Mines, Quarrying and Haul Road Dust Control

Mining & Quarrying:

Within mining and quarrying, large amounts of dust can be created on-sites from the nature of work. Exposure to dust in the air, both inhalable and respirable can be harmful to workers. Dust can not only cause health issues but can have a role in reducing visibility within mining and quarrying sites and have effects on equipment when largely built up. Dust suppression in mines and quarries is a priority to ensure safety of workers.

Fine, dry dust can cause issues such as, irritation to throat, nose, and eyes, which can be unpleasant for workers and in more serious cases cause respiratory issues such as COPD and asthma. Within the workplace both respiratory (invisible) and inhalable (visible) dust can be created from materials such as, coal, silica dust and limestone dust exposure.

Within mines, coal dust is extremely toxic. When breathed in, coal dust can be harmful which is why coal dust suppression systems are essential to have in place. Coal dust can also be extremely explosive when in the air, and is the greatest cause of mining accidents, using systems for coal dust suppression can reduce the associated risks.

COSHH regulations state that if dust is present at a concentration in the air equal to or greater than 10mg/m3 (inhalable dust) or 4mg/m3 (respirable dust) it’s considered a health hazard. Which is why it’s important for the mining and quarrying industry to control dust to stay within Workplace Exposure Limits and improve the environment for workers.

Solutions:

Water based-dust-suppression is an effective way to keep dust grounded on sites and reduce environmental impacts and risks to workers health. The process of wetting, grounds dust and keeps it out of the air. Misting and fogging systems can be adapted to suit individual site needs and ensure dust is grounded on quarry and mining sites. Within quarrying, reducing water has a strong focus currently, options are available to reduce water, with systems such as a Rotary Atomiser PRO – which provides a strong throw, however, uses a fine atomised mist, reducing the amount of water usage. Other sustainable options are also available such as our Rotary Atomiser ecotech. Also using a finely atomised mist and having the benefit of reduced water, ecotech system runs solely from a battery, which means no harmful emissions, the system also does not need a generator, making it significantly quieter, also reducing noise pollution.

Haul roads can also be responsible for creating a large amount of dust, particularly when vehicles are regularly travelling through them, ultimately causing dust to cloud in the air. This can not only be an issue to human health but also be a contributor to poor air quality and have negative effects on the environment.

We offer solutions specifically for haul road dust control and a range of road dust suppression products. DST can be used as a road dust suppressant, used alongside water suppression with fogging/misting equipment. DST can be applied to roads and coats dust to keep it grounded. 

DST Road Light is a dust control solution for roads, specifically designed to control dust caused by vehicular traffic. By making water “sticky” the dust particles bind together making larger/heavier crusts that will resist truck tyres and remain hard without producing any dust for several weeks. The correct dosage is needed to ensure a high resistant and waterproof coating is formed. 

DST Road Pro is our stronger version of DST Road Light. It is more concentrated for heavier used roads, designed for multiple uses such as road constructions, mining operations, quarries, and tracks, ideal for haul road dust suppression.

We also have dust and air quality monitoring services offered by our consultancy, these allow for assessment to be undertaken to identify levels of air quality or levels of dust pollution to identify any issues and provide management plans if necessary. These are with respect to environmental planning, permitting and health and safety regulations. 

Services to support our systems

In addition to our range of equipment and chemical additives for fogging/misting, we also offer assessment services via Spectrum Environmental Services, our consultancy branch. Dust & odour impact assessments, Boundary monitoring and Occupational hygiene assessments are just a few off the services we can assist with.