Undergraduate - UnitMNE3040 - Surface mining systems

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Engineering
Offered	Clayton First semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Qianbing Zhang

Synopsis

The unit provides a detailed understanding of surface mining systems and technology and the conceptual design of the major materials handling and transport systems and support infrastructure. Students will have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills in the selection and evaluation of surface coal and metalliferous mining systems. A project based learning approach will be used.

Outcomes

At the conclusion of this unit, students will be able to:

comprehend fundamental mine planning concepts including cut-off grades, pit optimisation and scheduling to maximize the performance of human, capital and machine resources
apply surface mining methods and related equipment and support infrastructure to the operation of surface mines
analyse and evaluate various materials handling and transport options to justify and validate the suitability of a specific technology
analyse and evaluate productivity for a mining system and recommend and justify measures to improve it
analyse and evaluate the suitability of mining equipment to apply to a range of excavation scenarios
analyse and evaluate methods of blasting and how they are used to optimize blast costs.
analyse mining systems and be able to recommend and justify system designs with respect to safe, efficient, economic and environmentally and socially responsible operations.

Assessment

Assignment/Practical/Project work (continuous assessment): 50%
Closed Book Examination (3 hours): 50%

Students are required to achieve at least 45% in the total continuous assessment component (assignments, tests, mid-semester exams, laboratory reports) and at least 45% in the final examination component and an overall mark of 50% to achieve a pass grade in the unit. Students failing to achieve this requirement will be given a maximum of 45% in the unit.

Workload requirements

2 hours lectures, 3 hours practice classes and 7 hours of private study per week.

Chief examiner(s)

Professor Jeffrey Walker

Prerequisites

MNE1010