3159 The development of a Best Practice Guideline for the management of hot holes in surface coal mines
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17159/Abstract
Surface coal operations in which mining activities are conducted above old underground workings experience hot holes after drilling. Hot holes are defined as shot holes, in a coal mine, which after being drilled have an in-hole ambient temperature of 40°C or above or show a temperature increase of 3°C or more during monitoring. Hot holes and other cavities such as cracks pose health and safety risks to workers such as exposure to hot air and high concentrations of noxious gases released from these holes. In addition, the workers may be exposed to the premature detonation of explosives caused by in-hole temperature increases and chemical reactions. To this end, Coaltech Research Association commissioned a project to develop a Best Practice Guideline for the management of the hot holes. This paper is a compilation of the activities conducted in the development of the Best Practice Guideline. The activities included a review of standard operating procedures and hot hole temperature measuring and monitoring devices, and the assessment of current hot hole procedures at selected mines. The results indicated that the management of hot holes requires a focus on pre-emptive risk assessment of mining blocks, identification of hot holes using the correct temperature measuring devices and continuous monitoring of hot holes from the time of drilling until just before blasting. Hot hole management accessories such as polyvinyl chloride sleeves were found to be effective in insulating the hot hole emulsion from the rock mass temperature thus preventing the potential for premature detonation.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Mvikeli Mpofu, Busisiwe Maphalala, Thabang Kgarume, Fleckson Magweregwede, Gerhard Stenzel
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
THE INSTITUTE, AS A BODY, IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE STATEMENTS AND OPINIONS ADVANCED IN ANY OF ITS PUBLICATIONS.
Copyright© 1978 by The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. All rights reserved. Multiple copying of the contents of this publication or parts thereof without permission is in breach of copyright, but permission is hereby given for the copying of titles and abstracts of papers and names of authors. Permission to copy illustrations and short extracts from the text of individual contributions is usually given upon written application to the Institute, provided that the source (and where appropriate, the copyright) is acknowledged. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of review or criticism under The Copyright Act no. 98, 1978, Section 12, of the Republic of South Africa, a single copy of an article may be supplied by a library for the purposes of research or private study. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publishers. Multiple copying of the contents of the publication without permission is always illegal.
U.S. Copyright Law applicable to users In the U.S.A.
The appearance of the statement of copyright at the bottom of the first page of an article appearing in this journal indicates that the copyright holder consents to the making of copies of the article for personal or internal use. This consent is given on condition that the copier pays the stated fee for each copy of a paper beyond that permitted by Section 107 or 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law. The fee is to be paid through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., Operations Center, P.O. Box 765, Schenectady, New York 12301, U.S.A. This consent does not extend to other kinds of copying, such as copying for general distribution, for advertising or promotional purposes, for creating new collective works, or for resale.
