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A mining operation can be identified as demonstrating prudent management when a number of vital characteristics are evident.All risks and opportunities that are critical to the on-going success of the operation have been identified and are being effectively managed. All significant tasks and events are plan driven. All levels of management visibly support the policies of the operation through their attitude, behaviour and actions as well as words. Supporting evidence for required activity and the outcomes is readily available. Improvement mechanisms are working to advance the key business processes. Everyone is working towards satisfying the needs of the stakeholders of the operation. When these characteristics are integrated with the satisfaction of all legislative requirements, all industry codes and optionally all relevant international management system standards then an operation is fulfilling all the requirements of a Due Diligence Process. The majority of mining operations do not show all of these characteristics and therefore unnecessarily suffer from missed profit opportunity and constant cost pressure, less than acceptable safety and health and environmental performance and consequent poor relations with employees, unions and regulators. In these operations the characteristics to be observed are quite different.Serious incidents are occurring with no sign of a rate decrease. The operation lurches from one panic ituation to another. Management are absent in their leadership, but very active in developing rules and enforcement methodologies. The operation has no history. Re-inventing the wheel with employees who come and go at an alarming rate seems to be forever occurring. All efforts are directed at controlling the business outputs with a strong emphasis on blame. Everyone is trying to look busy to avoid the ever-present cost reduction threats. To change to more prudent management utilising a Due Diligence Process is not theoretically difficult. However it does take clear direction, focussed efforts, supporting actions with appropriate tools and perhaps most importantly an internal desire and drive to become such an operation. A Due Diligence Process is about doing the important things that have to be done, providing the understanding of why they are important, demonstrating proof of activity and effectiveness, and leading the way through effective management.

Jan 1, 1998

Information obtained from a reconciliation system provides fundamental indicators to an operations performance and is often neglected as a key performance indicator when developing a business plan or mining schedule. The cycle of exploration, ore definition, mining and processing within a company is constantly scrutinised both internally and externally as to the safety, environmental and financial performance of these activities with the operators judged on their performance on a periodic basis. However, it is not unusual for the reconciliation process to be given scant attention until a serious issue (usually a shortfall) occurs, at which point short-term solutions may be implemented which only serve to compound the original problem. A robust reconciliation system takes time to develop and implement initially and must continue to evolve with time. The best systems are those where all the stakeholders in the ultimate outcome are involved in the design and accept responsibility for the validity of their component inputs. Output from the reconciliation process can be utilised to fine-tune all aspects of an operation once the underlying issues leading to a particular result are understood.

Jan 1, 2002

Milling Practices Ore is direct tipped into a gyratory crusher and crushed to minus 209mm and fed to stockpiles for the blending of grade into the mills. Secondary and tertiary crushing reduces the mill feed to minus 12mm. Mill feed is a blend of breccia and porphyry ore into two primary mills with the overflow to a regrind mill and then into the leach tanks, followed by a conventional counter current carbon in leach circuit. Underflow from the cyclones feeds back into the primary mills for additional grind. An unusual feature of the Mt Leyshon milling circuit is a desire to produce scatts. The scatt by product is the polished base rock of the Mt Leyshon Breccia clast and contains little grade. These scatts are produced because of the additional time and energy required to produce a proportionally small quantity of gold. The residence of these scatts in the mills decreases the mill feed rate. Scatts account for twenty percent of the mill feed and are screened from the discharge of the primary mills.

Jan 1, 1990

Australia is a significant exporter of uranium for use as fuel in nuclear generating plants around the world. Although Australia does not have any nuclear power plants the Australian Atomic Energy Commission has a research program on methods for the safe disposal of wastes produced by such plants.

Jan 1, 1986

By T Iwadachi, T Fujisawa an, G R. Alvear

A large amount of Be2C and BeO is formed during the Cu-Be alloy production process, because beryllium is a highly reactive element. Carbide and oxide formation impairs the production yield and the quality of the Cu-Be alloy products, and therefore should be minimised. As a first step for solving these problems in the process, the following thermodynamic properties of the Cu-Be-C-O system were investigated. Based on the results, the equilibrium relations of the Cu-Be-C-O system were clarified and the operational conditions of the current Cu-Be alloy production process were also examined and discussed.

Jan 1, 2000

By Giannini L. M

The determination of the "optimum pit limit" of a mine has long been considered as a fundamental problem of mine planning. A number of mathematical techniques have been proposed to solve this problem some of the more elaborate ones posing considerable computational difficulties for their implementation. Barnes and Johnson recently introduced "bounding techniques" to ease the computational effort required for determining the optimum pit. The aim of this paper is to point out and correct some errors in their techniques. A presentation of a general bounding algorithm is given.

Jan 1, 1985

The success of any industry depends on the planned integration of the policies and resources of the key components of the Australian economic and political structure - government, industry management, education, research, and the human resources of the industry. The Australian Mineral Industry, like Australia itself, has grown and developed at a rate not foreseen by many of our founding fathers and early industry leaders. Hence, now, as we approach the 21st Century, we need to re-think our approach to the significant new problems that are beginning to face both government and the Mineral Industry. Government initiatives, government information and support services, industry re-structuring, and research and development support, need to be carefully re-evaluated, re-diredted,. and strengthened, so that government, the community, and the Mineral Industry produce and receive the optimum education and research strategies and services. The support of academics and researchers, the development of facilities, and the design of new Courses for the future successful and beneficial exploitation of minerals need particular consideration.

Jan 1, 1986

By S Dunbar, S Harrison, J Cilliers

‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’George Santayana (16 December 1863 in Madrid, Spain to 26 September 1952 in Rome, Italy). Philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist.The minerals industry requires specific technical expertise in mining and mineral process engineering, geoscience, environmental science and social sciences to maintain and operate its current business and to develop future projects. A steady supply of new graduates is essential to replace not only retirees, but also those who left the industry during the recent downturn. The supply of trained graduates is however not instantaneous, and there is a four-year lag from entry into university to graduation. It is essential that this lag in human resource supply and a likely shortage of knowledgeable, qualified talent is taken into account when considering risks to the business of mining. The shortage of skilled professionals has in the past resulted in unsustainable salary expectations and is likely to pose financial and execution risk to new projects. This paper will review some recent statistics of students in training from around the world and explore what action is required to not only sustain the training courses that provide future ready talent to the mining industry, but also ensure that graduates from these courses are equipped to create change and be leaders in the industry. The future prosperity of the industry is dependent on delivering sustainable stakeholder returns through the cycle. This will be achieved by developing capable individuals that can respond to the complex, adaptive challenges facing the industry.*This is an abstract only. No full paper was prepared for this abstract.*CITATION:Plint, N, Cilliers, J, Dunbar, S and Harrison, S, 2018. Back to basics: resourcing the mining industry, in Proceedings 14th AusIMM Mill Operators' Conference 2018, pp 33–34 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 29, 2018

By J Santana, V Ferraz, G Pinto, G Cruzado

Morro Agudo is an underground zinc and lead mine owned by Nexa Resources. The mine uses room and pillar as the main mining method. The recovery of pillars as well as the opening of new excavations using sublevel stoping as mining method has been studied. On some occasions, the need to recover pillars and open a stope by using the sublevel method happens in a region that is already excavated or in deeper areas than those mined so far. These changes represent a major geotechnical challenge due to the complex openings of the mine and interaction between two different mining methods. Historically, geotechnical mapping, kinematic analysis and a 2D numerical model were used to evaluate the new mine openings, and in 2021, 3D numerical model was introduced, which enabled global and local assessment of new excavations impact and the stability of openings after recoveries. The 3D model, made with MAP3D, is used to evaluate each pillar to be recovered, considering the spans of the resulting openings, the ideal sequencing of removal to maintain stability, in addition to the impact and geometry of the pillars left in the chambers. Pillar recoveries done in 2021 and the impact of it on the pillars left were the sources of the back analysis to calibrate parameters inputted on numerical model to assess recovery on new chambers and Phyllite has been considered into the model and it has been a source of instability due to its parallel position to roof of room and pillars and stope hanging walls.

Nov 29, 2022

By A Grant, H Thomas, C Clarke, B Fuller

Native seed and plants are often a core input into the rehabilitation process of mine closure. Native plant establishment rate and performance is a function of many input elements including seed quality (purity and germination percentage), processing, treatment, storage, supply chain handling, application and ongoing management. Traditionally native seed has been supplied with very limited supporting information which in some cases has led to establishment failures, repeated attempts at successful plantings, and biosecurity issues, leading to increased rehabilitation costs for mining companies. Product procurement scrutiny, and sustainability credential requirements, in all supply chains is increasing the need for transparent, accurate, verified, and certified information. This collectively continues to evolve towards a social license to operate in all industries, including mining. The Australian Seeds Authority (ASA), in partnership with native seed supplier AustraHort, traceability software company Trust Provenance and supporting partners including Transport for NSW and Queensland Transport and Main Roads (TMR), were recipients of a DAWE National Traceability Grant. The project team has developed a framework and traceability software platform currently being piloted within the Australian native seed industry. The framework and platform allow for all critical-tracking-events along the journey of a native seed batch to be easily captured utilising a smart phone application (APP) and the global standard for data capture. The platform provides a unique identification for each batch of seed and critical tracking event. The batch ID belongs to that batch and all supply chain stakeholders can contribute to batch traceability by providing more information/data to increase information integrity. This gives the end user, and other stakeholders, increased levels of trust in the product to support value, increase efficiency and reduce costs. For mining companies these efficiencies and cost reductions are in the form of information availability across site/company, potentially improved vegetation establishment, less rework and efficient monitoring. Ultimately this contributes to safe, stable and sustainable rehabilitation. By capturing data on harvest, logistics, storage (including temperature and humidity), aggregation/blending, treatment, application and ongoing management, the native seed industry and end utilisers of native seed have a greater level of product integrity, brand integrity and information integrity.

Aug 2, 2023

I propose to speak today about our mineral heritage. In common usage "heritage" refers to the past. It means the discoveries, the developments, the mines and the processing plants, the benefits, the consequences, and the human experiences flowing from these. The history of the industry, inseparable from the history of the countries in which The Institute operates, is a rich background of which we can all be proud.But there is also a much wider meaning to mineral heritage. Our past has left us with the ab\lity to create and operate world scale enterprises generating wealth for the community, the ability to offer satisfying and challenging careers in a wide range of skills to our young people, and the willingness to follow adventurous and challenging vocations in remote areas, away from the big cities, at a time when the mentality of many is to get the most for the least effort and at the least inconvenience to themselves. The industry continues to be the repository of the pioneer spirit and a vital contributor to improving the life of the people in our countries.Thus, while our mineral heritage has much to do with the past, an essential part of it is how we use this rich past to build and shape our future. It is in this broader context that I am speaking today.

Jan 1, 1990

By J Pearce, B Miles, V de San Miguel

Incorporating industry best practice waste rock management methods can be a relatively straight forward task when preparing management documentation, such as an acid and metalliferous drainage management plan (AMDMP). However, a key difficulty is the incorporation of industry best practice methods that are practical and non-compromising on their purpose from a scientific standpoint. The second key difficulty is the implementation of these practical methods as various operational groups/departments are typically relied upon to execute and take ownership of different tasks or procedures.One approach to overcoming these difficulties is to develop an AMD Operations Manual (AMDOM) that:•Incorporates, where practicable and without compromising scientific merit, existing processes that those groups/departments ultimately responsible for the execution of the management action are familiar with; and•Provides standalone, simplistic, and easy to follow procedures for site personnel. The purpose of the standalone operations manual is to ensure site personnel who are responsible for undertaking specific procedures, have clear, step-by-step instructions for an individual procedure, without requiring interpretation and understanding of the more comprehensive AMDMP.In adopting a best practice approach to waste rock management for their iron ore mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, Roy Hill developed an AMD Management System that is comprised of both an AMDMP and an AMDOM that are connected through adaptive management processes. The Roy Hill iron ore mine, which has a mine life of 18 years, will require the management of more than three billion tonnes of waste rock.CITATION:de San Miguel, V, Miles, B and Pearce, J, 2018. Practical waste rock management at the Roy Hill iron ore mine, Western Australia, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2018, pp 80–82 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 25, 2018

By Weatherstone N

Ironstone outcrops on the Savage River were discovered by State Government Surveyor C. P. Sprent in 1877. The limonitic outcrops were initially regarded as the surface expressions of pos- sible tin-bearing lodes, the tin deposits at Mt. Bischoff to the east having been found in 1871. By the turn of the century, shafts, adits and trenches had been developed on the deposits in the unsuccessful quest for gold, silver and base metals. The deposits were first reported as a possible source of iron ore by Tasmania Department of Mines (TDM) geologists in 1919. Modern exploration began in 1956 with the area registering the best magnetic response during an aeromagnetic survey of North- western Tasmania by the Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR). The area had previously been reserved by TDM in anticipation of the lifting of the iron ore embargo. Reconnaissance Geologi- cal mapping (TDM) and grid-based magnetometer surveys (BMR) indicated that resources of iron-bearing material could approach hundreds of millions of tons. This provided the incentive for two diamond drill holes funded by TDM which demonstrated iron mineralisation in substantial tonnages, suitable grades and, fol

Jan 1, 1988

By C Sylvestre

Leaders have invested heavily in traditional safety management to improve safety performance over the years. This primarily involved: • fixing the environment (eliminating the hazard) • improving the system (more/less rules, procedures etc) • making safety more conscious (more/better interactions about the importance of safety). These approaches have helped improve safety performance significantly during the last 50 years and will continue to play a role in the future. Although these approaches may be part of an overall solution, they are not enough to prevent many incidents. Today, these three approaches are used more than before, and are used better than ever before. Yet, workplace fatalities in Australia have stagnated from 2013 to 2019, as have the number of incidents, even serious ones. In the USA, workplace fatalities have increased by 15 per cent in the same period.

May 5, 2022

The papers in this section of the conference and indeed the conference as a whole will rightly focus on the recent û the state of play around the Pacific Rim. However, to set the scene I propose to take a longer-term perspective. In so doing I wish to illustrate and emphasise that change is normal and natural û to paraphrase Bob DylanÆs 1963 classic, æThe times they are (always) a-changinÆ Æ. The challenge is how to cope with such change, in an industry, a corporate and a personal sense. A further challenge for geologists, both exploration and mine-based, and indeed for anyone, is to understand where they fit in the broader picture. For several reasons it is appropriate first to look briefly at the minerals industry in the Pacific Rim around a century ago. It was here in Adelaide in April 1893 that the first general meeting of the Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers (or The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy as it later became) took place and where the Centenary Meeting was held in 1993. The late 1800s and early 1900s was a period of extraordinary change in the minerals industry regionally and worldwide. The industry benefited from the economies of scale provided by improved mechanisation. It further benefited from the introduction of technically qualified professionals, such as chemists, metallurgists and mining engineers, although the usefulness of geologists had yet to be recognised commercially. With the rise of such professionals, technical societies formed and flourished. At the same time international financial markets and trade were expanding, a gold standard was widely supported and the financing of mining ventures was well established. Mining was an international business and its people travelled widely. As a consequence of the better-educated mining professional, the ready exchange of knowledge and the availability of finance, new processing techniques such as pyritic smelting, the cyanide process and flotation were developed. These, together with much improved materials handling in the mining and processing phases, dramatically changed the economics of the minerals industry.

Jan 1, 2004

ALTHOUGH the mineral Stannite (Cu2S, FeS, SnS2 , also known as "bell 'metal" ore, tin pyrites, etc.) is found in various parts of the world, in only three iocalities has development proved it to exist in sufficient quantity to warrant the erection of treatment plants. Two of those mines are in New South Wales and one is an Tasmania. The writer will deal with the latter-the Conah mine, Zeehan, Tasmania, it being the most important and extensive occurrence so far worked. The Conah mine was first worked by a Tasmanian company for silver-Iead, and was fairly remunerative until the zone of secondary enrichment was passed through, when the lodes became too poor for further exploitation. During the time that the line was thus operated the stannite lode was discovered. It occurs in a graphitic slate, which, in common with the slates and spilites of the Zeehan field, is probably underlain by the stanniferous granite which outcrops two miles to the west. The Conah stannite lode is older than the galena lodes of the district, being faulted by one of the latter. Near the surface the lode was very rich.Shipments were sent out assaying 150 oz. of silver per ton, 20% copper, and 18% tin. An .apparently homogeneous sample of stannite, analyzed by the writer for the Tasmanian Geological survey, gave the following results:

Jan 1, 1915

By Harper F

This paper outlines the authors' views of the methodologies which can be employed to value mineral properties at different stages of development for the purposes of project financing, mergers and public floats. This paper discusses the key issues in Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis including the importance of data verification and the shortcomings in DCF analysis. Stockmarket valuation measures and valuation methodology for exploration and pre development projects are examined through examples and pitfalls are identified. The use of valuations in corporate transactions and their strategic value is also discussed.

Jan 1, 1994

By Cole RT

The cultural ages of man have been defined in terms of smelting and hence as a prerequisite, mining for example the iron age and the bronze age. There could be no separation of the man from his role as the technologist (miner/ smelter) for his early metal working efforts were to enhance survival. In the millenniums since, the artisan specialist developed and the technologist emerged. The process is a sort of technical natural selection. From the generalist hunter, gatherer, miner, metalworker we advanced over the centuries with great 'steps for mankind' to the series of specialists each largely intent on securing his/her technical functions from the curious assaults of other tribal members. The relevance of all this to the theme, 'Past, present and future of the Victorian mining and metallurgical industries', is simply that people have always, and will always, be the moving force in our industries. It is the effectiveness of people now and in the future that this paper addresses.

Jan 1, 1982

By Wauchope AMH

Arsenic residues from BHAS Refinery operations are currently treated to form a calcium arsenic compound and stored in lined dams on site. Laboratory and large scale work on these residues has resulted in the development of a hydrometallurgical process for production of arsenic trioxide. The process also recovers the material from the storage dams. The residues are hot water leached to produce an alkaline arsenic liquor. This liquor is mixed with material from the storage dams and lime to form a calcium arsenic precipitate. The precipitate is then reacted with sulphuric acid to form gypsum for return to the main plant, and an acidic arsenical solution. Metallurgical gas containing 3-6% sulphur dioxide is bubbled through the solution and on cooling arsenic trioxide is precipitated. The product contains in excess of 95% arsenic trioxide. Installation of a plant at Port Pirie based on this process is being evaluated by BRAS.

Jan 1, 1984

By S Harrison

Work health and safety duties around Australia include duties to manage psychosocial health and safety (mental health) of workers engaged by businesses or undertakings and of other persons impacted by the operations of the business or undertaking. Persons conducting a businesses or undertakings must develop systems of work and policies and procedures for ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety and health of workers and other persons. Officers have a duty to exercise due diligence and to ensure effective systems are developed, implemented and resourced. The developed systems will only be effective with worker’s co-operation and engagement. The duties placed on workers by work health and safety laws are an important part of the safety matrix of obligations. Supervisors and Leaders are workers and they play a critical role in delivering health and safety outcomes. To deliver these health and safety outcomes with respect to psychosocial safety Supervisors and Leaders need to understand their obligations and have a framework to use to assist them in understanding what workers require and what steps need to be taken to meet their duties. They also need to take steps to assist those workers that they supervise to meet their duties.

Apr 16, 2024