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To date Iron Monarch is the most important Australian source of iron ore and since HH5 has produced about 84 million tons of direct shipping ore containing 62 per cent iron and 3 per cent manganese.Previous geological work, mainly by Rudd, Edwards and Miles is reviewed and the results of later exploration by quarrying and drilling are discussed and modified interpretations of both stratigraphy and structure are advanced. Renewed study of the mineralogy of the iron ores is advocated.The Iron Monarch orebody lies on the up-thrown side of a major transcurrent fault that truncates it on its northern boundary. The nearby Iron Knob orebody is believed to occupy a horizon that is some thousand feet stratigraphically above Iron Monarch.The origin of the ore cannot be explained by any simple theory; development probably took place over a long period of time from Lower Palaeozoic to Tertiary.INTRODUCTIONIron Monarch orebody has supplied the Australian iron and steel industry with the greater part of its ironstone requirements since the establishment of the Newcastle steelworks in 1915. Annual production of direct-shipping ore has exceeded three million tons but declined slightly after 1956 when Iron Prince was brought into production. Total production of ore from Iron Monarch to the end of 1962 is about 84,000,000 long tons containing some 55,000,000 tons of metal.The deposit (Lat. 32°44'30"S : Long. 137°08'30"E) is 34 miles north-west of Whyalla, on the western shore of Spencer Gulf. A 42 in. gauge railway connects Iron Monarch and its associated small town of Iron Knob with Whyalla (Fig. 1).For the purpose of this paper Iron Monarch includes Iron Knob and the intervening jaspilite hill known as Substation Ridge, and the description of the general geology necessarily 'Assistant Chief Geologist, The Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd.This paper was presented at the Annual Conference of The Institute, 14-24th August 1968.

Jan 1, 1964

The small scale alluvial gold mining industry in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is c.irrently the only form of small scale mining carried out in this country. It already contributes significantly to the economy with current production estimated at 2 000-2 500kg per year. Until recently, small scale alluvial gold mining has been confined to simple panning and sluicing of high grade alluvial and colluvial deposits. Traditionally the small scale miner in PNG has only worked gravels with gold grades in excess of 500mg/m3. Grades of this order are required to justify the hard physical labour involved ~n hand operated small scale mining methods. .he introduction of higher throughput technologies such as trommels fed by hydraulic excavators has the effect of altering what constitutes an economically viable deposit. Mechanised techniques allow for the consideration of grades of almost half that level. The potential and opportunities for utilising this type of small scale mechanised mining in PNG are enormous with large areas of ground with gold grades running in excess of 250mg/m3 and often up to 2000mg/m3 throughout the country. An assessment of the current operating economics of this technology in the PNG context is the principal objective of this paper. Small to medium scale mechanised mining can potentially contribute significantly to the PNG economy particularly as it lies within the react-, of many PNG businessmen. Its potential is currently somewhat limited by a general lack of infrastructure and is also constrained by socio-political factors.

Jan 1, 1991

By Ross R

Although mining is an old industry its management is quite a new science, and its complications are now being recognised as demanding expert knowledge in many branches of technical and professional education. Not the least amongst these isaccountancy, for probably its most important problem is "How to control the expenditure." Unlike most businesses a mining company stands almost entirely in the light of a purchaser in the world's markets, and not as a seller, except say for product so the established and perfected systems of modern industries cannot be adopted for mining purposes. For this reason it has been left for late years to consider the matter seriously, and now a number of well-managed concerns have devised costs systems to suit their own requirements.Very little, however, has been published and even that is disjoined and difficult to make use of. Some of the costs systems in vogue, although elaborate and imposing, are not of very great value for keeping check on wasteful expenditure, or for displaying the commercial effect brought about 'by any particular change in practice, or by an addition or alteration to a portion of existing plant.

Jan 1, 1912

Planning for the Macraes Extension project highlighted the need for additional tailings storage availability. The possible solution of developing new tailings impoundments in Northern Gully, in tum, led to concerns being expressed by the regUlatory authority over the assimilative capacity of Deepdell Creek. Philosophical differences over the appropriateness of applying a seepage model used to set standards in consents for the original project resulted in the company re-evaluating the whole monitoring system associated with tailings disposal and seepage control. Re-evaluation indicated problems arising from the existing in-stream water quality monitoring in respect of protection of the aquatic ecological system and verifiability of results. A new monitoring system was designed relocating the compliance monitoring point out of the stream and into the gully containing the tailings impoundments giving greater certainty of monitoring results to all parties and providing improved protection for the aquatic ecology of Deepdell Creek.

Jan 1, 1993

By Y Shougu

Many mine accidents will affect the mine ventilation system when they occur. At present, there is a lack of monitoring means to capture the occurrence of accidents in time by monitoring the ventilation system, so as to take emergency measures to reduce the loss of personnel and property. Pressure wave is an elastic wave existing in air. Most accidents in mine will cause obvious changes of pressure wave. It is an innovative idea to monitor the occurrence of accidents in mine by measuring pressure wave. The development and functions of the pressure monitoring device and related software are introduced in detail. The pressure wave monitoring test is carried out in San Xavier underground mining laboratory, and the D-wave and S-wave waveform data are collected. The waveform characteristics are analysed, and the main frequency distribution of the pressure wave is found to be within 1 Hz by using FFT. At the same time, the influence of the propagation distance of the pressure wave on the waveform is analysed. The propagation velocity of D-wave and S-wave are roughly calculated, and they are 279.6 m/s and 397.3 m/s respectively. S-wave is slightly faster than D-wave. Although there are errors and uncertainties in the test, the test verified the feasibility of the existence and collection of pressure waves in the ventilation roadway, and provides a method for the future study of the propagation of pressure waves in the mine ventilation system.

Oct 12, 2022

By M A. Mongillo

Most geophysical and geochemical data collected during regional exploration programmes are in vector form (location, value), and have traditionally been presented and interpreted in a profile or contour map format. However, the human vision system can interpret data presented in image format much more easily and new information is often revealed by the judicious application of powerful interactive computer image enhancement techniques. This paper describes a practical demonstration of the application of such tools to gravity and resistivity datasets from the Central Volcanic Region of theNorth Island.   Filtering, contrast enhancement, relief shading, pseudo-colouring and then overlaying of the gridded datasets in image format has helped identify inter-relationships such as the association between many low resistivity anomalies (epithermal deposits or geothermal resources) and the edges of large gravity anomalies (calderas or grabens). Similar revelations should result from the application of these tools to the integration of other mapped datasets from geophysical, geochemical and geological disciplines.

Jan 1, 1992

A comparatively new and very promIsmg field for applying cemented tungsten-carbides is in the mining and quarrying industries. The economic advantages of this unique engineering material over the conventional hollow drill steel, or steel detachable bits, have proven so great that the use of "hard metals" promises, in some instances, to revolutionise the drilling of all manner of minerals. Early in the war years the Germans realised the tremendous advantages cemented carbides offered for holing hard rocks, and they proceeded to develop detachable percussion bits to do this work, at the same time evolving fast, comparatively light-hitting driliing machines, especially designed to suit the mechanical properties of the carbide.Here in Australia also, it has appeared that the detachable percussion bit offers the greatest economic benefits to consumers, although the author is well aware that carbide-tipped drill rods have, and may continue to work out satisfactorily in certain mines and quarries.Most drilling equipment at present installed in Australia may be described as being of the heavy hard-hitting variety, so that the designer of an efficient percussion bit has to take special precautions to overcome the problem of fatigue, and to ensure that the inserts are securely mounted in the body with the minimum of internal stress in the carbide.

Jan 1, 1950

An optical computing system was used to determine spacings and frequencies in geological fabrics and engineering joint fabrics.Three-dimensional arrays of joints were plotted on an equal-area net. Directions in which true spacings are seen were determined from these plots. Photographs taken along these directions were used for optical computing.

Jan 1, 1970

A single compartment 100 A electrolytic cell charged with AICla-KCl-NaCl at 750°C was studied during an experimental campaign of 4 months. About 10 1b of aluminium were produced in continuous runs which lasted up to 1 week. The highest cathode current efficiency determined was 80 per cent. Anode current efficiency. cathode potential, analyses of melt, sublimate, and product, and reactivity of cell materials were also recorded and interpreted in terms of the role of lower valent aluminium species in the electrolysis mechanism.

Jan 1, 1971

By P González, E Córdova, E Faundez

An integrated mine system must be capable of displaying and reporting valuable information that can be used to easily understand, manage and take action on the key parameters being reported.One of the key aspects of integration is the standardisation of the mine information up to a level capable of adapting the main characteristics of past projects at the mine and enforcing the same or higher standards for newer projects being developed.At the El Teniente mine, photogrammetry is used to map the advance of horizontal developments, and the constructed 3D representation of each face is then used by the geologists to obtain structural information about the areas being photographed.The mine realised that valuable mining information could also be extracted from the photogrammetry being applied, with three possible areas of development envisioned.The first area was creating a link between the developments being planned on a yearly and monthly basis and matching them with plan sections of the 3D developments of the system to account for any deviations.The second area was to use vertical sections of the 3D developments to estimate the overbreak of the excavations in different areas of the mine.The third area was the provision of a more detailed analysis of the sections so that they could provide information on the thickness of the shotcrete being applied.This paper presents the different alternatives being used and examines how the project is currently being developed and managed at the mine. It also looks at the challenges associated with implementing the reporting platform and the results being obtained.CITATION:Córdova, E, Benado, D, González, P and Faundez, E, 2016. Mine planning information from photogrammetry sources at the El Teniente Mine, in Proceedings Seventh International Conference and Exhibition on Mass Mining (MassMin 2016), pp 653–658 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

May 9, 2016

In preparing a paper such as this it was thought that the Newstan Colliery Company Ltd., being comparatively new, would need some introduction to mining people in general.The Newstan Company was formed by the Joint Coal Board in December, 1948 during a period of acute coal shortages. The Company took over the holdings of what were known as the Olstan and Northumberland Collieries, situated at Fassifern, alongside Lake Macquarie and adjacent to the Great Northern Railway, within easy rail access of Sydney and Newcastle, as shown on the locality plan (Fig. 1).The Company was developed in order to produce steaming coal for the power house trade and has continued its activities in the steaming coal trade since its inception. The Olstan and Northumberland collieries were together producing some 300 tons per day when the Company was formed, and it was from this foundation that the colliery was built. The planned development of the Company has been along the lines of producing coal by modern, highly mechanised methods, together with the preparation of theproduct for the consumer, to the highest degree possible consistent with up to date methods.In the comparatively short time of 5t years the mine has developed from a small hand-won coal unit to a high capacity modern mine, one of Australia's largest producers, with an output capacity as high as 3,000 tons per shift.

Jan 1, 1954

By Holla L, Tyminski A

Stowing has been successfully used in many countries as a means of controlling surface subsidence, minimi ing incidences of spontaneous combustion, maintaining gate road stability and maximising coal recovery.Australian experience in stowing is limited but in the future increased extraction of thicker and/or multiple seams by longwall operations and resolution of conflict of alternative land u'ses may necessitate the use of stowing in coal mining. At present there is little incentive for mining companies to introduce and operate a stowing system because costs have to be borne by the individual companies and benefits spill over to society and the State. Cost sharing by the industry and State incentives may overcome the problem of cost disincentive.

Jan 1, 1987

The Bulli and Wongawilli Seams, the two principal sources of coking coal for the Port Kembla steelworks of Australian Iron & Steel Pty. Ltd., vary in rank and in type over the Southern and South Western Coalfields.The Bulli Seam, ranging widely in type, produces coke varying from weak to strong. The Wongawilli Seam, more consistent in type, produces coke of more consistent strength, but considerably less strong than that from the best Bulli Seam coal.Plans of seam variation show the regional trends in rank and type for each seam.The strongest coke is derived from coal containing between 45 and 55 per cent vitrinite, m.m.f. This is obtainable from the Bulli Seam in a zone embracing Bulli and Appin collieries.A satisfactory correlation is achieved between vitrinite content and coke stability and hardness, enabling prediction of coke strength for Southern Coalfield coals.The use of vitrinite reflectance, as an indicator of rank, in addition to type to predict coke strengths is at present hampered by lack of data, particularly in the South Western Coalfield. Nevertheless, data available at present allow the use of both variables and give better correlations with coke strengths than type alone.A spread of comprehensive data across both coalfields will enable advance assessment of cokes produced from coals having known rank and type. Blending to a ranktype specification for optimum coke strengths would allow the best use of the coal reserves of the coalfields.

Jan 1, 1969

The iron ore deposits of the Port Hedland district of North Western Australia are associated with band'ed sedimentary iron formations that form part of the local succession of folded and faulted Archaean volcanic and sedimentary rocks. The iron formations are regarded as the protore beds or sources of the iron which became concentrated by supergene processes to form commercial grade iron ore deposits.Iron oxide deposits occurring in situ within the protore beds are considered to be of residual-replacement origin, due to supergene leaching of gangue minerals and' deposition of secondary iron oxides in their place, Two types of deposit have been recognized. Lode deposits are deep lenses of massive hematite located adjacent to major faults. These deposits are thought to be very old and to have originated by supergene processes during the long period of erosion represented by the major unconformity between the Archaean rocks and the overlying Proterozoic beds. The other type, known as crust ore deposits, are shallow cappings of hematite and goethite on hills formed by the outcrops of steeply dipping protore beds. These deposits could have originated as far back as the early Mesozoic and it is possible that the ore-forming process is continuing at a slow rate at the present day.Deposits formed by erosion and re-deposition of material derived from pre-existing residual-type deposits are known as derived deposits. These include conglomerates and scree accumulations of various types and ages and pisolitic deposits formed by supergene leaching of transported detritus. Derived deposits range in age from early Proterozoic to Recent. The presence of pebble accumulatio,ns of lode-type hematite in the Proterozoic basal conglomerate provides good evidence that lode hematite deposits existed in pre-Proterozoic times.INTRODUCTIONThe existence of iron ore deposits in the Port Hedland district of Western Australia has been known since the beginning of the century, but little attention was paid to them untIl the 1930's, when the Commonwealth Aerial, Geological and Geophysical Survey of Northern Australia carried out investigations of most of the then known mining fields of the Northwest Division. The only iron...

Jan 1, 1964

By R L. Brathwaite

As part of an investigation of the deep structure of the Waihi Basin, an extensive set of resistivity measurements was recently collected by DSIR Geology & Geophysics. The objective of this work is to map deep resistivity changes throughout the Waihi area in order to contribute to a better understanding of the regional geophysical structure. This research is also aimed at improving techniques for locating 'deposits of epithermal mineral resources, and helping to establish their origin and genetic relationship to fossil geothermal systems.   The results indicate that the basin south of Waihi is underlain by an extensive layer of low resistivity, modelled as a 5ohm-m layer several hundred metres thick. Lake sediments (mudstones), as exposed in the south western part of the basin, near Waitawheta, are the most likely source of this low resistivity layer, although hydrothermally altered clays and/or elevated temperatures are other possible causes. Strong northeast trending anisotropy is also observed, implying structural links from Waitawheta through to Golden Valley. The observed resistivity pattern is consistent with a æburied calderaÆ or æfaulted depressionÆ structural model for the basin, as inferred from gravity and magnetic data.

Jan 1, 1991

Recent legislation in the environmental field gives the mining industry an opportunity to take timely action to address its image. Shifting the focus away from mining (the activity) to minerals (the resource) will enable the mining industry to stand on equal footing with other industries and will help minimise the vulnerability to political and interest groupsÆ interference.

Jan 1, 1993

Concentration of Phosphate Ore by Flotation With/Without Desliming

Sep 13, 2010

By J L. Mauk

 Broken Hills is an adularia-sericite epithermal Au-Ag deposit, hosted in flow-banded rhyolites and overlying rhyolitic pyroclastic rocks in the eastern Hauraki Goldfield. The 7.1 Ma deposit was the largest producer of gold in the eastern Hauraki Goldfield, and was one of very few economic deposits hosted in Pliocene rhyolites. This paper presents the results of a recent study in the upper levels of the deposit. Maps and cross-sections constrain structural and lithological relationships, and the lateral and vertical extent of a breccia pipe û the major feature of the upper levels.   Previous studies in the upper levels of Broken Hills have shown that gold and silver values are concentrated around and within a large breccia pipe, mined by a series of æcaveÆ stopes and in veins. Contour diagrams of Au-Ag data from channel samples indicate that the breccia pipe was a major fluid channel-way for mineralising solutions.   The breccia pipe deposits are part of the dynamic geothermal system that formed the Broken Hills ore bodies; they developed as a result of hydrothermal brecciation in areas of structural weakness within a rhyolite pyroclastic unit that overlies a massive rhyolite lava-flow unit. The main breccia pipe begins near the rhyolite/pyroclastic contact, having the shape of an inverted, inclined cone, and consists of silicified breccia, stringers of quartz, and irregular patches of clay-altered country rock. Smaller zones or pockets of hydrothermal eruption breccia are silicified and contain low grade gold in the matrix and in the adjacent silicified wall rocks.   Quartz has been classified according to its physical characteristics as seen in situ and hand specimens indicate that vein definition decreases upwards, perhaps as a result of changing lithological conditions and/or increasing proximity to the paleosurface. Hydrothermal quartz is widespread as veins and as a replacement mineral, or lining fractures and cavities and overgrowing rock fragments. Breccias contain vein quartz, but some quartz veins cross-cut breccias, indicating that vein and breccia formation was relatively synchronous and overlapped in time.   Disseminated gold-silver mineralisation is associated with vein quartz and silicic alteration of the wall rock within the breccia pipe. The auriferous zones are highly irregular and erratic, and sampling results show a wide range of gold-silver ratios, suggesting that highly volatile physiochemical conditions prevailed during mineralisation.

Jan 1, 2005

By Shepherd J

Megascopic and microscopic studies of cleats and mining induced cleavage in Ihe first workings at Leichhardt Colliery reveal the presence of four distinct fracture sets. Microscopic studies confirm underground observations of the fracture sets.The most likely order of formation of the fractures is (i) "butt" cleats (ii) facc cleats (iii) shallow dipping faults (iv) mining induced cleavage. Three fracture sets apparently formed by tensiIe failure. Microscopy shows that the mining induced cleavage surfaces have preferred starting or lerminating points at the extremity of a "butt" cleat and a vitrite-dull coal band boundary. It is postulated that the induced cleavage begins at 'butt' cleats which behave as Griffith flaws under high compression around Leichhardt Colliery faces. Instantaneous outbursts of coal and gas are associated with only those workings which are affected by mining induced cleavage and occur at or adjacent to working faces.

Jan 1, 1981

By M I. Pownceby, S Hapugoda, V Nunna

Deposits of low-grade iron ores containing abundant goethite are distributed across the world. A common difficulty associated with beneficiating goethitic-rich ores is the poor liberation characteristics of the iron-bearing minerals which often contain finely disseminated gangue minerals such as kaolinite, gibbsite and quartz. Microwave-assisted heating has been proposed as an effective way of inducing dehydroxylation and associated mineral transformations in order to beneficiate low-grade goethitic ores. In this research, the mineral transformations occurring in a low-grade goethite-rich sample using microwave radiation was studied. Roasting conditions (up to 1000°C and under various CO/CO2 gas atmospheres) were designed to generate a magnetic product from a goethite-rich, reject waste stream sample sourced from an iron ore processing site in the Pilbara, Western Australia. Conditions (T, pO2) for transforming the raw material from hydrated goethite to hematite and eventually to magnetite are presented. Chemical and mineralogical characterisation of the raw material and roast products were conducted using X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy techniques to identify the mineralogical and chemical changes occurring during the heat treatment. Further steps are suggested to optimise the microwave-assisted magnetising roasting and correlate it with the application of magnetic separation techniques to maximise the efficiency of upgrading the iron content in low-grade iron ores.CITATION:Nunna, V, Hapugoda, S and Pownceby, M I, 2017. Study of microwave-assisted magnetising roasting and mineral transformation of low-grade goethite iron ores, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2017, pp 575–582 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 24, 2017