Gap851 Final Report Main Body

Mr Johann van Wijk

b. 1968
Current position:

Group Manager, Rock Engineering, Ingwe Collieries Ltd.
Academic training:

BSc Engineering (Mining) University of the Witwatersrand 1991

MSc Engineering (Mining) University of the Witwatersrand 2000
JvW also holds a Mine Managers Certificate (Coal), the Chamber of Mines Rock Mechanics Certificate and Advanced Rock Engineering Certificate, and is a registered professional engineer. He spent 2 months on assignment at Ruhrkohle, Germany
Work Experience:
Following his graduation in 1991, JvW joined Ingwe Collieries, a subsidiary of BHP Billition. JvW first worked in production and planning in underground coal mines for a period of 5 years. He completed his Mine Managers Certificate during this time. JvW started work as a rock engineering practitioner in 1995.
The Rock Engineering Department at Ingwe consists of JvW, three other qualified RE practitioners (all have COM certificates, one has completed a GDE/MSc degree, and another is busy with a GDE), a trainee practitioner, and trainee strata control officer.
Ingwe operates four underground coalmines (Khutala, Douglas, Gloria and Zululand Anthracite Collieries, producing a total of 30 million tonnes/year) and two major opencast mines (Middelburg Mines, 18 million tones/year; Optimum Collieries, 15 million tonnes/year). The Ingwe Rock Engineering Department also provides rock engineering services to BEE companies Eyesizwe Coal (Matla, New Clydesdale and Glisa mines, producing a total of 20 million tonnes/year) and Kuyasa Mining (Delmas Coal, producing about 4 million tonnes/year).
JvW started participating in the SIMRAC rock engineering committee around 2000.
Date of interview: 2 March 2005

STATUS REPORT
1. FAMILIARITY WITH ROCK-RELATED RESEARCH WORK
1.1 How many reports have you read? Which have had the greatest impact on your work?
All completed SIMRAC COL reports were briefly reviewed.
JvW remarked that SIMRAC reports had not been forwarded to him before he started to attend SIMRAC meetings in 2000. Consequently, he was unaware of much of the earlier work. This would probably also apply to the other practitioners in his department. JvW proposed that a good index or database be developed that would make it easier to search through the reports.
JvW made the following comments.

COL 001	Rock Engineering for Underground Coal Mining (a handbook on strata control practices in South African coal mines) JN van der Merwe (Itasca), BJ Madden (CSIR)	Definitely a worthwhile project. A pity that it is out of print. One of the good South African textbooks!
COL 005a	The effect of structural discontinuities on coal pillar strength as a basis for improving safety in the design of coal pillar systems GS Esterhuizen (Pretoria U)	Relevant to the Natal coalmines, but not applicable to Witbank/ Highveld coalfields. JvW said that he had made quite a lot of use of the work at ZAC.
COL 021	A reassessment of coal pillar design procedures BJ Madden, I Canbulat, BW Jack and GD Prohaska (CSIR)	A good compilation of data, although the conclusions were not that valuable as no design procedure had been proposed for the #2 and #4 seams. JvW said that he had used the data to do his own analysis.
COL 026	Multi seam design procedures RW Hill (CSIR)	JvW has not used this. He tends to use Salamon’s work.
COL 034	?? ??	OK. A good compilation of data.
COL 307	Identification of causes of unsafe acts or neglect resulting in roof or sidewall accidents A Hamilton-Atwell, A du Toit, L Kirstein, M Louw, L Mtombeni, R Moses (NPI)	Does not recall ever seeing this report.
COL 326	Conceptual development of a method to determine the principal stress around coal mine workings to ensure safe mine design S Coetzer (CSIR)	The researchers did not come up with anything that could give better results. They just compared existing methods.
COL 327	Review the caving mechanisms around high extraction systems and determine the effect of the mechanism on the safety of the system G Sweby (CSIR)	JvW said that he was not familiar with the report, although it could be relevant to problems encountered at some Ingwe mines.
COL 328	Review of current design methodologies to improve the safety of roof support systems, particularly in the face area, in collieries I Canbulat, BW Jack (CSIR)	JvW said that it had produced interesting information, though he did not think that was used much.
COL 337	Coal pillar design procedures G York, I Canbulat, BW Jack (CSIR)	Not much has been applied. It mainly confirmed the work done in COL005A. JvW remarked that good work on pillar design had been done by Canbulat and Van der Merwe. However, permission is needed from the DME to use any formula other than Salamon’s. It is thus important to know the long-term effects.
COL 439	Determine the need to research the time-related stability decay of bord and pillar systems JW Oberholzer, GS Esterhuizen, PJ van Vuuren, BJ Madden, JN van der Merwe (CSIR)	Further research work was recommended, which was subsequently carried out. It was important to have done this project.
COL 451	Recommendations on setting illumination and visibility standards in South African coal mines	JvW said that illumination is very important. While illumination on machines has improved a lot in the last few years, he did not know whether this could be attributed to this project. JvW did not think that other recommendations had been widely implemented.
COL 465	Determining the friction factors for underground colliery bord and pillar workings	JvW said that he did not know whether the findings had been applied. JvW remarked that he is not always aware of projects conducted by other SIMRAC thrusts.
COL 502	Design, construction and testing of underground seals AP Cook, JN van der Merwe (Itasca)	JvW said that he was not familiar with the project.
COL 503b	Literature survey on the advance detection of dykes in underground coal mine workings GA Fourie (Pretoria U)	JvW said that while nothing new had emerged from the review, it was a worthwhile exercise.
COL 504	Simple user's guide on roof support installation and evaluation JN van der Merwe (Itasca Africa (Pty) Ltd)	JvW remarked that he should have another look at the Guide.
COL 605	?? ??	JvW said that he did not know whether this work had been applied by the mines. He asked if the collapse at Emaswati Colliery had been described, where a borehole drilled from the surface had been used to rescue trapped miners.
COL 609	Safe mining face advance and support installation practice in mechanical miner workings under different geotechnical conditions I Canbulat & JN van der Merwe (CSIR)	Very good work, though not taken far enough. JvW said that he had recently requested a copy of the report from SIMRAC. JvW said that he had to deal with this problem on a daily basis. He would like to know what Best Practice for the maximum cut-out distance is. While 12 m seems to be internationally accepted, he believes it could go as far as 20 m, though this must still be proven.
COL 610	Assessing and Evaluating Acoustic Techniques to Test Roof Conditions in Coal Mines in Combination with SIMRAC No.9 P Altounyan, B Clifford & KM MacAndrew (Rock Mechanics Technology Ltd).	JvW said that he had carried out his own evaluation of the meter. The technology seems promising, though one has to stand underneath the potentially unstable roof to carry out the test. He did not believe that it was SIMRAC’s job to promote existing technology. This should be done by the manufacturer / supplier.
COL 613	Investigation into the causes of falls of roof in South African collieries JN van der Merwe & JJ van Vuuren (Itasca Africa (Pty) Ltd), R Butcher (SRK Inc) & I Canbulat (CSIR)	Worthwhile, good work. The information wasn’t available before the project. JvW said that there could be merit in continuing with the work to see if the industry has learned anything.
COL 702	Current practice and guidelines for the safe design of water barrier pillars T Rangasamy, AR Leach, JJ van Vuuren, AP Cook & R Brummer (ITASCA)	Doesn’t get to deal with this issue much. The work was well presented at a workshop held at Khutala, so, for a change, many people are aware of the outcome. Most practitioners have a copy of the booklet and could apply it.
COL 703	Pre-feasibility investigation of system to provide an early warning of roof falls prior to support installation JA du Plessis (ISS Geophysics)	While no system was produced, it remains a need. It would be good to get a device that could be deployed close to a CM. Sometimes it is necessary to do research just to learn more about the situation.
COL704	Suitable long tendon (2.5m - 15m) technologies and practices P Altounyan & B Clifford (Rock Mechanics Technology Ltd).	JvW said that he agreed that stiff support is generally needed in collieries. However, he does not always agree with the findings of this report. It is frequently necessary to adapt designs to local conditions. The report indicated that most FOGs are driven by H, which is not generally the case in SA. JvW said that he was not aware of any presentation to industry or project launch. Even though the work was done in 2001, he is not aware of anyone in the SA industry making use of flexible bolts. This could be because they are too expensive. If this is not the case, it is probably because if was never pushed.
COL 709	Development of a method to estimate coal pillar loading DP Roberts, JN van der Merwe, I Canbulat, EJ Sellers & S Coetzer (CSIR)	JvW said that he did not think that anything groundbreaking came from this project. He prefers to stick with the more established Tributary Area Theory.
COL 802	Survey of horizontal stresses in coal mines from available measurements and mapping R Frith (Strata Engineering (Australia) Pty Ltd)	JvW said that it had been very important to do this work, to ascertain whether H was the main cause of FOGs.
COL 810	The impact of geotechnical factors on the secondary extraction of coal in the Witbank and Northern Highveld Coalfields, specifically related to safety LS Jeffrey (CSIR)	JvW said that a lot more work remained to be done on the topic in the future. Procedures to extract pillars safely that had not been designed with this in mind could make a large contribution to the SA coal industry. JvW said that he was considering this as a topic for a PhD.
COL 812	Rating system for coal mine roofs I Canbulat & T Dlokweni (CSIR)	JvW said that this had been a worthwhile project. However, he did not think that any formal technology transfer such as a project launch had taken place.
COL 814	Process guidelines for the integrated design and planning of underground coal mining processes to ensure safe, healthy and effective mining operations GA Fourie & DJ van Niekerk (Pretoria U)	JvW said that he thought the outputs of the project were under-utilized, and industry would benefit from a good practical session for users. JvW suggested that the Guidelines be supplemented by a software package and concise guide.
COL 815	?? ??)	JvW said that he considered the project valid. It is good to keep in contact with the rest of the world.
COL 816	?? ??)	JvW said Ingwe does not have one on their mines. It certainly did not take off.

1.2 How many workshops and conferences have you attended?
Not discussed.
1.3 Have you supplied researchers with information and derived benefit?
JvW said that he had been involved with researchers. JvW said that researchers should provide a concise report on the activities conducted on specific mines to the owners. Valuable details were often lost in a generic report. Furthermore, any feedback should be given as soon as possible.
1.4 Have you hosted projects on your mine(s)?
JvW said that various aspects of research projects had been conducted on mines for which he is responsible.
1.5 Have you worked as a consultant on a mine that has hosted research projects?
N/A
1.6 Have you been a mine/industry champion for a project?
JvW said that he has given his personal backing to several projects JVW said that Duncan Adams, manager of the SIMRAC rock engineering programme arranged special meetings from time to time to consider research issues, sometimes with the SA Institute of Rock Engineering, at other times only with the heads of rock engineering in the major coal companies (JvW representing Ingwe, Dave Minney representing Anglocoal, and Dawid Postma representing SASOL).
1.7 Have you implemented research knowledge and technology?
JvW described the process that had been followed to achieve a change from mechanically anchored to resin anchored bolts. It was necessary to persuade senior management of the merits of the new technology. He had presented FOG case histories in which he analyzed and identified the problems with existing technology. He had presented the changes that would need to be made to introduce the new technology (some modification to machines) and the cost (fortunately not huge). He generally experienced management as receptive to new ideas and cooperative. Production personnel call on rock engineering practitioners for advice on a daily basis. They are seen as part of the team.
JvW also described a change from crimp-nuts to reverse spin installation of bolts. This change had been motivated by a careful study of the system following a fatal accident. Some modification to machinery had been required.
1.8 Have you personally performed research work?
JvW described the work carried out by the Ingwe rock engineering department as “applied research” and “continuous improvement”. Projects included:

• 
  Hazard ratings
  
• 
  Design of shields for shortwalls at Matla coalmine.
  
• 
  Checkerboard method of pillar extraction. The method had been devised by Chris Olroyd, following research on pillar failure characteristics. It has been very successful, though more research work needs to be done. The pillar width / height ratio seems to be an important factor, along with pillar loading.
  

1.9 Have you proposed research projects to SIMRAC?
Yes.
1.10 Have you evaluated research proposals?
Yes.
1.11 Have you evaluated research progress and outputs?
Yes. JvW said that he thought that research work carried out in SA was on a par with that carried out elsewhere in the world.
SA coalfields are not unique, and so it is important to look at what is happening elsewhere in the world. From time to time Ingwe conducts benchmarking exercises, using consultants such as John T Boyd Co, Rock Mechanics Technologies (UK), BHPBilliton colleagues operating mines in Australia and South America, Prof. Fourie, Chris Oldroyd, Dr Bernard Madden.
1.12 How could the SIMRAC research program be improved?
JvW said that the SIMRAC process works reasonably well. There is a sense of “give and take” between the representatives of the coal mining companies.
JvW said that the tripartite system is fair, right and necessary, though he doesn’t know how much value is added. In particular, labour is unable to contribute from a technical point of view.
2. IMPACT OF ROCK-RELATED RESEARCH WORK

.

2.1 Has research work enabled you to do your work better?

JvW said yes, though no particular SIMRAC project stands out. Many projects have contributed to a gradual process of continuous improvement.
2.2 / 2.3 Has research work produced knowledge and technology that have improved safety in the SA mining industry? / on your mines?
Yes, once again various projects contribute to the process of continuous improvement. The coal rock engineering handbook is a good example of knowledge produced through research.

2.4 How would you describe the research work carried out by SIMRAC?
JvW said that the research work was best “safety focused”. It was certainly not productivity focused, though this might be worth reconsidering as a consideration of productivity benefits would improve buy-in. There was a spread of projects between “academic” and “practice oriented”.
2.5 Are research products effectively transferred to practitioners?

and

2.6 Are practitioners able to effectively implement the research?
JvW said that while there were some success stories, there was room for improvement.
2.7 Have SIMRAC funds been well spent?
Not discussed.
FORESIGHT REPORT
3. What changes do you predict will affect the SA mining industry during the next decade?
R/$ has a huge impact. About 50% of production is exported.

The focus on environmental issues will grow.

Some mines nearing end of life.
4. What advances could significantly address the above-mentioned changes?

1. 
   Must improve efficiency as a favourable R/$ can’t be relied on.
   
2. 
   Must maintain world best practice. Must not accept lower standards in developing world.
   
3. 
   There are sufficient reserves in SA. Mining difficulties can be handled if the price is right. Must devise ways to take out pillars not designed to be mined.
   

5. What advances could significantly reduce rock-related safety risks?

and

6. What factors could improve rock-related safety?
JvW ranked the factors in the following order, and made the following comments:

1. 
   Hazard detection is the foundation of managing safety. If we can’t do this, many other things will fall by the way. It should be possible to make improvements, e.g. high tech hazard identification methods that do not rely on visual cues such as the Acoustic Emission Meter, and Ground Penetrating Radar mounted on CM able detect roof susceptible to delamination
   
2. 
   Ability to predict rockbursts in space and time. Rockbursts remain a big issue.
   
3. 
   Stricter enforcement of regulations and codes of practice. Enforcement is important, but the inspectorate doesn’t have adequate skills or capacity. The implementation of Codes of Practice started well, but the Guidelines no longer require that they are approved by a consultant, which could lead to a deterioration in quality.
   
4. 
   Better training of in-stope workers. However, this won’t have an impact unless the 3 factors listed above are solved. Attitudes to safety could be improved through leading-edge Virtual Reality technology that immerses worker in an accident situation without harm.
   

4. 
   Greater mechanization, thereby removing workers from hazardous areas. This has already brought benefits for coal mining, and could do the same for gold.
   
5. 
   Stress modeling techniques that accurately. Good to do, but will not have impact in short term.
   
6. 
   Better supervision. Won’t have much impact.
   
7. 
   A quantum improvement in support systems. Good components and systems already available.
   

7. NEED FOR ROCK-RELATED RESEARCH
7.1 Should research work continue in SA

“Yes, agree strongly.”

7.2 Should research effort be increased significantly?
“Neutral. Should stay at present level.”
7.3 Do we have the research competency?
“Agree.”
7.4 Do we have the research capacity?
“Disagree. Very concerned that capacity / capability is being lost. It might take a few years for this to be appreciated. This should be a concern for SIMRAC. Without researchers, it will not be possible for quality research to be carried out in future. It is important to ‘create food for thought’. This issue should be raised at the highest level.”

7.5 Do we have the research facilities?

.

“Agree. There are good facilities.”

7.6 Should the focus be on implementation rather than on more research?
“Research must continue while implementation takes place. Existing knowledge must be made more accessible.”
7.7 Should research work be abandoned?

“Disagree.”

7.8 Would stricter enforcement have a greater impact than more research work?

“Agree. This will have an immediate impact. It gets to the idea of zero tolerance.”