LONGWALL COAL MINING
The Aquila mine , located near Middlemount in Central Queensland , extends the life of Anglo American ’ s existing Capcoal underground operations by seven years , after the company ’ s nearby Grasstree mine reached its end of life recently .
The start of the circa-5 Mt / y operation is significant in that it has been developed as one of Australia ’ s most technologically advanced underground mines , leveraging Anglo American ’ s advancements in underground automation technology , remote operations , data analytics and FutureSmart Mining™ approach .
The mine features two longwalls , allowing operations to continue without the downtime usually required for longwall moves . Both longwalls are fully remote-capable and will be sequentially operated from a site-based remote operations centre ( ROC ) on the mine ’ s surface .
Aquila is vying for the most automated longwall operation within Anglo American Australia , a company that has three longwall mines on its books ( Aquila , Grosvenor and Moranbah North ).
The Grosvenor and Moranbah North operations have risen up the automation scale , with both operations now having state-of-the-art longwall equipment , technology and control systems to support advanced control , automation and remote operation capabilities .
This means all three of Anglo American Australia ’ s underground mines are now fully remote-capable , allowing operators to work from ROCs on the surface of the mine .
“ Grosvenor and our new Aquila Mine are leveraging advancements pioneered at Moranbah North Mine , which has achieved consistent high levels of remote autonomous longwall production , following a significant ongoing program of investment and the development of industry-first applications ,” the company said in an update from February .
Anglo American Australia is also partnering with CSIRO to undertake a world-first trial of technology to support automation in the roadway development phase of underground coal mining , it said .
Another company making significant automation advances is Glencore at its Oaky Creek underground coal mine in Queensland , Australia .
The company highlighted such technology during a visit from the Federal Minister for Resources and Water , Keith Pitt , back in September 2021 . The minister met production crews and was given a demonstration of the mine ’ s automated longwall .
Using ‘ ExScan ’ laser technology developed by CSIRO ’ s Centre for Advanced Technologies , Oaky Creek has become the first coal mine in Australia to fully automate its underground longwall operation , according to the company .
ExScan technology has a laser scanner and associated software capable of generating real time 3D maps of tunnels , walls and cavities underground where global positioning systems cannot penetrate , CSIRO says . These maps can be used for locating , steering and navigating equipment and vehicles .
At Oaky Creek , an above-ground control centre operates the longwall using 3D scans of the mining area , recorded by ExScan sensors and transmitted to the surface .
Understanding gas drainage impact
For many coal miners , understanding the impact of gas drainage activities on production can be an extremely challenging task .
Until now , there were no software solutions dedicated to this specific task , according to RPM Global . This means engineers are forced to rely on spreadsheets to understand when the drainage of each gateroad was completed and , therefore , the associated impacts on the critical development required for the next longwall move .
This has recently changed with the release of what RPM says is an industry first – the Gas Drainage Scheduling functionality inside the XPAC Underground Coal Solution ( UGCS ).
XPAC Solutions are a suite of commodity-based mine planning software
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