Brett Harris | Curtin University
Themes:
- Avoiding catastrophic failure through monitoring and containment
- Step changes in the characterization, extraction and processing of material in the production of tailings volume
Project title: A new standard in tailings characterization, monitoring and assurance
Research team:
Offering to sponsors:
The project offers end users automated real time systems to monitor and assure their tailings and mine infrastructure over long periods of time, at low cost.
Summary:
The proposal involves developing multifunction distributed sensing networks in tailings and other mine infrastructure for automatic characterization, monitoring and assurance at low cost for these key mine assets. Information such as seismicity, changes in temperature, and strain are streamed in real time. This is true big data and requires supporting software (e.g. machine learning). The systems can provide information for multiple purposes. For example, the network would be intended to provide detailed information for planning, seismicity, 4D environmental/geotechnical information, subsidence rates, or subtle earth movements that may assist in predicting risk of catastrophic failure. The technologies are readily automated, are can be operated at low cost. They can be operated remotely with no human intervention to provide assurance and characterization from the start.
Distributed sensing technology is current being used in the oil industry and for CO2 sequestration monitoring. The research team is working with universities in the USA on large scale distributed sensing projects.
Benefit to industry:
Optimize 4D Tailings characterization monitoring andassurance
- Traceable tailing and mine infrastructure assurance for future, active or legacy tailings
Risk reduction
- Automatic long term monitoring system to reduce risk of catastrophic failure (early warning systems)
- Continuous measurement of seismicity (Dams, Tailing, and other infrastructure)
Social license
- Public assurance of safety
- Improve social and environmental performance
Regulation
- Provides assurances
- Develop new standards for distributed sensing for tailing facilities
- Develop sensitivity, calibration and testing facilities.
- Public disclosure and operator discipline
Education:
- Training education – next generation to install and operate mine site distributed sensing systems
Recordings of each submission are available to Members only. Please click on the link below to request access to the recordings and nomination form.