Roger Thompson

Professor of Mining Engineering
MEA Node: Western Australian School of Mines (Curtin University).

Email: r.thompson@mea.edu.au
Phone: 08 9088 6172

Teaching Responsibilities

Mining Geomechanics, Mining Research Project.
Roger Thompson is Professor of Mining Engineering with Curtin University’s Western Australian School of Mines.  Roger’s research is centred on surface mining transportation and the provision, rehabilitation or improved design and management of mine haul roads. He is the author of numerous publications in the field of mine haul road design and also runs masterclass training in mine road design, construction and management.  He is also a contributing author to the new 2011 SME Mining Engineering Handbook Chapter on Road Design.

Research Interests

Roger has undertaken numerous contact research and consulting assignments, centred on surface mining transportation and design and management of mine haul roads for many of the worlds leading surface mining operations.  Specific research interests cover;

  • Structural design of new mine haul roads or up-grading and re-design for larger vehicles;
  • Functional design, selection or modification of mine haul road wearing course material;
  • Haul road performance surveys and rehabilitation/repair strategies;
  • Benchmarking haul road performance, operation and management strategies;
  • Real-time haul road maintenance management systems;
  • Evaluation of stabilizers, dust palliatives, product selection and management strategies;
  • Road maintenance management scheduling solutions for optimal performance and safety.

Professional Affiliations

  • Member of Engineers Australia (MIEAust)
  • Registered Professional Engineer (ECSA)
  • Societät der Bergbaukunde – Society of Mining Professors

Professional Experience

Roger graduated from Camborne School of Mines in 1984 and 1990 with the degrees Bsc(Hons) (Mining), MSc(Mining) and gained his PhD through the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Pretoria in 1996. Following a number of years in mining production to qualify as a Mine Manager, in 1991 he took up a post in Mining Engineering, at the University of Pretoria. In 2000, he was guest researcher at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health – Spokane Research Laboratory (USA) and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for further study in the United States with both NIOSH and Colorado School of Mines in 2001.  From 2003 he assumed the role of Professor of Mining Engineering at the University of Pretoria, and from 2008 at Curtin University’s Western Australian School of Mines.

Publications

Key research publications/resources:
Thompson, RJ.   Mining Roads: Mine Haul Road Deign, Construction and Maintenance Management . E-book.  http://ebooks.edocumentonline.com/miningroads_curtin_2011/
Thompson, RJ.  Design, Construction and Maintenance of Mine Haul Roads. In SME Mining Engineering Handbook, Ed. P Darling. Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Lyttelton, Co., USA. 2009
Thompson, RJ.   Ultra-heavy axle loads: Design and management strategies for mine pavements.  PAREC 2009 Symposium, Perth, Wa., Australia, Oct 2009.
Thompson, RJ.  Haul Road Design and Operational Benchmarking.  Edumine (a division of InfoMine Inc.) on-line course. Vancouver, BC., Canada. 2009.
Thompson, RJ and Visser, AT.  Selection, performance and economic evaluation of dust palliatives on mine haul roads.  Journal of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Vol 107, n7 July 2007, pp435-450.
Thompson RJ and Visser AT. Towards a mechanistic structural design for surface mine haul roads.  Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineers, vol 38, n2, Apr-Jun 1996, pp13-21
Hugo, D, Heyns, PS, Thompson, RJ and Visser, AT.  Haul road condition monitoring using vehicle response measurements.  Journal of Terramechanics, doi:10.1016/j.jterra.2008.07.  Elsevier Ltd.
Thompson, RJ and Visser, AT.  Mine haul road maintenance management using truck response models.  Trans(A) (Mining Technology) Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Materials (IMMM), vol115, n4, 2006, pp123-128.
Thompson, RJ and Visser, AT.  Selection and maintenance of mine haul road wearing course materials.  Trans(A) (Mining Technology) Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Materials (IMMM), vol115, n4, 2006, pp140-153
Thompson, RJ, Visser, AT, Miller R and Lowe T.  Development of a real-time mine road maintenance management system using haul truck and haul road vibration signature analysis.  Transportation Research Record (TRR) 1819 vol 1, Transportation Research Board, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., USA, 2003, pp 305-312.
Thompson, Miller R and Lowe T.  A GPS-based system for minimizing jolts to heavy equipment operators.  Society of Automotive Engineering, SAE 2004 Transactions, Journal of Commercial Vehicles, SAE 2004-01-2726, ISBN 0-7680-1641-X, pp850-855.
Thompson RJ., Visser AT and Marais, W.  Using Mine Truck On-Board Data As A Decision Making Tool For Mine Road Maintenance Management.  SAIMM 2008 International Conference on Surface Mining, Sandton, Gauteng, South Africa, 5-8 August 2008

 

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