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By Krouse RH, Aleinikoff JN, Nokleberg WJ, Church SE, Newkirk SR

A belt of volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits and occurrences extends for over 150 km along the southern margin of the Yukon-Tanana terrane in the eastern Alaska Range. The VMS bodies occur mainly in the Jarvis Creek Glacier subterrane (JCGS), one of the highest structural/ stratigraphic levels of the Yukon-Tanana terrane. The JCGS consists of a VMS--bearing metavolcanic rock member and a metasedimentary rock member. The VMS deposits and enclosing rocks exhibit two periods of regional metamorphism.From northwest to southeast, the major VMS districts are the Bonnifield, Hayes Glacier, McGinnis Glacier, and Delta districts. The Bonnifield, Hayes and McGinnis Glacier district sulfide bodies consist of pyrrhotite and lesser amounts of pyrite, chalcopyrite, with or without arsenopyrite, sphalerite and galena. The larger, 800 km Delta district deposits and occurrences contain variable amounts of pyrite and pyrrhotite and lesser amounts of primarily chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, and arsenopyrite.The sulfide accumulations are interpreted as Kuroko-like deposits that formed along the submarine volcanic part of a Devonian, continental-margin igneous arc. U-Pb isotopic data from zircons from the metavolcanic rocks indicate an age of about 370 Ma (Devonian). 207Pb/204Pb ratios for sulfides from the districts are similar and indicate lead was in part derived from first cycle sediments eroded largely from Precambrian crystalline rocks. 207Pb/204Pb ratios from feldspars in Devonian metavolcanic rocks are similar to those in sulfides, and indicate incorporation of radiogenic Precambrian lead into the Devonian magmas. A Precambrian crystalline source for quartz in metasedimentary rocks is indicated by 2.3 Ga old zircons. Common-lead isotope studies of igneous phenocrysts in metaigneous rocks and sulfides in volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits indicate a unique isotopic signature. The data permit an exotic origin of the Yukon-Tanana terrane with respect to North America.

Jan 1, 1990

By Crapp C. E

The Collinsville Coal Measures consist mainly of arenaceous sediments but indude eleven named coal seams. The Formation outcrops around the northern end of tbe Bowen Basin where it attains a thickness of 700 ft. in the Collinsville-Scottville area and overlies Lower Bowen Volcanies with angular unconformity. Most of the members in the Formation thicken basinwards. The regional dip is about 8 degrees. The Formation thins southwards and does not occur south of the Bowen River on the eastern flank. On the western flank it is represented by 60 ft. of barren sandstone at the limit of our mapping, 12 miles south of the Bowen River. Two seams are mined, the Bowen and the Blake; coal from the former produces high grade metallurgical coke, and the latter seam is mined for steaming coal. Where mined, the seams are about 20 ft. thick. The coals are of medium volatile bituminous rank and the lower coals are of higher rank than those above them.Reverse faults striking across the Coal Measures have been delineated and the existence of areas of intrusive rocks has been established. Intrusions rose up fault planes and, as felspar porphyry sills, selectively intruded coal seams, decimating reserves of coalavailable for mining. One sill, in the Blake Seam, attains a known thickness of 115 ft. Because the distribution and thickness of the sills is rarely predictable, density of drilling has been greater than in most coalfields.INTRODUCTIONThe assemblage of sediments occupying the northern portion of the Bowen Basin (Fig. 1) may be divided into four formations of Permian age:The Upper Coal Measures (U. Bowen)The Middle Bowen Marine Beds (M. Bowen)The Collinsville Coal Measures (M. Bowen)The Lower Bowen Volcanics (L. Bowen).Of these, the Upper Coal Measures and the Collinsville Coal Measures are known to contain coal seams of workable thickness.

Jan 1, 1960

Although this is a symposium on "The Occurrence, Preparation and Use of Australian Black Coal", I do not think that, in these days, any of the main energy resources can be considered only in terms of country of origin or only by itself in isolation from other energy resources. Accordingly, I propose to comment on solid fuels generally in the world energy scene, and make some brief references to Australian solid fuels, and to some other matters in the latter part of this paper. In this address I am drawing heavily on the 1974 survey of energy resources published just recently by the World Energy Conference. I do this for a number of reasons. Firstly, the survey is the latest and most comprehensive publication of its kind; secondly, it is the result of several years' work by a panel of eminent people, from all the energy industries and from some 16 widely spread countries; thirdly, substantial assistance was given by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in its compilation; and, finally, to let all know of the existence of the book, as I believe it to be a source document for all those interested in world energy resources. The United Nations "J" series of statistical papers provide important information on the annual production and consumption of and trade in the various forms of energy. In their respective areas, these two publications are primary information sources. Our present sources of energy throughout the world are fossil fuel deposits (coal, oil, gas), nuclear materials, water, geothermal, solar and tidal - but we are at present heavily dependent upon the natural stores of non-renewable fossil energy resources. Fig. 1 shows the changing use of energy resources in the present century. A comparison between 1900 and 1973 shows clearly the shift which has taken place.

Jan 1, 1975

A significant resource of uranium has been discovered within a buried palaeochannel located in the south western corner of the Officer Basin of Western Australia by PNC Exploration (Australia) Pty. Ltd. The mineral- isation is redox controlled and is hosted by Eocene organic rich paludal sediments. Prob- able insitu reserves are 13,000 t of contained uranium with an average ore grade of 0.12% at a cutoff grade of 0.03% U. The Mulga Rock palaeochannel has been traced for at least 100 km beneath the Quaternary surficial cover. The main channel is horseshoe shaped with the channel arms vary- ing from 5 to 15 km in width. The western arm connects to the Lake Raeside-Ponton Creek drainage system, whilst the eastern arm'is open to the south. The headwaters of the palaeo- channel are thought to have been the Lake Minigwal drainage system, prior to its capture by the Lake Rason system. Differential.erosion of the basement rocks during the Late Cretac- eous to Early Tertiary strongly influenced channel shape and resulted in the main channel being confined to a Permian,mudstone filled valley. Upwards of 100 m of fluviatile sediments accumulated within the palaeovalley during a period of subsidence in the Early Tertiary. Three broad stratigraphic units have been re- cognised within the channel: 1. An upper unit of fluviatile sands with interbedded lacustrine sediments, which have subsequently been wholly oxidised and variably silicified and ferruginised. 2. A middle unit of lacustrine to paludal sediments, which host the main mineral- isation. 3. A basal unit of fluviatile gravels and sand. The presence of excellently preserved Nothofagidites in organic rich paludal sediments from the middle unit, suggest that unit was laid down in a non-marine, fluviatile, humid environ- ment during the Middle Eocene.

Jan 1, 1988

Titanium dioxide (TiG ) is produced 2 commercially by two methods generally referred to as the "sulfate" route and the "chloride" route. The SCM Corporation, in supplying 15% of the world's demand for TiO 2, uses both of these processes. Of the two processes the sulfate route is generally regarded as the older and more established technology. Worldwide the sulfate route accounts for some 70% of total Ti02 production. However, in the U.S.A. the chloride process accounts for 80% of production. The processes vary in chemistry and raw material requirements. In the "sulfate" process finely ground ilmenite or titanium slag is digested with sulfuric acid to produce a porous "cake" vrnich is extracted with water and recovered liquor. The solution is treated with scrap iron to reduce any ferric ions to the ferrous state which is then crystallised and removed as ferrous sulfate heptahydrate. The liquor is concentrated by evaporation and hydrolysed to form the insoluble hydroxide which is filtered and washed free of impurities. This is converted to the dioxide by calcination at 800 - 1000¦C and milled to break up any aggregates. The "chloride" process uses a higher quality feedstock of natural or synthetic rutile and/or high grade titania slag. The feedstock is mixed with ground high-purity coke and chlorinated at 950¦C in a fluidised bed. The resulting crude titanium tetrachloride is purified by distillation and chemical treatment. The purified titanium tetrachloride is burned with oxygen or oxygen enriched air to give titanium dioxide and chlorine, which is recovered and recycled to chlorination. Titanium dioxide pigment from both processing routes undergoes similar finishing techniques. It is subjected to further stages of wet and dry milling, then coated with layers of inorganic oxides in order to enhance its properties for specialist applications.

Jan 1, 1986

By J Pease, P Cameron, D Drinkwater

"In the 1990s metal prices were trending in a long-term decline and the usual cost-cutting exercises were adopted. Cuts to research and development made innovation difficult and the outlook was grim. But necessity is a strong motivator, and these conditions spurred the Mine to Mill movement that optimised across organisational ‘silos’ and utilised new technology tools, innovative software and increased computing power. Many applications of Mine to Mill exploited the fact that comminution is usually the site processing bottleneck and blasting is more efficient at breaking rock than grinding. This approach sought to: understand and characterise rock breakage from mining to the milldevelop models and simulators for blast design, fragmentation, crusher and mill circuitsdevelop tools to measure in real time the particle size distribution of rocks on run-of-mine (ROM) muck piles, at the primary crusher truck dump pocket and on conveyorsensure effective communication across the silos between geologists, blast design engineers, mining engineers and metallurgists.These methods and the technology tools available in the 1990s were widely adopted at numerous sites around the world with significant benefits. Semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill throughput increases of 10–20 per cent were common. This was the advance the industry desperately needed. It was low capital cost; it was obvious. It was here to stay.Except, in too many cases, it didn’t. In the minerals price boom of the 2000s Mine to Mill was no longer necessary to ‘survive’, even though it was still good business. Some operations, including some of the early success stories, slipped back to old habits of optimising within organisation silos instead of across them. Fortunately, other operators still embraced Mine to Mill and developed new techniques. Mine to Mill was still successful, but not as widely adopted as we had expected it to be. Now the boom has ended and operations are again under cost pressure. Since these are the same circumstances that created Mine to Mill, it seems time to achieve the wider adoption. Since the 1990s many new or advanced technology tools are now available for Mine to Mill projects: blasthole sensors, new explosives formulations, new blasting techniques and modelling, ore tracking devices, improved image analysis to determine size, texture and colour of coarse ore, grade sensors, whole-stream simulation tools, and even more powerful computing hardware and data analysis software. If we could achieve so much in the 1990s, how much more can we achieve today when we have the same imperative, the same potential and a larger number of high technology tools?Citation:Cameron, P, Drinkwater, D and Pease, J, 2016. The ABC of Mine to Mill and Metal Price Cycles, in Proceedings 13th AusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference 2016, pp 349–358 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Oct 10, 2016

By S Bhandari

A model for predicting dust plume dispersion from blasting operations using the Eulerian mathematical algorithm has been developed. This model considers atmospheric stability, and wind velocity and direction for computing dust concentrations at different distances from the blast. Software has been developed which simulates the movement of a dust plume at a given horizontal distance from the blast location and time elapsed after the blast. The concentration of dust is also given in vertical planes. It takes into account ground profile and atmospheric conditions such as temperature, pressure, humidity, wind velocity, wind direction and shear. Experiments were carried out in two limestone mines to calibrate the accuracy of the predictions made by such model. High volume dust samplers were used to collect dust samples. Difficulties encountered in satisfactory dust sampling and quantification of results have been described.

Nov 8, 2011

Dust emissions from mining, material processing and ship loading operations (fugitive dust sources) are an environmental issue of increasing concern to both government regulators and the community. The main concerns relate to potential amenity, health and environmental impacts from the emissions. Therefore it is imperative that mining/ processing operations, as part of their overall environmental management, reduce fugitive particulate emissions to as low a level as is practicably possible. This technical paper outlines the mechanisms that lead to fugitive particulate emissions, the importance of understanding the exact cause of fugitive emissions, monitoring methods that can be used to quantify the emissions from specific sources, the use of atmospheric dispersion modelling in dust management and innovative dust management strategies including predictive meteorology and proactive management.

Jan 1, 2009

By R C. Morris

Two major types of economic secondary iron ores occur in the banded iron formation (BIF)-rich Hamersley Province of the Pilbara, Western Australia:dominant BIF-hosted bedded iron deposits (BID)detrital ore deposits (DID sensu lato), which are mainly hosted in the three province-wide Cenozoic sequences that include coeval non-ore sediments and comprise:a. the major Miocene, fluvial channel iron deposits (CID)b. the lesser Eocene and Pliocene detrital iron deposits (DID sensu stricto).Striking differences exist between the massive CID resources and the much smaller underlying and overlying DID. CID are essentially riverine alluvial ooidal rocks with abundant small fossil wood fragments and variable iron peloids, but with only extremely rare recognisable lithic remnants. The original matrix is typically ramifying layered goethite. Eocene DID are mainly alluvial with minor pisoids, whereas Pliocene–Quaternary DID are dominantly coarse colluvial gravels, both derived from and largely retaining the original textures of BID, hard cap or variably ferruginised surface BIF. The colluvial DID matrix is typically ferroan-aluminous soil, resulting in canga where replaced by goethite, which may be dehydrated to hematite by exposure. The Cenozoic deposits occur in two dominant geomorphological environments: the southern Marra Mamba to Brockman Iron Formation strike valleys containing all three Cenozoic sequences and the much later northern Brockman Iron Formation plateau valleys that include only the Miocene and Pliocene sequences. The Cenozoic detritals formed in different climatic regimes, with an extended dry period forming a prominent province-wide dehydrated carapace on the Eocene DID. The Miocene ‘optimum’ followed with its thick scrub-covered deep regolith that produced the fossil wood-rich CID and was succeeded by the arid cool period of the Oakover limestone/calcrete. A major renewal of exposure and erosion in the Pliocene resulted in the extensive iron gravels of the Pliocene–Quaternary.CITATION:Morris, R C, 2015. The Cenozoic detrital iron deposits of the Hamersley Province of Western Australia – a tribute to Mal Kneeshaw, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2015, pp 319–326 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 13, 2015

By K Tanguturi, B Belle, R Balusu

Management of high rates of goaf gas emissions between 4000 and 6000 L/s of methane gas in longwall panels is a challenging issue, particularly in start-up areas of the panels. There is a need for investigation of the effect of various goaf gas drainage concepts and techniques, and development of effective gas drainage strategies for management of high goaf gas emissions in start-up areas of the longwall panels. This paper presents the results of various computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations that were carried out to investigate the effect of different goaf gas drainage strategies and combinations for gas management in the start-up area of the longwall panels. Results indicated that the gas (methane) concentration in goaf holes on the tailgate (TG) side vary between 50 and 75 per cent under the simulated field conditions with flat coal seam gradients. The results also indicated that operation of more goaf holes for draining the goaf gas on the TG side results in high ingress of oxygen and further reduction in gas concentration in goaf gas drainage holes. The simulations also included scenarios with goaf gas drainage holes on the maingate (MG) side, TG cut-through seal and near the start-up area. This paper presents the results of various goaf gas drainage strategies and discusses the effect of various combinations in order to develop effective goaf gas drainage strategies for gas management in start-up areas of the longwall panels.CITATION:Tanguturi, K, Balusu, R and Belle, B, 2015. Development of goaf gas drainage strategies for start-up areas of highly gassy longwall panels, in Proceedings The Australian Mine Ventilation Conference, pp 251–258 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 31, 2015

By C J. Moran

The Gladstone region, as one of the most industrially intense regions in Australia, uses significant quantities of fresh water. Awoonga Dam, situated on the Boyne River, is the only major source of water in the region. The current typical annual usage is 53 GL (Porteous, 2006) and approximately 80 per cent of the water is used by heavy industry (Gladstone Area Water Board, 2004). Until relatively recently, there has been ready and easy access to raw water for industrial use. The recent drought, which resulted in severe water restrictions in 2002 and 2003, emphasised the importance of water for a dominant industrial region like Gladstone. Although now in the process of changing, the typical contractual arrangements in the past have provided little financial incentive for efficient water use. From research undertaken on potential water reuse opportunities, several key questions have emerged related to water management in an industrial region such as Gladstone. This paper highlights these key questions, presents findings from recent regional strategies and assesses the potential for water reuse. Even though there is no clear-cut financial incentive for reusing water, there could be stronger regional and risk mitigation drivers for doing so. Initiatives to incorporate adaptive capacity through collaborative industrial synergies would allow for robustness and resilience in water security, leading to long-term sustainable water management across the Gladstone region.

Jan 1, 2006

Sheaves are a critical safety component in a winding system and are expected to survive such extreme loading events as rope break. Sheave designs have often been developed and evolved empirically, consequently many existing sheaves are not necessarily subjected to the detailed analyses that are possible using todayÆs design tools. The design philosophy for sheaves is that the rope should be the weakest link in the system so that associated equipment can function safely for any load up to rope break. A number of failure mechanisms must be considered, but buckling is often prominent. During the course of investigating the feasibility of upgrading the hoisting capacity of a winding system, the capacity of all critical components was reviewed. The sheaves in the system were found to have insufficient spoke buckling capacity for the specified rope. A proposal to increase the spoke buckling capacity by connecting spokes together using a simple tie arrangement was evaluated and found ineffective. An alternative tie arrangement concept was developed and evaluated and shown to be adequate. This paper describes the finite element model, analysis approach and results for the original sheave and the two modifications. The contribution of the sheave rim to the total buckling capacity is evaluated. Some practical issues for spoke tie modifications are discussed.

Jan 1, 2005

By A Melkumyan, F Ramos

This paper addresses the problem of prediction of grade variables over volumes (block estimation) for an autonomous mine. Resource estimation is usually concerned with the prediction of the quality of material over volumes (blocks in resource models). This problem is tackled by developing Bayesian block estimation with the Gaussian processes (GPs) framework. GPs are commonly used for nonparametric regression and classification and offer an elegant solution to deal with incomplete knowledge and information. A GP is defined by its mean and covariance function. The parameters of the covariance function can be learnt by maximising the marginal likelihood of the data. This offers a way of automating the covariance fitting process, while at the same time allowing for an assessment of how well the covariance function fits the data. Within the GP framework the calculation of the average grade over a volume can be performed using Bayesian quadrature, which treats an integral as a random variable. First, it is demonstrated that the block kriging equations in geostatistics are the same as Bayesian quadrature. Then, it is determined when closed form analytical solutions for the integrals are possible and quadrature approaches for approximations are briefly discussed.

Sep 26, 2011

Froth flotation is widely used for the separation of particulate materials in the world. It is a complex process whose operational behaviour in process plants is difficult to predict. A comprehensive phenomenological dynamic flotation model was presented at the 1982 IMPC. This model uniquely linked the particle/bubble interactions and water transport phenomena to the flotation cell hydrodynamics. The model was used as a dynamic framework to analyse and develop process optimisation strategies. New developments in mineralogical characterisation, real time information management systems and data validation simplify the implementation of flotation technologies for mine to mill grade recovery optimisation. With recent developments in software programming, dynamic simulation enables process engineers to develop process alternatives interactively. This paper presents such an implementation of current process analysis tools and an updated froth flotation dynamic model. It demonstrates how this new environment can be used to improve our technological knowledge of flotation, eg alternative bubble/particle attachment and detachment microprocesses can be incorporated. The dynamic flotation model has several manipulated variables (such as feed flow rate, per cent solids, aeration, wash water flow rate, frother flow rate, specific power energy (impeller speed/delta pressure), cell geometry and tails flow rate) and evaluates the dynamic effects of these variables on grade and recovery.

Jan 1, 2005

To solve the mining safety and health needs of the future, access to, and sharing of, timely and relevant information will be crucial. The next generation of the Web will provide tools (RDF, OWL, SPARQL, etc) to define and link content for more effective discovery, integration, and reuse across applications and organisations. A recent Gartner Research Report (Finding and exploiting value in Semantic Web technologies on the web, May 2007) predicts these technologies will begin to coalesce in ten years. Implementing this Semantic Web requires structured web content described via metadata (information about information). If an industry or enterprise bases its metadata on a common vocabulary, it becomes possible to share and reuse information. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and HealthÆs (NIOSH) Mining web site provides access to more than 1500 NIOSH-developed publications, products, and topic pages on issues as diverse as ground control, respiratory diseases, and mine emergency management. As the site has grown, locating content has become increasingly difficult. To improve the searching process, a panel of internal experts representing all major research programs was established to develop a controlled vocabulary for indexing that content. The outcome is the NIOSH Mining Safety and Health Thesaurus, a faceted, hierarchical thesaurus containing hundreds of mining safety and health terms organised into 20 facets (eg diseases, injuries and disorders; hazardous events and exposures, equipment, engineering and administrative controls). One immediate goal of this project is to reduce the complexity of locating information on the NIOSH Mining web site by implementing metadata and faceted information retrieval techniques. Another goal is to stimulate discussion in the international mining community regarding developing metadata standards so the industry is ready to adopt future Semantic Web technologies to improve access to mining safety and health information.

Jan 1, 2008

By S Viviers, G Ratner

Ventilation is part of all underground mine operations and is undertaken in order to introduce fresh, cool air to the workings and to remove stale, affected air. It is problematic to obtain efficient and accurate estimates of volume flow and static pressure in the installed operational configuration for the auxiliary axial flow fans.An empirical method was developed to estimate the static pressure and volume flow through a calibrated differential pressure port on axial flow fans. Prior to shipping, each fan is performance tested according to BS 848 (ISO 5801) to establish the fan performance curves. In addition to the standard required parameters captured to fully describe the performance, the differential pressure is measured across the fan rotor to enable correlation with the characteristic fan curve.The method was implemented on a ruggedised tablet PC platform. This compact platform is then used to calculate the volume flow rate from the differential pressure sensor measurement input via a USB port. The result is a real-time measurement of volume flow and operating point of the fan system. This can be used effectively in overall modelling of the mine auxiliary ventilation systems and calculation of system resistance could provide a health indication of the fan and duct system.CITATION:Ratner, G and Viviers, S, 2013. Underground auxiliary ventilation monitoring and diagnostic system, in Proceedings The Australian Mine Ventilation Conference , pp 57-62 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 1, 2013

By J Hudson

Autogenous (AG) and Semi Autogenous (SAG) grinding mills are the conventional selection for large-scale grinding circuits. It is accepted that these forms of comminution are not the most energy efficient available. This efficiency combined with escalating energy prices, steel prices and the requirement to process larger, lower grade deposits has necessitated that better comminution techniques are found to challenge the dominant position of AG/SAG mills in the grinding circuit. Recent advances in high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR), particularly in terms of roll surface protection have meant that, depending on the application, an economic alternative is available to the large diameter AG/SAG mills. Mining companies now recognise the potential benefits of HPGR and so they need proper assessment in the design of new or upgrade of existing grinding processes. Of course, the answer to the question AG/SAG or HPGR is not straightforward and the impact of the grinding process on the whole metallurgical process needs to be evaluated. Clearly this is a complex decision to make and requires substantial metallurgical knowledge, test work, and objective analysis. The perceived downstream processing benefits will differ between different plants depending on the ore type and processing conditions. The optimal design of the comminution circuit requires that a robust methodology is followed to objectively characterise the ore, size the equipment and determine the downstream processing benefits. The paper gives a brief comparison of the capital and operating costs for both grinding systems, and then outlines the appropriate test work that is required to make an informed decision.

Jan 1, 2006

By S K. Ray

Open fire in a mine gallery causes large-scale damage to property and sometimes precious lives. Such fires produce two distinct effects, the throttle effect and the buoyancy effect. These effects disturb the ventilation system of the mine. To understand the complex dynamic phenomenon of open fire and its effect on ventilation systems, a mine fire model gallery has been designed and constructed at Central Mining Research Institute, Dhanbad. Two sets of experiments at air velocities of 1 and 1.5 m/s were conducted in the gallery using coal samples from the Dobrana seam of the Raniganj coalfields. After about an hour of development of fully-fledged fire, heavy backlash, with smoke and fumes, was observed. At the time of backlash occurring the gallery was divided into two zones. In the region of the gallery from the base up to 1.4 m the airflow was normal, in the remaining upper portion the airflow was the reverse. Air quantity reduced substantially, while pressure dropped across the fire zone, the products of combustion (POC) and temperature increased during the period of the throttle effect. It has been revealed from these studies that with an increase in airflow, pressure drops across the fire zone, POC, temperature and reduction in airflow increases. This paper addresses the important design features of the gallery, the instrumentation system, the experimental procedure and assesses the effect of open fires on mine ventilation systems.

Jan 1, 2005

By M Thompson, N Vines, Z Hearne, S Lam, G A. Gomes-Sebastiaõ, D van der Spuy

Construction and commissioning of the Nova Copper-Nickel project of Independence Group was completed in late 2016. The plant is in the Fraser Range of Western Australia, about 120km east of Norseman and produces separate Copper and Nickel concentrates. Since the early feasibility phases of the project, the importance of automation and control was recognised and planned for to ensure the plant performance meets the design expectations. The site is well equipped with common as well as advanced instrumentation. It currently boasts the largest number of Blue Cube MQi (mineral quantifier inline) slurry grade analysers on a single plant worldwide. It was also decided that 25 Blue Cube TempoTracks would be installed on the flotation cells. The TempoTracks provide information on froth height and velocity, hence giving continuous, quantitative measurements of the froth that is pulled off each cell, rather than relying on infrequent, subjective visual inspections.The Nova concentrator consists of a differential flotation circuit whereby copper bearing mineral are selectively floated prior to nickel flotation. It is imperative that losses of copper to the nickel circuit, and vice versa, are minimised. The plant metallurgical team and Process IQ collaborated to develop and implement the advanced control strategy for the plant. This paper focusses on the optimisation of the copper concentrate that is pulled off the copper rougher and scavengers. This strategy was made possible by the additional measurements listed above. The control optimisation of the copper rougher and copper rougher scavenger circuit was implemented during August 2017 on the StarCSTM advanced control platform. It continuously optimises the level and air setpoints. The control philosophy incorporates several notable techniques which include: a variable mass pull target that is a function of the quantity and grade of material entering the circuit, integrated compensation to prevent inventory build-up in cells, balancing of the froth velocity over the lip of each cell to adaptive, modular system usage and advanced error handling. CITATION:Gomes-Sebastiaõ, G A, Hearne, Z, Lam, S, van der Spuy, D, Thompson, M and Vines, N, 2018. Nova copper-nickel project optimisation of the copper rougher-scavenger circuit through advanced measurement and control, in Proceedings 14th AusIMM Mill Operators' Conference 2018, pp 77–92 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 29, 2018

The basic make-up of the majority of currently produced bulk explosives has changed little in the last 20 years. These explosives would be described as mature in a life cycle analysis. Therefore these explosive products and the practical rules for their use are well understood and well established. In recent years there has been interest in low density explosives, predominantly due to ammonium nitrate shortages and the associated increase in the cost of explosives. In the use of low density explosives some of the practical rules for the more commonly used bulk explosives do not apply. Therefore a shift in the thinking among users is required. At a number of mines low density explosives have been trialled or are being used, utilising the practical rules that apply to bulk explosive products. This has led to poor blast results in many situations. These poor blast results have often then led to a reduction in the use of low density explosives at the mine. This reduction does not acknowledge the advantages that can be gained from this product in the area of reduced cost of mining. This paper looks at low density explosives and discusses how and why these products work. Included in the paper are some practical ideas and examples of how low density explosives can be effectively used at the mine site.

Jan 1, 2007