Mine Radar, Geotechnical Engineering, Drilling And Blasting, Rope Access, Rockfall Protection

Rock's Radar a Winner

ROCK Australia diversified their geotechnical capabilities in 2007, when they introduced the first Movement and Surveying Radar (MSR) system into an Australian mine. Anglo Gold Ashanti was that first company and in August 2007, they  contracted the 900 metre range MSR200, to  monitor and record slope stability data associated with their large Sunrise Dam gold mine near Laverton WA. With their pit expanding, in November 2009 they upgraded to the 2.5km range, fully geo-referenced MSR300.

Since August 2007, ROCK has been successful in introducing the world’s leading slope stability monitoring radar system into Mt Keith nickel (4ea), Batu Hijau copper/gold (2ea), Savage River iron, Telfer gold, Paraburdoo iron, KCGM gold and Porgera gold mines,

USA’s and arguably the world’s largest gold mining company, Newmont Mining Corporation, has embraced the new MSR slope stability radar monitor, supplied by ROCK Australia

Batu Hijau is a large open pit copper and gold mine owned by PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (PTNNT) and operated by Newmont. The Mine is located 1,530 kilometres east of Jakarta on Sumbawa Island. Batu Hijau has selected the 2.5km range Reutech MSR 300, as their primary slope monitoring system, to provide early warning against potential wall failures.

The MSR 300 is the most advanced slope monitoring radar system in the world and the only mining radar that can effectively operate up to a distance of 2500m and detect sub-millimetric movement, under severe weather conditions. All data of the MSR is fully geo-referenced, which is a unique feature of these slope monitor radars, manufactured by Reutech Mining in South Africa and modified to suit Australasian conditions by ROCK Australia. This feature allows  radar measurement data to be merged with the Digital Terrain Models (DTM’s) of the mine. GPS or Total Station Surveying geo-referencing enables the capability of deploying and operating the system under any condition, day or night, without the requirement to visually see the mine slope that is being monitored.

An exclusive feature allows for various geotechnical layers associated with the DTM to be imported into a mine planning 3-D package, which in turn allows the user to see slope movement accurately correlated to various geotechnical structures, rock types and other materials. With the DTM and the geo-referenced capabilities, the MSR is also able to provide geo-referenced data for resultant correlation of all geo-referenced, geotechnical sensors (e.g. automatic surveyed prisms) on the Mine.

Since February 2009, the MSR 300 supplied and serviced by ROCK Australia, was submitted to extensive tests, before PTNNT Mine Management made the decision to deploy the system on a long-term basis, as the primary slope stability monitoring tool.

The system is now fully integrated with the Mining Department, including the operational Dispatch Control Centre. Mining operations at Batu Hijau have since continued at a reduced level of risk during the commissioning and operation of the MSR system.

Mr Trijanto Poespito, Superintendent Geotechnical & Hydrogeology at the Batu Hijau Mine, said “As the open pit expands and gets deeper, the mine becomes increasingly in need of a real-time monitoring system that has high availability and reliability during the contrasting weather conditions to which Batu Hijau is subjected, on a 24/7 basis. We are very satisfied with the performance of the MSR 300.”

In September this year, the MSR detected significant movement occurring in a section of the large open pit and set off audio visual alarms warning of slope failure

All personnel and mobile equipment were safety evacuated from that pit area, prior a significant wall failure later that day

PT NNT has since had a second MSR300 system  commissioned at Batu Hijau in November 2009

Doug Minchin, ROCK’s Manager Radar Systems said, “The deployment of both the MSR 300 system to Batu Hijau were completed successfully. Some of the challenges faced were the remote location of the mine and the system operated in extreme tropical conditions. The first system has been operating at Batu Hijau for the last 9 months with an operational availability of more than 98% and has already detected and provided early warning on rock falls and large scale wall movements at distances over 1700m range. The MSR 300 has already proved itself as the most advanced and most reliable slope stability system available in the world today”.

The Reutech MSR system is distributed and serviced in Australasia by ROCK Australia from their headquarters in Welshpool WA.
 

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