ZAMBEZI GAS AND COAL MINE

Mining Engineering Trainee Report

BY

JAMES N. NYAGOMO (R166254D)

FROM

UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE
FOR THE PERIOD

26 July – 29 August 2019

AT

ZAMBEZI GAS AND COAL MINE

Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Induction.....................................................................................................................................................4
Daily Safety talks.........................................................................................................................................4
Security Department...................................................................................................................................4
Weighbridge................................................................................................................................................5
Project on one of haulage contractors........................................................................................................6
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8
Introduction

Zambezi Gas is a growing concern that is in the business of exploring, mining, processing and
marketing of coal and its related products. It was incorporated in 2002 and has progressed over
the years to a nameplate capacity of over 1million ton per annum.
The mine uses the contracting model in which all operations are executed using the contractors
with Zambezi Gas focusing on management and technical services.
I had the opportunity to be on a mining engineering undergraduate trainee program at Zambezi
Gas and this report covers the activities that I undertook between July 26 th and August 29th
2019. During this period I was given an induction about the mine and its operations and I had
the opportunity to work in the security department, work at the weighbridge, had an exposure
to the drilling and blasting of coal and also did a project on one of the company’s hauling
contractors to determine the economic viability of operating on given hauling routes and come
up with solutions.
Induction

I was welcomed to the mine by the human relations department. Was introduced to the code
of conduct that is expected from everyone at the mine. The importance of safety was
emphasized to me. This gave me an opportunity to become more aware of the work
environment, the potential hazards and also the mitigating measures for any hazard. There are
green zones and the red zones at the mine, the red zones being the area where personal
protective equipment (PPE) must be worn and the green zones do not specifically require the
PPE. The induction process allowed me to prepare my mind to pay attention to detail on the
safety precautions to be taken at the mine in different scenarios

All accidents and all near miss accidents must be reported no matter how small they might
seem.

Daily Safety talks

Safety talks are done at the start of every shift to brief the workers on what is expected of them
for a given day and to give them updates on the work done in previous shifts. All accidents and
incidences from previous shifts are reported to the people so that they can work in a way that is
safe for both themselves, others, the machinery and the environment. They also serve in the
area of motivating the people before the start of every shift.

The employees also get to raise their concerns during these briefings.

Security Department

Had an opportunity to work in the security department for a single day. I worked at the gate
learning the security procedures implemented at the mine.
Coal is the product that is mainly focused on and its traffic.

All vehicles carrying coal are recorded in a log book and also their tonnages are recorded.

There are currently three entry points into the mine, two are used by the dump trucks and one
is the main entrance into the mine.

All visitors coming into the mine must be known by their identity.

All haulage truck drivers should have personal protective equipment before entering the mine.
All goods from outside the premises should be declared before they get access to the
company’s premises.

The security department also cross checks all the information that is provided from the
weighbridge.

The security department ensures that the code of conduct is followed at the mine and they can
impose fines for the people breaking protocol.

The diesel tankers are also an area that is protected so that production does not get
disturbances.

Weighbridge

Had an opportunity to work at the weighbridge for a week.

Tonnages of all loaded trucks coming in and out of the mine are recorded at the weighbridge.
The weighing ensures that the customers get the products as per agreed tonnages and also to
keep the trucks within their stated payload capacity.

There is great need for accuracy in capturing the information because the information is used
to produce financial statements for the organization and is used in decision making as well.

Working at the weighbridge gave me an opportunity to learn of the coal products produced at
the mine.

The information is kept in a software that allows one to make queries and get information such
as the full customer reports and the full products report for a given time period.
The major hauling trucks that transport coal and its various products are the

Super link trucks

Single tri-axle trailers

Tipper trucks
The tipper trucks can spent about 1.5 minutes getting axle measurements while the super link
trucks spent about 1.75 minutes getting the axle measurements. In terms of payloads, the
tipper trucks had a payload range of 16 to 19 tons while the super link trucks averaged 31-34
tons.

About 1 minute was spent for one truck to move on to the weighbridge after another had left.
Some super link trucks could spend 0.6 minutes at the weighbridge without getting axle
measurements as long as they were within the load bearing capacity.

Project on one of haulage contractors

During this period I was tasked with doing a project to determine the profitability of operating
on the ZG-ZPC route for the contractor Tandamanzi.

Collected the truck cycle times and found that the trucks can do

1.87 hours on ZG-ZPC route

0.47 hours on ZG-Entuba Siding route.

The cycle time for the ZPC route can be reduced if the issue of queue lengths at ZPC is
addressed by making use of two weighbridges

To cut down on the cycle times, the loader operators must have a template of the number of
buckets that can load a type of truck to prevent overloading and under loading as this can add
0.25 hours to the truck cycle time depending on the queue lengths

Working on this project introduced me to the aspect of doing cost build ups for various mining
machinery and ultimately to the aspect of decision making at a mine as an engineering trainee.

Had an opportunity to learn how to conduct researches more efficiently effectively whilst
carrying out this project.

Learned the aspect of making use of simulations so that sensitivity analysis is easily done and to
make decisions faster.
Recommendations

The diesel tanks should be protected at all times to prevent any tempering.

Employee identification cards should be used so as to improve the employee identification

process and also improve the security at the mine since anyone can pose as a mine employee
and steal valuables.

A logging system must be used so as to ensure that drivers do not overwork themselves
thereby increasing the risk of accidents in delivering coal and its various products.

The guard’s security room at the gate should have glasses from halfway on the sides to the
front and no bricks in-between. This removes blind spots for the guard and it also ensures that
they can easily see what goes on the main entrance road.

All truck drivers should be required to put on the personal protective equipment especially dust
masks (most do not display them) so as to improve their safety.

Main gate entrance should be manned by three people; 1 who records all traffic in and out ou
the mine, 1 who opens the boom gate and one to do vehicle inspections before they enter the
premises.

Truck loader operators must have the template for the number of buckets each truck type
requires to reduce the number of over loads and under loads which can consume up to 15
minutes per truck depending on the queue lengths thereby reducing the revenue generated.

The weighbridge should be operated by competent people who are fast so as to give
weighbridge clearance in less than 2.5 minutes.

Zambezi Gas can regulate the type of truck drivers that are to operate production trucks so as
to reduce time consumed by law enforcement agencies.

The mine can demand a minimum of 5 loads per truck operating on the ZG-ZPC route to
increase the daily tonnage outputs thereby increasing the revenue generation.

Machine failure analysis must be done at the mine to ensure continuous production.

Truck breakdowns can at the weighbridge can stop all deliveries for up to 3 hours
thereby costing the company up to 65 trucks worth of revenue.

Water pumps must be properly serviced and have their critical spares on site such that
production does not get stopped for a whole shift because of the lack of dust
suppression.
Conclusion

This period so far introduced me to the decision making aspect of mining engineering by doing cost build
ups and doing time motion studies in order to make informed and calculated decisions