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THE following description of the surface plant of the Great Fitzroy Mines is to be understood as having been compiled by a mechanical engineer, who concerns himself more with the various appliances used, their correct construction to enable them to accomplish their prescribed work, and the production and transmission of the power required to operate them, than with the reasons for the physical and chemical processes which those appliances are called upon to assist in carrying out. Hence the metallurgist will not find herein more than the skeleton of the organism, which perhaps he would wish to be clothed with the detailed description of the substances undergoing treatment, in their various combinations, at all stages, and the results attained in separating the valuable constituents from the worthless. So, also, no details will be found of the methods employed by the management for. the purpose of determining by sampling and assaying the nature of the various products obtained.GENERALThe ore being worked at the Great Fitzroy Mine is divided into two classes :-1. Ore that requires concentration before smelting.2. Ore that can be smelted direct.Flow-sheet (Fig. 1) shows in outline the process of treatment to which ore of the first class is subjected, and the writer will endeavour to fill in that outline with some details of the appliances used.

Jan 1, 1911

The methods employed in dressing 'the tin ore up to the required percentage of purity depend mainly on the type of ore crushed.These may be briefly divided into two distinct classes-viz., q, free: milling ore and a complex milling ore. In the former the ore is practically free from the common metallic sulphides, such as pyrites, mispickel, blende, galena, etc., and 1!' clean concentrate of 70 per cent metallic tin can be directly obtained in one continuous act of concentration; in the latter, however, in order to get a good extraction, it is only advisable to primarily concentrate up to 30 to 40 per cent. tin oxide, the rest being the sulphides of the metals. This concentrate is then roasted, re-ground, and re-concentrated up to 70 per cent. metallic tin on a separate set of tables.In the complex milling ore the tin is intermixed very closely with the sulphides, so that it becomes necessary to collect all the mineral present in order to obtain clean tailings. Stamp mills are the most popular machines for the primary crushing in the district, but whether they are invariably the best for the purpose is rather an open question. No doubt for some of the very tough chloritic ores they are the most efficient, but for a brittle quartzose ore, such as the free milling proposition usually is, the writer thinks Oornish rolls would well hold their own, especially when the tin occurs coarse, as is so often the case with this class of ore. Of course, the great drawback to stamps is the excessive quantity of tin slimed and slime tin is one of the problems of tin-dressing-while rolls give...

Jan 1, 1907

By B Jones, M Chappell

Installing ground support correctly is not an easy task, whether lack of operator training, poor ground conditions or underperforming equipment. Confirming the quality of installation can help with planning and remedial works and help to maintain a safe working environment. A 2?m bolt with 700?mm of encapsulation will pass a 10?t pull test (assuming ground conditions permit); however, it will not provide any data of the unencapsulated length and thus the ability to withstand corrosion. Complimentary testing in the form of non-destructive testing (NDT) can provide factual data that leads to the assessment of the quality of the encapsulation. By improving the quality of the encapsulation, the risk of corrosion is reduced, the ground support durability is improved and hence the asset life is enhanced.This paper presents a case study of a trial using the NDT system RokTel™. Installations of varying quality were installed and tested. The characteristics tested were corrosion, load and free length. These characteristics can be tested and assessed for cable bolts, thread bar bolts and split sets. The aim of this paper is to present NDT testing as a viable method for assessing installation quality and ongoing performance of the ground support.CITATION:Jones, B and Chappell, M, 2014. A non-destructive testing method for measuring bolt condition, in Proceedings AusRock 2014: Third Australasian Ground Control in Mining Conference , pp 307–314 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 5, 2014

By B L. Coulter, E Wightman, A S. Burrows

With their commitment to sustainable development in an increasingly carbon-constrained world, many resources companies are focused on reducing the energy required to create their final products. In particular, the comminution and smelting of metal-bearing ores are both highly energy-intensive processes. If resource companies can optimise the energy efficiency across these two processing stages, they can directly reduce their overall energy consumption per unit mass of metal produced and thus reduce their greenhouse gas footprint. Traditional grinding and flotation models seek to improve the efficiency of mineral processing, but they do not consider the energy used by downstream metal production, eg smelting and refining. Concentrators and smelters individually may be running efficiently, but are they optimising energy consumption of the overall system? A key step towards answering this question is to understand whether it takes less energy to remove an impurity in the concentrator or the smelter. Analysis of the complete concentrator û smelter process chain may show that there are times when the concentrator should use more energy to reduce the overall energy requirements across the mill and smelter. The new methodology discussed here will integrate downstream processing energy with mineral processing energy, to find the overall most energy efficient circuit design and operating strategy. The proposed methodology includes: determining what grade and recovery positions can be achieved in the concentrator by using different combinations and amounts of grinding and regrinding, thermodynamic calculations of the energy used to process the different concentrate grades to metal, and integrating the concentrating and smelting models to find the lowest total energy for the system. A case study which investigates the effect of increasing regrinding energy on the overall mineral processing û smelting energy consumption is presented. For the copper-nickel sulfide ore investigated the addition of regrinding results in 11 per cent less energy being used in the overall concentrator û smelter process chain per tonne of metal produced. Although regrinding is often seen as an energy-intensive process, in this case study the use of 1 kWh of energy for regrinding reduces the overall energy consumption by 12 kWh. The new mill to melt methodology will allow companies to model energy consumption from mill to smelter with a view to reducing the energy-intensity and greenhouse gas footprint of their processing and smelting operations.

Jan 1, 2009

By T Huynh, K Tungpalan, E Wightman, M Edraki, S Palaniandy

Most preventive environmental management practices promote proactive integrated approaches to waste management. For example, life cycle assessment is often used to find the ‘hot spots’ of environmental burdens. This kind of approach is often based on generic data and has rarely been used for tailings. Besides, life cycle assessments are less useful for designing operations or simulating changes in the process and consequent environmental outcomes. It is evident that an integrated approach for tailings research linked to better processing options is needed.The aim of this Nextmine™ project is to develop new tailings management models by streamlining orebody characterisation, process optimisation and rehabilitation. We present an integrated tailings management approach and preliminary results from a case study. Combined grinding and flotation models were developed using geometallurgical data from the orebody, to predict the properties of tailings produced under various processing conditions. The modelling scenarios based on the case study data provide the capacity to predict the composition of tailings and the resulting environmental management implications. For example, the type and content of clay minerals in tailings will affect the geotechnical stability and water recovery. Clay content will also influence decisions made for paste or thickened tailings and underground backfilling.CITATION:Edraki, M, Huynh, T, Wightman, E, Tungpalan, K and Palaniandy, S, 2015. An integrated approach to proactive tailings management, in Proceedings Tailings and Mine Waste Management for the 21st Century , pp 323–332 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 27, 2015

By B C. Povey, K Lagutin, M Mryasov, V Noll

The current Stoilensky magnetite concentrator comprises a three-stage crushing circuit followed by three stages of ball milling, grinding and concentration to produce a magnetite concentrate with 66.5% iron (Fe). The plant is built in four lines, three lines having four mills and one line with five mills, to treat 32 Mt/y of ore and produce 13.9 Mt/y of concentrate.NLMK, the owner, is Russia’s third largest steel maker and while the ore from the Stoilensky Mining and Beneficiation Plant (SGOK) provides the bulk of their supply, they still must buy ore from external sources at world prices. A decision was taken to expand the SGOK operation to supply all the NLMK concentrate, including the production of pellets.To commence the expansion, high pressure grinding rolls (HPGRs) were introduced as a fourth stage of crushing ahead of the first ball mill. This was a relatively low capital cost expansion and increased production by 12 to 15%, the cost being much less than an additional grinding line. The importance of this development was that earlier introductions of HPGRs in Russia had presented several problems so there was some reluctance to the initial concept. The even greater significance was that nearly every magnetite plant in Russia had a three-stage crushing circuit so the successful introduction of HPGRs was of interest to many operators.The design was developed by a team, consisting of Worley Parson, Mineralconsult and PiterGORproject (PGP), for the first four units to fit inside existing building structures. The first two units were commissioned in March 2016 and the next two units in May 2016, and production improved by over 12%. The design of the installation of the final four units is in progress and the installation is expected in late 2017.CITATION:Povey, B C, Noll, V, Lagutin, K and Mryasov, M, 2017. Introducing HPGR quaternary crushers in a Russian magnetite operation – challenges and solutions, in Proceedings MetPlant 2017, pp 84–100 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 11, 2017

By P Klaric, N Swart, S Barnes

The recent advances in digital imaging technology, specifically around photogrammetry, have facilitated precision measurement in the difficult conditions encountered in an underground development mining environment. With the recent downturn in the resources industry, many mining houses have begun to focus on cost reduction projects and driving efficiencies. The application of digital photogrammetry has allowed greater insight into the development mining cycle and supported a focus on areas where efficiencies and cost savings can be achieved. Data collation, via digital image capture, can be completed with minimal disruption to the development mining cycle with analyses taking a nominal time to process and interpret. The result can be a stark visual representation of the result of blasting and associated activities of the development mining cycle. Many millions of dollars of benefit can be derived from understanding the impact of each component of the development mining process, with some of the biggest savings associated with conformance to drill design and the minimisation of overbreak during blasting. This paper will explain the image capture process, analyses and instigated improvement opportunities that were undertaken at a number of mine sites to improve efficiencies and drive savings in their development mining processes.CITATION:Klaric, P, Swart, N and Barnes, S, 2017. Digital imaging provides valuable insights into underground development mining, in Proceedings 13th AusIMM Underground Operators’ Conference 2017, pp 129–134 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Oct 16, 2017

By R G. Moreby, S Bluhm, FávonáGlehn, C Pascoe

Resolution Copper Mine in Arizona, USA, is planned to be a 2000 m deep panel cave mine with virgin rock temperatures exceeding 80¦C in rock with high crystalline silica content, resulting in a very challenging ventilation and cooling system design. This is one of the largest copper orebodies ever found and, with a planned rock production rate of 120 kton/day. The project is currently in its prefeasibility phase and the paper discusses features of the ventilation and cooling system design which includes multiple ventilation shafts with total primary ventilation flow of about 3000 m3/s and both surface and underground refrigeration plants producing more than 140 MW refrigeration capacity. The cooling system features large surface bulk air coolers chilling all downcast air supplemented by an underground secondary air cooler system and a chilled service water system. This will be a very challenging mine to ventilate and cool but this work has demonstrated that it will be technically achievable with the application of existing technology.CITATION:Bluhm, S, Moreby, R G, von Glehn, F and Pascoe, C, 2013. Life-of-mine ventilation and refrigeration planning for Resolution Copper Mine, in Proceedings The Australian Mine Ventilation Conference , pp 125-138 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 1, 2013

By D Reid

Characterisation of non-plastic segregating tailings presents a number of challenges: the material cannot typically be sampled in an undisturbed state, remoulded samples exhibit different behaviour to undisturbed samples, penetration test interpretation methods suffer from uncertainty in their application to many tailings and the tailings gradation changes considerably over relatively small lateral distances and depth. In addition, the process liquor of many Western Australian tailings contains large quantities of salt and other dissolved solids, which can further complicate laboratory test programs. To provide an insight into the variability at a typical gold tailings facility, four gradations of the material were tested to obtain critical state parameters. Historic surficial tube samples were collated and organised by gradation to establish the range of densities typical after settling and air drying. These were then compared to laboratory-accessible densities. Finally, tube samples were tested in the laboratory to observe if the large-strain material behaviour was consistent with the inferred critical state parameters for similar gradations. Site pore fluid was used in the testing of the tube samples in an attempt to assess if the pore fluid modified the critical state conditions of the material.The tube samples tested all exhibited strongly dilative behaviour in undrained shear. Of the four samples tested, only one exhibited behaviour consistent with the inferred location of the critical state line relevant to the material’s gradation. The reasons for the unexpected behaviour of the other three samples include layering within the samples, the potential influence of large quantities of salt in the pore fluid and likely differences in the gradation of the fines components of samples taken from mid-beach and the decant area.CITATION:Reid, D, 2015. Observations on the behaviour of a gold tailings with hypersaline pore fluid, in Proceedings Tailings and Mine Waste Management for the 21st Century , pp 191–200 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 27, 2015

By D Semini, B Newcombe

Base-metal sulfide refractory gold ores often contain a portion of ‘free’ gold that is amenable to recovery using gravity concentration methods, whilst the refractory portion of the gold is better recovered using flotation. The decision as to whether a plant treating a refractory gold ore should utilise gravity concentration or a flash flotation circuit (or a combination of both) within the grinding circuit is usually made at the design stage of flow sheet development. Very limited data is available in the published literature which provides an industrial scale comparison on which to base such a decision and conventional laboratory testing methods are often the only way of obtaining such data. The optimum processing route will also be mineralogy dependent.This paper presents the findings of operating a refractory gold plant with either flash flotation (normal operation) or a combination of flash and gravity recovery methods treating the cyclone underflow stream and will demonstrate the regions of the recovery profile that each contributes to. Size-by-assay analysis has been performed on a number of streams around the operating plant to gain an insight into the changes that occur when the gravity circuit is in operation in addition to the flash flotation circuit. A discussion around the implications to overall plant operation in combining the use of a batch process (gravity concentration) with a continuous process (flotation) is presented.CITATION:Newcombe, B and Semini, D, 2014. Interactions between flash flotation and gravity concentration – an industrial case study of a refractory gold concentrator, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference 2014 , pp 427–436 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 1, 2014

By D Blair, T Scutts, L Fergusson

This paper presents a waste rock treatment and rehabilitation program conducted at a metaliferous mine site in northern New South Wales from 2000–2013. It updates findings from 2005 for Program #1 (which examined acidity, leachable metals and tree growth in a control and three treated areas of waste rock) and includes new results for Program #2 (which examined acidity, plant uptake of metals and trace elements and tree growth in a control and four treated areas compared to undisturbed background levels) and Program?#3 (which examined the treatment and revegetation of submerged mine tailings and an exposed tailings beach).Program #1 showed low soil pH in the control area remained unchanged from years 1–14, and soil pH in the limed and capped areas was initially increased but fell back to starting levels within 12 months and remained low for 14 years. In contrast, soil pH in the Terra B area resulted in soil high pH immediately after treatment and increased in years six and 14 without further treatment. Tree height and density in 2005 and again in 2013 indicated acidity in the control, limed and capped areas suppressed tree height and density; however, in the Terra B area, revegetation in 2013 was comparable to undisturbed forest. Outcomes in the control, biosolids and three Terra B areas in Program #2 were similar to those observed in Program #1.Program #3 showed the submerged and exposed tailings initially had low pH and high concentrations of total and leachable metals before treatment, but these became non-leachable after treatment with Terra B. Revegetation was achieved on the tailings beach, with almost uniform colonisation of bulrush and common reed, along with bottlebrush and golden wattle; a variety of reptiles have also been observed on the revegetated tailings beach, along with migrating ducks, spoonbills and grebes.CITATION:Fergusson, L, Blair, D and Scutts, T, ?2014. Treatment and rehabilitation of acidic waste rock and tailings – a 14-year case study, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2014 , pp 247–260 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 16, 2014

By R Dunne, G Lane, S Ha, D Dreisinger

The paper outlines the 17 Mt/a Telfer Project plant process design from sample selection to feasibility study design. The 366 Mt Telfer mine reserve consists of a diverse range of copper and gold mineralisation, from massive sulfide reef ores to stockwork ore, oxide copper minerals to chalcopyrite, siltstone to competent quartzite, all with relatively high levels of gravity recoverable gold. The complexity of the orebody demanded a flexible plant that could recover copper and gold values by a combination of gravity recovery, flotation and concentrate leaching. The demands of treating ore from a high grade underground mine and a variable grade open pit (that includes underground old mine workings) necessitated a dual train approach from primary crushing to concentrate production in order to minimise the requirement for campaigning of different ore types. An extensive sampling, testwork and technical evaluation program was undertaken to identify processing characteristics and the optimum process route for each ore type. The design experience included: the development of robust primary stockpiling and pebble crushing concepts; detailed review of scale-up of SAG and ball mill pilot plant data to plant scale; the selection of two 15 MW SAG mills and two 13 MW ball mills for the grinding circuit; and detailed modelling of the pyrite concentrate carbon-in-leach (CIL)/sulfidisation acidification recovery thickening (SART)/acidification volatilisation recovery (AVR) process to optimise design for copper and cyanide recovery from leach liquors. The Telfer plant design also measures the development of process design based on experiences at the Cadia Hill Cu/Au concentrator, commissioned in 1998. The differences between the two plants are compared and contrasted.

Jan 1, 2003

By Y Durkheim, P Saunier, L Ameglio

"In the last decade Afitex developed the Draintube™ geocomposite, which provides simultaneous drainage and waterproofing functions. This new type of drain tubes planar geocomposites (DTPG) differs from other geocomposites as the drainage core is composed of multiple corrugated and perforated pipes instead of biaxial or triaxial nets. It is furthermore associated with needle-punch stitched layers of non-woven geotextiles, which act either as capillary mediums or as filters.In this paper, the structure of the Draintube™ drainage composite is presented along with its key properties and the drainage mechanism associated with its particular structure.The relevance of this kind of structure is then reviewed based on past and current laboratory bench evaluations and field installations for mining applications such as the covering of acid rock drainage (ARD) tailings for the Central Manitoba Mine (Canada) site-rehabilitation; and as a pregnant solution collection layer in heap leach pads.Some of the demonstrated critical advantages of Draintube™ in the mining industry are as follows: reduction of the thickness, hence lower volume of granular drain layers improvement of fluid and gas collection and reduction of the hydraulic load reduction of secondary collector network mechanical protection of the sealing membrane fast and economical installation of interlifts stability under extreme conditions (compression, temperature, pH) increased stability of entire covering system and reinforcement of protection of dykes filtration of the covered material customised drainage positive connection of the geocomposite to collector pipes enable leaks detection (using a conductive textile layer) with an electrical test.CITATION:Saunier, P, Ameglio, L and Durkheim, Y, 2015. Tubular drainage and lining geocomposite for mine tailings and heap leach pads, in Proceedings Tailings and Mine Waste Management for the 21st Century, pp 297–304 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Jul 27, 2015

By H Yuan, H Tian, Y Zhang, Z Wang, C Wang

Submerged arc welding (SAW) is one of the significant metal-joining processes for manufacturing marine vessels, steel pipes, and offshore structures with high deposition rate and engineering reliability. Welding flux serves several essential functions, including atmospheric shielding, arc stabilisation, bead morphology control and weld metal (WM) refinement. Therefore, from a thermodynamic point of view, the focus for flux design and WM compositional/microstructural modification has been placed to elucidating the transfer pathways and mechanisms of major alloying elements, such as Si, Mn, Ti and O during welding. To this end, a thermodynamic model has been established to predict alloying element contents in the WM. Such functions are enabled by the physicochemical properties of the fluxes, which are inherently rooted in the nature of the fluxes. A unique yet systematical investigation, including physicochemical property changes and structural evolution behaviours, has been conducted over the wide range of fluxes applied to actual welding of EH36 shipbuilding steels. Combined with spectroscopic methods, structural behaviours of network formers such as SiO2, Al2O3 and TiO2 and network modifiers such as MgO, MnO and CaO have been illustrated. Viscosity and ionic conductivity have been found to be positively associated with the degree of polymerisation.

Aug 21, 2024

By A M. Nyembwe, A M. Garbers-Craig, R Cromarty

With the depletion of high-grade lump iron ore, concentrates have been identified as an alternative material for sinter making. Adding concentrates to the sinter mixture reduces sinter bed porosity and gas flow through the sinter bed. This will result in lower sinter strand productivity. A potential solution to this problem is to add concentrate in the form of micropellets. This study investigates the effect of concentrate and micropellet additions on the permeability of the sinter mixture. Permeability was measured on sinter mixtures containing ten to 40 per cent concentrates and micropellets at various moisture contents. The effect of concentrate and micropellet addition on the permeability–moisture relationship was examined. The results confirmed that the addition of concentrates into the sinter mix decreases the maximum permeability of the sinter bed. The incorporation of micropellets into the sinter mix reduced the permeability less than concentrate addition. The study also showed that the maximum permeability of sinter mixes containing concentrate is reached at the same moisture content as the sinter mixture without concentrate addition. For sinter mixes containing micropellets, additional water must be added to obtain maximum permeability. Parameters including the granule size, void fraction and angle of repose were also investigated to evaluate their effects on the sinter bed permeability.CITATION:Nyembwe, A M, Cromarty, R and Garbers-Craig, A M, 2015. Effect of concentrate and micropellet addition on iron ore sinter bed permeability, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2015, pp 69–76 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 13, 2015

By H Dehghan Jan Abadi, K Shahriar

The iron ore district of Gol-e-Gohar (GEG) is located 60 km south-west of the city of Sirjan, in the Kerman Province of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Six exploration targets have been identified and iron ore has been mined from one area with dry and wet concentrate products sold. Prior to mining commencing in 1999, the proven reserves were estimated at 265 million tonnes (Mt) in 2004 and 40 Mt of 100 Mt overburden has since been mined. Of the six exploration targets, the largest anomaly in the GEG district is Deposit No 3. This paper discusses economic considerations focusing on mine extraction and construction of a concentration and pelletising plant to process ore from Deposit No 3 of GEG. Planned capacity of 10 Mt product (concentrate and pellet) per year is targeted to commence in 2011, and nominal capacity by 2014. The economical evaluation and analysis is one of the most important stages in the feasibility study of mine development. Financial calculations including the provision of financial resources, operation period revenue, loss and profit statement, cash flow, net cash flow, internal rate of return and net present value have been undertaken as part of the feasibility study. The feasibility study operating plan assumes a large open pit mine containing proven reserves of approximately 250 Mt. The feasibility study assumed an economic return of $80 per tonne iron pellet. The economic study determined that Deposit No 3 of GEG can be economically developed by open pit mining followed by magnetite separation and flotation to generate iron concentrate and pellets.

Jan 1, 2007

By G Harbort

Traditional engineering design for flotation circuits use the “Rule of Thumb” approach. Typically this uses a nominated maximum head grade for design. A scale-up factor is applied to laboratory flotation tests for residence time. This scale-up factor is usually based on a designers experience at other flotation sites and may or may not be relevant to the circuit being designed, or the flotation equipment being used. A small number of locked cycle tests are assumed to represent the ore body and the results of these are often used for financial analysis, independent of changes in mine plan throughput and mineralogy.The engineering “Rule of Thumb” approach is only strictly accurate where there is very little variability in throughput, head grade and mineralogy. It may provide accurate design for mature established operations where a brownfield expansion is being considered but is unlikely to provide accurate design for a new, greenfield site.The use of geometallurgical modeling with floatability component simulation provides a design methodology with significantly less associated risk. The use of geological data for optimisation of operating plants has become a significant part of the modern process mindset. The underlying principle is to use spatial metallurgical information to drive production planning, mine planning, blast design, blending strategies and plant set-up. At a design stage the process designer can use geometallurgical information to evaluate bottle necks and potential design flaws and propose the best investment strategy for the project benefit.This paper details the geometallurgical characterisation of the Andash deposit and methodology used to review the project’s detail design and projected production.

Aug 8, 2011

By T J. Sullivan, H Pinkster, G Swarbrick

From 2002 to 2006, longwall mining was undertaken directly beneath the Cataract Tunnel, which is a 100-year-old, heritage-listed tunnel in Hawkesbury Sandstone responsible for delivering 20 per cent of Sydney’s annual water supply. At one location, undermining resulted in movement of at least 350 mm along a known fault that transects the tunnel. During this movement, the continued operation of the tunnel was ensured through a careful system of planning, monitoring and management.Of key importance to the success of the operation was the use of advanced numerical modelling to guide operations at all levels, including feasibility assessment, pre-mine mitigation works, monitoring design, operation performance and post-mining condition. This allowed many aspects of the potential impacts to be explored, including joint movements, rock mass deformations and changes in permeability. A key challenge was to successfully model near-field influences on adverse geological structure due to very far-field effects. This paper explains the model’s conceptual development, calibration, performance and limitations.Modelling provided the confidence to manage the impacts of large mining-induced movement on key infrastructure and ultimately predicted fault movement accurately. The fault movement remains one of the highest ever recorded due to mine subsidence.CITATION:Swarbrick, G, Sullivan, T J and Pinkster, H, 2014. Longwall mining beneath critical infrastructure – prediction versus performance of the Cataract Tunnel, New South Wales, Australia, in Proceedings AusRock 2014: Third Australasian Ground Control in Mining Conference , pp 157–166 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 5, 2014

By M Costa, L Polizzi

Process optimisation and continuous improvement are usually acknowledged when making a process more effective, efficient and transparent. During the last few decades, thousands of companies around the world have used total quality concepts in order to establish a continuous improvement process in their companies. Typically these companies apply some kind of Kaizen-type tools and expect results in the short term; however, the great majority of companies are poorly implementing these continuous improvement programs.Usually the most common reasons for failure of the program are lack of commitment from leaders, lack of discipline and engagement from the team to follow process and lack of clear targets for the program. When the results do not come at the expected timeline, it is common to simply drop the current process and apply a different approach from another company or consulting firm.This paper will explore some successful cases of companies that have invested time and effort to establish a reliable and sustainable process of continuous improvement. The focus will be case studies of mines and smelters around the world that use the plan–do–check–act (PDCA) cycle to increase productivity with the best services and lowest costs. The main tools and processes used by these companies will be discussed, as well as results achieved.CITATION:Costa, M and Polizzi, L, 2014. Introducing and sustaining a continuous improvement program in mines and smelters, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference 2014 , pp 55–62 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 1, 2014

By C Hawtin, B Miller, D Ashton

Ernest Henry mine (EHM) is an Iron oxide copper-gold sublevel cave mine located 30 minutes north of Cloncurry in North-West Queensland. The underground mine lies beneath open pit excavations, which were in operation from 1999 to 2011. Fault structures carry large quantities of water from the cover sequence aquifer into the underground mine area. The open cut excavations exacerbates vulnerability of the underground mine to the high intensity wet season storms of northern Queensland. These factors combine to make hydrogeological issues high priority for mine operation. Water-related risks include the cost of removing water from the mine, flooding risk and mud rush potential.Turnover of key technical staff in late 2015 at EHM resulted in the mine being left in an untenable position of losing the primary source of technical knowledge. Due to encouragement of cross-disciplinary activity coupled with workload and resource sharing, the management team were confident in utilising on-site personnel to offset loss of experienced personnel.Remaining geology personnel took additional responsibility for hydrogeological monitoring equipment and planning of upcoming work. Consultant input was limited to review only and an emphasis was placed on knowledge transfer to the geology team. Using this strategy, a 13 hole dewatering program was successfully implemented, achieving a significant water level drop in areas of elevated hydrological risk, whilst also upgrading the hydrological monitoring sensor array.Through a development program centred on cross-disciplinary exposure, the technical team was able to retain key technical knowledge despite staff turnover and produce strong results outside traditional training and roles. This paper serves as a case study on the methods, strengths and drawbacks of putting a focus on cross-disciplinary exposure as a method to combat staff turnover.CITATION:Ashton, D, Miller, B and Hawtin, C, 2017. Go with the flow – managing hydrogeological staff turnover at Ernest Henry mine, in Proceedings Tenth International Mining Geology Conference 2017, pp 129–136 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 20, 2017