Hazards Associated with Mining and Control Measures

The article discusses the hazards associated with mining such as slip and trips, UV exposure, noise, and dust inhalation. It also explores the control measures to minimize the risks. Additionally, it provides a summary of the geology that describes the formation of the Ballarat goldfields and the different mining systems that were used to mine gold in the Ballarat region. The article also explains how gold is mined in Ballarat today.

Name of the Student
Name of the Professor
City/State
Day/Month/ Year

QUESTION 1
On the day of a field trip, it was rainy and since I was absent a friend of mine narrated to me
about their visit to the mining site. During their visit to the mining site, they observed numerous
activities such as how the mining of gold was being done with the various process being used.
Though in the course of learning, they realized that there were many risks the workers were
going through during the mining operations. There were various hazards hindering them from
performing their duties effectively due to injuries experienced from those hazards in the site.
The hazards associated with mining include;
a) Slip and trips- Most workers working in the mine were sliding and falling thus injuring
themselves since the walking paths were very wet since it was raining.
b) UV Exposure- The miners are overexposed to ultraviolet rays which can put them at a
risk of getting skin cancer. The UV rays also cause serious damage to the eye if the
miners fail to put on protective eyewear (Carey, 2016, p. 12).
c) Noise- The were various drilling and heavy machines that were used in mining which
were very noisy. The noise from the mining site causes hearing damage but workers
don’t realize since the damage occurs very slowly. Over-exposure to excessive noise
result in concentration problems, tinnitus and also permanent hearing loss.
d) Dust inhalation- So many specks of dust are released during mining process causing
black lung which is realized when one is suffering from shortness of breath, scarring of
lung tissues which results to ongoing respiratory issues (Adwera, 2008, p. 123).

The risk assessment tool will allow quick view of the likely risk evaluated in terms of
likelihood
Frequency of
Occurrence
Hazard Categories
Catastrophic
1
Critical
2
Serious
3
Minor
4
(A)Frequent 1A
Unacceptable
2A
Unacceptable
3A
Unacceptable
4A
Medium
(B) Probable 1B
Unacceptable
2B
Unacceptable
3B
High
4A
Medium
(C) Occasional 1C
Unacceptable
2C
High
3C
High
4B
Medium
(D) Remote 1D
High
2D
High
3D
Low
4C
Low
(E) Improbable 1E
Low
2E
Low
3E
Low
4E
Low

The above-mentioned hazards can be controlled so as to minimize the risk associated with
them.
Hierarchy of Controls
ELIMINATION- most effective
SUBSTITUTION
ENGINEERING
ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS
PPE- Least effective
They can be controlled by;
a) Based on Hierarchy of controls, the hazards can be eliminated by removing them
physically to avoid injuries associated with them.
b) The hazards can be substituted such that hazards such as pouring waste materials into
the lake can be substituted by constructing waste pit where all the waste materials can
be stored and then recycled.
c) People should be isolated from the hazards by putting strict measures so that to
minimize injuries associated with these hazards. (Williams, 2010, p. 453).
d) The hazards can also be controlled by changing how people work on the mining site, for
example, giving out protective measures to the workers and visitors.

e) The hazards can also be avoided by developing a dust control plan. Installation of dust
control protection, medical screening and surveillance will assist in solving respiratory
problems
QUESTION 2
A summary of the geology that describes the formation of the Ballarat goldfields
The Ballarat Goldfields located in Yarrowee River in the Central Highlands commenced
exploration in1985. Geologically, the area consists of alluvial sediments and volcanic flows
originating from now –extinct volcanoes (Clark, 2006, p. 235).
Description of alluvial deposits
Alluvial deposits are materials deposited by rivers and they contain silt, gravel, sand and clay
and also organic matter. They are always most extensive in the lower part of rivers course
leading to the formation of deltas and floodplains but they may form at any point where the
rivers overflow its banks (Blee, 2010, p. 175).
Formation of turbidites
The turbidites are sediments which are carried and deposited by the flow of density. The rock
particles are carried away by water traveling at a certain velocity in order to suspend the
particles in water and push it along. Turbidities in sediments occur in carbonate as well as
siliciclastic sequences and their massive accumulations may result in the formation of
submarine fans (Adwera, 2008, p. 123)

Question 3
Describe three different mining systems that were used to mine gold in the Ballarat region.
There were different methods that were used in the past in mining of gold but currently, most
of them have been replaced by modern methods. The ancient methods used in Ballarat region
include;
Panning
This was a manual technique widely used in separating the other materials from gold. In this
method, filling of gravel and sand was done in a shallow pan which may have gold. The pan was
dipped into the water and shaken so that gold can be separated from gravel and other
materials. The gold will simply settle at the bottom of the pan quickly since it is denser
compared to the rock. The removal of panning materials was normally carried out on the
stream beds or bedrocks. (Tyler, 2010, p. 432).
This method of extracting gold is the cheapest and easiest method but it cannot be used in the
extraction of golds in large deposits this making to be unsuitable commercially (Kenny, 2009, p.
98).
Sluicing
This method was mainly used small-scale miners whereby gold extraction from placer deposits
using sluice box which is made using box having riffles intended to produce dead zones in the
current to permit dropping of gold from the suspension. The box placement is done at the
stream so that to channel the flow of water while the material bearing the gold is placed at the

top of the box. The current is used in carrying the material through the volt where various
dense materials together with the gold settles out behind the riffles while materials which are
little heavy runs out of the box as tailing (Gudde, 2009, p. 54)s.
Dredging
This mentioned method has mostly been replaced by most modern method but it mostly
applied miners doing mining activity in small scale by using suction dredges, a slight machine
capable of floating on liquid during the operation. The suction dredges entail a sluice box
supported by pontoons which are controlled by miner operation underground the water. In the
extraction of smaller golds then small suction dredges are preferred to old bucket line (Tilston,
2016).
The operation of greater scale dredging takes place on bare river gravel bars at the cyclic water
and the excavator is used in feeding a gravel screening plant and sluice box floating in a
provisional pond. The excavation of pond is done from gravel bar, filled with the natural water
table and then it is processed through a floating plant. This particular method involves low cost
since the movement of rock just takes place one (Lynch, 2004, p. 289).

How were the alluvial deposits mined in the early good rush days of Victoria?
Puddling
The process of pudding involves the elimination and processing of all dust's found beneath the
bedrocks and several turns can be treated especially when using puddling machines powered
by the horses. The mechanism is made of a wooden trough circular in shape and placed on the
central mound straight pole made of wooden and was attached to the post using a pin made of
iron. The iron rakes were hanging from the pole which was being dragged nearby the trench to
assist in breaking the clay and free the gold (Carey, 2016, p. 278).
Deep Lead mining
This particular method was less widespread. It was mainly used in areas where the deposits of
alluvial were buried beneath the primordial lava flows or younger sediments. The process of
deep lead mining involves a sinking of the main shaft in a solid ground and extending tunnels
from this underneath the old, buried riverbeds. At the intervals to the lead, a vertical
connection was made and then excavation of earliest gold-bearing gravels from the sides of the
major tunnel linking the tunnel over the lead. There were threats associated with applying this
method for example flooding problems were incurred more so during rainy seasons (Gilbert,
2014, p. 412).

Quartz reef mining
This process, Quartz reef mining was the extensively practiced technique of extraction and it is
still employed in some places up to date. Quartz Reef is the major source of gold in most
goldfields. The reef is dipped suddenly in the mining sections leaving the huge slots where the
reef had been. The reef was initially open-cut or quarried to gain the advantage of the rich
surface exposures then sinking the shafts or the tunnels to assist in tracing the gold concealed
at greater depth. After extraction, the crushing of quartz is carried out into the fine sand to
remove the gold (Coulson, 2012, p. 123).
How is gold mined in Ballarat today?
Most mining operations currently carried out in Ballarat today involves either underground or
surface methods and some involve hybrid manner whereby it combines all the methods. The
methods currently employed in Ballarat goldfield include;
Opencast mining
This method of mining gold is similarly termed as open-pit or open-cut mining. It is a shallow
mining technique which involves extracting minerals from the earth by removing them from a
borrow or open pit. The method mentioned is applicable when the mineral is found within the
surface thus does not require a long wall mining such as underground mining which is only
relevant when the mineral is deep inside the surface (Patterson, 2004, p. 321).

The enlargement of open pit mines is done until the exhaustion of mineral resource or an
increasing ratio of overburden to ore. The water is also controlled during the mining process so
as to protect the mining area from becoming a lake.
Heap Leaching
This method of mining involves extraction of minerals by the involvement in a chemical
reaction. The chemicals assist in the absorption of certain minerals then they are re-separated
after their division from other earth materials. This method is preferred economic wise by most
mining industries since it is a better alternative to conventional processing for example
agitation and flotation.

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