelmakers have withBHP, Rio Tinto and CVRD. It is understood that Chinesemills were buying from Vale in the second quarter at$110/t fob, equivalent to around $130/t on a deliveredbasis.

à Steinbruch says new iron ore pricing means betterrevenues, more instabilityCEO of Brazilian iron and steel producer CSN,Mr. Benjamin Steinbruch said, “Quarterly changes in theprices of iron ore could lead to instability in steel markets.CSN has been selling iron ore at the new quarterly basedprices and is talking to its steel buyers about possiblenew arrangements for steel pricing.” He added, “Thechanges will bring higher revenues for CSN’s miningdivision, but could be disruptive for its key steelconsumers.


à Indian domestic sponge prices continue to fallIndian sponge iron prices declined by Rs. 700 ($16)/t inthe beginning of April 2010 on low demand and the fallingprice of scrap, which is a substitute for sponge iron.Sponge iron offers and bookings have declined toRs.16,300 – 16,400/t as compared with Rs. 17,000-17,100/t in the last week of March 2010. The demandfor sponge iron is slowing and falling scrap prices havealso affected sponge iron prices.

à MMTC looking for overseas company for NeelachalIspatMinerals and Metals Trading Corporation (MMTC) islooking overseas for a strategic partner for NeelachalIspat Nigam. MMTC CMD Shri Sanjiv Batra toldEconomic Times, “Maybe the next best thing for MMTCand NINL will be to have a global tender, but thegovernment will have to take a call on that.” MMTC hasa controlling 49.9% stake in the pig iron manufacturingcompany, Orissa Government has a 26% stake and thebalance is held by Bharat Heavy Electricals, NMDC andMecon. MMTC is not happy with the offers of SAIL,Rashtriya Ispat Nigam and NMDC. Shri Batra said, “Wefind the valuations too low, while the buyers find it toohigh.”

à Essar Steel to add 1.8 m.t.p.a.Essar Steel will commission the first phase of Rs. 13,000crore expansion project. Shri Malay Mukherjee (EssarSteel Business Group – CEO) said to the reportersduring FICCI steel summit, “The first phase of ourexpansion – 1.8 m.t.p.a. will be commissioned by June– end, which is in line with our target of having a run rateof 8 m.t.p.a. by March 2011.” The company has4.6 m.t.p.a. capacity at present at Hazira (Gujarat).

à Posco may hold 74% stake in SAIL joint ventureSAIL’s board may in its upcoming meet approve grantingup to 74% equity to South Korean POSCO in theproposed Rs. 11,000 crore plant to be built jointly inJharkhand. Posco claimed the stake on the basis of itspatented FINEX technology and funding by South Koreangovernment to develop the same. The FINEX technologyuses iron ore fines and non-coking coal to produce high-grade steel, which could be further processed by SAILto make specialized steel items. The proposed1.5 m.t.p.a. plant in Jharkhand using Posco’s technologymay come on a site that was originally meant for BokaroSteel Plant’s new melting shop. The new JV project isproposed to be operated on iron ore fines of SAIL, largelyunutilised.

à NMDC nearly doubles iron ore prics for foreign millsNMDC – CMD Shri Rana Som said, “We have concludeda pact with South Korean and Japanese steel mills forsupplying iron ore in the present quarter. We have got a94-99% increase in rates over the previous contractedprices.” He added, “As of now we are working on thefinal details of the supply contract. And as per theagreement I am bound not to give you details of thesame.” The company sealed such a hike as global spotiron ore prices went up by as much as 100% to about$180/t almost double from the price a year ago.

à SAIL targeting Rs. 1,75,000 crore expenditure by 2020Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) proposes to spendabout Rs. 1,75,000 crore to augment its annualproduction capacity to 60 m.t. by 2020 from the present14 m.t. Currently SAIL is in process of expanding itscapacity to 23 m.t. by 2012 with an expenditure of Rs.70,000 crore. SAIL – CMD Shri S.K. Roongta said, “Thatremains our target to take the capacity to 60 m.t. It isour directional plan and target.”

COPPERà Hindustan Copper share sale may fetch

Rs. 5000 crore nowHindustan Copper Ltd. said a planned share sale mayfetch about Rs. 5000 crore, 25% more than estimatedearlier. The government will sell a 10% stake and thecompany a further 10% and the sale should becompleted in September 2010, according to HCL – CMDShri Shakeel Ahmed. He said, “The funds will help meetour immediate expansion needs, including an acquisitionif we are able to identify an appropriate asset anywherein the country or the world.” He added, “Hindustan Copperaims to increase output by more than six times in fiveyears to tap rising metals demand in India. The companyplans to secure the rights to new mines in India andacquire assets overseas through joint ventures.” Thecompany mines 3.2 m.t. of ore at present and aims toincrease production to more than 20 m.t. by 2015. Ofthe total production, about 11 m.t. will be mined locally.

à ICSG forecasts 580,000t refined copper surplus for 2010According to the International Copper Study Group(ICSG), global market for refined copper will likely showa surplus of some 5,80,000 t. in 2010. The copper marketsurplus will widen as growth in copper supply exceedsprojected weak growth in industrial copper demand. For2011, it has forecast a smaller surplus of around240,000t. as increased economic activity is expectedto boost demand in copper end-use markets.


ALUMINIUMà Mines Ministry says 'no' to Nalco sell off

The Ministry of Mines turned down a request from theFinance Ministry on further dilution of government equityin the National Aluminium Company (NALCO).Shri B.K. Handique, Mines Minister said, “We are not infavour of any further divestment in Nalco. It does notrequire any funds. It is doing good.” The company wouldnot be in need of funds for the next two years.

à Norsk Hydro to pay $4.9bn. for Vale’s aluminiumassetsIt is reported that Norsk Hydro proposes to acquire Vale’saluminium, alumina and bauxite assets in a cash andshares deal worth $4.9 billion that will increase itsalumina production by 170% and secure long-termbauxite and alumina supplies. Vale will receive$1.1 billion in cash and a 22% stake in Hydro in exchangefor a majority stake in Alumina do Norte do Brasil(Alunorte), the world’s largest alumina refineryParagominas, one of the world’s largest bauxite minesand aluminium smelter Aluminio Brasileiro (Albras). TheNorwegian producer’s alumina capacity will increase to5.7 m.t.p.a. from 2.1 m.t.p.a. and aluminium productionwill increase to 2.15 m.t.p.a. from 1.92 m.t.p.a.

GOLDà Venezuela may nationalize gold mining concessions,

Chavez saysVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened tonationalize gold mining concessions, adding them to oil,utility and metal assets after he has taken control of theSouth American country, to prevent deterioration ofenvironment and exploitation of workers. However,Venezuela is only a minor producer of gold. Gold ReserveInc., a Washington – based company, filed forinternational arbitration against the government ofVenezuela for the alleged expropriation of its gold miningprojects. "The company had spent $300 million on theprojects. Central Bank of Venezuela is considering sellinga bond backed by future gold production," former MiningMinister Rodolfo Sanz said. The South American countryis seeking partners to develop the Las Cristinas golddeposit, one of the world’s biggest undeveloped deposits.

à Gold investment demand has barely scratched thesurface"It is reported that the growing investment demand forgold, combined with declining mine production levels inthe longer term, will continue to support strong pricesfor the foreseeable future," Barrick Gold CEO AaronRegent asserted. "Although demand for the metal hasstrengthened significantly, the gold market remains

small. As a result, a small transfer of investment dollarsto the gold market could have a substaintial effect onvaluations. We believe we have barely scratched thesurface for further potential investment demand. Goldhas reasserted itself as an attractive financial asset, asa store of value, a safe-haven investment as analternative to currencies, stocks and bonds. On the onehand, central banks, which have historically been netgold sellers, appear to be rethinking their portfoliostrategies, and are diversifying their holdings into gold,"Regent said.

DIAMONDà Known diamond sources are depleting fast and new

sources not foundAs reported in Global Mining News, according to DeBeers the world resources of diamonds are depletingand are not being replaced fast enough to meet longterm demand. Between 1980 and 1999, the worlddiamond supply doubled with the discovery of Argylemine in Australia and Diavik in Canada. Since then nobig source has been found except for the Marangediamond field in Zimbabwe. The depletion of the world’sbig diamond mines could be exacerbated by the rise indemands from markets like China. Therefore "De Beershas decided to moderate production permanently. Its newnormal peak production from 2011 onwards, will be about40 million carats per annum, against 48 million carats in2008 and 51 million Carats in 2007" as indicated by Mr.Gareth Penny, Chief Executive De Beers.

COALà India shops globally for coal

It is reported that JSW Energy acquired a majority stakein a South African Coal mine for $85 million in April 2010.Essar Group acquired a coal mine in the US for$600 million in March 2010. Some Indian PSUs likeNTPC, NMDC, CIL and RINL have formed InternationalCoal Ventures Ltd., which will look for coal assets abroad.Earlier Tata Steel and Tata Power acquired stakes in coalmining projects in Mozambique and Indonesiarespectively. Tata Power had acquired a 30% stake intwo Indonesian mines for almost Rs. 5000 crore in 2007.GMR Infra acquired a coal mine in Indonesia in early2009. Smaller firms such as Gujarat NRE Coke, BinaniCement and Mercator Lines (a shipping company) alsogot into the fray.

à KPCL looking for coal mine in IndonesiaKarnataka Power Corporation Ltd. (KPCL) is exploringto acquire a coal mine in Indonesia. KPCL whichpresently imports small quantities of coal fromIndonesia, is in the process of reducing its dependency


on the Indian coal, which is high in ash content. On anaverage, KPCL requires 7.2 m.t.p.a. to generate about2000 m.w. power. The company proposes to add another1400 m.w. within the next three years. In 2009, KPCLimported 9,00,000t of coal from Indonesia and will importthe same tonnage in 2010 for their projects in Raichurand Bellary, Karnataka.

à India to import nearly 60 m.t. of thermal coal in 2010It is reported that India is likely to import 60 m.t. ofthermal coal in 2010. Recently, term contracts forNewcastle coal were signed at $97-98/t. betweenproducer Xstrata and Japan’s Chubu Electic for 2010-2011, about 40% higher than last year. These were initialcontracts which are assumed by many to be abenchmark. MMTC and Adani Enterprises are majorimporters. Thermal coal spot prices, ruling around contractprices at present, are unlikely to move up further. Mostof India’s coal imports come from Indonesia and SouthAfrica.

à South African coal prices head towards $100/t levelSouth African FOB coal prices are rapidly heading forover $100/t. According to Global Mining News report.July loading South African coal cargo traded at$97.25/t FOB Richards Bay. "Indian buyers will struggleto find cheaper alternatives to South African coalbecause all origins are in tight supply," traders said. Indiaand China have taken around 50% of South Africa’s totalmonthly exports during March and April 2010, which hashelped to keep South African prices at a $10/t premiumover delivered European values.

à India has 106 b.t. of proven coal resourcesIndia’s Minister of State for Coal Shri Sripakash Jaiswalstated on May 3, 2010, "According to the latest nationalinventory of Indian coal resources (published by theGeological Survey of India on April 1, 2009), the country’stotal coal resources were assessed at about 267 b.t. ofwhich 106 b.t. (about 40%) are proved reserves and areadequate to meet projected demand." The minister addedthat the, domestic steel plants have recourse to coalimports in view of the current limited availability of cokingcoal in the country both quantitatively and qualitatively.Non-coking coal is imported by power plants andindustries including sponge iron plants for reasons suchas environmental regulations, locational advantages andto meet requirements, which exceed the level of supplyreceived from indigenous sources.

à JSW acquires US coal minesJSW Steel has completed $100 million acquisition ofcoking coal assets in the US, and will start productionfrom September 2010 to partially meet the rising raw

material need of its steel business. It has planned toproduce 1 m.t. of coal in the first year starting fromSeptember 2010 which will go up to 3 m.t. in the thirdyear of operation.

à CBI arrests CMD of coal firm for graftThe CMD of South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL)Shri M.P. Dixit has been arrested by the CBI in Bilaspurfor seeking Rs. 1 crore from a private firm. Four banklockers of Shri Dixit in Delhi yielded Rs. 1.55 crore.

GENERALà Tandur limestone industry facing labour shortage

The severe shortage of labour coupled with a two daypower holiday is crippling the limestone (napa stone)industry in A.P.’s Ranga Reddy district. Blue and whitelimestone slabs from Tandur (about 125 km away fromHyderabad) are preferred flooring material as the graniteand marble slabs are expensive. The industry of about350 units has suffered in the last few months due to theagitations for and against a separate Telangana. Theshortage of labour is attributed to the National RuralEmployment Guarantee Scheme. Shri C. Vijaya RamaRao (Member of the Tandur Stone Merchants Association)says, “People are getting work in their villages and arenot coming to work in the slab industry.” Also the unitsdo not pay any wages during the power holidays resultingin reduction of wages almost by 50%.

à MOEF calls for regulating mining of minor mineralsThe Ministry of Environment and Forests hasrecommended bringing the minor minerals under a simplebut strict regulatory regime to limit its adverseenvironmental impact. The recommendations are aimedat curbing illegal and unregulated mining of minorminerals such as marble, stones used for makinghousehold utensils, slate and shale, sandstone, saltpeterand boulder. In India, the classification of minerals intominor and major categories is done on the basis of end-use. The global practice for such a classification is basedon level of production, mechanization, export and import.In terms of economic cost and revenue, the total valueof minor minerals is about 10% of the total value ofmineral produced.

à South Africa richest country in the worldSouth Africa is the world’s richest country in terms of itsmineral reserves worth $2.5 thousand billion accordingto research by the American banking group Citigroup,reports Bloomberg. In this respect Russia comes secondand Australia third. The Citigroup report compiled bymining analyst, Craig Sainsbury says that South Africa,Guinea, Ukraine, India and Kazakhstan all have mineralreserves, unrelated to energy, worth more than $200 bn.


Mines in these countries have an average life span ofmore than 100 years at current rates of exploitation. SouthAfrica is rated richest mainly due to its deposits ofplatinum group metals (PGMs) nearly 90% of the world’s

PGMs. However, the country is also one of the mostunder – producing regions in the world, with an averageresource life of 184 years.

Top 10 richest nations Average mine life

Country Value of resources, Country Average mine lifeexcluding energy ($bn) (years)

South Africa 2,494 Guinea 444

Russia 1,636 South Africa 184

Australia 1,588 India 164

Canada 1,000 Ukraine 161

Brazil 726 Kazakhstan 117

China 717 Russia 99

Chile 661 Mexico 62

USA 613 Canada 56

Ukraine 516 USA 44

Peru 328 Australia 43

à Mining mission from South Australia seeks IndianinvestmentThe Government of South Australia in association withthe Australian Trade Commission recently organized aseminar on ‘Investment Opportunities & TechnologyPartnership in Mining in South Australia’ at Hotel TajPresident, Mumbai. The mission seeks investment fromlarge Indian Corporations in South Australia’s mining andexploration projects. The delegation included highGovernment officials and companies from SouthAustralia which offered products / expertise for the miningsector. South Australia has vast deposits of preciousminerals like uranium, gold, silver, copper and high qualitycoal. South Australia needs Indian investment, skills andmanpower. It would also have to develop necessaryinfrastructure for excavating, prospecting, transportingand processing them into usable final products.

à Call to ban loading of iron ore in old vesselsIt is reported that members of the Indian NationalShipping Board urged the Centre to ban bulk loading ofiron ore in 25 year old vessels in Indian ports to avoidcasualties. Referring to MV Black Rose and MV AsianForest vessels that sank off the Indian coast soon afterloading iron ore, the Chairman Shri PVK Mohan said,“We do not want such type of incidents to happen. Wealso do not want sub-standard ships to enter our ports.Currently we do not have any regulation to ban loadingof iron ore into junk or age old ships. To salvage thesituation during monsoon period, we will have more tugsand manpower so that the reaction time will be quick.”

à MSPL Gases Ltd. Commissioned an Air Separation PlantMSPL Gases Ltd. set a new benchmark as it

commissioned an Air Separation Plant for the IndianRailways, within a record time of nine months from thedate of signing contract. The 650 cum/hr. Oxygen Plantat Yelahanka was inaugurated by His Excellency, theGovernor of Karnataka, Shri H.R. Bhardwaj in aceremony organized in February 2010. Shri R.K.Upadhyay, GM Rail Wheel Factory was also present.

His Excellency, The Governor of KarnatakaShri H.R. Bhardwaj inaugurating the plant

This is the first Air Separation Plant installed on a “Build,Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT)” basis, and promisesto become a role medal for other railway units.

A similar plant with 50 TPD capacity, installed andcommissioned by MSPL Gases Ltd. for Steel Authorityof India, Ltd. (SAIL), Bhadravati is performingsuccessfully for the past three years.


à 60% Orissa mines are illegalIt is reported in Times of India on June 14, 2010 by ShriNitin Sethi that 60% mines in Orissa are illegal and somehave been in the business for more than 20 years. TheSupreme Court appointed Central Empowered Committee(CEC) has found that 215 out of 341 working mines (morethan 60%) in Orissa are operating without statutorycentral government clearances. Some mines have beenin business for years without even submitting a statutorymining plan to the authorities. Fifteen of these mineshave been operating without clearances for more than20 years while 17 operators have done so for 15 – 20years. This is how the scheme works; if a mine operatorapplies for renewal of a lease within the prescribed time,then under Rule 24A(6) of the Minerals Concession Rules1960 – introduced in 1994 - the lease is automatically‘deemed’ to have been extended till the state governmentactually deals with the applications.

à Factors behind the rise of the MaoistsTwo articles by S/ Shri Shankar Raghuraman and NitinSethi published in Times of India on 5.6.2010 have givenvarious factors behind the rise of Maoists. Someimportant excerpts are reproduced below - - - - - - -

On seeing the map of India it can be seen that the bulkof country’s most important mineral wealth is found inthickly forested areas and those are the territories overwhich Maoists are dominant. So the connection betweenthe Maoist menace and forests and mining has to bevisualized.

There has been long history of traditional forest dwellersbeing denied the right to live off the forests, a processthat can not but lead to alienation. Add to that a miningpolicy regime that has allowed massive scaling up ofmining in the same areas for super profits and it is notdifficult to see why many tribals believe the state ishostile to their interests, but in tune with corporateinterests.

For understanding how mining policy has actually helpedthe Maoists, the specific case of iron ore in Chhattisgarh,Orissa and Jharkhand may be reviewed, where a seriousMaoist problem exists. In 2000 – 01 India exported ironore worth a measly Rs 358 crore which rose to Rs 21,725 crore by 2008 – 09 recording a sixty (60) fold jumpin just seven years, providing all the benefits to theminers and nothing to the inhabitants of these forests.Outraged by the massive margins generated by iron oreexporters, the Karnataka Lok Ayukta in a December 2008report advocated a total ban, not just on export of ore,but also on its trading. The profit in iron ore export ismore than Rs 1000/- per tonne.

For understanding forest alienation, one example ofAndhra Pradesh may be reviewed. The official recordsnote that 77, 661 acres of land in ‘reserve forests’ wereunder cultivation by adivasis prior to the enactment ofthe Forest Conservation Act in 1980. Similar conditionsexist in Orissa and other places. 60% of India’s forestland lies in the 187 adivasi districts, which in turncomprise 33% of the country’s geographical area. But62.9% of advasis are either landless or own less thanone hectare of land. Successive governments workedto turn their lands into reserved or protected forest,alienating the adivasis.

The three tribal – dominated states of Orissa,Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are the most productivemineral – bearing states in the country. They accountfor 70% of India’s coal reserves, 80% of its high gradeiron ore, 60% of its bauxite and almost 100% of itschromite reserves. Of the top 50 mineral producingdistricts in the country, almost half are tribal.

The average forest cover in the 50 mineral producingdistricts is 28%, much more than the national averagewith Chhattisgarh having around 43%, Jharkhand 30%,Orissa 27% and M.P. 26%. An estimated 1.64 lakhhectares of forest land has already been diverted formining in the country. The tribals, who are the ‘original’inhabitants here, don’t own much of these rich forests;they once did. But when the forest laws were broughtinto force, first by the Raj and then by independent India,thousands were evicted and their property convertedinto state property. Most of the tribals ended up workingon their own forestlands, in some cases as bondedlabour. To make matters worse, the Indian Governmentnamed many of them encroachers and began a violentphase of forced eviction. The courts, which too wantedto protect forests, but not necessarily the forest dwellers,often added to their misery.

With the above facts it is no wonder that Maoists findready refuge among these tribals.

In another article, Shri Rajaram Satapathy fromBhubaneswar, published in Times of India on 5.6.2010,reports that the Orissa mining scam has been billed bysome as the biggest loot of public property ever. In anutshell, ores were extracted from mines much beyondthe permitted limit. In many cases, mining was done inwithout any permission in hand. The trend is stillcontinuing. A majority of these shady mines are locatedin the Maoists dominated areas of Keonjhar andSundergarh districts. These two distrcts have oftenreported incidents of Maoists attacking constructioncompanies and other establishments for money. But therehas been no report as yet of the extremists touchingthe mining mafia.


1. INTRODUCTIONMining technologies are very complicated due to a great varietyof mineral deposits, their occurrence conditions andgeographical location, properties of ores and host rocks aswell as mining-induced impact. A mining-and-technical systemis a group of mining equipment and technologies as well asthe subsoil environment. Projecting such systems andselecting parameters of the mining methods and equipmentis a task that is very responsible in terms of the consequenceeffect as the source information is uncertain and the projectlead time is long.

Here, fragmentation of the rock into a size which can be easilyhandled by the excavation machinery is the primaryrequirement of any mining system. The desired degree offragmentation can be achieved usually by drilling and blastingin the conventional methods. But, the ripper has a longrecorded history as it was the first means for fragmenting therock in-situ (Panda and Mishra, 1989). The evolution of ripperscan be dated back to 312 B.C. as a wheel mounted ploughdrawn by oxen was used for building the Roman Appian way.The rippers drawn by tractors were developed by R.G.Tomeauin 1931 on the Hoover dam project. At that time the rippersweighed about 3400 kgs and were pulled by tractors with about75 hp. With the passage of time, rippers have undergoneseveral technological developments and today we have theheaviest ripper weighing about 131350 Kg being pulled bymore than 1050 hp tractors with 783 kW.

RIPPING PRACTICES IN SURFACE MINES – A REVIEWP. Balamadeswaran*, P. Arunkumar** and M. Kalishkumar***

* Faculty, Department of Mining Engineering, Anna University, Chennai -25.** Mining Engineer, Dalmia Cements (B) Limited, Dalmiapuram, Tamilnadu.*** Mining Engineer, Thriveni Earth Movers Private Limited, Joda, Orissa.

Presently, ripper dozers, which take care of environment andsafety and are also economical in operation when comparedto drilling and blasting, pose a challenge to drilling and blastingeven in terms of cost (Parihar et al, 2005). However, it isessential that the rock properties are characterized to evaluatethe feasibility of ripper for ripping and also ripper productivity.Ripping is still more of an art than a science as it dependsheavily on the skill and experience of the tractor operator. Inaddition to the above, several other parameters such as geo-technical properties of rock mass and type of ripper-dozerinfluence the ripping performance. The present day demandof the mining is to use environmental friendly techniques ofexcavation. Therefore, the general trend is towards the use ofmechanical excavation equipment even for increasinglydifficult to fragment rocks. Many rocks which were notconsidered rippable a few years back are now successfullybeing ripped using high powered ripper-dozer.

2.0 SURFACE EXCAVATING METHODSThe surface mining methods are commonly more economicaland profitable than underground mining methods. Here, it isessential that proper care should be considered while selectingsuitable method of working and suitable machineries to extractthe full benefit of that method of working and technology. Theselection of suitable excavating method such as Continuousmining system and Discontinuous mining system alsodepends on the following factors,


• Rock parameters

• Geological parameters

• Geotechnical parameters

• Physico -mechanical parameters

• Production requirement

• Environmental conditions

• Availability and Resources

However, the continuous mining method involving BucketWheel Excavator - Spreader combination restricted to softand favourable rock conditions. In the case of conventionaldiscontinuous mining method which involves Shovel andDumper combination, it is necessary to ensure that properlyfragmented material should be prepared for the efficientoperation of machines. Traditionally, the material has beenprepared by drilling and blasting in many mines over thedecades. But the pressure from environmentalists has beenprevailing over the mine operators to adopt suitable methodfor preparing the material to the loading, hauling andtransporting equipments. It has provided a path for the ripperto perform and produce in soft and hard conditions.

3.0 RIPPER3.1 Ripper - DesignIt is a farmer’s plough type steel shank (furrow) mounted withcutting tooth and attached with a steel beam at an interval of1 to more than 2m apart and the whole unit is attached at therear side of the crawler track mounted heavy duty dieseloperated ripper. However tractor pulled type ripper comprisinga draw tongue and a frame attached with a shank is shown inthe Figure 1. The steel plough body attachment has a cuttingtool at the bottom of it which dips into the ground (to be ripped)at a depth varying from 0.4m to more than 1.2m dependingupon the design of the machine, by the thrust applied throughthe hydraulic system. When the tractor starts moving overthe friable soft to medium hard rock or mineral body, it hasbeen broken properly and then loaded either with the help ofthe scraper or a loader or a simply dozed.

Fig – 1: Basic components of the ripper

3.2 Ripper - ApplicabilityThis type of machine is suitable for ripping alluvial soil, softrock, medium hard well stratified rock, weathered sand stoneor shale type rock, soft to medium hard lime stone, lateritedeposits, coal, well fractured hematite iron ore etc. The degreeof rippability depends upon the brittleness of the rock, degreeof stratification and lamination of rocks, well defined fracturedplane, and moisture content of the rock, geologicaldisturbances like fault and other fractures, grain size, degreeof consolidation and weathering, wet condition, physico-mechanical properties such as compressive strength, tensilestrength, shear strength, etc. Occasionally pre-fracturing ofthe consolidated ground (by blasting) may be done for efficientripping operation. The rippability of rocks can be determinedby measuring the magnitude of the seismic wave velocity inthe rock mass. Lower the velocity may enhance the rippabilityof the rock. A seismic wave velocity less than 3000 m/s inthe rock is amenable for ripping (Gupta, 1995). The rippingstratification generally depends upon the nature of the ground,power and type of ripper, the downward thrust to the shanktooth, weight of the tractor unit, etc.

The economical speed of the ripper is around 2 to 3km/hourwhen drawbar pull is available. A speed more than the abovewill result in consumption of more power with excessive trackslippage, wear in the undercarriage unit and the cutting tooth,etc. It will also generate excessive heat and will cause lowproduction. The ripping depth depends upon the thickness ofthe lamination, degree of hardness of the material andfracturing, efficiency and conditions of the machines such asthe cutting teeth, tractive force of the machine, etc. Higherthe ripping depth means increased rate of production at thelesser operating cost. It is always preferred to maintain thedepth of penetration equal to the depth of lamination of thestrata. In such condition, the requirement of the motor powerwill be low. However, the depth of the ripper should be ensuredsuch that the driving sprockets should not touch the rippingground. The spacing between the teeth mounted on the steelshank depends upon the use of mineral or rock, the size typeof the loading equipments, size and type of the crusher, sizeand type of transporting equipments, tractive effort of theequipment, fracturing characteristics of the ripped rock ormineral body (Kumar, 1984). If the spacing between the twoshanks is more, then there will be the formation of coarsermaterials. Hence the spacing should be optimum. The directionof the ripping depends upon the presence of the verticallaminations or fracture plane; direction of ripper and scrapermovements etc.

3.3 Ripper - TypesHinge type ripper: The linkage hinge is provided with fixedposition at the rear end of the ripper, as shown in the Figure 2.Various differential movements of the ripper teeth in thevertical direction due to the up and down movement of theripper causes the change of the teeth angle to meet the variousrock conditions.


Fig-3: Parallelogram type ripper

The ground clearance between the tracks and the shank ofthe ripper, and the raising height of the ripper is more whichenables to rip more blocky lumps and facilitates the checkingof the shank tip respectively.

Adjustable parallelogram type Ripper:

Parallelogram type ripper: As shown in the Figure 3, theparallelogram type ripper is provided with the linkages carryingthe beam and the shank which has the constant teeth angleregardless of the teeth depth and has excellent penetrationcharacteristics.

Fig-2: Hinge type ripper

Fig-4: Adjustable parallelogram type ripper

It has features of both hinge type and parallelogram type asshown in the Figure 4. It can vary the tip angle beyond verticalfor improved penetration and can be hydraulically adjustedwhile ripping to provide the optimum ripping angle in mostmaterials.

Adjustable Radial Ripper:

Fig-5: Adjustable Radial Ripper

The adjustable radial ripper as shown in Figure 5 combinesthe features of hinge type rippers with the shank angles andmore reach which is useful when ripping away from a highwall. It automatically provides a more aggressive shankpenetrations angle at ground entry and after penetration amore optimum angle for advancement through the material.Impact ripper: In this type of ripper the engine power isconverted into hydraulic power to impact rapidly to a speciallymade ripper shank as shown in the Figure 6.

Fig-6: Impact ripper

The energy obtained from those impact pulses transmittedinto the ripper tip, causing heavy fracturing and increasingthe penetration depth into the rock or mineral, it also reducesthe drawbar pull. With this type of machine, ripping of hardestrippable rock is possible.

4.0 RIPPING MECHANISMThe shank is generally attached at the rear end of the dozer.During the process of ripping, the shank is lowered down on


the ground by applying the hydraulic forces as shown in Figure7 and Figure 8. These hydraulic forces are continued till theinitial penetration of the bit occurs. The application of hydraulicforces will cause the stress concentration near the tip edgewhen exceeds the compressive strength of the rock causesshear failure of the rock allowing initial tip penetration. Drawbarspull further causes the tensile breaking of the rock. Drawbarpull is actually the product of weight of the machine and thehorsepower of the machine. In jointed rock formations, thefailure will occur as a result of the overcoming of the cohesionbetween the structural blocks by the drawbar pull of themachine.

Fig-7: Basic components of ripping

The extend of breaking of rock depends on three parameters,Y: Cutting angleQ: Clearance angleW: Tip edge angle

Fig-8: Rip passes

The Cutting force depends on the tip edge angle. An increasein the ripping angle from 45 degree to 60 degree doubles theresistance to ripping.

5.0 TYPES OF RIPPING METHODS

Fig-9: Straight line ripping

Straight line ripping: In this method rip passes should be firstdriven along dip direction or strike direction that is inlongitudinal or transverse direction as shown in the Figure 9.Once the rip passes are driven, ripped materials will be furtherdozed to form a heap. This type of ripping method can beused for soft formations.

Fig-10: Cross ripping

Cross ripping: Here, rip passes should be driven in both thelongitudinal and transverse directions as shown in the Figure10. Ripped materials will be dozed to form a heap. This methodof ripping can be used for soft to medium formations.

Diamond ripping: In this method rip passes are driven similarto cross ripping. But, in addition to cross ripping, rip passesare driven diagonally as shown in Figure 11. This method ofripping can be used for soft to hard rock formations.


Fig-11: Diamond ripping

Tandem ripping: Here, as shown in Figure 12-a and 12-b,two rippers are used simultaneously in this method to facilitatethe increased performance resulting in higher production.

Fig-12-a: Tandem ripping-Sectional view

Fig-12-b: Tandem ripping-Plan view

Here, one ripper will rip the material and other equipment maybe used to doze the material at some times.

6. FACTORS INFLUENCING THE RIPPING OPERATIONTo improve the productivity and efficiency of the rippers,following factors should be considered in any rock condition:Geological features: Geological features like joints, fractures,cleat angles etc will affect ripping operation as shown in Figure13. This requires change of ripping method for the improvementof ripping operation and better fragmentation of materialaccording to the ground conditions which is based on the

geological features prevailing in the site. The above figurealso suggests the method of ripping should be selected basedon the geological features prevailing in the ripping area.

Fig - 13 Geological Features

Ripping speed: Ripping speed is required to be maintainedat slow rate, in low range with even throttle. Generally, 2/3throttle is recommended for the smooth operation of ripper(Mitra, 1972). Proper care should be maintained as raise inripping speed increases the wearing of the components whichresults in reduce of the life.

Ripping direction: Ripping should be performed in onedirection and in straight line. Zigzag passes leave unripe ridgesand hard spots which may slow down dozing and loadingoperation. Hence, the direction should not be changed duringripping operation. Ripping downhill in the tight or toughmaterials may provide the extra power that is needed.

Wetting the area: In hard rock formations, the water may beapplied to make the area easier for ripping and also it extendspoint life. If the material is sandy, the working area is wetdown on the previous day to make rips easily in the next dayoperation.

Shank selection and position: A straight or semi-straightshank may be preferred to create breakage in large scale.The number of ripping shanks used and depth of ripping, usuallydetermines the size of material broken loose. If desired sizeof material is smaller, the number of shanks may be increasedthe number of shanks, even the ripping depth is less.

Operation in the slope: Operating the rippers in the slopesmay result in increasing the performance of dozing and ripping


which results in preparing more quantity of material for theloading.

Number of rip passes and ripping depth: Fewer rippingpasses are usually required if dozers are used to load thematerial and more passes may be required if scrapers orexcavators are used to excavate the material. Ripping depthshould be uniform when material is to be excavated byscrapers or excavators. When ripping in rocky ground,containing wide variations in material density or hardness,select a ripping depth that will be workable over the entirearea and maintain at the same depth. The result will be betterproduction and a cleaner, easier to handle work area.

Penetration: The ripper may be ensured to penetrate groundand rip at proper angle which results in tractor getting bettertraction with less wear on tyres and undercarriage. Radialrippers and parallel rippers with a hydraulic pitch adjustmentfeature or the option of a modified parallel position can providea steeper angle of entry for the point, resulting in easier, fasterpenetration and longer pointer life.

7.0 RIPPER PRODUCTIVITY IN SURFACE MINESTo enhance the productivity of ripper, the followingmethodology may be adopted after ascertaining the rockconditions

1. Proper work planProper day-to-day planning should be carried out for the rippingoperations. It should consider the ripping area, required rippingdepth, ripping length and need of dislocating any othermachinery, targeted production, etc. Planning only will notgive proper result, implementation be properly done.

2. Proper Truck Dispatch System (TDS)Truck dispatch system means dynamic allocation of dumpers/ tippers to the excavator or the loading equipment. Assumetwo excavators are performing loading operation, dumpers /tippers should be allocated properly and in proper time by notallowing both equipments in idle condition.

3. Experience and skill of the operatorRipping is not science, it is an art. Anybody can practicescience, because it has some procedure for performing awork. But, for art, there is no procedure for performing anytask. Experience only plays the crucial role in the ripping. So,for efficient and effective production, ripping need experiencedripper operators.

4. Availability of the machinery / sparesAvailability of the machinery is one of the main things forimproving the productivity. Maintenance time and machineryidle time should be reasonably decreased. If any part of themachinery gets damaged, it should be changed immediately.For that, we should maintain required number of spare parts

for the machineries. Machinery parts which cost less and areneeded more, are to be purchased and maintain the stock ofthe same. Spare parts which are of high cost and are notrequired often can be purchased in less number.

5. Proper maintenanceMaintenance of the machinery is one of the essentialoperations. Scheduled maintenance should be performed forevery machinery used.

6. Method of rippingSelection of proper method of ripping mainly influences theincrease of the productivity. For soft or medium rock, we canpractice parallel or cross ripping. But, for hard rocks, diamondripping should be used. This will increase the production andproductivity. Improper selection of ripping method will resultin increased cost of production, increased time and formationof big size boulders.

7. Geology of the depositIf the deposit is highly compact, ripping may pose a difficulttask for the operator. Suppose the rock mass is jointed and itpossesses more number of cleavages, then ripping will beeasier. Joints will increase the better fragmentation of thematerial.

8. Seismic property of the rockField seismic velocity data has been widely used to predictease of excavation. Caterpillar Ltd., for example, providesvelocity data charts for a range of its equipment (Anon. 1982).Seismic velocity is a function of strength, hardness,stratification, degree of fracturing, extent of weathering andconfining stress. It has been indicated to result sometimes inmisleading estimation of the ease of excavation. The potentialsources of error in seismic velocity studies are summarizedas follows:

• For the system to function correctly each layer mustbe underlain by one of lower velocity.

• The presence of non-rippable large boulders cannot bedetected if present within easily rippable material, (Smith1986).

• Geological peculiarities not relevant to rippability maycause variations in the seismic velocity, (Kirsten 1982).

• No distinction is made of variations in the ground watertable and / or degree of saturation of the material.

• The action of ripping results in rock fracturing. Seismicvelocity provides a method of rock characterizationwhich is not necessarily an accurate estimate of therock fracture strength.

• Compressional wave recordings although popular dueto their ease of detection arising from their high velocity,do not distinguish discontinuities as well as shear waves

Seismic velocity is one of the major property which is usedto evaluate the feasibility of ripping process. If the seismic


velocity falls between 0 and 3000 m/s, it can be easilyrippable. Here, the range between 3000 – 3500 m/s is marginal.It shows that the rock can be rippable, but with little difficulty.Above 3500 m/s, it is difficult to carryout ripping operation.

Fig-14: Range of seismic velocity for ripping in various rocks

9. Ergonomics: Working condition of the operator cabinshould be improved, for the efficient operation by the operator.Ergonomics also important for improving the working capabilityof the operator.

10. CONCLUSIONRipping is still an art. Experience of operators will give moreproduction resulting in economy of operation. Presently, thedrilling and blasting, which is considered to be predominantmethod used for rock fragmentation produces boulders,vibration, noise, dust and fly rocks, etc. To overcome theseproblems, ripping technology can be adopted in a surfacemine subjected to type of formation and quantum of productioninvolved in the project. However, hourly production estimationsfrom the ripping classification are compared to the actual fieldproductions from direct ripping runs on the panels to checkthe performance of the developed ripping operation for a typeof rock.

9.0 REFERENCES1. Anon. (1982), Caterpillar Tractor Company. Cat.

Performance Handbook, 13th Edition, Cal. Trac. Co.,Peoria, Illinois, pp. 516.

2. Panda, P.K and Mishra, S.K. (1989),Ripping an aid toprimary system, The NALCO experience, 3rd Nationalseminar on Surface mining, Dhanbad, p.2.3.1-2.3.11.

3. Gupta, R.N, (1995), Rock fragmentation by Rippers –an environmental friendly method, The Indian Mining&Engineering Journal, pp.45-56.

4. Kirsten, H.A.D., (1982), A Ciassification System forExcavation in Natural Materials. Civ. Engr., S.Afr., Vol.24, pp. 293-306.

5. Mitra, D.K, (1972), Some Aspects of Ripping in Mines,Journal of Minel, Metals & Fuels, Vol- 20, No-07,pp.211-213

6. Kumar, T.K.P, (1984), Ripping - An improved miningtechnology, Proceedings of 12th World Mining Congress,New Delhi, III/309, p.1-7

7. Parihar, S.K, Palria, V.S and Abhishek sharma (2005),A Critical Comparison of Rock breakers and othersalternatives, The Indian Mining &Engineering Journal,Vol-44, No-06, pp.28-32.

8. Smith, H.J., (1986) Estimating Rippability by RockMass Classification. 27th US Symp. on Rockmechanics, Aiabama, pp. 443-448.

Hence, seismic velocity of the rock mass should be measuredproperly. Figure 14 will give the clear perspective about therange of seismic velocity for ripping (Anon, 1982).


1.0 INTRODUCTIONThe stability of slopes is vitally important for both safety andeconomics of opencast mines. An optimum slope design is aprerequisite for overall productivity of open-pit miningoperations. The ever increasing pit depths and productionrequirements from opencast mines subject the designengineers and planners to the pressure of working under theconstraints of two conflicting requirements. On the one side,economics could be improved by steepening the slope therebyreducing the amount of waste excavation. On the other side,excessive steepening of slope could result in slope failureleading to the loss of life and damage to property. This scenarioposes a big question as to how to achieve an optimum design- a compromise between a slope that is flat enough to be safeand steep enough to be economically acceptable. The practicalapproach to slope stability is guided by the basic geologicaldata, geo-technical information, ground water details and agood measure of engineering judgment (Jhanwar &Chakraborty, 2009).

DESIGN OF ULTIMATE PIT SLOPES FOROPENCAST LIMESTONE MINES WORKING UNDER

THE CONSTRAINTS OF SURFACE STRUCTURES - A CASE STUDYJ C Jhanwar1 and D S Barsagade2

1Scientist, Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Regional Centre,3rd Floor, MECL Complex, Seminary Hills, Nagpur - 440 006, India

2Project Assistant, Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Regional Centre,3rd Floor, MECL Complex, Seminary Hills, Nagpur - 440 006, India

The factors, which mainly influence the stability of a typicalopencast slope, are the shear strength parameters of slopemass, the presence of structural features, their characteristicsand orientation vis-à-vis the slope and ground water conditions.

Structural features in the form of joint, faults, etc. play animportant role in defining the failure characteristics and thestability of slopes. The other extraneous factors that influencethe slope design are presence of surface structures near theultimate pit limits, influence of blasting etc. The authors haveconducted investigations in two opencast limestone mineseach having two separate pits and working under theconstraints of important structures in the form of highway andvillage, etc. with a view to design ultimate pit slopes for optimumrecovery of limestone during the final mining operations.

2.0 GEO - MINING DETAILS OF THE MINES2.1 GeneralThe Kallakkudi (KLK) and Kovandakurichi (KVK) limestonemines belong to Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited and lie in the


Lalgudi Taluka of Tiruchirapally district of Tamil Nadu. The minesare situated at a distance of 40 Km from Trichy on the Trichy -Chidambaram state highway. The mines are operated byconventional opencast method of working. Hydraulic breakersare used instead of drilling and blasting at these mines onaccount of nearby structures. The limestone deposit of themining lease area is a gentle sloping terrain. The slope is about100 toward east.

The limestone deposits of Kallakkudi area and Kovandakurichiarea are of sedimentary origin and referred to as Uttathur stageof Upper Cretaceous formation and are of marine transgressionseries. The Uttathur formation is the oldest stage among theCretaceous formation. The basement rocks are of Archeanage with granite and granitic gneiss. The order of superpositionof the rocks has the Archean as the basement withconglomerate and sandstone, the massive coral limestonefollowed by bedded clastic limestone and bedded marl andsoft marl with black clay or red earth as the top soil.

Coral algal limestone, marl bedded limestone and marllimestone are the main varieties identified in this area. Pinkcoloured coral limestone is a high grade limestone, which ispresent mostly in the bottom regions of these mines. Marl isvery weak to weak and low grade limestone and is present

mostly in the top regions. The slope forming materials aremarl and bedded marl limestone followed by coral limestonein the bottom.

The ground water in both the mine areas occurs in the threedifferent geological formations viz. marine limestone andtertiary formations. In the tertiary formations, the ground wateroccurs predominantly in semi-confined aquifers. The generalground water level obtained in and around the mining arearanges between 4.50 and 6.70 m during post - monsoon periodand from 9.70 to 12.20 m during pre - monsoon period. Theaverage annual rainfall in the mining area is of the order of 750- 900 mm. The observation of mine workings during field visitshas revealed that there was practically no significant seepageof water from any part of the mine workings.

2.2 Kallakkudi (KLK) Limestone mineThe mining lease area of KLK mine is divided into two pits,which are named as Pit 1 and Pit 2. The average length andwidth of current workings in Pits 1 and 2 are at (445.2 and254.3 m) and (1292.00 and 438.30 m) respectively. The depositin these pits falls between Latitude N 10058’25” and N 10059’30”and Longitude E 78056’39” and E 78057’11”. A surface planshowing these pits is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 - Surface plan of the KLK mine

The mine workings have already reached their ultimate limitsin the three directions in both the pits, thus the general directionof advance will be mainly towards the north and west Sides inPits 1 and 2 respectively. The existing bench height and widthare kept at 4 - 9 m and 8 - 20 m respectively. The proposedultimate depth will be 37 and 45 m in Pits 1 & 2 respectively.The average annual limestone production from this mine isabout 1.08 million tonne.

Coral limestone is present at the bottom, which is overlain bythe bedded marl limestone. Horizontal bedding joints arepresent in all the rock mass, only east side of Pit 1 shows theinclined bedding joints otherwise all the rock mass showshorizontal bedding joints in both the pits. A state highway roadexists along the northern side of Pit 1(Fig. 1). A typical view ofthis mine is shown in Fig.2.

Fig. 2 - A typical view of theKLK mine

Fig. 2b - Pit 2Fig. 2a - Pit 1


2.3 Kovandakurichi (KVK) Limestone MineThe lease area of KVK mine is divided into two pits namelyPits 3 and 4. The average length and width of workings in Pits3 and 4 are at (590.30 and 340.20 m) and (931.60 and 313.80m) respectively. The top bench workings in Pit 3 have alreadyreached near the ultimate limits in all sides except north sideand the remaining work involves advance of lower benchesand the deepening by another 5 m or so. In respect of Pit 4,the workings will mainly progress towards north and north -

Fig. 3 - Surface plan of the KVK mine

west only. The mine workings have already reached itsultimate limit in all the directions in both the pits, but thereis a possibility of progress in the north-northeast side in Pit3 and northwest side in Pit 4. The average annual limestoneproduction from this mine is about 1.0 million tonne. Hydraulicbreakers are employed for limestone excavation in this minein view of the presence of various surface structures nearby.A surface plan showing these pits is shown in Fig. 3.

The existing bench height and width in these pits are at 4 - 8m and 8 - 20 m respectively. The ultimate depth of these pitsis proposed to be at 55 m. The current depth varies from 38 to40 m and from 23 to 32 m in Pits 3 and 4 respectively. Bedding

joints are common in both the pits which are horizontal in allthe places except in north-eastern and eastern side of Pit 3. Atypical view of the KVK mine is shown in Fig.4.

Fig. 4a - Pit 3 Fig. 4b - Pit 4Fig. 4 - Typical views of the KVK mine

3.0 GEOLOGY3.1 Local GeologyThe rocks in this region form part of the marine sedimentaryformation of Cretaceous age referred to as Uttatur stage. TheUttatur formation is the oldest stage among the Cretaceousformation. The Uttatur formation is widely spread all along thesouthwest boundary over 9 to 10 Km. The general strike of theoccurrence is north-south and width is ranging about 200 to300 m. The depth of occurrence observed is 40 m. The Uttaturformation comprises of gray shale, which is the lower- mostand oldest unit overlain by Kallakudi limestone (Dalmiapuramformation) which comprises coral algal limestone, marl beddedlimestone and marl limestone which is overlain by Karai shale.

Granite and granite gneisses form the basement, which is ofArchean age. The order of super position of the rocks is clearlyobserved by the presence of overlying conglomerate horizonsabove which deposition of cretaceous age took place.

3.2 Local GeologyThe limestone deposit of the area dips at an angle of 50 to100 towards west with N-S strike. The limestone is ofsedimentary origin and referred to as Uttatur stage of upperCretaceous formation and is of marine transgression series.The basement rocks are of Archean age with granite andgranitic gneiss. The order of superposition of the rocks havethe Archeans as the basement with conglomerate and


sandstone, the massive coral limestone followed by beddedclastic limestone and bedded marl and soft marl with blackclay or red earth as the top soil. The geological succession ofthe mine area is shown in Table 1.

Table 1 - Geological succession of the deposit---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Geological Age Lithology / Rock type---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recent Alluvium, soil and moorrumTertiary Ferruginous sandstone

Upper Cretaceous Marl and marly limestoneClastic bedded limestone and marlMassive pink coral limestone

Lower Cretaceous Grey shale---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Upper Gondwana Conglomerate and sandstone---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Archaean Amphibole gneiss---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The limestone in this mine can be broadly classified as lowgrade (marl type with 20 - 30 % silica), medium grade (with 10- 20% silica) and high grade (coral type with 0 - 10% silica)types.

4.0 GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATION4.1 Structural MappingIn these mines, it is found that the bedding joint is predominantand forms a set with a joint spacing of 10 - 50 cm (Fig. 5a). Itis persistent, sub - horizontal to semi vertical and strikesalmost normal to the slope in pits 1 & 3 on the eastern side.The orientation of this joint has hardly any adverse influenceon the overall pit slope stability in this region. This Joint isquite open at some places with minor filling material mostly ofcalcareous. This joint is typically prominent in the bedded marllimestone. The coral limestone is moderately strong, isrelatively massive in nature and is present in the bottom region.Marl is weak, homogenous and devoid of any bedding joints.

Fig. 5a - Rock mass with horizontal beds

Fig. 5b - Rock mass with tight inclined beds

The mine area generally has an alluvium soil cover of up to 1m thickness. The limestone rock mass in these mines with itstypical bedding joints is shown in Fig. 5.

The intact rock strength was estimated at different locationsin these pits using Schmidt hammer rebound tests. Thecompressive strength of limestone so obtained in Pits 1, 2and 3 have varied from 17 to 43 Mpa, 22 to 37 MPa and 22 to

Fig. 5 - View of limestone rock massin KVK and KLK mines


47 MPa respectively, which signifies poor to medium strongrock types. The Uni-axial Compressive strength (UCS) of in-tact rock of Pit 3 and Pit 4 as determined from the laboratorytesting of rock cores varied from 26 to 42 MPa and from 21 to55 MPa respectively.

4.2 Rock Mass Classification4.2.1 Rock mass ratingThe rock mass quality in different areas of these mines wereassessed on the basis of a rock mass classification approachof Rock Mass Rating (RMR) as proposed by Bieniawski, 1989

Fig. 6 - RQD of limestone of KLK and KVK mines

Table 2 - Details of rock mass characterization for RMR evaluation at different locations in KLK mine

Location UCS, MPa RQD Spacing, cm Condition Ground water Total

Pit 1

North 3 - 8 Poor 20 - 30 Slightly rough Damp to Drysurface

Rating 2 8 8 10 - 20 10 - 15 38 - 48

Eastern 17 - 43 Poor 15 - 25 Slightly rough surface Sump is presentSeparation at the bottom1- 5 mm inclined beds

Rating 2 - 4 8 8 15 - 25 7 - 15 40 - 60

South Up to 34 Poor 20 - 40 Slightly rough surface DrySeparation <1mm,massive rock

Rating 2 - 4 8 8 15 - 25 15 48 - 60

West 5 - 28 Poor 7 - 20 Slightly rough surface DrySeparation <1mm

Rating 2 - 4 8 6 15 - 25 15 46 - 58

Pit 2

West Up to 5 Poor < 50 Slightly rough surface DryTight joints, Separationup to 1mm

Rating 1 8 10 10 - 20 15 44 - 54

The RQD was measured from the rock cores obtained fromcore drilling in all the pits. The RQD values so obtained are 43,27, 27 and 35 for Pits 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively (Fig. 6). TheRQD of limestone in these mines signified poor rock conditions.

(Tables 2 & 3.). The basic RMR so determined has varied from38 - 60 in KLK mine and 42 - 62 in KVK mine, which signifiedpoor to fair and fair to good rock mass and conditionsrespectively.


South 5 - 35 Poor 20 - 60 Slightly rough surface DrySeparation <1mm

Rating 2 - 4 8 8 - 10 15 - 20 15 48 - 57

Eastern 5 -10 Poor 15 - 45 Rough, weathered rock, Damp to dry

Rating 3 8 8 - 10 10 -20 10-15 39 - 56

North 20- 27 Poor 15 - 35 Slightly rough surface Damp to DrySeparation <1mm

Rating 2 - 4 8 8 10 - 20 10 - 15 38 - 50

Table 3 - Details of rock mass characterization for RMR evaluation in KVK mine

Location UCS (MPa) RQD, % Spacing Condition Ground water RMR(cm)

Pit 3South 25 - 40 25 - 50 15 to 20 Slightly rough surface Dry 55 - 60

Separation <1mm

Rating 4 8 8 20 - 25 15

West 25- 30 25 - 50 15 to 30 Very rough surface DryNo separation

Rating 4 8 8 - 10 20 - 25 15 55 - 62

North 10 - 25 25 - 50 30 to 80 Slightly rough surface, DrySeparation <1mmInclined beds

Rating 2 8 10 - 15 10 - 20 13 43 - 58

North-Eastern 25 - 40 25 - 50 20 to 40 Slightly rough surface Damp to dry& Weathered rock walls,Separation 1- 5 mm

Rating 4 8 10 20 10-15 52 - 57

East 25 - 48 25 - 50 20 - 50 Slightly rough surface Wet to Dry& Weathered rock walls,Separation 1-5 mm

Rating 4 8 8 - 10 15 - 25 7 - 15 42 - 62

Pit 4East 5 - 25 25 - 50 7 - 20 Slightly rough surface Damp to dry

Separation <1mm

Rating 2 8 8 15 - 25 10 43 - 53

North 10 - 30 25 - 50 17 - 30 Slightly rough surface DrySeparation <1mm

Rating 2 - 4 8 8 - 10 15 - 25 15 48-62

North - West 25 - 40 25 - 50 20 - 60 Slightly rough surface DrySeparation <1mm

Rating 4 8 10 15 - 25 15 52 - 62

South 10 - 25 25 - 50 20 - 30 Slightly rough surface DrySeparation <1mm,slightly weathered

Rating 2 - 4 8 8 - 10 15 - 25 15 48 - 62


4.2.2 Slope mass ratingSlope Mass Rating, SMR (Romana, 1985) was also assessedin respect of slope rock mass on eastern sides in Pits 1 and 3of KLK and KVK mines respectively where the bedding jointswere inclined. The SMR so determined using following relationwas found in the ranges of 44 - 66 and 40 - 61 for bench slopeand overall slope respectively, which signify normal to goodrock mass with fairly stable conditions.

SMR = RMR basic - (F1. F2. F3) + F4 (1)

Where, F1, F2 and F3 are adjustment factors related to jointorientation with respect to slope orientation and F4 is acorrection factor with regard to the method of excavation.

5.0 STABILITY ANALYSIS FOR SLOPE DESIGN5.1 GeneralThe rock masses in these mines are moderately jointed withthe presence of one joint set and random sub-vertical joints.The bedding joint is quite prominent in almost all the pits. Therock mass in KLK and KVK mines can essentially beconsidered as largely homogeneous type from the view pointof slope stability considerations except the eastern side rockmasses in Pits 1 and 3 of KLK and KVK mines respectively.This scenario also doesn’t suggest any influence on slopestability on account of the structural considerations.

The analysis of joint orientation vis-à-vis slope orientation doesnot suggest the possibility of any large-scale instability definedby structural features. In view of the above, it is expected thatin the event of any instability, the failure surface would eithercompletely pass through the intact rock mass or through thecombination of intact rock mass and joint planes.

To design the ultimate slope of these pits, stability analysiswas performed using the Slope Stability Analysis Software,GALENA (v 4.0). This software works on limit equilibriummethod of analysis to determine the factor of safety (FOS).The stability analysis has been performed considering non-circular and circular failure surfaces. Bishop’s simplified methodof multiple analysis was used for circular failure analysis. Theanalysis was performed considering non circular and circularfailure surfaces located at different positions, localized failuresand deep seated failures.

The unit weight, cohesion and friction angles were consideredat 19 - 25 KN/m3, 60 - 130 KPa and 25 - 320 respectivelybased on the estimates from Bieniawski’s RMR andengineering judgment.

5.2 Slope Design of Kallakkudi (KLK) Limestone MineThe final slope designs were formulated considering a SafetyFactor of 1.2 - 1.3. However, in cases of east and northernsides of Pit 1, a higher factor of safety of around 1.5 wasconsidered in view of the presence of village road and highway

respectively in these sides. The ultimate slope height/pit depthin cases of Pits 1 & 2 were considered at 37 - 45 m and 45 mrespectively.

For Pit 1, the overall slope angles were suggested at 51 - 530,50 - 510 and 58 - 600 for the ultimate slope heights of 37 m innorth side (towards highway), 45 m in eastern side and 37 min other sides respectively. In respect of Pit 2, an overall slopeangle of 55 - 560 was suggested for an ultimate slope heightof 45 m. The bench heights was suggested in the range of 8 -10 m. Bench height of up to 12 m, however may be kept in thefinal stage in limestones other than marl/bedded limestone inPit 2 and in west and south side slopes of Pit 1.

It was suggested that a minimum distance of 25 m bemaintained between the slope crest and the highway in thenorth side and the slope crest and the village road/any humandwellings on the eastern side of Pit 1. The above ultimate pitslope will be achieved during the final mining operations bythe progressive reduction of bench widths. During the normaloperations, it was however suggested that the bench width bemaintained as per the statutory and the operationalrequirements. The typical results of stability analysis are shownin Figs.7 and 8.

Fig. 7 - Stability analysis of north side slopeof Pit 1 (height = 37 m and angle = 520)

Fig. 8 - Stability analysis of Pit 2 slope(height = 45 m and angle = 550)


5.3 Slope Design of Kovandakurichi (KVK) Limestone MineBased on the results of stability analysis, the following slopedesigns were suggested for KVK mine. The final design wasformulated for a safety factor of 1.2 - 1.3. A higher factor ofsafety was however, considered for slope designs in respectof Pit 4 slope along the highway side and pits 3 slopes alongthe village road and cemetery.

The overall slope angle for an ultimate slope height of 55 mwas suggested at 55 - 560 considering a factor of safety ofabout 1.2 - 1.3 in respect of the slopes of Pit 3 and Pit 4 ofKVK mine except the east side slope of Pit 3 along the villageroad and the highway side slope of Pit 4. In the case of northside slope of Pit 3, it was suggested that a minimum distanceof 20 m be maintained between the slope crest and thecemetery boundary line. This minimum distance should bemaintained for a slope length, which was equal to the lengthof the Cemetery (around 75 m) plus 25 m each on either sideof it. The bench height may be maintained in the range of 8 -10 m in marl/bedded limestone and up to 12 m in massivelimestone. The overall slope angle in respect of the east sideslope of Pit 3 and the highway (NE - SW) side slope of Pit 4was suggested at 50 - 510 for an ultimate slope height of up to55 m. The corresponding bench height for these slopes maybe maintained in the range of 8 - 10 m. The above mentionedultimate pit slope will be achieved during the final miningoperations by the progressive reduction of bench widths up toa minimum of 4.0 - 5.0 m. During the normal operations, it washowever suggested that the bench width be maintained as perthe statutory and the operational requirements. It was furthersuggested that a minimum distance of 25 m be maintainedbetween the ultimate slope crest of highway (NE-SW) sideslope of Pit 4 and the highway for the slope length, which runsalong this highway. In the case of Pit 3, a minimum distanceof 25 m be maintained from the east side slope crest and thevillage road/dwellings. Typical results of stability analysis areshown in Figs. 9 and 10.

Fig. 10 - Stability analysis of highway side slopeof Pit 4 (Slope angle = 500)

6.0 CONCLUSIONSThe following conclusions were drawn from this study.i. The rock mass in KLK and KVK mines was classified

as poor to good with Bieniawski’s basic RMR varyingfrom 38 to 62. The rock mass was moderately jointedwith the presence of one prominent joint set and randomsub vertical joints. The analysis of joint orientation vis-à-vis the slope orientation, did not suggest the possibilityof any large-scale instability controlled by structuralfeatures.

ii. There was no significant sign of seepage and groundwater problem in these mines. With this state of workingscoupled with relatively low rainfall in this area, it wasexpected that ground water will not pose any significantproblem as regards slope stability in future period alsowhen the workings will reach ultimate depths.

iii. The workings in KLK and KVK mines had almost reachednear ultimate pit limits. The remaining work mainlyinvolved deepening by another 5-10 m and optimumextraction of limestone through the reduction of benchwidths during final mining operations. Further, highwayand village roads were present near the north and eastside boundaries of Pit 1 and Pit 3. Also, state highwayroad was located along and near the NW side boundaryof Pit 4. The stability analysis was particularly carriedout to optimize the safe distance/barrier to be maintainedbetween these structures and the mine workings with aview to optimize the limestone extraction, which wasotherwise locked up in the barriers. Accordingly, safedistances/barrier widths were recommended along withslope designs in these cases.

iv. In Pit 1, the east and north side slopes will move towardsthe village road and highway respectively. The slopedesigns in these sides were thus worked out accordingly.For Pit 1, the overall slope angles were suggested at 51- 530, 50 - 510 and 58 - 600 for the ultimate slope heightsof 37 m in north side, 45 m in east side and 37 m inother sides respectively. In respect of Pit 2, an overallslope angle of 55 - 560 was suggested for an ultimate pitdepth of 45 m. The overall slope angles in respect of theeast side slope of Pit 3 and the highway side slope of

Fig. 9 - Stability analysis of East side Slopeof Pit 3 (Slope angle = 510)


pit 4 were suggested at 50 - 510 for an ultimate slopeheight of 55 m. The overall slope angle in the other sidesof pits 3 and 4 were suggested at 55 - 560 for an ultimatePit depth of 55 m.

v. It was suggested that a minimum distance of 25 m bemaintained between the slope crest and the highway inthe north side of Pit 1 and the slope crest and the villageroad/human dwellings on the east side. In the case ofnorth side slope of Pit 3, a minimum distance of 20 mwas suggested between the slope crest and the cemeteryboundary line. The bench height was suggested in therange of 8 - 10 m in marl/bedded limestone and up to 12m in massive limestone. Further, a minimum distanceof 25 m was suggested between the ultimate slope crestof highway (NE-SW) side slope of Pit 4 and the highwayfor the slope length, which ran along this highway. Incase of Pit 3, a minimum distance of 25 m wassuggested between the east side slope crest and thevillage road/dwellings. The case study had demonstratedthat scientifically designed ultimate pit slopes helped inoptimizing the recovery of limestone, which wasotherwise locked up in the barriers.

vi. Further, it was suggested that systematic monitoring ofpit slope of those sides, which will move towards surfacestructures operations be carried out during the finalmining operations. This will help in ascertaining thestability of slopes as the pit depth reaches ultimate andin formulating appropriate preventive and controlmeasures, if required.

7.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe authors are thankful to the Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd.for sponsoring this study. Thanks are also due to the Director,Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad forhis kind permission for this study. The views expressed in thispaper are those of the authors and not necessarily of theinstitute they belong to.

8.0 REFERENCESi. Bieniawski, Z. T. (1989), Engineering rock mass classification,

John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp. 251.ii. CIMFR Report of Investigations (2009), Design of open-pit

slopes at Kallakkudi (KLK) and Kovandakurichi (KVK)limestone mines, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited, ProjectNo. GC/MT/N/09/2008-09, p.1 - 25.

iii. GALENA (Version 4.0) Slope Stability Analysis System andUsers Guide, Clover Technology. Australia.

iv. J. C. Jhanwar and A. K. Chakraborty (2009), Slope stabilityof opencast mines in India - Design and Control Measures.In: Proc. International Conference on Advanced Technologyin Exploration and Exploitation of Minerals, MEAI Jodhpur,February 14 - 16, pp. 299-305.

v. Mining Plan and Hydrogeological Report of limestone miningarea in and around Kallakudi and Kovandakurichi Mines,Dalmia Cement.

vi. Romana, M. (1985), New adjustment ratings for applicationof Bieniawski’s classification to slopes, InternationalSymposium on the role of Rock Mechanics, Zacatecas, pp.49-53.

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Mineral resources are exhaustible. They cannot be replenished.This emphasizes that we should mine out every single tonneof ore. Such conservation cannot be at the cost of safety bycreating hazardous conditions. Exploiting the last tonne of oresafely is the need. To achieve this we may have to handlesome additional tonnes of waste and adopt certain measuresand make the environment and working safe. This canmarginally increase the unit cost. At the same time this extracost would get offset by minimum dilution due to mix up ofwaste with ore which goes at a premium. To get a higher profitmargin, handling of waste is often avoided or postponed.

Cause and effect of non/less handling of waste1. Cost constraints2. Lack of equipment3. Hard strata requiring more drilling and blasting4. Production constraints5. Space constraints (Many a time we run into the

crisis of accommodating such waste and thereforeavoid handling)

6. Environmental constraint (dust menace, waterpollution)

7. Contact zone on lease boundary or just outsideresulting in inability to handle waste

8. Strike of ore body perpendicular or at tangent tolong axis of lease boundary

9. Irregular local bulging of ore or waste

The reasons could be many but the hazards due to non handlingof waste will be

1. Potential slope stability risk.2. High development cost at later date.3. Lack of control over break even ratio which keeps

on changing throwing profitability out of prediction.4. By not handling waste and handling ore only, creates

steeper slope and leads to slope failure. Slope failureamongst others cost• time,• material loss,• industrial trauma due to accident,• handling of additional waste for bench width/

height correction,• grade pollution and loss of ore,• loss of organisation’s image,

The study recommendations for any slope determination shouldinclude

1. Over all pit slope on hanging wall side,

2. Over all pit slope on foot wall side,

WORKING CLOSE TO CONTACTS, HAZARDS AND PRO ACTIVE MEASURES* B.Arunachalam

3. Over all slope of waste benches on hanging wall,

4. Over all slope of ore benches on hanging wall side,

5. Over all slope of waste benches on foot wall,

6. Over all slope of ore benches on foot wall,

7. Maximum bench height and minimum bench width,

8. Maximum quantity explosives that can bedetonated at any one time

9. In case where over all permissible slope is flatterthan slopes of hanging wall, ore or foot wall of anysection (ref 1-7 above ) whether safety factor willtake care of such variation (Sketches 11&12)

10. Permissible slope for different pit depths (slopetends to go flatter as the depth increases Referannexure 1)

11. Permissible angle of working prior to mine closure.

12. Possibility of filling at lower levels to support forretreating and effect it would have on water tablebelow

Study would also be influenced with data like1. Annual rain fall over a period of time2. Highest rainfall over a unit period of time say 24 hrs3. Catchment area including variation on a yearly base4. Quantity of water likely to flow through drains on

the benches5. Coursing out of rain water6. Drainage conditions7. Rise in water table level in monsoon and/or dropping

down in fair season8. Rate of pumping out facility available and result of

peak rain fall9. Swell and contraction characteristics of different

material10. Proximity of river and corresponding changes in

water level with reference to river and vice versa11. Development and propagation of internal cracks

after blast especially thin bedded hard mass likeBHQ

12. Degree of weathering and its effect on crumbling13. Degree of permeability in different strata14. Degree of solubility15. Blast vibration levels in ore body, hanging wall and

foot wall

This therefore boils down to the fact that study cannot beconducted in isolation by an external team. It should have

*Manager, Mines Group Vocational Training Society, Hospet.


whole hearted co operation and participation by managementfor data collection compilation, implementation ofrecommendations, monitoring and fine tuning as a regularactivity.

So long as natural conditions exist stability remains. Thestability is disturbed by triggering activities. Few of the triggersand control measures are

Flow of water through contact zone (Sketch 1)As we start loading the in situ mass, the topography changesfrom virgin slope of say 20-25 degrees to 35 degrees andabove. The moment we exceed the natural angle of reposeand keep on changing, stability changes from stable to metastable and then unstable condition at which time it starts slidingdown. By far flow of water through contact zone, fault planeetc ., percolating in and along the dip down acts as a mediumfo the mass to slide down when stability is disturbed.

Garland drains (Sketch-2)Garland drains Should be lined and constructed away fromcontacts and area liable to slide. Should it cross contactssuch zones should be made leak proof. Size would bedependant upon peak flow characteristics MOEF recommendsthe size as twice the peak quantity.

It is therefore essential that1) Water does not cross contact zones in unlined drains

2) Garland drains are made on hill top to course away waterand in cases varying porosity /drains protected againstseepage. Preferably such garland drains do not passthrough contacts

3) Where they have to cross the contacts the drainage islined with impervious material in the contact point to avoidits entry

4) Blasted material in contact areas is loaded out to avoidwater collecting in the contact zone

5) Water does not enter holes which pass through wasteand ore or vice-versa and kept plugged

6) Holes are drilled and blasted with least back crack. (Backcracks terminate at middle levels creating a bellyformation and lead to sliding down of back cracked massat the time of loading operations)

7) In contact zones the contact to be located if possible inindividual holes which should also be the stemming ordecking area to avoid loss of energy. In the case ofconcentration of explosive energy at the bottom of thehole the softer strata overlying would remain as an overhang while the underlying harder strata would come outwhile loading blasted mass with excavator leaving behindan overhang.

8) Unless it is unavoidable, benches in contact zones shouldnot get submerged in water in monsoon( over and abovestability problems ore gets diluted with waste).For thesame reason it is essential that maximum quantity ofsurface run off should be diverted out from higher levelsand not allowed to enter the sump

9) Benches especially those closer to contacts as well facesshould be regularly inspected for development of cracks.

10) Cracks if any, observed should first be barricaded toprevent entry of water and simultaneously widthmeasured and monitored for its widening

11) Cracks could develop even if there is no inrush of waterdue to swell in presence of moisture and shrinkage later.

In sufficient Bench width or excessive bench heightAs per statute bench height should not exceed reach of boom,in contact areas where the dip is not steep load on haul roadin the bench would not pose a problem. In steep dips therewould be benches having both ore and waste. In such casesthe waste may be ripped and dozed for loading or the handlingis done from the top only to the extent it does not create aunder cut when loaded from below. Height of bench in excessof boom reach leaves undercuts.

Statute specifies the minimum requirement. Width should besufficient enough so that the loaded trucks or excavator neednot come to the bench edge. Depending upon the gross vehicleweight the distance from edge should be more than 2m plusembankment width


BlastingIn steeply dipping ore body, while blasting near contact zones,the hanging wall (waste rock ) overlies the ore body or footwall (waste) lies below the ore body and in most of thesecases the drill hole penetrates the hanging wall or foot wall..Depending upon the hardness of such waste rock,concentration zones of explosives or use of varying strengthsneed to be done. Uniform concentration without deck loadingin such instances will lead to heavily crushed zone at onehorizon and non blasted or toe at the other. In case if the hardore is at the bottom and charge is concentrated below it wouldresult in a concealed overhang which will get exposed and actas sliding plane while loading out. This over and abovecontaminating the ore also poses a hazard. (Sketch 3)

In case of steeply dipping BHQ/BHJ blasting of which fromtop may not always be possible. (Drill hammer gets jammed,hole penetrates only few layers). Blasting in such case resultsin crumbled zone close to the hole periphery and mass crackedalong and across separation planes. Loading out such massneeds extra care as large chunks get dislodged and roll downto excavator track. Also this breaks to smaller size, hits thecabin or glass causing injury to operator. On occasions thisresults in damage to equipment itself.

Problem is more aggravated in case of horizontal or snakeholes when the mass below is broken to smaller fragmentsand the one above remains as large chunks creating difficultiesin handling. In case of horizontal holes the burden above shouldnot exceed the depth of hole and as far as possible the holeneeds to be about five degrees above horizontal. Steeperdownward inclination of drill hole will increase the burden andthe toe would not get cleared. However the cracks whichdevelop will result in to difficulty in drilling as also exhaustfrom hammer going through such cracks. Holes may not getflushed as well (Sketch 4)

Vibrations due to blastingPost blast vibrations tend to assist sliding down due todiscontinuity between two layers and also differ in transmittingof vibrations waves. In certain strata the vibration waves mayget dampened while the same would have effected the zoneimmediately adjacent to it. This can cause sliding downespecially the hanging wall contact where dip is towards freeface. Therefore it becomes necessary that post blast vibrationsare kept under control. Studies should determine the maximumquantity of charge that can detonated and delay pattern thatwould need to be used. Use of ripper dozer is a strong choicein favour maintaining stability and in case of harder stratashallow holes widely placed is drilled.

Geological featuresWe do not have control over geological features. Neverthelesswe need to know the behaviour to take pro active controlmeasures. Otherwise we may be in for surprise.

Knowledge and understanding of structure at macro and microlevel is therefore necessary. Mine planning cannot be donewithout knowledge of structural geology

a) FoldsPartial exposure of tightly folded anticlinal or synclinal limbposes the danger of slide. Recumbent fold is yet another hazardif not located. The problem gets complicated in the case ofrecumbent folds. More so when slope angle of limb is steeper(Sketch 5)

In cases where there is local change in dip or benches laidalong the dip due to lease oundary or other constraintsindividual face advance will be in dip direction which can assistslide (Sketch 6)

b) FaultsSlide takes place along fault plane which gets triggered in thepresence of water (Sketch 7)

Dyke intrusionsDykes where present exposes strata of two different natureand when the natural support to dyke gets disturbed due tomining the dyke tends to slide down (Sketch 8)

Charging of Hole in clay contact, Sketch 3

Drilling in vertically dipping BHQ, Sketch 4


Waste dump close to top of mine would exert pressure onlower side of contact. Also in the case of sloping topographyseepage of water from below dump would result in sliding ofdump to benches below (Sketch 7)

Presence of thin ore bands in hanging wallThis by virtue of its size cannot be mined out separately. Sincethis will have same dip but different characteristics tends toslide when remains unsupported. Depending upon the widththis can be ripped and dozed

CavitiesIf cavities get filled with water the water would percolate throughand create failures. Cavities at times can be noticed in drillholes

It therefore becomes very essential that face mapping is doneas regular work. Bench wise longitudinal section and crosssection are required for monitoring. This would need continuousupdating.

(Sketch 7)


In this case any seepage of water not taken care would spelldoom

Annexure 1No. DGMS/SOMA/(Tech) Circular No.6 dated Dhanbad 22ndJune, 2004

Apart from ensuring the system as comprised in DGMS cir no2 of 1978 following additional arrangements shall also be made

1) Surface cracks ,pot holes and subsidence area shall befilled up and leveled; boreholes if any shall be plugged/covered effectively

2) Surface garland drains shall be made around mineespecially in hilly terrain and in ground sloping towardsmine openings so that water flows away from the mine

3) Water dams and pumping capacities shall be suitablyenhanced to accommodate increase in seepage water.

4) Additional pumps and delivery lines of suitable capacityshall be maintained for group of mines in each area

5) Two separate power lines shall be ensured for pumpingwherever possible Diesel Generator sets with independentpower lines shall be maintained

6) (i) In opencast mines wherever pontoon pumps areinstalled it shall be ensured that pontoons of adequatedesign are properly maintained

(ii) Standing order for safe operation and maintenanceof pontoons and pumps shall be formed and strictlyenforced.

Annexure 2SourceStudy of Sonshi Mines Central Institute of Mining & FuelResearch, Regional Centre, Nagpur Ref. Mining Engineer'sJournal. Jan 2010, PP27-32.

S.No Slope Height (m) Over all slope angle (degree)

1. 70-75 34-33

2. 90-95 30-29

3. 120-125 28-27

4. 140-145 26-25

5. 180 < 24

In this case any seepage of waternot taken care would spell doom

Clay - iron ore contact plane of failure

A Steep slope with jointed rocks

With profound sorrow and grief itis informed that Shri SridharaVenugopal (LM - 0168) expired onJune 4, 2010 after suffering foralmost one year from respiratorytrouble. Late Shri Venugopal, bornon 30-01-1938, after completingdiploma in Mining Engineeringfrom Government Mining Institute,Gudur (A.P.) in 1960, joined the Neyveli Lignite Corporationand served till October 1962. He joined Indian Bureau ofMines in November 1962 and retired as Asst. Controllerof Mines in 1966.

Late Shri Venugopal was a popular actor and singer duringhis college days and while in service. He participated inmany drama and singing competitions and won severalawards. He organised several programmes on drama andsinging during his service at Nagpur. He took active partin constructing 'Krishna Temple' at Nellore, A.P. where heused to deliver lectures on religion and society. His wifepassed away about 10 years ago. He is survived by hisadopted son, Shri Jagadeeshwara Rao.

MEAI expresses heart felt condolences to his son andother family members.

OBITUARY


I - HYDERABAD CHAPTERMEAI, Hyderabad Chapter organised a guest lecture on ‘PublicPrivate Participation in Coal Mining with focus on Africa’ on26-05-2010 at 18.00 hrs. in NMDC, Training Centre, MasabTank, Hyderabad. The lecture was delivered by Shri TusharChawla (Partner Economic Laws Practice, 405-406, WorldTrade Centre, Barakhamba Lane, New Delhi – 110 001, +9198103 83149) who is an advocate and negotiates in finalizingmining leases for coal in Africa, in Public Private ParticipationMode.

The Chief Guest and Speaker of the evening was Shri TusharChawla and the meeting was presided over by Shri Sivasankar,Chairman, MEAI, Hyderabad Chapter. Other dignitariesincluded Shri V.D. Rajagopal, President MEAI, Shri B. RameshKumar, Former Chairman NMDC, Shri T.V. Chowdary, FormerPresident, MEAI, Shri S. Venkatesan, Director (Production),NMDC and Shri S. Thygarajan, Director (Finance) NMDC.

MEAI NEWS

Dignitaries on the dais (L – R) S/Shri S. Venkatesan,T. Chawla, Sivasankar, V.D. Rajagopal,

B. Ramesh Kumar, T.V. Chowdary and S. Thyagarajan.

After giving flower bouquets to the dignitaries on the dais,Shri Sivasankar welcomed the gathering and introduced theSpeaker of the evening. Shri V.D. Rajagopal and Shri B.Ramesh Kumar highlighted the importance of the topic andsuggested that a separate workshop may be organized todiscuss the present scenario of mining in India. Shri T.V.Chowdary then invited Shri Chawla to start his lecture aseverybody was eager to listin to him.

Shri Chawla in his talk first discussed the mining scenario inIndia and then in South Africa, Ghana and Mozambique ingreater detail. The lecture generated lot of interaction fromthe audience and was highly appreciated.

Shri Tushar Chawla was presented with a memento byShri B. Ramesh Kumar and the meeting ended with vote ofthanks proposed by Shri Sreenivasa Chowdary, Secretary,MEAI, Hyderabad Chapter.

II – MEAI, HYDERABAD CHAPTER – 6TH EXECUTIVECOMMITTEE MEETINGThe sixth executive committee meeting of MEAI, Hyderabadchapter was held in the Training Centre of NMDC, Masab Tank,Hyderabad on 26-05-2010 at 17.00 hrs.

The meeting was presided over by Shri A. Sivasankar, MEAIChairman, Hyderabad Chapter. The following were the mainpoints.

(a) The resignation submitted by Shri A. Kundu, Secretary,consequent upon his transfer to Bailadila (BIOP-14) inChhattisgarh was accepted and in his place Shri G.Sreenivasa Chowdary, Jt. Secretary was unanimouslynominated as Secretary.

(b) Shri Rajan Kumar from NMDC was nominated asSecretary in place of Shri G. Sreenivasa Chowdary.

(c) It was decided to organise AGM-2010 of MEAI,Hyderabad Chapter on July 16, 2010 followed by a oneday workshop on July 26, 2010 at Hyderabad.

The meeting ended with vote of thanks proposed by Shri G.Sreenivasa Chowdary, Secretary, MEAI, Hyderabad Chapter.

III – MEAI, RAJASTHAN CHAPTERMining Engineers' Association of India, Rajasthan Chaptercelibrated the National Technology Day on May 11, 2010, jointlywith Institution of Engineers (India), Udaipur, Vigyan Samitiand Mahaveer International of Udaipur and Department ofScience & Technology, Government of Rajasthan.

At the outset Dr. K.L. Kothari, Founder member, Vigyan Samitiwelcomed the gathering. Er. H.V. Paliwal, Former President,Vigyan Samiti highlighted the importance of NationalTechnology Day.

Er. V.K. Ladia, Chairman of Rajasthan Syntex, Dungarpur wasthe Chief Guest who shared his views about the recentdevelopments in the field of Communication Technology whichmade life comfortable in cities as well as in rural areas.Dr. (Mrs.) Amita Gill, Director and Dy. Secretary, Dept. ofScience & Technology, Govt. of Rajasthan, who was the Guestof Honour commented that these days attraction forcommunication technology of students at school level is lessand at college level good researchers are not available.Therefore, Dept. of Science & Technology at Centre and StateGovernment levels have introduced many schemes to attractgood students towards science subjects. Shri Prakhar Kumar,Scientist, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Keynotespeaker observed that the energy is important for thedevelopment of any country and with the depleting fossil fuelenergy one has to depend on nuclear energy. In most of theEuropean countries, minimum 40% power generation is bynuclear resources whereas in India less than 5% powergeneration is by nuclear resources.


An exhibition was also arranged to display the variousproducts and technology developed by the innovators. About150 members from MEAI, IEI and other organizations includingthe exhibitors were present in the programme including ShriR.P. Gupta, Former President, MEAI, Shri Y.C. Gupta, CouncilMember, Shri P.L. Agarwal, Former President Vigyan Samiti,Shri R.K. Chatur, Shri M.S. Khamesra, Shri R.C. Kumawatand Dr. S.C. Jain.

The programme ended with vote of thanks proposed byDr. S.S. Rathore, Secretary MEAI, Rajasthan Chapter.

IV - CHANGE OF ADDRESSThe latest addresses of MEAI, Life members who havechanged their jobs or residences are as follows.

1. Shri Prabhat Kumar (LM-3000)Mine Foreman, Tollem MineFlat No.5, Akara Manzil,Cariamoddi, Curchorem, Goa - 403 706.

2. Shri Saravanan. P (LM-3176)Mine SurveyorGavisiddashwara NagerT.c.h collage back side,Jambunath Road, Hospet-583201.

3. Shri Manohar Murli (LM-926/f-010)Flat No. 411, Shree Homes Suha,Hanuman Nagar Colony,Puppalaguda P.O., Hyderabad – 500 089.

4. Shri Reddy Degapudi Radhakrishna (LM-371)Mines ManagerDoor No.1-211-8a, Opp-NSP colony,Podili Road,Chimakurti, Prakasham Dist. (A.P.)

5. Shri Kailasam Sundar Rajan (LM-2870)Block-7, Flat SE,Jain Sudarsana,Rajakilpakkam, 174,Madambakkam Main Road,Chennai - 600 073.

6. Shri Venkatesh Raju (LM-2536)Mines ManagerC/o Siddeswara Nilaya,House No. 68,Vieswaraiha Layout/ Colony,J.M.I.T. College Backside,Chitradurga - 577 502.

7. Shri Rajagopal V.D. (LM-2171)President, MEAI,1-1-538/1, Flat No. 103,Sai Mayuri Apartments,Gandhi Nagar, Hyderabad - 500 080.

8. Shri Bhatia R. L. (LM-1137)A-4, Rajat Utsav II,Amaravati Road, Nagpur - 440 033.

9. Shri Subrata Chattopadhyay (LM-2700)D.No. 370, New 29th Ward,3rd Cross Main, M.J. Nagar,Hospet – 583 203,Bellary Dist., Karnataka.

10. Shri Nagesh Shenoy (LM-2781)Dy General Manager#2, Sri Mangesh Mahalakshmi NilayamAnnapoorna Badavane,Near Municipal School,Hospet - 583 201, Karnataka

11. Shri Gupta Saibal Prasad (LM-254)General Maneger (Mines)Dristinandan Apartment: 3A, 1/12, Deshbandhunagar:P.O. Baguiati : Kolkata - 700 059.

12. Shri Rajeev Shrimali (LM-2327)AGM - MinesQtr No. NC-2, Zinc ColonyPost Hurda, Dist - BhilwaraRajasthan - 311042.

13. Shri R.K. Yadav (LM-122)Vice President(Mines)J-36. Gama-2,P.O. : Greater Noida - 201308.Distt- Gautambudh Nager (UP)

14. Shri Venu Kumar N (LM-2428)Dy. Chief Engineer, CMPDIC-301, Mantri Aparments,JP Nagar, 4th Phase,Bannerghatta Road,Bangalore - 560 078.

15. Shri Anshuman Dutta Gupta (LM-2856)Regional Geologist (Chrome)Natural Resources DivisionSukinda Chromite MineTata Steel Limited, P.O. KalaringattaDist. Jajpur, Orissa - 755 028

16. Shri Sanjeeva Reddy. B (lm-3033)C/o Manjunatha OpticalsBoppa Rajupalli, P.O.,Chitoor Dist. - 517 102, A.P.

17. Shri Sugunakar Reddy K (LM-1760)Chief General Manager,Corporate Safety Department,Head Office, The SCCL,Kothagudem - 507 101, Khammam Dist., A.P.


MINING ENGINEERS' ASSOCIATION OF INDIA

CIRCULAR

This is to inform that the 5th Council Meeting – 2009-11 of Mining Engineers’ Association of India will be held in the

office of MEAI, Hyderabad on 15/07/2010 at 17:00 hrs. with the following agenda.

1. Review and confirmation of the minutes of 4th Council Meeting held at Bhubaneswar.

2. Approval of accounts of MEAI.

3. Approval of Annual Awards.

4. Approval of final draft amendments to some of the existing Rules and Regulations of MEAI.

5. Approval of new membership applications.

6. Discussion on the performance of some chapters.

7. Other points with the permission of the Chair.

All the office Bearers, Council Members and Past Presidents ( Special Invitees) are requested to make it convenient to

attend to the meeting. Members interested in advance reservation in hotels may please contact the Secretary General

(Rs.1000/- is minimum per day in medium range hotels).

A.S.Rao

Secretary General, MEAI.

MINING ENGINEERS' ASSOCIATION OF INDIAHYDERABAD CHAPTER

CIRCULAR

It is proposed to organise an interactive meet on 'Management of Mineral Resource Utilisation with Special Reference

to Coal and Iron Ore' On 26-07-2010 from 09.30 hrs to 17.15 hrs. at Hotel Golconda, Hyderabad, jointly with National

Mineral Development Corporation Ltd, Hyderabad.

V.K. Verma G. Sreenivasa Chowdary A. Sivasankar

Convener Secretary Chairman

MEAI, Hyd. Chapter MEAI, Hyd. Chapter

U


MINING ENGINEERS' ASSOCIATION OF INDIAGUIDE LINES TO AUTHORS WHO WISH TO

PUBLISH THEIR ARTICLES / PAPERSIN 'MEJ' OR IN SEMINARS ORGANISED BY MEAI

The authors of the papers are requested to follow the guide lines given below:

1. The paper should be prepared in A-4 size in 'M.S. Word' format.

2. Two sets of hard copies and also a floppy should be sent to the Secretary General, MEAI.

3. The heading of the paper should be in capital letters (bold) followed by name/s of the author/s in smaller fontsize. Their designation, address, e.mail etc., be given at the bottom of the first page duly giving asterisk markof reference.

4. The starting para should be with 'Abstract' in italics.

5. Margins of at least 25 mm be left on all sides of the paper and the matter should be printed on one side of thepaper only.

6. The paper should be free from grammatical and spelling mistakes. However, we shall reserve the right to edit tothe extent it is necessary for clarity and coherent reading. If there are too many mistakes the paper shall bereturned to the author. Therefore, the authors are requested to make it doubly sure that the paper should be ofstandard.

7. The formulae/calculations/special symbols if any should be clearly read and easily presentable and in printableformat.

8. Drawings if any should be prepared in Indian Ink with due clarity and easy reference to the main body of thepaper. Use different methods of hatching on the drawings instead of colouring.

9. Annexures, appendices if any should be clearly and chronologically tagged or tandomly printed.

10. In case of multiple authors, only first named author shall be contacted.

11. Authors should note that the paper sent for publication should not have been presented in any forum/seminarbefore.

This is to request all the authors who may send their technical papers for publication in Mining Engineers' Journal thatthey should send a CD with a hard copy as many times in the papers send by e-mail portions and figures are not clearor are missing.

Secretary General,MINING ENGINEERS' ASSOCIATION OF INDIA

'A' Block, VI Floor, F-608, Raghavaratna Towers,Chirag Ali Lane, Abids, Hyderabad - 500 001. Ph. No. 040 - 23200510

E-mail : [email protected] Website : www.meai1957.in


MEAI/HYD/37/2010 05.06.2010

MINING ENGINEERS' ASSOCIATION OF INDIA37TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

It is proposed to organize the 37th Annual General Meeting of MEAI on 16th July 2010 at Hotel Woodbridge, Lakdi-ka-pul,Hyderabad between 9:30 hrs. and 13.30 hrs.

All the Office Bearers, Council Members, Life & Ordinary and Institutional Members are requested to make it convenientto attend to the meeting.

AGENDA1. Paying homage to the departed members during 2009 -10.

2. Welcome address by the President.

3. Presentation of Annual Report by the Secretary General.

4. Presentation of MEAI Accounts (by the Jt. Secretary) & approval.

5. Presentation of SME Trust Fund Accounts (by the Secretary General, Trustee) & approval.

6. Presentation of LMTF Accounts (by the Managing Trusty, LMTF) and approval.

7. Presentation of Annual Awards – 2010.

8. Presentation of draft amendments to some existing Rules & Regulations of MEAI (by Chairman, AmendmentsCommittee) & approval.

9. Discussion on performance of chapters.

10. Other points with the permission of the chair.

Members seeking accommodation at Hyderabad may contact the Secretary General indicating the type of accommodation(Lowest is Rs 1,000/- per day in a medium range hotel).

A.S.RaoSecretary General , MEAI.

MINING ENGINEERS' ASSOCIATION OF INDIAHyderabad Chapter

This is to inform that the Annual General Meeting of Hyderabad Chapter of MEAI 2010 will be held on 16-07-2010between 14.30 hrs. and 16.30 hrs. at Hotel Woodbridge, Lakdi-ka-pul, Hyderabad.

All the members of MEAI, Hyderabad Chapter are requested to attend to the meeting.

AGENDA1. Welcome address by Chairman.

2. Presentation of Secretary's Report for 2009-10.

3. Presentation and approval of Audited Accounts.

4. Felicitation to the members retired from service during the year 2010.

5. Discussion on future programme of the chapter.

6. Other points with the permission of the Chair.G. Sreenivasa Chowdary

Secretary, MEAI, Hyd. Chapter


CONFERENCES, SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS ETC.,

Printed by A.S. Rao, Secretary General, Mining Engineers' Association of India, Published by A.S. Rao, Secretary General,on behalf of Mining Engineers' Association of India and printed at Deepu Printers at 5-8-352, Raghav Ratna Towers (Ground Floor),

Chirag Ali Lane, Abids, Hyderabad - 500 001. and published at 5-8-352, Raghav Ratna Towers (Ground Floor),Chirag Ali Lane, Abids, Hyderabad - 500 001. Editor : Dr. K.K. Sharma

INDIA

2010

26 July 2010 : An interactive meet on 'Management of Mineral Resource

Utilisation with Special Reference to Coal and Iron Ore' at Hotel

Golconda, Masab Tank, Hyderabad, organised by MEAI, Hyderabad

chapter jointly with NMDC. Contact : The Secretary, MEAI, Hyderabad

chapter, Mining Engineers' Association of India, 'A' Block, VI Floor, F-608,

Raghavaratna Towers, Chirag Ali Lane, Abids, Hyderabad - 500 001. Ph. :

No. 040 - 23200510, Telefax : 040 - 66460479, E-mail :

[email protected] Website : www.meai1957.com

27 - 28 November 2010 : International Seminar on 'Development of

Chromite, Nickel and PGM Resources', at Bhubaneswar organised by

Society of Geoscientists and Allied Technologists (SGAT). Contact : B.K.

Mohanty, Advisor; SGAT, D-20, BJB Nagar, Bhubaneswar - 751 014. Email

: [email protected]; Mob.: 09437355664, Fax : 0687 - 2390687

10 - 12 December 2010 : Short term course on 'Environmental

Management in Mining & Allied Industries' at N.I.T. Rourkela. Contact

: Prof. D.P. Tripathy, Dept. of Mining Engineering, National Institute of

Technology, Rourkela - 769 008 (ODISHA). Tel.: 91-661-2462608, Email :

[email protected]

ABROAD

2010

8 - 10 July 2010 : Iron Ore Summit at the Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali

(Indonesia). Contact : Federation of Indian Mineral Industries, FIMI House,

B-311, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase - I, New Delhi - 110 020 (India) Tel.

:+91-11-26814596, Fax : +91-11-26814593, 26814594, Email :

[email protected], Website : www.fedmin.com

26 July 2010 : Open Pit Rock Mass Modelling Seminar, Perth, Australia.

www.acg.uwa.edu.au

27 - 28 July 2010 : Seventh Large Open Pit Mining Conference, Perth,

Australia. www.ausimm.com.au/lop2010

27 - 29 July 2010 : Queensland Mining & Engineering Exhibition,

Queensland, Australia. www.reedminingevents.com.au

2 - 4 August 2010 : Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum 2010, Kalgoorlie,

Australia www.diggersndealers.com.au

15 - 18 August 2010 : Uranium 2010, 3rd International Conference on

Uranium, Saskatoon, Canada. www.cim.org

25 - 28 August 2010 : I Expominerals, Curitiba, PR,

[email protected]

06 - 10 September 2010 : XXV International Mineral Processing Congress

2010, Brisbane, QLD. Contact : Alison McKenzie; Telephone : +61 3 9658

6123; Facsimile : +61 3 9662 3662. Conference website : http://

www.impc2010.org/

12 - 15 September 2010 : International Conference on Hoisting and

Haulage, Las Vegas, USA. www.smenet.org

15 - 17 September 2010 : MiningWorld Central Aisa - 16th International

Exhibition for the Mining and Processing of Metals and Minerals,

Almaty, Kazakhstan. www.ite-exhibitions.com

21 - 22 September 2010 : Gravity Gold 2010, Ballarat, Australia.

www.ausimm.com.au/gravitygold2010

27 September to 1 October 2010 : First International Seminar on the

Reduction of Risk in the Management of Tailings and Mine Waste.

Perth, Australia. www.minewaste2010.com

4 - 8 October 2010 : electramining : africa2010, MTN Expo Centre at

Nasrec, South Africa. Contact : The Exhibition Director, Specialised

Exhibitions. Tel.: +27(0)118351565, Fax : +27())114961363, Email :

[email protected]/[email protected]/

WWW.ELECTRAMINES.CO.ZA

16 - 18 November 2010 : World's Premier Mining Congress & Exhibition

at Tianjin China. Hosted by Ministry of Land & Resources, China. Contact

: SinoConfex. Tel.: +86-10-64466855, Fax : +86-10-58857006/64465825,

Email : [email protected] www.china-mining.org

23 - 26 November 2010 : V International Conference on Mine Closure,

Santiago, Chile. www.mineclosure2010.com

01 December 2010 : MPES 2010 - Mine Planning and Equipment

Selection Perth, WA Contact : The AusIMM Events Department; Telephone

: +61 3 9662 3166; Facsimile : +61 3 9662 3662

6 - 9 February 2011 : ISEE's 37th Annual Conference on Explosives &

Blasting Technique, San Diego, CA USA, Lynn Mangol, [email protected]

22 - 26 March 2011 : ConExpo-Con/Agg, Las Vegas, NV USA,

www.conexpoconagg.com

27 - 29 April 2011 : 24th Annual Best in the West Drill & Blast Conference

Spearfish, SD USA, Ron Eastman, (307) 680-8805

18 - 20 September 2011 : 6th EFEE World Conference, Lisbon, Portugal

www.efee.eu

12 - 14 October 2011 : 12th International Symposium on 'Mine Planning

& Equipment Selection MPES 2011' at Almaty, Kazakhstan. Contact : Dr.

Raj K. Singhal ([email protected]) Prof. Vera Muzgina, 132 Dostyk Ave.,

Almaty, the Republic of Kazakhstan, 05051. Fax : +77272 980839, Email :

[email protected] Official Website : www.mpes2011cmrp.kz

meai july 2010

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