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Mine planning typically involves designing an operation to uncover coal with the minimum initial costs with reclamation planning and earthworks being done as an "add on" task. The landform is too steep to remain stable, has no drainage and frequently has areas of excessive acidity or alkalinity. Extensive earthworks are required to reduce grades to an acceptable level and create a drainage system. The flexibility available to the mining engineer to alter the post mining landscape clearly depends on the mining methods. Straight dragline stripping provides virtually no flexibility. However most mining operations over the term of current ten year plans have a substantial pre-strip component. It is this pre-strip material which has the potential to reduce the final reshaping earthworks. The reshaping operation itself is subject to some flexibility with various options being available to re-grade and provide drainage. The full utilisation of this flexibility to minimise earthworks cost should be the aim of reclamation design. ACIRL's current thrust in reclamation is aimed at the integration of mine planning and reclamation earthworks. This involves gathering all environment and agricultural criteria and designing the earth works necessary to produce an acceptable final landform. A key component of our work is the use of computer aided design (CADD) for the design of spoil piles, pre-strip dumps and spoil re-shaping. This approach has been applied to a number of mine sites with earthworks operations covering hundreds of hectares and hundreds of millions of cubic metres volume. We are continuing to provide that consultancy service and at the same time are involved in the development of more sophisticated software tools to apply to reclamation design.

Jan 1, 1991

The current quantity of rejects from coal beneficiation in Australia represents 20 to 25% of raw black coal production. Approximately 80% of the rejects are derived from coarse processing for particles in the 200mm to 0.5mm size range. The safe and enviornmentally acceptable storage of coarse coal rejects is of interest to coal mining companies. Additional public benefit would be derived from the utilisation of a waste product as a source of fill material for civil and mining engineering applications. BHP Engineering has taken a leading role in the design for storage and utilisation of coarse rejects from two mines associated with the Broken Hill Proprietary Conipany Ltd. The tailings dam at Stockton Borehole Colliery (N.S.W.) is to be raised and a study by BHP Engineering has shown that coarse rejects are suitable for the formation of the supporting embankment surrounding a compacted clay core. Transportation and storage of coarse rejects at the Thiess Dampier Mitsui Riverside Mine (Moranbah, Qld) is achieved by a conveyor leading directly from the coal preparation plant to a discharge stacker on the crest of the rejects stockpile. Production of coarse rejects was higher than anticipated for the initial dump design. BHP Engineering has completed a review of dump design with emphasis on safe operating conditions for the conveyors and stacker system. Data on the geotechnical properties of coarse rejects from Australian coal mines are presented. Coarse coal rejects are a material which should not be considered as waste, but as a potentially valuable resource for many future applications. Appropriate engineering design for the storage and utilisation of coarse rejects would result in an improved environment and economic benefits for the Community.

Jan 1, 1987

A Study on Process Mineralogy and Mineral Processing of Complex Carbon-Bearing Cu-Pb-Co-Ni Multi-Metal Sulfide Ore by Bulk Flotation

Sep 13, 2010

By Billingham R

The Department of Mines Tasmania employs a Drilling Section for specialised drilling re- quired by government and semi-government bodies. The section has a complement of nine crews oper- ating auger, cable tool, rotary and diamond drilling plants. For some years the Department has been involved in site investigation drilling of the Derwent River. The experience gained indicated that drilling methods should be altered. In 1976 an urgent programme was requested and the opportunity was taken to solve many problems associated with previous investigations. Equipment and methods are discussed in detail. The improved technique contributed to the suc- cessful completion of the Phase 1 site investi- Gation.

Jan 1, 1977

By Tsuchida N

The history of world nickel production has been affected significantly by the supply and demand situation and fluctuation of LME price of nickel metal. In the beginning of the 1980s, the decline of price and demand lead to the withdrawal of un-competitive producers and the shrinkage of the production capacity. During the same period, Sumitomo Metal Mining maintained the production level with continuous improvement of the traditional matte electrorefining process. However, Sumitomo has recognised that the continuous improvement alone does not promise us the ability to catch up with rapid changes in the world. In the meantime, Sumitomo intensively researched chloride hydrometallurgy and has developed the chloride process for the nickel refining. This includes the solvent extraction and chloride electrowinning in the mixed sulphide process and the chlorine leach of the anode slime arising from matte electrorefining. In the late-1980s, Sumitomo Metal Mining decided to develop a new nickel refining technology based on chloride hydrometallurgy. The new process was designed from the comprehensive aspects involving safety and the environment. Construction of the plant for the matte chlorine leach electrowinning (MCLE) process was commenced in 1991. The MCLE plant with a capacity to 2000 tonnes per month has been commissioned at Niihama since 1992. The process has provided high productivity, overall good economics and high quality of electrolytic nickel produced. After the establishment of the process, Sumitomo has maintained continuous improvement of the new process and has attained the best practice of the work classification.

Jan 1, 1996

By A D. Paktunc

The surface reactivity of underwater deposited, high-sulfide copper mine tailings was evaluated under fresh and saline water cover conditions by measuring the surface and pore water quality as a function of time. The experiments were conducted in aquarium type lysimeters having a shallow, well-aerated water cover up to approximately 0.25 m over the tailings. Natural lake water was used for the fresh water cover and seawater for the saline water cover scenarios. The tailings showed significant surface reactivity and oxidation under both fresh and saline water cover conditions. The surface water quickly became moderately to highly acidic, and surface oxidation of the tailings resulted in increased dissolution and release of sulfates, iron (total), calcium, magnesium, aluminium, manganese, copper, nickel, zinc, lead, cobalt and silicon to the water covers. A moderate to slightly increased loss of total sulfides, including pyrite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite, occurred in the tailings surface layer to a very shallow depth. In comparison to the fresh water cover, the complete acidification of the saline water cover was delayed by approximately 30 - 40 days because of its additional available alkalinity. Whereas the rate of surface water acidification and release of aluminium and silicon were moderately reduced under saline water cover conditions in comparison to those for the fresh water cover, the release of calcium, magnesium, iron (total), copper, nickel, lead, zinc, sodium and potassium were enhanced. The mass transfer fluxes for dissolved copper, nickel lead, zinc and iron (total) from the tailings substrate to the surface water cover following surface water acidification were higher by 50 per cent or more in the saline water cover than those in the fresh water cover. This release was also reflected in moderate loss of pyrite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite in the very shallow upper surface layer of the tailings at the tailings-water interface, although the loss of pyrite in the surface layer was less pronounced. In both cases, the dissolution of aluminosilicate minerals moderated, to a certain extent, pH and acidity in the water cover.

Jan 1, 2003

By L M. Zhang, T H. Xu, J Zhao

Blasting is one of the most commonly used strategies for excavation in civil and mining engineering. Yet blasting can also bring along such undesirable effects as ground vibrations and soil disturbance. Numerical analysis is a powerful tool for estimating the effects of blasting and improving blasting design. In this research, a constitutive model for sand is proposed for the numerical analysis of blast-induced ground motions and wave propagation in soil mass. In the model, three model surfaces, ie the critical surface, the dilatancy surface and the bounding surface, are defined following the bounding surface hypoplasticity framework. The strain rate is included explicitly into the model formulations so that the proposed model is valid under high strain rate loadings caused by blast-induced vibrations. The performance of the proposed model is validated by the simulation of drained triaxial compression tests conducted on a crushed coral sand under different strain rates.CITATION:Xu, T H, Zhang, L M and Zhao, J, 2014. A bounding surface model for sand subjected to blast-induced vibrations, in Proceedings AusRock 2014: Third Australasian Ground Control in Mining Conference , pp 201–206 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 5, 2014

An approximate rapid design system for tunnel liners and underground structures is presented which permits the effects of structure geometry and stiffness, rock quality in terms of its deformation modulus, and the applied system loading to be entered as data to produce direct designs conforming to stress limitations, optimum reinforcement requirements and restraints on section dimensions. An 'equivalent column' concept is introduced for modelling the rock mass in contact with the structure. Only the rock treatment is given in detail but the results of sensitivity analyses, with reference to rock quality, for a typical liner design are given and these results related to a number of empirical design approaches.

Jan 1, 1976

Working thick coal seams in Poland is a very serious problem. Nearly 40 per cent of all coal is extracted from seams more than 3 m. thick. In absolute figures this represents about 70 million tons of coal per year. Working seams with thicknesses up to 3.5 m. does not present, at present, major difficul- ties. Working thicker seams calls for a steady improvement in order to increase the degree of utilization of the deposit and to enlarge the concentration of output. The problem is sometimes more difficult because, in many cases, the seams are worked under protected surface structures which compels the mines to use hydraulic stowing with all its advantages and disadvantages. Rock burst hazard, the control of which is the basic problem hindering the mining, is a further problem. The mining systems used in Poland are adapted to these natural and technical conditions.

Jan 1, 1976

By E du Plessis, M Rowley, M Fallon, F Golenya, R Swanson, I Robertson

"Check sampling programs were undertaken at Barrick Australia Pacific LimitedÆs Lawlers and Plutonic mine sites in Western Australia. The programs identified that the sampling, sample preparation and assaying protocols required modification to ensure acceptable precision (reproducibility) for each gold mineralisation type. These case studies describe the processes used to identify the: inconsistent precision different types of test work programs that were conducted to quantify the appropriateness for each mineralisation type steps used to modify the protocols.The type of test work conducted included: a duplicate series heterogeneity test for particulate gold mineralisation in the Lawlers gold deposit screen fire assay test work on duplicate subsamples for arsenopyrite associated mineralisation at the Plutonic gold deposit.Each test work program required a detailed scope specifying the sample selection criteria, sample preparation and assaying steps. The aim of the test work flow chart design was to ensure the assay precision between the different particle sizes or duplicate sample pairs could be measured and calculated. In the screen fire test work the true grade of the primary sample was calculated and compared against each subsample.A high quality assay laboratory was utilised for the test work. All samples were fire assayed and the gold grade determined using a gravimetric finish. The assay results were validated and the data was analysed using tables and graphs in spreadsheets. Following data analysis a modified sample preparation and assaying protocol for each mineralisation type was designed for use by the principal assay laboratories. Following implementation of the new protocols, routine check samples were collected during the sample preparation and assaying stages to monitor the performance of the new protocol.CITATION:Fallon, M, Rowley, M, Du Plessis, E, Golenya, F, Robertson, I and Swanson, R, 2012. Confirming the sampling, sample preparation and assaying protocols used at two Yilgarn gold deposits, in Proceedings Sampling 2012, pp 47-62 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Aug 21, 2012

By T Vizcarra, G Sandoval, C L. Evans

One of the challenges in the development of mineral processing simulators is modelling the liberation characteristics of particles produced by comminution circuits. Understanding the mineral characteristics of these particles is one of the keys to predicting their behaviour in separation circuits. While more fundamental research seeks to model the non-random breakage of ores this work examines whether we can move forward now by using observed characteristics of ores to model the composition of particles generated in comminution processes. Several researchers have noted the similarity of the liberation characteristics for a selected size fraction of particulate material, whether the fraction comes from a coarse material, such as the product from a jaw crusher, or a more finely ground material, such as the product from a ball mill. In most cases these observations were reported as an aside and were not the main focus of the published work. This observed behaviour has the potential to be a useful tool for modelling the particle characteristics in mineral comminution and separation circuits, particularly as we move towards the development of multi-component models. However, before the behaviour can be used widely we need to understand which ore types follow the observed pattern and which do not. The current work examines a range of ores and identifies which exhibit the pattern of similarity of composition for particles in a given size class that has been produced as the result of a variety of breakage conditions. The impact of mineralogy and texture on the evolution of liberation characteristics for both valuable and gangue minerals is discussed.

Jan 1, 2008

By Leigh J. H

A history is given of the dust control techniques developed and applied by the mining companies at Broken Hill. A history of the regeneration works undertaken since 1936 is out- lined. Particular emphasis is placed on the stabilization of mine residue dumps which are located throughout a belt of mining leases in the middle of the city and which began in 1937. The establishment of vegetation for dust control techniques is discussed in detail and a case study is given of the successful revegetation of the sides of a 650 metre long, 350 metre wide and 35 metre high residue dump.

Jan 1, 1976

By C A. Cooper, G A. Suter

The sizing of a starter dam for a Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) involves balancing many competing demands. It should cost as little as possible, be high enough to store tailings until the first raise can be constructed, it must be able to contain water safely, and it must be designed in such a way that the long-term integrity of the higher raises are not compromised, among other things. In addition to these demands there is the complication of the behaviour of the process plant, and the tailings during commissioning. Variations in slurry density, excess water in the TSF, initial settled density of the tailings, reliability issues, and beach slopes above and below water can all impact the way the tailings beaches are developed and ultimately impact the ability of the starter dyke to contain the required volume of tailings and water.The conventional approach to the design of a TSF starter dyke is to begin looking at the elevation required for a set of deterministic design parameters, find ways to reduce the size or volume of it as much as possible to reduce cost, and then possibly look at the sensitivity of some of the input parameters. This paper discusses a stochastic modelling approach for starter dykes that allows a wide range of design inputs to be simulated quickly, with an envelope of possible results produced. The sensitivity to different parameters can also be examined to understand which design inputs have the biggest impact on the required dyke sizing. By integrating the 3D TSF modelling tool Muk3D with GoldSim, it will be demonstrated how a wide range of scenarios can be evaluated and how that information can be used to make better decisions about the selection of design options.CITATION:Cooper, C A and Suter, G A, 2018. Starter dyke optimisation with Muk3D and GoldSim, in Proceedings Mine Waste and Tailings Stewardship Conference 2018, pp 466–475 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 23, 2018

The Gympie Goldfield was the sixth largest producer of gold in historic terms in Australia. The Joint Venture Agreement between BHP Gold Mines Limited and Devex Limited was signed in January 1987. Since that time, some $20 million have been spent on underground and surface exploration work in the southern portion of the goldfield. The project is of considerable interest as the dewatering, rehabilitation and equipping of an old rectangular timber-lined shaft has been undertaken. The project is located in Gympie, a city of 10,000 people. The issues of dealing with urbanisation and associated environmental aspects are vital to the success of the project. An outline of the project and the geology of the mineralised structures follows:

Jan 1, 1989

By M Aros, L Reilly

Iron ore is normally sold in bulk at certain specifications. These include iron grade and specific contaminant grades, typically silica, alumina, phosphorous and sulfur. These target grades are normally agreed between the mining company (producer) and the steelmaking company (customer).This study presents an alternative to traditional cut-off grade calculation, using linear programming that maximises the total ore inventories within a predefined mining envelope while meeting the specified targets. Providing a feasible mining sequence that maintains the target grade is not covered in this study.The method was applied to Fortescue’s operations. The complexity arising from differing ore quality within each mining horizon, variable yields and upgrades and the need to control iron and contaminant grades provided a good opportunity to test an alternative method of ore selection. The new method significantly reduced the time spent in cut-off selection and sensitivity analysis, and provided an optimised solution.CITATION:Aros, M and Reilly, L, 2014. Ore selection optimisation for an iron ore deposit using linear programming, in Proceedings Orebody Modelling and Strategic Mine Planning Symposium 2014, pp 345–350 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 24, 2014

This paper examines the cost and economic consequences of varying a number of key factors in the course of developing and operating new underground longwall coal mines with both shallow and deep cover in New South Wales. The economics of the project are assessed for the first 20 years of mine life using the discounted cash flow method with produc- tion and selling price being determined to provide break even costs for a range of minimum rates of return.

Jan 1, 1988

Wire rope, when used for hoisting on a mine is the weak- est and most vulnerable unit in the most expensive'-group of installations or! the mine. With the introduction' of hoisting on the S1Koepe"' sheave, a new technique was-established. This innovation brought with it the certain- advantages which long had been recognised and which are being developed further. For many years, drum winders of many types had been the sole means by which ore had been hauled from mines. This type of winder, with its capacity for rope storage on the drum, permitted mine operating personnel to cut short lengths from

Jan 1, 1964

I know the theme of the Congress is "The 21st Century - Mining for Mankind" but I hope you will understand why my address touches upon some near-term issues as well. With the world oil market the way it is at present, "the long term" seems to be next week and no one is even sure what will happen tomorrow! So I am going to take a little licence with the theme of the Congress and talk about some fundamental issues that have much to do with the current uncertainties. The ways in which these issues are resolved and the role governments elect to play in the next few years will determine both the shape of the petroleum industry in the 1990s and beyond and the success with which we can confront a growing and inevitable future dependence on OPEC oil resources. But just in case you are not familiar with what has been happening in the petroleum industry recently and why the future seems more uncertain than ever, let me show you the gyrations in oil prices over the past 13 years, and remember that it is only another 13 years or so years to the 21st Century.

Jan 1, 1986

By H Kim, J Park, J Lee

Silico-ferrite of calcium and aluminium (SFCA) is a bonding phase in the iron ore sinter. The phase transition upon melting of SFCA was investigated with Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope. The initial melting of SFCA occurred at 1183.2°C and a massive melting was found at around 1351.1–1358.2°C. A phase transition-melting was investigated at 1476.5–1478.7°C. The liquid phase was composed of immiscible phases. The present results would be utilised to design a new iron ore sinter for better processing performance in a hydrogenenriched ironmaking process.

Jun 19, 2024

By R Markoski, P Grealish

The requirement for rapid vertical development for underground ventilation is often a factor when dealing with dynamic mine plans, with short vertical developments being used to optimise ventilation systems. In an effort to increase the safety and efficiency of the constructions, a simple and effective sinking methodology is required that is both adaptable and repeatable. A modified shaft construction methodology is proposed that attempts to minimise risk to the personnel as well as be cost-effective. Readily available equipment is used to ensure adaptability to the various environments and shaft parameters.One of the greatest risks of shaft sinking is having personnel working suspended over open cavities or underneath suspended loads. Removing this risk, by ensuring all construction is done from solid ground, allows for safer sinking operations. As the process is repeatable, familiarity and confidence in its construction sequence will increase with each successive sink.A trial sink is performed with a 3.6 m diameter, 20 m deep shaft. The shaft was excavated using a conventional strip-and-line philosophy, with the shaft then being lined from the collar via the use of large diameter corrugated steel culverts. The annulus between the steel culverts and shaft excavation is then filled with a concrete mixture to secure it in position.The new process was successful, with no personnel at any time during the process being suspended above an open excavation. The installation had relatively low capital and operational costs and was completed faster than an equivalent, conventional concrete-lined shaft construction. Therefore when compared to conventional shaft-sinking methods, this process can be considered safer, more efficient and relatively cost-effective.Further research is required to determine whether this method can be expanded to larger vertical developments.CITATION:Markoski, R and Grealish, P, 2014. A new method for rapid vertical development of underground ventilation shafts, in Proceedings 15th Australasian Tunnelling Conference 2014 , pp 603–606 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 17, 2014