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Economic recovery of valuable natural resources is enhanced through an integrated approach to establishing and operating the mine.Gordonstone has a unique and valuable high quality coal and the basic aim for the mine is to satisfy customers through high standards of safety, productivity and reliability and genuine regard for its people.Gordonstone defined its main resources available for recovery of its natural resource and has designed and built facilities which display technical and engineering excellence.But to build a world class mine Gordonstone recognised the need to take a large- step beyond relying on technical excellence. In designing Gordonstone mine all aspects of coal mining were treated as part of an integrated process.This paper will explain the route Gordonstone has taken and will continue to take into the future in using an integrated approach to mining.

Jan 1, 1993

The mining industry has a well deserved reputation earned over the years for innovation, engineering, management and the quick application to mining of emerging technology. The cumulative result is the economic exploitation of lower grade resources. The developments during the last decade have done nothing to tarnish the reputation. There are many that come easily to mind: the use of contractors for both surface and underground operations, a trend toward mine management contracts, the increasing recognition of the economic potential of ground support, and the development of physical measures to achieve it, - sophisticated measures to analyse blasting , and thus improve fragmentation, - instrumentation to assist geotechnical appraisal, - the development and application of the powerful and flexible, excavator, - the evolution of measures to improve grade control, - massive improvements in equipment productivity and reliability built largely around the application of hydraulics, - the development of powerful computer packages for orebody modelling, mine design and extraction, - simple "dense" fill systems, - maintenance management techniques including the greater use of off-site maintenance of exchange components, - the utilisation of communication systems for data transfer.

Jan 1, 1989

Following plant trials in 1972 Mount Lyell installed an AMDEL On Stream Analysis system for measuring copper and density on the flot- ation feed and final plant tailing streams, in August 1973. As a result of poor performance of the final tailing system these probes were changed over to the rougher tailing stream, back to the final tailing stream and finally to the final copper concentrate stream where the system is currently performing satisfact- orily. The history of the development of the system to its current operational status is Described.

Jan 1, 1978

By P J. Handley

"Predicting how coal seams will be beneficiated through the coal handling processing plant (CHPP) has long been challenging within BHP Coal. Various coal seams from different areas are mined and stockpiled separately, often depending upon a deleterious coal quality parameter; high/low trace elements for example. These stockpiles are then fed in different ratios into the CHPP to produce the desired product/s. In understanding the washability characteristics of the feed source, mine geologists and process engineers work together to improve the beneficiation of different coal materials through the CHPP.For the majority of the BHP Coal deposits, the washability data is available for the coal seams across the deposits. However, no previous standardised modelling and prediction technique existed that could ensure the correct information was available for forecasting and refining CHPP processes. This paper will discuss the steps undertaken to implement a geometallurgical prediction tool that simplified and streamlined the washability modelling and yield estimation process. The value realised to the BHP Coal assets resulting from this process was: improved compliance to plan increased throughput increased CHPP recovery through improved efficiencies and increased revenues.CITATION:Handley, P J, 2017. Washability modelling and estimation techniques used to improve coal handling preparation plant beneficiation, in Proceedings Tenth International Mining Geology Conference 2017, pp 327–336 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Sep 20, 2017

By O Bascur, A Soudek

Large metallurgical complexes are substantial users of energy, water and assets. To improve the effectiveness of energy and assets the quality of the data and events become paramount for real-time operational management. A lack of resources at the local operations and at the enterprise makes it impossible to process the sea of information and many projects have failed. As such, a novel approach for implementation of continuous improvements at the local level and innovations at the strategic level was implemented at all operating plants at Anglo American Platinum. Sixteen concentrators, three smelters and two refinery process systems were integrated to scale the information for manufacturing services at the local and enterprise level. The new capability of an enterprise real-time monitoring and diagnosis software infrastructure was available to implement many business strategies in tandem. Mineral and metallurgical processing knowledge is used to simplify the implementation of the data model. As such, asset monitoring, energy, production and process control management were implemented in an integrated approach reusing the same data but with different context and time horizons to have a standard methodology for local root cause analysis. This paper will highlight a sustainability management approach to change and empower the local and strategic team to collaborate using a new approach for adaptive reporting and condition-based event management and notifications. The results based on the integrated and collaborative team efforts will be presented. OSIsoft Plant Information system was installed and configured to achieve a targeted reduction in energy consumption of 15 per cent by 2015.CITATION:Bascur, O and Soudek, A, 2014. Implementation strategies for energy effectiveness and sustainability – example of Anglo American Platinum, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference 2014 , pp 101–108 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 1, 2014

More than in any other way, the community judges the minerals industry by its environmental performance. Minerals Council of Australia web site www.minerals.org.au/media/code Time is overtaking us. What was good enough yesterday is not good enough today. What may be acceptable today wonÆt be tomorrow. So we need to leap forward. We need to begin to move towards sustainability. Dick Zandee, Managing Director, Placer Dome Asia Pacific The competition for access to exploration and mining opportunities is intense. So is competition for the best people, capital and community support. Poor environmental performance damages a companyÆs ability to attract these. Quite simply, good environmental management is good business. Hugh M Morgan AO,Chief Executive Officer,WMC Limited. Decisions made by private industry and international corporations are increasingly determining the fate of the environment. ...Nothing could be more shortsighted than for todayÆs conservationists to neglect cooperation with business and industry as a means of moving company philosophy and public accountability ahead in favour of the environment. Dr Claude Martin,Director General,WWF International The four quotes above well illustrate the challenges faced by companies and conservationists in attempting to achieve the societal goal of sustainable development. That this aspirational goal itself is far from clearly defined, although it has been widely accepted and endorsed by governments, business and civil society, exacerbates the challenges. Sustainable development has as its central thesis the integration of environmental, social and economic policy. Its attainment by business has been described John Elkington (1998) as the pursuit of the ætriple bottom lineÆ - the achievement of social and environmental targets, in addition to the traditional economic bottom line. It is self-evident that business is both competent and comfortable defining and measuring economic performance and reporting that performance to internal and external audiences. As long as information has been prepared according to the established standards of measurement and reporting of economic performance, all audiences can have confidence in its accuracy. Business does not enjoy the same competence and comfort with regard to social and environmental performance. This is no startling condemnation of business, any more than it is a criticism of governments, non-government organisations (NGOs) or academia. It is a statement of fact that the tools to allow for credible definition and reporting against the other two components of the ætriple bottom lineÆ have yet to be fully developed and are, therefore, far from being widely accepted. Crucial to achieving sustainability is the ability to measure progress toward the goal. The task is to develop means to define appropriate performance standards and to credibly measure and report company environmental and social performance against those standards.

Jan 1, 2000

Erratic, though spatially localised occurrences of gold particles are a common feature of high-nugget gold systems. In many cases, gold is present as isolated or clustered, often coarse particles. The nugget effect is a part consequence of small-scale geologically controlled enrichment, and the inclusion or exclusion of gold particles from samples. Economic zones are generally contained within discrete structurally-controlled ore shoots which are surrounded by, and may include barren to low-grade background material. Problems are often encountered where small sample types (eg drill core and channel samples) of a few kilograms mass understate in situ grade by up to a few orders of magnitude, due to their general inability to represent the true gold particle distribution. This leads to uncertainty in mineral resource estimates. This contribution presents case studies where geologically-based parameters have been collected from drill core and underground faces to support grade determination. These parameters - or proxies - are based on mineralogical and/or geochemical (eg specific elemental ratios, fluid inclusion compositions and elemental correlations) criteria. Such criteria can be correlated with different grade domains to provide an indication of true grade within a geologically-controlled context. Proxies have recently been used to support resource estimates reported in accordance with the JORC Code.

Mar 1, 2010

By P Walton, L W. Armstrong, D P. Blair

Sydney is the capital city of NSW and has a population of approximately four million people. Eighty per cent of the cityÆs water is supplied by Warragamba Dam, which is situated some 75 kilometres south west of the city centre. A risk assessment was carried out on the dam and future predictions of water flows into the catchment area showed that there was a risk of a one in 700-year flood not being contained by the dam. The predicted loss of life and property damage warranted the construction of an auxiliary spillway on the eastern side of the existing dam to cater for any uncontrollable influx of water. A test blasting program was instigated and the blasting parameters were established that would lead to routine production blasting of the sandstone rock making it more cost effective to excavate. Blast induced vibrations were a concern to the owners and the dam wall and ancillary infrastructure was instrumented with sensitive vibration monitoring equipment during the test blasting phase of the operation. Once the blasting parameters were established from the testing program production blasting was carried out on a daily basis to maintain æstockpileÆ of fragmented ground for the excavation equipment. Blast vibration models were developed to predict vibration levels for more sensitive areas of the dam to give the operators more confidence in their operations. The blast induced vibration levels recorded did not cause any structural damage to the dam wall and the waveform frequencies of the blasting operation were much higher than that experienced during a recent earthquake. The integrity of the SCAÆs assets were at no time jeopardised.

Jan 1, 2001

The southern portion of the Swan Coastal Plain, a geomor-: phological element formed since late'Tertiary times, contains commercially exploitable accumulations of ilmenite, zircon, rutile'and monazite associated with a series'of raised'shorelines. The:location'of the deposits is controlled by a locally outcropping*Archaen-granite/granulite complex and a sea':current pattern'determined'by'local geography and a prevailing wind direction.'-A progression from medium. to high titanium ilmenite is'evident parallelled by. progressive leucoxenisation as the age of the deposits increases. Variation's in trace element content accompany this process. Circulating groundwater has caused vertical mineralogical variations within-individual deposits and' by p'ecipitation of iron has formed layers of hardpan. The economic sig- nificance''of the Geographe--Bay deposits is'briefly discussed,

Jan 1, 1964

By Rintoul AH

Studies of many types and purposes are being carried out constantly by mining, minerals processing and other operating companies. Frequently, the staff requirements and special skills lie outside the resources of the operating companies, and needs arise for external consult- ing services. We examine the natures of a range of studies, the factors that influence whether they be carried out in-house or externally and then discuss the manner of execution. Aspects of both good and bad practice are highlighted in order to arrive at the basic principles that give the most benefit from study work. While the bulk of the discussion relates specifically to the execution of external studies of process plant projects, many of the observations can be applied equally to the execution of studies by one department of a large organisation for another, and also to studies of capital projects other than those involving process plant facilities.

Jan 1, 1975

By Szwedzicki T

In recent years substantial advances have been made in the field of geomechanics. Staff at the Western Australian School of Mines (WASM) are keen to see that such advances continue and that the mining industry in Australia can take full advantage of such developments in a timely manner. WASM views mining geomechanics in its broadest sense, as being concerned with the characterisation of the physical properties and the behaviour of earth materials (soil, rock and water) and openings as mining proceeds. Aspects such as, soil and rock improvement techniques for difficult site conditions and the rock breaking processes, are also considered to be an integral part of mining geomechanics. This paper indicates the inter-relationships between the various areas within the field of geomechanics and the strong reliance of all of these areas on site specific engineering geology.

Jan 1, 1992

It is a very great pleasure indeed to participate in this interesting and important seminar. My two visits to Australia in the past have been extremely pleasant and this one is equally so. My task is to tell you what has been happening in the United States, in these past few years especially, in regard to the management of our air resources and to present in some detail the difficulties we in the copper, lead and zinc smelting industries have been experiencing. The sudden upsurge in interest in air pollution in the United States is a strange phenomenon indeed - strange because we've had air pollution a long time, just as long as there have been large cities using fossil fuels for heating purposes. And the problem has been studied for quite a long time. As early as 1919 studies by the U. S. Bureau of Mines were done in Salt Lake City, where I .live. In the winter of that year extensive measurements were made of airborne particles - dust and smoke. The average concentration of particles found was 870 micrograms per cubic meter of air. A very large number compared to levels we find today. A microgram of course is a very small unit, one twenty-eight millionth of an ounce. A fine human hair two inches long weighs about 100 Micrograms.

Jan 1, 1971

By R van Berkel, J Lay, D van Beers

The development of regional resource synergies in intensive areas with concentrations of minerals processing industries provides a significant avenue towards sustainable resource processing. Gladstone (Queensland) and Kwinana (Western Australia) are two of AustraliaÆs major heavy industrial areas. There are a number of successful regional synergies in both areas. In addition to the existing regional synergies in both areas, more potential synergy opportunities appear to exist which, upon implementation, could benefit industry, the environment and the community. To further enhance the development of such potential regional synergies, the Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing (http://www.csrp.com.au) commissioned research projects to facilitate the identification of potential synergies and assist with their implementation in both regions. This paper presents a selection of specific examples from both regions to illustrate the sustainability benefits from regional synergy developments. Although the composition of industries in the Gladstone and Kwinana regions is different both in terms of geography and industry diversity, similarities in synergy developments for both regions are apparent. Consequently, the examples discussed in this paper are organised around the key themes of water, energy and inorganic by-products. Comparison on a theme basis highlights success factors of successful synergies and demonstrates the range of benefits resulting from their implementation.

Jan 1, 2006

By J Galvin

This paper addresses the actions of the Australian mining industry, its regulators and educational providers towards ensuring that a pool of competent mine managers is maintained in Australia and that mine management remains a desirable career path for future mining professionals. The Australian and global mining industries are experiencing an acute skills shortage. Mine managers, traditionally drawn from the ranks of mining engineers, are at the sharp end of this shortage. Exacerbating the shortage is a perception that a professional mine manager is not an attractive career option. This perception is influenced by the following forces which combine to make the role of a modern mine manager very demanding:legislative requirements for owners and managers to ensure (guarantee) the safety and health of employees; an increasing trend towards prosecution over exposure to risks to health and safety a need to be more aware and responsive to community and environment; financial, technical and æpeopleÆ pressures traditionally associated with the job of managing a mine; and mine management roles being filled by younger and less experienced professionals. Universities and other educational providers have the challenge of both ensuring that undergraduates are exposed to these issues during their study and continuing to promote mine management as a desirable career option. Anecdotal and statistical evidence indicates that young graduates are choosing and remaining in technical roles rather than taking on the challenge of mine management. Furthermore, it is suspected that the issues referred to above are contributing to the low retention rate of young professionals at mine sites. The challenges are not insurmountable, however. This paper reviews the initiatives of industry, the regulators and educational institutions in addressing these challenges. It includes a focus on:prosecution policies and their impacts, tertiary education program content and delivery modes, CPD initiatives of the Mine Managers Association of Australia, and alternative pathways for obtaining mine management qualifications.

Jan 1, 2006

By J Webb

The mining industry is relatively niche and complex compared to other global industries in its safety and operating environment. Whilst some of the technology required to decarbonise the mining industry will emerge from the mass market (eg batteries, energy storage solutions and renewable power generation) where exogeneous external investment and innovation will drive supply, bespoke applications such as material movement will be constrained by industry limitations. Underground load and haul equipment burns the majority portion of underground mine diesel, and typically 25 per cent of scope one and two emissions. Transitioning away from incumbent diesel engines offers a considerable health benefit to all mine workers, as well as decarbonisation achievements, and through trials there is emerging evidence of more productive equipment and realistic expectations of lower operating costs of fleet. However, new equipment and material movement systems that support these industry goals are currently approached with caution due to the pivotal role they play in delivering productivity goals, and the lack of experiential data and certainty to mitigate the supplier development risk during this technology transition period, where all resources are required to meet a booming industry. A group of mining companies and suppliers have the aligned aim to accelerate the understanding and availability of heavy haulage mobile equipment through collaboratively piloting equipment and working with suppliers and each other to aggregate market demand, encourage investment and resolve the mine design and technology choices through their involvement in the Electric Mine Consortium (EMC). This paper will outline the major challenges the industry must overcome in sourcing and adopting a zero-diesel particulate and zero-emission mine, drawn from cases and insights across ten EMC mining company members.

Mar 29, 2023

The key to the successful debt funding of a new mining project, whether in economically established or developing nations, is the submission of a comprehensive feasibility study. The feasibility study forms the basis from which the resource banker can construct financial models which govern the amount of available funds, the conditions which control the supply of such funds and the time period over which the loan may be repaid. The bank will wish to ensure that the feasibility study is the best representation and confirmation of reality possible because this model is the basis of the loan security package. Thus the study will be vigorously interrogated by independent experts in all its elements including the ore reserve, mineability, metallurgy, operating and capital cost profile, environmental factors and management.

Jan 1, 1995

The JORC Code, which has been in existence as a Code incorporated in the listing rules of the Australian Stock Exchange and New Zealand Stock Exchange since 1989 and 1992 respectively, has been revised and will be re-released in 2003. This revision followed a call for submissions in December 2001, the publication of an exposure draft in late-2002 and an exposure period during which a large number of constructive comments were received. These comments were reviewed and a further exposure draft released as part of the current exposure draft of the ASX listing rules. It is anticipated that the final Code will be incorporated into the stock exchanges listing rules in late-2003. The 1999 JORC Code has been the standard on which other reporting Codes have been based, each of which has contained refinements. Three in particular, the Reporting Code from the United Kingdom/Ireland/Western Europe, the new Canadian Reporting standards and the SAMREC Code from South Africa, influenced JORC in the preparation of the 2003 JORC Code. Whilst there are differences between the 1999 Code and the 2003 Code, these changes are mainly in the guidelines. The Code definitions, which are largely in accord with agreed international definitions, remain substantially unchanged. The two main changes in the 2003 Code are the requirement for a Competent Person to be responsible for the documentation relating to the reporting of Exploration Results, and the introduction of æRecognised Overseas Professional OrganisationsÆ as overseas organisations to which Competent Persons may belong. Other changes include: clarification of the reporting of exploration targets or potential; the rearrangement of the diamond reporting clauses; the introduction of guidelines for the reporting of Industrial Minerals; modification of the coal clauses and recognition of the new Coal Guidelines; and the introduction of a guideline encouraging the discussion of relative accuracy and confidence in resource/reserve estimates. Other lesser changes to the Code are listed and discussed briefly. The release of the 2003 JORC Code maintains the standard set by JORC as a world leader in the development of mineral reporting Codes and their adoption by industry.

Jan 1, 2003

By H J. J Boshoff

Pit lakes, as a final void after completing open cut mining, are in most cases unavoidable. Initial mine designs and approvals require consideration and assessment of closure objectives, legislation and stakeholder acceptance to ensure suitable understanding of the closure liability. Mining companies undertake studies and engineering during the planning, operational and closure stages of mining to identify closure options for the final voids, which would be sustainable. Without adequate planning prior to and during the life of the mine, options during the closure stage become limited resulting in costly closure works or long-term liabilities. Engineering consultants provide a specialist service in the assessment of long-term pit lake water levels and characteristics. Ongoing advances in mining methodology and technology, coupled with improved data collection and data management aid in a better understanding of the complexities in estimating long-term pit lake water levels and characteristics. Closure objectives developed during the planning stage sets the requirements for long-term pit lake water levels, which could require maintaining a water level and pit water or discharge water quality. A variety of approaches could be used to assess these closure scenarios each requiring specific data and methodologies. Typically, limited data is available during the planning stage, which results in assumptions based on past experience and relevant case studies. Closure assessments are revisited during the life of mine and leading up to the closure stage, during which additional site-specific data is available improving the accuracy of the assessments.CITATION:Boshoff, H J J, 2018. Assessment of approaches, data requirements and methodologies for estimating long-term pit lake water levels, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2018, pp 28–31 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 25, 2018

At moderate depths this question is of relatively small importance, but at depths over 2,000 feet it becomes a matter of some consequence. The rate of increase of temperature with the depth varies in different localities, but as a rough average we may take it to be about 1° Fahr. for every 50 feet of depth. The variation of temperature of the earth's surface from summer to winter penetrates to a comparatively shallow depth. At 50 feet the variation becomes practically insensible, and the temperature of the strata will be about the mean temperature at the given locality, from 60° to 75° F. in this country or the comfort of men working in the mines it is desirable to maintain a temperature of about 70° F. in the workings, or approximately the temperature of the strata near the surface.In order to obtain some idea of the magnitude of the undertaking involved in cooling a mine, I have examined the effect of placing in a long drive an apparatus by means of which we can abstract heat at a uniform rate from the drive, keeping, thetemperature nearly the same at all points of the drive at any given time.The lowering of temperature 70 F. at any distance feet from the centre of the drive (treated as a cylinder of the same sectional area as the actual drive), after an interval of time days from the commencement of the operation is given by the formula...

Jan 1, 1907

By U E. Sibilski

A pilot plant evaluation of the Savmin process, for the purification of mine water was commissioned by Anglogold and conducted at the Stilfontein Gold Mine, Margaret Shaft at Stilfontein in the North West province of South Africa. The purpose of the project was to obtain the operating conditions and operating costs, to produce different qualities of product water, as well as design parameters for upscaling to an industrial plant. The project was undertaken by AngloGold and Mintek of South Africa.

Jan 1, 2003