Shaft

DRILLING AND BLASTING

Beginning of shift
1. Collect sketch plan from the shaft sinkers office and proceed to the waiting place
where the five safety point plan is followed as discussed in the LASHING REPORT.
2. Check with the driver and see if he is fit for duty. Warn the driver that you want to
enter the shaft and enter the warning in the DRIVER S LOG BOOK. You can only
cancel the warning on completion of the job.

MAKING SAFE
1. Water down at the mouth of the shaft.
2. Search the fan, switch it on and off. Check rope and rope connections to the kibble,
check cylinder switch and shaft doors.
3. Ring the driver to lower the kibble searching the shaft to the Galloway stage and up
again.
4. With the stage on setter and one assistant, go down searching the shaft to the
Galloway stage. Stop at a distance of 4—5m then lower down slowly to a distance of
1m. Examine the sling connections to the stage and clean the stage
5. Leave the stage on setter on the stage and precede washing and barring down to the
bottom of the shaft, stop at a distance of 4—5m lower down again slowly to a distance
of about 1m.
6. Put the pump and drain all the water from the shaft, bar down, pump all misfires if any.
Clean and plug all sockets. Use the sketch to ensure that you have pumped all the
sockets.

MARKING UP
1. Suspend a bob from the bottom centre of the kibble and mark the center on the round
using a tape, paint and brush, mark the perimeters of the round with the help of your
assistant. Mark the holes adhering to the required number.

DRILLING

1. Go GET YOUR MACHINE CREW. Instruct them not to drill dry or into sockets and
they must drill where indicated.
2. Blow the hoses, join and test the machines. Continue barring down when ever
necessary.
3. Usually there are 4 drillers in sinking shaft hence special care should be taken not to
injure one another. Visibility is usually reduced as a mist normally forms.
4. After finishing, pump out all holes and see if the fan is operating. If inverted wax
primers are not in use, prepare your primers at a safe place.
5. The sinker will sketch his holes on the plan of the round drilled. It must be dated,
signed and the submitted to an officially who will counter sign it and leave it for a
person in charge of cleaning operations.

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CHARGING UP
(The following procedure was followed when inverted wax primers were in use.)

1. Using a two-- way pipe fitted with a valve, pump out all holes. For each hole, drop a wax
primer of the right number---the lowest number for cut holes, successive rings being charged
with successive numbers. Holes in a ring to have a common delay.
2. Fill up with tovex cartridges, pressing each one home firmly, side holes, put two
barrels of smoothex or emex and top up with a tovex cartridge.
3. Tie up together the lead wires of the primers of the same color in sets of 4. Connect
the holes in parallel and rings in series.
4. Load all charging equipment into the kibble, test blasting cable, connect up, get into
the kibble and leave the shaft.

Blasting

1. In electrical blasting the shot exploder was used.

2. Non electric blasting
- Person in charge of blasting goes down the shaft
- Rings 5 to warn the driver that he is about to light up, the driver will respond by raising
and lowering the kibble a distance of about 1m.after lighting up, ring1. if the driver does
not pull up get out of the kibble and climb the ladders to the penthouse before the holes
explode.

Lashing

1. Collect sketch plan from the shaft sinkers office and proceed to the waiting place where
the five safety point plan is followed as discussed in the LASHING REPORT.
2. Check with the driver and see if he is fit for duty. Warn the driver that you want to enter
the shaft and enter the warning in the DRIVER S LOG BOOK. You can only cancel the
warning on completion of the job.
3. Water down at the mouth of the shaft.
4. Search the fan, switch it on and off. Check rope and rope connections to the kibble,
check cylinder switch and shaft doors.
5. Ring the driver to lower the kibble searching the shaft to the Galloway stage and up
again.
6. With the stage on setter and one assistant, go down searching the shaft to the
Galloway stage. Stop at a distance of 4—5m then lower down slowly to a distance of
1m. Examine the sling connections to the stage and clean the stage
7. Leave the stage on setter on the stage and precede washing and barring down to the
bottom of the shaft, stop at a distance of 4—5m lower down again slowly to a
distance of about 1m.
8. Put the pump and drain all the water from the shaft, bar down, pump all misfires if
any. Clean and plug all sockets. Use the sketch to ensure that you have pumped all
the sockets.

9. Send rope to collect the rest of the lashers in another kibble. Instruct them on matters
concerning misfires

10. During lashing and after loading up stop the kibble at about 1.5m from the shaft
bottom, steady it and clean the bottom before take off.

11. do not overfill the kibble or stand in the middle of the shaft while the kibble is going up

12. On completion, mark the misfires on the sketch if there are any. Cancel the warning in
the driver’s log book and leave the sketch in the shaft sinker’s office.

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Ventilation

1. An auxiliary 22kw electric fan forces fresh air into the shaft. The ventilation ducting of
Which discharges the air at about 5m from the face and similar fan exhausts foul air from
the shaft.

Guide installation

1. Safety clothing
Hard hats
Overalls
Safety footwear cap lamp safety belt approved by the mines department.

2. Tools

Appropriate size spanners

4lb hammer
Punches
Bells/whistle

2. safety talk and delegation of tasks

Discuss with team the task and check all safety equipment and tools.
Make sure each man understands his element of the task and its effect on his workmate

3. installation of the guide

- move men into position via the kibble

- on reaching the position people moving out of the kibble to ensure lifelines are attached
to set steel before existing.
- Once all men are in position, the kibble is rung to surface/ collar and the kibble is
removed to avoid any fouling of the lifelines.
- detach kibble from hoist rope
- attach guides to the hoist rope by means of adequate slings and d shackles, in good
working order.
- Once guides are attached to hoist rope, they are brought into position by the hoist which
will be controlled by the bells.
- Line up of guides will be done by the use of the punches provide and not by fingers
- Once holes have been located, 2 bolts are inserted and tightened
- Signal to lower rope is then given to slacken the slings, which are then removed
- Remaining bolts are then put in place and tightened
- Alignment of guides during this exercise is important. Men to ensure all faces match
before bolting up.
- All tools used to be attached by means of a loop to the individuals wrist during use.
When not in use, to be placed in position where they cannot be dislodged
- once the task is complete to the satisfaction of their supervisor, the shaft is re opened
and the kibble is re attached to the hoist rope and returned to the workplace to remove
the men from their respective positions in the shaft.
- a final check of the working area is to be carried out by the supervisor to ensure all
equipment has been removed from the working area.