Environmental management system implementation in Mining Industry
An environmental management system (EMS) is a component of a mining management system that pertains to the procedures, responsibilities, and processes for preventing harmful environmental, economic, and social impacts. An environmental management system helps the mining company achieve leading practices by providing a framework for continuous improvement
The different components of an EMS include identifying areas and operations that require controls, establishing objectives/goals/standards, implementing process controls that will help meet those standards, monitoring, documenting, and auditing the processes, and reviewing the monitoring and auditing data to make improvements where needed. This is often summarized as a “plan-do-check-act” model of management. Continuous improvement for decreasing mining impacts and increasing efficient use of resources becomes a responsibility inherent in mining processes, not an after thought
Cyclic Process of EMS
Tole and Koop (2013) further describe the major steps when adopting an EMS:
- Development of an environmental policy that is supported by senior managers
- Identification of legal/regulatory requirements and determining areas that require improvements to reduce environmental impacts
- Development of a system for implementation, assignment of responsibilities, creation of communication channels, and documentation of the EMS and procedures for control processes
- Development of a system for monitoring, measurement, and improvement (including reporting and non-compliance)
- Continual review by senior management of the effectiveness of the EMS to meet objectives and compliance goals
Blast-Casting Mechanism and Parameter Optimization of a Benched Deep-Hole in an Opencast Coal Mine
Blast-casting practice in opencast coal mines is characterised by large blast hole diameter and large charges. The powerful energy produced by the explosive would break the rock mass into pieces and then eject them from the working bench. Considering the goal of stripping operation in surface mining, blast-casting could not only meet the requirement of rock preparation but also reduce the material working volume for excavating and transportation. Specifically speaking, once the blast-casting technique is applied in opencast coal mines for overburden removal, 30–65% of the materials can be directly thrown into the mined-out area without any need for further handling thus, it will reduce the stripping cost by more than 30%
A greater effective casting percentage (ECP) and a better muckpile formation are the main technical targets of adopting the blast-casting method for overburden stripping in opencast mines. They are affected by several factors such as the explosive characteristics, blasting characteristics of rock mass, blasting parameters, and process. From the perspective of blasting mechanism, the fragmentation and casting process of rock mass is mainly induced by the stress wave and detonation gas. Kutter et al. studied the effect of expansive pressure of detonation gas on fragmentation of rocks and considered that the effect of air wedge of detonation gas forms a quasistatic pressure field in the rock . Yang and Wang established the damage and fracture criteria for crack propagation under the effect of detonation gas and the localization model of damages at tips of fractures . By performing dynamic photoelastic experiments, Rossmanith and Fourney studied effects of explosive stress waves on crack initiation and propagation [6]
" Pollution is a serious one. Water pollution, air pollution, and then solid hazardous waste pollution. And then beyond that, we also have the resources issue. Not just water resources but other natural resources, the mining resources being consumed, and the destruction of our ecosystem. "
