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CONTENT

I. SAFETY AND HEALTH IN MINING ENVIRONMENT.

II. COPPER PRODUCTION PROCESS.

III. DESCRIPTION OF MAIN EQUIPMENT IN COPPER AND COBALT PLANTS.

IV. MAINTENANCE WORK MANAGEMENT PROCESS.

V. RCA OVERVIEW.

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CHAPTER I : SAFETY AND HEALTH IN MINING ENVIRONMENT

I.1. Introduction

The mining industry presents unique challenges in the field of worker safety. Mine safety is achieved
through the identification and minimization of hazards that include environmental and equipment-
based factors. Today, miners rely on a combination of safety practices and equipment to improve
caution, provide warning, and ensure protection from harm.

The Importance of Mine Safety

Safety is an essential component of any healthy workplace. Mines in particular are hazardous
environments with a greater potential for large-scale environmental damage and loss of life than for
many other workspaces, thus making mine safety an ever-present concern. As mines increase in size
and depth and mining companies become larger operations that include more workers, safety becomes
a new challenge that has been met by the development of specialized practices and equipment designed
specifically to provide miners with the warning and protection they need to prevent or minimize
accidents.

I.2. Hierarchy of controls

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Controls should be determined according to the “Hierarchy of Control” system described below. The
following control elements should be utilized in the order presented and where appropriate used in
conjunction: Elimination, Substitution, Isolation, Engineering, Administration, Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE).

Elimination: this control measure involves eliminating or removing the risk in its entirety.

For example:

• Risk: High Risks to be injured by v-belts (without protection) when equipment is online.

• Control: Install v-belts protection guard to eliminate all risks.

Substitution: this form of control involves substituting a safer process or material for the hazardous
process/material identified.

For example:

• Risk: Cleaning solution causing allergic reactions and nausea.

• Control: Substituting a less toxic or non-allergenic cleaning solution for the task.

Isolation: this control involves separating the hazard or hazardous work practice from
employees’other work areas. This may involve sectioning off the area by erecting barriers or by
relocating either the hazardous work practice or the “other‟ employees and their work practices.

For example:

• Risk: Excessive noise emanating from machinery.

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• Control: Enclosing the machinery or the personnel hence creating an isolating barrier between the
hazard and the person by using a barrier.

Engineering: this method of control involves designing and/or adding physical safety features to plant
or equipment. Equipment and Workplace Design The provision of new and/or additional equipment or
redesign of a workplace can be used to control identified hazards.

For example:

• Risk: Chemical fumes given off during cleaning, laboratory, or welding processes.

• Control: Construction of a local extraction system to remove the fumes at the source.

Administrative Controls: this type of control is most effective when used in conjunction with
measures mentioned above or as an interim control whilst more effective control measures are
developed and implemented. It requires systems to be established or amended in order to control the
risk presented. Most often it requires the assessment and modification of the task(s) performed. It may
include measures such as: Amendment or establishment of new Policy and Procedures.

For example: developing documented safe work practices for a hazardous task or implementing
restrictive policy to prevent staff or students from coming in contact with identified hazards. Limiting
the exposure of personnel to elements that are only hazardous when they exceed a certain threshold.
These types of hazards can include noise, radiation, heat, chemicals, etc., and can be controlled by
introducing elements as simple as job rotation. Providing training and information in safe work
practices and other workplace health issues so that personnel can work safely.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): PPE is not a particularly effective control method and should
only be used: When all other control measures are impractical; or in conjunction with other more
effective, control measures. It is important to select the correct PPE for the hazard identified, and advice
should be sought in this regard if you are not sure. The above “Hierarchy of Control” provides a basic
guide for controlling hazards in the workplace.

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Examples of PPEs

BODY PART PROTECTION

EYE SAFETY GLASSES, GOGGLES
FACE FACE SHIELD
HEAD HARD HAT, HELMET
FEET SAFETY SHOES, SAFETY BOOTS
HANDS AND ARMS GLOVES
BODY VESTS
HEARING EARPLUGS
NOSE MASKS

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I.3. Life Saving Behaviors at Workplace

a) Always come to work drug and alcohol free.

b) Always use or wear critical safety equipment.

c) Only operate equipment if trained and authorized.

d) Always isolate and 'test for dead' prior to working on energy sources.

e) Never modify or over-ride critical safety equipment without approval.

f) Never enter danger zones without approval.

g) Always report injuries and High Potential Risks Incidents. (HPRIs)

I.4. Examples of Safety Protocols

I.4.1. Energy Isolation

The intent of this Protocol is to eliminate or minimize the potential for fatalities, injuries and incidents
arising from risks associated with inadequate isolation of energy sources. Examples of energy sources
include electrical, mechanical, pneumatic, gravity, hydraulic, heat, radiation, etc. Stored energy such
as e.g. electrical capacitors, springs, compressed air / gas, and suspended loads etc.

a) Steps of Isolation Procedure

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b) Study case

This worker needs to do maintenance on electrical cabling. He has switched off the circuit
breaker and locked and tagged the box. When his steel ladder touches an exposed wire, he still
gets electrocuted. What could some of the reasons for this be?

• The worker switched off the wrong circuit breaker.

• There are wires connected to live circuits running next to the wires the worker was about to
work on.

• It is also possible that there is a double circuit feed, which is when two circuits on the same
phase are wired together.

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How could this incident have been avoided?

• Always test for dead with a voltmeter. Energy isolation is only effective if we complete all
the steps. There are multiple reasons why a system could still be energized, but there is only
one way to check if it is.

What should you do if you see someone skipping a step during the energy isolation
process?

• Stop Work immediately and alert the rest of the team. You must also report the incident to
your supervisor as a near miss within 15 minutes. Work may only continue once the step has
been completed

I.4.2. Working At Height

Working at height remains one of the biggest causes of fatalities and major injuries. Common cases
include falls from ladders and through fragile surfaces. '’Work at height’' means work in any place
where, if there were no precautions in place, a person could fall a distance liable (1.8M-2M) to cause
personal injury (for example a fall through a fragile roof).

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Risk assessment

Illustrations

I.4.3. Confined Spaces and Irrespirable / Noxious Atmosphere

A confined space is a space with limited entry and egress and not suitable for human inhabitants.
Hazards in a confined space often include harmful dust or gases, asphyxiation, submersion in liquids
or free-flowing granular solids, electrocution.

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I.4.4. Tyre, Wheels and Rim Management

It is designed to assist in identifying hazards associated with tyres, wheels, and rims and effective
controls to minimize the risk of injury and death from uncontrolled movements and pressure release
events.

I.4.5. Lifting and Cranage

Scope is limited to single fatality scenarios, including suspended loads and swinging loads. May
include loads lifted by mechanical means (e.g. fixed or mobile cranes, forklifts), loads on stands,
loading or unloading trucks, loads being transported, jacking loads into place, complicated lifts (e.g.
multiple cranes), transferring loads to other lifting devices, overhead cranes. Rigging including ropes,
slings chains.

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I.4.6. Emergency Response

Emergencies can create a variety of hazards for workers in the impacted area. Preparing before an
emergency incident plays a vital role in ensuring that employers and workers have the necessary
equipment, know where to go, and know how to keep themselves safe when an emergency occurs.

I.4.7. Barricades
Barricade is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force
the flow of traffic in the desired direction..

I.4.8. Homework

Find information on following protocols: Electrical Safety, Mobile Equipment, Ground/Strata Failure,
Fire and Explosion, inrush and Outburst, Structural Failure, Molten Material.

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CHAPTER II : COPPER PRODUCTION PROCESS

II.1. General flowsheet

This flowchart made of machinery icons explains or expresses in simple but clear terms the step of
the Copper Mining and Copper Extraction Process. Starting from either open-pit or underground
mining and using a different relevant treatment method for oxide or sulphide copper mineral (ore).

Having a quick look now at how porphyry ores are treated and the metals extracted. There are two main
process streams; one for sulfide ores and the other for ore that is being weathered to oxidize sulfides
the so-called oxide ores. All ore in the pit is drilled and blasted and loaded into trucks and hauled for
treatment if the ore is un-oxidized sulfidic ore then it needs to be crushed and milled to a fine slurry
then it gets past through flotation cells in a concentrator to separate and concentrate the sulfides. The
top picture shows the interior of a large concentrator with rows of individual flotation cells the
floatation agent is added to the slurry and stirred. The floatation agent preferably sticks to the sulfide
minerals rather than the waste minerals and then air is bubbled through the mixture and the floatation
agent traps the fine bubbles which carry the sulfides to the surface of the cell where they are carried
over aware and separated. From there they are dried to provide a concentrate which then goes on to a
smelter. This is the same process for both copper and molybdenum porphyries. The smelter is basically
a large furnace which melts the concentrate and drives off the sulfide to leave molten copper metal this
is still contains impurities and it needs to be refined further to make it a salable product.

Returning to the overall process; that is the process for the sulfide ores and the oxide ore as I said are
treated differently. Direct from the pit the oxide ore is piled onto large lined leach pads and the sulfuric
acid. The top photo shows one of these leach pads with the new thick black plastic liner visible on the
right of the pad. The copper oxide minimum minerals are dissolved by the acid to give a blue copper
rich solution mainly of copper sulfate. This solution is tapped off from the bottom of the pad and placed
into big tanks with steel plates an electrical current is passed from the tank to the steel which is then
electroplated with pure copper. This process has the advantage of avoiding the smelting and refining
stages required for sulfide ores.

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II.2. Example of a copper plant flowsheet in Democratic Republic of Congo

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II.2.1. Crushing and Grinding (Milling)

• MMD mineral sizer as primary size reduction asset.

• Stage 1 jaw crusher as redundancy asset.
• Up to 300 tph feed into SAG.
• Mild steel mill shell with epoxy coating.
• Milling occurs in acid liquor.

II.2.2. Leaching and CCDs (Counter Current Decanter) circuit

• Milled material starts leaching early in SAG mill.

• Material leaches further in leach tanks.
• CCD circuit to separate high, medium and low grade Cu pregnant liquors.
• Buffer pregnant solution ponds before SX.
• Tails pumped directly to tailings impound.

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II.2.3. Solvent Extraction

• Twin Solvent Extraction.

• ( High and Low Grade).
• Fire gap design.
• Pregnant liquor ponds are strategic buffer.

II.2.4. Electrowinning

• 2 Tankhouses (Outotec Technology).

• 2 Stripping machines (redundancy and flexibility) Bundle size : ~ 2,5 Tons per strapped Bundle
Cu Stripped/day : Max 280.
• Thermal cameras to be used for improved Quick Safe hot spot detection.

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II.3. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)

II.3.1. Introduction

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) is a system that aims to monitor and control field
devices at your remote sites. SCADA systems are critical as it helps maintain efficiency by collecting
and processing real-time data.
SCADA is a centralized system that monitors and controls the entire area. This supervisory system
gathers data on the process and sends the commands control to the process.
The main goal of this supervisory system is to monitor and control equipment in the industrial processes
for companies in the public and private sectors. As a matter of fact, in today's world, there are SCADA
systems almost everywhere. This includes industrial plants, manufacturing, transportation, oil and gas,
power distribution, water control and etc.

SIEMENS PLC

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SCADA typically comes in a combination of software and hardware elements, such as programmable
logic controllers (PLCs) and remote terminal units (RTUs). Data acquisition starts with PLCs and
RTUs, which communicate with plant floor equipment such as factory machinery and sensors. Data
gathered from the equipment is then sent to the next level, such as a control room, where operators can
supervise the PLC and RTU controls using human-machine interfaces (HMIs). HMIs are an important
element of SCADA systems. They are the screens that operators use to communicate with the SCADA
system.

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II.3.2. Example

Lime Plant

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II.4. P&IDs (Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams)

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CHAPTER III : DESCRIPTION OF MAIN EQUIPMENT

IN COPPER AND COBALT PLANTS

III.1. Pump

A pump is a device that moves fluids or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted
from electrical energy into hydraulic energy.

III.2. Agitator (Mixer)

An agitator is a device or mechanism to put something into motion by shaking or stirring.

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III.3. Tank

A large receptacle, container, or structure for holding a liquid or gas: tanks for storing oil.

III.4. Conveyor (Belt)

A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from
one location to another.

III.5. Crusher

A crusher is a machine designed to reduce large rocks into smaller rocks, gravel, sand or rock dust.

Mineral Sizer Jaw Crusher

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III.7. Compressor

A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume.

Screw compressor Two Stage Piston Air Compressor

III.8. Blower

Blowers are installation equipment that provides the transfer of air in the emitted environment at high
or low pressure and rotates the fan with the force received from the motor.

III.9. Transformer

Transformers are electrical devices consisting of two or more coils of wire used to transfer electrical
energy by means of a changing magnetic field.

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III.10. Rectifier

Rectifier is a device that converts an oscillating two-directional alternating current (AC) into a single-
directional direct current (DC).

III.11. Valves

A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids,
fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways.

III.12. Hydraulic Power Pack

A hydraulic power pack is a stand-alone assembly consisting of a drive motor, hydraulic pump and
hydraulic fluid tank. The pump is driven by the electric drive and converts the electrical energy into
hydraulic energy. This is also referred to as hydraulic pressure being created and a flow rate being
provided.

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III.13. Safety Shower

Emergency eyewash and safety shower stations serve the purpose of reducing workplace injury and
keeping workers away from various dangers.

III.14. Filter Press

An industrial filter press is a tool used in separation processes, specifically to separate solids and
liquids. The machine stacks many filter elements and allows the filter to be easily opened to remove
the filtered solids, and allows easy cleaning or replacement of the filter media.

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III.15. Dryer

III.16. Roaster (Furnace)

A container that is heated to a very high temperature, so that substances that are put inside it, such
as metal, will melt or burn.

III.17. MCC

A Motor Control Center (MCC) is an assembly to control some or all electric motors in a central
location. It consists of multiple enclosed sections having a common power bus and with each section
containing a combination starter, which in turn consists of motor starter, fuses or circuit breaker, and
power disconnect. A motor control center can also include push buttons, indicator lights, variable-
frequency drives, programmable logic controllers, and metering equipment.

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III.18. Electrical motor

An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most
electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric
current in a wire winding to generate force in the form of torque applied on the motor's shaft.

III.19. Fan

Any device for creating a current of air by movement of a surface or number of surfaces,
a rotating device consisting of a number of blades attached to a central hub.

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CHAPTER IV : MAINTENANCE WORK MANAGEMENT PROCESS

IV.1. Introduction

Maintenance management is defined as the process of maintaining the assets and resources of
a company, which has as main objective to control and reduce costs, times, and resources. It goes
through the regular monitoring of the functioning of machines, equipment, facilities, and tools. This
management avoids, for example, production stoppages due to broken equipment and waste of
resources in inefficient maintenance processes.

IV.2. Work Management Process

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IV.3. Types of Maintenance

IV.3.1. Reactive (run-to-failure) maintenance

Reactive maintenance (also known as breakdown maintenance) refers to repairs that are done
when equipment has already broken down, in order to restore the equipment to its normal operating
condition.

IV.3.2. Corrective maintenance

Corrective maintenance covers maintenance tasks that are undertaken to identify, isolate and
repair a fault in order to restore equipment, a machine or a system to an operational condition so it can
perform its intended function.

IV.3.3. Preventive maintenance

Preventive Maintenance (PM) is the regular and routine maintenance of equipment and assets
in order to keep them running and prevent any costly unplanned downtime from unexpected equipment
failure. A successful maintenance strategy requires planning and scheduling maintenance of equipment
before a problem occurs.

IV.3.4. Condition-based maintenance

Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) is a maintenance strategy that monitors the actual

condition of an asset to decide what maintenance needs to be done. ... Compared with preventive
maintenance, this increases the time between maintenance repairs, because maintenance is done on an
as-needed basis.

IV.3.5. Predictive maintenance

Predictive maintenance is a technique that uses data analysis tools and techniques to detect
anomalies in your operation and possible defects in equipment and processes so you can fix them before
they result in failure.

Ideally, predictive maintenance allows the maintenance frequency to be as low as possible to

prevent unplanned reactive maintenance, without incurring costs associated with doing too
much preventive maintenance.

IV.3.6. Proactive maintenance

Proactive maintenance refers to a collection of activities, inspections, tests and procedures that
are used to prevent the failure of equipment, a machine or a material in the future. It focuses on
determining potential root causes of machine or material failure, and dealing with those issues before
problems occur.

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IV.4. Example of Maintenance Department Organization Chart

MAINTENANCE
MANAGER

ADMINISTRATOR

PLANNING MECHANICAL ELECTRICAL INSTR&CONTROL RELIABILITY

SUPERINTENDENT SUPERINTENDENT SUPERINTENDENT SUPERINTENDENT SUPERINTENDENT

COORDINATORS COORDINATORS COORDINATORS COORDINATORS ENGINEERS

PLANNERS/ SUPERVISORS SUPERVISORS SUPERVISORS Technicians

SCHEDULERS

DATA CLERKS TECHNICIANS TECHNICIANS TECHNICIANS

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