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Transition and optimization of the Henderson mine ventilation system

K. Kolobe*, C. Rutter and N. Shea
Climax Molybdenum Company, Henderson Operations, Empire, CO, USA
*Corresponding author email: kkolobe@fmi.com

Full-text paper:
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (2022) 39:263–270, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-022-00565-5

Keywords: Mine ventilation, Henderson Mine, Ventilation on demand

Special Extended Abstract

Henderson Mine’s primary production transitioned from
the main portion of the 7700 level to the 7210 main panel in
2005. On the 7700 level, the southwest (SW) panel was brought
into production in 2014 and produced through 2020. A-Panel
was brought online in 2019 and took over primary produc-
tion in 2020. The 7210 north panel is under development with
production expected to commence in 2025. The 7700 north-
west panel is expected to be the mine’s last production panel.
Introduction
Ventilation on demand. Henderson Mine controls the
supply of air where and when it is needed. Variable-frequen-
cy drives (VFD) installed on the No. 5 shaft main exhaust
fans and the production booster fans allow for on-the-fly
speed adjustments. Ventilation on demand (VOD) ensures
real-time control of airflow volumes at Henderson mine by
providing the capability to reduce the speed of strategic fans
during production shutdowns [1].
7700 production level. With the large size of the main
www.miningengineeringmagazine.com Mınıng engıneerıng    JULY 2022
panel on the 7700 production level, ventilation was provided
by a network of intake and exhaust drifts below the produc-
tion level. Intake fans are located on the level below with
each fan typically supporting two production drifts on 7700
(Fig. 1).
Running the production fans at two different speeds and
using rubber doors meant the quantity could always be con-
trolled and balanced on this production level. In some cases,
disruptions to the ventilation controls lead to production
delays.
7065 truck haulage level ventilation. Modifications
were made to the truck level ventilation system to make
it more robust by introducing remote controlled dampers
in the truck chutes (Fig. 2). These dampers are automated
to open when trucks are loading and close when the chute
is not occupied, and the dampers also help to control the
direction of fresh air around the truck loop. This ventilation
arrangement is efficient and cost effective and has lower
maintenance requirements.
91
MME Technical-Paper Abstracts

Fig. 1 7700 SW panel production level layout. Fig. 2 7065 truck level layout.

Lessons learned
7700 SW panel. Improvements were made in the Hen-
derson Mine ventilation system, and VFDs were used to
replace the fan starters. The VFDs installed in 7700 SW pro-
duction level were subjected to blasting pressures and dust
that damaged the electronics.
7065 truck haulage level. The truck haulage ventilation
system was redesigned to ensure the airflow in every truck
loop flows to the exhaust in the same direction that trucks
follow as they haul material around the loops, and this sig-
nificantly helped to alleviate the haulage level dust issues
while trucks are running around the loops.
Conclusion
The Henderson Mine ventilation system has undergone
multiple changes over time in response to the dynamic air-
flow needs of the mine. With each transition, lessons learned
were applied to the next system design. This has resulted in
improvements in power use, maintenance and ventilation
control as the systems have evolved.
The ventilation system at Henderson Mine is robust
enough to accommodate the variable production rates and
the associated varying development rates, as well as mining
on multiple levels of the mine simultaneously. A robust ven-
tilation system at Henderson Mine is critical to safe and pro-
ductive mining and is designed to effectively meet the mine’s
evolving requirements. ■
Selected references
1. Nelson BV (1995) Remote Control and Monitoring of Ventilation at the Henderson
Mine. Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration, USA
2. Kolobe K, Rutter C, Shea N (2021) Evolution of the Henderson Mine Ventilation
System. Proceedings of the 18th North American Mine Ventilation Symposium,
South Dakota, USA

The flame characteristics of a tire fire on a mining vehicle

Rickard Hansen
Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
*Corresponding author email: rickard.hansen@uq.edu.au

Full-text paper:
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (2022) 39:317–334, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-022-00556-6

Keywords: Flame, Underground mine, Tire, Mining vehicle, Wheelhouse, Mudguard, Longitudinal ventilation

Special Extended Abstract

With vehicles frequently found in mines and tires being
a major fuel item, the risk of tire fires will be severe under-
ground. This study presents an analysis of tire fires on mining
vehicles to increase the knowledge of the risk and mitigating
measures, which would improve the fire safety underground.
Data from fire experiments and computational fluid dynam-
ics (CFD) simulations were applied. It was found that the
wheelhouse of a loader caused an increase in the flame tilt
angle, decreasing the flame impingement and heat flux down-
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stream. The flame temperature of a drilling rig tire was found
to be higher than that of a loader tire, increasing the risk of
igniting items. The construction of the wheelhouse/mudguard
will contribute to a longer flame length by creating a fuel-rich
environment. The CFD simulations predicted higher flame tilt
angles for a drilling rig for higher flow velocities, indicating
the influence of the wheelhouse/mudguard construction and
tire geometry on the flame tilt angle. The construction of a
loader resulted in flow behavior, where the short distance to
 MME Technical-Paper Abstracts
the front mudguard/tire and the separation of flow directly ous flame zone, intermittent zone and plume zone. The con-
downstream of the construction led to gases being steered past tinuous flame zone is fully engulfed in flames, which makes
the front mudguard/tire. In a drilling rig case, the longer dis- it highly interesting when analyzing the fire spread to fuel
tance to the front mudguard/tire led to gases being directed items as the visible flame is continuously present in the zone.
toward the body of the vehicle after passing the area with flow Each tire in the fire experiments was equipped with a ther-
separation. mocouple. The measured temperatures resulted in plateau
phases where the temperature stayed constant and where
Background the thermocouples were fully engulfed in flames. Calculat-
Vehicle fires generally constitute most of the fires in un- ing the average temperature of the plateau phases of the
derground mines and will be found in most parts of a mine drilling rig resulted in a flame temperature of 921 °C. The
due to the system of ramps and drifts accessible to vehicles. corresponding temperature of the loader was 863 °C. The
Besides the high frequency of vehicle fires, the high fuel load lower flame temperature of the loader tire was most likely
of the vehicles will add to the risks, and the size of the tires due to an increased soot formation. When comparing with
will constitute a large part. As ignition occurs, the fire will flame temperatures of other materials, the calculated flame
be distinguished by the smoke production, a high heat re- temperature of the drilling rig tire is found in the upper re-
lease rate and difficulty to suppress. A priority in the fire gion whereas the loader tire temperature is found within the
safety work would be to prevent the ignition of a tire and typical range of 800 to 900 °C for various types of fuels. A
mitigate the consequences of a fire. One of the tools would higher flame temperature will increase the risk of ignition of
be the construction of the vehicle, the wheelhouse and the fuel items and decrease the time to ignition and contributing
mudguard. The wheelhouse and the mudguard may block to a fire with higher intensity.
the ventilation flow, reduce the entrainment rate and affect Studying video recordings from the drilling rig experi-
the flame tilt and the flame length. The flame spread may ment, the flame length of the rear, right tire was estimated at
decrease due to the reduction in the entrainment rate, but
the wheelhouse/mudguard construction may also enhance
the thermal feedback back to the fuel surface and increase
the flame spread and heat release rate.
This paper investigates the flame behavior of the tire fire
in a mine, primarily influenced by the longitudinal ventila-
tion flow and the surrounding wheelhouse/mudguard. Dis-
cussions on wheelhouse and mudguard design are presented
to prevent ignition and mitigate effects of an occurring fire.
Data from full-scale fire experiments — involving a loader
and a drilling rig — and CFD simulations were applied.
Earlier work on fire behavior in underground mines or
tunnels with longitudinal ventilation have mainly focused on
critical ventilation velocity and backlayering length. Few stud-
ies can be found on constructions influencing the flame be-
havior, flame tilt or flame lengths. Most fire plume and flame
studies have been on flame behavior of open fires in tunnels
and obstacles influencing the critical ventilation velocity. Fig. 1 The left, rear wheelhouse of the loader after the full-scale
fire experiment. (Photo: Andreas Fransson)
Results and discussion
Figure 1 shows the left, rear wheelhouse of a loader after
a fire experiment. The light color seen on the left side of the
wheelhouse indicates areas where the temperature has been
high and has burnt off the soot. The angle gives an indication
of the flame tilt angle (that is, the angle between the horizon-
tal and the plume axis) and was estimated at 72 degrees. The
estimated flame tilt angle was compared with the flame tilt
angle results, applying equations based on free-burning fire
sources. The calculations resulted in a tilt angle of 79 degrees.
When applying the principle of mass continuity and adjust-
ing for the blockage ratio of the vehicle, a flame tilt angle of
65 degrees resulted. Thus, this specific wheelhouse construc-
tion will increase the angle by 10 percent. A higher flame tilt
angle is generally desired to decrease the risk of fire spread
in the direction of the ventilation flow.
The flame temperature will vary depending on factors
such as the type of fuel involved, soot formation during the
fire, and ventilation conditions. Baum and McCaffrey [1] di- Fig. 2 The distribution of the isosurface (300 °C) in the xy-plane
vided the fire plume into the following three zones: continu- of the drilling rig (top) and the loader (bottom),
2.0 m/s flow velocity.
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MME Technical-Paper Abstracts
0.9 m. The calculated flame length — using equations which
have been validated against free-burning full-scale tunnel
fires — was 0.3 m. Thus, the construction of the mudguard
would have contributed to the extended flame length by cre-
ating a fuel-rich environment and reducing the entrainment
rate. A longer flame length would increase the risk of igni-
tion of fuel items.
The flame tilt angle was also studied using data from
CFD simulations. Higher flame tilt angles were found for
the drilling rig case for higher flow velocities. When studying
the flow velocities in the direction of the longitudinal flow,
it was found that the flow velocity stayed constant along the
outer side of the burning tire in the drilling rig case. The flow
velocity in the loader case initially increased after passing
the upstream part of the wheelhouse and decreased when
approaching the downstream part of the wheelhouse. Thus,
the wheelhouse/mudguard construction would influence the
flame tilt angle. Besides the heat release rate, longitudinal
flow velocity and the wheelhouse/mudguard construction,
the geometry of the tire will also influence the flame tilt an-
gle. A larger tire width will increase the amount of pyrolysis
products flowing out of the wheelhouse, decreasing the flow
velocity, whereas a larger tire diameter would decrease the
influence of the outflowing pyrolysis products.
When studying the temperature distribution from above,
it was found that gases with higher temperatures veered
in toward the vehicle body in the drilling rig simulations,
whereas in the loader simulations the gases mostly followed
the ventilation flow and swept past the mudguard and the
front tire on the outside. The construction of the loader par-
tially contributed to this flow behavior, where the short dis-
tance to the front mudguard/tire and the separation of flow
directly downstream of the protruding construction led to
The enrichment of platinum in spent alumina carrier catalyst
by pressurized alkali treatment
Quanwen Pu, Bo Li* and Yonggang Wei
State Key Laboratory of Complex Nonferrous Metal Resources Clean Utilization, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China
*Corresponding author email: libokmust@163.com
Full-text paper:
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (2022) 39:823–832, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-022-00558-4
Keywords: Spent catalyst, Pressure alkali treatment, Leaching alumina, Enrichment of platinum, Leaching kinetics
Special Extended Abstract
With the advancement of industrial science and technol-
ogy, more and more catalysts are used. The spent catalysts
produced are solid waste products, which cause environ-
mental pollution if they are not treated. At the same time, the
spent catalysts contain some precious metals such as platinum
in concentrations that are often higher than in their ore re-
sources. Therefore, the recovery of valuable metals in spent
catalysts is a hot research topic at present. However, due to the
complex structure of the spent catalysts, dealing with them is
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the flow of flames and gases being largely steered past the
front mudguard/tire. In the case of the drilling rig, the longer
distance to the front mudguard/tire and the abrupt end of
the rear mudguard would have led to the flow of gases be-
ing directed toward the body of the vehicle after passing the
area with flow separation. Figure 2 shows the temperature
distribution for the 2.0 m/s flow cases.
Conclusions
The wheelhouse of the loader was found to cause an in-
crease in the flame tilt angle when compared with the cal-
culated free-burning case. Applying experimental data, the
flame temperature of the drilling rig tire was found to be
higher than that of the loader tire. The construction of the
wheelhouse/mudguard was found to contribute to a longer
flame length by creating a fuel-rich environment and reduc-
ing the entrainment rate.
The CFD simulations predicted higher flame tilt angles
for the drilling rig case for higher flow velocities, indicating
the influence of a varying wheelhouse/mudguard construc-
tion on the flame tilt angle and the influence of the geometry
of the tire. The construction of the loader resulted in a flow
behavior, where the short distance to the front mudguard/
tire and the separation of flow directly downstream of the
construction led to the flow of flames and gases being largely
steered past the front mudguard/tire. In the case of the drill-
ing rig, the longer distance to the front mudguard/tire led
to the flow of gases being directed toward the body of the
vehicle after passing the area with flow separation. ■
Selected reference
1. Baum HR, McCaffrey BJ (1989) Fire induced flow field – theory and experiment.
In: Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium – Fire Safety Science. Tokyo,
Japan, pp 129–148
a lengthy process. The first step of recovery, enrichment of the
spent catalyst, becomes particularly important. In this paper,
a pressure solution method is investigated for this purpose,
in which the alumina carrier is dissolved and platinum is en-
riched in the leaching residue.
Introduction
Platinum is a rare precious metal that usually has a sil-
very white sheen. Because of its stable chemical properties
 MME Technical-Paper Abstracts

Table 1 — Experimental design of optimal conditions.

Temperature (°C) 140 160 180 200 220
Pressure (MPa) 0.28 0.48 0.80 1.20 1.92
Alkali concentration (g/L) 180 200 220 240 260
Time (h) 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Liquid-solid ratio (mL/g) 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5

and high catalytic activity, it is used in electronic materials

and surfactants. Platinum is mainly found in South Africa,
and many countries rely on imports for platinum as its re-
sources are fewer and unevenly distributed in other parts of
the world. Platinum is also used as an active component in
catalysts, and the amount of platinum in catalysts is gener-
ally higher than that found in natural ore sources.
Catalysts are widely used in automobile exhaust cata-
lytic converters and in the petrochemical and other indus-
tries, and their consumption is increasing. A great deal of
Fig. 1 Process flow chart of the experiment.
catalysts will be replaced due to deactivation in the process
of use, making spent catalysts a rich secondary resource for
platinum group metals. If high recovery is achieved, it will
help mitigate the pressure of demand for mined platinum
and contribute to the sustainable development of platinum.
There are two main kinds of recovery technologies from
spent catalysts: pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy. Pyro-
metallurgy includes the metal trapping method and chlori-
nation volatilization method, and hydrometallurgy includes
the total solution method, carrier dissolution method and
active component dissolution method [1-3].

Materials and methods

The main content of the spent alumina carrier catalyst
used as raw material in this study was alumina at 87.13 per-
cent, and the platinum content was 1,748.91 g/t.
Due to the slow reaction between sodium hydroxide Fig. 2 XRD analysis results of catalyst leached residue.
and alumina at normal temperature, the pressurized alka-
line leaching process, which is a wet-process carrier disso-
lution method, was used. The pressurized alkaline solution Table 2 — Experimental results under optimal conditions.
also avoids the harmful gas generation in the similar acid Leaching Platinum content Enrichment rate
leaching process. The principle is that under alkaline condi- No.
rate (%) of residue (%) of Pt (times)
tions, the catalyst carrier alumina will be dissolved while the 1 99.70 22.11 126.49
platinum metal does not participate in the reaction. In the
2 99.69 20.01 114.47
leaching residue, platinum is enriched and alumina carrier is
separated (Fig. 1). 3 99.69 21.24 121.51
Average 99.69 21.12 120.82
Results and discussion
The effects of temperature, sodium hydroxide concen-
tration, holding time and liquid-solid ratio on alumina carri- times. The aluminum in the spent catalyst carrier can be dis-
er leaching were studied. It was found that with the increase solved efficiently by pressurized alkaline solution, and plati-
of each condition value, alumina leaching rate shows a rapid num can be enriched.
increase at first and then tends toward a gentle trend. The leaching kinetics of pressurized alkaline solution
The optimal process parameters were found to be tem- were studied. The reaction model is the unreacted core re-
perature of 200 °C, pressure of 1.20 MPa, sodium hydrox- duction model. The sodium hydroxide diffuses outward from
ide concentration of 240 g/L, holding time of one hour and the solution and is adsorbed on the surface of the catalyst,
liquid-solid ratio of 5:1 (Table 1). Under the optimum condi- where the reaction takes place. Then, the sodium metaalumi-
tions, the average leaching rate of alumina carrier can reach nate product is desorbed from the catalyst surface and dif-
99.69 percent (Fig. 2, Table 2). Platinum content increased fused into the solution. Under the condition of 170~200 °C,
from 0.1749 percent to 21.12 percent, platinum loss was 3.39 the leaching rate of alumina for different holding times
percent, and platinum enrichment rate increased by 120.82 was obtained. The linear fitting results show that the reac-

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MME Technical-Paper Abstracts
tion rate of pressurized alkaline leaching process is mainly
controlled by the chemical reaction, and the reaction rate
can be adjusted by changing temperature or pressure. The
activation energy of the reaction is 19.53 kJ/mol. The low
value indicates that the energy consumption of the pressur-
ized alkaline solution method is low, which is beneficial to its
industrial application.
platinum was increased by 120.82 times.
When the temperature is 170~200 °C, the leaching pro-
cess of the catalyst is controlled by the chemical reaction,
and the activation energy of the catalyst is 19.53 kJ/mol.
Pressurized alkali solution can not only efficiently leach alu-
mina from the spent catalyst and enrich platinum, but also
can reduce reaction time and increase reaction rate. ■

Conclusion Selected references

Spent alumina catalyst was treated by pressure alkali so-
lution, and the optimal leaching conditions were obtained as
alkali concentration of 240 g/L, temperature of 200 °C, pres-
sure of 1.20 MPa, holding time of one hour and liquid-solid
ratio of 5:1. The experimental results show that the leaching
rate of Al2O3 was 99.69 percent, and the enrichment rate of
1. Roberta SM, Cristiano N, Julio CA (2011) Recovery of platinum, tin and indium from
spent catalysts in chloride medium using strong basic anion exchange resins. J
Hazard Mater 192(3):1155–1160
2. DingYJ, Zheng HD, Zhang SG (2020) Highly efficient recovery of platinum, palladium,
and rhodium from spent automotive catalysts via iron melting collection. Resour
Conserv Recycl 155.
3. Manis KJ, Jae-chun L, Min-seuk K (2013) Hydrometallurgical recovery/recycling of
platinum by the leaching of spent catalysts: A review. Hydrometall 133:23–32

The necessity for improved hand and finger protection in mining

John R. Heberger1,*, Mahiyar F. Nasarwanji1, Jonisha P. Pollard2 and Lydia M. Kocher1
1
Pittsburgh Mining Research Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
2
National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
*Corresponding author email: jheberger@cdc.gov

Full-text paper:
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (2022) 39:507–520, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-022-00557-5

Keywords: Hand injury, Finger injury, Mining industry, Protective gloves, Occupational injury

Special Extended Abstract

Injuries associated with hands and fingers are highly prev-finger injuries in the U.S. mining industry, as reported to the
alent in the mining industry, and identifying factors associated
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) from 2011
with these injuries is critical for developing prevention efforts.
to 2017. Hand and finger injuries occur at a rate of 6.53 per
This study identifies nonfatal injury incidence rates, nature of
1,000 full-time employees, which is nearly double the rate of
injury, work activities, glove usage, and sources of hand and the next highest affected body part, the back. Most of the hand
and finger injuries were classified as cuts/lacera-
Table 1 — Hand and finger injury counts and rates by mining tions/punctures (53 percent) followed by bone frac-
sector and operating location, 2011-2017. tures/chips (26 percent). Materials handling and
maintenance/repair were common activities at the
Mill or
Underground Surface time of the incident with miscellaneous metals —
Mining sector preparation Total
operations operations such as pipe, wire and guarding — and hand tools
plants as the primary sources of hand and finger injury.
Coal count 3,924 1,056 400 5,380 Although the information on glove use was limited,
Rate *
12.73 3.52 4.96 7.81 leather gloves were most often worn when an in-
jury occurred. When gloves were identified in the
Noncoal count 654 3,481 3,008 7,143
injury narrative, gloves contributed to 20 percent
Rate* 7.07 5.10 6.62 5.81 of the injuries, indicating their potential to protect
Metal 441 804 816 2,061 the hands but also potentially putting the hands at
Nonmetal 133 292 523 948 risk. Further research is necessary to determine per-
formance requirements for gloves used in mining
Stone 80 1,475 1,669 3,224
operations, specifically those offering cut and punc-
Sand and gravel 0 910 0 910 ture resistance.
Total count 4,578 4,537 3,408 12,523
Rate* 11.43 4.62 6.37 6.53 Background
*Rates are presented per 1,000 full-time equivalent mine workers. Due to the way MSHA
Hands and fingers are the most injured body
collects contractor employment data, rates can only be calculated for coal and noncoal part annually across all industries, accounting for
employment categories. Noncoal consists of the metal, nonmetal, stone, and sand and gravel nearly 10 percent of lost time injuries [1]. The U.S.
mining sectors. mining industry has been plagued by hand and

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 MME Technical-Paper Abstracts
finger injuries for decades, and these injuries may
pose a significant burden on mining company fi-
nances and worker quality of life [2-4]. Gloves are
a common means of protecting hands and fingers;
however, they may reduce hand performance and
even contribute to injury. This paper presents a
detailed descriptive analysis of hand and finger
injuries sustained by mine workers, highlights the
factors associated with injuries and identifies per-
formance metrics for improved glove design.

Methods
Public datasets provided by the MSHA were
used for this analysis. Injuries were included if the
injured body part included hands or fingers and
excluded injuries to office workers. The final da-
taset included 12,523 hand and finger injuries, and
injuries that involved gloves were identified via a
Fig. 1 Injury rates per 1,000 full-time equivalent mine workers
narrative text search. This study identifies nonfatal for the most common body parts injured.
injury incidence rates, nature of injuries, activities,
tasks, and sources of hand and finger injuries in the
mining industry, as well as glove use in relation to injury. coal mines had 1.34 times the rate of hand and finger injuries
compared to noncoal mines. Injuries were most common at
Results and discussion underground operations (37 percent) with an incidence rate
From 2011 to 2017, the hands and fingers had the highest of 11.43 hand and finger injuries per 1,000 FTE mine workers.
injury rate (6.53 injuries per 1,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) Compared to surface mines, underground mines had 2.5 times
workers), followed by the back, knees and shoulders (Fig. 1). the rate of hand and finger injuries.
The average rate of hand and finger injury was nearly two Cuts, lacerations and puncture injuries were the most
times the average back injury rate. Table 1 gives the count and common nature of injury with 6,682 cases (53.4 percent), fol-
rates of injuries by mining sector and work location. Miners at lowed by bone fracture/chip injuries with 3,295 cases (26.3

Table 2 — Nature of hand and finger injures and resulting days lost, 2011-2017.
Nature of injury Frequency Percent Cases reporting days lost Total days lost Mean days lost Median days lost
Cut, laceration, puncture 6,682 53.4 5,950 54,679 9 0
Bone fracture, chip 3,295 26.3 3,107 94,897 31 14
Crushing 615 4.9 581 19,250 16 11
Contusion 559 4.5 536 8,790 16 4
Amputation 392 3.1 392 78,736 201 100
Sprain, strains 274 2.2 265 9,453 36 8
Unclassified, 150 1.2 144 5,045 35 8
not determined
Burn or scald (heat) 127 1.0 121 1,943 16 5
Other injury, NEC 101 0.8 98 2,413 25 3
Multiple injuries 78 0.6 75 2,261 30 9
Dislocation 71 0.6 65 1,599 25 1
Noncontact electric 47 0.4 44 1,117 25 12
arc burn
Scratches, abrasions 40 0.3 40 786 20 3
Joint, tendon, or muscle 36 0.3 29 635 22 4
inflammation or irritation
Electrical burn 25 0.2 23 448 20 6
Burn, chemical 16 0.1 15 368 25 5
Dermatitis 10 0.1 7 9 1 0
Freezing, frostbite 5 0.0 5 1 – –
Total 12,523 100.0 11,497 282,430 – –

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MME Technical-Paper Abstracts
percent). Bone fracture/chip injuries accounted for the most
total days lost from work between 2011 and 2017, accounting
for 94,897 total lost days. Amputations were the fifth most
common nature of injury, with 392 cases (3.1 percent) but
associated with the second largest total days lost from work,
with 78,736 total lost days. Amputation injuries had the high-
est median and mean days lost from work (Table 2). Conclusion
The top five work activities — materials handling, ma-
chine maintenance and repair, nonpowered hand tool use,
roof bolting and powered hand tool use — made up 75 per-
cent of the injuries. Analysis of each work activity is pro-
vided in the full paper.
Gloves were explicitly mentioned and worn in 754 inju-
ry cases. Leather gloves were most identified (90 cases, 46.9
percent), and nearly 90 percent of these cases report cut, lac-
eration or puncture injuries. In general, leather gloves are
not considered cut resistant, unless specially coated, lined or
otherwise specified by the manufacturer. Metacarpal gloves
were the second most common type of glove identified, with
38 cases (19.8 percent), and nearly 42 percent of these cases
were related to crushing and bone fractures. Similarly, in a few
cases, cut-resistant gloves still resulted in a mine worker sus-
taining a cut. This can indicate that either the protection was
not on the appropriate location of the hand, the protection
was somehow deteriorated (such as with wear), or the inci-
dent was serious enough where the gloves could not provide
the necessary level of protection needed to combat the haz-
ard. When gloves were worn, 418 (55 percent) were identified
as possible cases that could have been avoided or resulted in a
less severe injury if a glove offered optimal protection.
The mention of gloves in the injury narrative was low
(7.5 percent of overall sample). This could be due to the
lack of specificity in the narratives but could also indicate
that gloves are not used often. Even with the small sample
on glove use, some inferences can be drawn to help create
prevention practices. In 21 percent of the cases, the gloves
contributed to the incident due to the hand being caught in,
under or between an object or machine. This supports the
need to ensure that loose-fitting gloves or gloves which can
get caught easily are not used when a risk exists for gloves
getting caught in the equipment. Wearing gloves when roof
bolting had 4.87 higher odds that the glove contributed to
an injury compared to injuries that occur while performing
other activities.
From 2011 to 2017, the rate of hand and finger injuries
in the U.S. mining industry was dramatically higher than any
other injured body part. Manual materials handling, ma-
chine maintenance and repair, and hand tool use were the
most common activities associated with these injuries. While
the currently available data do not allow for analysis on the
effectiveness of gloves for preventing injury, evidence ex-
ists where glove protection failed and even where glove use
contributed to the injury. There is a need to further evaluate
hand protection strategies in the mining industry that goes
over and above personal protective equipment (PPE) or
gloves and includes all levels of the hierarchy of hazard con-
trols. Moreover, glove design should be improved to ensure
gloves do not create additional hazards when in use. ■
Disclaimer
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of
the authors and do not necessarily represent the official po-
sition of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Men-
tion of any company or product does not constitute endorse-
ment by NIOSH.
Selected references
1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2020) TABLE R2. Number of nonfatal occupational
injuries and illnesses involving days away from work by industry and selected parts
of body affected by injury or illness, private industry, 2019, 2020
2. Coleman P, Brune J, Martini L (2010) Characteristics of the top five most frequent
injuries in United States mining operations, 2003-2007-Introduction. Trans Soc
Min Metall Explor 326:61–70
3. Pollard J, Heberger J, Dempsey P (2014) Maintenance and repair injuries in US
mining. Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering 20(1):20–31
4. Robinson LS, Sarkies M, Brown T, O’Brien L (2016) Direct, indirect and intangible
costs of acute hand and wrist injuries: A systematic review. Injury 47(12):2614–2626

Air quality impact assessment and management of mining activities

around an international heritage site in India
S.K. Chaulya*, R.K. Tiwary, S.K. Mondal, G.C. Mondal, T.B. Singh, S. Singh, R.S. Singh and K.K.K. Singh
CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad, India
*Corresponding author email: chaulyask@cimfr.nic.in

Full-text paper:
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (2022) 39:573–590, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-022-00547-7

Keywords: Chittorgarh Fort, Fugitive dust modeling, Dry fog dust suppression system

Special Extended Abstract

In this work, a comprehensive field study was carried out air pollution sources from opencast mines around a heritage
to measure the background air quality status and identify the site in India. Air quality modeling was conducted to envisage

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 MME Technical-Paper Abstracts
dust concentration due to existing and closed mines
in the region. The air quality modeling exercise pre-
dicted that particulate-matter levels of PM10 and
PM2.5 might increase in the ranges of 3.2 to 23.1 and
2.1 to 8.9 μg/m3, respectively, due to mining activi-
ties when some of the closed mines will be operated
in the region without controlled emission. The pre-
dicted total PM10 and PM2.5 at the selected receptor
locations were in the ranges of 86.39 to 194.89 and
34.82 to 99.55 μg/m3, respectively. Adequate mea-
sures were suggested to control air pollution from
mining activities, and an intelligent dry fog system
was designed to suppress dust emission efficiently
from mineral processing plants and opencast mines.
The developed system has special features for facili-
tating eco-friendly mining.
Fig. 1 Predicted total PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations during functioning
Introduction of all the active mines and some of the closed mines around the fort.
Chittorgarh Fort is an international heri-
tage building in Chittorgarh district, Rajasthan
state, India. It covers an area of 56.3 km2 at an elevation of were suggested based on impact assessment studies.
408 m from mean sea level and at latitude of 24°51’10.01”
N to 24°54’32.17” N and longitude of 74°38’23.18” E to Results and discussion
74°39’26.86” E. Several mines are located around the fort. The air pollutants investigated were particulate matter
The mines around the fort in four clusters are thought to (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The
be having an environmental impact on it. Hence, mining op- maximum background PM10, PM2.5, SO2 and NO2 concentra-
erations are not presently carried out in most of the mines tions were in the ranges of 71.59 to 176.89, 29.22 to 92.25,
because of government directives to close some of the mines. 28.00 to 82.09 and 32.97 to 161.44 μg/m3, respectively, at 10
A detailed assessment was thus carried out to evaluate air monitoring stations within the buffer zone covering a 10-
the background air quality in the buffer zone of the fort. km radius around the fort boundary.
The validated fugitive dust model (FDM) [1] was applied to Air-quality monitoring was carried out under preblast-
predict PM10 and PM2.5 levels within the buffer zone caused ing, blasting and postblasting conditions. PM2.5 and PM10
by the various active operating mines and possible opera- concentrations varied in ranges of 18.96 to 45.475 and 66.81
tion of some of the closed mines around the fort. Baseline to 217.446 μg/m3, respectively, during the preblasting state.
air quality and micrometeorology data were generated for After the blasting operation, an increase in the NO2 level
the winter season. Further, air pollution modeling was car- was observed, while other parameters were not much af-
ried out to assess the worst-case scenario during the winter fected. In the postblasting scenario, the level of air pollut-
season, and various input data for air quality modeling were ants was found to be similar to preblasting. Thus, NO2 is the
collected during field studies, covering background air qual- primary air pollutant due to the blasting operation.
ity, emission sources, emission rate, receptor locations and Experiments were also conducted to assess the impact of
micrometeorological parameters. Emission rate formulae change in drill hole diameter. The concentration of NO2 was
and EmissCal software were used to estimate the activity measured at the same distance and direction during both
emission rate of different mining activities [2]. Necessary air blasting operations with 152- and 112-mm drill hole diam-
pollution control measures for various mining operations eters and 24 holes fired at a time. The NO2 level was reduced

Fig. 2 Layout of the dry fog dust suppression system.

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MME Technical-Paper Abstracts
in the range of 11.62 to 41.50 μg/m3 when the drill hole diam-
eter was reduced from 152 to 112 mm.
The predicted total PM10 and PM2.5 levels at the selected
receptor positions were found to be in the ranges of 86.39 to
194.89 and 34.82 to 99.55 μg/m3, respectively. Based on the
modeling exercise, it is predicted that ground-level concen-
trations of PM10 and PM2.5 may increase in the ranges of 3.2
to 23.1 and 2.1 to 8.9 μg/m3, respectively, due to mining ac-
tivities only when some of the closed mines will be operated
in the region without controlled emission. The concentration
of total PM10 would exceed the National Ambient Air Qual-
ity Standards (NAAQS) [3] of 100 μg/m3 at the A2 to A7 and
A9 sampling sites (Fig. 1). In contrast, the total PM2.5 concen-
tration would be greater than the recommended value of 60
μg/m3 at the A5 to A9 sampling sites due to active mines and
some of the closed mines around the fort operating without
controlled emission. The modeling results showed that PM10
and PM2.5 would be at their maximums within the mining
locations. Dispersion and settling of air pollutants will take
place going away from mining areas. Hence, PM levels in the
fort location would be less than in mining areas.
We developed an automated and smart dry fog dust
suppression system for the efficient control of fugitive dust
emission from mining and industrial operations. The system
consists of hybrid nozzles, sensors, actuators, controllers,
screw compressors, air receiver, pumps, motors, and water
arrangement with filtration facility (Fig. 2). Compressed air
and water pass through atomization nozzles to form fine
droplets (10 to 50 µm in size, with a mean of 20 µm). Fine
water droplets agglomerate with submicrometer fugitive
Effectiveness of the CPDM in reducing overexposures to coal mine dust
Jay F. Colinet and Steven E. Mischler*
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh Mining Research Division, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
*Corresponding author email: SMischler@cdc.gov
Full-text paper:
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (2022) 39:283–290, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-022-00563-7
Keywords: Personal dust monitor, Coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, Respirable coal dust, Dust sampling
Special Extended Abstract
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)
promulgated a rule in 2014 that required numerous changes
in compliance dust sampling requirements for coal mine op-
erators. Two key parts of this rule were the lowering of the
respirable coal mine dust standard from 2.0 mg/m3 to 1.5 mg/
m3 and requiring operators of underground coal mines to use
a continuous personal dust monitor (CPDM) for compliance
sampling. The CPDM currently approved for compliance
sampling is equipped with a display that provides miners with
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100 JULY 2022     Mınıng engıneerıng www.miningengineeringmagazine.com
dust particles and then settle.
Total operation is automatic using a programmable logic
controller and sensors, including under-belt, proximity, dust-
measurement and water-level sensors. The system automati-
cally starts only when the plant is in operation, and it effec-
tively controls dust emission at source. The system does not
affect the material handling process as it adds moisture at
less than 0.1 percent of material weight. Power and water
consumptions are low, and the system was capable of con-
trolling dust emission from different mining activities of the
study area.
Conclusions
Opencast mining activities around the Chittorgarh Fort
are significant sources of air pollution in the region. It is
estimated that PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations may exceed
the NAAQS, 2009 [3] at a few locations around the fort dur-
ing the operation of the existing active mines and some of
the closed mines in the future without controlled emission.
Hence, effective control measures, including the developed
intelligent dry fog system, shall be adopted to reduce air
pollution levels around the fort during the operation of the
closed mines for sustainable development of the region. ■
Selected references
1. United States Environmental Protection Agency (1995) User’s guide for the fugitive
dust model (FDM), Vol. I, User’s Instruction, Region 10, Seattle, Washington, USA
2. Chaulya SK (2006) Emission rate formulae for surface iron ore mining activities.
Environ Model Assess 11:361–370
3. Central Pollution Control Board (2009) National Ambient Air Quality Standard. Ministry
of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India, New Delhi, India
in-shift information on their respirable dust exposure. The
goal was to provide an indication of a potential overexpo-
sure and empower the miner and mine operator to implement
changes in controls and/or operating practices to prevent an
overexposure from occurring.
MSHA inspector and mine operator sampling data from
five years before the rule became effective was compared to
sampling results for five years after the dust standard was
lowered and CPDM use was required. The analysis indicates
 MME Technical-Paper Abstracts

Table 1 — Comparison of sampling requirements in the 1969 Act and 2014 MSHA dust rule.
Key sampling changes 1969 Act 2014 Rule
Frequency of operator sampling
Bimonthly Quarterly
on each MMU
Sampling duration 8 hours Full shift
Consecutive sampling to obtain 15 valid shifts
Number of valid samples per period 5 consecutive days or shifts for the DOa for the DOa and then 15 valid shifts for the
ODOa (not concurrent)
Number of valid DO samples per year 30 (5 samples x 6 sampling periods) 60 (15 samples x 4 sampling periods)
50 percent of average production from the 80 percent of average production
Production required for sample to be valid
last 5 valid bimonthly samples over the last 30 production shifts
If quartz > 5 percent, reduce the respirable If quartz > 100 µg/m3, reduce the respirable
Silica dust
dust standard (10 ÷ % quartz) dust standard (10 ÷ % quartz)b
Chest X-rays and spirometry for underground
Health surveillance Chest X-rays for underground miners
and surface miners
Operator dust sampler Gravimetric CPDM (effective Feb. 1, 2016)
Respirable dust standard 2.0 mg/m (effective Dec. 30, 1972)
3
1.5 mg/m3 (effective Aug. 1, 2016)
Designated occupation (DO) and other designated occupation (ODO) are defined in the Compliance Dust Sampling Results section.
a

Reduced respirable dust standard cannot exceed the 1.5 mg/m3 standard.
b

that use of the CPDM has resulted in substantially lower per-
centages of samples exceeding the applicable respirable dust
standard for these four occupations, and the data suggest that
miners and mine operators are utilizing the in-shift dust ex-
posure information provided by the CPDM to substantially
reduce overexposures.
Background
Inhalation of respirable-sized coal mine dust, which is
defined as smaller than 10 µm [1,2], can result in coal work-
ers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), commonly known as black
lung. Once contracted, there is no cure for this lung disease,
so controlling dust exposure is key for protecting the health
of miners.
In the United States, the Federal Coal Mine Health and
Safety Act of 1969 (Public Law 91-173) established a respi-
rable coal mine dust standard of 2.0 mg/m3 and required pe-
riodic sampling by mine operators and federal inspectors. In
an effort to further reduce the respirable dust exposure of
coal mine workers, MSHA promulgated a new federal dust
rule in 2014 [3]. As noted in Table 1, operators are now re-
quired to collect more samples per year from each mecha-
nized mining unit (MMU). Also, samples must be collected
over the entire working shift and 80 percent of the previ-
ous 30-shift average production must be obtained during the
sampling shift for the dust sample to meet the minimum pro-
duction for a valid sample. The new sampling requirements
are designed to provide a more realistic measure of miners’
dust exposures.
A key component of the 2014 dust rule is the require-
ment for underground coal mine operators to use a CPDM
for compliance dust sampling. Currently, the Thermo Fisher
Scientific PDM3700 is the only sampler certified by MSHA
as intrinsically safe and by NIOSH for meeting the CPDM
requirements specified in the Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR), Title 30, Part 74. During sampling with the CPDM,
respirable dust concentrations are recorded and stored each
minute in addition to the unit display that provides the wear-
er with up-to-date information on their dust exposure.
Methods
Compliance sampling data for four occupations that
have historically had elevated dust exposures were down-
loaded from the MSHA website. These occupations included
continuous miner operator, roof bolter operator, tailgate-
side shearer operator and jacksetter. To assess the impact of
the CPDM on compliance sampling, NIOSH compared in-
spector and operator sampling data, retrieved from MSHA,
from two five-year time periods. The first period represents
the last five years of sampling before any portion of the 2014
dust rule was implemented and encompasses samples col-
lected between Aug. 1, 2009 through July 31, 2014. During
this period, the gravimetric sampler was used for compliance
sampling by MSHA inspectors and mine operators, with the
dust standard at 2.0 mg/m3. The second five-year period rep-
resents sampling after all portions of the 2014 dust rule had
been implemented and encompasses samples collected be-
tween Aug. 1, 2016 through July 31, 2021. During this period,
MSHA continued to use the gravimetric sampler but mine
operators used the CPDM, with the dust standard lowered
to 1.5 mg/m3.
Results and discussion
Figure 1 shows the percentage of mine operator samples

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MME Technical-Paper Abstracts
that exceeded the applicable dust standard for the five-year
periods before (Grav 2.0) and after (CPDM 1.5) implemen-
tation of the 2014 dust rule. For the four occupations, the
percentage of samples exceeding the standard dropped be-
tween 63 and 86 percent with operators using the CPDM,
even under the more stringent sampling requirements, in-
cluding increased sampling times and tonnage increases.
Figure 2 shows the average respirable dust concentra-
tions calculated for each sampling period for the four oc-
cupations. Average dust concentrations were below 0.8 mg/
m3 for all sampling periods and both occupations from the
continuous mining (CM) sections. Except for the roof bolter
(RB) operator samples collected by the mine operators, av-
erage dust concentrations were slightly lower after imple-
mentation of the 2014 dust rule. For the longwall occupa-
tions, average dust levels decreased by 0.1 to 0.4 mg/m3 after
implementation of the 2014 dust rule. These decreases in av-
Fig. 1 Mine operator sampling results for the five years
before and after the 2014 dust rule changes.
Fig. 2 Average respirable dust concentrations for the five years
before and after the 2014 dust rule changes.
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erage dust levels occurred despite the increases in tonnage
produced and time sampled as noted in Table 1.
Conclusion
In 2014, MSHA enacted a dust rule that reduced the re-
spirable dust standard to 1.5 mg/m3, required mine opera-
tors to use a CPDM for compliance sampling and changed
several other sampling requirements. The CPDM approved
for use by MSHA and NIOSH has a display that provides in-
shift information on respirable dust exposure to the wearer.
Prior to using the CPDM, miners collected compliance dust
samples with a gravimetric sampling pump that only dis-
played airflow rate and sampling time. NIOSH wanted to
determine if miners and mine operators could use the dust
exposure information provided by the CPDM to improve on
maintaining compliance.
NIOSH downloaded compliance dust samples collected
by inspectors and mine operators from the MSHA
website for the five-year period prior to imple-
menting the 2014 dust rule and the five-year pe-
riod after all provisions of the dust rule had been
implemented. Dust samples for continuous miner
operators, roof bolter operators, tailgate-side
shearer operators and jacksetters were analyzed.
With mine operators using the CPDM for
compliance sampling, the percentage of samples
exceeding the 1.5 mg/m3 standard, collected by
mine operators, when compared to the percentage
exceeding 2.0 mg/m3 for these four occupations
was reduced by between 63 and 86 percent. These
substantial reductions were realized despite the
more stringent sampling requirements of the 2014
dust rule, such as the lowered standard, higher
production requirements, full-shift sampling, and
an increase in the number of samples required.
The data suggest that miners and mine operators
are utilizing the in-shift dust exposure information
provided by the CPDM to substantially reduce
overexposures. ■
Disclaimer
The findings and conclusions in the report are
those of the authors and do not necessarily repre-
sent the official position of the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. Mention of any
company name, product, or software does not con-
stitute endorsement by NIOSH.
Selected references
1. ACGIH (1994) Threshold limit values for chemical substances and
physical agents & biological exposure indices. American Conference of
Governmental Industrial Hygienists, Cincinnati, OH
2. ISO (1995) Air quality—particle size fraction definitions for health-
related sampling. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva,
Switzerland, ISO 7708:1995
3. 79 Fed. Reg. 24814 (2014) Mine Safety and Health Administration:
Lowering miners’ exposure to respirable coal mine dust, including
continuous personal dust monitors; final rule. (To be codified at 30 CFR
70, 71, 72, 75, and 90.)