Document RperaGzmOVyBmq005J8m6BrEX

FILE NAME Colonial Sugar Refinery CSR DATE 1960 Sept 19 DOC CSR112 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Letter to State Mining Engineer Perth with Govt Inspection Results from Wittenoom Mine Ventilation PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT 104070 The State Mining Engineer Mines Department PERTH 19th September 1960 Ventilation - Australian Blue Asbestos Limited Wittenoom Followionugr Mr. Simmons recent inspection and his position position subsequent report of 22nd July ultimoon the ventilation condition I discussed with him the in detail anda result decided that a check up working conditions especially in especially regard to ventilation was essential . Assistant Inspector Simmons Workmen's Inspector Hunt and myself were in and about the mine and workings from August 30th to September 6th and conditions were noted on all day shifts and some afternoon shirts Survey It was my intention to carry out embodying a comparison between the complete a Midget ventilation Impinger and Konimeter and a comparison between our Velometer and the mine Lambrecht Flow meter Our inspections were arranged whereby Inspectors Simmons and Hunt would commence a ventilation survey of the mine whilst I would firstly make a visual inspection of conditions discuss several matters with the management and then join the other Inspectors . : inspections I carried out of several working faces and as a result decided to discuss several matters with the Manager - I also discussed with him his disagreement with Inspector figures and remarks It was revealed that his complaints were groundless and Mr. Allen agreed in principle Regarding Mr. Allen's letter to me dated 5th August 1960 I must advise as follows Mr. Simmons has already explained his action with our Flow meter I must add that Australian Blue Asbestos have their own Flow Meter but I doubt very much if it has been used It has not been checked since it was obtained I could not locate any readings or figures resulting from the use of this metor The complaint against the mention of areas of Negligible Airflow was frivolous to the extreme Some areas where men were working when visited by me had no airflow whatever Examples No 6 level - 5 S stope - west face and No 6 level 29 29 stope Other places in stopes which were provided with fans and dueting showed an air movement of 25 feet per minute and 30 feet per minute but the air was not clean air it was circulate dust laden air Examples No 3 level 010 stope - lower seam and No 6 level 5 south stope - south face The comparison of dust counts with those taken during previous inspections should be humiliating to the Management whicl has now had years of experience in asbestos mining The dust 17 17 content in this mine should be lower With respect to Hill Dust Counts - I wish to advise trtavrealvetravell could find no area in the mill where men do not work or Continuing my inspections and investigations I found that although the Underground Manager contended that Underground Ventilation is well looked after this is not so Entries in the Ventilation Record Book are merely superficial and contain no facts or figures Conditions in stopes make me venture to write that stope ventilation receives but scant attention - _ _~ Inspector last inspection has been made to prevent air entering old workings and the sealing work completed is excellent but there are no recordings or entries to show why this was done or what has resulted My inspections showed that a very detailed ventilation survey is required and to carry out this correctly would take at least a month Both day shift and afternoon shift would have to be worked To correct the ventilation to a good standard will require much secondary ventilation and altered mining methods and as this is primarily an internal mine policy matter the min^' officials will themselves have to determine their ventilation policy and necessary correcting we will then check on conditions and make requests accordingly that With this in mind where it was considered locations were selected underground local average conditions prevailed Inspector Simmons report which is attached presents the rpeossuilttiionng figures which do not show a highly satisfactory It will be noted that the results obtained do not show between and an average basis for comparison the KoninsIt mpie ngr er sampling I can understand this when samples are taken in fluctuating ourrents but it is hard to reconcile when the sampling was carried out in areas of negligible air flow As Mr. Simmons suggested the results obtained with the Impinger must not be treated as conclusive He had only three week's experiance with the instrument I must add however that all sampling was carried out by the one uniform method The results do however show that the underground ventilation rectified ventilation rectified is inadequately controlled and this must be a b The object of the Inspection was To enquire into complaints lodged by the Mine Manager To allow Inspector Simmons to further check on the ventilation c To compare Midget Impinger results with those obtained by the Konimeter a e ial To obtain information which may be of assistance to the Hines Ray officers To inspect the mine workings Me emntnt thn 184 nanneau with thaim wanti^fintt se mnce ns ee eet Manager whTohme ImaitntfeorrmoefdvetnhtaitlaItiwoounlhdabsebefoernwdairsdciunsgsheidmwfiutrhtthheer written requests re ventilation The ventilation position can be summed up as follows Dust is being generated in the Hill in all sections The company has spent very large sums of money in Kill Dust control and I must admit that I can see no immediate against the dust being generated The treatment of asbestos ore requires visible and accessible amount of dust must elude the dusstcreexetnrsacetitocn.uannidtsa certain positions Some of the the dust generated is blown to surrounding by prevailing winds The plant is well protected but climatic conditions and the handling of the finished product will not yet allow for the economic and complete enclosure of the milling sections Although most dust is collected in the Rotocions circuits the exhaust from the Rotoclones contains dust This is shown by the sampling carried out on the lawn outside the . Mill office I suggest that this exhaust carries much fibre of the fineness which is injurious to persons This is not a concrete fact but the Impinger sample taken on the Lawn showed Asbestos content 10-40 microns as 3 p.p.c.c. or 84,960 p.p. cub The exhaust dust from the Rotoclones at times and according to the prevailing winds enters the mine workings vie 2 the Main Adit and through Nos 1 3 and 4 levels This not a consistent contamination We attempted to measure the dust content in the mine intakes on several occasions to each occasion the wind shifted One would require wait in an intake for a long period to take samples but as Mine officers admitted to me that they were aware that the dust did enter the mine workings I could see nothing gained in wasting valuable Dust from the 3 and 4 levels tailings dump also at time enters Nos One of the intake flows is along the main adit This adit contains the conveyor belt carrying the ore from the mine The belt is fed by chain controlled chutes and discharges into the Kain Ore Pocket The system contains two endless belts of approximate equal length The lower belt feeds onto the other atomiser belt Dust is generated on all feed and discharge points Whilst each position does not generate great amounts of dust collectively the points discharge a fair amount of dust into the intake air Each point is provided with water spray These are on the upper side of similar spray fitted on the lower side diminish the dust greatly each dust point Another of each point would The total inflow of air over 90,000 c.ft. c.ft. per minute is adequate to ventilate all the present mine workings but until the air is split correctly or taken by secondary appliances to the working stope faces the general stope ventilation will be negligible report Mr. Simmons remarks on stope ventilation in his of 22nd July last are in agreement with my own ideas On 5th instant I asked Mr. Allen to accompany me underground on afternoon shift - . + = - Mr. Allen is not a Mining man and I desired him to see the conditions The Underground Manager accompanied us Stope conditions were such that I had to request Allen to remove men until conditions were improved He wholeheartedly agreed that men should not be in the stopes under such bad smoky conditions The conditions were a surprise to Allen Although firing had taken place at 3.15 p.m. far too much smoke and dust was still present at 5 p.m. The general conditioni were such that I had to instruct our Mr. Simmons who is a very conscientious worker to refrain from staying in the stopes to take dust samples I had several discussions with Mr. Allen and offered all assistance we can give Our relations were very cordial and he appreciates our assistance have and are , carry I do not intend however to have our officers do all the work The Company owne a Midget Impinger Konimeter and Flow meter and must out a ventilation survey themselves = our officers will check and assist if necessary | I have discussed the whole position with Mr. Allen and I informed him that I would write in accordance with the raecqtuiiornements of the Mines Regulation Act . requesting certain The entry in the Mine Record Book is attached My investigations and observations make me believe that the Mine administrators have failed to realise that they working are a large mine I have pointed out that this is a deep mine at present over 1800 feet deep with the workings extending over 2,400 feet in length Production of 20,000 tons each four weeks gained by storing only 39 inches to 42 inches wide is quickly extending the excavated area and if the ventilatic is not controlled immediately the problem will become a major financial one The Management however should be given a chance to correct their ventilation according to their mining policy but if a satisfactory result is not obtained then I will have to request altered mining methods We will continue to assist and for the time I have written to the Mine Manager - a copy of my letter is attached I have watched carefully the inspections involving the use of the Midget Impinger This is a very worthwhile instrument as it allows for a sample to be taken over 10 minutes Mr. Simmone operated this instrument for two weeks in conjunction with Mr. Quartermains of the School of Mines before going to Wittenoom and in Laboratory tests the Impinger gave much higher asbestos results than the Konimeter We are however too new to the instrument to pass an opinion as to it's usefulness Apparently the Impinger has given very good results elsewhere but as far as Dust Counts are concerned I am inclined now to think that the Konimeter is more useful to us The Impinger would be useful to the Mine Staff - samples could be taken and the sample obtained studied by a mine officer An Inspector of and besides The Impinger for testing Mines could take only eight 8 samples per day it is necessary to carry too much fragile equipment should be tested frequently - we have no facilities and the instrument would be upset in transporting it If the asbestos content of the atmosphere is required I think that think wee samples much larger than that taken with the Midget