Novel Cutting Picks for Mining Industry and an Australian Standard. This research will enable the development of highly efficient and robust mining picks and establish the methodology and techniques for setting up an Australian standard for mining picks which does not exist at present but is imperatively needed by the mining industry. The novel technology will provide effective solutions to improving mine environment and safety, and reducing nation's power consumption, green house gas emission, ....Novel Cutting Picks for Mining Industry and an Australian Standard. This research will enable the development of highly efficient and robust mining picks and establish the methodology and techniques for setting up an Australian standard for mining picks which does not exist at present but is imperatively needed by the mining industry. The novel technology will provide effective solutions to improving mine environment and safety, and reducing nation's power consumption, green house gas emission, and environmental pollution. These will in turn reduce the probability of black lung which has been the biggest killer of underground workers in mines.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354778
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$30,000.00
Summary
Deep Earth Resource Characterisation and Extraction - An Integrated Geoscience Approach. Sustainability, economy and safety in resource recovery require a high level of understanding of the mechanics of geomaterials in their natural conditions and a multidisciplinary approach to the geotechnical issues involved. This initiative aims to bridge gaps between geotechnical disciplines, to combine the testing, analytical skills and experience of the research groups and to incorporate expertise and ide ....Deep Earth Resource Characterisation and Extraction - An Integrated Geoscience Approach. Sustainability, economy and safety in resource recovery require a high level of understanding of the mechanics of geomaterials in their natural conditions and a multidisciplinary approach to the geotechnical issues involved. This initiative aims to bridge gaps between geotechnical disciplines, to combine the testing, analytical skills and experience of the research groups and to incorporate expertise and ideas from the cognate disciplines of geology and geophysics so that innovative engineering practice will develop. This approach should achieve breakthroughs in understanding the behaviour of, and the safe economic extraction from deep resources including minerals, coal, gas drainage, petroleum and geothermal energy.Read moreRead less
Continuum Damage Mechanics in Geotechnical Engineering. Mining and oil exploration are amongst the major industries in Australia and must address geotechnical problems in which growth in damage plays a central role. For example, failure of an offshore platform can occur under cyclic environmental loading, due to accumulated damage to the seabed soils. Design tools are therefore needed that incorporate continuum damage mechanics in modelling the response of geomaterials. The project will place Au ....Continuum Damage Mechanics in Geotechnical Engineering. Mining and oil exploration are amongst the major industries in Australia and must address geotechnical problems in which growth in damage plays a central role. For example, failure of an offshore platform can occur under cyclic environmental loading, due to accumulated damage to the seabed soils. Design tools are therefore needed that incorporate continuum damage mechanics in modelling the response of geomaterials. The project will place Australia at the forefront in this field through the development of rigorous yet simple numerical models that achieve this, and thus underpin safe but economic geotechnical engineering solutions in the mineral resource industries.Read moreRead less
Mechanism and Control of In-situ Minerals Extraction. By introducing the theory of coupled hydraulic-mechanical-thermal-chemical processes and the well technology in petroleum engineering into in-situ minerals extraction, mineral values will be extracted directly from ore deposits without the need for mining. This work will have the potential to convert the known sub-economic mineral resources (about 37 million tonnes in Australia alone) into reserves. The five-year project will lead to a comput ....Mechanism and Control of In-situ Minerals Extraction. By introducing the theory of coupled hydraulic-mechanical-thermal-chemical processes and the well technology in petroleum engineering into in-situ minerals extraction, mineral values will be extracted directly from ore deposits without the need for mining. This work will have the potential to convert the known sub-economic mineral resources (about 37 million tonnes in Australia alone) into reserves. The five-year project will lead to a computer simulation assisted in-situ minerals extraction methodology for application in mining industry.Read moreRead less
The study and development of a 3D real-time stockpile management system. By successfully completing this project, the efficiency of existing infrastructure investments in industries involved in bulk material handling (inclusive of minerals, grain, sugar and woodchips) will be largely improved. This will allow such industries to contain costs and thus increase international competitiveness. Efficiencies gains (in these industries) to date have been in recover and processing with little attention ....The study and development of a 3D real-time stockpile management system. By successfully completing this project, the efficiency of existing infrastructure investments in industries involved in bulk material handling (inclusive of minerals, grain, sugar and woodchips) will be largely improved. This will allow such industries to contain costs and thus increase international competitiveness. Efficiencies gains (in these industries) to date have been in recover and processing with little attention to stockyard and movement within the stockyards. The industries sectors in which will receive the greatest benefits are in rural and remote Australia. There is also the ability of the system to be exported to overseas clients, particularly in the mining sector.Read moreRead less
Study of Coupled Water-Gas-Sediment (three-phase) Flows through Jointed and Stratified Rock. Coupled Water-Gas-Sediment Flows through Rock Joints project outcomes are expected to surpass the current knowledge on ground/slope stability and water inundation, enhance engineering solutions of the associated problems and provide vital improvements to public safety. The research team will publish the research outcomes through peer-reviewed journals and conferences, nationally and internationally, rais ....Study of Coupled Water-Gas-Sediment (three-phase) Flows through Jointed and Stratified Rock. Coupled Water-Gas-Sediment Flows through Rock Joints project outcomes are expected to surpass the current knowledge on ground/slope stability and water inundation, enhance engineering solutions of the associated problems and provide vital improvements to public safety. The research team will publish the research outcomes through peer-reviewed journals and conferences, nationally and internationally, raising Australia’s scientific profile within the civil engineering and mining community. The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and Institution of Engineers seminars will be organised to promote discussion with the practitioners while the Australian geotechnical community will gain expertise through the PhD program. Read moreRead less
Response of residential structures to blast vibration. This proposed project combines the expertise and disciplines of residential construction, structural dynamics and blasting technology. The ultimate aim of the project is to develop a rational methodology for assessing the damage potential of ground vibration resulting from blasting on typical Australian residential structures. The project involves field blast vibration measurements, static and dynamic laboratory tests on structural sub-assem ....Response of residential structures to blast vibration. This proposed project combines the expertise and disciplines of residential construction, structural dynamics and blasting technology. The ultimate aim of the project is to develop a rational methodology for assessing the damage potential of ground vibration resulting from blasting on typical Australian residential structures. The project involves field blast vibration measurements, static and dynamic laboratory tests on structural sub-assemblages in a controlled environment, and comprehensive analytical modelling of both loading and response. The outcomes from this research will have direct application to the mining, insurance, construction and defence industries.Read moreRead less
Uncertainty and Risk Quantifying Optimistion for Open Pit Mine Design and Production Scheduling. Open pit mine design and production scheduling (OPDPS) deals with the management of cash flows in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars, and is a critical aspect of mining ventures. To enhance decision-making under conditions of uncertainty, this proposal aims to develop a new methodology for OPDPS based on mathematical and statistical techniques which model uncertainty in key parameters, geol ....Uncertainty and Risk Quantifying Optimistion for Open Pit Mine Design and Production Scheduling. Open pit mine design and production scheduling (OPDPS) deals with the management of cash flows in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars, and is a critical aspect of mining ventures. To enhance decision-making under conditions of uncertainty, this proposal aims to develop a new methodology for OPDPS based on mathematical and statistical techniques which model uncertainty in key parameters, geological, mining and market/cost and their effects on economic forecasts. The new formulation is founded on stochastic integer programming, and its integration with spatial stochastic simulations of geological attributes. Methods developed are computerised and tested in field studies.Read moreRead less
The micro-thermo-mechanics of sand crushing in geotechnical collapse problems. Oil and gas exploration is a major industry in Australia. Collapse problems in the soil to which structures such as oil rigs are anchored are a major challenge, involving issues of safety, longevity and maintenance. Research on this topic has been devoted to non-crushable sands, but Australia's offshore seabed is rich in breakable calcareous sediments. We will create a novel theory and visualisation techniques that wi ....The micro-thermo-mechanics of sand crushing in geotechnical collapse problems. Oil and gas exploration is a major industry in Australia. Collapse problems in the soil to which structures such as oil rigs are anchored are a major challenge, involving issues of safety, longevity and maintenance. Research on this topic has been devoted to non-crushable sands, but Australia's offshore seabed is rich in breakable calcareous sediments. We will create a novel theory and visualisation techniques that will allow us to gain a deep understanding of sand crushing and will be a major step towards minimising the occurrence of catastrophic failures in the offshore oil and gas industry. Read moreRead less