REPORT ON MINES
BY
ONWUKWE JUSTUS . C.
MINES
This is where the raw material for cement production is gotten from. At OCP the
mines is located about 8KM from the plant. Homogenization of the raw mix to
achieve the desired chemistry start from the mines. The mining process are as
follows;
1, EXPLORATION; This is the process of determining the availability and the
quantity of raw material in a particular location. Apart from geological survey and
analysis, core drilling machine is used to confirm the availability of the raw
material and the quantity present. The core drilling machine can drill up to 200m .
OCP has two of this machine.
2, DEVELOPMENT; After the present of the raw material have be identified
(exploration) , the next stage is the development of the mining site. Development
involves clearing of bushes and removal of over-burden material to expose the
limestone. The over-burden material include schist and clay which are used as the
additives in cement production including latherite. Bush clearing and excavation
is done using the bulldozers. Clay and latherite are mined using the back loader.
3, SETTING OUT ; Before drilling of hole marking out is done to determine the
position of the hole to be drilled. The distance between each blast hole depend
on the depth of the holes. The higher the depth of the , the closer the distance
between them and vice versa. The setting-out system include the following; 3 by
3m, 4 by 4m, 4.5 by 3.5m and 2 by 2 m system. It shows the size of the spacing
and boarder. Spacing is the distance between holes in a row, while boarder is the
distance each rows.
4, BLAST HOLE DRILLING; The explosive are loaded or charged in the drilling
machine. The depth of the drilled hole depend on the height of the bench. The
diameter of the drilled hole is 145mm. The depth of the hole can be between 5 to
15m depending on the size of the bench. The higher the bench, the higher the LSF
of the limestone.
High Grade in the mine and equivalent LSF content are as follows
Bench LSF content % Where used
st
1 bench 65 Mix grade
nd
2 bench 90 - 100 Mix grade and high grade
rd
3 bench to others 400 – 500 Mix grade and high grade
st
1 bench is used in mix grade only because it contain high percentage of clay
material.
Drilling Pattern ;. This is the pattern of drilling hole in the mine. They are as
follows.
- Square; in this pattern , the distance between the space and boarder are
equal.
- Rectangular pattern; the spacing is higher than the boarders
- Stagger pattern; it is illustrated as follows
This drilling pattern is mostly used because it gives better fragmentation of the
limestone during blasting.
5, CHARGING; This is the process loading the explosives into the blast hole. 2/3 of
the hole filled with the explosives while the remaining 1/3 of the hole cover with
over-burden material (sterming). The non-electric electric detonator (25/500 ms)
is inserted into the high explosives (super power 90) before put into the drill hole
before loading other explosives (priming). The electric detonator is connected to
the non-electric detonator through which explosives are ignited.
TYPES OF EXPLOSIVES USED IN THE MINES
1, High explosive : They are sensitive to initiation by the cap. The cap supplies the
fire for explosion. High sensitive explosives are resistance to water and have high
velocity of initiation. It used for column charge. Example of high explosive is
SUPER POWER 90
11, Low Explosive: They have low velocity of initiation. They are used for boaster
charge. Examples of low explosives are AMMONIUM NITRATE, ROCKLITE AND
ROCKGEL. Ammonium nitrate is used where their no water because it soluble in
water. 100kg of ammonium nitrate is mix with 7 litres of diesel to form AMFO
before being charged into the blast hole. Diesel serves as source of ignition while
ammonium nitrate act s an oxidizing agent. Rockgel is used where their water
because it is resistance to water.
6, STERMING. This is the process of covering the hole after charging with over-
burden material. This to make the build – up in the hole to travel horizontally
instead of vertically for effective fragmentation.
7, BLASTING OR DETONATOR: This is the explosion of the charged and stemmed
blast hole. This is done by blasting ohmmeter. Other auxiliaries used in the
blasting process include the following; Electric detonator , Plane detonator,
Exploder, Blasting ohmmeter and Electric wire etc
Safety Precaution Observed During blasting Operation
I, The blast man must keep 200m from the point of blast
Ii, All road leading to the mines should be blocked
Iii, No body is expected to be at the pit during blasting
Iv, Machines are packed at the save area.
8, MOCKING ; Gathering material that are scattered together in a particular
position . this can be done by the escavator and loader.
9, LOADING; putting the material in the dumper. It is done the front loader.
10. HAULAGE; This is done using the DUMPER. Types of dumpers used are
TR100(16), TR60(3), TR45(8),TE(10). The dumper are used to deliver material to
the crusher.
CRUSHER Additives
Limestone 131FY050
FY050
AF 060 113AF060
SX061 113SX061
GS061 121ms102 113GS061
111 BC 200 113 BC 200
121 BC 100
121 BC 140
ETS Bypass
121CV 01
121 CV 02 121 CV 03 121 BC 300
MAIN CRUSHER (HAZEMAG & EPR)
Crusher type = IMPACT CRUSHER
Design capacity = 2030tph
Material input size = 1.5m
Material output = 75 – 100mm (75mm above 80%)
Main drive rating = 994rpm; 2400KW
The movement off material from the hopper into the crusher is done by the apron
feeder having 138 lamellae plate ( male and female). The apron feeder consist of
two drive system and is inclined at an angle of 15 degree to the horizontal. A
minimum material bed height is maintained at the hopper to prevent damage to
hopper and apron feeder when a fresh feed is taken.
The main crusher has 6 blow bars (impact apron). The blow bars throws the
limestone to the impact apron to break it. The grinding bath retains the big
material and allows only material of required size to pass through it into the belt.
The front and rear impact apron consist of 2 cylinders each for the adjustment of
rear and front impact apron or plate. The grinding part have 4 cylinders. The
cylinders generally are used to maintain the gap settings between the plates and
the blow bars. The installation of the blow bars is by static and dynamic balancing.
ADDITIVE CRUSHER
TYPE = ROLLER CRUSHER.
Capacity = 400tph
Additive crusher is made of two drive system. The speed of each of the rotors
varies (fast and low speed rotors). Drive specification
Fast speed rotor; 132/127kw, 740/745rpm
Low speed rotor ; 160/154kw, 740/741rpm
The PGNAA (prompt gamma neutron activated analyzer ) machine is located at
121BC140. The radioactive material used by the machine is CALIFORNIUM 212. It
has the shelf life of 2yrs and 6months.
