A Mining Project is a Field of Risks: A Systematic and Preliminary Portrait of Mining Risks

A Mining Project is a Field of Risks: A Systematic and Preliminary Portrait of Mining Risks

A. Badri S. Nadeau A. Gbodossou 

Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Quebec, École de technologie supérieure, Quebec, Canada

Unit of Education and Research in Management Sciences, University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec, Canada

Page: 
145-166
|
DOI: 
https://doi.org/10.2495/SAFE-V2-N2-145-166
Received: 
N/A
| |
Accepted: 
N/A
| | Citation

OPEN ACCESS

Abstract: 

Due to the current economic situation and the growth in world demand, the mining industry is undergo-ing a period of spectacular development. The current need to increase production at mine sites coincides with the development of managerial capacities, the use of new industrial methods and equipment, and increased use of skilled workforce. Despite such developments, a number of researchers view the min-ing sector among the world’s most uncertain and hazardous industries. Although the sector utilizes risk management tools appropriately, several large-scale mining projects have failed as a result of neglect or underestimation of hazards. Total risk management of a new project remains a goal to be attained so as to enhance reliability of decisions and make mining organizations safer and more secure.

The intent of this paper is to provide researchers and practitioners a preliminary portrait of the risks related to new mining projects. To attain this objective, the authors have primarily used results from research undertaken in the field. They completed this portrait using the results of hazard identification studies that they conducted in an open-pit mining project in Quebec. During this study, a number of data-gathering techniques were used, including documentation analysis, collaborative field observa-tions, and interviews with managers and workers.

This work demonstrates the possibility of identifying a number of categories of known risks and uncertainties not recently taken into account in any systemic or systematic way in mining project risk management. In this paper, identified risks are categorized hierarchically to show the impact and pos-sibility of occurrence of each for every project phase. Despite having a number of limitations, this study enables construction of a risks portrait indispensable for completing a reliable and rapid assessment of mining project hazards.

Keywords: 

mining industry, project life cycle, risk management, risks portrait

  References

[1] Komljenovic, D. & Kecojevic, V., Risk management programme for occupation-al safety and health in surface mining operations. International Journal of Risk As-sessment & Management, 7(5), pp. 620–38, 2007. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/ IJRAM.2007.014090

[2] Chinbat, U. & Takakuwa, S., Using simulation analysis for mining project risk manage-ment. Proceedings - Winter Simulation Conference, pp. 2612–2623, 2009.

[3] ABC News, Mining boom here to stay, says RBA, 2010, available at www.abc.net.au/ news/stories/2010/02/24/2828545.htm

[4] Les affaires, Mines: investissement record au Québec, 2011, available at www.lesaffaires. com/secteurs-d-activite/mines-et-metaux/mines-investissement-record-au-quebec/532457

[5] Quebec Government, Plan Nord®, 2011, available at www.plannord.gouv.qc.ca

[6] Laurence, D., Optimisation of the mine closure process. Journal of Cleaner Production, 14, pp. 285–298, 2006. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2004.04.011

[7] Radio-Canada, La fermeture de la mine Goldex est accueillie avec compréhension à Val-d’Or, 2011, available at http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/abitibi/2011/10/20/001-fermeture-goldex-reactions.shtml

[8] Fourie, A. & Brent, A.C., A project-based mine closure model (MCM) for sustainable asset life cycle management. Journal of Cleaner Production, 14(12–13), pp. 1085–1095, 2006. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2004.05.008

[9] Larry Grayson, R., Kinilakodi, H. & Kecojevic, V., Pilot sample risk analysis for un-derground coal mine fires and explosions using MSHA citation data. Safety Science, 47(10), pp. 1371–1378, 2009. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2009.03.004

[10] Saleh, J.H. & Cummings, A.M., Safety in the mining industry and the unfinished legacy of mining accidents: safety levers and defense-in-depth for addressing mining hazards. Safety Science, 49(6), pp. 764–777, 2011. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. ssci.2011.02.017

[11] Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST). Statistiques annuelles, 2009.

[12] OCallaghan, T., Patience is a virtue: problems of regulatory governance in the Indo-nesian mining sector. Resources Policy, 35(3), pp. 218–225, 2010. doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2010.05.001

[13] Luo, H. & Liu, B., Risk analysis of accidents in coal mines-The case of Kenbo. Inter-national Conference on Management and Service Science (MASS 2010), pp. 1–4, 2010. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICMSS.2010.5576687

[14] Komljenovic, D., Development of risk-informed, performance-based asset manage-ment in mining. International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment, 22(2), pp. 146–53, 2008. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17480930701562176

[15] Yukon Mine Training Association (YMTA), The Mine Cycle, 2010, available at www. yukonminetraining.com/career_training_seekers/mining_in_the_yukon/the_mine_cycle/

[16] Heuberger, R., Risk analysis in the mining industry. Journal of the South African Insti-tute of Mining and Metallurgy, 105(2), pp. 75–79, 2005.

[17] Ghosh, A.K., Risk assessment of occupational injuries in underground coal mines. Journal of Mines, Metals and Fuels, 58(9), pp. 343–348, 2010.

[18] Kumar, N. & Paul, B., Planning of risk assessment & safety management in Indian surface mines. International Symposium on ‘Developments in Surface mining technol-ogy – planning, equipment, maintenance and environmental Management, Kolkata Nov 22-23rd, Journal of “Mines Metals and Fuels, pp. 314–317, 2004.

[19] Schutte, P.C., Ergonomics in the South African mining industry. The Journal of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 105(6), pp. 369–372, 2005.

[20] Singh, V.K., An overview of fire hazard and its management in the large opencast coal mines of Northern coalfields limited. Journal of Mines, Metals and Fuels, 57(11), pp. 352–361, 2009.

[21] Sabour, S.A.A. & Wood, G.., Modelling financial risk in open pit mine projects: impli-cations for strategic decision-making. Journal of The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 109(3), pp. 169–175, 2009.

[22] Galvin, J., Health and safety in Australia’s mines. Materials World, 14(4), pp. 22–23, 2006.

[23] Coleman, P.J. & Kerkering, J.C., Measuring mining safety with injury statistics: lost workdays as indicators of risk. Journal of Safety Research, 38(5), pp. 523–533, 2007. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2007.06.005

pp. Poplin, G.S., Miller, H.B., Ranger-Moore, J., Bofinger, C.M., Kurzius-Spencer, M., Harris, R.B. & Burgess, J.L., International evaluation of injury rates in coal mining: a comparison of risk and compliance-based regulatory approaches. Safety Science, 46(8), 1196–1204, 2008. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2007.06.025

[24] Zhangtao, Z., Analysis on occupational-related safety fatal accident reports of China, 2001-2008. Safety Science, 48(5), pp. 640–642, 2010. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. ssci.2010.01.013

[25] Atkinson, T., Allington, R. & Cobb, A., Risk management for mining projects. Mining Technology, 78(897), pp. 131–137, 1996.

[26] Schafrik, S. & Kazakidis, V., Due diligence in mine feasibility studies for the assess-ment of social risk. International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment, 25(1), 86–101, 2011. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17480930.2010.531587

[27] Orsulak, M., Kecojevic, V., Grayson, L. & Nieto, A., Risk assessment of safety viola-tions for coal mines. International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment, 24(3), pp. 244–254, 2010. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17480931003654901

[28] Radosavljevic, S., Lilic, N., Curcic, S. & Radosavljevic, M., Risk assessment and man-aging technical systems in case of mining industry. Strojniski Vestnik-Journal of Me-chanical Engineering, 55(2), 119–130, 2009.

[29] Evans, R. & Brereton, D., Risk assessment as a tool to explore sustainable develop-ment issues: lessons from the Australian coal industry. International Journal of Risk Assessment & Management, 7(5), pp. 607–619, 2007. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/ IJRAM.2007.014089

[30] Ernst & Young, The 2010 Ernst & Young business risk report: Business risks facing mining and metals, 2010.

[31] Li, S., Dimitrakopoulos, R., Scott, J. & Dunn, D., Quantification of geological uncer-tainty and risk using stochastic simulation and applications in the coal mining industry. Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Publication Series, pp. 253–260, 2007.

[33] Ghodrati, B., Akersten, P.A. & Kumar, U. Spare parts estimation and risk assessment con-ducted at Choghart Iron Ore Mine: a case study. Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engi-neering, 13(4), pp. 353–363, 2007. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13552510710829452

[34] Wang, W., Zhao, W. & Hao, J., Applied research on risk management in mining shaft construction projects. International Conference on Wireless Communications, Net-working and Mobile Computing, WiCOM 2008, pp. 1–5, 2008.

[35] Zhao, J., Xin, C. & Yang, R., Risk assessment of mine shaft construction projects based on risk matrix. 3rd International Conference on Information Management, Innovation Management and Industrial Engineering (ICIII 2010), pp. 527–530, 2010.

[36] Cliff, D. & Horberry, T., Hours of work risk factors for coal mining. International Journal of Mining and Mineral Engineering, 1(1), pp. 77–94, 2008. doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.1504/IJMME.2008.020472

[37] Dessureault, P.C. & Doucet, M., Évaluation des indices de contrainte thermique en mines profondes. Report R-350, IRSST, 2003.

[38] Guo, Z. & Wu, Y., The application of unascertained measure model to the safety evalua-tion of Bofang coal seam-roof stability. WASE International Conference on Information Engineering (ICIE), pp. 599–602, 2009. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICIE.2009.247

[39] Roberge, B., Grenier, M., Gravel, R. & Petitjean-Roget, T., Comparaison de deux indi-ces d’exposition à la matière particulaire de diesel. Report R-468, IRSST, 2006.

[40] Akcil, A., Managing cyanide: health, safety and risk management practices at Turkey’s Ovacik gold-silver mine. Journal of Cleaner Production, 14(8), pp. 727–735, 2006. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2004.11.006

[41] Komnitsas, K. & Modis, K., Geostatistical risk estimation at waste disposal sites in the presence of hot spots. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 164(2-3), pp. 1185–1190, 2009. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.09.027

[42] Blais, V., Poulin, R. & Samis, M.R., Using real options to incorporate price risk into the valuation of a multi-mineral mine. Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, pp. 21–27, 2007.

[43] Rasche, T.F. & Wooley, K., Importance of risk based integrity management in your safe-ty management system: advanced methodologies and practical examples. Queensland Mining Industry Health & Safety Conference, Queensland Mining Council, Townsville, 2000.

[44] Badri, A., Nadeau, S. & Gbodossou, A., Integration of OHS into risk management in an open-pit mining project in Quebec (Canada). Minerals: Safety & Health in Mining, 1(1), pp. 3–29, 2011.

[45] Ernst & Young, Attitudes to risk and the global mining sector, 2007.

[46] Cameron, I.T. & Raman, R., Process systems risk management. Collections: Process systems engineering, 6, Elsevier: California, USA, 2005.

[47] Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), 4th edn., Project Management Institute, Inc.,: Pennsylvania, 2008.

[48] Cuske, C., Dickopp, T., Korthaus, A. & Seedorf, S., Resolving Conceptual Ambigui-ties in Technology Risk Management, eds. D. Seese, C. Weinhardt. & F. Schlottmann, Springer Handbook IT and Finance: Springer, Berlin, Chapter 15, pp. 333–355, 2008.

[49] Zhang, J., Tian, C., Fang, W. & Zhang, N., Assessment on operational risk in power grid enterprises based on variable weight fuzzy evaluation. International Conference on Energy and Environment Technology, ICEET 2009, 2, pp. 92–95, 2009.

[50] Grusenmeyer, C., Sous-traitance et accidents. Exploitation de la base de données EPI-CEA. NS 266, INRS, 2007.

[51] Lind, G.H., Risk management of underground coal pillar extraction in South Africa. International Journal of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Environment, 19(3), pp. 218–33, 2005. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13895260500238739

[52] Najafi, M., Jalali, S.E., Yarahmadi Bafghi A.R. & Sereshki, F., Prediction of the confi-dence interval for stability analysis of chain pillars in coal mines. Safety Science, 49(5), pp. 651–657, 2011. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2010.11.005

[53] Louit, D., Pascual, R., Banjevic, D. & Jardine, A.K.S., Optimization models for criti-cal spare parts inventories-a reliability approach. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 62(6), pp. 992–1004, 2011. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/jors.2010.49

[54] Larry, H., Keys to the development and long-term retention of the workforce of the future. Coal Age, 111(8), pp. 46–47, 2006.

[55] Mol, T., Employee attraction, retention and development critical issues in human re-source risk management in the mining industry. AusIMM Bulletin, 6, pp. 19–23, 2003.

[56] Nelsen, J.L., Scoble, M. & Ostry, A., Sustainable socio-economic development in min-ing communities: North-central British Columbia perspectives. International Journal

of Mining, Reclamation and Environment, 24(2), pp. 163–179, 2010. doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.1080/17480930903185107

[57] Labrecque, S., Les véhicules motorisés sous la loupe. Le Journal des Belmine, 15, p. 3, 2001.

[58] Bascetin, A., Tuylu, S. & Nieto, A., Influence of the ore block model estimation on the determination of the mining cutoff grade policy for sustainable mine production. Envi-ronmental Earth Sciences, 64(5), pp. 1409–1418, 2011. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/ s12665-011-0965-4

[59] Steyn, M. & Minnitt, R.C.A., Pricing of South African thermal coal exports. SIAMM - Journal of The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 110(10), pp. 601–609, 2010.

[60] Pierre M., Les défis économiques fondateurs de la nouvelle Afrique du Sud, Victoria U. Wellington L. Rev, 35, pp. 299–328, 2004.

[61] Byrdziak, H., Dobrzanski, J. & Garbaczewski, J., The development of environmental regulations in Poland and its influence on the copper industry. 4th International Confer-ence COPPER 99-COBRE 99, 2, pp. 259–268, 2002.

[62] Malaihollo, J., China: Only for the wary. Mining Magazine, 193(6), p. 32, 2005.

[63] Bian, Z., Inyang, H., Daniels, J., Otto, F. & Struthers, S., Environmental issues from coal mining and their solutions. Mining Science and Technology, 20(2), pp. 215–223, 2010.

[64] Li, Z,Y., Zhang, N., Tang, J., Ji, Y. & Liu, J.L., Analysis on the landscape ecological risk of Jilin coal mining area. Jilin Daxue Xuebao (Diqiu Kexue Ban)/Journal of Jilin University (Earth Science Edition), 41(1), pp. 207–214, 2011.

[65] Reginald, E.M., Lal, R., Joshy, G., Vetrivel, S., Awadhesh, S., Santosh K.V., Tofan, R., Priyadarshini & Pritish, P., Impacts of opencast coal mine and mine fire on the trace elements’ content of the surrounding soil vis-à-vis human health risk. Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry, 93(2), pp. 223–237, 2011. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02 772248.2010.510922

[66] Quebec Mining Association (QMA), L’intégration sécuritaire et compétence des nou-veaux travailleurs miniers, 2010, available at http://www.amq-inc.com

[67] Hoffmann, B. & Jöckel, K.H. Diesel exhaust and coal mine dust: lung cancer risk in oc-cupational settings. living in a chemical world. Framing the Future in Light of the Past, (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences), 1076, pp. 253–65, 2006. doi: http:// dx.doi.org/10.1196/annals.1371.025

[68] Stacey, T.R. & Gumede, H., Evaluation of risk of rock fall accidents in gold mine stopes based on measured joint data. Journal of the South African Institute of Mining and Met-allurgy, 107(5), pp. 345–350, 2007.

[69] Ghose, M.K., Generation and quantification of hazardous dusts from coal mining in the Indian context. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 130(1-3), pp. 35–45, 2007. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10661-006-9451-y

[70] Kumar, S., Vibration in operating heavy haul trucks in overburden mining. Applied Ergo-nomics, 35(6), pp. 509–520, 2004. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2004.06.009

[71] McBride, D.I., Noise-induced hearing loss and hearing conservation in mining. Oc-cupational Medicine, 54, pp. 290–296, 2004. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/occmed/ kqh075

[72] Lan, J. & Qiao, M., Human errors reliability analysis in coal mine accidents based on gray relational theory. IEEM2010 - IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engi-neering and Engineering Management, pp. 1391–1395, 2010.

[73] Simpson, G., Horberry, T. & Joy, J., Understanding Human Error in Mine Safety, 1st edn. Ashgate Publishing Company: Farnham, England, 2009.

[74] Patterson, J.M. & Shappell, S.A., Operator error and system deficiencies: Analysis of 508 mining incidents and accidents from Queensland, Australia using HFACS. Acci-dent Analysis and Prevention, 42(4), 1379–1385, 2010. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. aap.2010.02.018

[75] Tien, J.C., Health and safety challenges for China’s mining industry. Mining Engineer-ing, 57(4), pp. 15–23, 2005.

[76] Saurin, T.A., Formoso, C.T. & Cambraia, F.B., An analysis of construction safety best practices from a cognitive systems engineering perspective. Safety Science, 46(8), pp. 1169–1183, 2008. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2007.07.007