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The Ore Reserve System implemented at Mount Isa for Mount Isa Mines Limited is a comprehensive' computer system designed to process assay, geological, structural and survey data for Isa and Hilton Mines. This paper outlines the achievements of this system to date and by example, discusses the various reports and plotted output available. __ The impact of the ore reserve system particularly within the-Geology and Mine Plan ning Departments is reviewed in terms of new approaches to ore reserve calculations, evaluating the economics of various mining methods and reviewing preliminary stope designs. The compilation of metal distributions for both copper and lead orebodies at varying cut offs and reducing the involvement of skilled personnel in preparing non-standard plots of borehole paths are discussed. Options available through the system and their applications are outlined together with the planned future development of the system.

Jan 1, 1974

Mathematical modelling of continuous rotary vacuum filtration has been limited by the wide range of variables and the absence of connecting equations linking the variables. The filter type and size, mechanical design and predicted performance are generally determined by laboratory leaf tests on representative samples of slurry, or plant samples from an operating filter. A model has been developed which includes the major process variables such as slurry feed rate and concentration, cake thickness, wash water and air flow rates, to predict the filter production throughput, cake moisture and residual solubles. Where possible the model incorporates well established equations relating form filtration, washing and drying rates of the filter cake. Where an equation has not been formulated, standard curve fitting programs have been used to establish an algorithm. The theoretical equations and the derived algorithms are defined in the text. A major feature of the model is that operators, metallurgists, process, mechanical and instrumentation engineers become more aware of the interaction of process variables, the principles of the equipment design and its limitations when operating at peak performance. The model has specific application in the alumina industry where a high moisture content of the filter cake can increase chemical losses and energy costs, and in the coal industry where overseas companies are insisting on lower export coal moistures.

Jan 1, 1989

By Penney B. K, Baghdadi A. A

An electron probe micro-analyser, controlled by a dedicated mini-computer,has been operating at Imperial College since 1970. The data assessment capability of the computer was limited and, in order to make better use of the information produced by the analyser, extra computing facilities were needed. Following the initiation of a Laboratory Automation Project at Imperial College involving the use of a central computer linked to laboratory type computers and to further more powerful systems,it became possible to carry out much more detailed and extensive mineralogical analyses by connecting the mini -computer to the Laboratory Automation Network. The paper describes the techniques employed including hardware, software, inter- connection, analysis and operating methods.

Jan 1, 1977

Development of a global failure criterion for rocks has been a desired goal in rock mechanics. Due to variations in factors affecting rock specifications and their mechanical properties, proposing a single failure criterion suitable for all rock types has proven to be unachievable. The theoretical failure criteria do not fit the real data correctly. Amongst empirical criteria, the Bieniawski criterion has demonstrated an acceptable agreement with laboratory generated data. It has been experienced that the ability to estimate rock strength via the modified form of this criterion is significantly improved. Based on the modified Bieniawski criterion and using VB.net, an associated Microsoft Windows program named 'RAMOCE' has been developed. The inputs of RAMOCE can be triaxial compressive strength data, Bieniawski parameters of a specific rock or the type of given rock. Based on input data, potential outputs of the program are Bieniawski's rock parameters, sensitivity analysis of the effective parameters, rock failure prediction and defining the type of given rock.

Nov 25, 2010

By Mousset-Jones P, McPherson M. J

This paper explains and discusses a computer program developed to deter- mine the optimum combination of fan pressures that will give a required distribution of airflows in a mine ven- tilation system. The program is based on an existing simulator, VNETPC and two experimentally developed relationships: (1) linearity between fan pressures and added regulator resistances and (2) a non- linear convex function relating the system air power and the fan operating Pressures.

Jan 1, 1988

By Blair J. R

A Train Performance Calculator (TPC) is an essential tool in railway operations, as a means of acquiring quickly a precise measure of the performance of the system. Traditionally the TPC was used in the form of program for a large computer. By employing an efficient integration algorithm and tailoring the program to suit the computer system it is shown that it is possible to devise a TPC for a mini computer. The resulting low running costs and flexibility of operation makes this a useful design tool. This TPC was developed to study problems associated with a single track railway operation. It was applied specifically to study the railway operated by the Mt. Newman Mining Co. Limited in the Pilbara region of W.A. to transport iron ore from the mine to the port. The TPC was used to calculate the effects of changes to locomotive power, to train size, to the track and to the amount of traffic. Its accuracy was checked by comparing its performance with that of the actual trains.

Jan 1, 1977

By Smith E. L

The Ore Reserve/Exploration System implemented at Mount Isa for M.I.M. Holdings Limited is a comprehensive computer system designed to process assay, geological, structural and survey data input via special purpose logging sheets from daily activities at Isa Mine, Hilton Mine and various Carpentaria Exploration Company prospects. The system performs two basic functions; (1) data acquisition, validation and file maintenance to prepare the data for retrieval, and (2) generation of routine and optional reports. The types of reports available range from masterfile detail printouts and retrieval of data by key items to survey computations, structural analyses, cutoff calculations, statistical analyses and ore reserve calculations by the polygonal, inverse square or moving average techniques. The use of various optional reports available through the system is illustrated by several examples, and planned future development is discussed.

Jan 1, 1973

By Coxhead B. A, Brandt B. A

The geological exploration and evaluation of coal reserves involves the appraisal of very large amounts of data. Computers afford an ideal means of handling and manipulating the data, thereby avoiding the laborious and expensive method of manually compiling the logs in full descriptive language. The Minad system of computer storage and retrieval of geological and analytical data is particularly suited to the description of cores and cuttings from exploration drill-holes. The encoded data is arranged in a 120-column computer output sheet format; descriptive geological information in a 54-column geolog and analytical information in a 64-column assaylog. The acquired data is quantitative, uniform and relatively complete and can be selectively retrieved for processing by a wide range of specialized computer programs developed for the coal mining industry. Visual retrieval of data for manual processing is facilitated by the use of simple codes and logical word abbreviations.

Jan 1, 1977

A computerised cataloguing system for geological specimens is described. The catalogue is designed for use with a compactus-type storage system. The information stored in the catalogue for each specimen includes the type of specimen, locality information in terms of standard ~ap sheets and descriptive location, geological age, stratIgraphy, and specimen descriptions. The catalogue can be interrogated at any level of detail on the basis of any combination of these specimen parameters.Other information stored for each specimen 'is the compactus address, collection date, reference information and the type of analyses performed on that specimen:Any mterrogatlon produces a listing of those specimens which satisfy the search criteria.

Jan 1, 1974

By T G. Measham, D A. Fleming

When attempting to understand potential regional or community socio-economic changes that resource-extraction industries may produce, it is important to analyse the channels that promote these changes. In this study, we propose a conceptual framework to better understand how socio-economic effects are likely to emerge in regions impacted by mining. The framework considers three levels of hierarchical effects (Measham, Fleming and Schandl, 2016).In the first level, the resource-extraction industry causes four direct initial impacts on nearby communities: labour demand shock (mining employment generation), income generation (compensation to landowners and higher wages), environmental consequences and land tenure/Aboriginal issues and an increase in local tax revenues.The second level is shaped by the subsequent population increase (given by immigration of permanent or temporary residents) produced by the new levels of employment and income that resource windfalls can generate in resource-extraction regions. These increases in employment, income and population become the source for a rise in the demand for local (and non-local) goods and services.Finally, the third level is given by boomtown-like and other socio-economic effects generated from the initial effects.CITATION:Measham, T G and Fleming, D A, 2016. A conceptual framework to understand the local community/social impacts of mining, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2016 Conference , pp 188–190 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jun 28, 2016

By Flloyd J. M

A continuous oxygen probe,incorporating a SIRO2 solid electrolyte oxygen sensor which measured the oxygen potential of a small volume of gas enclosed above the melt's surface,was constructed and tested. The oxygen potential of iron-silicate slags in equilibrium with solid iron in the temperature range 1250 to 1300¦C were measured continuously for tests of up to 40 hours duration. Results were in agreement with those of previous workers using gas equilibration techniques. Tests on non- iron buffered slags proved unsuccessful due to corrosion of the probe's component in contact with the slag and an alternative material is Required.

Jan 1, 1987

The Kingsgate molybdenite pipes are considered on petrochemical data and field occurrence to be, possibly, epi-magmatic plutonic offshoots grading into hydrothermal bodies. There is reason to believe that the ore is derived from a highly acid granite of type similar to that of the tin bearing areas of northern New England. The mineralogy, microtextures and paragenesis of the ore are discussed.INTRODUCTIONThe Kingsgate Mining Field is situated in steep, heavily timbered terrain 18 miles E.N.E. of Glen Innes and 430 miles north of Sydney. Bismuth and molybdenum ores were discovered at Kingsgate (Yarrow Creek) in 1877. Subsequently some 50 pipes were developed yielding tonnages which at the peak of operations, 1905 to 1920, rivalled production from the rich deposits of northern Queensland.Attempts to revive the field have been made periodically and small parcels of ore have been forthcoming.' During World War II demand for piezioelectric quartz again focussed attention on Kingsgate but twinning and other imperfections of the quartz prevented all but a minor exploitation of the otherwise noteworthy crystals of this locality.There is reason to believe that the ore at Kingsgate is not exhausted through exploration and mining costs would probably be high due to the capricious nature of the pipes and to the irregular distribution of rich ore shoots within them.

Jan 1, 1962

By Nicol S. K, Firth B. A

Much effort over the years has been put into the task of devising parameters which adequately assess the metallurgical efficiency of mineral processmg operations. One of the most celebrated of these methods is the so-called "release analysis" method of Dell (1953) which tackles the problem in terms of an ideal separation based on sequential retreatment of the products and tails of a given separation process. Other methods have also been proposed by Jowett (1969) and by Holland-Batt (1971 ). While these procedures are appropriate to multi-component mineralogical separations, they perhaps do not lend themselves to the much more simple two-component systems encountered in coal preparation. However Dell (1962) has suggested the use of the term "specific profit" in coal preparation in order to assess the conditions that give maximum economic gain. Specific profit is derived from data relating washability data with equipment performance and operating costs. The procedure for using this criterion for comparative purposes is therefore somewhat cumbersome as is illustrated by its lack of widespread acceptance in the coal preparation literature.In contrast, an efficiency index, E, which is both simple and meaningful from the utilitarian standpoint, has been proposed by Tsiperovich and Evtushenko (1959a). This index is defined by the relation, E = Yield X Tailings ash/Product ash (1) A cursory examination of this parameter shows that it increases when yield and tailings ash increase and also when product ash decreases; all of which are desirable circumstances in coal cleaning operations.Further, it will be shown that slight variations in operation are amplified by this function which makes comparisons simple and direct.While the use of this index is quite extensive in the Soviet coal preparation literature for some reason it has not received wide usag~ elsewhere.

Jan 1, 1978

THE most important part of the routine survey work on a mine is the keeping up-to-date of plans and sections showing progress of stoping and development work, and the direction of the latter for the purpose of making necessary connections. Except in specialcircumstances, e.g., major horizoittal development, the exactitude required in this work is not extreme, and a method of survey in keeping with the demands of the work itself is all tbat is required.For example, no one would consider measuring the walls of a stope to a fraction of an inch; such extreme accuracy would be wasted.The stope walls being irregular, a mean is usually taken, and for ordinary purposes a survey with a limiting error of six inches is quite satisfactory for the purpose of plotting either stoping or development.It is the author's aim in this paper to describe the method in use at the North Broken Hill Oompany's British mine. This method, while being sufficiently accurate for the purpose in view, possesses the very great advantages of speed and simplicity of operation,with a minimum of necessary equipment. This latter is a very important item where several surveys on different levels have to be carried out on the one day.Let it be understood, however, that the use of this method does not dispense with the theodolite, but simply serves as a convenient adjunct to obtain details and to extend the accurate theodolite survey up rises and down winzes, and through ladderways orwinzes into stopes, where the use of a theodolite, if not actually impossible, is often exceedingly inconvenient. This is particularly so on the British mine, where a large proportion of the ore is won from narrow and complex-dipping lodes, and where vertical ore...

Jan 1, 1928

By M Wortley, O Gu, D La Rosa, J McMaster

Metso Minerals Cisa have developed VisiofrothÖ û a system which calculates parameters of the froth surface using vision from remote cameras mounted about individual flotation cells. The parameters calculated from this system can be utilised within process control strategies to achieve stabilisation or optimisation of the flotation process. As part of a JKMRC AMIRA P9 field campaign, froth vision was collected from various cells operated at different air rates and froth depths within Rio TintoÆs Northparkes copper roughing and scavenging circuit. At the same time, samples were collected to determine the cell metallurgical performance at each operating condition. These froth images have been processed using the VisiofrothÖ system with froth velocity, bubble size, froth collapse rate and various froth colour parameters calculated. These parameters have been compared to the measured concentrate flow and concentrate grade produced at each condition. This analysis shows that the concentrate tonnage flow is strongly correlated with froth velocity whereas the concentrate grade is best correlated using froth velocity in combination with a bubble stability parameter which affects the bubble size distribution on the top surface of the froth. This paper summarises the results from this analysis as well as an overview of the VisiofrothÖ system and the parameters that are measured by the software.

Jan 1, 2007

By J Loeb, D Thornton

Blast movement measurement is a key component of grade control, enabling mines to carry all of the precision involved in locating ore blocks, through a chaotic blast, to production. A monitoring system was developed about ten years ago so that mine operation personnel can measure three dimensional movement in every production blast. Research has shown that blast movement is always highly variable with a significant non-deterministic component. The consequence is that modelling will be inaccurate and therefore optimal ore recovery can only be achieved by direct measurement of blast movement.Three dimensional movement vectors are measured at discrete locations in the blast. If blast movement is only measured at one location in a blast pattern, data is severely limited and has all of the inherent inaccuracies of modelling a variable population. It is intuitive that the accuracy of defining the post-blast ore block mark-ups are proportional to the number of movement measurement locations, however increasing the number of monitoring locations causes increases to the direct operating costs of the mine.A cost-benefit analysis is used to explore the optimal number of monitoring locations. Using the method described in this paper, an automated selection of the number and location of blast movement monitors are analysed against the value of recovered ore compared to the control, for each trial.CITATION:Loeb, J and Thornton, D, 2014. A cost benefit analysis to explore the optimal number of blast movement monitoring locations, in Proceedings Ninth International Mining Geology Conference 2014 , pp 441–450 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 18, 2014

By L Nienaber

Mines, after becoming operational, often retain the same support and reinforcement designs developed in the feasibility study. These designs are conceived from limited drilling data and regional experience, thus having an empirical flavour. Empirical designs are perceived to be conservative, catering for a variety of failure mechanisms, which are not always present in mine development drives.This begs the question: If you were to invest in the necessary resources to obtain sufficient data and complete the required analyses for the different development drives in the mine, to engineer a support and reinforcement scheme with the capacity to match the demand of the rock mass, what is the difference in cost when comparing an empirical design to an engineered design?To answer this question, mine tunnels with different geometries and orientations, where detailed structural data was available, were selected for a comparative design exercise. Material cost, development cost, cycle time and professional fees for engineered and empirical designs were estimated. The outcome is summarised in the following paper that discusses the process followed and the results of the design comparison.

Mar 8, 2011

By X Yu, Y Shen

The iron ore products should be assessed in terms of in-furnace behaviour and overall furnace performance, their operation should also be optimised under industry-scale blast furnace (BF) conditions, in order to be sustainable and competitive, especially in the context of decarbonisation efforts in ironmaking. While lab and pilot-scale experiments can provide useful kinetics, they are expensive and risky and cannot replicate industry-scale blast furnace conditions for proper assessment and optimisation. In this paper, we review our recent progress at Shen Lab of UNSW in using state-of-the-art Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models to assess iron ore products and examine the effects of their operations on BF behaviour in basic terms, including in-furnace phenomena (flow field, temperature field, species distribution fields etc) and overall BF performance (coke rate, reduction efficiency and top gas temperature etc). We have developed state-of-the-edge CFD models for different purposes, ranging from the static-state BF model featuring unique layered burden structures for offline assessment and optimisation knowledge building-up for iron ore products, to the transient-state BF model for online assessment and optimisation of iron ore productions by describing the transient behaviours of iron ore productions under industry-scale conditions. First, we have studied several iron ore products including the iron ore products used in the present BFs and emerging iron ore products like carbon composite briquette and iron-coke. Second, several iron ore operations are studied including optimisation of conventional burden operations like oxygen enrichment, batch weight tuning and new operations like coke central charging and hydrogen injection in BFs. Third, some time-sensitive operations are also investigated including the use of wet burden materials and the drop in blast temperature on BF performance. These CFD models offer cost-effective research tools for understanding the effect of iron ore products on BF performance and serve as a reliable marketing tool for existing and emerging iron ore products under a wide range of BF conditions.

Sep 18, 2023

By F Soleimani

Coal and gas outburst is a common hazard in coalmines and due to the complexity of its nature, efficaciously predicting the possibility of its occurrence is intricate. The mechanical and gas flow properties of coal, in situ and mining-induced stresses and geological structure are involved in outburst occurrence, whereas suggested thresholds for its prediction do not consider them all. Numerical modelling is known as an effective method that can not only consider couple the effect of different physics but also analyse the effect of associated parameters. In this paper, a coupled fluid flow and geomechanics model has been developed in COMSOL Multiphysics to simulate outbursts by considering the effect of gas pressure and composition, damage mechanics on related coal properties, and progressive excavation and mining-induced stress. For the proposed fully coupled outburst model, the effect of pore pressure and sorption are applied to the stress while the influence of stress changes and damage are considered in updating coal porosity and permeability in each time step. In addition, to study the effect of mining-induced stress, the excavation process is simulated by changing the material properties over time according to the schedule of heading development. Then, outburst initiation is analysed from the energy point of view by using the concept of energy conservation law. The simulation results are used in calculating energy sources of the outburst initiation, also, the effect of particle size and ejection velocity are studied, and the significance of particle size effect on the energy analysis and deformed coal on outburst initiation is discussed.

Oct 12, 2022

By Boyd G. L

Stress measurement is at the core of most stability design analyses. It is demonstrated that contrary to accepted practice, it is the field measurement, and not the calculated prediction, of stress that requires most examination and review. Since it is not really possible to quantify rockmass properties, the stiffness values used in reduction of stress measurements and in subsequent design analyses (either empirical or numerical modelling) must consider an appropriate range of values.

Jan 1, 1995