This educational clip from Flocabulary explains how igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks are formed, how to identify a rock’s type and how the rock cycle can change one type of rock into another. Mine planning is after all about getting the rocks out, so might as well understand them a bit better...

For those of you who weren't able to install Deon's blasting programme on your computer, have a look at his YouTube video. It illustrates what you can expect from the programme, which is a portion of the information from the blasting ticket curriculum, on your very own computer... To install the programme, kindly click on the link below... "https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xD-rPlftR-fHcGAYT2wegI5LVtdCSA_3" Alternatively send Deon a mail: deondupreez079@gmail.com He's a super friendly chap and makes the best coffee in the west!!

The Komatsu PC5500-6 is the ninth biggest hydraulic mining excavator in service, with an operating weight of up to 495t with the shovel attachment. The excavator weighs up to 500t, has 8.6m high cab and an undercarriage that is 9.72m long and 7.54m wide. The excavator’s shovel and backhoe bucket capacity is 29m³. The crowd force and the breakout forces of the shovel are 1,870kN and 1,865kN respectively. The shovel’s maximum digging reach is 16.5m and the breakout and tear out forces during backhoe operation are 1,450kN and 1,290kN respectively. The maximum digging reach of the backhoe bucket is 19.8m. The Komatsu PC5500-6 is powered by two 12-cylinder Komatsu SDA12V159E-2 diesel engines prod

The board & pillar mining method consists of driving a series of narrow roads, separated by blocks of solid coal, parallel to one another, and connecting them by another set of narrow parallel road ways driven nearly at right angles to the first set. The coal pillars formed are extracted after the development of the mine leasehold and this later stage of extracting coal from pillars is known as depillaring - Mining Funda.

Take control of your career and get empowered by these mine planning courses. Companies want their employees to do the job using software, and this is exactly the exposure you get when you create a mine design and schedule during these courses. For your convenience, there is an online booking facility to secure your spot and avoid disappointment: "https://www.schoolofrockmining.com/book-online" Alternatively send me a mail at: info@schoolofrockmining.com and I’ll gladly assist!

Don't have a university degree or diploma, but want to further your career in mining and hit that next promotion...? Don't have the means to travel to a far-off location to complete a mining course...? Or maybe you're a scholar and want to study Mining one day, but you have no clue what Mining is about...? Then consider the Mining for Non-miners course. The course was developed by the friendly people at RPMGlobal, one of the global leaders in mine planning software. The guys at RPMGlobal used their incredible breadth of knowledge to develop an on-line course, that is available for 365 days once downloaded. The course covers the whole mining industry spectrum from geology, mine planning, min

Grasberg gold mine in the Papua province of Indonesia is currently the world’s largest gold mine in terms of contained gold. The estimated gold reserves at Grasberg as of December 2012 stood at 70.968 million ounces (Moz). The Grasberg mining operation consists of the Grasberg open pit and two underground mines, namely DOZ and Big Gossan. The mine is operated by Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX). PTFI owns 90.64% of the Grasberg mining operation, while the rest (9.36%) is owned by the Government of Indonesia. Rio Tinto has also a sharing agreement with FCX in the Grasberg mining operation. The Graseberg mine was discovered in 1988. The open pit o

Battling with the software to set up a mining schedule? We all know the feeling... when you're losing precious time because of fighting the software instead of running iterations and scenarios... You will never have confidence in your schedule if you do not have 2 or 3 scenarios to test the flex of your system. Your superiors want a number of options, not just one answer. RPMGlobal's XPAC SOLUTIONS products allows you to do just that - run scenarios instead of suffering in silence. With almost a decade of open pit scheduling experience allow me to help you create options for your company, so you can make informed decisions, and understand the risks with confidence!

South Deep gold mine located 45km south-west of Johannesburg in the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa, is the second largest gold mine in the world. The managed mineral reserve at South Deep as of December 2012 stood at 39.1Moz. South Deep is also the seventh deepest mine in the world with a mine depth up to 2,995m below the surface. South Deep was known by the name Western Areas Gold Mine until 2000. Mining operations at the site started in 1961. Goldfields became the owner and operator of the South Deep gold mine in 2006. The underground gold mine is operated through two shaft systems, known as the South Shaft complex and the Twin Shaft complex. South Deep produced 270,000oz of gold in 201

How sure are you that your mine designs have the minimum number of switchbacks? Have you tested the impact of having one switchback less, how that reduces your strip ratio and down-the-line costs, not to mention the health & safety of your employees ...? What about your benches & stacks, do they honour the geotechnical slope angles to prevent slope failure...? Your ramp systems on your interim high-walls - do they tie up with your final design and serve as dual access for that rainy day when you need it most...? Difficult questions I know, but prevention is better than cure as they say. Using state-of-the-art mine design software and almost a decade of design experience, I can help you sleep

Have a look at the difference between surface mining methods and underground mining methods. On paper it seems so simple...

The mining industry is notorious for its volatile nature as commodity prices fluctuate. History shows that it's the companies that can adjust to the market changes the quickest that lead the pack. Mining on a 5-year old mine design that was based on a Whittle shell all those years ago can mean you're either leaving value in the ground, or more detrimental, you're now mining in areas where profitability is going South... With almost a decade of Whittle open pit optimisation experience I can help you dust off that old Whittle model, and make sure your mine is set up to run at maximum profitability under current economic conditions... Doesn't hurt to make sure now does it...

The tenth largest excavator operating in the world is the Bucyrus RH 340/RH 340-B. The machine weighs in at 498t and is available for both shovel loading and backhoe operations. The crawler length is 9.23m and the undercarriage width is 7m. The Bucyrus RH 340/RH 340-B has a shovel and backhoe bucket capacity of 34m³. The crowding force and breakout forces of the shovel are 2,240kN and 1,640kN respectively. The tear out and breakout forces of the excavator during backhoe operation are 1,270kN and 1,240kN respectively. The excavators are fitted with either two Cummins K1500E engines with 2,520hp output or two QSK45 diesel engines producing 3,000hp at 1,800rpm - Mining Technology.

Flying to the capital of Kazakhstan tomorrow and really looking forward to it! Will be conducting 2 training sessions for a client seeking mine scheduling training and coaching. If you need to reach me, you know where I am!

Take control of your career and get empowered by these mine planning courses. Companies want their employees to do the job using software, and this is exactly the exposure you get when you create a mine design and schedule during these courses. For your convenience, there is an online booking facility to secure your spot and avoid disappointment: "https://www.schoolofrockmining.com/book-online" Alternatively send me a mail at: info@schoolofrockmining.com and I’ll gladly assist!

This clip from the Australian Centre for Geomechanics is a training video for underground metalliferous mine workers. The aim is to provide workers with the critical knowledge on drilling and blasting and to aid appreciation of the importance of these mining processes and their related hazards.

Dolomite is a common rock-forming mineral. It is a calcium magnesium carbonate with a chemical composition of CaMg(CO3)2. It is the primary component of the sedimentary rock known as dolostone and the metamorphic rock known as dolomitic marble. Limestone that contains some dolomite is known as dolomitic limestone. Dolomite is rarely found in modern sedimentary environments, but dolostones are very common in the rock record. They can be geographically extensive and hundreds to thousands of feet thick. Most rocks that are rich in dolomite were originally deposited as calcium carbonate muds that were postdepositionally altered by magnesium-rich pore water to form dolomite. Dolomite is also a c

Don't have a university degree or diploma, but want to further your career in mining and hit that next promotion...? Don't have the means to travel to a far-off location to complete a mining course...? Or maybe you're a scholar and want to study Mining one day, but you have no clue what Mining is about...? Then consider the Mining for Non-miners course. The course was developed by the friendly people at RPMGlobal, one of the global leaders in mine planning software. The guys at RPMGlobal used their incredible breadth of knowledge to develop an on-line course, that is available for 365 days once downloaded. The course covers the whole mining industry spectrum from geology, mine planning, min

Lihir gold mine, located 900km north-east of Port Moresby in the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG), currently ranks as the third largest gold mine in the world. The in-situ gold reserve at the mine as of December 2012 was estimated at 32.7Moz (480Mt grading 2.1g/t gold). The gold mine has been in production since 1997. It is owned and operated by Lihir Gold Limited (LGL), which was merged with Newcrest Mining in August 2010. Newcrest Mining currently owns and operates the Lihir gold mine. The ore extracted from Lihir is mostly treated through pressure oxidation and conventional leach processes. The mine produced 649,340oz of gold in the financial year ending June 2013. Newcrest

We all know what a mining truck looks like in its natural habitat - an open pit. Ever wondered if you release that truck into our urban environment, what that would look like...? Or what would it look like if your spouse and kids stood next to it, posing for a picture...? With the help of my good friend Deon we created a mobile app where you can do just that - explore the splendour of a heavy mining truck, right in your back yard, or anywhere for that matter. The ANDROID version can be download for free from the Google Play Store: "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.schoolofrock.MineTruckAR&hl=en"