1910 8. ADVANTAGES OF MECHANISED APPLICATION OF GROUND SUPPORT Application of ground support (mechanised, remote, or autonomous rock bolting, mesh installation, and shotcrete spraying) offers an increase in underground safety, geotechnical performance, and reliability. The main advantages of application are: § eliminate personnel exposure in high‑risk areas § enable earlier and time‑critical installation of support § ensure consistent and repeatable installation quality § improve compliance with geotechnical design § enable the safe use of cutting‑edge dynamic support systems § reduce human and organisational risk § enhance productivity without compromising safety § provide full traceability and data generation § form the basis for people‑light and autonomous mining Ground support is not an incremental enhancement; it is a critical safety control and a major improvement in ground control, enabling modern high-performance mining. Table 9 compares aspects in the application of mechanised in front former manual support. Table 9 - Comparison between manual and mechanised support Aspect Manual Mechanised Worker exposure High Very low Unsupported time Variable Minimal Installation quality Operator-dependent Repeatable Advanced support Limited Fully feasible Human-factor risk High Low Traceability Poor Excellent Safety–productivity conflict High Low Mechanised ground support application is fundamentally different from previous types of applications in that it now addresses the very things that caused geotechnical issues, fatality, and chronic instability by removing people from the highest-risk area after blasting. In addition to removing personnel, automation provide earlier, reliable, and verifiable installation, which allows actual performance to align with geotechnical designs rather than relying on the variable nature of manual installations. This approach increases compliance and reduces human error and organisational error as well as allowing cutting-edge systems to be deployed safely and practicably that could not have been installed manually. Because of these advantages, leading mining areas such as Australia and Canada as well as the most stressed and deepest mining operations at global level, consider innovative installation methods an essential safety control and a foundation for modern mining companies. Based on operational experience in deep hard-rock mines, the device provides the ground support installation using high-tensile strength steel mesh in underground mines via a mechanised method. It is mounted to a typical multi arms jumbo or bolter and automatically unrolls, positions, and tensions the mesh over the same cycle as the rockbolts are being installed (Figure 3).
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