It wasn’t too long ago when you used to be able to walk into a mine survey office, go over to a plan cabinet, and inspect the mine plans (drawings) which showed excavations of the mine and the parts of the ore body mined out. These plans and sections depicted some of the hazards and proximity of mine workings. Surveyors used to spend are large portion of their time preparing these, with many adding their personal touch of artistry to an ornate North arrow. Computer systems with the various mining software or CAD packages have now taken over from the hand drawing of plans. Go to a survey office today though, and too often you will not be able to see a mine plan of the excavations. Instead, it is more likely the data will be brought up on a screen display, and then be presented with a screen dump or plan depicting a specific area. However, this can only occur if you know where all the relevant data is stored on the computer system and be able to drive the software or, wait until a person such as the Mine Surveyor is available to do this for you. Having plans readily available is not only useful for planning purposes but is especially important for use in emergency situations. Deficiencies in mine plans have also been reported as factors in some mining disasters of the past. For example, Gretley Colliery in NSW in 1996. Even when there is legislation in place, still too often mine plans are not compiled. Is this from a conscious decision to ignore the requirements or a misinterpretation of them? A case in point is the West Australian legislation: The ‘Mines Safety and Inspection Regulations 1995’ stipulate the particulars required in mine plans and when they are to be submitted. However, many fail to read the Regulations in conjunction with the ‘Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994’ which states that accurate plans of the mine are to be kept up to date. It is worth noting that the onus of procuring and keeping mine plans falls on the manager of the mine. The cost of having in-house or an outsourced compilation of mine plans is not a huge add on to costs already incurred in survey staffing and equipment. So why is it that so many times I see a site that doesn’t have accurate and up to date mine plans? I encourage all Mining Inspectors, Managers and Surveyors to audit this fundamental safety item and act on the proper compilation of mine plans. For helpful reference links regarding this, please see http://www.handebook.com.au/publications/Act%20on%20Mine%20Plans.pdf 25 Aug. 2014