Funds cut copper bets by $20 billion as bull trade unravels
Mounting worries about Chinese demand is helping to spark a rapid exodus from copper.
Dust from mining attracts much attention from communities, environmental authorities and miners in some parts of Australia, most notably the coal mining hub of the Hunter Valley.
Efficient control of dust in a water-limited environment is a challenge for the many mines close to residential and farming communities. Failure to control dust can bring serious consequences.
PAEHolmes, an environmental science and engineering consultancy, is working with the Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP) to provide the coal industry with improved tools to help in the dust control challenge.
ACARP has recently awarded PAEHolmes a Stage 2 Grant to understand how dust emissions can be measured and managed. This knowledge will help develop practical tools and guidance on improved dust control techniques. The focus of this work is haul roads, usually the main source of dust in open cut mines.
Stage 2 follows from an earlier ACARP grant to PAEHolmes that examined how well current control methods work on haul road dust. Stage 1 brought an innovation known as REX – the ‘Road Emissions eXpert’ – a mobile monitoring platform developed by principal investigator Judith Cox of PAEHolmes. REX allows more accurate monitoring of haul road emissions. At present, much of the information used here is based on North American conditions and is less relevant to the Australian environment. When Stage 2 is completed, the industry should have the tools for more cost effective haul road dust control. Importantly, the information will be based on local conditions. The research should then bring benefits that include more cost effective dust control programs for mine operators, better use of water and other resources, and fewer complaints about mine dust.
