Project Management Mining Technology Research Paper 2022

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Project Management
Mining Technology
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Executive summary
Mining sector has been in existence since the ancient times, providing a wide range of resources
such as coal for production of energy. With the dynamics and shifting environmental conditions,
mining practices have changed over time to embrace technological changes. This paper examines
mining of coal in Australia and the automation process in perspective of safety, productivity and
sustainability. A number of journal articles have been reviewed to provide in-depth details about
the automation of mining in Australia starting from the 19th century all the way to the present-
day.
Introduction
Mining has played a crucial role in the Australian industry dating back to the 19th century, and
has undergone a number of technological changes to the present-day practices used in mining
(Thomas, 2013, p. 3).
A report released by the Australian Government (2015) says that the nation is the leading
producer of lead, nickel, uranium and Zinc worldwide. The revenues earned from the mining
industry have grown to unprecedented levels with multiplier effects, resulting into a vibrant
economy contributing a significant portion of the national resources.
The mining industry had a turn around in the early 2000’s as a result of automation of mining
operations that resulted to efficiency and more safety of workers. Since most of the minerals
including coal are non-renewable, there has been a pressing need to use sustainable practices in
mining operations, increasing productivity while embracing safety measures at the same time.
Surface mining has employed the use of shovel and haul trucks for a relatively long period of
time, and its automation improved the mining process with mass benefits as discussed by
(Gunningham, 2006). The dynamic nature of this industry requires that technological changes
be embraced as factors of production shifts towards the mining industry following the general
rise in global prices of the mineral commodities (Connolly, 2011).
Coal mining in Australia
In the 19th and 20th centuries, coal extraction was particularly important since it was used to
provide energy in iron smelting and also production of electricity, since this was the time of
Industrial revolution and the steam powered engines (Fernando, 2017, p. 65).

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Just like the rest of the world, Australian production of coal declined with time since it is non-
renewable, and was gradually replaced with cheaper and abundant gas and other energy sources
in the late 1980’s. this was partly contributed by the environmental concerns of coal production
to the environment, resulting to stringent government policies being implemented as the coal
resulted into environmental pollution and other related environmental degradations. In the
present day, close to 24% of the world’s energy is derived from coal as its production continues
to dwindle, with literatures pointing towards a possible halt in production by the year 2050.
The reduction in coal mining activities is not due to depletion of reserves, but rather
environmental factors and availability of other clean sources of energy. There are 892 billion
coal reserves globally that have been proven. In one of the studies, (Medunić, 2018, p. 2)
argues that between the years 2020 and 2030, a peak in global coal production will be attained,
changing the future of energy supplies.
Even with the above dynamics in the mining industry pointing towards a possible closure of coal
mining operations, the Australian coal mining operations still remain vibrant as it is highly
automated thereby increasing productivity, enhances safety at work and also contributes to
sustainable exploitation of the resource (Fernando, 2017). A number of technological
advances have significantly impacted on the Australian mining industry, including but not
limited to; the use of longwall mining equipment, automated drilling machines and also
automated haul trucks which are becoming more common yet very efficient.
Automated technology in mining
In order to support safer, cleaner, productive and more sustainable mining, the Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial Research Organization CSIRO lays emphasis on the need for
development of remote and automated technologies (Ralston, 2014, p. 305). For a long period
of time, underground coal mining has presented a hazardous environment as the personnel is
always in close proximity to the machine in order to ensure efficiency. All these contributes to a
risky mining operation hence there is concern for safety, necessitating the automation of mining
activities.
Automation of mining process demonstrates significant potentials to meet the shortcomings of
manual control of equipment so as to facilitate more accurate mining methods, incorporating

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sensing to optimally control equipment thereby increasing personnel safety through remote
process operation (Groves, 2008). This increase in safety results into sustainable mining
operations eliminating prior problems that have resulted into collapse of mines burying people
alive and other safety concerns.
To achieve the goals of mining automation, there is a hierarchical processes and functional
components involved as shown in the diagram below.
Figure 1. Hierarchical processes and functional components in mining automation
Longwall mining
This is a highly productive underground mining used to extract coal in large blocks using
mechanized shearer (Ralston, 2014, p. 306). The size of a typical coal panel extracted can be
up to 5km in length and measuring between 200m to 350 m wide. As the shearer moves back and
forth across the coal surface, it is guided by rails to enhance precision resulting into high
efficiencies. Further, safety is enhanced by supporting the roof using hydraulic shields which are
shifted as the mining operation progresses.