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Following extensive trials on a 100 000 tpa Research and Development facility at Kwinana, Western Australia, Hismelt Corporation (wholly owned by Rio Tinto) are confident of the future commercial success of this technology. The Hlsmelt process uses iron ore fines and non-coking coals to produce molten pig iron suitable for feeding to BOF and EAF steelmaking vessels. The unique process configuration combines direct injection of raw materials into the molten iron bath, high rates of metal and slag mixing, and effective post-combustion of the bath gases to achieve efficient coal utilisation. This is the key to the strong economic performance of the process.

Jan 1, 1999

SOME notes on the works of the Electrolytic Refining and Smelting Company of Australia will no doubt be of interest to members of the Institute, more especially as much of the work is new to Australasia. As many of the members who may read this paper have not been in a position to visit works of this kind, and are consequently not thoroughly acquainted with all the operations carried on, the author has taken the liberty, in some cases, to enter into explanation which would otherwise be unnecessary. The works are situated at Port Kembla (New South Wales), about fifty miles south of Sydney, and are approachable both by rail and water. The Government has recently built a low-level jetty upwards of five hundred feet long, and intends installing at an early date an electrically operated portable crane to facilitate the handling of material to and from the boats. This will mean: a considerable reduction in the length of time that boats are laid up at the jetty. There are also under construction two breakwaters, which, when complete, will materially assist shipping operation...

Jan 1, 1910

THERE are certain facts that the mining industry in Australia is faced with at the present moment which may be accepted as axioms. The industry is at a low ebb, as evidenced by statistics. Metals form the basis of all modern industries, and are necessaryfor the welfare of Australia. Mining is a wasting asset. Every ton of ore extracted is one ton less which c.annot be made good, and it should be our duty to get as much profit froin that ore as possible, otherwise there is a permanent loss to the country.The metal market cannot be controlled by Australia; it is more or less an international matter. Australia has not been thoroughly prospected. There are no mines being developed that are likely to replace those which are being depleted.Our mining engineers are as capable as those in other parts of the world, and have made good where they have been given a chance. There is no one cause for the present depression; there are several, more or less, interwoven. Of course, the war has had an adverse effect, but that has only dislocated things temporarily; it upset our markets, influenced the price of metals, and affected the labour market and cost of stores. Labour troubles made their appearance before the wave of unrest swept over the world. The cause of labour discontent must be investigated, and if possible removed. As each industry has .its·own problems, miners must inquire into their special problems, as there is no sovereign remedy that will suit all cases.It is obvious that we cannot mine ore if we do not know where it is; therefore, the first thing is to discover workable deposits.

Jan 1, 1919

The words ""Uncertainty"" and ""Risk"" pervade every discussion about mining exploration and investment. Perhaps these terms are subjectively understood by industry professionals, but objective portrayal of these concepts outside the industry is a woefully undeveloped science. This paper addresses current industry understanding and practice regarding quantitative risk assessment techniques, and provides examples of the application of three of these techniques. Probabilistic techniques for financial risk assessment are valuable adjuncts to conventional financial analysis, and address a range of issues not assessable by any other means. The value of whole-of-project probabilistic risk assessment is currently debatable for decision-making purposes, but is seen as important as a mechanism to focus attention to the critical issues that ultimately impact on project success. The dissection of project capital into risk and non-risk components provides valuable insights into risk characteristics not readily quantifiable in any other way. This technique also provides a framework for more objective ""what if?"" scenario evaluation and for the capital structure of resource projects. Finally, mechanisms for the valuation of undeveloped reserves are examined, and guidelines suggested. The importance of reliability in production cost estimates is highlighted and the impact of early development on reserve valuations is discussed. The importance of economics throughout all stages of the evaluation process is fundamental.

Jan 1, 1994

Studies of the Main Seam in the Rapahoe Sector of Greymouth Coalfield have shown that the proportions of palynomorphs and palynomorph groups vary vertically within the seam, but remain laterally consistent. Subsequent examinations of other seams in the Rapahoe Sector have demonstrated that the changes in palynomorph proportions observed in the Main Seam are specific to that seam, effectively providing a seam 'fingerprint'. Such a characteristic signature may be used to identify the Main Seam where faulting or seam splitting confuses seam correlation between drillhole intersections. Palynomorph assemblages are derived from the original plants which formed the peat mire, and yield information on mire conditions such as climate, mineral matter input and chemistry. These depositional factors influence coal properties such as mineral content, volatile matter yields and coal breakability. Palynological data can therefore assist in development of depositional lTIodels for prediction of coal quality variations. Several other, thiner seams in the Rapahoe Sector have been demonstrated to also contain recognisable palynomorph assemblages, suggesting that other seams may also possess distinct palynomorph abundance profiles.

Jan 1, 1996

The term geochemistry - chcmbtry' of the earth - is almost limitless in its implied subject, but of recent years a major trend of research in this field has been towards economic application in the search for mineral deposits, and in particular for those of some ofthe less common elements for which a demand now exists.Geochemistry is in a state of slow transition from a purely descriptive subject to a fundamental science concerned with the relationships that exist between the distribution of the elements in the earth's crust and the physical characteristics of the atoms of those elements. The progress achieved promises a set of basic principles which will relate the atomic characteristics of an element to the physico-chemical conditions that make for its dispersion or concentration. This means that, given a geological map of an areasufficiently detailed for the physico-chemical conditions existing in past geological eras to be deduced, there is the possibility that the relative distribution throughout that area of any element present, and its likely mode of occurrence, could be predicted from a consideration of its atomic characteristics.Since the atomic characteristics of the elements are becoming increasingly well defined by physical research, the attainment of this ideal of prediction depends upon:(a) the strengthening of geochemical theory; and(b) the development of petrological and mineralogical methods of assessing the conditions of temperature and pressure prevailing in geological formations at various stages in their history.The other prime requirement is a d.etailed geological map - a requirement that is all too often lacking.The fact that there has been very little "geochemical approach" to problems of economic geology in Australia should not be taken to mean that there is little point in trying to develop such an approach here in as active and as rigidly scientific a manner as possible. The degree of success that has attended the attempts so far made, to which reference is made below, suggests the reverse, particularly in view of the relatively slight cost involved if the investigations were properly organised on a centralised basis. There are three aspects of geochemistry that are directly applicable to the search for economic minerals.(a) The classic technique of the prospector can be made more sensitive and reliable by the use of modern equipment coupled with the application of geochemical theory to geological and structural data. The case of the rare alkali elements (see below) is givenhere as an illustration of the way in which the distribution of elements can be predicted from the first principles of geochemistry, thereby replacing the prospector's dependence on his "sixth sense" that enabled him to suggest that a certain area of formation was"favourable" for the occurrence of a certain type of mineral deposit.At its best, this sixth sense amounted to an almost subconscious correlation of all relevant associations and typical occurrences of the particular mineral experienced by the prospector during his...

Jan 1, 1950

CONTENTSIntroductionNorthern ExplorationDrive ConceptionGeneralDriving CrewDrive Cross Section and Track DetailsVentilation by Electrically Driven FanTemperatures and HumidityFan PerformanceRock Drill Carriage and Rock DrillsStandard Drilling RoundElectric Firing from Power MainsExplosives and DetonatorsCharging and FiringMechanical Loading and Electric HaulageOperating CycleStatisticalEquipmentAcknowledgementINTRODUCTION.The driving project described in :this paper is one of greater magnitude than usual for the Broken Hill field, and in the execution of the work a departure was made from long-established local practice by the introduction of mechanisation. The primary object of the drive is to provide sites for gaining information regarding the behaviour of the ore-bodies well beyond the limits of the present exposures.Due to thermal conditions, the major portion of the work was done on a six-hour shift basis, in contrast to the normal one of seven hours, with a five-day week.

Jan 1, 1946

The area between Merrygoen and Digilah is located on a structural high that separates the Sydney Basin from the Great Artesian Basin, and hence the stratigraphic succession of younger rocks overlying the basement is relatively thin. The stratigraphy is briefly described and it is shown that fluvial sedimentation prevailed from Upper Permian through to Middle Jurassic times. Flint clays occur in the Permian, Triassic and Jurassic but only those in the Jurassic appear to have commercial value at present. The chemical, mineralogical, and physical properties of the flint clays are discussed.

Jan 1, 1973

By Clements R. J, Davey J. M

Development of the process from the pilot stage to the current operation of the Capel, WA plant is briefly described.The design criteria for a larger sized plant are discussed together with factors that relate suitable feedstocks and coal types to the capital cost, capacity and product grade of future plants at locations other than Capel. The application of the process to the direct reduction of iron ores is briefly discussed including its commercial application at Rockwood, Tennessee.

Jan 1, 1980

By Blanchard R

In stopes of the 2000- and 2150-ft. levels in the North mine section of North Broken Hill Limited, whence a substantial proportion of the company's production is being drawn, and especially in stopes which involve the portion known as the Northern orebody, occurs it light-coloured friable porous material which represents average grade ore from which the lead and zinc minerals, and certain gangue constituents, have been largely or wholly removed by leaching. The 2000- and 2150-ft. levels lie, respectively, 1550 and 1700 ft. below extreme base of the pre-mine oxidized zone. Composition of the cellular product shows it to be supergene. The oxidation and leaching, therefore, must be assumed to have taken place since drainage of the affected areas was accomplished by mining operations.The matter is of more than passing interest, because the post-mine...

Jan 1, 1942

By G Corder

Even though most major operating companies in the minerals industry have Board-level endorsed sustainability principles and objectives, design engineers typically have no mechanism that allows them to implement those objectives in their work. In addition, the existing project management systems do not readily deliver the innovative solutions needed to address key sustainability issues, such as those related to significantly reduced carbon emissions, minimal environmental impacts, and maintaining the societal ‘licence to operate’. SUSOP® (SUStainable OPerations) is an approach for the integration of sustainable development principles into the design of mineral processes, which has been developed through the Co-operative Research Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing (CSRP). Somewhat analogous to the well entrenched HAZOP (Hazard and Operability) studies, SUSOP® is a holistic, systematic and rigorous mechanism for identifying and assessing sustainability opportunities and risks at each stage of project development - from corporate planning, through design and operation, to decommissioning and rehabilitation – without compromising financial rigour. SUSOP® was developed, tested and enhanced through its application to real case studies in the minerals industry. This development path provided significant insights into the process of identifying and evaluating opportunities for improving an operation’s contribution to sustainability and its long-term business case.This paper will discuss the need for a methodical approach for integrating sustainability principles into mineral processing plant design, present the key elements of SUSOP®, and outline its development path through real case studies. In addition, the reasons why such an approach will have growing importance into the future will be raised.

Aug 8, 2011

By M Hourn, D Turner, P Voigt, D Mallah

The GPM Gold Project is located in Armenia, and consists of an open cut mine at Zod, near the Azerbaijan border, and a CIL processing plant at Ararat near the Turkish border. Mining at Zod commenced in 1976, and focused on near surface oxide ores, which overlay deeper refractory sulphides. Historical mining has now almost depleted the oxide ores, and the sulphide content of ore delivered to the processing plant at Ararat is increasing. Gold and silver recoveries through the Ararat plant were declining steadily.GeoProMining, the owners of the project, have expanded the Ararat facility to deal with the increasing sulphide content in the ore. In 2014, GeoProMining refurbished an existing concentrator on site to recover a sulphide concentrate from the ore, and have constructed an Albion ProcessTM plant to oxidize the refractory concentrate. Glencore Technology (GT) provided the Albion ProcessTM plant as a technology package.In July 2014, the progress of the GPM Gold Project Albion ProcessTM Plant was reported (Hourn, Voigt and Turner, 2014). At the time of writing, the construction of the plant was nearly complete. This paper presents an update of project progress, covering commissioning and ramp up of the GPM Gold Project.The commissioning phase occurred over June to August 2014, which included an M3,000 IsaMillTM fine grinding plant, a 6 tph limestone milling plant, a 60 tpd vacuum pressure swing adsorption oxygen plant, a 10 m residue thickener and a 12 tph Albion ProcessTM oxidative leach plant. Since commissioning was completed, ramp up occurred over the following three months with downstream gold recoveries from cyanide leaching reaching over 98%.CITATION:Voigt, P, Hourn, M, Mallah, D and Turner, D, 2015. Commissioning and ramp-up of the Albion Process at the GPM Gold Project, in Proceedings MetPlant 2015, pp 207–219 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 7, 2015

By A McDowell

Pound Road Quarry is an alluvial gravel quarry owned and operated by Fulton Hogan Ltd. for the supply of aggregate in Canterbury, and is the largest quarry in the South Island in terms of production. It has evolved from three separate quarries, as a result of which extraction has occurred sporadically in a number of areas. Due to this factor, and the need to manage environmental impacts, a detailed quarry management plan was completed in 1995 which formed the basis for implementation of a certified environmental management system.   In December 1997, the quarry was the first in New Zealand to achieve ISO 14001 (TELARC) accreditation for implementation of an environmental management system. The main potential environmental impacts arising from the quarry operation include dust, noise and groundwater contamination, and visual landscape effects associated with gravel extraction, the mitigation of which is achieved by means of æbest practiceÆ methods. All quarry operations are controlled in terms of the environmental management system by means of regular (monthly and yearly) environmental reviews, appropriate auditing of environmental documents, and monitoring of environmental targets in accordance with consent and statutory requirements.

Jan 1, 1998

Sluice box operating practices in Papua New Guinea (PNG), and published work on sluice boxes are briefly reviewed. Some recent work on sediment entrainment mechanisms occurring in sluice boxes have also been described. In the light of this information, some drawbacks in the commonly adopted sluice box operating practices in PNG, and ways of overcoming them, are also highlighted.

Jan 1, 1991

Iron Ore - Mineral Processing Overview Several years of iron ore price increases, coupled with a period of strong global demand for raw materials, presented iron and steel producers with unprecedented costs and difficulty procuring the demanded high quantities of iron ore. These conditions spurred many companies to investigate new ore bodies and also reassess past decisions (such as divestment of captive iron ore mines that ensured dedicated supply or a move to reliance on the 'spot market' instead of long term contracts with suppliers) and revisit alternative sources of iron units, including low grade deposits, tailings reprocessing, Ti-rich ores, and iron sands. To properly upgrade these iron sources requires a complete battery of mineral processing techniques. Within different regions around the world, operations and technology have developed to specifically beneficiate the local ore bodies. This paper attempts to bring these different general processing techniques together to allow insight into various common and proven methods of iron ore beneficiation. This paper further explores the current trend to develop global iron ore reserves, and discusses the methods to beneficiate and successfully reduce and smelt iron ore using Outotec's physical separation, direct reduction and smelting technologies for final production of pig iron and slag. Use of these various technologies may allow treatment of what was typically considered a tailings stream into a profitable product.

Sep 13, 2010

By N Lewis

Recent major urban trunk sewer infrastructure projects in Melbourne have involved construction of nearly 10 km of tunnel boring machine (TBM) driven tunnels in a range of geological conditions varying from soft alluvial soils to hard volcanic rock. To provide both construction and permanent access to the new trunk sewer network, a total of 17 shafts between 5 m and 13 m in diameter, and up to 64 m in depth have been constructed. This paper describes the design and construction of the temporary shaft support systems for the shafts.The range and variability of geological conditions at each shaft site required the adoption of the following shaft support systems across the projects – jet grouting, sheet piles, diaphragm wall, secant pile, contiguous pile, reinforced shotcrete rings and rock bolts.Groundwater control, settlement, TBM launch and reception chambers at the shaft base, chambers and TBM launches at mid-depth of shafts, connection shafts between new and existing sewers and bypass pumping shafts are among the challenges that have been met.This paper reports on the some of the challenges involved and experience gained in developing design and construction solutions for large diameter shafts that are excavated within varying geology in Melbourne over the past three years.

Mar 8, 2011

The mechanization of the coal industry in New South Wales involved the introduction of large face and transport machines. The trend is towards still higher capacity units with .greater horsepower and it became apparent that a potential risk of damage to the hearing of workmen existed. In order to assess whether the sound levels were SUfficiently high to impair the hearing of workmen a sound level survey of all major operations in the industry was carried out by the Mining Engineering Division of the Joint Coal Board.The results indicated ·that the operations could be classified into three categories of risk, probably hazardous, of doubtful hazard due to the intermittency of the operations, and of low hazard.Legislation has subsequently been enacted requiring the wearing of hearing preservation aids in some of the probable risk operations.

Jan 1, 1974

The production of sulphuric acid at Port Pirie by the contact process began in March 1924 with the commissioning of the Electrolytic Zinc Co.'s roasting and acid plant. This plant, operated by B.H.A.S. Pty. Ltd. on behalf of the E.Z. Co., continued to produce sulphuric acid from the gases evolved when roasting Broken Hill zinc concentrate in mechanically rabbled furnaces until September 1954, when the plant was closed down.In this peri9d of approximately 30 years some 600,000 mono tons of 98·5 per cent sulphuric acid was produced, most of which was used for fertilizer production at Wallaroo and Port Adelaide. During World War II 14,400 mono tons of the above was produced in the form of 20 per cent Oleum and railed to the Salisbury Munitions Factory for use in the production of nitro-glycerine, gun-cotton and T.N.T.In the early post-war period various ways of converting at least some of the sulphur in the gases' discharged to atmosphere from the lead sintering plant were considered until, in 1949, it was decided to erect a modern contact acid plant. Much work remained to be done on the roasting plant to produce a gas of suitable grade for the contact process and also on the design of a purification section suitable for the treatment of D.L. gases.The acid section itself, however, was largely of conventional design and it was therefore decided that this would be erected first. To it was then attached a sulphur-burning section to allow it to operate as a "hot gas" brimstone acid plant until the roasting and gas purification plants had been designed and erected. In this way the urgent need for sulphuric acid in the fertilizer industry would be relieved, to some extent at least, as soon as, possible.

Jan 1, 1956

By Lancucki C. J, Nickson N. M

X-ray diffraction and differential thermal methods were used to determine the mineralogy of some clays used by the heavy clay industry in the Adelaide area. A detailed analysis was made of the mineralogy and particle size distribution of eighteen samples from beds in two pits in the Recent sediments in the Adelaide plains, of six white clays developed from the weathering of the Adelaide series of sediments, and of four Recent alluvial clays from a pit in the Mount Lofty ranges south of Adelaide. Structural clay products in the Adelaide area are manufactured from mixtures of these clays, so the mineralogy and particle size distribution was determined of eighteen clay mixtures used to make red bricks, cream bricks, facing bricks, pipes and tiles.Knowledge of this mineralogy is important in understanding the ceramic behaviour of the clays.INTRODUCTIONIn this investigation an account is given of the clay mineralogy and particle size distribution of some ceramic clays from the Adelaide area. The clays are used in the manufacture of structura,l clay products and the results to 'be described are part of an overall 'plan of study covering the heavy industrial clays and shales of Australia. Previous work has been published (Cole and Carthew, 1953; Ferguson, 1954; Ferguson and Hosking, 1955; Cole and Nielsen, 1958/59).In this work no attempt has been made to examine clays from all pits engaged in supplying materials for the structural clay industry. However, in 1954 the senior author collected detailed samples from two pits working in Recent alluvial clays in the Allenby·Gardens and Beverley areas near...

Jan 1, 1963

The history of the industry which recovers rutile and zircon from the heavy mineral beach sand deposits of Eastern Australia began with the initial discovery of zircon in 1895. Whereas a large number of small companies operated during the rutile boom of 1955-57, the industry is now controlled by a few large groups.Mining is mainly by suction dredging. Metallurgical practice is a two-stage process in which a bulk concentrate of heavy minerals, recovered by gravity methods, is separated into its constituent minerals by processes based mainly on surface, electrical, and magnetic properties.Various separating devices using these principles have been developed in the industry and combined in various ways in the operating plants.There is scope for future metallurgical developments.INTRODUCTIONThe existence of deposits of heavy minerals ("black sands") on the northern coast of New South Wales has been known for at least 90 years. The earliest metallurgical operations aimed at the recovery of gold, platinum, tin and monazite. Mainly because of the low grade of these deposits with respect to these minerals, but also due to metallurgical difficulties, such operations were abandoned by about 1895 (Whitworth, 1959). The presence of zircon was recorded quite early (Carne, 1895) but Raggatt (1925) appears to have been the first to report the presence of rutile.The economic exploitation of the deposits was initiated in 1928 when D. H. Newland, State Geologist of New York, made an examination on behalf of The Titanium Alloy Manufacturing Company of America. Developments were then delayed by the world-wide depression, and the first commercial separation of the heavy minerals was made at Byron Bay in 1934 by Zircon Rutile Ltd. using a froth...

Jan 1, 1963