Search Documents

By M. J. Deats

INTRODUCTION To prepare the reader adequately, reference should be made to the paper 'The Pioneering of Fully Mechanized Longwall Coal Mining in South Africa' by R. T. Naude and M. J. Deats, published in the February, 1967, edition of the Journal. At the time mechanized longwalling had been proved operationally feasible with encouraging results since its inception in South Africa in mid 1965. Subsequently, further top seam panels were successfully extracted with improved productivity and with some modification to equipment. In 1968, after an overseas visit by mine officials, equipment specific to suit local conditions was acquired and lower seam trials commenced. Despite initial obstacles and difficulties the first panel was successfully mined. Modification and improvements to equipment and techniques resulted in the second lower seam panel being extracted economically during 1969-1970 and with productivity exceeding even that of top seam faces. During extraction of the second lower seam panel, gradual and complete surface subsidence occurred over the panel without affecting face operations. Rock mechanics investigations had originally indicated some uncertainty regarding adverse dolerite sill behaviour which could have caused longwall mining to be hazardous. All such doubts have now been removed. RESUMÉ AS AT FEBRUARY, 1967 Mechanized longwalling was introduced in 1965 on an experimental basis in an effort to improve productivity in the newer area of the mine and to increase the quality of the comparatively dirty run of mine feed to the washing plant. In addition advantages could be predicted in the long term by better utilizing reserves of straight coking coal and increasing the life of the mine. The top seam unit was obtained on a rental basis and by the beginning of 1967, two panels, the first having a face length of 215 m, a panel length of 345 m, seam section of 1 219 mm, and the second the same face length, a panel length of 453 m and a seam section of 1 067 mm had been successfully longwalled. At this stage a best month of 24 602 metric tons with an average of 17 364 metric tons per full working month could be reported. Results were sufficiently encouraging for the company to exercise its right to acquire the equipment as its own asset and from 1967 onward, the unit has operated on this basis. From the point of view of rock mechanics, the dolerite sill over the first two panels was known to have 'bridged', only the material below the base of the sill having truly 'goafed'. No adverse pressure effects had significantly affected face operations except for two 'bumps' towards the end of operations in each panel. Gate road maintenance presented no problem. The strong inflows of water experienced on the first face were now known to be associated with an isolated water bearing fault plane and were not experienced on the second face. TOP SEAM EXPERIENCE - MAY, 1966, TO DATE Panel 2 (February, 1966, to November, 1966) The operations in panel 2 (see Fig. 1 for location of panels) continued uneventfully until the final month in this panel. At this stage, the chocks behaved most inconsistently often lowering under the weight of the canopies alone. Roof trouble became so severe that the unit was unable to produce adequately and blasting of chocks became a daily occurrence. Finally 24 m short of the planned limit it was decided that a complete overhaul was the only solution and the extraction operations commenced. At this time, the only fatal accident associated with longwalling occurred when a Non-White inadvertently fell into the panzer conveyor transfer point at the main gate. Some gate road difficulties in this panel were overcome by bolting tapes to the roof as decking and allowing them to pass over the gate chocks and collapse into the goaf. Two cribbed roof falls were also negotiated by the gate chocks at the face ends without undue difficulties. It was decided in the light of maintenance problems encountered on this face that the best solution would be to appoint a foreman solely in charge of face maintenance crews. This step has to a large extent contributed to success achieved subsequently. Panel 2-face length 213 m panel length 456 m cutting height 1 092 mm average monthly output 16 443 t best month 19 130 t Panel 3 (December, 1966, to June, 1967) By the end of 1966 results were sufficiently encouraging for the company to exercise its right to acquire the equipment. This was negotiated and the unit has operated as such to the present date. Prior to installation in panel 3, all face equipment was thoroughly overhauled underground and the chocks boost-tested to yield-load. The costs of overhauling, including almost complete hose replacement, were much higher than anticipated. Advice had been received that complete hose replacement was common practice after +/- 18 months' operation. Shortly after commencement of operations in panel 3 the chocks again failed as they had towards the end of panel 2. At this stage, the suppliers advised that the valve gear should have been repaired during the overhaul as the needle and seat seals could no longer be relied upon. This operation was impossible to carry out on the face and would have been e1ttremely time consuming. Fortunately a new type of valve gear was then available from the suppliers, termed the capsule-type valve, and a complete change over could be made on the face. The encapsulated valve has a delrin pad sealing over a raised

Brushy Creek mine is located near the center of a linear, 40 mile long belt of mineralization that extends south from St. Joe Minerals Corp.'s Viburnum division. The mine area includes a segment of 5.4 miles long of this new mining region along which eight mines are presently operating. The geology of the area is relatively simple; the rock formations have not been disturbed through folding or extensive faulting.

Jan 7, 1973

By E. C. Potter

FUEL-OIL was first substituted for coal at these works in September, 1888. It was first applied in the converting-department to the battery of boilers, consisting of 14 tubular boilers, 16 feet in length by 5 feet in diameter. To operate these boilers with coal for 24 hours required 14 strikers, 3 ash-wheelers, 6 men unloading coal, and 2 water-tenders, making a total of 25 men. With fuel-oil the same boilers require for the same period 2 water-tenders and 4 men to attend to the burners, making a total of 6 men. This gives a saving of 19 men, which, at an average of $2 per day each, amounts to $38 per day. Comparing the consumption of oil with that of coal, we find that for the week ending January 5, 1889, with an ingot output of 6403 tons, 2731 barrels of fuel-oil were used as against a necessary consumption of coal for the same work of 848 tons, showing 3.22 barrels of fuel-oil to be equivalent to one ton of Indiana block-coal. Figuring oil at 60 cents per barrel, and coal at $2.15 per ton, we have as the cost of oil $1.93, as against $2.15 for its equivalent in coal. In December, 1888, the rail-mill battery of 26 boilers, of the same dimensions as those in the converting-department, was equipped for fuel-oil. For the week ending January 5, 1889, with a rail out-put of 5208 tons, 5987 barrels of oil were consumed, as against a necessary consumption of coal, to do the same work, of 1805 tons, showing 3.31 barrels of fuel-oil to be equivalent to one ton of Indiana block-coal, which at the costs named above would show $1.98 worth of fuel-oil to he equal to $2.15 worth of coal. The labor required to operate the rail-mill boilers for 24 hours, with coal as fuel,is: 26 stokers, 4 water-tenders, 6 ash-wheelers, 12 men unloading coal; total, 48 men. With oil as fuel, the same work requires 4 water-tenders and 6 men to attend to the burners; total, 10 men; a saving over coal of 38 men in 24 hours, which, at an average price of $2 per day, would be $76 per day. In the brief experience we have had with oil as fuel, we find that the efficiency of the boilers is somewhat increased and the repairs are

Jan 1, 1889

By N. S. Dalal, X. Shi

While it is known that vanadate and related compounds of pentavalent vanadium ( V (V)) exert potent toxic effects on a wide variety of biological systems, the underlying biochemical mechanism is still not fully understood ( 1- 3). One of the pathways is thought to involve the oxidation of NAD ( P) H. Thus, considerable effort has been devoted to finding the mechanism of NAD ( P) H oxidation by Vcvi (1-15). Erdmann et al. (5) first noted that vanadate stimulated the oxidation of NADH by plasma membranes and attributed this effect to a membrane containing NAD(P)H-dependent V(V) reductase. Later studies by Liochev and Fridovich indicated that endogenous superoxide ( 02 ) plays a central role in this reaction ( 4, 12, 13) . They proposed that NAD ( P) H dehydrogenases or oxidases produce 02, which causes VCV ) to stimulate NAD ( P) H oxidation via the following free radical chain mechanism ( 4, 12, 13) :

Mar 1, 1992

By T. A. Lazier, C. S. Longley

"Paymaster Consolidated Mines, Limited, owns several groups of claims in various parts of the Porcupine district. The area in which mining has been carried on includes parts of lots 5, 6, and 7, con. 1, Tisdale township, and twelve adjoining claims in Deloro township to the south. Highway No. 67A between South Porcupine and Timmins crosses the property.The discovery of the Dome mine in 1909 caused a rush of prospectors to the district and in a few weeks practically all territory adjacent to the Dome was staked. At that time work was started on the West Dome, West Dome Lake, Apex, and Standard properties. These were consolidated in 1930 to form the present Company. Gold was produced from the West Dome Lake from 1915 to 1930, and from the Standard-Paymaster from 1922 to 1928. The total production of the previous and present companies from 1915 to November 30, 1946, has been 487,170 oz. gold and 149,342 oz. silver from 2,337,554 tons of ore."

Jan 1, 1954

By DONALD H. McLAUGHLlN

Few factors have had more influence in maintaining the strength and stability of the United States than our persistent habit of providing .checks and balances to the dynamic powers of free enterprise on the one hand and to the controls and guidance exercised by the State on the other. .Indeed, it is this same concern for matching forces against each other that has given our republic its ability -to preserve a democratic basis of life for its citizens, and yet maintain a ,government that is able to protect the rights of all and to resist and minimize the danger of excessive concentration of authority. Our current efforts to clarify the nation's mineral policies and to define more clearly the role that the governmental agencies should play in conjunction with the functions of private -enterprise again reveal the desirability and advantages of maintaining our traditional controls. At times, the equilibrium has been temporarily disturbed by too great enthusiasm for one or the other of these basic concepts. Sooner or later, however, the balance has been restored by the healthy opposition that is always created by excesses of one sort. At the current stage in our history, the swing toward undue enlargement of the powers of the State seems to have gone dangerously far and we would be untrue 'to our traditional behavior if the group that must demonstrate the virtues of free enterprise did not rally to its support with the utmost earnestness.

Jan 1, 1949

By Frank E. Cash

The data in this circular were compiled so that individual phosphate companies might have the benefit of the experience of other phosphate companies, and that industries in general might compare experiences (taking into consideration relative hazards), thereby promoting accident preven¬tion. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The descriptive matter is taken in part from a. paper by Cash and von Bernewitz.4/ Production figures ore from Mineral Resources of the United States;5/ accident data were furnished by each of the operating companies in the pebble-phosphate district, and their assistance in making this report possible is gratefully acknowledged.

Jan 1, 1936

By D. J. Bauer

Solvent extraction separation of light group rare-earth elements in a quaternary ammonium compound-chelating agent system was demonstrated in single-stage studies, Typical separation factor values obtained were 93 for lanthanum-praseodymium, 5.4 for praseodymium-neodymium, and 11.6 for neodymium-samarium. These values are significantly higher than those obtained using organophosphate extractants. Further studies in a 20-stage countercurrent mixer-settler resulted in the production of 99 percent lanthanum (oxide basis) at 96-percent recovery. Subsequently, 88 percent of the neodymium with a purity of 92 percent was recovered in the raffinate.

Jan 1, 1971

By G. S. Scott

The flammability of trichloroethylene vapors in air has been determined in a 7-inch cyclindrical vessel. Saturated flammable mixtures were formed with air at atmospheric pressure between 30° C (86° F) and 82° C (180° F); the trichloroethylene concentrations at these temperatures are 12.5 (lower) and 90 (upper) volume-percent, respectively. Further study is necessary to assess the effects of different variables on the flammability of this material. INTRODUCTION Trichloroethylene (TCE) (ClHC = CCl2), sold under various trade names (Blacosolv, Perm-A-Clor, Tri, Triad, Triclene, Trivec, Tromex, Vapoclean, Vapoclor, Westrosol, etc.), is an important industrial chemical. A summary of its physical and chemical properties is given in table 1. It is used to degrease metals, leather, and textiles, to extract residual oils from vegetable oil cakes, for dry cleaning, and in soap. It is a powerful solvent for fats, resins, bitumens, rubber, sulfur, and phosphorus. Several explosions in which trichloroethylene was involved prompted an investigation by the Bureau of Mines to determine the conditions under which such accidents can occur.

Jan 1, 1963

By Fei Chen, Xun Xu, Dezhong Kong, Yu Xiong

We address the problem of rib spalling caused by mining-induced roof movement. This problem affects production and safety of the working face. We address this problem by using the 3DEC numerical software to simulate the distribution and evolution regularity of displacement, stress, and the extent of plastic zone in the overlying strata and coal face during the advancing excavation of the 10,905 working face of the mine. Results showed that the first weighting interval of the 10,905 working face is 50 m, and the periodic weighting interval is 20 m. The fractures of overlying strata develop during the first weighting; the vertical stress and vertical displacement of the main roof increase by 45% and 10%, respectively; the vertical stress of the coal face increases by 11%; and the plastic zone in front of the working face increases rapidly. The displacement and stress of the main roof and coal face change periodically during the period of periodic weighting. The variation range during the periodic weighting is less than 30%, but the overall degree is larger than that before the first weighting. Finally, the integrity and rationality of numerical simulation are supplemented and verified by similarity simulation. On this basis, the proposed roof and coal face stability control scheme reduces the maximum horizontal displacement of the coal face from 16 to 4 cm, that is, a decrease of 75%. This study provides theoretical guidance for roof support and coal face stability control of working faces under similar conditions.

Dec 26, 2022

By Sub-Committee of the Committee on Research

"THE FOLLOWING REPORT was compiled by a sub-committee of The Metallurgical Society of CIM, Committee for Research, and represents a viewpoint of the steel industry in Canada. The objective was to define those areas in which the industry considers that external sources of Research and Development are a necessary function in supporting the in-house R & D conducted by the industry.On future occasions, the viewpoints of other metallurgical industries, such as those of nickel, copper and aluminum, will be presented. The report is divided into several sections: 1.-R & D Spending by the Steel Industry (a) Memberships in Recognized Steel Research Centres (b) Memberships in Recognized Industry Associations (c) Sponsored Research at Recognized Centres (d) Sponsored Research at Universities(e) Sporadic Research 2.-Areas for Research and Development(a) Instrumentation (b) Environment Control (c) Refractories (d) Sponsored Research at Universities(e) Electric Furnaces (f) Continuous Casting"

Jan 1, 1970

By K. Takahashi

Generally speaking, wastewater coming from the metallurgical process for recovering precious metal contains precious metals such as gold (Au), platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), Silver (Ag), etc., which concentration is about 10 mg/L. In addition, there are other metals such as copper (Cu), iron (Fe), which concentration varies from several mg/L to more than 10,000 mg/L. It should be noted that the concentration of metals in wastewater is relatively high, considering the fact that these metals of similar concentration can be found in ores. However, most of these valuable metals are not treated, due to the high processing cost and technical problems. Within this frame, the authors put forward a new process that includes neutralization/reduction, precipitation and fusion. The idea is to recover and recycle Au, Ag, and Pd metals as well as protecting the environment by saving the resources. It was found that this new process was able to recover more than 90% of Au, Ag and Pd.

Jan 1, 2014

By T Napier-Munn, E Louwrens, L Keeney

Geometallurgical characterisation of ore deposits is accepted practice in some parts of the mining industry today. Its primary aim is to provide constrained inputs that reflect inherent geological variability and its impact on metallurgical performance for the deposit. Geometallurgy improves project value because it suggests more valuable alternatives for scheduling and processing through an increased knowledge and understanding of the interactions of rock properties and extractive technologies. Lower project cost (both capital and processing) and improved recoveries are the result from closer tailoring of the mining and mineral processing strategies to the characteristics of the resource (Dunham, Vann and Coward, 2011). Tailings storage facilities (TSFs) can be seen as potential resources and it is argued that fundamental geometallurgical characterisation as applied in ore deposit characterisation should also be applied to planning the retreatment of TSFs. This paper will describe a research project at Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Resource Centre assessing if geometallurgical principles and methodologies can successfully be applied to TSFs as they have been to primary deposits. The project is establishing a new standard method of tailings evaluation which will include a 3D spatial model of the tailings resource. Initial domaining of the TSFs was done using principal component analysis followed by k-means cluster analysis based on chemical assays from drill core samples. The subsequent characterisation of the drill core samples has involved chemical, mineralogical and metallurgical profiling, with a range of metallurgical tests being conducted on the samples. This characterisation step is followed by class-based analysis, predictive modelling and process performance domaining with the ultimate objective of establishing a 3D spatial model incorporating geochemical, mineralogical and metallurgical performance data. This approach, which takes into account processing performance permits a more realistic (as compared to doing limited chemical assays and metallurgical testing) economic evaluation of the potential of reprocessing the tailings material. It is believed that the approach is generic and can be applied to other TSFs being considered for reprocessing. The present case study has also established the gold, copper, magnetite and cobalt deportment for an iron oxide copper-gold deposit tailings resource.CITATION:Louwrens, E, Napier-Munn, T and Keeney, L, 2015. Geometallurgical characterisation of a tailings storage facility – a novel approach, in Proceedings Tailings and Mine Waste Management for the 21st Century , pp 125–132 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 27, 2015

Pyrite is one of the principal Au-bearing minerals in refractory gold ores. Significantly high Au concentrations of up to 5200 ppm are present in pyrite. Pyrite hosting high levels of Au is also enriched in As. Pyrite as an unwanted mineral ends up in wastes and constitutes one of the primary sources of As in the mining and metallurgical wastes. Arsenic can be readily released to the environment due to rapid oxidative dissolution of the host pyrite under atmospheric conditions. In order to determine the form and occurrence of arsenic in pyrite, micro-X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy (XAFS) spectra were collected from a range of arsenical pyrite grains having different morphologies and a range of arsenic and gold concentrations. All the pyrite grains are characterised by the dominant edge aligned with As-1 valence state. In pyrite, arsenic atoms substitute for S atoms that are in six-fold coordination about each Fe atom. XAFS data suggest that As atoms occur in clusters within the pyrite structure. In addition to As-1, fine-grained, inclusion-rich and framboidal-type pyrite grains have a second As species at ~11 875 eV corresponding to As5+. This As5+ species in pyrite is highly variable and attributed to the oxidation of arsenic exposed on the surfaces of pyrite.

Jan 1, 2008

By S Gezgin, F Beckstein, M Müller, D Rapp, D Sergeev, J Qi, A Lichtinger

Salts and their mixtures play an important role for industrial and energy sectors, eg metallurgy, biomass gasification and combustion, nuclear and solar powerplants and electrochemical processes. Depending on the composition of salts (eg Li+, Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+ // NO3-, F-, Cl-, CO32-, SO42-, etc), the temperature range for different applications can vary starting from room temperature and going up to 1500°C. For the proper design and modelling of heat exchangers and other equipment, it is necessary to have reliable and validated data sets of thermophysical properties. The 50 mol per cent NaNO3 – 50 mol per cent KNO3 salt mixture as a well-studied composition was selected for validation of relevant thermophysical properties (heat capacity, enthalpy of phase transitions, thermal expansion, viscosity and thermal conductivity). To study these properties of the liquid phase, special crucibles and approaches should be implemented. Verification of these crucibles for different methods (differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermomechanical analysis (TMA), laser flash analysis (LFA) and rheometers) has been performed. The low thermal conductivity of salts is one of the main problems in implementing latent heat storage. In this project, the authors intend to develop a fundamental solution to this problem using chemically bonded metals with salts. These are known as metal-salt solutions. To fit the main parameters of new phase change materials to the requirements of thermal energy storage, a wide variety of possible combinations should be considered. CALPHAD modelling is used together with thermal analysis for the development of a consistent thermodynamic database including chloride salts (Li, Na, K, Mg, Ca // Cl) and corresponding metals (Li, Na, K, Mg, Ca). The results of the study of quasibinary and multicomponent metal-salt (eg Mg-KCl and Ca-KCl) systems as well as the selection of suitable crucible materials and challenges by studying of these systems will be discussed.

Aug 21, 2024

By D. F. Liub, Z. Y. Liu, W. Y. Xue, Y. F. Shenb, Y. D. Wang

"The microstructure characteristics and deformation behavior of ultrafme grained (UFO) 304SS fabricated by accumulative rolling and armealing have been investigated by means of tensile tests, electron-backscatter-diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The volume fraction of martensite phase decreases with increasing armealing temperature. In the grain sizes ranging from 300 nm to 10 µm, the strength held Hall-Petch relationship. The sample with an average grain size of 300 nm exhibited extra high yield strength of 1700 MPa and a tensile strength of 1780 MPa, while the elongation retains 12%. The limited uniform elongation in the UFO materials could be explained in terms of plastic instability. Very interestingly, for the bulk material with an average grain size of 1.200 µm, the high yield strength and uniform elongation were simultaneously achieved to be as 1000 MPa and 18%, respectively.IntroductionUltra-high strengths have been achieved in elemental metals by employing heavy plastic deformation, or by creating ultra-fine-grained (UFO) structure. Here UFO materials are defined as polycrystalline solids with property-controlling microstructural features below the 1 µm level. Typical processing routes include severe plastic deformation (SPD) [1, 2], which decomposes the grains through dislocation accumulation and reorganization (polygonization). Several different kinds of SPD process for bulk materials are typically as equal-charmel angular pressing (ECAP) [3], high-pressure torsion (HPT) [4] and accumulative roll-bonding (ARB) [5]. One of the main motivations for such a push for the very small grain sizes stems from the expectation of unprecedented mechanical strength, as predicted by the well-known Hall-Petch relationship that projects a continuous rise of strength with decreasing grain size [6]. However, these ultra-high strength metals no longer have the high ductility typical of their conventional coarse-grained counterparts, because the undesirable inhomogeneous deformation on the microstructure level can lead to the early onset of failure, severely limiting the useful ductility [2]. Recently, the interesting strategies have been performed to increasing simultaneously the ductility and strength ofUFG pure copper and nanostructured alloys by Zhao et al [7, 8]. In a pure copper, a high ductility has been achieved without sacrificing strength by introducing a high density of pre-existing twins and a large fraction of high-angle grain boundaries. Their encouraging results trigger our motivation to obtain high strength and ductility from the commercially bulk material."

Jan 1, 2013

Manganese ore has been mined from the Peak Hill Gold- field since 1948 and from the Pi'lbaraòGoldfield since 1954, and it is probable that some deposits- In and, near the Phillips River Goldfield will be mined at a future date', There are also several million tons of mariganiferous ;naterial which is too low in manganese. .co.ntent_ for . present requirements. The manganese deposits¦of Western Australia are mostly superficial. They hav' been formed during the Cainozoic Era by supergene enrichment ò6f Precambbrian: manganiferoius sediments, and by deposition from -solution on, or'in caves in, the Cain- ozoic land surface. The manganese in solution was derived from the weathering of Precambrian manganifer.ous s.edimexsts, None of the deposits are of hydrothermal origin, nor are they related to igneous rocks in any war, other than as ultimate source rocks. There is ho evidence-'t.o.:sugge,st that meta- morphism has been responsible for.the emplacement of any deposit. The tenor of the ore varies'aec'ording'to the quantity of gangue in the orebody and- also to the nature of the part- icular ore minerals. The main ore.mine.rals are the oxides pyrolusite and cryptomelane and the 'o'xide-silicate braunite. The main gangue minerals are hematite, limonite and quartz. The deposits of high grade oreò(-above.45 per cent Mn) range in size from 50 tons to many thousands of tons but most of them are in the 500-5,000-tons r .nge .

Jan 1, 1964

Weiss Transit and Level The illustrations shown are the transits and levels manufactured by the Weiss Instrument Co. of Denver, Colo:, and they state that city and mining engineers are securing satisfactory results. It is claimed that their patented prismatic telescope gives increased illumination with an astronomical eye-piece. The prisms are set in a milled seat for this purpose, and cemented in so they can never come loose or out of adjustment. All adjustment for collimation is clone with the cross-hairs. This telescope is 8 in. long for magnifying power of 20 diameters against 12 in. for regular old style. The field is 1° 45' with a clear aperture of 1 1/8 in. The standards are 4 ¾ in. high from plate; to center of telescope axis. Weight 10 lb. Fig: 2. FIG. 1. FIG;. 3. The Light Mountain Transit of the same type, Fig. 1, has a telescope 6 ½ in. long, magnifying power 17 diameters; field 2° 15'; clear aperture 1 1/16 in.; weight 9 lb. The Mine Transit made by this ?company is interesting because it may be sighted directly down a shaft.. The principal advantage claimed for this type is the arrangement by means. of which vertical' sights can be had without an additional telescope.. As illustrated in Fig. 2 the telescope is in the position of a regular transit, and used exactly the same.

Jan 10, 1915

By H Allday

The mining industry’s attention has shifted over the last decade with the recovery from the downturn resulting in greater development of innovation and new work methods in a bid to remain competitive and deliver higher productivity. The emphasis on cost reduction to improve profit margins has primarily been the focus of the “work smarter” campaigns embraced within the industry. But is this strategy holistically the best-for-business, or does it place a ceiling on revenue opportunities and inhibit mining companies from truly maximising value? Businesses need to maintain a balance between active cost management and revenue generation often resulting in cost reduction strategies at site level. These strategies have merit, assessing areas of cost wastage across operations and creating space for opportunity. However, this potentially can create distractions from the goal of enabling growth and lead to the sacrifice of quality and delivery. Focusing too heavily on cost reductions without addressing revenue generation is an unprofitable lens to look through, and the relationships between cost, revenue, quality and profit margin can often be overlooked resulting in missed opportunity to maximise value. How these relationships are effectively employed by mining companies to reap the rewards from an overarching corporate perspective down to site level remains a fluid concept depending on the nature, operating market and strategy of the business. A common directive from businesses to their operations is to strive for greater profitability and productivity. The quantification of these requirements, and the nature of the cascading message delivered, impacts the methods employed by the operational team to meet the expectations of the business. Cascaded strategies, if not delivered with appropriate participation and buy-in can often be perceived to be knee-jerk and create frustration for operations who are squeezed to deliver on expectations by slashing site costs. This squeezing is not only felt by the mining operation but at the individual level and can result in increased team stresses. In some cases, this may also steer behaviours towards activities that result in corner cutting and an elevation of operational risk, potentially increasing associated incidents and injury. Driving down costs by any means can create an unhealthy tunnel vision where value is no-longer assessed for best-forbusiness results. By flipping the viewpoint to a value-based approach revenue opportunity may be realised and potentially exceeded, however this opportunity may be missed if value is over shadowed by a cost heavy focus. By analysing a selection of real operational cases (ranging from mining contractors through to in-house mining giants), it becomes apparent that practical revenue maximisation strategies are not only key to an increase in value and cash flow but to a stronger understanding of business drivers for sites and operators alike. In the cases evaluated additional revenue opportunities are foregone in favour of cost reduction strategies resulting in negative impacts on the associated operations and wider businesses. Alignment towards value generation is king. If strategies are not implemented focusing towards value and revenue maximisation, the opportunity loss experienced by mining operations could continue be great and the question should be posed; when the next up-turn hits will operations be ready to reap the rewards or still have a glass ceiling above their heads?

Mar 15, 2021

By D. Newman

"This paper discusses the author’s work on international law norms of consultation with Indigenous communities and examines unexpected corporate stakeholder impacts on these norms. Customary international law, which governs the area, does not traditionally refer to corporate conduct. This paper surveys several sources on developing international law on consultation obligations; it also discusses the impacts these norms can have on corporate stakeholders in the mining industry. Finally, it asks how interactions of corporate stakeholders in this area can indirectly impact future law and suggests implications for different business models in the mining sector.RÉSUMÉ Le présent article traite du travail de l’auteur sur les normes de consultation avec les communautés autochtones contenues dans le droit international et examine les impacts inattendus des parties prenantes sur ces normes. Le droit coutumier international, qui gouverne ce domaine, ne réfère traditionnellement pas à la conduite des sociétés. L’article analyse plusieurs sources traitant du développement de nouvelles lois internationales sur l’obligation de consulter; il traite aussi des impacts que ces normes peuvent avoir sur les parties prenantes dans l’industrie minière. Finalement, il pose la question à savoir comment les interactions des parties prenantes dans ce domaine peuvent avoir un impact indirect sur les lois futures et il suggère des implications pour divers modèles d’affaires dans le secteur minier."

Jan 1, 2015