THE ULAN mine near Mudgee in New South Wales has joined a growing list of Huesker MineGrid users. The lightweight, high-strength mesh, manufactured in Germany and supplied locally by NBW Mining Ltd, is used to provide a barrier between longwall equipment and recovery crews, and goaf material behind the longwall.
It is credited with having significantly reduced longwall recovery times at many mines in NSW, Queensland and in other countries, particularly the USA.
Ulan has placed an initial order for a 250m-long, 16m-wide roll of the MineGrid mesh — the second largest mesh assembly supplied by NBW, according to its principal Nick Wills. The mine also plans to use MineGrid as a roof mesh, in place of conventional steel mesh, in a roadway development trial.
Longwall mines which have used the mesh consistently in the past 2-3 years in longwall recovery operations include Springvale, Angus Place and Baal Bone in the NSW Western Coalfield; Southland, Cumnock, Dartbrook, Wambo and South Bulga in the Hunter region; West Wallsend and Newstan in the Newcastle Coalfield; and Oaky Creek, Alliance and Crinum in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. The latter has installed the largest MineGrid section (280m by 17m). Newlands in central Queensland, now mining its second longwall panel, used the Huesker MineGrid mesh during the first panel changeover.
Wills said MineGrid was proving particularly effective in thick-seam mines, including West Wallsend, Dartbrook, Wambo and Crinum, where it enabled longwall recovery crews to work on shifting huge roof supports and other face equipment in complete safety. West Wallsend operator Oceanic Coal Australia, which extracts coal at a seam height of up to 4.5m, shifted the largest roof supports in the world in only three days with the help of the Huesker MineGrid mesh. Its light weight — a 200m-long roll might way only 5t — and simple design ensure installation is straightforward, while the PVC-coated woven polyester mesh has a tensile strength of up to 20t per linear metre. Wills said this was 10 times that of comparable mesh products. The design also ensures the mesh does not tear.
According to Wills, the MineGrid product continues to impress the “converted”. No mine had switched back to an alternative longwall recovery support method after introducing the Huesker MineGrid system.
