EMS

Brüel & Kjær

MAXIMIZING MINING
WITHIN NOISE LIMITS
THE TOMINGLEY GOLD MINE
Tomingley Gold Operations (TGO) needed to control their noise impact on the nearby
community of Tomingley. The mine has great focus on keeping a good relationship with their
neighbors and noise control is a prerequisite for obtaining and keeping their Project Approval
License. TGO is using Sentinel for 24/7 noise monitoring and management, in combination
with a remotely located, independent noise consultant.

CHALLENGE SOLUTION RESULTS

To grow while meeting
operating license conditions
and community expectations.
To keep costs to a minimum
and use existing staff to
operate, and remotely
consult with off-site
experts
A subscription noise
monitoring service that is
completely maintained and
operated by EMS, creating
trustworthy reports and a
healthy dialogue with the
local community
No delays in
construction or operation
phases due to noise
complaints. Noise complaints
are almost eliminated, with
neighbors preferring to
file reports instead

CASE STUDY MAXIMIZING MINING WITHIN NOISE LIMITS AT TOMINGLEY GOLD MINE 01
 “It is not cost
effective to get
someone down from
Sydney on a regular basis,
but we can do all that
electronically now that we are
using this system.”
Mark Williams
Environment & Community The operating license is granted This makes traveling on a regular
Manager at TGO on a yearly basis and requires basis time consuming and expensive.
attended noise monitoring, and If the weather is not optimal,
both monthly and annual summary measurements could be postponed
BACKGROUND noise reports. There are no noise to another day and the money to get
Tomingley Gold Mine is part of
experts in the environmental team the noise consultants on site spent in
the Alkane mining and exploration
and without a noise monitoring vain.
company. It is situated very close to
system, they would have to hire noise
the community of Tomingley in New
specialists every month to perform Complaint handling
South Wales, Eastern Australia and is
the measurements, validate the For Tomingley, the relationship to the
Alkane’s second mine in the area.
data and make the reports. There local community is crucial. Having a
are a number of challenges to using lot of knowledge about noise and its
The mine consists of three open
external noise experts in this context. effects without being an expert, Mark
mine pits, Wyoming one, Wyoming
is the one handling complaints from
three and Caloma and covers an
Night and day the community.
area of approximately 409.7 hectares
Mark Williams is the Environment
(4.097 km2 ). The site development
and Community Manager at TGO
started in 2012, and two years later
and one of his daily challenges is
the mining operations commenced.
managing the noise emission. The
It is estimated to generate AUD 25
mine operates throughout all hours
million in revenue per year over the
of the day, and during the night, when
next eight years.
residents are more sensitive and
restrictions are consequently tighter.
THE CHALLENGE Attended measurements over these
The continued multi-million dollar
periods can be very expensive.
operation of the mine depends on
keeping noise levels within limits
Expensive travel costs
and filing an annual noise report
Tomingley is like many mines,
for auditing. Success is necessary
located a considerable distance from
to keep the license and maintain
the nearest capital city where the
operations.
preferred noise consultant is located.

CASE STUDY MAXIMIZING MINING WITHIN NOISE LIMITS AT TOMINGLEY GOLD MINE 02
Not all measurement tasks need
a noise expert and when a noise
complaint is reported, Mark
would, in the past, do some of
the measurements himself.
He would go to the site “The system
of the complainant, do a allows us to replay the
measurement and record exceedance to establish
the noise level, be this whether it was highway
day or night. However, noise, animal noise or in fact
the challenge could be mining noise.”
getting there in time before Mark Williams, Environment &
the noise stopped. If the Community Manager to the on TGO’s website. The predefined
noise was no longer present, audio file reports are created automatically in
documenting it in a report would and determine Sentinel from the verified data. If any
be impossible. the cause of the incidents are linked to a complaint,
exceedance. Unlike many noise the consultant will report his
THE SOLUTION monitoring systems that cannot evaluation back to Mark.
To monitor noise from the mining differentiate between the different
project, TGO subscribed to the causes of noise, the audio replay Engaging and informing neighbors
Sentinel service from EMS Bruel capability in Sentinel allows Mark Mark always, in person, informs the
& Kjaer during the construction to replay the sounds to determine complainant of the result and the
phase of the project, to assess the whether it was in fact mining noise, or follow-up action, and TGO publishes a
environmental impact from the something outside his responsibility, newsletter on a regular basis, where
very beginning. A permanent noise such as a dog barking in the vicinity. they also give a status on all noise
monitoring terminal (NMT) was reduction initiatives.
installed at a nearby private property Off-site external consultant
that was assessed by an external TGO has hired an external noise Adaptive noise monitoring
consultant to be the most sensitive consultant, Noise and Sound As a result of looking into alerts and
noise receiver to the mine site. It Services, to review, validate, and close dialogue with neighbors, an
monitors and collects background report all noise exceedances. The additional two portable NMTs will
noise data 24/7 and stores it in the license requires this to be done on be deployed for an annual ten-week
cloud where it is always available to a yearly basis, but extending it to period in the next many years. They
Mark and his team, whether in the monthly is a management decision will be located at various selected key
office, in the field or at home. and adds extra credibility to the locations on surrounding premises
program. for two weeks at a time before being
After entering the production phase, moved to the next key locations. The
the monitor was relocated to a more For exceedances identified as being intention is to collect real-time noise
suitable location. caused by the mine, Mark will raise data, and test and validate the results
the flag to the consultant who will of the noise-reducing activities made
Handling noise events remotely log on to the system from by TGO.
If noise limits are exceeded, an alert his office in Sydney and handle the
is sent immediately to Mark. As he case from his desk. Fully outsourced
logs into the system, he locates the Since Sentinel is a subscription
alert and reviews the noise level. He The consultant will enter the data service, all routine service, calibration
uses the playback function to listen in the monthly report published and maintenance on the installed

CASE STUDY MAXIMIZING MINING WITHIN NOISE LIMITS AT TOMINGLEY GOLD MINE 03
 EMS
Brüel & Kjær
equipment is performed by the EMS
Bruel & Kjaer service team in close
cooperation with Mark. This frees
Mark to focus on other core tasks.
RESULTS
Without Sentinel, Mark and his
team would be routinely required
to measure noise levels, sometimes
in the middle of the night. Now, it is
simple to just log on to the system,
check the noise level at the proposed
time, replay the audio, determine
the cause and hand it over to the
consultant. Mark can even do all this
from his home.
The consultant is able to perform
his part of the task from his desk
far away in Sydney. After having
subscribed to Sentinel, Mark has
not had to do any manual noise
monitoring and the consultant has
not had to make any visits to the
mine, saving TGO a lot of time and
travel costs.
EMS Bruel & Kjaer
Melbourne · Level 12, 432 St Kilda Road · Melbourne · Victoria · Australia · Tel: +61 3 9508 4900 · emsbk.com · info@emsbk.com
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Denmark · Skodsborgvej 307 · DK-2850 · Nærum · Denmark · Tel: +45 7741 2000
CASE· 13FL-1,#128,
Taiwan STUDY MAXIMIZING
sec.3 · Min Shen E.MINING
Road · Taipei · Taiwan NOISE
Madrid · C/ Teide 5 · 28703 San Sebastián de los Reyes · Spain · Tel: +34 91 659 08 20
and less noisy bulldozers – and
fewer of them.
Two additional portable NMTs have
been added to monitor particular
noise hot spots.
Success in their noise monitoring
program means that the mine can
achieve more while keeping noise
impact within agreed limits.
CONCLUSION
“We couldn’t just By deploying Sentinel,
come and listen to TGO is showing
the noise as it’s a six hour visibility and
drive. Now we can listen to willingness to go
the noise levels remotely above and beyond
After a complaint and advise.” the requirements
investigation is Ken Schannell, Noise and of its operating
complete, Mark gives Sound Services license. Together with
personal feedback to
Mark’s focus on personal
the person who filed the
contact, it has resulted in
complaint – something that he
a very good mutual relationship
values highly.
between TGO and the residents of
Tomingley.
With Sentinel, Mark is able to
respond more quickly and effectively
With the system, TGO can respond
with detailed noise data backed up by
very accurately to noise incidents
the independent consultant. This has
or complaints. As a result, there
helped to develop a strong positive
are hardly any complaints; the
relationship with the community in
community reports events instead of
Tomingley.
filing complaints.
Daily contact and valuable
With Sentinel, TGO is safeguarding
discussions with residents where
their mine. It has proven to be
they can listen to audio files from the
cost efficient by saving time
system, has resulted in implementing
in consultancy, planning and
noise-reducing initiatives like; ‘walking’
management.
bulldozers from one work area to
another to minimize track and gear
Mark Williams is very pleased with the
noise, acquiring larger, more efficient
system, the usability and the results,
2017-01
and he feels that having this system
BN1432-12
makes his life a lot easier.
WITHIN
· Tel: +886LIMITS AT TOMINGLEY GOLD MINE
2 25462988 04
emsbk.com/sentinel