The defi nition of the working sections that will be used in a mine is usually initially made in the fi eld by the geologist supervising the drilling program. These initial defi nitions are often made on the basis of rules of thumb such as ‘coal less than 30 cm thick cannot be mined separately’; ‘partings more than 30 cm thick will be mined separately’; and ‘if a coal seam is less than 50 cm thick and the parting above or below is thicker than the coal, the coal will be wasted’. These decisions are also often made based on the requirement for a minimum sample mass for analysis, and the desire to collect data at the minimum resolution to conserve the exploration budget. In many cases the geological models based on this data are produced at a resolution that is inadequate to allow the mining engineer to produce a mine plan that will maximise project value. This problem is generally unrecognised. Where data is collected to a higher level of resolution the subsequent processes employed in the production of geological models and mine plans often discards the inherent value that is hidden in this data. Again this problem is generally unrecognised. This paper highlights this problem and then presents a methodology that ensures that the optimal working section is selected and compares the outcomes of applying this methodology versus adherence to the usual rules of thumb.
展开▼
