The Peabody Burton Mine

The Peabody Burton mine was one of the first mining operations to use the Terrace Mining Method for extracting steep seam. Peabody planned to modify the terrace-mining concept to a depth approaching 230 metres at the high wall – an Australian first.

Minimizing blast vibrations

All blasts were designed to minimise the impact of vibrations on the highwall. The extended life for the highwall in combination with wedge failures in the highwall prompted the need to try and minimise fatigue on the highwall.

False frequency and dampening

By determining the resonant frequencies of the highwall we were able to alter the timing design using electronic detonators to create an artificial frequency within the frequency spectra with a high dampening effect. This created “false frequency” with minimal resonance has the potential to reduce vibration levels, as well as reduce the duration of the energy which in turn has the potential to reduce fatigue.

A new method

The new method was developed using the Transfer Function the total frequency spectra between 2 monitoring points to determine the resonant frequency between the points.  The new  method showed an extraordinary accuracy in determining the fundamental frequency and all its harmonics.