Crushing processes taking place in high-pressure grinding rolls devices (HPGR) are currently one of the most efficient methods of hard ore size reduction in terms of the energy consumption. The HPGR products are characterized by a fine particle size and the micro-cracks formation in individual particles, which appears in downstream grinding processes, decreasing their energy consumption. The purpose of the paper was to analyze the effectiveness of a ball mill grinding process and flotation operations depending on the changeable conditions of run of the HPGR crushing process. The research programme carried out included crushing tests in the laboratory scale HPGR device at various settings of the operating pressure volume and selected qualitative properties of the feed material (i.e. particle size distribution). On the basis of obtained results the models, defining the grinding process effectiveness as a function of changeable conditions of HPGR process run, were determined. Based on these models the optimal grinding time in a ball mill was specified which is, in turn, the basis for optimization of operation the technological comminution circuits for a given material type. The obtained results proved that the application of HPGR devices in given copper ore comminution circuit may improve the effectiveness of downstream grinding process what leads to improvement of the entire circuit work efficiency through decreasing the process energy consumption and enhancing the product size reduction.

Mining waste dumps are permanently incorporated in the landscape of the mining areas and exert an impact on the environment in many ways. The presence in the massif of a dump of carbonaceous substances often leads to the formation of fire hazards. Monitoring the activity of a newly created coal waste dump or of one under fire plays an extremely important role in fire prevention activity. Under the current regulations it must be carried out both during the exploitation process and for many years afterwards. Monitoring a dump is targeted, among others, at detecting thermal and gas anomalies already at the initial stage of development and to undertake preventive measures to eliminate and minimize the impact and load of a dump for the environment and the health and life of humans. In the article selected results of a research project (Raport 2011) are shown; a method of monitoring fire hazards at dump wastes was proposed, which includes thermal scanning and thermal-gas monitoring by a borehole method aimed at fixed points in the dump. Monitoring the large area of a dump requires exploration of the thermal state of a significant area hence the accepted scanning of the area is with a precision thermal imaging camera during an air raid. Then at selected sites of the dump, long-term in-field studies were conducted using the wireless data collection system from scattered test holes, made of perforated pipes and equipped with temperature and gas probes (CO, CO₂, O₂). At the same time the changes of environmental conditions and changes in atmospheric state parameters were observed around the dump, the so-called wind rose, based on data recorded by the weather station.

Barometric air pressure and its changes have a critical impact on ventilation conditions in the underground workings of deep mines. Changes in pressure are particularly important because they are responsible for the transient states of ventilation conditions, therefore, assessing the scale of pressure change is essential. Unfortunately, previously for many years in the Polish mining industry barometric pressure was recorded only on tapes of mechanical barographs by the ventilation department on the surface and therefore such dependencies of methane concentration due to barometric pressure changes have not been properly documented. Today, after the implementation in mines of instruments enabling the monitoring of absolute pressure in the workings of mines (Wasilewski, 2009) the conditions have been created to study the influence of pressure changes on changes of air parameters in the mine workings. Barometric pressure changes were observed and recorded over a course of approximately two years using monitoring system that utilized high accuracy pressure sensors on the surface and in selected workings of an underground mine. This paper presents a statistical analysis of the data that we generated from assessing pressure changes on the surface and at selected underground points in the mine. In the article, which presents the results of the first part of the study, some examples of when significant changes in pressure prior to the tragic events, which were not accompanied by changes in the methane concentration in mine workings, will also be shown. Interestingly, we found that the relationship between methane ignitions and explosions in longwall gob mined via the cave-in method is associated with changes in the barometric pressure. Several instances of methane ignitions and explosions in the gob of cave-in longwalls in recent years were compared with background barometric pressure changes. Research carried out in within the strategic project “Improving work safety in the mines” allowed to record air parameters changes inside the gob of longwalls and show the influence of pressure changes on changes in methane and oxygen concentration in the gob, which will be shown in the second part of the article to be published in the near future.

The paper presents an analysis of experimental data that include space–time distributions of methane concentration at the shearer-exploited longwall. The main objective of the observation was to...

An AnAlysis of the MethAne explosion in the AreA of the return shAft BottoM At Mine Methane explosions are one of the greatest hazards in the coal mining industry and have caused many accidents. on 27 July 2016 at approximately 11:01 a.m., an explosion of methane occurred at the bottom of zygmunt return shaft at the depth of 411 metres. the explosion resulted in one casualty. The article presents the results of, and the conclusions from, an in-depth analysis of the changes in the parameters of mine air, especially methane concentration, air flow and the operation of mine fans, recorded by sensors installed in the workings and in zygmunt ventilation shaft around the time of the accident. The analysis was based on signals recorded by the monitoring system, related to the evolution of methane and fire hazards prior to and after the accident occurred. An attempt was made to identify the cause and the circumstances of the methane explosion at the bottom of the return shaft.