DUST DISPERSION MODELLING FOR TRANSPORTATION IN

OPENCAST IRON ORE MINES

OBJECTIVES: -

1. To measure PM10 and SPM concentrations along the haul road and around the belt
conveyor in iron ore mines
2. To identify the heavy metals and other elements in the PM10 samples
3. To model the dust concentration and predict the dust concentration around the new belt
conveyor area using AERMOD software
4. To compare the dust generated between trucks and belt conveyor

MATERIALS AND METHODS: -

Study area: -
Sandur Manganese & Iron Ore Ltd (SMIORE) is situated in Sandur tehsil of Bellary
district in Karnataka. SMIORE is presently producing 0.254 MTPA of Manganese ore and 1.6
MTPA of Iron ore. The mine lease (ML No 2678) spreads over an area of 1860.10 Ha under
latitude 14° 58´ 38.11ʺ N to 15° 5´ 43.77ʺ N and longitude 76° 28´ 8.41ʺ E to 76° 39´ 13.93ʺ E.
The lease area comprises forest land of 1612.72 Ha and revenue land of 247.38 Ha and falls in
Swamymalai & Ramanamalai forest blocks at Deogiri, Kammathuru, Subbarayanahalli &
Ramgad villages. The lease of SMIORE is grouped accordingly into 4 groups namely
Kammathuru, Deogiri, Subbarayanahalli and Ramgad group with Kammathuru group producing
only iron and the other three groups produces both iron and manganese.
The present study is going to be carried out in Kammathuru iron ore mines of SMIORE.
The major transportation is made through trucks till now and in the view of expansion of project
and increasing production of iron ore, a downhill conveyor system (DCS) is proposed b/w
Kammathuru iron ore mines and BMM siding for ecofriendly transportation. Another pipe–belt
conveyor system laid by the JSW runs near the BMM siding to the JSW steel plant. The dust
concentrations at the transfer points and along the belt conveyor is going to be measured and
used in the present modelling study.
The mines is located at an altitude of 990m above mean sea level. The maximum
temperature recorded is 42.2° C and minimum temperature is 11.1° C. The relative humidity at
the place is 23 -76% and the area experiences annual rainfall of 561 mm. Three rivers flow near
the mines namely Doddahalla – 1.8 km, Narihalla – 2.7 km, Dhanayakana Kere – 8.8 km.

Meteorological data collection: -

The meteorological parameters will be collected using Envirotech WM 271 model
weather monitoring device. The instrument is going to be setup at Kammathuru village near the
mines pit.

Dust measurement: -
The ambient air quality & fugitive monitoring will be conducted for PM 10 & SPM at
different monitoring stations along the haul road. Monitoring will be done for three seasons in
the months of September for monsoon season, in the month of December for winter season and
in the month of March for summer season. The dust concentrations will be measured for 24
hours and two days a week for the three seasons. The dust concentrations will be monitored by
gravimetric sampling technique using Envirotech APM 460NL & Envirotech APM 550
respirable dust samplers.

Particulate matter Characterization: -

The particulate matter characterization will be done using Atomic Absorption
Spectrophotometry. This method gives the presence of heavy metals present in the filter paper
collected. The first step in characterization is to extract the particulate from the filter paper by
acid digestion. The clear extract from acid digestion will be taken for analysis in Atomic
Absorption Spectrophotometer.

Dispersion modelling: -
The emission inventories from the nearby belt conveyor are considered and their
emission values are collected. The dust concentration & dust cloud along the newly proposed
downhill belt conveyor will be predicted using AERMOD software by feeding the
meteorological data and emission concentrations into the software.