Saturday, September 25, 2010

Mining Strategy

Topics for Discussion
a. Overall strategy for the development of the Tutupan and other available deposits
b. Approach for the development of coal
c. Bench height

Overall Strategy
a. Consider the deposit as two adjoining pits: South and North
b. South Pit is centred on T100 seams and North is centred on T200 seams.
c. PAMA is currently developing the South Pit from the south end to an interim shell while SIS is developing the South Pit to final limits from the north. 
d. In the North Pit, we have SIS in the south end, BUMA in the centre and RA developing new ground northwards

Future Mining Areas
The following areas may become available in late 2007:
- North end of North Pit
- South of South Pit
Other areas the may become available later:
- Paringin
- Wara 1 and Wara 2

Development of Coal
a. Current practice varies from situation from situation, and there is a high incidence of developing coal across strike or from the highwall.
b. Both of these practices as sub-optimal, and lead to unnecessary coal losses.
c. Wherever possible, coal should be developed from the High Wall side towards the low-wall.
d. In addition to minimizing coal loss, this strategy allows free face blasting and removes most of the limitations on equipment size

Bench Height
a. Higher bench height reduces mining costs
b. Lower bench height increases selectivity, improving recovery
c. A bench height of 12 m is a good compromise in the TTP pit, especially if coal is developed from the HW
d. Complex areas may be split into 2 x 6m, or even 3 x 4 m benches if quality requirements dictate.