Vol.

14

No. 1

MoNthly

August - 2012

Contents
Editorial News from the Mining World
Dr. S K Sarangi
President 94370 23134

05 07

A Study of Physico-chemical Characteristics of Coal from Bastacolla Underground Mines in Jharia Coalfield to ascertain its Quality Sadanand Sharma, Ritesh Kumar, Muniyan Sundararajan Outsourcing in Mining Industry - Concern for Safety PC Purohit 20 14

Vice President- i A. Bagchhi (099899 98600) Vice President- ii t.Victor (098221 23498) Vice President iii Arun Kumar Kothari (09414155413) secretAry GenerAl A. sangameswara rao (A.s. rao) (09849870397) Jt. secretAry cum treAsurer V.K. Verma (09490491700) council memBers (ex-officio) dr. V. d. rajagopal (09640566777), shri r.P. Gupta (093529 50025), shri meda Venkataiah (099002 56797), shri r. n. singh (098190 89120), shri t. V. chowdary (099493 59969) council memBers (elected) G.s. Purohit (09001797421), s.n. mathur (09427308502), V.s. mathur (09929991121), B. Arunachalam (09480257454), K.u. rao (098491 77677), s. Kuchroo (09234554376), V. Kartikeyan (09500035726), somanath Banerjee (09893019629), Koneru Venkateswara rao (092987 59625), c.s. Krishana murthy (09822104130), r.H. sowkar (09900256793), Avijit Ghosh (09432013110), Kabir Ghosh (09928906050), dr. t.n. Venugopal (09845217692), chetan Prakash Parihar (09887482007), d. Panduranga rao (09963744457), Binay Prakash Pandey (09448286155), mohan sahasra Bhudhe (095611516080), shri sushanta saha (94911 45180) council memBers (nominAted) sri n.K. nanda (09490760102), Pradeep Koneru (09840663636), Prof. A.c. narayana (099896 25346), dr. G.V. rao (09937519181), m. James (094442 89405) council memBers (co-oPted) r.K. sharma (011-26814596), B. ramesh Kumar (09848099868), n.d. rao (0674-2547950), c.s. dhaveji (094220 63909), Prabodh Kumar mohanty (09937097242) council memBers (rePresentAtiVes of lims) national Aluminium company | south indian mines & minerals industries Gujarat Ambuja cements ltd. | Gujarat siddhee cements ltd. Priyadarshini cements ltd.

Stability of Rock Slopes in Deep Open Pit Mines An Approach P. Balamadeswaran MEAI News Conferences, Seminars, Workshops etc., 33 36 27

Correspondence Address Mining Engineers Association of India

F-608, Raghavaratna Towers, A Block, VI Floor, Chirag Ali Lane, Abids, Hyderabad - 500 001. Ph. : No. 040 - 23200510, Telefax : 040 - 66460479 E-mail : meai1957@gmail.com Website : www.meai1957.com The Views expressed by the authors in these pages are not necessarily those of publisher / editor / MEAI. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without written permission from the publisher.

Secretary General,

MEJ, Vol. 14,

No. 1

August 2012

MEJ, Vol. 14,

No. 1

August 2012

Editorial Board
Dr. S.K. Sarangi Prof. B.B. Dhar Shri B.K. Mohanty Prof. Gurdeep Singh Shri S.K. Agrawal Shri P.C. Bakliwal Shri Dipesh Dipu Dr. P.T. Hanamgond Dr. S.K. Mukhopadhyay Prof. Sushil Bhandari Chairman Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member

Editorial
The Earth was evolved some 4500 million years ago. Since then, it underwent various phases of deformation and transformation due to ongoing geological processes over and beneath the surface of the Earth. Volcanic eruption, drifting and distribution of continents, and ocean basins, were all the periodical tectonic events resulting from the geochemical activity and structural adjustment in the Earths interior. Occurrence and recurrence of these crustal movements were well recorded in the geological history, the evidence of which can be found in rock strata, ocean sediments of different geological era and V.K. Verma fossilized remains embedded therein. These tectonic events, such Editor, MEJ as mountain building activity, ocean floor spreading and volcanic eruption, were not reported as catastrophes, as there was no human settlement on the Earth at that point of time. If today, volcanic eruption, earthquake or tsunami occurs, we call it catastrophic because now life existing on the Earth gets affected. But, in geological expression, it is still the natural outcome of the continuing geochemical and geological processes which are continuously at work since the Earths formation. In the geological past, warming and cooling phases of the Earth were recorded in consequent to natural variability and in response to the tectonic activity. The period of recurrence of warming and cooling was of millions of years. Man appeared on the surface of the Earth only about 1.0 to 1.5 million years ago. Even during that time, the Earth was in the process of stability and the process still continues. So, emergence of humans on the Earth is a recent happening compared to the total span of the Earths existence. Global Warming and Climate Change are the two sides of the same coin which gained prominence in the recent past. It has been assumed that the causes of the global warming are the human activities such as, burning fossil fuels, coal, oil, gas etc. which increase the level of green house gases in the atmosphere. The human-induced global warming has emerged as the lead theory which deduces that the Earth is warming due to the increased green house gases caused by the human activity, and will eventually destroy the planet. United Nations constituted Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the main driver of human-induced climate change. IPCC is assisted by the scientists from NASA and other Government funded laboratories. The terms of reference for IPCC were conceived to assess scientific information strictly relevant only to i. Human induced-climate change ii. Impacts of human induced-climate change, and iii. Options for adaptation and mitigation. IPCCs reports are based on peer-reviewed and published literature. So far IPCC published four reports which sparked criticism on its assessment, also the assessment has not been assimilated by many scientists. IPCC reports frightened the people of the world with the extreme consequences of global warming in a decade or two or by the end of the century. IPCC does not seem to have the researches carried out on the other possible factors for the climate change. Needless to mention that the Scientists and Technologists are held in high esteem for their contributions prior to and after the Industrial Revolution. The modern world is the result of scientific discoveries and inventions over the last three centuries. But, Global Warming or Climate Change is, in no way, a scientific discovery. It is a theory which may be true or may not be. Any theory, to be adopted in National Economic Planning, needs to have higher degree of reliability because it involves huge costs in changing or modifying the conventional system for the economic development. The fear of catastrophic climate change has permeated deep into the society. Respective governments world over have already resorted to alternate tools for development in order to arrest the damage to the environment. Few questions come to every educated mind. 1. Is the global warming really occurring? In the last one decade or so there has been no reported statistical increase in the Earths temperature. 2. Are the human activities causing climate change? Are other natural factors not responsible? 3. Are the increased green house gases causing the rise in the Earths temperature or vice-versa? 4. Is natural climate variability, in any way, concerned for the increase of the Earths temperature, if at all it is rising? (Continued on page 19)

Shri A. Sangameswara Rao Member (A.S. Rao)

Editor
V.K. Verma (Off. : 040 - 23200510) Cell : 94904 91700

PUBliSHEr
A. Sangameswara Rao (A.S. Rao) Secretary General, Mining Engineers Association of India Mob: 98498 70397

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MEJ, Vol. 14,

No. 1

August 2012

MininG enGineerS aSSoCiation of india

regd. office : Rungta House, Barbil (Orissa)
Aarvee Associates, Architects, Engineers & Consultants Pvt. Ltd. (LIM-049) ACC Ltd (LIM - 25) A.P. Mineral Dev. Corp.Ltd., (LIM-12) Aravali Minerals & Chemical Industries (P) Ltd. (LM-048) Associated Mining Co., (LIM-19) Associated Soapstone Distributing Co. (P) Ltd. (LIM-057) Belgaum Minerals (LIM - 64) Bharat Alloys & Energy Ltd., (LIM-36) Designer Rocks (P) Ltd., (LIM-32) FCI Aravali Gypsum & Minerals India Ltd. (LIM-61) Grasim Industries Ltd., (LIM-26)0 Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd., (LIM-3) Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd., (LIM-6) Gujarat Mineral Dev. Copr Ltd. (LIM-18) Gujarat Sidhee Cements Ltd., (LIM-4) Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd. (LIM-9) (Formerly IDL Industries Limited.) Hindustan Zinc Ltd. (LIM-60) India Cements Ltd. (LIM-16) Indian Rare Earths Ltd., (LIM-35) J.K. Cement Ltd (LIM - 058) JSW Cement Ltd. (LIM - 63) Jubilee Granites India Pvt. Ltd., (LIM-23) Kariganur Mineral Mining Industry (LIM-41) Kirloskar Ferrous Industries Ltd., (LIM-33) Krishna Mines (LIM-27) Madras Cements Ltd., (LIM-17) Manganese Ore (India) Ltd., (LIM-37) M.P.L. Parts & Services Ltd., (LIM-14) MSPL Limited (LIM-30) Mysore Minerals Limited (LIM-45) National Aluminium Co. Ltd, (LIM-1) NMDC Ltd. (LIM-20) Obulapuram Mining Co. (P) Ltd. (LIM-54) Orient Cement (LIM-059)
Chapter Ahmedabad Barajamda Bailadila Bangalore Belgaum Bellary-Hospet Bhubaneswar Kolkata Goa Himalayan Hyderabad Jabalpur Rajasthan-Jaipur Rajasthan-Jodhpur Nagpur New Delhi Rajasthan-Udaipur Dalli-Rajhara Raipur Rourkela Rayalaseema Singareni Sukinda Tamil Nadu Veraval-Porbandar Visakhapatnam Chairman Secretary

Life inStitutionaL MeMberS

Panduronga - Timblo Industries (LIM-056) Pearl Mineral Ltd., (LIM-39) Priyadarshini Cement Ltd., (LIM-5) Radials International (LIM-29) Rajgarhia Group of Industries (LIM - 050) R.K. Marbles Pvt. Ltd., (LIM - 52) Rajasthan State Mines & Minerals (LIM-053) Sagar Cements Ltd., (LIM-21) Sandvik Asia Limited (LIM-46) Sesa Goa Ltd., (LIM-11) Shree Cement Ltd. (LIM-051) Shri Sharda Cold Retreads (P) Ltd., (LIM-24) Shree Engineering Services (LIM-15) S.N. Mohanty (LIM - 62) South India Mines & Minerals Industries (LIM-2) South West Mining Ltd. (LIM-40) Sri Kumarswamy Mineral Exports (LIM-43) Sudarshan Group of Industries (LIM-047) Tata Chemicals Ltd., (LIM-7) Tata Iron & Steel Co, Ltd (LIM-8) Terra Reserves Determination Technologies (P) Ltd., (lim-055) The K.C.P. Ltd., (LIM-22) Thriveni Earthmovers (P) Ltd., (LIM-31) Tungabhadra Minerals Pvt. Ltd. (LIM-42) UltraTech Cement Ltd., A.P. Cement Works, (LIM-28) Ultra Tech Cement Ltd. (LIM-10) Veerabhadrappa Sangappa & Company (LIM-44) V. Thirupathi Naidu (LIM-34) VS Lad & Sons (LIM-38) W.B. Engineers International Pvt. Ltd., (LIM-13) INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS Singareni Collieries Company Ltd., (IM - 1) Voltas Ltd. (IM - 2) Reliance Cement Company Pvt. Ltd. (IM - 3)

A.L. Thakor S.G. Patel D.B. Sundara Raman Shailesh Verma V.K.S. Rathore B. Venkateswarlu D.V. Pichamuthu D.H.M.V. Swamy S.S. Hiremath Dr. B.K. Purandara S.K. Verma Nagesh Shenoy T.K. Rath J.K. Hota M.N. Rai Dattaguru R. Vaze A. Avudaiyappan J.L. Sud Rajneesh Sharma A. Sivasankar G. S. Chowdary O.P. Gupta P.C. Bakliwal Prof. Virendra Singh P.C. Purohit Dr. S.C. Singhal H.R. Kalihari Prof. B.B. Dhar Prof. G.S. Roonwal Akhilesh Joshi Dr. S.S. Rathore Merged with Raipur B.P. Mishra Dr. R.K. Jade Not functioning J.V. Dattatreyulu K. Laxminarayana (Merged with Bhubaneswar Chapter) R. Natarajan P. Balamadeswaran N.K. Nuwal Vinod Saraswat R.H. Rao K. Hari Krishna

Past Presidents & Secretaries

Period 1957-64 1964-67 1967-68 1968-69 1969-70 1970-71 1971-72 1972-73 1973-75 1975-76 President B.L. Verma Late N.S. Claire L.A. Hill Late H.L. Chopra S.S. Manjrekar Late R.C.B. Srivastava Late R.K. Gandhi I.N. Marwaha Late R.S. Sastry G.L. Tandon Secretary/Secretary General Late B.N. Kanwar Late R.C. B. Srivastava Late S. Chandra M.G. Jhingran V.S. Rao M.G. Jhingran B. Roy Chowdhury D.D. Sharan M.S. Vig K.K. Biran MininG enGineerS aSSoCiation

MininG enGineerS aSSoCiation of india 1975-76 G.L. Tandon K.K. Biran 1976-78 D.L. Patni A.K. Basu 1978-80 R.C. Mohanty Late S.K. De 1980-81 M.K. Batra R.C. Dutta 1981-82 D.K. Bose S.B. Mukherjee 1982-83 P.R. Merh M.K. Srivastava 1983-86 V.S. Rao L.S. Sinha 1986-88 M.A.Khan D.K. Sen 1988-90 Saligram Singh A. Panigrahi 1990-93 M. Fasihuddin B. Mishra 1993-95 K.K. Biran S. Chandrasekaran 1995-97 N.S. Malliwal Dr. P.V. Rao 1997-99 T.V. Chowdary Late CLVR Anjaneyulu (S.G.) 1999-2001 -do-do2001-2003 R.N. Singh -do2003-2007 Meda Venkataiah -doLate CLVR Anjaneyulu & Shri A.S. Rao 2007-2009 R.P. Gupta 2009-2011 Dr. V.D. Rajagopal A.S. Rao 2011-2013 Dr. S.K. Sarangi A.S. Rao

MEJ, Vol. 14,

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August 2012

NEWS FROM ThE MINING WORLD

iron & SteeL
D Crude Steel World crude steel production for the 62 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 131 million tones (Mt) in May 2012, an increase of 0.7% compared to May 2011. Countries with steel production in May 2012 Countries China Japan South Korea Germany Italy France Spain Turkey US Brazil D May 2012 in Mt 61.2 9.2 6.0 3.7 2.6 1.5 1.3 3.1 7.7 2.9 increase / decrease from May 2011 +2.5 +2.0 +2.0 -9.7 -3.3 +1.3 -13.9 +6.6 +7.4 -11.7 D for expansion to help it boost production capacity amid the PSU drawing flak for coal shortage across the country. Though the CIL had asked for 138 mines, the Coal Ministry asked the coal major to recast its plans. Since, CIL is a government owned company, the Coal Ministry, under the government dispensation route, has the right to allocate mines to the CIL. Government plays safe on coal mining leases With coal-gate emerging as the latest scam to rock the country, the Odisha Government said that it would seek clarification from the Centre on whether to go-ahead with grant of mining leases to companies allotted with coal blocks in the state. Around five to six companies have received the necessary clearances and the state governments can recommend grant of mining leases to them, official sources said. However, in view of the alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks to private companies during 2006-09, from leaked draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India which gave companies windfall gains of Rs. 10.67 lakh crore, the state government does not want to take chances, sources added. Before executing agreements with the concerned companies, we would seek certain clarifications from the Union Coal Ministry, Chief Secretary, Odisha Bijay Patnaik said. Official sources said the state government does not want to land itself in any controversy as it is already haunted by the multi-crore mining scam. We do not want further trouble because of coal. The Centre has done the allotment without taking the state government into confidence. It should give its views before we take a final call on grant of mining leases to the companies, a senior officer said. D tata Power keen on Coal Mines in indonesia, South africa: Leading private utility Tata Power has said to ensure future fuel supply, it will continue to look for coal mines abroad, as the domestic supply shortage has been impacting its operations. We are already scouting for coal mines overseas. We are looking at Indonesia and South Africa for acquiring coal mines, Tata Power Executive Director for Operations S Padmanabhan told PTI. The price of imported coal is nearly double the domestic rate, hence companies are not keen on running their plants with such coal supplies alone, as they are not able to pass on the price difference to users in most cases. August 2012

odisha Government to transfer 2000 acres to PoSCo: report The Odisha Government will transfer about 2,000 acres to South Korean steel major Posco to begin work on its $12 bn project near Paradip in Odisha. Reports stated that out of total 2,000 acres acquired by the Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IIDCO), 500 acres have already been transferred to the steel major and the remaining will be done at the earliest. The steel company needs 2,700 acres to start work on the proposed 8 mtpa plant and the State Government would take all possible measures to acquire and transfer remaining 700 acres as well. The Memorandum of Understanding with Posco would also be renewed soon and a tripartite will be signed.

CoaL
The Prime Ministers Office (PMO) has asked the Coal Ministry to fast-track the process of taking back the coal blocks from private firms which have not developed them and giving the deallocated coal mines to Coal India (CIL), advising the CIL to appoint mine developers and operators (MDOs) to begin production from these deallocated coal blocks without delay. The Coal Ministry had recently allotted 116 mines to CIL

MEJ, Vol. 14,

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While a tonne of imported coal is priced at USD 110, the same is available in the domestic market at half that cost. But, the state-run monopoly, Coal India is able to supply only around 70 percent of the domestic demand. Coal India currently produces only 440 million tonne, while the demand is 650 mt. Coal India is meeting the gap through imports. Explaining the rationale for owning more mines overseas, Padmanabhan said, Given the demand for our power plants and the shortage of domestically produced coal, we have to depend on imports. Currently, the company sources coal from four mines in Indonesia and two from Australia. D Government to oppose auction route for Coal Mine In a move that might put the Centre in a confrontation, with the judiciary, the government has decided to put its foot down against complete auction of coal blocks. The Finance Ministry, which is now under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has decided to oppose the proposed policy to make auction the binding principle for dealing with coal blocks. The Finance Ministry is of the opinion that auction could only be considered for surplus coal blocks and there is no question of auctioning the blocks meant for captive use by power projects. Government sources told Headlines, Top priority of government at this point of time is to produce cheap power. Coal is the most important input for the countrys proposed UMPPs (Ultra Mega Power Plants), adding that Revenue maximization is not the sole objective of natural resources, it has to be balanced with larger national good.Taking on the Comptroller and Auditor General on the issue, sources said that Making policy is not CAGs jurisdiction. CAGs observation on a matter outside its jurisdiction should not be the reason for government to shift its policy focus. The CAG, in its draft report, said that not auctioning of coal blocks caused a loss of INR 180,000 crore to the exchequer. D Steel companies step up coking coal imports Indian steel companies show trends of increasing coking coal imports, as better supplies have helped ease prices. The steel makers want to sign contracts quickly at prevailing rates, expecting future price surge, said analysts and traders. In International markets coking coal prices have come down by $10-$15 per tonne to $220 a tonne, as supplies from Australia, the biggest producer, improved recently. Companies such as NTPC and SAIL have already hinted about increasing their coking coal imports by around MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 8

15 percent this year. Besides Australia, they are also eying South African mines to meet their requirements. India imports about 30 million tonne coking coal every year, mainly from Australia, Indonesia and recently, from South Africa to meet the demand of its ever rising steel industry and to feed the limited demand seen in power sector. D Coal to play a major role in emerging countries. According to a report from the Business Research, coal will play a major role in meeting the energy needs of emerging countries over the next ten years, as India and China have abundant reserves. Countries such as the US, Russia, China and Australia also have huge coal reserves. The report said that China, India and the rest of Asia are the key focus areas for coal fired investment in the coming decade. Strong projected electricity demand growth and low production costs make the region attractive for both domestic and global participants. The analysis finds that Indonesia and Vietnam will emerge as major countries fuelling demand for coal fired electricity generation. Japan and Korea will offer limited prospects, while Australia will experience strong growth. Yet, reliance on gas and oil in the Middle East, on hydroelectric power in south America and poor infrastructure and political stability in Africa, will limit the prospects for coal fired power generation in these regions. The report added that North America and the European Union will continue to be key market for coal. However, prospects for coal fired power generation in Europe and North America are currently looking bleak due to the threat of tougher regulations. D ePa ruling will limit use of coal for power in uS US court ruling upholding greenhouse gas emission rules will limit the use of coal to generate electricity and make it unlikely that new coal-fired power plants will be built. The ruling could hasten the shutdown of some older coal-fired plants. The use of coal to generate electricity has been under pressure already because of competition from cheap natural gas. A three judge panel of the US Court of Appeales in Washington upheld Environmental Protection Agency regulations, designed to reduce gases, blamed for climate change. The rules will cut emissions of 6 gases produced by power plants, factories and vehicles. Coal-burning plants produce more of those gases, such as carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide, than do plants August 2012

that run on natural gas. The coal industry has struggled to find a cost-effective way to catch carbon dioxide before it escapes into the atmosphere. The courts ruling would increase US use of other fuels, especially natural gas. It said the ruling will make construction of new coal-fired plants unlikely and further, strains the operations of older, smaller coal-fired plants already struggling to meet anti-pollutions rules. Many of these plants may be prematurely retired. D india to setup steel plant in Mangolia In a move to reduce dependence on highly priced Australian coking coal, India will acquire a mine in Mongolia and set up the first steel plant in the quality coal rich country. The plan is to acquire the mine, utilize the coal for the steel plant, India proposes to set up in Mongolia and export the rest to India through Chinese ports as Mongolia is a land locked country. Despite being a growing economy with abundant coking coal mines, Mongolia does not have any steel plant of its own. This will be the first attempt by India to break away from the excessive dependence on Australian coking coal, which has become too costly in recent years pushing up the cost of steel production to very high level in India. India is importing 35 MT of coking coal every year about 60 to 70 per cent from Australia which is close to India and the rest from US and New Zealand. Considering India plans to expand steel production from the current 80 MT to 200 MT by 2020, it is looking to get coking coal securitization, as there are no quality coking coal mines back home. D PPP model for coal mining The Coal Ministry is preparing a draft on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in the form of Mining, Development and Operations (MOD) agreement for exploration of coal mines by private entities in close association with Coal India Limited (CIL) to push up coal production and induct new technology through private sector participation in the XII Plan. This is being seen as a step to ease the coal supply situation, especially in view of the failure of state-run CIL to meet the requirements of the power sector. The matter has also been discussed with the Planning Commission, which is backing the PPP model for exploration of coal mines. The MOD would stipulate that the coal mines as well as the ownership and sale of coal shall continue to rest with CIL while the selected private sector player would undertake mining operations on the basis of agreed costing to be determined through competitive bidding. MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 9

Mushrooms seized formation of coal Mushrooms may be the culprit behind the shortage of coal on earth, as scientists claim to have found evidence that shows the arrival of fleshy fungi species may have stopped the formation of coal deposits about 300 million year ago. They have found evidence that the evolution of fungi capable of fully digesting plants may have stopped dead plants building up into peat, and then forming coal. Coal is actually the fossilized remains of plants that lived from around 360 to 300 million years ago. But at the end of that period, coal stopped forming. The discovery might pave the way for new biofuels.

fertiLiZer MineraLS
D

india revives interest in strategic investments in belaruskali The Indian government will revive bilateral talks with Belarus to clarify the privatization of potash company BelarusKali, in the hope of acquiring a stake in the company, a senior official in Indias Chemicals and Fertilizers Ministry said. There have been reports received here in India that there was no political unanimity in Belarus on privatization of BelarusKali. A fresh round of government-to-government talks would be initiated to know the exact position of the Belarus government and reaffirm (the) pitch for investments in the potash company by a consortium of India government-owned fertilizer companies, the official added. Last year, in August, bilateral talks for strategic investments were held, but no direction was achieved. Talks would be revived very shortly, considering that acquisition of fertilizer mineral assets overseas was very high on the agenda of the Indian government, he added. The State-owned potash miner BelarusKali, which controls potash deposits hosting some one-billion tons and is one of the worlds largest fertilizer suppliers, has been valued at around $32-billion. The Indian government has proposed the creation of a sovereign fund of about $5-billion to support State-owned fertilizer producers and to acquire fertilizer mineral assets overseas. Indian demand for fertilizer would rise 4% to 61.27 million tons during 2012-13, with urea consumption forecast at 32 million tons, diammonium phosphate at 13.24 million tons and potash at 4.69 million tons. India is fully dependent on imports to met domestic demand for phosphatic and potassic fertilizers.

india spends for resource linked infrastructure The Indian government has set aside some $1-billion to provide fertilizer companies with soft loans to create August 2012

logistics and infrastructure facilities in African countries such as, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ghana as a precursor to acquiring mineral assets in these countries. It is necessary to deepen economic cooperation leading to convergence of economic needs of two countries before mineral asset acquisitions can be successfully negotiated, a senior official in Indias Department of Chemicals and Fertilizer said. It is very difficult to successfully gain access to overseas mineral assets, particularly in Africa, without long-term bilateral economic engagements. The model adopted by China has been very successful. Chinese companies invest heavily in infrastructure and logistics before gaining concessions for minerals. India needs to adopt a similar approach the official said. The Indian government proposes to spend $1-billion between 2012 and 2017 through government-owned fertilizer companies to establish sovereign commitments in the African countries. Subsequently, the corpus would be increased to fund mineral asset acquisitions. India is fully dependent on imports to meet domestic demand for phospatic and potashic fertilizers and imports about 10 million tons of urea a year.

plants, a move hotly contested by Republicans and industry in an election year. The Environmental Protection Agencys proposal would effectively stop the building of most new coal-fired plants in an industry that is moving rapidly to more natural gas. But the rules will not regulate existing power plants, the source of one third of U.S. emissions, and will not apply to plants that start construction over the next 12 months. The watering down of the proposal led some ardent environmentalists to criticize its loopholes, but a power company that has taken steps to cut emissions praised the rules. While the proposal does not dictate which fuels a plant can burn, it requires any new coal plants to use costly technology to capture and store the emissions underground, New coal-fired plants would have to halve carbon dioxide emissions to match those of gas plants. Were putting in place a standard that relies on the use of clean, American made Technology to tackle a challenge that we cant leave to your kids and grand kids, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson told reporters in a teleconference.

enVironMent
D

onGC gets Carbon credit for wind power project ONGC has received 121,207 carbon credits for its 51 MW wind power project at Bhuj in Gujarat, the company said in a statement. These credit points have been given by the United Nations body on climate change United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Changes. This is the first issuance of credits from this project and second overall from the oil majors cache of six registered environment improvement projects, the company said. The project was registered in March 2010 for 21 years, with an annual accruable certified emission reductions (CER) of 85,762. This is the maiden issuance for the monitoring period from March 2010 to June 2011. We are positioning sustainable development with a key focus on environment management in our recently declared long-term perspective plan 2030, said Mr Sudhir Vasudeva,Chairman and Managing Director, ONGC. The Obama administration proposed the first rules to cut carbon dioxide emissions from new U.S. power

atoMiC MineraLS
D China starts Stockpiling rare earths: report China has started stockpiling rare earths for strategic reserves, a state backed newspaper said, in a move which may raise more worries over Beijings control of the coveted resources. China has already started the purchase using state funds and storage of rare earths for strategic reserves, the China Securities Journal said, but did not say exactly when the initiative was launched. The country produces more than 90 per cent of the worlds rare earths, which are used in high-tech equipment ranging from iPods to missiles, and it has set production caps and export quotas on them. Major trading partners last month asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) to form a panel to resolve a dispute over Chinas export limits on rare earths after earlier consultations through the global trade body failed. The European Union, the United States and Japan claim China is unfairly choking off exports of the commodities to benefit domestic industries. The newspaper said, that current low prices for rare earths had prompted the start of strategic buying and the reserves could be used to address future shortfalls of the resources. China had already announced its intention to build a strategic reserve system, but had not publicly said that it had started stockpiling. 10 August 2012

MEJ, Vol. 14,

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nod for Sand MininG in aP

The supply of sand for construction sector is likely to improve with the Central Government approving Andhra Pradesh Government proposal for clearance of mining in 36 sand reaches. The Environmental Impact Assessment Authority under the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests has approved the States proposals to allow mining of sand in these 36 reaches identified and approved for sand mining in the State. The supply of sand was adversely impacted due to ban on sand mining activity following directives of the court. The State has also begun promoting use of rock sand. With the approvals, the State Mining Department would now be able to offer these sand reaches for development through an auction process.

officials oversee the environmental and human rights impacts of Indias mines and many other industries and at state level monitoring is almost non-existent. In effect, the authorities rely almost exclusively on information provided by mine operators themselves when it comes to the environmental and social impact of new projects and existing mines.

PoWer and infraStruCture

CLiMate CHaGe
D

Worlds largest turtles may face extinction Leatherback turtles, the largest sea turtle species on earth, could be wiped out completely if global temperature continues to rise unabated, a new study has claimed. According to the new study, published in journal Nature Climate Change, deaths of turtle eggs and hatchlings in nests buried at hotter, drier beaches are the leading projected causes of the potential climate related decline. Leatherbacks are among the most critically endangered turtles due to a combination threats, including egg poaching at nesting beaches and turtles being caught in fishing operations. The research by a team from Drexel University, Princeton University and other institutions suggests that climate change could impede this creatures ability to recover. If actual climate patterns follow projections in the study the eastern Pacific leatherback turtles will decline by 75 per cent in numbers by the year 2100, the researchers said.

Core Sector Growth slows to 3.8% in May - Coal and Cement Sectors post impressive Growth The countrys economic prospects seem to be looking up as infrastructure sector grew by 3.8 per cent in May. In April, it had clocked a dismal 2.2 per cent. The infrastructure sector had grown 5.8 per cent in May 2011. The core industries weigh 37.9 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). According to the data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry, Cement and Coal production grew 11.3 per cent and eight per cent, respectively, up from 1.2 per cent and 1.3 per cent in May last Year. However, sluggishness was apparent in sectors like crude, oil, natural gas and fertilizers, reflective of a slowing economy. Natural gas and fertilizer output contracted by 10.8 per cent and 15.1 per cent, respectively. Crude oil and petroleum refinery output slowed to 2.9 per cent and 4.5 per cent in May last year. Electricity generation and steel production, too, dipped to 5.2 per cent and 4.9 per cent in the month under review from 10.3per cent and 8 per cent in the year-ago period.

tata PoWer to Set uP ProJeCtS abroad

D

HuMan riGHtS
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600 Mines out of Control Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Thursday that Indias government has failed to enforce key human rights and environmental safeguards in the sub-continents resource industry. The 70-page report finds that deep-rooted shortcomings in the design and implementation of key policies have effectively left mine operators to supervise themselves. The report describers pervasive lawlessness in Indias scandal-ridden mining industry and the collapse in enforcement of laws to protect local communities: The report states that only a few dozen central government No. 1 11

Scouting for opportunities in 7 countries, says Md Tata Power plans to diversify into geo-thermal energy and set up power projects outside India. As per the statement of Shri Anil Sardana, Managing Director, Tata Power, the company will continue to explore new power generating capacity to touch 26,000 MW, by 2020, with 25% coming from clean energy sources, at the same time the company is targeting to tieup for 15 million tons a year of coal resources for fuel securitization. Further, Shri Sardana stated that the company is working for setting up power plants in South Africa and other subSaharan African Countries, Indonesia, Vietnam, Turkey and West Asia; The company along with Norways SN Power is developing Hydro Power Projects in Nepal and is implementing the 114 Mega Watt Dagachu Hydro Power Project with Bhotans Druk Green Power Company, in Bhotan.

SoLar aCtiVitY CauSeS SPaCe StorMS

Taking a step towards understanding the origins of extreme space storms, a team of international scientists, including August 2012

MEJ, Vol. 14,

those from India, have identified the first images of an upward surge of the Suns gases into quiescent coronal loops. Space storms caused by extreme sun activity have proved to be quite a hurdle to mankind since they interfere in satellite communications and damage power grids on Earth. The study is the first to visualize the movement of gases at one million degrees in coronal loops Solar structures that are rooted at both ends.

CorPorate neWS
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Merger of Sesa Goa and Sterlite Shareholders of iron ore miner Sesa Goa have approved of the Sesa-Sterlite merger. On 25 February, London Stock Exchange-listed Vedanta Resources (parent company of Sesa Sterlite) had announced to restructure its operations. As per this, Vedantas all subsidiaries, except Konkola Copper Mines, will be merged into Sesa Goa and post-restructuring a new entity, Sesa Sterlite, will be carved out. Post merger, Vedanta will hold 58.3% stake in SesaSterlite. As per the scheme of arrangements, Sterlite shareholders will get three shares of Sesa Goa for every five shares held according to the swap ratio. Cairn India, Hindustan Zinc, Balco, Vedanta Aluminium, Madras Aluminium, Talwandi Sabo Power and Australian Copper Mines will become subsidiaries of Sesa Sterlite after the restructuring.

in mind the nature of the natural resource, the benefit to the country and the economy at large, and not merely by immediate financial considerations. Financial gain to the state which was highest through auction, was relevant but not the sole guiding factor in formulating policy for distribution of natural resource, it said Gain cannot be measured only in terms of revenue. Revenue considerations may assume secondary consideration to development considerations, the Centre said adding that The a Government keeps in mind several considerations while formulating an allocation policy for a natural resource to achieve the goal of common good or serve public interest. The consideration may be strategic, economic, security, growth of natural resource, social welfare through such allocations and also financial value of such allocations. It quoted a three-year-old World Bank report to tell the court that world over, petroleum licences were allocated using auctioning or competitive methodology, while mining licences were generally allotted on a first come first-served basis. World Bank report further records that the FCFS principle is the most frequently adopted criterion for granting mineral licences around the world, applied in all countries where mining sector is well developed, the Union government said.

PerSonaLitieS in neWS
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MiSCeLLaneouS
World over, the first-come first - served mode is preferred over auction route to allot mining leases, the Union Government told the Supreme Court ahead of the July 10 hearing on the presidential reference, questioning the apex court ruling which said distribution of natural resources should be through auction only. The apex court had on February 2 cancelled 122 telecom licences faulting allotment of spectrum or mobile services band width through first-come first-served mechanism and said natural resources should be distributed only though auction and not as largesse of the government. The mandate to auction all natural resources piqued the government and it took the constitutional route to question the efficacy of applying this ruling to other natural resources like mining, which has traditionally been done through FCFS mechanism for the last four decades. Filing statement of facts on questions raised by the President and indicating the broad contours of its line of argument before the Supreme Court, the Union government said through counsel Devadatta Kamat, The touchstone for testing any policy of distribution of natural resources is whether it subserves the common good in accordance with mandate of Article 39(b) of the Constitution. The norm of common good has to be understood and appreciated in a holistic manner, keeping MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 12

Malay Chatterjee is KioCL chief Mr Malay Chatterjee took over as Chairman-cumManaging Director of KIOCL Ltd in Bangalore on July 1st 2012. Mr. Chatterjee was the CMD of Hindustan Steelworks Construction Ltd earlier. He is a civil engineer and a law graduate. He also has a Master Degree in Science in Disaster Mitigation. Mr Chatterjee started his career as an Assistant Engineer with the Union Ministry of Water Resources in 1984. He took over as CMD of HSCL in September 2009. The Mining Engineers Association of India and the Mining Engineers Journal congratulate Shri Malay Chatterjee. B. Surender Mohan takes over as CMD, NLC Mr B. Surender Mohan assumed office as Chairman and Managing Director of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd., from 1st July 2012. Prior to this, he was holding the post of Director (Mines) in NLC from May 1, 2008. Mr Surendra Mohan, 56, has over three decades of experience in the mining industry. Prior to joining NLC he worked in Rourkela Steel Plant, Iron Ore Mines in Orissa and in Rashtiya Ispat Nigam Ltd. The Mining Engineers Association of India and the Mining Engineers Journal congratulate Shri B. Surendra Mohan. August 2012

SPeeCHeS/ StateMentS
Prime Minister`s Statement at the Plenary of the united nations Conference on Sustainable development (rio+20 Summit) on June 21, 2012 at rio de Janeiro Mr President Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen, Let me begin by congratulating President Dilma Rousseff for hosting this conference and for her outstanding stewardship of the negotiations. We thank the people of Brazil for their warm hospitality and the excellent arrangements made for this conference. Brazil, like India, is a confluence of cultures and peoples. I feel honoured to be among you. Mr President, We meet at a time of serious economic crisis and political ferment in the world. The Rio+20 Summit on Sustainable Development is timely because it focuses our minds on "the future we want" and how to realize it. Difficult though it may seem, we have to summon the imagination to balance the costs that we will incur in the present with the benefits that will accrue to future generations. Economic Development, social inclusion and environmental sustainability are all equally critical as components of sustainable development. The task before us is to give practical shape and content to this architecture in a manner that allows each country to develop according to its own national priorities and circumstances. For developing countries, inclusive growth and a rapid increase in per capita income levels are development imperatives. The 1992 Rio Summit correctly acknowledged that poverty eradication must remain the over-riding priority for developing countries. Those living at the subsistence level cannot bear the costs of adjustment and their livelihood considerations are important in determining how scarce natural resources such as land, water and forests are used. The severe deterioration of land and water resources is already affecting the well- being of millions of people living on the edges of subsistence, particularly women and children. Sustainable development also mandates the efficient use of available natural resources. We have to be much more frugal in the way we use natural resources. A key area of focus is energy. We have to promote, universal access to energy, while, at the same time, promoting energy efficiency and a shift to cleaner energy sources by addressing various technological, financial and institutional constraints. In India, we are implementing an ambitious National Solar Mission as a critical option for our energy security. MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 13

Moreover, current consumption patterns in the industrialized world are unsustainable. We need to find new pathways for sustainable living. Environmental sustainability is the third leg of the sustainable development architecture. Economic activity invariably results in negative spinoffs, either by way of local pollution, or by way of global effects such as Greenhouse Gas emissions. We need to tackle both. Local pollution can be regulated and such regulation may impose costs on various economic actors. To ensure equity, there may be a case for targeted assistance to small producers to meet part of these costs and this should be built into policy. At the global level, our approach to the problem should be guided by equitable burden sharing. It is for this reason that the first Rio Summit enshrined the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. I am happy we have reaffirmed this principle as well as the principle of equity during this Summit This does not, however, mean that countries should not take proactive actions to promote sustainable development. In India, our efforts over the last two decades have yielded positive results. Over the period 1994-2007, our emissionsGDP intensity, ex cluding agriculture, has declined nearly 25%. Looking ahead, we have set a target to further reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 20-25% between 2005 and 2020. Many countries could do more if additional finance and technology were available. Unfortunately, there is little evidence of support from the industrialized countries in these areas. The ongoing economic crisis has made matters worse. One of the key challenges that demands urgent global action is the worrying depletion of bio-diversity across our planet. The Eleventh Conference of Parties on Convention on Biodiversity is being hosted by India in October this year at Hyderabad. We look forward to working with the global community to make it a success. Mr President, The future we want should be a future in which there is ecological and economic space for sustainable growth for all. Let us work together to attain the future that we all desire. With these words I once again thank you Mr President. Thank you. Rio de Janeiro June 20, 2012 August 2012

A STuDy OF PhySIcO-chEMIcAL chARAcTERISTIcS OF cOAL FROM BASTAcOLLA uNDERGROuND MINES IN JhARIA cOALFIELD TO AScERTAIN ITS QuALITy
Sadanand Sharma, ritesh Kumar, Muniyan Sundararajan

This paper is an outcome of the experimental investigation of coal of Bastacolla underground mines in Jharia Coalfield. The study covers physico-chemical analysis such as proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, gross calorific value (GCV), roga index (RI), swelling index (SI), coke type (CT), phosphorous (P) and reflectance (Ro) of coal samples from Bastacolla underground mines under Bharat Coking Coal limited. It is expected that the information available from the quality data generated would help in judging the appropriate means of utilizing the resources for various industrial applications. Keywords: Coal, underground mines, physico-chemical characteristics, ROM, channel sample
introduCtion Coal mining in India dates back to the 18th century. India is the 3rd largest producer of coal in the world and stands at 4th in reserves of coal in the world. Coal plays an important role in power generation in many countries including India, as it is the most abundant fossil fuel resource present. Coal has a relatively high importance for the economical growth of a country. Coal is an important fossil fuel for the generation of electricity and for other industrial uses. When coal is used for fuel in power generation it is referred to as steaming or thermal coal. Coal that is used to create coke for steel manufacturing is referred to as coking or metallurgical coal. Coal producing organizations are striving continuously to meet the perpetual increasing demand of coal for various industrial purposes. The production of coal has to be increased to keep in tune with the future requirement of coal for which modern methods of mining are being adopted. Coal, as available, from the virgin area as well as from explored but unexploited area or even locked in pillars, needs to be taken out by proper mining methods to augment production. A systematic quality evaluation is hence, essential to chalk out the plan for proper extraction as well as utilization of resources. Indian coal reserves vary in quality from region to region and from seam to seam in the same region. The quality of Indian coal is, in general, poor and this has worsened even more over the past decades. Indian coal has the general properties of the Southern Hemisphere Gondwana coal, wherein seams are inter-banded with mineral sediments (IEA, 2002). Runof-mine coals typically have high ash content (ranging from 4050%), high moisture content (420%), low sulfur content (0.20.7%), and low calorific values (between 25005000 kcal/kg) (IEA, 2002). A comparison of Indian coals to Ohio and Chinese coals indicates the key differences. Selected coals from the U.S. and China have about twice the calorific value and carbon content of Indian coals (Table 1). The low calorific value necessitates more coal usage to generate the same amount of electricity. Indian coal, however, has lower sulfur content in comparison to other coals, although it has relatively high amounts of toxic trace elements, especially mercury (Masto et al., 2007). The study of physico-chemical characteristics of coal has great importance, as it allows one to ascertain the quality of coal. This also helps user industries to opt proper and optimum use of the coal resources at hand. This paper is an outcome of the experimental investigation of coal of Bastacolla underground mines in Jharia Coalfield. The study covers physico-chemical analyses such as proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, gross calorific value (GCV), roga index (RI), swelling index (SI), coke type (CT), phosphorous (P) and reflectance (Ro). Therefore, the work has been carried out with the following objectives, 1. To assess the quality of coal in the existing developed/ working faces of O seam by way of channel and ROM sampling. 2. To characterize each channel (coal in-situ) and ROM sample by using several available techniques of analyses and tests. 3. To understand the characteristics of coal based on 1 and 2 above, which industries can use to their advantage. 4. To optimize and maximize the use of energy available in the form of coal reserves

Abstract

* CSIR-Central Institute of Mining & Fuel Research, Dhanbad Email: sns_sangi1581@rediffmail.com

MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 14 August 2012

MateriaLS and MetHodS Study area Jharia coalfield (JCF) is situated about 276 km from Kolkata and 175 km from Ranchi. It is one of the most important coalfields in India, located in Dhanbad district, between Latitude 23 39' to 23 48' N and Longitude 86 11' to 86 27' E. The coal basin extends over a length of 38 km in EastWest direction and a maximum length of 18 km in NorthSouth direction, and covers an area of about 456 sq. km (Fox, 1930). This is the most exploited coalfield because of availability of metallurgical grade coal reserves. The coalfield is surrounded by metamorphic rocks consisting the granites, mica etc. The Coalfield has 49 seams with 26 regional seams and the rest are local seams (Sengupta, 1980). Lower Gondwana rocks are well developed in Jharia coalfield, the rocks exposed mainly are sandstones of Talchir, Barakar, Barren measures and Raniganj measures. The Barakars and the Raniganjs are coal bearing formations (CMPDIL, 1988). Bastacolla is located in the eastern part of Jharia Coalfield and falls in Dhanbad District of Jharkhand. It is about 8 Km east of Dhanbad Railway Station. Bastacolla underground mine is one of the four underground mines of Bastacolla area. Bastacolla underground mines under Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), Bastacolla area, Dhanbad in Jharia Coalfields, after a long period of time, decided to mine out coal from the presently developed part as well as coal locked in pillars and thus showed interest in knowing the quality of coal, in case any change in the quality might have occurred. Figure 1 shows the location of Bastacolla Colliery in Jharia Coalfield. Figure 2 shows the litholog of channel samples from Bastacolla Colliery as observed. Sample Collection The samples for the study include three channel samples (coal in-situ) and two ROM samples. The channel and the ROM samples were collected as discussed below: The methodology for the collection of channel samples involved the following: i. Working sections of seam at selected locations were first exposed from top to bottom. ii. The surface at each location was made as smooth as possible to facilitate cutting a rectangular channel. iii. The upper layer of the coal surface (up to a few decimeters) was cleaned to remove the chances of collecting weathered coal, if any. iv. Channel sampling was so chosen so as to represent the entire cross-section of the working thickness of the seam having the specified dimension as per the IS standard. v. For drawing channel sample, two parallel lines are drawn at perpendicular to the bedding planes of the MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 15

vi.

seam. The channel was then cut to a depth of 10cm and sample was collected on a clean cloth/tarpaulin and the samples were packed in a number of small bags for further study. Three channel samples were collected as A, B and C from three different locations as given in Table 2.

The methodology for the collection of ROM samples involved the following: i. Coal from the underground workings is brought to the surface through small tubs have with a capacity of 1 tonne (approx.) in each. ii. Usually 70 tubs of coal comes to the surface in a shift iii. From each tub 5kg of sample was collected to make at least 350kg of coal samples in a shift. iv. In case of less than 70 tubs of coal brought to the surface more quantity of coal can be taken from few tubs to make at least 350kg. v. The material collected was then immediately packed in bags with proper identification marks. vi. Two ROM samples were collected on two different dates (Table 2). Sample Preparation The sample preparation was carried out to prepare the representative sample in each case. The following procedure was adopted for getting the representative samples: i. The channel and the ROM samples, as brought in bags from colliery, were first crushed to 5cm and then mixed thoroughly and subjected to coning and quartering. ii. During the process two opposite quarters were retained and the rest rejected. The retained material was further mixed together, halved and one-half retained. In this way, ultimately one quarter of each sample was retained and the rest of it rejected. iii. The retained material was crushed to 12.5mm by a jaw crusher and subsequently reduced to 3.35mm. iv. The crushed material was further reduced in quantity by coning and quartering method till 6.0kg of each sample was obtained. v. A part of each sample was kept as Reserve Sample. vi. Rest of the samples were used for preparing samples for various tests and analyses as per the relevant procedure laid down in IS 436 (Part I/Sec I) 1964. analysis Systematically prepared three channel and two ROM samples were subjected to characterization by several analyses/tests as per Indian Standard IS 1350, Part I (1984, revised). The coal samples were subjected to several tests/ analysis such as, proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, August 2012

gross calorific value (GCV), phosphorous (P), swelling index (SI) and LTGK coke type (CT) as per IS 1353 (1993), roga index (RI) as per ISO, reflectance (Ro) as per and maceral analysis (one sample). The results of the analysis are given in Table 2 and Table 3. Petrographic analysis was carried out on one of the representative channel coal samples that were crushed to minus 20 mesh, mixed with epoxy and pelletized. The coal pellets were then polished to create a plainer, scratch-free surface suitable for examination in under decent lighting. The MACERAL ANALYSIS is a point- counting technique used to determine coal composition on a volume percent constituent basis (ASTM D3172-07a; IS 9127: Part I, II & III: 1992; Schapiro and Gray, 1960; Pearson, 1980-Reprinted). results and discussion results The results of the analyses are shown in Table 2. Table 3 shows the petrographic analyses carried out on one of the channel coal samples. discussion Channel Samples The results of proximate analyses (air-dried basis) of channel samples A, B and C shows moisture content to be 1.0, 0.9 and 0.7%; ash content 27.7, 18.3 and 18.3%; volatile matter 15.9, 18.7 and 19.3 %, respectively. The results of ultimate analyses show that the coal is highly mature. This is revealed from the carbon contents of Channels A, B and C which were found to be 62.99, 71.88 and 71.58%, respectively. Also the hydrogen contents were observed to be 3.35, 3.64 and 3.59%, respectively. Sulphur contents were observed to be 0.38, 0.39 and 0.42% and phosphorous to be 0.02, 0.01 and 0.01% for channels A, B and C, respectively which were within the specified limits of coking coal. The coking character was not fully developed as SI of channel samples A, B and C is were,1, and 1.5, respectively; RI 13.2, 15.9 and 17.5, respectively while the LTGK coke type is D/E for all the three samples. This is also verified from the petrographic analysis of one of the channel sample where inertinite content was observed high 68.1% while vitrinite content was as low as 13.8%. the mean Ro% of channel samples A, B and C were 1.32, 1.32 and 1.29, respectively. ROM Samples The results of proximate analyses (air-dried basis) of ROM samples 1 and 2 show moisture content to be 1.2and 1.2%; ash content 20.0 and 28.1%; volatile matter 17.3 and 16.0%, respectively. The results of ultimate analyses show that the coal carbon contents of ROM 1 and 2 were 69.73 and 62.08%, respectively. Also the hydrogen contents were observed to be 3.62 and 3.41%, respectively. Sulphur contents were MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 16

observed to be 0.43 and 0.42% and phosphorous to be 0.03 and 0.03% for ROM 1 and 2, respectively. The coking character was poor for ROM samples as SI of ROM sample 1 and 2 were 1 in both; RI 12.9 and 13.4, respectively while the LTGK coke type is C and D, respectively. The mean Ro% of ROM sample 1 and 2 was 1.32 and 1.35, respectively. Comparative Study of Characteristics of Channel and roM Samples Vitrinite reflectance is undertaken to determine the maturity of coal which is a critical parameter in blending and for coke making. The reflectance is determined by measuring the intensity of a reflected beam of light from the vitrinite component of coal via a calibrated light photometer. The reflectance of vitrinite particles in incident light increased with increasing rank and correlated well with rank parameters such as Volatile Matter and Carbon content. The REFLECTANCE ANALYSES, then, may be used to indicate coal rank (ASTM D2798). The mean Ro% of channel samples A, B and C were 1.32, 1.32 and 1.29 and ROM sample 1 and 2 were 1.32 and 1.35, respectively. So, on an average, vitrinite reflectance of 1.32 was observed for the three channel and two ROM samples under study. This also explains the poor coking character of the coal samples. The petrographic analysis carried out on one of the channel coal samples further supported this. Here, it was observed that the inertinite content was high (68.1%) while vitrinite content was low (13.8%) (Table 3). Free swelling index denotes the coking capacity of coal. Maximum value of free swelling index is 9.0. Coal having free swelling index between 4 and 5 are used for coke making. Here very low free swelling index was observed in all the samples signifying poor coking character in coals under study. LTGK is carried out to observe coking property of coal. From the LTGK study both channel coal and ROM samples were weak to medium coking in nature. Conclusion The characterization studies as carried out on three channel and two ROM samples have revealed that the coal available in the working sections/faces of the seam is highly mature bituminous coal in nature having low volatile content with some coking characteristics. The working sections/faces where the same geological conditions persisted (Channel sample B and C), the quality of the coal appears to be the same while for the working sections/faces where prominent dirt bands were witnessed, the quality of coal available in the seam had deteriorated. Beneficiation of coal may improve the quality to some extent, particularly the cleaner sections, which may be suited for use as coking blends. The August 2012

information available from the quality data generated would also help in judging the appropriate means of utilizing the resources for other industrial applications. references 1. IS 436: Part I: Section 1: 1964 Methods of Sampling of Coal and Coke: Sampling of Coal, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi. 2. IS 1350: Part I: 1984(Revised) Standard Methods of Test for Coal and Coke: Proximate Analysis, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi. 3. IS 3810: Part II: 2003 Solid Mineral Fuels-VocabularyPart 2-Terms Relating to Sampling, Testing and Analysis, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi. 4. IEA, 2002. Coal in the Energy Supply of India. International Energy AgencyCoal Industry Advisory 5. ASTM D3172-07a: Standard Practice for Proximate Analysis of Coal and Coke. 6. IS 1353: 1993 Methods of Test for Coal Carbonizationcaking Index, Swelling Index and Gray King Assay (L.T.), Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi. 7. IS 9127: Part I: 1992 Definition of Terms relating to Petrographic Analysis of Coal, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi. 8. IS 9127: Part II: 2002 Methods of Preparing Coal Samples for Petrographic Analysis of Coal, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.

9.

IS 9127: Part III: 2002 Methods of Determining Maceral Group Composition Bituminous Coal and Anthracite, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi. Masto, R.E., Ram, L.C., Selvi, V.A., Jha, S.K., Srivastava, N.K., 2007. Soil contamination and human health risks in coal mining environs. in: Singh, G., Laurence, D., Lahiri-Dutt, K. (Eds.), 1st International Conference on Managing the Social and Environmental Consequences of Coal Mining in India, November 19 21, 2007, Indian School of Mines University, Dhanbad, New Delhi.

10.

11. Fox, C. S., 1930, The Jharia Coalfields, Geological Survey of India, Bangalore, Vol. 56. 12. Sengupta, N., 1980, A Revision of the Geology of JCF with particular Reference to the Distribution of Coal Seam, PhD Thesis, ISM, Dhanbad, India. 13. CMPDIL, 1988, Compendium on Updated and Revised Gerology of Jharia Coalfield, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. 14. Schapiro, N., and R. J. Gray, 1960, Petrographic classification applicable to coals of all ranks: Proceed. Ill. Min. Inst., p. 83-97. 15. Pearson D. E., The Quality of Western Canadian Coking Coal, http://www.coalpetrography.com/library/ pdf/quality.pdf

figure 1: Location Map of bastacolla underground Mines, dhanbad, Jharkhand, india MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 17 August 2012

figure 2: Litholog of Channel Samples (as observed) of bastacolla Colliery 0 (Geologically 1 Seam table 1: Characteristics of indian and foreign Coals Parameters (%) Carbon Hydrogen Nitrogen Oxygen Moisture Sulphur Ash Calorific Value (kcal/gm) Kahalgaon 25.07 2.95 0.50 6.71 18.5 0.17 46.0 2450 Simhadri 29.00 1.88 0.52 6.96 15.0 0.25 46.0 2800 Sipat 30.72 2.30 0.60 5.35 15.0 0.40 45.0 3000 uS (ohio) 64.20 5.0 1.3 11.8 2.8 1.8 16.0 6378 China (Long kou) 62.80 5.6 1.4 21.7 11.0 0.9 7.7 6087

table 3: Maceral analysis of one of the coal (channel) sample Component Vitrinite Semi-vitrinite Liptinite Inertinite Mineral Matter MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 18 Volume % 13.8 2.9 0.4 68.1 14.8 August 2012

table 2: Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Coal from bastacolla underground mines in Jharia Coalfield Sl. No. Sample No. & Sample Code Sample Collection Location M Proximate Analysis ADB (%) Ash VM FC C H Ultimate Analysis ADB (%) S N O GCV Kcal/ kg Other Parameters RI % SI % CT % Mean Ro % P (%)

Channel Samples 1. CHANNEL-A 3rd level, 8th rise 7th level, between 10th and 11th rise 7th level, 3rd dip 1.0 27.7 15.9 55.4 62.99 3.35 0.38 1.44 0.37 5920 13.2 1 D/E 1.32 0.02

2.

CHANNEL-B

0.9

18.3

18.7

62.1

71.88

3.64

0.39 1.60 1.46 6810 15.9

D/E

1.32

0.01

3.

CHANNEL-C

0.7

18.3

19.3

61.7

71.58

3.59

0.42 1.60 1.98 6800 17.5 1.5 D/E

1.29

0.01

ROM Samples Coal collected at surface that was brought in tubs from u/g workings Day I Coal collected at surface that was brought in tubs from u/g workings Day II

4.

ROM-A

1.2

20.0

17.3

61.5

69.73

3.62

0.43 1.56 1.46 6580 12.9

1.32

0.03

5.

ROM-B

1.2

28.1

16.0

54.7

62.08

3.41

0.42 1.46 0.52 5900 13.4

1.35

0.03

(Continued from page 5) 5. Does the increase in atmospheric carbon content cause beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth, as some scientists claim?

These questions are not answered with supporting evidence. IPCC evaded looking at alternate causes of climate change, as it was not in its scope of study. Scientists from NASA and climate Research Unit of the University of East Angila are alleged to have nexus to promote global warming theory even by distorting and manipulating climate data and block all the voices against it. It is reported that about 50 former NASA Scientists through a letter dated 28th March, 2012 requested NASA to refrain from releasing unproven and unsupported remarks on climate change, releases. This may harm the exemplary reputation of NASA, other international laboratories and even the reputation of science itself would be at risk of damage. Climate change is a matter of geological time, something that the Earth does routinely on its own. Our planet is one of the most active bodies in the solar system. All kinds of things, including weather pattern and climate, constantly change. Climate change is governed by numerous natural factors, including carbon. There is, thus, a need to study and analyze those factors also when looking at global temperature. Even then, natural change does not preclude the possibility of human activities. Science takes every possible variable into account before arriving at some conclusion. In any scientific study, the data are more important which have to be treated impartially. Let it lead us where it will and allow it to illuminate our understanding for a better and acceptable theory.

V.K. Verma
MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 19 August 2012

OuTSOuRcING IN MINING INDuSTRy - cONcERN FOR SAFETy

PC Purohit

Mineral resources are the back bone of any country and its judicious extraction is an art, scientifically known as mining. Most people concede mining as a necessary evil, long recognized as being arduous and liable to injury and disease. After the globalization era since 1991, the scenario changed fast. It is difficult to compete in the global market if cost of production is not competitive and timely delivery of quality products is not ensured. To meet these challenges, outsourcing has become an effective tool in such circumstances which not only help in reduction in cost but also help in adopting better mining practices with advance technology without much involvement of capital cost. In the last three decades, improvements in mining technology, equipment, processes, procedures, and workforce education and training have resulted in greater safety and health. The mine management should consider that while outsourcing the work the agency selected for outsourcing should also be concerned about the safety and health issues of the persons engaged by them in mines. While cutting down the cost, the importance of the human resources value should be given due weightage. The outsourcing cost should be of such magnitude which covers not only the operational and maintenance of, health, safety and environment costs in mines by the outsourcing agency, but also reasonable profit to them. The recommendations of 10th Conference in this regard are of vital importance. This safety operating procedure should be implemented by the management and the outsourcing agency religiously for successful implementation of system of outsourcing so as to compete in global era of competitiveness. This paper is attempted to emphasize - how the outsourcing in mining sector is becoming a more popular option and the mine management or owner should also consider the importance of the safety aspects during mining and it should be implemented in line with various guidelines, rules and recommendations of the statuary authorities.
introduCtion Mining has been one of the most common activities since ancient times and continues to remain so in the modern world. Minerals extracted from mines are the foundation stones of civilization. In fact the development of civilization is linked with transition from stone implements to those of iron, copper and from wood as fuel to coal, oil and now even nuclear fuel. Industrial society could not exist without these essential commodities. Though, mining of the earth resources is the foundation for the development of mankind, mining has never been held in high esteem. Most people concede mining as a necessary evil, long recognized as being arduous and liable to injury and disease. However, neither the industrialized countries nor more so, the developing countries can afford to avoid mining altogether, as the whole spectrum of industrial activities (including energy generation) is based on minerals. There is little bit of minerals in everyday life of mankind. tHe SCenario of tHe MininG induStrY in india India is endowed with large resources of metallic and industrial minerals. Its mineral sector includes mineral mining and processing industries and is the backbone of industrial production. The mineral sector provides basic raw material, such as aluminium, coal, copper, industrial minerals, petroleum, and steel to the manufacturing sector. Indias reserve and resources of barites, bauxite, chromium, coal, iron ore, limestone and manganese ore are among the 10 largest in the world. In terms of production, the country is among the eight leading producers of aluminium, barite, bauxite, chromium, coal, iron ore, kyanite, manganese ore, mica(sheet), steel, talc, and zinc in the world (Ministry of Mines, 2010, p.152-155). Minerals play an important role in the economic development of the country as these form the basic raw materials to promote the growth. The development and extent of judicious utilization of mineral resources add to the index of growth of a nation and its people. The mineral industry in India is reckoned not only as an important contributor to the countrys GDP and foreign trade, it is also one of the major industries that absorbs a considerable part of the countrys

Abstract

* Group General Manager, Rajasthan State Mines & Minerals Ltd.,pcpurohit@gmail.com The paper was presented during the National Seminar organized by Veeraval Porbander Chapter at Somnath during 13-14 April 2012.
MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 20 August 2012

working population. The Indian mining industry provides employment to about 1.1 million persons. The industry is projected to touch over $30 billion (about Rs. 1, 27,662 crore) accounting for about 1.91% of the GDP. Overall mineral production in India in terms of tonnage increased by 7.92% in year 2009.The total value of mineral production increased by 4.61%.Total value of mineral exports increased by 14.5% compared to year 2008(Ministry of Mines, 2010, p. 147-148). This industry is spread almost all over the Indian Territory and has operations in some of the remotest areas of the country; it can claim itself to be the sole leader of infrastructure development. GLobaL CHaLLenGe and MeCHaniZation trend After the globalization, it is difficult to compete in the global market unless the competitive cost of production and timely delivery of quality products are ensured. To meet these challenges, there is need to optimize size of indigenous mining operations which are at present scattered and environmentally incompatible in most of the mines; develop matching infrastructure; upgrade technology adopting best mining practices, promote research and development in exploration, exploitation and process performance. Outsourcing has become an effective tool in such circumstances which not only helps in reduction in cost but also in adopting better mining practices with advance technology without much involvement of capital cost. WHat iS outSourCinG? Outsourcing can be defined as the strategic use of outside resources to perform activities traditionally handled by internal staff and resources. Outsourcing is a strategy by which an organization offloads the work by contracting out major functions to specialized and efficient service providers, who become valued business partners. Sometimes outsourcing involves the transfer of employees from the company to the outsourcing company. WHY do CoMPanieS outSourCe? In the early days, cost or headcount reduction was the most common reason to outsource. In todays world the drivers are often more strategic and focus on carrying out core value-adding activities in-house where an organization can best utilize its own core competencies. Here are some common reasons for opting outsourcing by the industry:
l l l l l

l l

Non availability of sufficient internal resources Share risks with partner company

One of the key concerns for the development of the mines in India has been the quantum of capital required which is the determinant of expected returns and the viability of the project. The capital costs for mining projects typically include costs of land, capital equipment and infrastructure to support mining and logistics. Project costs also include capitalized expenses for clearances and approvals that help the mining project take off. Therefore, the owner of the mine has to focus on alternative investments such as,
l

Contract mining (outsourcing), it is fast catching up in India as the preferred mode for development and operations of mines. This mode of hiring contract mining companies for overburden removal and even mineral winning has gained popularity. There are a number of new projects being planned through contract routes. Even the traditional mining companies like, the Coal India Limited & many PSUs have been contracting out their mining operations. In few cases, the contract mining company deploys its own equipment to carry on mining activities, which reduces the capital expenditure requirement of the mine owner. In a total outsourcing mode, the owners contract out all the processes including statutory approvals and clearances, land acquisition, mine development and operations. Other mode is that of equipment leasing, which reduces the initial capital cost substituting the same by a more manageable lease rentals. The finance and operating types of leases help the mining project to have substantially lower cash outflows at the beginning of the project and help match the revenues with the costs when the mine starts the production of mineral.

Reduce and control operating costs Improve company focus Gain access to world class capabilities Free internal resources for other purposes A function is time consuming to manage or is out of control No. 1 21

In a recent case of Orissa Minerals Development Company Ltd (OMDC), a state-owned listed mining company, which owns about 206 million tonne of iron ore reserves, opting for outsourcing for mining operations of its iron ore reserves, manganese and dolomite, all of which go into steel making. The move helped the financially-troubled OMDC to save on putting its own money into reopening its closed mines. Otherwise, OMDC would have to invest about Rs3000 crore in mining operations to reach a production target of 10 million tonne of iron ore. (DNA report published in July 2011). Coal giant of the country, Coal India Limited is also resorting to outsourcing whole open-cast mines to international companies. The outsourcing resulted in reduction in August 2012

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permanent workers year after year in CIL. This can be observed by the following data (report on Overview of Coal Mining in India: published in June-2011) Permanent workers at CiL Year 1981 2003 2008 2011 workers 700,000 650,000 450,000 380,000

After 1992 workers have not been hired on permanent. All production workers are since then hired through contractors. They now form 60 per cent of the work-force in Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL). This has helped CIL in reducing the cost of coal production substantially.

tata operating open cast coal mine at West bokaro Another example is of Rajasthan State Mines & Minerals Ltd., a state owned company. It also resorted to outsourcing in its Rockphosphate, Gypsum, Limestone & Lignite mines which helped in substantially increasing its profit owing to reduction in cost of production. An example of cost comparison in limestone mines of Jaisalmer is depicted below which shows high cost of departmental mining operations.

Photo: Wenco international Mining Systems has secured a contract for the supply and installation of Wencos fleet Management System (fMS) to four of Coal india Ltds (CiL) mines. Sonepur bazari, Gevra, Kusmunda, and dipka will receive implementation of Wencos fMS to monitor and control a total of 40 shovels and 224 trucks. Similar results were obtained in operating mines of NMDC, Sesa Goa, MOIL & Tata Steel. ConCern for SafetY The option of outsourcing, though helps in cost reduction, it is more vulnerable to safety risks in mines because of presence of untrained/little trained workers engaged by outsourcing company. The single most valuable asset in any organization is its human resources. The ingenuity of employees leads to effective and efficient utilization of all other resources and to achievement of the economic and social goals of the organization. Protection of employees from hazards in the occupational environment is important both from the humanitarian point of view and for the overall welfare of the organization. It is fundamental for sound management to take care of the health and safety of the miners for the survival of the company in the competitive world. An often-quoted saying goes - The safest mine is the most profitable mine. 22 August 2012

Photo : Mining by organized sector MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1

In the last three decades, improvements in mining technology, equipment, processes, procedures and workforce education & training have resulted in greater safety and health conditions. Although primary responsibility for controlling workplace exposure to mining health and safety hazards lies with mine management, the outsourced agency is also expected to contribute to reduction of these workplace hazards through its better operating practices and new technologies. Advancements in mining practices and procedures may also greatly enhance mine workers health and safety. The enhancement of mining workplace health and safety requires the recognition that mining remains hazardous and that vigilance in addressing the hazards can never be relaxed. Miners health and safety are major concerns for mine management, labor organizations and government.This concern has manifested itself in four control mechanisms: (1) (2) (3) (4) regulatory control through the passage of laws and regulations; legal and social controls through compensation laws for occupation-related injuries and health deterioration; medical controls through periodical examinations; and Engineering control through the design and operation of mines according to the best recommended practices.

Rules/Regulations made there under. The recommendations of various conferences on safety in mines, though do not have statutory force immediately, they are mostly converted to statutory provisions in time to come and are therefore, considered at par with statutory provisions. The main concern of statutory authorities in mines is not for operating procedures by outsourced agency but for deployment of untrained/little trained manpower, engagement of statutory manpower by outsourced agency & maintenance of their records by mine management. Proper maintenance of record of persons engaged by such agency will lead to payment of salary/wages/perks to employees of outsourced agency as per statutory provisions involving financial implications. As these employees are paid by outsourced agency, ensuring these payments becomes difficult for mine management and it also attracts violations of statutory provision, as mentioned below. The Metalliferous Mines Regulations provides for appointment of adequate numbers of officials for ensuring proper supervision of mining operations. Regulation 39 states that; Appointment of Officials and competent persons (1) (a) The owner, agent or manager shall appoint such number of competent persons, including officials and technicians as is sufficient to secure, during each of the working shifts (i.) adequate inspection of the mine and the equipment thereof; (ii.) a thorough supervision of all operations in the mine; (iii.) the installation, running and maintenance, in safe working order, of all machinery in the mine; and (iv.) the enforcement of the requirements of the Act and these regulations and orders made there under: Provided that if the Regional Inspector finds that those appointed are inadequate, he may require the appointment of such number of additional competent persons by the owner, agent or manager as he considers necessary. (b) Without prejudice to the requirement of clause (a), where the mine is worked on more than one shift, the owner, agent or the managers shall arrange that during the afternoon shift and the night shift, the mine is under the general supervision or an under manager or assistant manager, if any, and of an experienced mine forman in other cases. (2) It shall be the responsibility of the manager to see that the persons so appointed are competent to perform August 2012

An important aspect of all these approaches is the search for new tools and techniques that will further enhance hazard control. Ultimately, to create safe mining environments, improved tools and techniques must be successfully integrated and applied in the industry. It is the principle of health and safety management that the majority of accidents (and this would clearly include diseases as well) are attributable to the conditions of work, not the performance of work. In a sense, this is a semantic dispute, since even highly dangerous conditions might be regarded as "safe" if workers works were always performed with attention and precision. But the goal of OSH management is to make the job appropriate to the capacities of the workforce, not to find ways to exclude most workers from most of the jobs. Hence, it is customary to view the decisions of the employer concerning what production methods to use, how to implement them, and how to incorporate safety and health concerns as the decisive focus of OSH policy. From this perspective, the reason that we are interested in the economic aspects of poor working conditions, is that they provide the material incentives for improving those conditions. StatutorY ProViSionS The existing statutory provisions relating to safety aspects in Indian mines are covered mainly by Mines Act, 1954 and MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 23

the duties assigned to them. No person shall be so appointed unless he is paid by the owner or agent and is answerable to the manager. Similar provisions also exist in Coal mines Regulations. Further Regulation 2(8) defines the officials "Official" means a person appointed in writing by the owner, agent or manager to perform duties of supervision in a mine or part thereof and includes an assistant manager, an underground manager, a mine foreman, a mining mate, an engineer and a surveyor; Reg. 34(b) No person shall act or be employed as a manager unless he is 23 years of age and is paid by, and is directly answerable to, the owner or agent of the mine. Mines Act describes the person working in the mine as A person is said to be employed in a mine who works as the manager or who works under appointment by the owner, agent or manager of the mine or with knowledge of the manager, whether for wages or not. The above provisions put a bar on appointment of mine official/competent person by outsourcing agency and thus defeats the purpose of engaging contractor. However, recommendations of 10th Conference on Safety in Mines provide for some leverage to it. recommendation of 10th Conference on Safety in Mines Clause 2.0 Contractor work vis--vis Safety 2.1 employers responsibilities (a) Suitable clauses (in consistence with risk of the work allotted) shall be included intender document (including NITs) stating how the risk arising to men & material from the mining operation / operations to be done by the contractors shall be managed. (b) Ensure that contractors are familiar with the relevant parts of the statute, health and safety management system and are provided with copies of such documents prior to commencing work. (c) Ensure that contractors arrangements for health and safety management are consistent with those for the mine owner. All the rules, regulations and bye-laws as applicable to the mine owner are also applicable to the contractor. Details of thecontractors workmen should be maintained in the owners Form-B Register. Whereas, C, D & E Registers for contractor men may be maintained independently by the owner. All the above MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 24

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

Registers shall be kept in the mine office of the manager. Ensure that contracts should preferably be of longer period (three years), so that there is adequate scope of management of safety by the contractor. Ensure that contractors provide the machinery, operator and other staff with written safe work procedures for the work to be carried out, stating clearly the risk involved and how it is to be managed. Monitor all activities of the contractors to ensure that contractors are complying with all the requirements of statute and the system related to safety. If found noncompliant of safety laws directing the contractor to take action to comply with the requirements, and for further noncompliance, the contractor may be suitably penalized. Clause to this affect may be a part of the agreement between the employer and the contractor. Where a risk to health or safety of a person arises because of non-compliance directing the contractor to cease work until the non-compliance is corrected.

2.2 Contractors responsibilities (a) Prepare written Safe Operating Procedure (SOP) for the work to be carried out, including an assessment of risk, wherever possible and safe methods to deal with it/them. (b) Provide a copy of the SOP to the person designated by the mine owner who shall be supervising the contractor's work. (c) Keep an up to date SOP and provide a copy of changes to a person designated by the mine owner. (d) Ensure that all work is carried out in accordance with the Statute and SOP and for the purpose he may deploy adequate qualified and competent personnel for the purpose of carrying out the job in a safe manner. (e) For work of a specified scope/nature, develop and provide to the mine owner a site specific code of practice. (f) Ensure that all sub-contractors hired by him comply with the same requirement as the contractor himself and shall be liable for ensuring compliance all safety laws by the sub or sub-sub contractors. (g) All persons deployed by the contractor for working in a mine must undergo vocational training, initial August 2012

(h)

(i) (j)

medical examination, PME. They should be issued cards stating the name of the contractor and the work and its validity period, indicating status of VT & IME. Every person deployed by the contractor in a mine must wear safety gadgets to be provided by the contractor. If contractor is unable to provide, owner/agent/manger of the mine shall provide the same. The contractor shall submit to DGMS returns indicating Name of his firm, Registration number, Name and address of person heading the firm, Nature of work, type of deployment of work persons, Number of work persons deployed, how many work persons hold VT Certificate, how many work persons undergone IME and type of medical coverage given to the work persons. The return shall be submitted quarterly (by 10th of April, July, October & January) for contracts of more than one year. However, for contracts of less than one year, returns shall be submitted monthly.

3.3

3.4

3.5

2.3 employees responsibilities (a) An employee must, while at work, take reasonable care for the health and safety of people who are at the employees place of work and who may be affected by the employees act or omissions at work. (b) An employee must, while at work, cooperate with his or her employer or other (3.1) persons so far as is necessary to enable compliance with any requirement under the act or the regulations that is imposed in the interest of health, safety and welfare of the employee or any other person. Clause 3.0 Safety issues in mines in unorganized sector 3.1 The States in general may grant mining/quarrying leases of a size not less than ten hectares each for an appropriate period, depending on technical feasibility, so that the lessee can make medium to long-term plan for investment in infrastructure and work the mines in a safe and scientific manner. In case smaller lease needs to be granted, it should be ensured that the Central Laws, including the Mines Act are complied with. 3.2 In case of stone quarries on hillocks, whole of the hillock should be given out as a single lease so that necessary development could be done from top-downwards after making approach road to reach to top of the hillock before starting MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 25

3.6

extraction of stone. A condition to this effect may be incorporated before granting such leases. In the lease document, reference should be made to the Mines Act and the Rules and Regulations made there under for compliance. The DGMS may prepare, in consultation with Ministry of Mines a model document for grant of leases by the state governments so that the conditions of leases are such that there is a uniformity and compliance with central laws. A copy of the lease document should be sent to the DGMS and lessees explicitly asked to send notice of opening of mine to DGMS in accordance to the Provisions of the Mines Act. The Conference has noted that there have been instances in some States where leases have been granted in close proximity of inhabited area and within 45 m of Railway acquired land and land acquired for National and State highways, public works without consulting the appropriate statutory authority. The conference recommends that the States may grant mining leases in conformity of Central Laws. DGMS should organize Orientation Programmes for officers of State Mines and Geology Departments to inform them about safety laws.

Practicable Solution In the present scenario of global competition outsourcing in mining industry has become inevitable. It is required not only to control and reduce operative cost but also to have access to world class capabilities of the companies chosen for outsourcing. Almost all companies whether public sector or private sector are resorting to the practice of outsourcing of various operations in and connected with the mining. As such, outsourcing is the need of the hour. In the present scenario outsourcing cannot be avoided hence the concern of mining industry should be of implementation of proper safety management system with engagement of contractor worker. The mine management should consider that while outsourcing the work the agency selected for outsourcing should also be concerned about the safety and health issues of the persons engaged by them in mines. While cutting down the cost, the importance of the human resources value should be given due weightage. The outsourcing cost should be of such magnitude which covers not only the operational cost and cost for maintenance of health, safety and environment in mines by the outsourcing agency, but also reasonable profit to them. Then only it will be possible for outsourced agency to work on long-term basis. The recommendations of 10th Conference in this regard are of vital importance. While it provides liberty to the management for engagement of lower August 2012

supervisory cadre staff by the contractor and maintenance of their record separately, at the same time it enshrines the responsibility on outsourcing agency to prepare a safe operating procedure before commencement of work. This safety operating procedure should be implemented by the management and the outsourcing agency religiously for successful implementation of system of outsourcing so as to compete in global era of competitiveness.

The statistical data published by MSHA relating to outsourcing in Indian coal mines provide encouraging results of outsourcing provided proper implementation of practicable statutory provisions are made and proper care is taken for implementing safety, health & training programmes for persons engaged through outsourced agency.

Privatization and outsourcing cannot be overruled in todays context. but these issues need special attention at the initial stage so that it does not bounce back to the objective of the mining industry. MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 26 August 2012

STABILITy OF ROcK SLOPES IN DEEP OPEN PIT MINES AN APPROAch

P. balamadeswaran *

Currently, some of the biggest open-pit mines worldwide have already reached and many will reach their final pit limits in the next 5 to 10 years as per their original production schedule. This indicates that the rock slopes with heights approaching more than 500 m are excavated in such deep open pit mines around the world. Similarly, few operating open pit mines in India like RampuraAghucha Zinc Mine, Malanjkhand Copper Mine are currently approaching transition stage and reached the depth of more than 400 m. The economic impact of failures in slopes of such deep mines can be extremely large and every effort has to be made to optimise their design. Design of open pit slope angles is becoming more significant in any surface mine as the depth increases. Therefore, in large open pits, the pit wall should remain stable till the extraction of mineral is completed. While the overall slopes are very important in terms of economics of the entire mining operation, the stability of individual benches is usually a matter of more immediate concern to the engineers responsible for the day-to-day mining operations. Slope failure in a bench, which carries a main haul road or which is adjacent to a mine boundary or an important installation, can cause severe disruption to the mining plan. Even in these relatively small failures, which can occur with very little warning, lives can be lost and equipment damaged. Normally, the pit slope angles in the deep open pit mine vary through out a deposit to accommodate varying rock characteristics and ore/waste ratios. Today there are pits with depths of more than 800 m and such deep pits have a number of sequences. Hence, this paper reviews the mechanics of pit slopes, existing design methods for large scale slopes, remedial measures and mining strategy to cope up with the slope failures in deep open pit mines. Key Words : Open pit mine, Slope, Angle, Factor of safety, Monitoring, and Stabilisation.
1.0 INTRODUCTION In recent times, highwall or dump failures in the open pit mines have resulted in significant loss to human lives, property, and production. A highwall is always subjected to change as the process of extracting ore persists. Here, the challenge is to maintain a stable highwall throughout the operating life of the mine. Normally, a stable highwall requires an optimum slope under given condition. Effective slope design involves determining safe and workable bench height, bench face angle, and bench width for the given conditions. Operating costs in open-pit mines are a function of pit wall angle. As the pit-wall is steepened, less amount of waste rock has to be mined that results in reduced blasting, excavation, and transportation requirements. To determine the relationship of mine design parameters and effective ground control in open pit mining, the basic slope failure mechanism should be understood through proper evaluation. This paper indicates different warning signs of slope instability so that the mine operators are able to recognize hazards effectively and also discusses slope monitoring plan for deep open pit mines. 2.0 SLoPe faiLure MeCHaniCS The basic mechanics of slope failure can most conveniently be demonstrated by considering the very simple case of a block sliding down an inclined plane, as shown in Figure 1. The forces acting on this block are Here, W: The gravitational weight of the block : Slope angle W sin : The disturbing force acting down the plane

Abstract

* Assistant Professor, Department of Mining Engineering, College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University, Chennai 600 025.
MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 27 August 2012

It changes with the depth of excavation, as higher the depth lower is the factor of safety. 3.0 different ModeS of SLoPe faiLureS The geological parameters such as orientation, spacing, trace length, and shear strength with respect to major structures play critical roles in determining failure potential and mode of slope failures. Therefore, the above parameters need to be collected. The basic failure modes which may occur in the surface mines are planar failure, wedge failure, toppling failure and circular failure. figure 1. forces acting on a block resting on an inclined plane W cos : The normal force acting across the sliding plane R: The shear resistance of the surface between the block and the plane : Friction angle The shear resistance is given by R = c. A + W cos . tan Where, A is the base area of the block. The condition of limiting equilibrium occurs when the disturbing force is exactly balanced by the resisting force and the block is just on the point of sliding, i.e. W sin = c. A + W cos . tan Note that, when the cohesion is existing, c = 0, tan = tan or = . This result is not surprising since it constitutes a definition of angle of friction and is the basis of one of the simplest methods for determining . If water is trapped or present behind upper face of the block, the water pressure distributions are set up along this face and along the base of the block. Under these conditions limiting equilibrium occurs at slope angle less than because both the water forces act in directions which induce instability (Hoek, 1970). 2.1 angle of Safety The angle of safety is the angle from horizontal which will not allow slope failure. It is related to the factor of safety which indicates the ratio of the sum of the total forces which the material of the slope is capable to mobilise due to its strength along a slip surface, to the sum of actual forces tending to slip the slope. To prevent slope failure, the factor of safety should be more than one and angle of slope which will ensure the above factor of safety is called angle of safety. It normally depends on the type of ground, its cohesive resistance, fissures and joints, water seepage, etc. MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 28 3.1 ParaMeterS infLuenCinG SLoPe faiLure In general, the following factors govern the stability of any open pit slope (Stacey, 1968): l Geological structure l Rock stresses and geotechnical characteristics l Ground water conditions l Strength of discontinuities and intact rock l Pit geometry involving both slope angles and slope curvature l Vibrations from blasting or seismic events l Climatic conditions l Time The above list is probably not complete; however it serves to show the difficulty in assessing the slope stability. These factors also determine the mode of slope failure in an open pit. 3.2 ConSeQuenCeS of SLoPe faiLureS Unexpected movement of ground causes the potential to endanger lives, demolish equipment and destroy property. Between 2001 and 2006, 37 fatalities were caused by ground instability in India (DGMS, 2007). This includes fatalities resulting from bench and highwall failures, rock falls, waste dump and stockpile failures, and the collapse of unknown underground workings. The fatalities occur mostly in stone mines followed by coal, sand & gravel, and metal operations. 4.0 eXiStinG deSiGn MetHod for LarGe SCaLe SLoPeS Pit slopes affect the size and shape of the final pit. The first step of slope design is to identify the likely mode of failure. The second step is to use one of the slope stability methods to determine whether the slope is stable. It may be necessary to reduce the slope angle to ensure stability. Traditionally, the stability of slope has been determined on vertical sections in which the location of the slope and its geometrical relationship with discontinuities within it are known or assumed. Pit walls, however, remain stable throughout the mining operation and often well beyond mine closure. August 2012

4.1 Steepest Safe angle by Kinematic analysis Kinematic analysis refers to the study of movement without taking into account the forces causing movement and can be used to identify structural instabilities such as, plane and wedge failures or to determine the steepest safe angle (Goodman, 1980). This method is a simple and useful technique at the first stage of slope stability planning and is usually done with stereographical projection techniques. The analysis is conducted for each region, and for various slopes with dip directions from 00 to 3600 in 150 steps. For each slope, the method finds the steepest safe angle due to plane failure for each discontinuity and determines the line of intersection for all pairs of discontinuities to find the steepest safe angle for wedge failure. From among these angles the minimum angle is chosen as the steepest safe angle for the direction concerned. 4.2 designs with the Limit equilibrium Method The limit equilibrium method is the most widely agreed and preferred design tool for slope design in any open pit mining. The first step in the analysis is to identify potential failure mode and determine the factor of safety. Then, it must be decided whether the slope is stable or not. If the slope is deemed to be unstable the slope angle must be reduced or the slope height decreased to obtain the minimum acceptable factor of safety. 4.2.1 identification of Potential failure Mode The first step in the equilibrium method of slope stability analysis is to use Kinematic analysis to detect the type of the failure that is likely to occur. By assuming a circular excavation for each region, the study investigates the likely mode of failure for all slopes with dip directions from 00 to 3600 in 150 steps. When the type of failure is detected the corresponding failure mode program calculates the factor of safety or probability of failure, for slopes from 200 to 800 in 50 increments. 4.2.2 determination of Slope angle Once the factor of safety or probability of failure has been determined, the slope angles for each direction must be calculated, depending on the method used to design the slopes, a minimum value of the factor of safety or the maximum acceptable risk of failure have to be arrived at. A factor of safety of 1.3 is the minimum acceptable value for a temporary slope in open pit mines, while for a permanent slope, such as one carrying the haul road, the factor of safety should exceed 1.5 (Hoek and Bray, 1981). When using the deterministic limit equilibrium method, a minimum factor of safety of 1.5 should be used. When the minimum acceptable value for the factor of safety or maximum acceptable value for the risk of failure and type of slopes, has been specified, the slope angles for all directions can be determined by linear interpolation. MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 29

4.2.3 data required The input data required depends on the methods used to design the slopes. If the steepest slope is planned, only the orientation and properties of the major discontinuities within each region or domain sector which includes dip, dip direction and angle of friction are essential. Both the deterministic and the probabilistic limit equilibrium method require, for each region, the orientation and properties of major discontinuities (dip, dip direction, cohesion and friction angle); rock mass properties; uniaxial compressive strength and material constant of intact rock, rock mass density and water table depth (Call and Savely, 1990). 5.0 SLoPe StabiLitY in deeP oPen Pit MineS In case of deeper open pit mines, stripping ratio is one of the major indices which has a great bearing on the overall economy of the pit. For instance, the flatter the slope more is the quantum of excavation involving more expenditure. A steeper slope will require less excavation resulting in lowstripping ratio. Even though the overall slopes are clearly important in terms of economics of the entire mining operation, the stability of individual benches is usually a matter of more immediate concern to the engineers responsible for the day-to-day mining operations. As far as the slope of the individual bench is concerned, it is controlled mostly by the digging height of the excavators and the slope controlled by the machine. A Bucket Wheel Excavator needs a vertical bench and for other equipments, gentle slope of the bench will not permit efficient handling of the ore or waste (Sen, 1994). The deeper the pit more is the influence of slope angle on the cost of excavation. In an open pit mine where the depth of excavation is 300 to 500 m, even one degree steeper slope will save a lot of money. But the slope angle has to be designed in deep open pit mines depending on the type of strata, hydro-geological condition, geological anomalies, etc so that this slope remains within the angle of safety to prevent slope failure or slide of materials and rocks, etc. This angle should be such that the Factor of safety of the slope is always maintained at more than one; Otherwise, there will be danger of shear failure of the slope incurring heavy loss of equipments, interruption in production and even loss of life. Failure of slope in waterlogged pit has caused inundation adversely affecting the mine economy. Therefore, slope angle is a very important parameter in pit-geometry affecting the economics of the pit. Now, limit angle concept has been developed in deep open pits which envisages that the slope angle should be so designed and maintained that it should fail on the next day of the completion of the extraction of the ore (Halls, 1970). 5.1 SLoPe faiLure WarninG SiGnS Today, even the most carefully designed slopes may be August 2012

subject to instability. Acknowledgment that slope failures may occur and knowing what the warning signs are, will contribute to the safety of the operation. Some of the more common warning signs of slope instability in surface mines are tension cracks, scarps, abnormal water flows, bulges or creep, rubble at the toe, etc. 5.2 SLoPe MonitorinG inStruMentS In deep open pits, the type of instruments selected for a slope monitoring program depends on the nature of particular problems to be monitored. A comprehensive monitoring system may include instruments which are capable of measuring rock mass displacement, ground water parameters, and blast vibration levels. The most common monitoring equipments being used in open pit mines to observe the slope instability are listed below (Call and Savely, 1990; Kliche, 1999): l Survey Network l Tapes, Crack Meters, Pins, etc. l Wireline Extensometers l Inclinometers l Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) l Piezometers l Borehole Extensometers 5.2.1 emerging technologies for Slope Monitoring The conventional methods as detailed earlier lack the potential to observe failure mechanisms involved and also were restricted to daylight operation. Since the movement of deformation requires continuous monitoring and detection, currently new methods are emerging to monitor the slopes as mentioned below: l Automated Total Station Networks (ROBOTS) l Non-Reflective LIDAR scanning l Slope stability Radar (SSR) l Global Positioning System (GPS) l Digital Photogrammetry l High resolution micro-seismic monitoring 5.3 SLoPe MonitorinG PLan for deeP oPen Pit MineS Since the size of the open pit increases slowly, there is enough time for the stresses around the pit to readjust and to interact with the rock material and rock mass, promoting the development of fractures (Stacey et al, 2003). Such behaviour may cause overall slope failure, or may initiate failure, which may then be driven to overall slope failure by other influencing factors or combinations of factors. Therefore, sufficient, suitable monitoring must be installed to detect instability at an early, no critical stage to permit for the MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 30

instigation of safety measures. The purpose of a monitoring plan is to: l Maintain safe operational practices for the protection of personnel, equipment, and facilities. l Provide warning of instability so that an action can be taken to minimize the impact of slope displacement. l Provide crucial geotechnical information to analyze the slope failure mechanism and design the appropriate corrective measures. The following steps should be carried out when planning the instrumentation portion of the monitoring program: (i). Understand the mechanisms that may cause instability. (ii). Define and prioritize the geotechnical information required. (iii). Establish monitoring locations. (iv). Predict the magnitudes of movement and other parameters at these locations. (v). Establish an instrumentation budget. (vi). Select instrumentation based on steps (i) - (v) above. When selecting instrumentation, incorporate some level of redundancy in the system to cross-check instrument performance and eliminate errors. Redundant or overlapping measurements will also provide a back-up in case of instrument failure. Automated equipment is generally more accurate than manual equipment, since some human error is removed. Automated systems also provide added flexibility in the sampling rate, and therefore, can monitor more frequently than manual methods. Another distinct advantage of the automated systems is their ability to trigger alarms, if certain threshold limits are reached (Sah et al, 1989). Slope failures very rarely occur without some warning, and all workers need to be able to recognize potential hazards and act accordingly. If the failure is not immediately threatening to personnel, a variety of other actions can be taken in response to the movement. The selection of remedial measures taken depends on the nature of the instability and the operational impact. Each case should be evaluated individually with respect to safety, mine plans, and cost-benefit analyses. 5.3.1 allow the Material to fail If the failure is in a non-critical area of the pit, the easiest response may be to leave the material in place. Mining can continue at a controlled rate if the intensity of the failure is low and predictable and the mechanism of the failure is well understood. However, if there is any doubt about the August 2012

subsequent stability, an effort should be made to remove the material. The size of the blasts may also need to be reduced to minimize impacts on the unstable zone. To prevent small-scale failures from reaching the bottom of the pit, both the number of catch benches and the width of catch benches can be increased. Catch fences (Figure 2) may also be installed at some operations to contain falling material.

means of controlling slope behaviour and minimizing hazards. Surface drainage and diversions should also be used to keep surface runoff away from tension cracks and open rock mass discontinuities near the slope face. 5.4 SLoPe StabiLiSation MetHodS Even with diligent geological mapping, careful geotechnical designs, and adequate monitoring programs, the chances for instability still exist. With todays instruments it is neither feasible nor practicable to monitor every possible failure in a deep open pit mine. If material does fail, the mine should have a pre-planned response to the movement like adopting the controlled blasting technique in the ultimate pit limit area as shown in Fig.3.

figure.2 : Catch fence installed to prevent loose rocks from travelling to the pit floor 5.3.2 Support the Material If allowing the instability to fail is not an option, the failure needs to be supported artificially. Some operations have successfully used reinforcements such as bolts, cables, mesh, and concrete to support the rock mass. The use of such supports can be very expensive. However, if the overall angle of the highwall can be steepened and clean-up costs could be reduced, also the added expense of reinforcement may be justified. Another potential solution to stop or slow down a slope failure is to build a buttress at the toe. The buttress offsets or counters the driving forces of the slope by increasing the resisting force. Short hauls of waste-rock often make this an attractive and economical alternative for stabilizing slope failures. 5.3.3 remove the Material to fail If a slope continues to fail, and supporting the slope is not a feasible alternative, steps need to be taken to remove the hazard. Often, flattening the slope to a more favorable angle with respect to the local geology will solve the problem. When catchment systems are not available, proper and sufficient scaling methods should be employed on a regular basis to remove hazards associated with small rock falls. Since water pressure creates slope stability problems, dewatering using horizontal or vertical wells is a powerful MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 31

figure.3: bench faces created by pre-splitting in the ultimate Pit Limits If a slope failure is eminent, personnel must immediately be removed from the hazardous area. The operating procedures should be in place to establish the threshold values of movement and evacuation strategy. The standard operating procedures should also define those employees responsible for carrying out pre-shift inspections of highwalls, and name the personnel responsible for collecting and compiling data from the monitoring instruments (Hoek et al, 2000). 6.0 ConCLuSion In order to minimize the quantity of waste rock, which has to be removed in the recovery of an ore body, the ultimate slopes of a deep open pit mine generally are excavated to the steepest possible angle. Unfortunately, the economic benefits gained can be counteracted by major slope failure. Thus, continual evaluation of the stability of the ultimate slopes is a critical part of open pit planning. As the presence and character of discontinuities have an important influence upon the stability of rock slopes, their assessment forms an important part of any stability assessment. Therefore, it is essential to implement an extensive multidisciplinary technical program, incorporating mine, geotechnical and hydro geological engineering expertise sourced both internal August 2012

and external to the mining operation for ensuring a successful slope monitoring system in deep open pit mines. 7.0 referenCeS 1. Call, R.D. and J.P. Savely, (1990), Open Pit Rock Mechanics, Surface Mining, 2nd edition (B.A. Kennedy ed.), Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc., pp. 860-882. DGMS, (2007), Annual Report, Directorate General of Mines Safety, Dhanbad, p.122 Goodman, R.E., (1980), Introduction to Rock Mechanics, 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons Ltd, Newyork, 478p. Halls, J.L (1970), The Basic Economics of Open pit Mining, In Planning Open pit Mines, Proc. Symposium on the Theoretical Background to the Planning of Open pit mines with special reference to Slope stability, August 29 ~ September 4, Johannesburg, pp.125131. Hoek, E. (1970), Estimating the stability of excavated slopes in opencast mines, Transactions of Institute of Mining & Metallurgy (Sect. A: Min. industry), Vol.79, London, pp.A109 -132. Hoek, E. and J.W. Bray (1981), Rock Slope Engineering, 3rd edition, Institute of Mining & Metallurgy, London, 402.p. Hoek, E, Read, J, Karzulovic, A and Chen, Z (2000), Rock Slopes in Civil and Mining Engineering, Proceedings of the International Conference on Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, GeoEng2000, 19-24 November, 2000, Melbourne, pp.1 -16. Kliche, C. (1999), Rock Slope Stability, Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Explorations, Inc., 252p. Sah, N.K., Sheorey, P.R. and Upadhyaya, L.N (1989), Maximum Liklihood Estimation of Slope stability, Journal of Rock Mech.Min.Sci & Geomech, Vol.31, No.1, pp.47-53.

WANTED
We are into Mining / Quarrying and Crushing of Granite into stone aggregates and sell to major clients and for self consumption. We are looking the following for our projects in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. 1. First and Second Class Mine Managers Certificate of competency (Metal) in heavy Mechanised Mines and Quarries 10 to 15 years experience. Blasting Foreman - Diploma in Mining / Field candidates in Heavy Blasting as 3 to 5 years experience. Garage Incharge - Diploma in Mechanical Engineer in heavy earthmoving equipments like L & T, Komatsu, I/R Drill Machines, Tata / Leyland Dumpers, Wheel Loaders etc. 6 to 10 years experience. Mechanics, Welders, Auto Electricians, Hydraulic Mechanics for heavy earth moving equipments 3 to10 years experience. L & T Komatsu Excavator Operators Drivers, Drill Operators in similar field 3 to 10 years experience. Stone Crushers ( 300 TPH 3 Stage Crushers ) Operators, Incharges 3 to 6 years experience. Transport Managers / Incharges To manage 20 to 30 - 10 Wheelers Tippers to transport material from mine to other sites - 8 to 15 years experience.

2. 3.

4.

2.

3.

5.

4.

6.

5.

7.

6.

8. 9.

7.

10. Sen, Phalguni, (1994), Computer Aided Design of Open pit Slopes, Unpublished Ph.D Thesis, Indian School of Mines University, Dhanbad. 11. Stacey, T.R. (1968), Stability of Rock Slopes in Open Pit Mines, National Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR Report MEG 737,Pretoria, South Africa, 66p. 12. Stacey, T.R., Xianbin, Y, Armstrong, R and Keyter, G.J., (2003), New slope stability considerations for deep open pit mines, The Journal of The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, July/August, pp.373389. MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 32

The above posts are for Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Interested candidates (Retired / Persons are also) can apply with their Bio-Data along with Photos, Mobile Number, E-Mail ID to the following address within 15 Days to: The General Manager Seven Hills Enterprises, # 305-A, MLA Colony, Road No. 12, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad 500034. E-mail: astramining@hotmail.com

aStra MininG PVt. Ltd.,

August 2012

MEAI NEWS
HeadQuarterS 6th Council Meeting The 6th Council Meeting of MEAI (2011-13) was held in Hotel Dev Resorts Ahmedabad, Gujarat on 13.07.2012 at 17.30 hours. 17 Office Bearers, Council Members including Past Presidents and Chapter Chairmen / Secretaries of Chapters of MEAI and 7 special invitees attended the meeting. Dr. S.K. Sarangi, while welcoming the members appreciated the efforts of the Ahmedabad Chapter Chairman and his team in conducting the two day national seminar (Mining Environment and CSR Current Trends and Future Scenario) at Ahmedabad in association with Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Limited. He also expressed his sincere thanks on behalf of MEAI to Shri V.S. Gadhavi, IAS, Managing Director, GMDC Limited for his valuable support to the Ahmedabad Chapter of MEAI for carrying out the objects of MEAI. Points approved during the meeting 1. The Secretarys report for the financial 2011-12 2. The audited Headquarters accounts with the suggestions from the council that heavy amounts should not be allowed in the banks, instead these should be invested with the banks under flexi bonds 3. The audited LMTF accounts for the financial year 201112 4. The audited MEAI SME Trust Fund accounts - with the suggestion that the fund may be wound up in view of high Dolor-Rupee conversion. 5. The chapters are advised to inform the details of receipts on organizing National and International events, if they are received utilizing the PAN number of Headquarters. Further, the headquarters and the chapters will discuss with auditors if separate Pan numbers could be obtained by chapters. 6. Budget proposals for the year 2012-13 - with the suggestion that the expenditure on office maintenance should be pruned. 7. Two Day National / International Seminar by Headquarters / Ahmedabad Chapter in association with the GMDC Ltd during December 2012 at Ahmedabad, as a curtain raiser to the Vibrant Gujarat Celebrations 8. A Two Day Seminar by Northern zone (Rajasthan Chapter Udaipur, Rajasthan Chapter Jodhpur, Rajasthan Chapter Jaipur, New Delhi and Himalayan Chapters) on 5Es of Mining at Jaipur Rajasthan in October 2012. 9. A three Day National Conference at Nagpur in February 2013 jointly by the Nagpur Chapter and the Indian Bureau of Mines. MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 33 10. A one day / Two Day National Seminar at Hyderabad by Head Quarters during March/ April 2013. 11. Postponement of presentation of Awards for the year 2011-12 to the next AGM, pending the recommendations from awards Committee. At the conclusion of the meeting, Shri A.L. Thakor, Chairman Ahmedabad Chapter presented shawls to all the Office Bearers and Council Members. The meeting concluded with the vote of thanks by the Secretary General. 39th aGM (2011-12) of Meai The 39th AGM of MEAI was conducted in Hotel Dev Resorts, Ahmedabad on 13.07.2012 at 18.30 hours. Nearly 35 members consisting of Past Presidents, Office Bearers, Council Members, Chapter Chairmen and Secretaries and members from MEAI, Ahmedabad Chapter attended the meeting. Before commencing the meeting homage was paid to the members of MEAI and important persons from the field of Geology who expired during 2011-12, expressing condolences by observing two minutes silence. Dr. S. K. Sarangi, President MEAI welcomed the gathering, congratulated the Ahmedabad Chapter for hosting both the Council and Annual General Meetings at Ahmedabad coinciding with the Two Day National Seminar in association with GMDC Ltd., and expressed the hope that the GMDC will continue supporting the activities of MEAI. All the points approved in the 6th Council Meeting (as indicated above), were approved by the General Body unanimously. MEAI Awards for the year 2010-11 were presented to the following 1. MEAI Abheraj Baldota Memorial Gold Medal Award 2010-11 (Mining Engineer of the year) to Shri N.K.Nanda (since Shri Nanda could not receive personally, the award was passed on to him through one of the NMDC officers. 2. MEAI Abheraj Baldota Memorial Gold Medal Award 2010 11 (Young Mining Engineer of the year) to Dr. Manoj Khandelwal 3. MEAI SRG IT Award 2010 -11 to Dr. More Ramulu 4. MEAI Bala Tandon Memorial Award 2010-11 to Prof. G. S. Roonwal 5. MEAI Simminods Award 2010-11 to Shri CP Parihar 6. MEAI Best Chapter Award 2010 11 jointly to Rajasthan Chapter Udaipur and Hyderabad Chapter. 7. MEAI Smt. Gollapalli Sarala Devi Memorial Award for Life Time Achievement by a Mining Engineer to August 2012

Shri M.K. Batra could not be presented as Shri Batra could not attend the meeting on account of personal reasons. The award will be presented during a suitable future event to Shri Batra. The following new points which were approved during the 4th Council l Meeting of MEAI were also approved unanimously. 1. Constituting the awards committee to review to existing awards and consider the new awards. 2. Including a new MEAI Award (MEAI Life Time Achievement Award) with effect from 2011-12. 3. Sharing of Life Membership fee by (LMTF 50%, headquartes25% and concerned chapters 25%) Though the General Body approved all the points as indicated above, the approvals could not be recognized / taken into consideration as the required quorum for such approvals during the AGM (1/3rd of the total membership of the association under Rule 9 (5) of the Memorandum of the Association) was not available. eMerGenCY GeneraL MeetinG The AGM was adjourned calling for an Emergency General Meeting exclusively with the same agenda from the 39th AGM. All the proposals approved during the 39th AGM, as indicated above were approved unanimously. Therefore, all the approvals from the 39th AGM are effective and will be included in the Memorandum of Association Rules and Regulations of MEAI. The AGM concluded with vote of thanks from Secretary General. Cultural Programme and dinner hosted by M/S GMDC Ltd., followed. aHMedabad CHaPter The chapter organized a Two Day National Seminar on Mining Environment and CSR - Current Trends and Future Scenario on 13th and 14th July 2012, in GMDC Auditorium, Ahmdebad, Gujarat in association with Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Ltd., The seminar was inaugurated with the lighting of traditional lamp by the Chief Guest, Shri V. S. Gadhavi, IAS, Managing Director, GMDC Limited and presided over by Dr. S.K. Sarangi, President, MEAI. Other guests during the Inaugural session were Shri Rahul Guha, Dy DG, DGMS, and Shri B .P. Pati, IFS, Chief General Manager, GMDC. Dr. S. K. Sarangi, while welcoming the delegates, guests and invitees gave a brief on the themes of the Seminar, and their importance in MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 34

the current Mining scenario, also informed the objects of the MEAI and appreciated the efforts by Ahmedabd Chapter in choosing the appropriate themes. Shri Gadhavi released the souvenir brought out on the occasion. Shri Gadhavi, in his address stressed the need to follow the guidelines for taking care of the themes of the Seminar and propagate the importance of the aspects in the country through different chapters of MEAI. He assured all the support from GMDC Ltd to MEAI. The inaugural session concluded with the vote of thanks by Shri A.L. Thakor, Chatiman, Ahmedabad Chapter. teCHniCaL SeSSionS The Seminar received good response from the Government Departments Industrial Establishments and Professionals. 5 Technical sessions were conducted covering 30 Technical Papers (presented by authors) on various subjects Legislation, Coal Mining Policy and Development, CSR and Sustainable Development , Forest & Environment - Emerging Trends and Challenges. Valedictory session was conducted on 14.07.2012 AN. Shri V.S. Gadhavi, the Chief Guest, during his speech appreciated the good work being done by MEAI by conducting Seminars on the contemporary topics on Mining and allied subjects for the benefit of the entrepreneurs and individuals associated with. He appreciated the presentations during the Technical sessions on different aspects hoping that they will reach the industry as well as the policy makers. He suggested that the recommendations from the event should be finalized and forwarded to Central and State Governments and other statutory bodies for consideration. Dr. S. K. Sarangi in his Presidential address appreciated the Ahmedabad Chapter for conducting the Seminar which concluded in grand success. Shri A.L. Thakor, Chairman Ahmedabad Chapter presented mementos to Shri Gadhavi, Dr. Sarangi and Shri S.N. Mathur Convener of the Seminar. S/Shri A.L. Thakor Chairman, Ahmedabad Chapter and S.N. Mathur Convener of the Seminar who were responsible for the grand success of the Seminar were presented with the mementos by the Secretary General on behalf of MEAI. The event was concluded with the vote of thanks by Shri A.L. Thakor. The AGM 2011-12 of the Chapter was organized on 14.07.2012. aGM of aHMedabad CHaPter The AGM of the Ahmedabad Chapter was also organized in GMDC Auditorium at Ahmedabad on Saturday 14.07.2012 after the conclusion of Two Day National Seminar. 50 members from the chapter attended the meeting. At the outset, two minutes silence was observed for paying homage to Late B.K. Antia, the Founder Chairman August 2012

of Ahmedabad Chapter. Shri A.L. Thakor in his welcome address gave a brief of the activities of the chapter during the year 2011-12 stressing the grand success of the Two Day National Seminar organized on 13th and 14th July 2012. Shri S. N. Mathur, Council Member, in his address informed that the chapter had enrolled 96 new members during the month and opened a Students Chapter of Ahmedabad with the enrollment of engineering students from M.G. Science Institute, Ahmedabad. This achievement of the chapter was applauded by all the members present. Some important resolutions from the meeting: 1) Opening a website for the chapter, 2). Starting a local centre at Bhavnagar, 3). Organizing Seminars / Workshops by South Gujarat and Kutch local centers during September, October 2012 before organizing International Seminar in association with GMDC Ltd by the Ahmedabad Chapter in December 2012 under vibrant Gujarat Programme. The Meeting concluded with the vote of thanks by Shri Kiran Bera, Jt. Secretary. beLGauM CHaPter A meeting of the chapter members was organized on 27th May, 2012, under the Chairmanship of Shri S.S. Hiremath, Chairman Belgaum Chapter. It was decided in the meeting to put in efforts to spread the objectives of the association among the Mining Companies and invite them to participate on a common platform for discussion on various issues related to Mining. Dr. Prabhakar Sangarmath, Member of MEAI who received National Geo-Science Award was felicitated for his achievement by Shri S.S. Hiremanth, Chairman. Dr. G.K. Pradhan, Member MEAI, who delivered a lecture on Energy Conservation in Mining Sector, was also felicitated by Shri D.A. Hiremath, former Chairman Belgaum Chapter. The Meeting concluded with the vote of thanks by the Secretary, Belgaum Chapter.

OBITUARY

Late b. K. antia
We deeply regret to report the sad demise of Shri B. K. Antia, Founder Chairman of Ahmedabad Chapter, MEAI on 14.06.2012 at Ahmedabad at the ripe age of 88 years. Late Shri Antia, born on 9th December 1924, was a Hons. Graduate from Bombay and Post Graduate in Mining from Colorado, USA. He started his professional carrier with M/S Killick Nixon Manganese Mines, Gujarat and served Indian Bureau of Mines for sometime as Deputy Controller of Mines. He joined GMDC in 1969 and retired as Technical Advisor in the year 1988. He also served as advisor to Gujarat Power Corporation Ltd., for a few years after his retirement from GMDC. Late Shri Antia was a proven mining engineer with specialization in mineral beneficiation. He was responsible for introducing the latest Technology by deploying specialized Mining Equipment like Bucket Wheel Excavators in Panandhrao Lignite Mines of GMDC and paved way for Power generation using the Lignite in the state of Gujarat. As the Chairman of Ahmedabad Chapter of MEAI he motivated all the members to fulfill the objects of the association. He is survived by his wife and two daughters. The MEAI and MEJ express heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family of Late B. K. Antia.

ANOuNcEMENT
MineS SafetY & ProduCtiVe CounCiL HYderabad reGion Will conduct coaching cum preparatory classes for 4 days in the 1st week of September 2012 at Hyderabad for the benefit of the candidates appearing for 1st and II class Mine Managers Examination scheduled on 5th October 2012. Interested candidates may please contact Shri K. Peter, Training Officer, Mobile No: 9985801317 Email: kpeter.m@gmail.com for further details. MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 35

August 2012

confErEncES, SEminarS, workSHoPS Etc.,

india 2011 30 August - 1 September 2012 : "Mining exploration Convention and trade Show" at Bangalore. Contact: Federation of Indian Mineral Industries, New Delhi. Tel.: 011-26814592-96, Fax: 011-26814594, Email: ptpl@fedmin.com 22 - 23 September 2012 : National seminar on "Mining and Community Welfare" organised by Society of Geoscientists and Allied Technologists" at Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. For details contact: B.K. Mohanty (Cell: 09437355664, Email: bkmohanty@ mail.com) or B. C. Patnaik (Cell: 09437279417) 13 - 14 October 2012 : National seminar on "five eees" (Exploration, Exploitation, Enrichment, Equipment and Environment) at Jaipur, Rajasthan. For details contact: P.C. Bakliwal (Cell: 09828668764, Email: pc_bakliwal@yahoo.co.in) 24th - 29th November 2012 : 10th International Symposium on "rock fragmentation While blasting" at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Organised by CSIR, Dhanbad, Contact: Pradeep, Ph: 03262296028, Email: pradeep.cimfr@yahoo.com 28 - 30 November 2012 : 13th international Symposium on environment issues and Waste Management in energy and Mineral Production at New Delhi, India. Contact : Dr. Raj Singhal, Email: editors@readingmatrix.com 7 - 8 December 2012 : International conference on "energy and environmental issues" at Hotel Pride, New Town, Kolkata, for details visit www. eenf2012.com 8th, 9th and 10th February 2013 : National Seminar on "Challenges in 21st Century Mining - Environmental and Allied Issues" Organised by Nagpur Chapter, MEAI and IBM, Contact: Kulshetra, Mobile: 07709405450. abroad 2011 2 - 10 August 2012 : 34th international Geological Congress : Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Theme : Unearthing our Past and Future; Organised by : Australian Geoscience Council; Contact person : Liz Cuffe; Website : http:// www.34igc.org; Deadline for abstracts/proposals: Not available; Check the event website for latest details. 18 - 19 September 2012 : Seminar on "Water in Mining 2012" Brisbane, Queensland, Visit : www. ausimm.com.au 20 - 29 November 2012 : "10th international Symposium on rock fragmentati on by blasting" at New Delhi, Contact : Dr. Pradeep K. Singh, Tel.: +91-326-2296028, Fax: +91-326296211, Email: pradeep.cimfr@yahoo.com, Website: www.fragblast10.org

Printed by A.S. Rao, Secretary General, Mining Engineers Association of India, Published by A.S. Rao, Secretary General, on behalf of Mining Engineers Association of India and printed at Deepu Printers at 5-8-352, Raghav Ratna Towers (Ground Floor), Chirag Ali Lane, Abids, Hyderabad - 500 001. and published at 5-8-352, Raghav Ratna Towers (Ground Floor), Chirag Ali Lane, Abids, Hyderabad - 500 001. Editor : V.K. Verma

MEJ, Vol. 14,

No. 1

36

August 2012

Two days Seminar on

Mining, Environment & CSR - Current Trends and Future Scenario

Shri V.S. Gadhavi, IAS, Chief Guest and Dr. S.K. Sarangi, President, MEAI lighting the lamp

Shri V.S. Gadhavi, IAS, Chief Guest releasing the Souvenir

Shri V.S.Gadhavi, IAS, Chief Guest addressing the gathering

A view of the audience during Inaugural session

Shri A.L. Thakor, Chairman, Ahmedabad Chapter proposing vote of thanks during Inaugural Session MEJ, Vol. 14, No. 1 37

Shri S.N. Mathur, Convener welcoming the Chief Guest and other Guests during the Valedictory Sessions August 2012

Two days Seminar on

Mining, Environment & CSR - Current Trends and Future Scenario

Shri V. S. Gadhavi, IAS addressing the gathering during the Valedictory session

39th AGM of MEAI in progress

Dr. S.K. Sarangi, President MEAI presenting a bouquet to Shri V.S. Gadhavi during the Cultural Programme

AGM of Ahmedabad Chapter in progress

Cultural Programme in progress

A view of audience during cultural programmes

MEJ, Vol. 14,

No. 1

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August 2012

Regd. with RNI R.No. 71519/99

Postal Regd. No. H/HD-GPO/024/012-014