NOISE POLLUTION IN MINING INDUSTRY

• Noise is unwanted sound.

• There are many noise sources in coal and metal/nonmetal mines, such as drills,
crushers, diesel engines, grinding mills, trucks, and other vehicles and
machinery.
• When noise exposure is too intense, too shrill, or too prolonged, such exposure
may cause harm to miners.
• The adverse effects of noise exposure include temporary or permanent hearing
loss, interference with speech and audible warning signals, and physical and
psychological effects such as fatigue, irritability, tension, anxiety, and
circulatory effects.
• Sudden blasts of noise can rupture the ear drum or damage the bones of the
middle ear. Noise-induced hearing loss is the gradual loss of hearing that may
occur on long or repeated exposure to intense noise.
• Such damage occurs at the organ of Corti in the inner ear and may become
permanent. There is no known medical treatment to correct such hearing
loss - emphasizing the importance of prevention.
Mining Areas Noise Standard
Work place - 85 working level
90 dB(A) – danger level
90 - 93 - 4 hours
93 - 96 - 2 hours
96 - 99 - 1 hour
99- 102 - ½ hour
> 105 Not allowed
Protective device - After 115 dB(A)
Control – Work place – DGMS
Ambient – MOEF
Sources
(1) Removal of vegetation (on surface) – Noise Ambient
(2) Removal of soil – Ambient Noise
(3) Drilling – Cutting action
Minimise – well maintained drill bits
Good maintenance of M/C
(4) Blasting – Impulsive Noise
(5) Loading and Transportation
Reflection/Refraction – Combined effect
Resultant of all the Noises
How to Minimise
Barriers
• Green Belt – 30 m.
• Mud Barrier/Mud Wall - Very successful (Not in India)
- Europe/10m. High Wall
Picnic Spot
• Barriers – Timber/Stone Chips
Measures
[Good maintenance of Machine + Green Belt ]
Washeries
• Crushing- screening –Belt -2”-Froth Floation-Separate
Belt-Fines-Heavy Media Cyclones
(Water+Hematite)
• Enclose the Washery- Best System

CHPs
• Crushing+Grading+Screening
• Enclose-Best System

UG Mine
• Exhaust Fan-Proper Maintenance-Proper design of exhaust chimeny
• Winding & Haulage
• Drilling & Blasting
• Loading & Unloading
• Other Activities
Introduction

Blasting operations may cause excessive noise and vibrations impacts on the community.
Excessive levels of structural vibration caused by ground vibration from blasting can
result in damage to, or failure of, a structure. People are able to detect vibration at levels
much lower than those required to cause even superficial damage to the most susceptible
structures.

The criteria set out in this guideline assist in minimising annoyance and discomfort that
may be caused by blasting at activities such as mining, quarrying, construction and other
operations which involve the use of explosives for fragmenting rock.

Further, all blasting must be carried out in a proper manner by a competent person in
accordance with best practice environmental management to minimise the likelihood of
adverse effects being caused by the impact of airblast overpressure and ground-borne
vibration in noise-sensitive places and people living in or using the surrounding area.
Noise criteria
Blasting activities must be carried out in such a manner that if blasting noise should
propagate to a noise-sensitive place, then
(a) the airblast overpressure must be not more than 115dB(linear) peak for nine out
of any 10 consecutive blasts initiated, regardless of the interval between blasts; and
(b) the airblast overpressure must not exceed 120dB(linear) peak for any blast.

Vibration criteria
Blasting operations must be carried out in such a manner that if ground vibration should
propagate to a noise-sensitive place:
(a) the ground-borne vibration must not exceed a peak particle velocity of 5mm per
second for nine out of any 10 consecutive blasts initiated, regardless of the interval
between blasts; and
(b) the ground-borne vibration must not exceed a peak particle velocity of 10mm
per second for any blast.
 Measurement
Times of blasting
Blasting should generally only be permitted during the hours of 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, and
from 9am to 1pm on Saturdays. Blasting should not generally take place on Sundays or public
holidays.
Blasting outside these recommended times should be approved only where:
(a) blasting during the preferred times is clearly impracticable (in such situations blasts should
be limited in number and stricter airblast overpressure and ground vibration limits should
apply); or
(b) there is no likelihood of persons in a noise-sensitive place being affected because of the
remote location of the blast site.

Outdoor measurement of airblast overpressure

Measurement of airblast overpressure should be taken at an appropriate location that is exposed to
the direction of blasting and at least 4m from any noise-affected building or structure or within the
boundary of a noise sensitive place, at a position between 1.2m and 1.5m above the ground.
Outdoor measurement of ground vibration
The ground-borne vibration transducer (or array) must be attached to a mass of at least 30kg to
ensure good coupling with the ground where the blast site and the measurement site cannot be
shown to be on the same underlying strata. The mass shall be buried so that its uppermost surface is
at the same level as the ground surface.
The ground-borne vibration transducer (or array) must be placed at a distance of at least the longest
dimension of the foundations of a noise-affected building or structure away from such building or
structure and be positioned between that building or structure and the blasting site.
Airblast overpressure and ground vibration monitoring
For the purposes of checking compliance with the airblast overpressure conditions and ground
vibration conditions and for investigating complaints of noise and vibration annoyance, monitoring
must be undertaken and at least the following descriptors, characteristics and conditions
determined:
(1) maximum instantaneous charge (MIC) in kg;
(2) location of the blast within the quarry (including which bench level);
(3) airblast overpressure level, dB (linear) peak;
(4) peak particle velocity (mms-1);
(5) location, date and time of recording;
(6) meteorological conditions (including temperature, relative humidity, temperature gradient,
cloud cover, wind speed and direction); and
(7) distance/s from the blast site to noise-affected building/s, structure/s or the boundary of
any noise-sensitive place.

Where access to a noise-affected property for monitoring purposes is not feasible, the measurement
may be undertaken at the appropriate property boundary and the results extrapolated to reflect the
impact at the receptor premises.
Noise from blasting shall be measured using noise measurement equipment with a lower limiting
frequency of 2Hz (- 3dB response point of the measurement system) and a detector onset time of
not greater than 100 microseconds as assessed in accordance with AS –1259.1 clauses 8.5 and 10.4.
Vibration instrumentation must be capable of measurement over the range 0.1mms-1 to 300mms-1
with an accuracy within 5 percent and have a frequency response flat to within 5 percent over the
frequency range of 4.5Hz to 250Hz.
Noise Level Meter