The School of Mining Engineering has a wide range of laboratory facilities which form an integral component of the undergraduate course in Mining Engineering as well as providing facilities for post graduate and staff research. The facilities can be classified under the following six categories:
Rock Mechanics
500 kN Schenck/Instron servo-controlled testing machine
360 Tonne Avery compressive strength testing rig
50 Tonne Avery Universal testing machine
Point Load Strength rig
Rock bolt anchorage testing rig
Triaxial creep testing rig
Shear boxes, rock and soil compression testing equipment
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Machine Cutting of Rock - Rock Excavation
Triaxial dynamometer rock cutting rigs - rock cuttability (core or block samples), force & specific energy of rock cutting with standard and different tool designs, Shore Scleroscope, NCB Cone Indentor, Schmidt Hammer
Rock abrasivity testing apparatus - CERCHAR abrasivity, rock core abrasivity
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Geotechnical Sample Preparation
Diamond cutoff saws
Diamond coring machines
Surface grinding machines
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Mine Ventilation and Safety
Ventilation educator/simulator
Gas modelling facility
Model ventilation networks for centrifugal and axial fans
Wind blast laboratory model
Frictional ignition test rig
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Computing
Range of networked PCs with various applications software packages including stress analysis, mine planning, simulation, scheduling.
Individual PCs linked to experimental equipment described above.
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Virtual Reality
Fully equipped 3D virtual reality and simulation laboratory for development of training and mining system simulation capabilities – interfaced with equipment control hardware.
Mineral Processing
Various comminution facilities (jaw, cone and gyratory crushers, rod and ball mills and grinder)
Rotary and riffle sampler
Float-sink bench and combustion furnaces for coal washability determination.
Sieves with shakers, cyclosizer, 100mm cyclone in closed circuit loop
Spirals, batch jig, electrical separators, magnetic separators
Bench and pilot scale mechanical and column cells.
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