Maximisation of value in underground mine access design. This project represents a major advance in the problem of optimising the mine value associated with the access infrastructure of underground mines and providing powerful planning tools for management. The usefulness to the mining industry of the methods and algorithms the project is pioneering lies in their accuracy, flexibility and generality. Not only can they be used for benchmarking value in the design of specific mines, but they can ....Maximisation of value in underground mine access design. This project represents a major advance in the problem of optimising the mine value associated with the access infrastructure of underground mines and providing powerful planning tools for management. The usefulness to the mining industry of the methods and algorithms the project is pioneering lies in their accuracy, flexibility and generality. Not only can they be used for benchmarking value in the design of specific mines, but they can also determine the profitability or viability of mines under the use of new technologies. This is an important project for ensuring that Australia's mining industry remains efficient and internationally competitive. Given Australia’s economic dependence on mineral resources, it will also benefit the country as a whole.Read moreRead less
A new damage model for rock burst in hard rocks during deep mining. This project seeks to develop a new model to predict incipient rock burst in deep mines. Violent sudden energy released during dynamic brittle failure of rocks can kill people and cause serious damages to mining infrastructures. The project aims to investigate formation of micro-fractures on the brittle shear zones during dynamic brittle failure of pristine rocks with a unique experimental methodology under high-pressure-tempera ....A new damage model for rock burst in hard rocks during deep mining. This project seeks to develop a new model to predict incipient rock burst in deep mines. Violent sudden energy released during dynamic brittle failure of rocks can kill people and cause serious damages to mining infrastructures. The project aims to investigate formation of micro-fractures on the brittle shear zones during dynamic brittle failure of pristine rocks with a unique experimental methodology under high-pressure-temperature condition. It is anticipated that a new micromechanics-based damage model for brittle rocks will be developed from this. Implementation of the new coupled thermo-mechanical damage model into a finite element should result in realistic simulation of deep mining operations to identify rock-burst prone areas and allow mining managers to avoid potential hazards.Read moreRead less
A Machine Learning driven flow modelling of fragmented rocks in cave mining. The project aims to develop an integrated method that uses micro scale and macro scale information to predict block scale behaviour so that a better cave mining design can be established. The role of various mineral composition on the energy storage and fracture properties of rocks will be investigated to examine rock fragmentation for block cave mining. Later Machine Learning based models will be developed to establis ....A Machine Learning driven flow modelling of fragmented rocks in cave mining. The project aims to develop an integrated method that uses micro scale and macro scale information to predict block scale behaviour so that a better cave mining design can be established. The role of various mineral composition on the energy storage and fracture properties of rocks will be investigated to examine rock fragmentation for block cave mining. Later Machine Learning based models will be developed to establish various predictive models for Block Scale rock mass behaviour and caveability of ore deposit. Finally, we will develop a new constitutive model based on a dual damage concept that will capture the rock fragmentation and simulate the cave propagation in a large scale mine layout using Smoothed-particle hydrodynamics.Read moreRead less
Maximising value in underground mine planning. Mining is crucial to Australia’s economy, contributing 8 per cent of GDP and 55 per cent of the value of goods exported. Working with mining companies Rand and Tribune, this project tackles issues faced in underground mine planning. While integrated optimisation of design and production in open cut mining is well established, no equivalent capability is available for underground mines. This project aims to develop innovative techniques to optimise t ....Maximising value in underground mine planning. Mining is crucial to Australia’s economy, contributing 8 per cent of GDP and 55 per cent of the value of goods exported. Working with mining companies Rand and Tribune, this project tackles issues faced in underground mine planning. While integrated optimisation of design and production in open cut mining is well established, no equivalent capability is available for underground mines. This project aims to develop innovative techniques to optimise the design of the access network and the production scheduling in an underground mine in order to maximise value over the life of the operation. The outcome intends to be a new strategic software tools for the sector, underpinning increased efficiency and sustainability of Australian mines as well as international competitiveness.Read moreRead less