Published in June 2008 Australia-China Mining Review
Jeng Group’s Xuandong mine will be used as a demonstration site to show leading mine safety practice and technologies under the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP). The partnership brings together seven major Asia-Pacific countries – Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, Korea and the United States – and was launched in 2006.
Under the partnership, the APP Coal Mine Health and Safety Steering Committee (CMHS) operates, whose members consist of both government and industry delegates from each partner country.
The CMHS Steering Committee is currently developing demonstration projects that will showcase leading mine safety practices and technologies. The first of these is a coal mine safety demonstration project to be undertaken by Australia and China in Hebei Province, China, as envisaged under the Australia–China memorandum of understanding (MoU) on coal mine safety.
It will showcase Australian technology, training and education in risk management and gas monitoring and will adopt leading practices and technologies to minimise mine deaths.
The Australian members of this working group include five major coal companies – Xstrata Coal, Anglo Coal, Centennial Coal, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton – as well as the Australian Federal Government, New South Wales and Queensland governments, the NSW Minerals Council, Queensland Resources Council and the Minerals Council of Australia.
Australia’s participation in the project will allow it to bring its expertise in defining the key risks and controls needed to improve safety and productivity. While specific technologies are yet to be determined, it is envisaged these will include those areas in which Australia is regarded as a world leader, including: ventilation management; gas monitoring and interpretation; strata management; gas drainage management; spontaneous combustion management; people and materials transport management; waste management; and emergency preparedness and incident response management.
The Xuandong mine was chosen as the coal mine safety demonstration site after a team of Australian technical experts visited potential minesites in China nominated by China’s State Administration of Work Safety. The mines were rated against selection criteria including high profile; single site located in a key coal mining province; part of a bigger organisation; not currently running at full capacity; and where gas drainage, gas monitoring, strata control and haulage systems could be improved.
Xuandong, located 150km from Beijing, has a reserve base of 80 million tonnes and currently produces 900,000t per annum using retreat longwall mining. Its planned production is 1.5Mtpa. There are currently 1300 workers employed at the mine.
The geology at the operation is relatively simple with a small number of known faults, a reasonably deep coal seam at 800m to 1100m, a coal seam thickness of 2m to 4.5m and a seam dip of 0 to 15 degrees.
Roadway development at the mine employs roadheaders plus drill and blast.
The mine is gassy with in-situ methane content of 7.2 cubic metres per tonne, permeability of 0.016Md, specific emission of 41cu.m per minute, but no outbursts to date.
For ventilation two intake and two return shafts are used and some water infusion for dust control on the longwall is employed.
The monitoring system includes a network of methane sensors underground, ventilation monitoring devices and a centralised surface control room; a carbon dioxide monitoring system is currently being installed. The mine has established and documented safety systems in place.
On the mines rescue side, Xuandong has facilities and equipment onsite, 40 trained team members and backup support available from neighbouring mines and a provincial service.
Australian Department of Resources mine safety manager Katherine Harman said the mine and company support for the project had been great with the mine and group staff “very keen”
“There has been very good cooperation experienced during the visits with all questions and inspections carried out undertaken in a comprehensive and transparent manner,” she said, also reporting the mine had excellent training facilities.
An integral part of the project is training/information exchange. With this in mind a two-day risk management training program has been delivered to key personnel at the Xuandong mine. The training was delivered to about 80 attendees in mid-March this year, providing workers with a better understanding of risk management principles.
While the Joint Implementation Plan is planned to be completed in mid-2008, it is envisaged that it will include a work plan for the Coal Mine Safety Demonstration Project which incorporates the following categories:
Safety, Health & Environment Management System
Mine Planning and Design
Principal Hazard Management Plans, including: technology identification; ventilation management; strata management; gas drainage management [including post-mining emissions]; spontaneous combustion management; people and materials transport management; waste management [including ingress protection]; and emergency preparedness and response management
Engineering and Best Practice Mining Systems, including: gas and ventilation monitoring; strata support installation; SCADA system and real-time risk management
Education and Training, including: preliminary training of key personnel; knowledge and skills based education; and the rollout of training modules.
The long-term goal of the project is to develop a strategic approach towards risk management and to advance towards the goal of zero fatalities and injuries in the coal mining industry in partner countries.
“The lessons learned at the demonstration mine will be incorporated into a series of training workshops for capacity building across all APP participants,” Harman said.
“The workshops will bring together technical experts and industry participants to share knowledge and information on safety practices and technologies, emergency procedures and risk management. This will initially occur at minesites across China and then be rolled out to member countries more broadly.”
APP has attracted $A6.25 million (39.82 million yuan) in funds from the Australian Government over five years, with $A5 million earmarked specifically for the demonstration project.
The Chinese Government has allocated 3 billion yuan ($A530 million) over the next five years to SAWS, specifically to identify measures to deal with gas management issues in coal mines; identify common problems and solutions; and promote a work safety strategy that focuses on safety, prevention, responsibility, and addressing health and safety problems.
