Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996 (Act No. 29 of 1996) Regulations Mine Health and Safety Regulations Chapter 17 :  Surveying, Mapping and Mine Plans

 

 

In this Chapter, unless the context indicates otherwise—

 

"bedded mineral deposit"

means any reef, coal seam, lode, mineral bed or fissure, which occurs conformably within it’s country rock and is not of a massive nature;

 

"chart datum"

means the Lowest Astronomical Tide in all ports of the Republic of South Africa and Namibia as determined from time to time by the Hydrographer of the South African Navy;

 

"competent person"

for purposes of regulation 17(2)(a) means:

a person who has passed the examination for mining legislation as is required for the Mine Surveyor's Certificate of Competency issued by the Department and who is in possession of either:

a person who has passed the examination for mining legislation as required for the Mine Surveyor's Certificate of Competency issued by the Department and who is in the possession of either:—

 

"Director: Mine Surveying"

means the person appointed as such by the Department in terms of the Public Service Act of 1994;

 

"fixed position"

means any point other than a survey station which is fixed within the relevant accuracy requirements for the class of survey concerned, and which is used for the purpose of locating details to be shown on plans;

 

"fluid material"

means any substance, excluding gas, that has a potential to flow, including water, slimes and mud;

 

"hazardous service"

means any object, structure or installation rendering a service with a potential risk to health or safety;

 

"plan(s)"

means any plan, section or projection required to be prepared by these regulations;

 

"professional geotechnical specialist"

means a person who is registered with—

 

"reserve land"

means any piece of land over which a servitude is registered or reserved for possible registration of a servitude in respect of roads, railways, power lines, pipe lines, conveyor lines, canals, etc.;

 

"restricted area"

means any area where mining is restricted due to significant risk;

 

"risk assessment"

means the hazard identification and risk assessment required in terms of section 11 of the Act;

 

"safety pillar"

means every portion of a reef, mineral deposit or ground left in situ for the support and protection of the surface, objects thereon or underground workings;

 

"sea"

means the sea as defined in the National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act 2008 (Act 24 of 2008);

 

"survey point"

means any easily identifiable point located by localised surveying, other than a survey station;

 

"survey station"

means any point that has been surveyed within the prescribed standards of accuracy; and

 

"workings"

means any excavation made or being made for the purpose of searching for or winning minerals or for any purpose connected therewith.

 

 

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS AT SEA AND ON LAND

 

(2)        Appointment of competent persons

The competent person appointed at any mine by the employer under regulation 17(2)(a) may not in addition be appointed under regulation 17(2)(a) as a competent person at any other mine, except with the written permission of the Chief Inspector of Mines and subject to such terms and conditions as the Chief Inspector of Mines may determine.

The employer must take reasonable measures to ensure that no mine is worked without a competent person appointed under regulation 17(2)(a) for more than 60 days in any period of 6 consecutive months. The employer must in writing appoint a suitably qualified person to perform the functions of the competent person under this Chapter during such period of 60 days or portion thereof, as the case may be.

 

 

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

 

(3)

 

all units of measure conform to the metric system, except angular measurements which must conform to the sexagesimal system;

all mine surveys systems conform to the National Control Survey System as determined by the Chief Director: Surveys and Mapping as contemplated in the Land Survey Act, Act No 8 of 1997. The projection origin may be changed to reduce the numerical values of the co-ordinates. Survey systems established on a mine prior to 1 January 1999 may be retained provided that a tabulation of the co-ordinates of at least 3 (three) survey stations, in both the existing mine survey system and the National Control Survey System, are shown on every sheet comprising a plan;

elevations determined above and below ground on mines established after 12 November 2004, refer to mean sea level, based on the South African Land Levelling Datum as determined by the Chief Director: Surveys and Mapping as contemplated in the Land Survey Act, Act No 8 of 1997.

bathymetric elevations determined at sea refer to chart datum;

all plans conform to the conventional signs and colours provided by the Director: Mine Surveying;

(f)        Back up and storage of Data

if any plans required in terms of this Chapter are kept electronically, they are adequately backed up; and

 

 

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

 

(5)        Responsibilities regarding safety precautions

 

The employer must take reasonable measures to ensure that the competent person referred to in regulation 17(2)(a) is at all times aware of—

 

 

 

 

 

 

(11)        Boundary Pillars

 

The employer must take reasonable measures to ensure that on the inside of every mine boundary, continuous pillars are left standing (in situ) the width of which, measured horizontally and at right angles to the boundary line, must not be less than—

 

 

(13)        Check Survey

 

Should the Director: Mine Surveying be of the view that there may be errors in any surveyor plans constructed there from or where they do not conform to the standards of accuracy required by these regulations, he or she may cause a check survey to be carried out. The cost of such check survey must be borne by the employer if it is proved that there are errors in any survey or plans constructed there from, or that they do not conform to the standards of accuracy required by these regulations.

 

 

SURVEY PRACTICE ON LAND (SURFACE AND UNDERGROUND) AND AT SEA

 

(a)        Survey Stations

sufficient survey stations are established, so that all surface objects and all workings can be accurately surveyed. Each survey station must be clearly marked with a unique number and recorded in a register;

 

(b)        Standards of Accuracy: Surface and Underground

the minimum standard of accuracy and class of survey for the fixing of survey stations on both horizontal and vertical planes are in accordance with the following formula:

 

where S is the distance in metres between the known and the unknown survey station; provided that in the case of a traverse, after a check survey has been completed, the error in direction of a line between any two consecutive survey stations must not exceed 2 (two) minutes of arc, provided that the horizontal and vertical displacement between the measured position and final position of a survey station does not exceed 0,1 (zero comma one) metres;

errors in representation on plan do not exceed 0,1% (zero comma one per cent) of the denominator of the scale of the plan, in addition to the allowable survey error at the nearest survey station or fixed position. Where accurate surveying is not possible due to significant risks, the estimated position of affected workings or objects must be indicated on the plan by broken lines and with reasons why accurate measurements could not be made;

all fixed positions determined at sea for the purpose of locating detail to be shown on plans, comply with the standards as set out in column 1b of Table 1 in the Minimum Standards of the International Hydrography Organisation (IHO) Standards , 5th Edition, dated February 2008;

the following detail is depicted on all plans where applicable—

all plans are drawn on durable transparent draughting material on sheets of a size not greater than AO as defined by the International Organisation for Standardisation. The Director: Mine Surveying may request in the case of plans produced by means of computer aided draughting (CAD), that such plans be produced on suitable draughting material;

all plans are drawn to a scale of 1:1 500 in the case of a coal mine, and 1:1000 in the case of any other mine, unless specifically provided otherwise in these regulations;

in the case of mining at sea, the general plan referred to in regulation 17(25) is drawn to a legible scale;

plans are at all times correct to within 12 (twelve) months, except for the plans showing the workings which must at all times be correct to within 3 (three) months. In the case of offshore prospecting and mining, plans must at all times be correct to within 6 (six) months;

an inventory of all plans and all copies called for in terms of regulation 17(26) is kept, showing the following details—

when a plan or sheet is superseded by another plan or sheet, the old and the new plan are referenced accordingly.

 

 

RESPONSIBILITY FOR MINE PLANS

 

 

 

PLANS TO BE KEPT

 

(16)        Index Key Plan

 

A legible index key plan, showing the areas covered by the relevant plan sheets, the mine boundaries and the farm names and boundaries within and adjacent to the mine, or this detail may be shown on every plan sheet as an inset key plan drawn to a legible scale.

 

 

(17)        Surface Plan

 

A plan of the surface showing the boundaries of the mining area, names of adjacent mining areas, the primary surface survey stations, outcrops and dips of the mineral deposits, perimeters of all surface mining, shafts, openings, rescue boreholes, subsidence or cavities, areas of restricted mining affecting the surface, any hazardous services whether on surface or buried and every surface object, structure or reserve land which requires protection against mining.

 

(18)        Surface Contour Plan

 

A surface contour plan showing relevant mine and farm boundaries, original surface contours, boreholes and watercourses.

 

(19)        Mine Ventilation and Rescue Plan

 

At every underground mine, a ventilation and rescue plan of the workings, taking into consideration the requirements of regulation 17(22), drawn to a legible scale and depicting the ventilation districts, the direction of air currents, the quantity of air circulating in such ventilation district, the position of each permanent fan, door, regulator, crossing, stopping, telephone, refuge bay, rope-aided or normal escape route, safe place, first aid room, main water valve, fire fighting equipment site, emergency power source and any area sealed off for fire or spontaneous combustion.

 

(20)        Mine Residue Deposit Plans

 

Plans (including sections) showing mine residue deposits containing fluid material.

 

(21)        Geological Plan

 

A plan, drawn to a legible scale, depicting geological features that could affect mining, or these features may be shown on the plan(s) referred to in regulation 17(22).

 

(22)        Plans of the Workings

 

Plans of the workings showing the following: boundaries of the mining area; names of adjacent mining areas; outlines and dips of the workings, date of measurement on the excavated side of the outline of the workings, heights representative of workings, survey stations; relevant survey points; areas in which mining has been restricted or prohibited; dams; explosives magazines; lines indicating the planes of sections; faults; dykes and any containment wall or any explosion proof seal, showing the designed static pressure in Kilo Pascal (kPa) of such walls and seals.

 

 

Level plans must show the outline of all workings at suitably chosen elevations. In the case of underground mines, the detail required in regulation 17(22) must be shown.

 

 

A general plan showing the detail required in regulations 17(17), 17(18) and 17(22)(a) on one plan instead of on three separate plans, or a general surface plan showing the detail required in regulations 17(17) and 17(18) on one plan instead of two separate plans, may be constructed.

 

 

A general plan showing the boundaries of the mining area, the names of adjacent mining areas, bathymetric contours, dates of mining and the locality of semi permanent production rigs and platforms.

 

 

(26)        Departmental copies of plans

 

The employer must provide the Principal Inspector of Mines annually with updated copies of the plans. In the case of computer aided draughting (CAD), legible plans in book form (approximately A3 size) or a copy of the index key plan referred to in regulation 17(16), indicating additionally the outlines of the workings as well as the surface infrastructure, and a copy of the back-up referred to in regulation 17(4)(f) must be provided.

 

(27)        Unsatisfactory Plans

 

Where in the opinion of the Director: Mine Surveying plans are deficient, he or she may have the mine surveyed and new plans prepared at the expense of the employer.

 

(28)        Plans Confidential

 

The Principal Inspector of Mines and the Director: Mine Surveying must keep information contained in any plan confidential and may only release such information in accordance with the Promotion of Access to Information Act (Act 2 of 2000).

 

 

MINE CLOSURE

 

(29)        Plans brought Up to Date

 

The employer must take reasonable measures to ensure that, before a mine is abandoned, closed or rendered inaccessible,—

 

(30)        Plans and Books to be handed in

 

The employer must take reasonable measures to ensure that updated hard copies of the plans, copies referred to in regulation 17(26) and inventories thereof on durable draughting material, together with the survey station register are handed in at the office of the Director: Mine Surveying, following the inspection and approval of the plans as contemplated in regulation 17(29).

 

(31)        Updating of Surface Plans

 

The employer must take reasonable measures to ensure, where rehabilitation is completed after cessation of mining, that the surface and rehabilitation plans contemplated in regulations 17(17) or (24) and (29)(b) are updated upon such completion.

 

(32)        Certificate of compliance

 

The Director: Mine Surveying must issue a certificate of compliance with the requirements of regulations 17(29) and 17(31) to the employer within 60 (sixty) calendar days of compliance in respect of the said regulations.

 

[Chapter 17 substituted by Notice No. R. 447 dated 27 May 2011]