| Part Mine Plan | |||
| - | left click on the image to see a larger version in a new window | ||
 |
. ESTIMATION OF WORTH OF INVENTION .
From around since when I lodged the initial Provisional Patent Application (16th October, 1991) I had known that this invention was worth a lot of money. After a few years of the invention's non-acceptance by the underground mining and tunnelling industries I undertook a calculation of the worth of the invention. This calculation applies to underground (u/g) coal mines and a number of reasonable assumptions and approximations have been made to expand the result to be applicable to all underground mines and tunnels.In order to accomplish this calculation an annual production figure (in tonnes) was estimated and the volume of coal, necessary to be mined to produce this tonnage, was used to calculate the total driveage of underground roadway necessary to develop this block of coal.
- viable coal mines need to produce 2 million tonnes per annum
- the specific gravity of coal is 1.35 (1.35 tonnes/cubic metre)
- the average height of the coal seam is 2.75 metres
- a longwall block is 1.5 kilometres long and 200 metres wide
The length of longwall block needed to be extracted is therefore:= 2,000,000/1.35 x 2.75 x 200
= 2,700 metres* nearly 2 longwall blocks
need to be mined-out per year!
A longwall development panel is usually a twin heading development with both headings having piped services.The development at the extremity of the longwall block (usually at the boundary of the lease) is also twin heading with only one heading having piped services.
The main mine development headings (see mine plans following) would be at least five headings (two travelling roads, one belt conveyor roadway and two returns - three of these would have piped services).
N.B. A support device is used every half-pipe length (= 3 metres).
The number of support devices necessary is therefore:= 2 x 3,500**/ 3 + 1 x 235***/ 3 + 2 x 235***/ 3)
= 2,568 support devices per annum per mine.
With each support device costing about $100 for pipeline support this figure comes to about $256,800 for a simple services support device per annum per mine. Other services such as aerial conveyors are becoming more common in underground mines because of the ease with which a low-height diesel-powered machine can clean underneath and with wastage, non-programmed and excessive use it would not be difficult to imagine that this cost could double to $½ million per annum.
Several years ago there were 142 underground mines+ of size in Australia and with about half these underground mines converting to this FACE EMPLACED Services Support system the turnover in Australian alone should be about $35 million per annum .
The United States of America has about ten times the amount of mining carried out in their country. Presuming the ratio of underground mining to open-cut mining is the same as for Australia, the turnover for the US alone should be somewhere in the vicinity of a large fraction of a billion dollars. Patents were applied for in South Africa which has a large underground mining industry, France, Germany, Poland, Brazil and England also. I would not think it unreasonable that these patents could have controlled a couple to several billion dollars worth of turnover per annum!
(the preceding estimation was undertaken in early 1995 as I recollect)
I MADE A MISTAKE(S) IN THE PRECEDING ESTIMATION OF THE WORTH OF THE INVENTION.
I NOW BELIEVE THAT THE FACE EMPLACED SERVICES SUPPORT INVENTION IS WORTH BETWEEN. $2 BILLION TO $3 BILLION PER ANNUM PROFIT* .
WHICH EQUATES TO BETWEEN FOUR AND FIVE BILLION DOLLARS (Australian currency and before tax*) TURNOVER IN PRODUCT CONTROLLED BY THESE PATENTS PER YEAR.
I had revised my estimate after a meeting with the BHP Lifting & Industrial Products General Manager - Robert EDWARDS and his second, Dr. Peter GRAY. This meeting clashed with another appointment made by my Union with the District's Solicitor and I re-scheduled the latter later as it was important because it concerned a workplace fatality. Both meetings took place on a Friday and I received notification that my offer of $1 million for the first year of exclusive licensing, $2 million for the second year of exclusive licensing and $3 million for the third year of exclusive licensing of the invention for Australia alone was rejected by BHP Lifting & Industrial Products on the following Monday. This following Monday is commonly called April Fool's Day! This is not the only time BHP have done something like this - they have scheduled the 2001 BHP Annual General Meeting for the 16th of October. This day is also the day I lodged the first Provisional Patent Application (as can be determined by using the hyperlink and viewing the lower portion of the page displayed and checking the date the Provisional Patent Application coded PK 8923 was lodged) with IP Australia (the Federal Government's intellectual property organization).
.
THE POOR SICK PUPPIES !! .
* ** *** *** + as I am not an expert on all forms (hard rock) of mining I can not be sure that the requirement for support devices will translate to these other forms and therefore the figures may be inaccurate to a degree
FINESSING (see Part Mine Plan following)
Part Mine Plan - left click on the image to see a larger version in a new window
West Cliff Colliery workings in the Bulli seam
- left click on the image to see a larger version in a new window
. www.CBDset.com .
