The emotional geography of a mine closure: a study of the Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Western Australia

This paper engages with the literature on emotional geographies to report on a case study of the emotions surrounding the closure of a nickel mine in the shire of Ravensthorpe in the south-west of Western Australia in January 2009. Two themes from the affect-infused narratives of pre- and post-mine community members are outlined. The first, which challenges constructions of the closure as a purely industrial and economic concern, focuses on the intense feelings the shut-down invoked amongst participants. The second theme explores the way in which the owner of the mine, BHP Billiton, worked to suppress and regulate affective reactions to the closure and thus reveals the highly political nature of emotions.

Control of aircraft for inspection of linear infrastructure

Inspection aircraft equipped with cameras and other sensors are routinely used for asset location, inspection, monitoring and hazard identification of oil-gas pipelines, roads, bridges and power transmission grids. This paper is concerned with automated flight of fixed-wing inspection aircraft to track approximately linear infrastructure. We propose a guidance law approach that seeks to maintain aircraft trajectories with desirable position and orientation properties relative to the infrastructure under inspection. Furthermore, this paper also proposes the use of an adaptive maneuver selection approach, in which maneuver primitives are adaptively selected to improve the aircraft’s attitude behaviour. We employ an integrated design methodology particularly suited for an automated inspection aircraft. Simulation studies using full nonlinear semi-coupled six degree-of-freedom equations of motion are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed guidance and adaptive maneuver selection approaches in realistic flight conditions. Experimental flight test results are given to demonstrate the performance of the design.

Design and development of automatic visual inspection system for PCB manufacturing

Inspection of solder joints has been a critical process in the electronic manufacturing industry to reduce manufacturing cost, improve yield, and ensure product quality and reliability. This paper proposes two inspection modules for an automatic solder joint classification system. The “front-end” inspection system includes illumination normalisation, localisation and segmentation. The “back-end” inspection involves the classification of solder joints using the Log Gabor filter and classifier fusion. Five different levels of solder quality with respect to the amount of solder paste have been defined. The Log Gabor filter has been demonstrated to achieve high recognition rates and is resistant to misalignment. This proposed system does not need any special illumination system, and the images are acquired by an ordinary digital camera. This system could contribute to the development of automated non-contact, non-destructive and low cost solder joint quality inspection systems.

Heat strain, hydration status, and symptoms of heat illness in surface mine workers

The aim of the research program was to evaluate the heat strain, hydration status, and heat illness symptoms experienced by surface mine workers. An initial investigation involved 91 surface miners completing a heat stress questionnaire; assessing the work environment, hydration practices, and heat illness symptom experience. The key findings included 1) more than 80 % of workers experienced at least one symptom of heat illness over a 12 month period; and 2) the risk of moderate symptoms of heat illness increased with the severity of dehydration. These findings highlight a health and safety concern for surface miners, as experiencing symptoms of heat illness is an indication that the physiological systems of the body may be struggling to meet the demands of thermoregulation. To illuminate these findings a field investigation to monitor the heat strain and hydration status of surface miners was proposed. Two preliminary studies were conducted to ensure accurate and reliable data collection techniques. Firstly, a study was undertaken to determine a calibration procedure to ensure the accuracy of core body temperature measurement via an ingestible sensor. A water bath was heated to several temperatures between 23 . 51 ¢ªC, allowing for comparison of the temperature recorded by the sensors and a traceable thermometer. A positive systematic bias was observed and indicated a need for calibration. It was concluded that a linear regression should be developed for each sensor prior to ingestion, allowing for a correction to be applied to the raw data. Secondly, hydration status was to be assessed through urine specific gravity measurement. It was foreseeable that practical limitations on mine sites would delay the time between urine collection and analysis. A study was undertaken to assess the reliability of urine analysis over time. Measurement of urine specific gravity was found to be reliable up to 24 hours post urine collection and was suitable to be used in the field study. Twenty-nine surface miners (14 drillers [winter] and 15 blast crew [summer]) were monitored during a normal work shift. Core body temperature was recorded continuously. Average mean core body temperature was 37.5 and 37.4 ¢ªC for blast crew and drillers, with average maximum body temperatures of 38.0 and 37.9 ¢ªC respectively. The highest body temperature recorded was 38.4 ¢ªC. Urine samples were collected at each void for specific gravity measurement. The average mean urine specific gravity was 1.024 and 1.021 for blast crew and drillers respectively. The Heat Illness Symptoms Index was used to evaluate the experience of heat illness symptoms on shift. Over 70 % of drillers and over 80 % of blast crew reported at least one symptom. It was concluded that 1) heat strain remained within the recommended limits for acclimatised workers; and 2) the majority of workers were dehydrated before commencing their shift, and tend to remain dehydrated for the duration. Dehydration was identified as the primary issue for surface miners working in the heat. Therefore continued study focused on investigating a novel approach to monitoring hydration status. The final aim of this research program was to investigate the influence dehydration has on intraocular pressure (IOP); and subsequently, whether IOP could provide a novel indicator of hydration status. Seven males completed 90 minutes of walking in both a cool and hot climate with fluid restriction. Hydration variables and intraocular pressure were measured at baseline and at 30 minute intervals. Participants became dehydrated during the trial in the heat but maintained hydration status in the cool. Intraocular pressure progressively declined in the trial in the heat but remained relatively stable when hydration was maintained. A significant relationship was observed between intraocular pressure and both body mass loss and plasma osmolality. This evidence suggests that intraocular pressure is influenced by changes in hydration status. Further research is required to determine if intraocular pressure could be utilised as an indirect indicator of hydration status.

Guidance of aircraft in periodic inspection tasks

This paper presents a guidance approach for aircraft in periodic inspection tasks. The periodic inspection task involves flying to a series of desired fixed points of inspection with specified attitude requirements so that requirements for downward looking sensors, such as cameras, are achieved. We present a solution using a precision guidance law and a bank turn dynamics model. High fidelity simulation studies illustrate the effectiveness of this approach under both ideal (nil-wind) and non-ideal (wind) conditions.

Compensation of unmodeled aircraft dynamics in airborne inspection of linear infrastructure assets

Fixed-wing aircraft equipped with downward pointing cameras and/or LiDAR can be used for inspecting approximately piecewise linear assets such as oil-gas pipelines, roads and power-lines. Automatic control of such aircraft is important from a productivity and safety point of view (long periods of precision manual flight at low-altitude is not considered reasonable from a safety perspective). This paper investigates the effect of any unwanted coupling between guidance and autopilot loops (typically caused by unmodeled delays in the aircraft’s response), and the specific impact of any unwanted dynamics on the performance of aircraft undertaking inspection of piecewise linear corridor assets (such as powerlines). Simulation studies and experimental flight tests are used to demonstrate the benefits of a simple compensator in mitigating the unwanted lateral oscillatory behaviour (or coupling) that is caused by unmodeled time constants in the aircraft dynamics.

Importance of soil ecology in vegetation rehabilitation on a North Stradbroke Island sand mine

Sibelco Australia Limited (SAL), a mineral sand mining operation on North Stradbroke Island, undertakes progressive rehabilitation of mined areas. Initial investigations have found that some areas at SAL’s Yarraman Mine have failed to redevelop towards approved criteria. This study, undertaken in 2010, examined ground cover rehabilitation of different aged plots at the Yarraman Mine to determine if there was a relationship between key soil and vegetation attributes. Vegetation and soil data were collected from five plots rehabilitated in 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010, and one unmined plot. Cluster (PATN) analysis revealed that vegetation species composition, species richness and ground cover differed between plots. Principal component analysis (PCA) extracted ten soil attributes that were then correlated with vegetation data. The attributes extracted by PCA, in order of most common variance, were: water content, pH, terrolas depth, elevation, slope angle, leaf litter depth, total organic carbon, and counts of macrofauna, fungi and bacteria. All extracted attributes differed between plots, and all except bacteria correlated with at least one vegetation attribute. Water content and pH correlated most strongly with vegetation cover suggesting an increase in soil moisture and a reduction in pH are required in order to improve vegetation rehabilitation at Yarraman Mine. Further study is recommended to confirm these results using controlled experiments and to test potential solutions, such as organic amendments.

‘Show Me Your Wiki and I’ll Show you Mine’: Using Online Interactive Media to Improve Academic Writing and Research in a Public Health Under-Graduate Cohort

The number of Internet users in Australia has been steadily increasing, with over 10.9 million people currently subscribed to an internet provider (ABS, 2011). Over the past year, the most avid users of the Internet were 15 – 24 year olds, with approximately 95% accessing the internet on a regular basis (ABS, Social Trends, 2011). While the internet has been described as fundamental to higher education students, social and leisure internet tools are also increasingly being used by these students to generate and maintain their social and professional networks and interactions (Duffy & Bruns 2006). Rapid technological advancements have enabled greater and faster access to information for learning and education (Hemmi et al, 2009; Glassman and Kang, 2011). As such, we sought to integrate interactive, online social media into the assessment profile of a Public Health undergraduate cohort at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). The aim of this exercise was to engage students to both develop and showcase their research on a range of complex, contemporary health issues within the online forum of Wikispaces (http://www.wikispaces.com/) for review and critique by their peers. We applied Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (SLT) to analyse the interactive processes from which students developed deeper and more sustained learning, and via which their overall academic writing standards were raised. This paper outlines the assessment task, and the students’ feedback on their learning outcomes in relation to the Attentional, Retentional, Motor Reproduction, and Motivational Processes outlined by Bandura in SLT. We conceptualise the findings in a theoretical model, and discuss the implications for this approach within the broader tertiary environment.

Mining work, family and community : a spatially-oriented approach to the impact of the Ravensthorpe nickel mine closure in remote Australia

While changes in work and employment practices in the mining sector have been profound, the literature addressing mining work is somewhat partial as it focuses primarily on the workplace as the key (or only) site of analysis, leaving the relationship between mining work and families and communities under-theorized. This article adopts a spatially oriented, case-study approach to the sudden closure of the Ravensthorpe nickel mine in the south-west of Western Australia to explore the interplay between the new scales and mobilities of labour and capital and work–family–community connections in mining. In the context of the dramatically reconfigured industrial arena of mining work, the study contributes to a theoretical engagement between employment relations and the spatial dimensions of family and community in resource-affected communities.

Symptoms of heat illness in surface mine workers

Objective: To assess the symptoms of heat illness experienced by surface mine workers. Methods: Ninety-one surface mine workers across three mine sites in northern Australia completed a heat stress questionnaire evaluating their symptoms for heat illness. A cohort of 56 underground mine workers also participated for comparative purposes. Participants were allocated into asymptomatic, minor or moderate heat illness categories depending on the number of symptoms they reported. Participants also reported the frequency of symptom experience, as well as their hydration status (average urine colour). Results: Heat illness symptoms were experienced by 87 and 79 % of surface and underground mine workers, respectively (p = 0.189), with 81–82 % of the symptoms reported being experienced by miners on more than one occasion. The majority (56 %) of surface workers were classified as experiencing minor heat illness symptoms, with a further 31 % classed as moderate; 13 % were asymptomatic. A similar distribution of heat illness classification was observed among underground miners (p = 0.420). Only 29 % of surface miners were considered well hydrated, with 61 % minimally dehydrated and 10 % significantly dehydrated, proportions that were similar among underground miners (p = 0.186). Heat illness category was significantly related to hydration status (p = 0.039) among surface mine workers, but only a trend was observed when data from surface and underground miners was pooled (p = 0.073). Compared to asymptomatic surface mine workers, the relative risk of experiencing minor and moderate symptoms of heat illness was 1.5 and 1.6, respectively, when minimally dehydrated. Conclusions: These findings show that surface mine workers routinely experience symptoms of heat illness and highlight that control measures are required to prevent symptoms progressing to medical cases of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

Ten truths about Australia's rush to mine and the mining workforce

The sky is falling because the much-vaunted mining ‘boom’ is heading for ‘bust’. The fear-mongering by politicians, the industry and the media has begun in earnest. On ABC TV's 7:30 program on 22 August 2012, Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott blamed the Minerals Resource Rent Tax and the Carbon Tax for making ‘a bad investment environment much, much worse’ for the mining industry. The following day, Australia's Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson told us on ABC radio that ‘the resources boom is over’. This must be true because, remember, we were warned to ‘Get ready for the end of the boom’ (David Uren, Economics Editor for The Australian 19 May 2012) due to the ‘Australian resource boom losing steam’ (David Winning & Robb M. Stewart, Wall Street Journal 21 August 2012). Besides, there is ‘unarguable evidence’ that Australia's production costs are ‘too expensive’ and ‘too uncompetitive’: mining magnate Gina Rinehart said so in a YouTube video placed on the Sydney Mining Club's website on 5 September 2012. Can this really be so? What is happening to the mining boom and to the people who depend upon it?

Maintenance optimisation of a multi-state series-parallel system considering economic dependence and state-dependent inspection intervals

This paper presents a maintenance optimisation method for a multi-state series-parallel system considering economic dependence and state-dependent inspection intervals. The objective function considered in the paper is the average revenue per unit time calculated based on the semi-regenerative theory and the universal generating function (UGF). A new algorithm using the stochastic ordering is also developed in this paper to reduce the search space of maintenance strategies and to enhance the efficiency of optimisation algorithms. A numerical simulation is presented in the study to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed maintenance strategy and optimisation algorithms. The simulation result reveals that maintenance strategies with opportunistic maintenance and state-dependent inspection intervals are more cost-effective when the influence of economic dependence and inspection cost is significant. The study further demonstrates that the optimisation algorithm proposed in this paper has higher computational efficiency than the commonly employed heuristic algorithms.

Mental health and well-being in resident mine workers : out of the fly-in fly-out box

Objective: To explore psychosocial issues perceived to impact the mental health and well-being of resident (non-fly-in fly-out) mine workers at a local mine in regional Queensland. Design: A descriptive qualitative study using semistructured interviews. Setting: The research was conducted on-site at an opencut coal mine in regional Queensland. Participants: Ten miners (nine men) currently employed in workshop, production or supervisory roles. Main outcome measures: Self-reported issues affecting psychological well-being. Results: Participants’ occupation and the surrounding context appeared to have both positive and negative influences on their well-being. Overall findings could be grouped into four key themes: (i) the importance of relationships; (ii) the impact of lifestyle; (iii) work characteristics; and (iv) mental health attitudes. While not without strains on mental health, in general, participants reported that their current situation was superior to their previous mining jobs. This was attributed to close relationships among locally recruited workers, respect for management practices and rosters that allowed adequate sleep recovery and family time between shifts. Conclusions: This study is the first to examine mental health and well being in non-fly-in fly-out mining populations. It suggests that while some issues appear inherent in the mining occupation, personal and organisational support can help workers have a more positive workplace experience. Further work looking at more extensive comparisons over various mining contexts will greatly assist in the development of programs and support structures for rural and regional mine workers.