Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

2012

Publication Details

J. Hoelle and I. Canbulat, A risk rating system for Anglo American's open cut coal mines in Australia, 12th Coal Operators' Conference, University of Wollongong & The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 2012, 371-377.

Abstract

There are a number of risk rating systems used at the Anglo American Metallurgical Coal‟s (AAMC) open cut coal mines in Australia. These systems are mainly mine site specific, geological based and the calculated risks are not comparable. Therefore, a uniform risk rating system, called OpenRisk is currently being evaluated and implemented for an unbiased, standard and quantifiable assessment of the risk form highwall and lowwall failures. This system is a semi-quantitative risk rating systems and takes into account the relative differences in the importance of hazards as experienced at each mine site as a result of different combinations of geotechnical factors and mining conditions. The system is based on critical geotechnical and other parameters that have been identified by site mining engineers, geologists and geotechnical engineers. The primary advantage of this risk rating system is that all open cut mines in the AAMC operations use a near identical system, which enables the user to compare the risk with other mines. The system can be adjusted to meet local mine specific requirements. The implementation of this system (a computer program that automatically calculates the risk) has been made as practical and as easy to use as possible. This program can be used by personnel from other mining disciplines not directly related to geotechnical engineering.

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