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By G Balog, T Ormerod, D Sidea

Carrapateena is a copper-gold sub level caving operation located in the Gawler Craton, South Australia. One of Australia’s largest undeveloped copper deposits, the project will be a 4.25 Mtpa underground operation, with an estimated mine life of 20 years (OZ Minerals, 2017). First concentrate production was achieved in December 2019, within the Iron Ore Copper Gold (IOCG) hematite breccia complex. The Carrapateena orebody is overlain by 500 m of barren sediments of the Stuart Shelf, which hosts two aquifers. The cover sequence is dominated by shales, quartzites and sandstones in order of thickness. The cover sequence presented challenges to the mine ventilation system as a result of highly variable rock strengths. On this basis, the site developed the first vent rise, Vent Rise 5 (VR5), earlier than required as a means to test the empirical stability assessment. Assessment for VR5 was completed in 2017, with the mine yet to develop through much of the cover sequence. Due to the geotechnical data available at the time, it was anticipated that break out would occur within the vent rise walls as a function of the low strength Woomera shales. VR5 was developed to 4.5 mᴓ in late 2018. The timing of the VR5 development enabled the site technical team to calibrate empirical stability factors for the assessment of future vent rises. At the time of writing, four additional vent rises have been successfully developed to a diameter of 5.5 m. No significant overbreak has been observed within any of the vent rises. This paper is intended for geotechnical practitioners designing large-diameter vent rises in geological environments similar to the Stuart Shelf where a similar approach to vent rise design may be warranted.

Mar 15, 2021

I began my interest in sample preparation when I joined the Institute of Nuclear Sciences in 1962. I worked in the fields of rock dating and stable isotope geochemistry. Preparing a sample could take several days and the analysis took another day or more, so great care was taken with each sample. In 1968 I changed to mineral exploration analysis and was surprised to find that there was much less care in how a sample was taken and prepared. Virtually every sample was processed in the same way. In the use of ring and puck mills, Australia and New Zealand were among the world leaders. It took another ten years before labs in North America changed over from disc mills. In 1975, my partner and I divided our business into two parts. He took the laboratory into his consulting laboratory business and I took the small business that we had started, making ring and puck mills. For the next six years I was RocklabsÆs only employee. In the 1980s and 1990s, sampling specialists like Francis Pitard and Dominique Francois-Bongarcon began to make a difference in the understanding of what constitutes good sampling and preparation practice. They and others took courses on the new concepts of Sampling Theory, as developed by Pierre Gy. The desire for better procedures lead to the development of new machines, including the big bowl pulverisers from Australia, jaw crushers that could crush finely like our Boyd Crusher, rotating dividers of new designs and flow-through ring and puck mills. Other machines did not fare so well, including rolls crushers, cone crushers and hammer mills.

Jan 1, 2008

By J Rutter, J du Plessis, er, M Scott, D Alex

It is generally acknowledged that bulk ore sorting is an attractive prospect for the mining industry. However, uncertainties relating to the operational performance of sensor technologies, the grade heterogeneity present in analysed material and the physical separation performance of the coupled system complicate the evaluation and deployment of bulk ore sorting strategies at operations. To assist in the quantification of these uncertainties, the Cooperative Research Centre for Optimising Resource Extraction (CRC ORE) and Anglo American have implemented a systematic methodology to evaluate the deployment of sensor technologies for bulk ore sorting. This methodology was implemented at a bulk ore sorting demonstration plant using penetrative prompt gamma neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) and surface x-ray fluorescence (XRF) measurements of base metals, as a proxy for precious metals, at Mogalakwena PGE Mine. The methodology comprises of three phases. The initial phase involves the preliminary investigation of sensor technologies and analysis to reduce identified risks prior to commissioning of the bulk ore sorting plant. The second phase executes a series of experiments to prove the sensing technologies in the operational environment and provide confidence the sensors can drive separation. The final phase demonstrates the production scale bulk ore sorting performance of the plant and validates its performance by campaign of the sorted products at the processing plant. Throughout the operational deployment and evaluation of bulk ore sorting at Mogalakwena, several key lessons were learned. These learnings relate to the calibration requirements of the sensor technologies, the application of surface vs penetrative sensor techniques and the preservation of grade heterogeneity delivered to the sensors. This paper presents the methodology used, and lessons learned, in the operational deployment and evaluation of PGNAA and XRF sensors for bulk ore sorting at Mogalakwena PGE Mine.

Nov 10, 2020

By E Mroczek, M Climo, B Carey, M P. Simpson

"An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation. The composition and volume of geothermal fluids in New Zealand offers considerable potential for the extraction of various metals and minerals, as well as being a source of heat energy, steam and gases, and for use in generating electricity. While extracting products from geothermal fluids is technically feasible, positive economics is the key driver for commercial success; however, there is no assessment of this opportunity that identifies simple, cost-effective processing technologies and provides a greater understanding of the economic viability and barriers for implementing such technologies. The methodology that will be used to evaluate the commercial opportunities for New Zealand is discussed.CITATION:Mroczek, E, Simpson, M P, Climo, M and Carey, B, 2015. From waste to wealth – mineral extraction from geothermal brines, in Proceedings PACRIM 2015 Congress, pp 133–138 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 18, 2015

By S Withell, K Sheehan

Whitehaven Coal (WHC) is undergoing a transformative journey, deeply committed to the principles of a High Reliability Organisation (HRO) and the establishment of a mature, interdependent culture founded on psychological safety. This ongoing commitment is not merely aspirational but is supported by performance improvements backed by both quantitative performance data and qualitative evidence of cultural progression. WHC has strategically integrated leading and lagging indicators to target fatal risk. WHC focus areas include an emphasis on strategy and risk appetite, targeted data, informed learning, proactive addressing of fatal risk and the integration of data management and technology.

Apr 16, 2024

By D Hope, D Mitchell, B Metcalfe

In recent years there has been a major change among mining companies in their mining methods. This has been driven by the need to increase shareholder value and optimising the value from an operation. With this understanding there has been a need for all producers to become more efficient in their mining processes. An analysis of the coal losses at Mount Thorley Operations indicated that the major losses were in the dragline section of the mine due to coal damage from throw blasting. This damage was evident after the removal of the overburden by the dragline.Coal and Allied Mount Thorley Mine in partnership with Orica Explosives developed a process to reduce the coal loss associated with the throw blasting of Mt Thorley. Orica provided its specialised knowledge and experience in the drilling and blasting area and combined this with the local mining knowledge and expertise of Mount Thorley Operations personnel to conduct the project. This partnership reduced coal loss in excess of 50 per cent whilst maintaining targeted dragline productivity.

Jan 1, 2001

By N Green

The production of approximately 550 000 tonnes of æwhiteÆ or chrysotile asbestos fibre between 1972 and 1983 at the Woodsreef Mine in New South Wales left behind 24 million tonnes of tailings and 75 million tonnes of waste rock and overburden. The Woodsreef Magnesium Project is designed to extract the 23 per cent magnesium content of the tailings to produce magnesium metal and magnesium alloys, the latter with aluminium from the New South Wales smelters. Further value will be added to the tailings waste with the downstream production of magnesium alloy sheets and cast products for the transportation, electronics and other consumer goods industries. The mine opened in 1918 and closed in 1983 becoming derelict. There has been minimal expenditure on rehabilitation compared with that recommended in reports commissioned by the New South Wales Government. The tailings dump has been designated æasbestos wasteÆ by the EPA and will be eliminated through the magnesium refinery process of the Project with the dissolution of the remaining chrysotile fibres. The benign waste from the refinery process will consist principally of silica with some iron. Significant energy savings are expected from innovative new processing technology, in the alloy formation and in the application of the light weight, cast and sheet metal products, particularly in the transportation industries. Globally, there are very large resources of similar tailings with hundreds of years of useful productive lives that could be converted into the metal of the 21st Century, magnesium, and its alloys, to assist pollution and greenhouse gas reduction from transportation industries. No new mining and minimal feedstock preparation is required. Unlike potential producers using carbonate rocks such as magnesite and dolomite that have to be mined, the asbestos tailings composed principally of non-fibrous serpentinite do not contain any carbon dioxide.

Jan 1, 2002

By McNabb K. E

Significant coal reserves in New South Wales lie under areas with steep topography such as valley slopes and cliffs. Subsidence predictions are difficult to make for these locations as existing empirical databases cannot cover all permutations of topography and mining geometry. Two dimensional numerical model alternatives are of limited applicability. Consequently a novel three-dimensional numerical model is developed including the detailed panel layout, realistic rock mass properties including the full stratigraphy, goaf behaviour and actual surface topography. Model results show the same trends as subsidence measurements from Baal Bone Colliery in the Western Coalfield of New South Wales.

Jan 1, 1992

Some fundamental aspects of recent single-particle fracture studies are reviewed. Findings from this research shed new light on the utilisation of energy during comminution operations and provide useful pointers to new research directions that could lead to significantly better comminution machines. Two methods for quantitatively predicting mineral liberation during comminution are reviewed. These methods have been developed into useful practical procedures, but they are almost unknown in the mineral processing community. Their use should promote the consideration of mineral liberation as an important variable to be considered during the design and operating control of comminution circuits.

Jan 1, 1993

By X Xia2, X Wang, G Liang, T Song, F Ma

Inertia cone crushers have found applications mostly in steel slag crushing operations in China. Compared with conventional eccentric cone crushers, the crusher has an obvious advantage in reducing product size. In addition, they are mostly used in two-stage open circuit crushing flow sheet, which simplifies the crushing process. However, inertia cone crushers are not widely used in the mineral processing industry due to their low crushing capacity. In this paper, the throughput performance of the inertia cone crusher was investigated in a laboratory-scale inertia cone crusher and relationships between operational parameters were identified. Iron ore was crushed using orthogonal experimental method under different machine parameters and operational conditions. The crusher throughput and product size distributions were determined. The effects of parameters such as eccentric speed, discharge gap, eccentric mass and eccentric distance on product mass flow and product size were investigated. The results of this study can help reduce the feed size of the mill in order to reduce total energy consumption of comminution.

Aug 24, 2022

When preparing an appraisal, valuation or feasibility study for a new mining project it is difficult to imagine the technical, economic, social and environmental context that the project will occupy in ten or 15 years time. This paper is about our ability to foresee the future, the choices available now in matching the project to that future context, and about the flexibility that exists in adapting the project to a changing environment. The author draws upon his experience of project reviews, valuations and feasibility studies in the mid to late 1980s in Australia and New Zealand to explore how the project context has changed since key decisions were made and what this tells us about decisions made today for future projects.

Jan 1, 2004

By Granholm S

The current emphasis within the mining industry to reduce the cost of production has stimulated interest in the field of maintenance and operational reliability of capital intensive mining equipuent. The failure consequences of these machines have major safety and economic implications for a mine operator. The reliability centered maintenance (RCM) approach has been found cost effective for equipment maintenance and for achieving high level system perform- ance by many organizations such as airline, military, chemical, process and manufac- turing industries. In this paper an attempt has been made to describe in brief the basic concepts of a RCM approach, the methods of RCM analysis and its cost effectiveness for maintenance of equipment. Since this approach is comparatively new for the mining industry, suitable examples are given to illustrate the case.

Jan 1, 1988

The paper describes the development leading to the bucket wheel excavator systems now used in the Latrobe Valley and refers in particular to the new S.E.C.V. dredgers Nos. 14 and 15 which will be employed in the Loy Yang open cut. The design concept and operating possibilities of these dredgers are described in detail with reference to the machine characteristics designed for the operating conditions in the Latrobe Valley. The design is compared with units of similar capacity in open cuts of other countries.

Jan 1, 1982

By Tyler MA

If the record of maj or proj ects in Australia is taken into account, it is apparent, the proper planning of an industrial relations strategy for many such projects has been ill considered by project developers. The recognition of the need to develop a plan from the initial feasibility study has been forced on those promoting new projects by the publicity given to the Australian industrial relations record. The delays in delivery caused by factors supposedly out of the project's control are often given for non-performance of contract and used as an excuse for limiting further development. Many of the problems experienced in project development can be overcome with sound industrial relations planning. The promises given in the euphoria of the early stages of a project relating to price and delivery often become a burden for the future because the complexities of the Australian Industrial Relations Systems are not understood or considered. The recognition by senior executives of their responsibilities in this area will contribute greatly to a new era of project development.

Jan 1, 1983

AustraliaÆs current interest in renewable energy is based on a desire to reduce the countryÆs greenhouse gas emissions. Wood from sustainable sources offers a unique opportunity to combine greenhouse gas benefits with other significant environmental and social benefits, including salinity mitigation, carbon sequestration, soil replenishment and rural industry. The challenge is to make renewable energy from wood in a cost competitive manner, so that this broad range of benefits may be best realised. Bioenergy and carbon products are of great interest as new, commercial forestry products that can drive large-scale environmental tree planting:In Western Australia, Enecon has worked with Western Power Corporation to build the first full-scale plant for integrated processing of mallee eucalypts, to produce activated carbon, renewable power and eucalyptus oil. It is intended that this plant is the first of a number of such plants to help catalyse environmental tree planting in Western Australia. New technologies being developed overseas may provide competitive bioenergy in areas where traditional markets for wood do not exist. For example, pyrolysis converts wood into a bio-oil that may be transported to remote sites for power generation in gas turbines. Pyrolysis also produces wood char. Pyrolysis and wood-to-ethanol technologies, coupled with short rotation coppicing trees, offer the long-term prospect of large-scale production of renewable fuels around the country.

Jan 1, 2006

In an industry that is data-hungry and increasingly international in its outlook, the role of the New Zealand Government in facilitating exploration and mining activity here presents unique challenges. All things being equal, the Regime itself should result in æefficient outcomesÆ, however central to this rational economic tenet are the assumptions that the regime is in keeping with the times, other legislation works in tandem with it, and that those who administer the regime have the knowledge and experience to apply the rules wisely. Following the Crown Minerals review in late 2003, a shift in emphasis from Crown Minerals æmanaging the ActÆ towards proactively æmanaging the mineral estateÆ for greater benefit for all New Zealanders means that these assumptions are being increasingly challenged and addressed through a variety of initiatives. These include improved access to relevant data sets, minimisation of red tape and compliance costs, increasing emphasis on permit holder compliance with work programme obligations, changes to the Minerals Programme and regulations, closer collaboration with and representation to other government departments and councils, and additional recruitment of industry-experienced staff. This presentation will highlight aspects of these initiatives, and examine how they will collectively contribute to facilitating future exploration and mining activity in New Zealand.

Jan 1, 2004

A report is given of the problems of finance and physical resources that currently affect The University of New South Wales, and of some of the measures adopted to alleviate them. Partly as' a result of review procedures, a School of Mines was formed to amalgamate Applied Geology and Mining Engineering, and to add the skills of extractive metallurgy to produce a group to match the needs of the minerals industry. A review of courses within the School indicated a need for enhanced computer teaching, which is partially negated by a lack of resources. It also shows an overcrowded course whose structure could possibly benefit from a split into managerial and specialist streams.

Jan 1, 1986

By Browning E. J

The application of conventional dust control systems in British Coal mines has considerably reduced the incidence of pneumoconiosis. A number of new techniques have been developed involving extraction close to the cutting heads of mining machines which will be capable of controlling airborne dust with the greater intensity of production necessary in the present economic climate.

Jan 1, 1988

This opportunity to present a few thoughts on the question of professional education and training comes at a most appropriate time. In Britain, a great deal of energy is being expended in this, so-called, post-Finniston era, to create a new look for the status of engineers and engineering by the Engineering Council. Naturally, the tune and the tempo are being called by the big institutions which essentially serve the manufacturing industries. However, the Engineering Council in Great Britain also includes the mining and processing institutions such as the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (IMM) and so there is a chance - if it is taken - for us to contribute to the debate and the determinations that emanate from it. The IMM, of course, caters for the professional status of those engaged in the mining and minerals industries and includes many who do not see themselves as engineers. Nevertheless, the debate is important to these other groups whose livelihood is inextricably bound up with those who are engineers and there are many facets of the engineering policies being shaped that will, I am sure, eventually be enshrined in the requirements for professional status across all the various disciplines in our industry.

Jan 1, 1986

By Kubik K

This paper reviews the historical data on relative height changes of landmasses with respect to sea level for Pacific Rim countries.It discusses existing theories of the Greenhouse effect, and the interaction with the vertical movements of the continental plates which leads to different effects for different places. Possible future scenarios are described and directions for future research and measurement programs are given.Relative sea levels are governed not only the increase of water from deglaciation but also by a range of other factors such as variable water storage in lakes and the atmosphere, thermal expansion of the ocean, ocean currents, and the shape of the ocean and the continents. Sea floor spreading, for example, is ultimately more significant than deglaciation in sea level control but is generally much slower.

Jan 1, 1990