Mining: Cutting energy costs

Even if all the materials we used today were recycled for further use, present consumption habits and population growth trends indicate that raw materials would still have to be mined to satisfy demand. A radical change in thinking and habits is necessary to eliminate the need for mining altogether. For financial reasons, and also reasons of habit shared with the rest of the community, the majority of engineers work at coming up with solutions within the conventional framework. In the context of mining, this means raising the efficiency of production, so that cuts and drills need not take place so extensively, and improving energy consumption in both the mining methods and the refining process.

One problem with power generation is that sites require large tracts of land. Mines also take up a great deal of land area (not to mention depth), and in the 1970s geologists and engineers came up with the idea of combining coal mine sites with the power generation facilities. The idea was to convert the coal into gas while still under the ground, eliminating the need for a separate conversion location. This was aimed at reducing the amount of land cleared for coal mining and power generation use, a double-use scheme, as it were. Conservationists were understandably concerned about the on-site pollution, and it seems clear from our perspective that this was only solving a tiny portion of a very great problem.

Still, aluminium refineries in South Western Australia boast of their new agreement with the local power company to locate their refinery close to power generation plants, and the two plants could feed off one another, so to speak. The process of refining aluminium is very energy-intensive, and being able to siphon off set amounts of gas-powered electricity from a neighbouring plant is supposed to cut down on transmission costs, and somehow benefit the environment. My queries directed at the refining company as to how this helps were not clearly answered, but it seems to me that people are missing the point.

If we must accept that mining is inevitable in today’s world, then we might focus on three main issues: pollution, energy consumption, and land rehabilitation. The previous article looked at ways pollution is being controlled. Next week’s article will examine land use after the closure of mines.

As for energy consumption, this can be lowered with improved mechanical processes. It is surprising how many mines in so-called advanced countries use twenty-year-old technology. Some are returning to railway transportation of mining products rather than trucks, to cut down on fuel consumption. Engineers have a long way to go in coming up with innovative, energy-saving mining ideas.

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