Outcomes of the scientific and practical workshop of Ural blasting specialists

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30686/1609-9192-2023-5-30-33

G.P. Bersenev, A.S. Regotunov, V.A. Kutuev

Abstract: On June 14 and 15, 2023, Association of the Urals Blasting Specialists together with the Institute of Mining of the Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Yekaterinburg held a regular scientific and practical workshop on drilling and special blasting operations hosted by Protol LLC, a branch of MetalInvest LLC, in Degtyarsk (the Sverdlovsk region). The event was attended by a total of 45 participants from 20 enterprises of the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Kemerovo, Novgorod and Novosibirsk regions of Russia.

Keywords: scientific and practical workshop, Institute of Mining of the Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Association of the Urals Blasting Specialists, MetalInvest LLC, Protol LLC, industrial safety, drilling operations, special blasting operations

Independent auditing as a new trend in industrial safety assessment at hazardous production facilities of the mining industry

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30686/1609-9192-2023-4-22-26

The paper discusses a new key trend used to assess the state of industrial safety at mining operations as well as the cooperation efficiency. The experience GEOEXPERT LLC has gained in carrying out independent technical auditing and the relevance of this line of activity has been demonstrated. Taking into account current challenges and the experience of technical auditing, as well as the prospects for the development of this activity, the article and the data presented in it will help the top management to make their decisions, while the description of real auditing cases will provide the mining companies with an insight into the use of this new method of co-operation. Independent technical auditing is one of the tools to control the state of industrial safety at a mining operation, which provides a general picture of the company, classification of hazardous production facilities according to their hazard characteristics, independent verification of compliance of the production process organization and the production patterns with the regulatory requirements in order to improve the safety of operation, enhance the quality of products and reduce production risks. Three decades of experience gained by GEOEXPERT LLC and studying various aspects of challenges in the mining industry help to identify the method of independent technical auditing as one of the main tools for solving industrial safety problems and preventing emergencies at the operations.

Controlled operation of GP-200/11x500-m pump

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30686/1609-9192-2023-4-33-34

The article analyzes the results of pilot tests of the GP-200/11x500-m pump in conditions of evacuating large-scale mineralized water inflows from the Udachny Underground Mine named after Fyodor Andreev. It provides information on the operating time of the pump components obtained by empirical method during the controlled operation over 5500 service hours. The data on economic efficiency of the GP-200/11x500-m pump utilization are updated and specific financial indicators are compared with the previously used equipment.

Monitoring the loss and integrity of the excavator bucket teeth based on computer vision methods

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30686/1609-9192-2023-3-48-49

The article describes the problem of monitoring the integrity and condition of the teeth of mining excavators based on computer vision. IN the article defined the possible evaluation of computer vision algorithms that can be applied to solve this problem. In the article presented the architecture of the software and hardware for the implementation of this class of systems.

On scientific and practical workshop of Ural blasting specialists

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30686/1609-9192-2022-4-64-67

The article presents information on the outcomes of the scientific and practical workshop on drilling and blasting operations in surface and underground mines and special blasting operations, which was organized by the Blasting Specialists of the Urals Association and held on May 26, 2022, at the Museum Complex of the Urals Mining and Metallurgical Company in the City of Verkhnyaya Pyshma with participation of the Institute of Mining of the Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Urals Department of the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision (Rostekhnadzor). The workshop included presentations on the following topics: dedicated blasting operations in explosion bonding of metals and demolition of buildings; experience in working with non-explosive mixtures and devices, including ‒ pulse gas generators in restrained urban conditions; results of development and testing of a method to study the rock mass strength properties during roller-bit drilling of blast holes in open-pits; forthcoming innovations in Federal Law No.116 "On industrial safety of hazardous facilities"; relevance, specific features and conditions of blasting operations below the safety covers; mining and technical conditions of underground operations in the Donskoy GOK mine in Kazakhstan. A tour of the four exhibition centres of the Museum Complex, i.e. those of the military and automobile equipment, the "Wings of Victory" aviation exhibition, the "Ceremonial Regiment" exhibition centre, and the open exhibition site with railway and artillery equipment, was held upon completion of the theoretical part of the event.

Personnel motivation as the social basis for sustainable development of a mining company

The paper considers a mining company as a social production system intended to meet the interests of its stakeholders. Execution of the production process of a mining company is collective effort and it requires a sufficiently well-coordinated interaction of the personnel. The consistency of this interaction is conditioned by the interrelation of the tasks, qualifications and motivation of the employees. Interrelation of tasks is based on structuring the objective and assigning tasks to employees in accordance with their qualifications and motivation. The basis of the employee's motivation to complete the task is their understanding of the possibilities and ways to satisfy their needs in doing so. An efficient method to build employee's motivation is to make the proposed task relevant to the employee.

Reliable accident prevention as the basis for sustainable development of a mining company

Sustainability is one of the main operational and viability characteristics of a mining company. Sustainable development of a mining operation requires, first and foremost, proper organization of safe working conditions for the personnel, which is closely related to production efficiency, being its basis. A practical implementation of this relationship requires a change in the quality assessment system for executives and specialists.

Regarding the factors of improving industrial safety in a coal mine

The task of developing a multifunctional safety system in coal mines (MFSS) as a means of improving industrial and mine safety has been addressed by developers, operators and supervisory authorities alike. One of the directions in solving this task is to improve the normative base, among which the "Safety Rules in Coal Mines" Code of Federal Regulations (FNiP) takes its special place. A significant part of the MFSS is the systems that provide communication, warning and positioning of people in mines. The design and development of these systems are consistent with the level of requirements contained in the "Safety Rules in Coal Mines". This paper presents a compliance assessment of different system designs, i.e. continuous positioning systems within the whole extent of mine workings and the zone-based systems with accuracy within a part of mine workings. The paper argues that it is advisable to introduce a requirement regarding the accuracy of people positioning in order to increase the reliability of data obtained in both types of systems that are best suited to ensure the rescue for people caught in an accident. The research also shows that in order to develop a technology to monitor the composition of the mine air, it may be useful to introduce requirements for equal use of gas analyzers built into the head lamp with the conventional portable gas analyzers, which would allow for a successful implementation of scanning gas control.