Published in March 2006 Australian Longwall Magazine

Mine management recognised the need for improvement in development panels and set about investigating various equipment and process options, with the aim of reducing injuries, improving driveage rates, improving longwall continuity and reducing costs.

Newstan commissioned Rathmines-based Macquarie Manufacturing to design and manufacture a services management monorail system to assist in achieving these outcomes.

The Macquarie-supplied system encompassed all services-related equipment from the face area outbye to the incoming services cut-through.

At the face, ducting, cables and hoses directly interface with the continuous miner, with no detachment required during the flitting and tramming process, making it no longer necessary to install or manage vent tubes, as with cables and hoses.

The sole requirement is the installation of an easily-managed monorail beam adjacent to the miner. Shuttle car extension cables are also strategically placed on the monorail.

The ducting and services then extend outbye to the fan and gate end box, both of which are suspended from the monorail. Incoming services to this area are also accommodated within the monorail system, outbye to the incoming services cut-through and through to the associated travelling road take-off points.

Macquarie sales manager Byron Mcilveen said manual handling of equipment had been reduced significantly, as well as the need for diesel equipment with the panel.

“Fan and gate end box management during the section advance is no longer an issue requiring machinery and labour, as both are suspended from the monorail. A series of traction drive units are located throughout the system, providing an integrated and autonomous means of system management,” he said.

At the mine, processes previously taking up to a complete shift are now completed within 30 minutes, without risk of injury, the need for ancillary equipment, or equipment damage. Belt moves are greatly reduced in time, with no cable, hose and tube work required.

Ventilation improvements have also been recognised, owing to the dedicated duct run to the working heading, combined with the unbroken duct run. A secondary ventilation system provides the dedicated means of ventilating the non-working heading.

Section tidiness and cleanliness have also improved dramatically, owing to equipment being suspended from the monorail, and not stored as individual components.

Mcilveen said development rates have also risen sharply, with results of the single-miner unit currently in operation surpassing previous best performance rates utilising twin miners.