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Woodlawn Mines began underground operations in 1986. At the time of going underground it was envisaged that there would be no 'contract' payment to the underground employees. This was a relatively unique step to make, especially as most major underground mines in Australia relied heavily on the contract system to motivate their workforce. (Obviously with varying degrees of success.) Woodlawn faced the task of motivating their employees through a multi-skilled system with a great emphasis on leadership and a genuine care for their employees. The 'proof of the pudding' is that Woodlawn has not lost any time over industrial issues since beginning underground operations in 1986. To achieve success in any operation the organisation must not only be advanced in its management principles but also be prepared to be innovative in the way it deals with physical problems, ie ground control, equipment selection and maintenance. Difficult ground conditions at Woodlawn have necessitated the deployment of two Cabolt Jumbos and the construction of cost-effective shotcrete systems. The shotcrete system now being built has been tested in a prototype form and is proving to be a safe and simple way to manage weak, low stress friable ground. Although the ground at Woodlawn has low stress component by virtue of the fact the ore can have a density of 4.5dm3, cable dowelling has become a necessity. The two cable dowel jumbos install high quality reinforced cables. The pressure of 'production' means that these machines must be consistently available for use and the training of maintenance personnel and operators ensures that a maximum of cable dowels can be installed over any given time span. In any modem mine ventilation is a primary concern and the major area of concern comes from the vehicles themselves. In our recent replacement for the standard 'Toro' loader, three engine options were considered. A relative newcomer to underground mining was accepted. The Detroit 60 series (DDEC) engine came with a great reputation and has lived up to this. The engine has an electronic management system that reduces particulates to a hardly visible minimum, provides great amounts of engine power and reduces fuel consumption by approximately 45 per cent. The operational benefits of such an engine are worth sharing through this conference.

Jan 1, 1995

By P G. Fuller

The Woodlawn Mine near Canberra faced the challenge of poor ground conditions from the commencement of underground operations 1987. Talcose shears bounded the dense massive sulphides on both the hangingwall and footwall side of the orebody. In another area the talc existed not only on the edges of the orebody but through out it as well. The country rock was relatively weak shales compounded by a low stress environment that allowed the wall rocks to fall apart quite easily. The challenge for the operators was to overcome the poor ground conditions. This was done by attacking the problem from three directions:technology, how technology is applied, human relations and leadership by all levels of the Management team, and by ensuring that these processes meshed together well.Woodlawn in it early days as an underground mine enlisted the assistance of BFP (Formerly Barrett Fuller and Partners) as a second set of eyes to assist with the assessment of the ground control procedures. The results are discussed in this paper. The progression to this end result included:non-contract payment systems; ground control training for the full range of mining personnel; the development and enhancement of cable bolting and shotcreting equipment; the development of Practical Standard Work Procedures by mine operators; and innovative use of shotcrete and cables bolts to control extremely poor ground conditions.

Jan 1, 1998

By Roderic A. Ellman

The new Woodrow Wilson Bridge (WWB) will replace the existing bridge over the Potomac River to connect Alexandria, Virginia to Prince Georges County, Maryland. The new WWB will extend approximately 1.1 miles across the river, with a 367-ft long bascule span in the main river channel where the water depth is about 36 ft. The subsurface soil profile consists of up to 50 ft of a soft organic silty clay layer that is very vulnerable to scour, underlain by a deep deposit of hard sandy clay. Foundation construction in the Potomac River required the use of cofferdams to allow structural concrete work to be performed in the dry. This paper will the present the types of cofferdams used to construct the foundations for the WWB replacement project. The bridge is primarily comprised of fixed spans in relatively shallow water and a bascule span over a navigation channel in relatively deep water. Foundation construction included the installation of 48" to 72" open end steel pipe piles and cast-in-place concrete pile caps. To achieve the desired bridge appearance, pile caps were required to extend below the water surface and below the existing river bottom in shallow water locations. Conventional steel sheet pile cofferdams with tremie concrete seal were used to construct fixed span, shallow water piers. Selection of deep water bascule span foundation cofferdams was governed by several factors including contraction scour, environmental considerations and cost. Potomac River cofferdams, i.e., relatively shallow depth cofferdams that are supported by the foundation piling were selected. This cofferdam system provided a shallow profile which minimized contraction scour and the amount of filling in the river. Design issues include load selection and cofferdam stability in very soft alluvial soils. Construction issues include erection sequence, tremie concrete mix design and placement procedures.

Jan 1, 2005

By Roderic A. Ellman

The new Woodrow Wilson Bridge (WWB) will replace the existing bridge over the Potomac River to connect Alexandria, Virginia to Prince Georges County, Maryland. The new WWB will extend approximately 1.1 miles across the river, with a 367-ft long bascule span in the main river channel where the water depth is about 36 ft. The subsurface soil profile consists of up to 50 ft of a soft organic silty clay layer that is very vulnerable to scour, underlain by a deep deposit of hard sandy clay. Foundation construction in the Potomac River required the use of cofferdams to allow structural concrete work to be performed in the dry. This paper will the present the types of cofferdams used to construct the foundations for the WWB replacement project. The bridge is primarily comprised of fixed spans in relatively shallow water and a bascule span over a navigation channel in relatively deep water. Foundation construction included the installation of 48? to 72? open end steel pipe piles and cast-in-place concrete pile caps. To achieve the desired bridge appearance, pile caps were required to extend below the water surface and below the existing river bottom in shallow water locations. Conventional steel sheet pile cofferdams with tremie concrete seal were used to construct fixed span, shallow water piers. Selection of deep water bascule span foundation cofferdams was governed by several factors including contraction scour, environmental considerations and cost. Potomac River cofferdams, i.e., relatively shallow depth cofferdams that are supported by the foundation piling were selected. This cofferdam system provided a shallow profile which minimized contraction scour and the amount of filling in the river. Design issues include load selection and cofferdam stability in very soft alluvial soils. Construction issues include erection sequence, tremie concrete mix design and placement procedures.

Jan 1, 2013

By W. J. Reagan

Mr. Caine, members and friends of the AIME Electric Furnace Conference, as Chairman of the Executive Committee it is my pleasure to welcome you to this our fifth annual conference. I can assure you that the conference chairman and his committee have prepared a program of unusual and timely interest. Mr. Caine has spoken of the educational session. This part of our program was of unusual interest last year and I am sure that the subject of this year's discussion will prove to be just as interesting. The wide variety of subjects cover both the basic and the acid electric furnace and are in keeping with the usual high quality maintained on our programs in past years. As the papers and discussions will be published in the PROCEEDINS, you will in a short time be able to add another volume to the present series.

Jan 1, 1947

By Philip D. Wilson

IT has been my privilege to read the article prepared by R. S. Dean entitled "Production of Alumina from Low-Grade Domestic Materials" which appears on another page of this issue. Dr. Dean should be congratulated on the preparation of such an erudite and scholarly dissertation on bauxite and on the work which the Bureau of Mines has been doing in connection with the development of processes to use low-grade domestic materials.

Jan 1, 1943

By Fred C. Bond

SIX years have passed since the last grindability table was published.1 In that time the list has been increased with many new tests, and the development of the new Third Theory of Comminution2 has made possible the reduction of all results to a consistent work index value. In this tabulation all grindability and crushability test results are given in terms of the work index, with formulas for reversion to the older units if desired. The average values for 57 different classes of materials are listed in Table I. The total number of work index values listed is 1211, and the overall average work index is 14.42.

Jan 3, 1953

By Theodore M. Barry

Work measurement is the most common of many titles given to determining the amount of human work required to do any job. A new technique-like most modern management tools-it still needs years of constructive research. Yet despite known imperfections, it is probably the most enthusiastically used tool of cost control developed in the last hundred years. Over 85 pct of all companies employing more than 100 workers in one of the major industrial areas use work measurement. For a good reason, however, this has not been true in the mining industry until very recently. The facts make an interesting story.

Nov 1, 1955

By AIME AIME

THAT neither the Reconstruction Finance Corp. nor its subsidiary, the Metals Reserve Corp., are in competition with private enterprise was stressed by Charles B. Henderson in an informal talk before the N. Y. Section, A.I.M.E., on Sept. 23. Among other things, the speaker stated that the R.F.C., since its establishment, had authorized loans of $12,000,000, of which over $8,775,000 has actually been distributed. Of this amount, over $6,600,000 has been repaid. None of this money was appropriated by Congress, the sole assistance from that body being the initial authorization of $500,000,000 capital stock.

Jan 1, 1941

By James Neale

FROM the beginning of its activities, the members of the National Production Committee have felt that the following points were essential to the success of its work: The operators must. feel that their operations were not 100 per cent. efficient; that they should be courteous and fair in their treatment of their employees; and that they should set an example of hard work and patriotic interest in increased production. Every move made must appeal to the sense of fairness of all parties concerned. The men must feel that in working more faithfully, and consequently producing more coal, they are rendering a distinct service to their Government in the time of its great need. As the workers feel that greater efficiency on their part results only in greater profits to the operators, the advantage to the operator should be lost sight of, as far as possible, and the advantage to the Government in fighting the war emphasized. Both operators and workers should know that the Government considered increased production an obligation, and opportunity for service, resting on both parties and not on the operators or the workers alone, and that both parties could very much better the efficiency of the pre-war period. Had the committee intimated that it thought the coal shortage was clue entirely to the idleness and inefficiency of the workers, its campaign would have failed, for the men would have resented the charge because only too frequently their efforts to produce more coal were thwarted by bad management; besides the operators would have lacked stimulus to better effort. On the other hand, had the impression been given that the committee thought that the coal shortage was clue entirely to bad management, the operators would have resented the charge because only too frequently their efforts to produce more coal were thwarted by the idleness and inefficiency of the workers; and the workers, having been thus indirectly pronounced 100 per cent. efficient and patriotic, would have lacked stimulus to better effort.

Jan 2, 1919

ROBERT PEELE, * New York, N. Y.-I should like to ask Mr. Neale how the members of the production committees at the individual mines, who came from the mine workers themselves, were chosen or appointed; also from what classes of employees they usually came? J. B. NEALE.-In the union fields, they were chosen by a local. In the non-union fields, they were chosen either by the men in mass meeting or by the company officials. The last way was very unsatisfactory because it gave the men an opportunity to say that they were going to be passed upon as to whether they were slackers or not, by men chosen by the company. When they were chosen by the locals or at mass meetings of the workers, the appointments have been very much more satisfactory. R. D. HALL, ? New York, N. Y.-The matter of inefficiency on the part of the operator is one that I think we may well take into account, because there is a very large inefficiency on the part of the coal operator; it has arisen from reasons almost beyond his control and will continue for these same reasons. It is no use arguing a moral responsibility on the part of the operator, when you make efficiency very largely a loss to the operator who puts it in force. If you ask a man working on a clay wage to work with more efficiency. he says, "Well, I may do it or I may not," it all depends how he feels, but he does not lose anything financially by not working hard. If you ask the man who is working by the ton to put out more tons, he makes a profit by putting out more tons. How is it with the operator? If he gives a man all the cars he needs and all the power he needs, if he runs after his working men and waits on them, he does not get his coal out any cheaper than before.. He gives the man a better chance and there is more efficiency, but at the same time he has increased his expenses all along the line. At the end of the year he finds that his profits have been less than if he had had less efficiency. The efficiency is really against him in many ways. Because he gets a larger tonnage, he reduces the overhead to a certain extent; but hiss tonnage may not be any greater because he may work fewer days. As Mr. Taylor remarked some tine ago, supposing he puts in a machine that is very much more effective than any he had before, he has the same scale; the miner gets out more coal, but he himself does not get any benefit out of it because he has a scale fixed, so much per ton.

Jan 4, 1919

The Sub-committee on Safety of the Industrial Organization Com-mittee of the Institute has been asked to cooperate with the National Safety Council, and has made certain recommendations to the Board of Directors of the Institute regarding ways and means of bringing about this cooperation. The National Safety Council has been in existence seven years. Its inception was at a meeting of the American Iron and Steel Electrical Engineers held in Milwaukee in 1912. The first annual congress was held in New York City in October, 1913, at which time the Council was definitely organized. Its membership now consists of nearly four thousand members, representing industrial plants, railroads, public utility companies, insurance companies, state labor commissions, Chambers of Commerce, manufacturers' organizations, etc. These members are in all states of the Union and in eleven foreign countries, and through them the National Safety Council reaches more than six million workers.

Jan 7, 1919

On Jan. 1, the office of the. National Service Committee was established at 502 McLachlen Building, Washington, D. C. The first work was to review current legislative information; which is being continued and good results are accomplished. Whenever matters of importance appear in the Congressional Record, notice thereof with such documents as are germane are forwarded to the members of the committee for their information and advice. The first formal report of the chairman was on the so-called Smith-Howard bill to secure Federal endowment for the establishment of engineering research. The chairman of the Committee, at the request of the Executive Committee of the Engineering Council, appeared before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor for the purpose of opposing those features of the so-called Kenyon bill which would create a practically permanent commission dominated by the Engineering Corps of the Army over all Federal engineering projects as well as state and municipal projects receiving Federal aid. The greater part of the time has been expended in correspondence and consultation on the matter of the establishment of a Department of Public Works. The results of this work lead to the belief that there is much promise of the establishing of such a department by the 66th Congress Hall members of engineering societies, as well as the societies themselves, will unanimously agree on and support a measure, and in order to secure such unanimous support, it will be advisable to call a conference of engineering societies. .

Jan 4, 1919

By AIME AIME

MINING geology was granted two sessions, Wednesday morning and afternoon, Feb. 17. The morning session, at which H. Foster Bain presided. first considered Paul M. Tyler's paper, "Economic Notes on Steel-making Alloys." The elements used in these important alloys are chromium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, phosphorus, silicon, titanium, tungsten and vanadium. Edward Sarnpson and C. K. Leith asked whether chromite concentrates could be used, Mr. Tyler replying that they could if not too high in iron. G. W. Pawel said that they were used at Niagara Falls, nlixecl with coarse ore. In reply to a question asked by A. O. Hayes, Mr. Tyler said that molybdenum had not affected the price of tungsten. After this discussion, E. S. Moore's paper on nickel was considered. H. Foster Bain thought that nickel is well controlled and in good hands, technically and politically. The popular stainless steel in America is the 18:8 Cr-Ni metal. In Germany a Cr-Mn steel has possibilities. It is easy to make, cheaper. has better workability, will stand 85 per cent reduction between heats.

Jan 1, 1932

By R. N. Hunt

GEOLOGICAL and exploration work of the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company are handled by the mines geological and the exploration divisions of a geological department under the direction of the chief geologist. The mines division at present includes, in Utah. a geologist in charge, resident at Bingham, assisted by a geologist stationed at each operation, and a small group of geologists resident at the Bayard unit, in New Mexico. The duties of the mines division include the mapping and delineation of the geology of the mines, direction of sampling and diamond drilling, and the periodic calculation of ore reserves. At Bingham an amount of underground drilling within the limestone and porphyry formations which are hosts to the ore bodies supplements and completes development by mine workings. At Bayard, five to seven drills are kept busy underground, and eight to twelve drills operate on the surface. The mines division men live at the mine and work in close co-operation with mine superintendents and foremen. Development work is discussed, initi-

Jan 1, 1948

By T. S. Lovering

Geochemical prospecting extends the age-old method of searching out lodes with a gold pan and rationalizes the prospector's hunch that certain plants are associated with ore. It uses sensitive but cheap and rapid analytical methods to find the diagnostic chemical variations related to hidden mineral deposits. Exploration geologists can gain tremendous assistance from this new tool, although its optimum use is not simple. To bring out the geochemical pattern that reveals the presence of a hidden ore deposit with a minimum number of samples requires a combination of shrewdness, chemical knowledge, and exploration geology. The use of sensitive analytical methods for prospecting had its start in the 1930's in northern Europe, where Scandinavian and Russian geologists had some success in these early efforts. Very little geochemical prospecting was carried on in the United States at this time, and no sustained interest was manifest until the close of World War II, when geochemical investigations were started by the Mineral Deposits Branch of the U. S. Geological Survey. The purpose of these investigations was to apply geochemical principles and techniques to surface exploration for mineral deposits. Both the research on analytical methods and the routine trace analyses for field investigations were at first conducted by a single group, but it later became apparent that the trace analyses could be done by men of less experience than that required for successful research on methods. For the past several years there have been two groups of chemists, and although their functions overlap, three of the chemists are chiefly concerned with research, while four to six other men make the trace analyses for field projects.

Oct 1, 1955

The serious shortage of eastern gas coal and of coke for gas-making in Illinois and adjoining states during the winter of 1917-1918 was emphasized at the meeting of the Illinois Gas Association, March, 1918. The seriousness of the situation was of concern not merely to private interests but to the general public, which consumes gas for heating, lighting, and for important industrial uses. Some relief was thought possible if central district coals from Illinois, Indiana, and western Kentucky could be used generally as a substitute for eastern coal and coke in the manufacture of retort gas and water-gas. Already a little Illinois and Indiana coal was being used under special circumstances in Illinois retort plants and successful experiments with mixtures of Illinois coal and eastern coal had been conducted at the Decatur retort-gas plant by F. K. Ovitz of the U. S. Bureau of Mines and the Illinois Mining Investigations, with the advice and cooperation of a committee of the Illinois Gas Association. Consequently, it seemed desirable to continue experiments with central district coal in gas retorts, and with coal as a substitute for coke in water-gas generators, and to give publicity to the results and technical assistance to companies desiring to use central district coal. Other matters, of national importance were the prospective shortage of toluol and of ammonia for the manufacture of explosives, and the possibility of encouraging recovery of additional amounts from some of the plants in central states that were not contributing these substances. Results of work done by the Gas Section, Illinois Mining Investigations, under the advice of the Technical Committee, were pushed to early publication until the signing of the armistice lessened the importance of speed as a war measure. The first two publications listed below were distributed by the Regional Director of the U. S. Fuel Administration, through the Bureau of Gas. By-products and Public Utilities. The others were distributed by the Geological Survey. Bulletin 21. The Manufacture of Retort Coal-gas in the Central States Using Low-sulphur Coal, from Illinois, Indiana, and, Western Kentucky. Bulletin 22. Water-gas Manufacture with Central District Bituminous Coals as Generator Fuel

Jan 8, 1919

By Paul Averitt

The U. S. Geological Survey has been actively engaged in work on coal for more than 50 years. During this long period we have released more than 300 publications containing information about coal and coal reserves, including details on the thickness, distribution, and quality of coal, and the structure and stratigraphy of the coal-bearing rocks. We have also cooperated with state surveys on many similar publications. For many areas these reports are the only reliable published data on our resources of coal. During the last several years we have substantially increased our activities above the wartime low. We now have field work in progress, or reports in preparation, on 13 detailed mapping projects distributed as follows: 1. Pennsylvania anthracite field 2. Casselrnan Basin, Md. 3. Leslie County, Ky. 4. Deep River field, N. C. 5. Coosa field, Ala. 6. Powder River field, Mont. 7. Spotted Horse field, Wyo. 8. Yampa field, Colo. 9. Paonia field, Colo. 10. Trinidad field, Colo. 11. Durango field, Colo.

Jan 1, 1949

During the nineteen months in which our country was actively engaged in the war, the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corpn. expanded the shipbuilding capacity of the United States from an unimportant position among the world's producers of ocean-going tonnage to first place. At the same time it increased the overseas merchant fleet of the United States from a negligible quantity to second place. The shipbuilding program has been greatly reduced since the signing of the armistice. There have been suspended or canceled contracts for 754 ships aggregating 3,797,825 deadweight tons, which would have cost $797,564,276 to complete. The cost of canceling these contracts will be about $202,853,456, and the saving effected by cancelations will approximate $594,710,820.

Jan 7, 1919

By J Johansson, J Lööw

Attractive mining workplaces are good, safe and healthy environments. They are also workplaces that the workforce of the future wants to work in. As skilled miners and engineers are already scarce, this is important both for today and for the future. However, the future of mining will also be subject to increased international competition. In attempting to become more competitive, many mining companies turn to rationalisation, looking to both rationalise their production and organisation as well as optimise their processes. Work organisation is important in both rationalisation and providing attractive mining work. As a result, this paper investigates a ‘lean production’ (LP) philosophy for the organisation of future mines. The aim of the paper is to investigate to what extent LP can be used to organise for attractive mining. It first defines what attractive mining work is and to what degree it can be influenced by work organisation. A short insight into the LP concept will be given as well as a review of how it is discussed and utilised in mining today. In conclusion, a summary of LP’s potential to realise future attractive mining is given.CITATION:Lööw, J and Johansson, J, 2015. Work organisation for attractive mining – lean mining and the working environment, in Proceedings Third International Future Mining Conference, pp 197–204 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 4, 2015