Minimizing the accumulation of soft and wet tailings deposits behind dams and ensuring that they are reclaimed progressively during the life of a project will significantly contribute to the long-term reclamation performance of tailings facilities. This assertion resulted in recommending the implementation of a physicochemical treatment recipe that optimizes dewatering and fines agglomeration inline for improving physical and chemical stability of the tailings storage facilities. An important objective of effective tailings management is to protect the environment. Because the main pathway for contaminants is by water, the water balance is an essential element in any tailings management strategy. In this paper, solids and water mass balance and concentration of the major ions (anions and cations) in the water phase of the analysed treated (coagulated + flocculated) tailings show that most ions remain bound in the solid phase. This complements flocculation efficiency, dewatering and consolidation advantages. The released water is either recycled for tailings management or routed into the mining process. Assessing contaminants trapped within tailings solids phase involves a combination of physical, chemical, and mineralogical characterization using various analytical techniques. These techniques help estimate the total contaminant load, their chemical forms (speciation), and their potential for environmental release over time under various geochemical conditions. The outcomes of this paper can be used to define the success of the physicochemical treatment recipe as an alternative technology to accelerate dewatering and consolidation and to protect water quality, improving the physical and chemical stability of the treated tailings closure landforms to facilitate reclamation.

Conveyor idler failure is the leading cause of conveyor-related fires in the Australian coal mining industry, costing the industry over $1.5 billion per annum in lost productivity. In restricted-access environments — such as reclaim tunnels beneath coal stockpiles — the consequences of undetected roller failure extend well beyond equipment damage: personnel access restrictions during operations mean that heating events cannot be identified or responded to in time using conventional manual inspection methods.
This paper presents a case study of the deployment of Vayeron Smart-Idler® technology on the Train Load Out conveyor (CV-203) at Foxleigh Coal Mine, an open-cut Premium Low Volatile Pulverised Coal Injection (LV PCI) operation located in Queensland's Bowen Basin. CV-203 traverses a reclaim tunnel beneath the coal stockpile — a zone classified as restricted access during conveyor and train loading operations under site safety policy, due to the proximity to live equipment and active coal handling.
Prior to the Smart-Idler® implementation, a dangerous roller heating event occurred in the reclaim tunnel section of CV-203. Because personnel could not safely access the tunnel during active operations, the developing failure went undetected until thermal conditions necessitated an emergency abort of the train loading cycle. The result was an incomplete coal load, a delayed rail departure, and a quantifiable financial loss for the operation — all stemming from a failure mode that was, in principle, detectable and preventable.
Vayeron Smart-Idler® technology was subsequently implemented on CV-203, embedding autonomous wireless sensors within the idler rollers to monitor temperature, vibration, and shell wear in real-time, 24 hours a day. Critically, this enables condition monitoring of the reclaim tunnel idlers from the safety of the control room, without requiring personnel to enter the restricted zone during operations.
This paper details the implementation methodology, the data insights captured, and the consequent improvement in both safety outcomes and operational reliability. The case demonstrates that intelligent conveyor monitoring technology can directly address the intersection of personnel safety, catastrophic hazard control, and production continuity — particularly in environments where human access during operations is either impractical or prohibited by policy.

At the Glencore’s Bulga Open Cut Operations, mining progression was constrained by a pressurised Piercefield coal seam located approximately 220 m below surface and beneath the regional water table. Piezometer data confirmed that, despite overburden removal, the seam remained at near-original hydrostatic pressure - 334psi (~2300 kPa). This created a significant outburst hazard, as safe blasting could not proceed without prior depressurisation.
The initial strategy proposed utilising a series of vertical wells drilled within the boxcut; however, this approach was discarded due to the significant risk of uncontrolled pressure release and the requirement for drill crews to work within the active pit. A novel approach was implemented using three surface to in seam (SIS) wells with dual arm lateral wells to achieve pressure drawdown across the planned boxcut area. This method allowed drilling to be undertaken from the highwall, removing personnel from the pit and eliminating exposure to simultaneous operations hazards. The lateral method allowed an increase in hydrostatic head whilst drilling, reducing the risk of uncontrolled pressure release. This represented a departure from conventional vertical drainage methods, applying lateral only dewatering techniques used in underground mining to an open cut mining environment.
During execution, drilling conditions diverged significantly from expectations. Extensive fluid losses were encountered within coal and tuff intervals, resulting in high water demand (>3 ML) and periods of blind drilling. Analysis determined that drilling pressures exceeded the reduced vertical stress within the mined environment, inducing formation failure and creating void space (“pancake fracturing”) rather than intersecting permeable pathways.
In response, the drilling strategy was adapted to underbalanced conditions using aerated fluid systems, reducing annular pressure by approximately 100–150 psi (690-1035kpa). This adjustment improved drilling stability, reduced losses, and enabled successful completion of lateral sections.
The project demonstrates that depressurisation of sealed, high-pressure coal seams beneath active mining areas is achievable using SIS lateral wells; however, success is highly dependent on managing the balance between drilling pressure and in-situ stress. Key learnings highlight the importance of early stress modelling, adaptive drilling strategies, and integrating operational constraints such as water logistics into project design.

As the resources sector accelerates decarbonisation initiatives, mining operations are increasingly required to integrate new activities into complex operating environments while maintaining production continuity and safety performance. While significant industry focus has been placed on decarbonisation technologies themselves, less attention has been given to the operational readiness processes required to safely introduce these activities into active mining operations.

This presentation explores the operational integration framework developed to implement open cut methane pre-drainage activities within active Queensland coal mines. The focus is not on drilling methodology, but on the process required to introduce a new hazard profile and operational interface into an existing Safety and Health Management System (SHMS).

The presentation outlines a practical Management of Change (MoC) approach grounded in coal mining operational realities and aligned with Queensland coal mining legislation and risk-based safety principles. It examines how operational readiness activities are structured to manage interactions between existing mining operations and new decarbonisation activities, including drilling operations, gas management infrastructure, hazardous area considerations, blasting interfaces, mobile equipment interactions, and borehole lifecycle management.

Key learnings are presented from the development of governance structures, WRAC processes, Basis of Design documentation, management plans, cross-functional risk ownership, and staged operational integration activities undertaken prior to execution. Particular focus is given to the interdependent nature of risk assessments, operational planning and engineering design, and the challenges associated with introducing emerging technologies into established operational systems.

This presentation provides a practical case study in integrating emerging decarbonisation activities into high-risk operational environments and offers transferable insights for organisations managing operational change, new hazards, and evolving regulatory and stakeholder expectations across the resources sector.

High consequence failures in abrasive wear environments remain a critical risk in mining operations. Across slurry pipelines, chutes, bins, crushers, mills and other fixed plant assets, internal wear progression is often invisible between scheduled inspections. This reliance on periodic inspection and indirect indicators can result in sudden loss of containment, structural instability, unplanned shutdowns, and increased personnel exposure during emergency repairs.

Two separate high consequence events exposed a common control gap. A tailings pipeline failure resulted in environmental contamination, production disruption and regulatory consequences. In a separate operation, a conveyor feed hopper experienced a structural integrity near incident following progressive wear of internal liners. While no injuries occurred, the event carried potential for serious harm and highlighted the limitations of inspection based wear management.

Despite occurring in different asset classes, both events shared the same underlying issue: the absence of continuous visibility of internal wear progression within abrasive components.

This presentation outlines an equipment based approach to closing that gap by embedding wear sensing capability directly into abrasive wear zones. By integrating sacrificial sensing elements within the asset, operators can obtain continuous measurement of wear progression and remaining wall thickness throughout the operating life of the component.

The session will examine how embedding condition awareness into equipment design strengthens engineering controls, supports earlier intervention, reduces intrusive inspection requirements, and improves asset integrity management. Practical considerations will be discussed, including alarm thresholds, maintenance workflow integration, and the transition from reactive response to predictive intervention.

These case studies demonstrate how redesigning equipment to include embedded wear intelligence can reduce catastrophic failure risk and improve safety and environmental performance across a range of abrasive wear applications.

The mining industry is navigating a generational shift in its workforce. Younger workers entering the industry and resource operations have grown up with smartphones and digital tools as a normal part of daily life. Yet in many operations, safety processes still rely on paper checklists. This disconnect between how people work off-site and how they are expected to work on-site is increasingly a practical safety issue, not just a comfort preference.
This paper draws on the experience of an open-cut coal mining operation in Queensland that transitioned from paper-based inspection and safety administration processes to a digital, artificial intelligence (AI) assisted platform. It examines what changed operationally and what the transition revealed about workforce engagement with safety management systems.
Practical outcomes were tangible. Eliminating paper forms removed printing costs and the administrative burden of filing, scanning, and manual review. Corrective actions became visible to supervisors in real time rather than surfacing hours later. All inspection data were centralised to support trend analysis, audit readiness, and regulatory compliance. For operations where data sovereignty is a concern, hosting the system on-premises provides additional operational confidence.
Mobile devices replace paper using hardware that workers already know. The camera captures photographic evidence and supports image-based defect detection. The microphone enables voice tags, allowing workers to record field observations hands-free. Digital sign-on glass replaces the handwritten attendance sheet with a verified signature captured directly on screen. Together, these eliminate the paper trail without adding unfamiliar steps.
The toolbox talk is a further example. Using a mobile device, a supervisor records the talk as it happens. AI transcribes the conversation and automatically extracts key topics, identified hazards, agreed mitigations, and a verified attendance record, replacing a printed form with a structured, searchable safety document created in real time.
The paper discusses how field workers engage with mobile-first tools, what builds confidence in AI-assisted processes, and how system design influences adoption. The central argument is that modernising safety management systems is no longer just about efficiency. It is about building processes that the current and future mining workforce will actually use.