Search Documents

This paper discusses some topical issues on the mining administration and legislation fields including:  1. Licensing û Administration and associated specialist functions including:Processing and volumes of mining privilege applicationsFuture organisation and possible decentralisationSpecialist staffFacilitiesGuide to the Mining Act 1971 2. Mining Amendment Act 1981 Transitional procedures 3. Planning Tribunal First hearing of objectionsPoints of principle resulted there from 4. Quarries and Tunnels Bill Currently before Parliament û implications for metallurgical mining

Jan 1, 1982

By Thorburn D

This paper reviews the history of environmental assessment in New Zealand with reference to mineral developments. Emphasis is given to larger more controversial projects particularly metal mines. The changing role and application of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Procedures is examined in the context of changes in the government's environmental administration and the response of the Ministry of Energy's resource allocation group. Conclusions are drawn on the effectiveness of the present environmental assessment activities and on the allocation of administration of priorities in the Ministry. The Ministry of Energy has effectively ceased to exist.

Jan 1, 1990

The three systems of mining in use in the Southern Coalfield of New South Wales are bord and pillar with or without subsequent extrac- tion, longwall and shortwall. Bord and pillar with extraction is regarded as the conventional system. The application of continuous miners and powered roof supports (Shortwall) to coal min- ing has, grown in recent years from something of an oddity among extraction systems to an acceptable and viable approach in certain min- ing environments. The method can be applied in a high proportion of situations where normal pillar extraction is practised with advantages over the conventional approach. These advantages extend to both safety and efficiency aspects and also include better utilization of coal reserves. It holds hope for further gain in efficiency because its simplicity of layout lends itself to achieving the goal of contin- uous haulage towards which operators are always striving.

Jan 1, 1976

The results expected from a longwall face can best be estimated from the ideal production rate, determined by the capacity of the equipment and the conditions in which it is installed, the effective operating hours, and the utilisation.The effective operating hours are determined by a number of scheduling factors which include the proportion of manned time to calendar time, the effective shift factor (effective time to manned time) and the move times.Analysis of the results achieved on the last 121 completed longwall panels in Australia (1984 onwards) shows a significant trend between 'actual tonnes/manned hour' and 'ideal production rate' (the measure of the capacity of the installation).Using 1982 'state of the art' longwall equipment, (the average in use in the seven year period), it should be possible to produce around 2.7M tonne/year ROM from a mine with one longwall. Few mines are achieving this.A review of production scheduling factors and general natural hazards affecting some mines suggests three things.1. Whilst some increase in average effective hours has followed the CIT decision, further improvement is possible at many installations.2. Many mines subject to general natural hazards, such as high gas make and high general stress, have found effective solutions and achieve the same utilisation as the overall average.3. A small number of faces within such mines have been severely affected, some less so. The most severe effects of natural hazards appear to be very site specific. This emphasises the need for detailed investigation of the causes, and development of means of predicting their presence. Only then can either satisfactory technical solutions be found to overcome the problems or prior decisions be chosen not to mine badly affected panels.

Jan 1, 1991

By Hedge AS

Mt Whaleback is one of the largest open-cut iron ore mines in the world. Haulage cost is the single largest component of operating costs at the mine. Past studies towards alternatives to truck haulage have recognised the potential viability of an in-pit crushing and conveying system, dependent on the proportion of uphill haulage. After seventeen years of mining Mt Whaleback still contains more than 1,000 million tonnes of ore, needing 1,800 million tonnes of waste removal to extract it. What was once a quarry has now turned into a large open pit. The increasing proportion of uphill haulage, the need to replace ageing 120 ton and 200 ton trucks and the necessity of achieving and maintaining a higher stripping ratio prompted, in 1984, the initiation of a new feasibility study into the viability of alternative material handling systems. A semi-mobile in-pit crushing and conveying system was found to be most suited to Mt Whaleback conditions. The East Pit was selected as the best location based on the analysis of haulage profiles measured on long term incremental mine plans. A capacity of 22 million tonnes per year was considered achievable by the proven technology currently available. A detailed estimation of capital and operating costs of two systems - one with trucks only and another with trucks, crusher and conveyor - for the removal of 22 million tonnes per year of waste rock, showed substantial cost savings achievable by the proposed system. An economic evaluation of the two systems established the advantages of constructing the in-pit crushing and conveying system. This is now under construction and will be commissioned in early 1987. Experience gained in constructing and operating this installation is expected to influence decisions on similar installations in future.

Jan 1, 1986

By J L. Mauk

The Favona adularia-sericite epithermal Au-Ag deposit is located at the southern end of the Hauraki Goldfield, about one kilometre southeast of the world-class Martha deposit. The deposit occurs in Late Miocene andesitic lava flows and local dacitic tuffs of the Waipupu Formation. In some places, post-mineralisation ash fall and ignimbrite, up to 50 m thick, cover mineralised rocks and andesite. We collected soils samples from 110 sites along eight traverses over Favona, and from three regional lines: two south of Favona, and one north of Favona.   Analyses of soils identify prominent enhanced concentrations of Au, Ag, and Hg, and lower enrichments of Sb and As. At Favona, Au and Ag appear to be highly anomalous in areas over mineralisation with Au concentrations greater than 100 ppb and Ag concentrations greater than 1000 ppb, whereas background concentrations are approximately 5 ppb and 50 ppb respectively. The background concentrations of Hg in soils are approximately 100 - 200 ppb, but in mineralised areas, Hg generally exceeds 200 ppb, and some soils contain greater than 600 ppb. Antimony shows enrichments, although weak, above known veins and As locally shows some enrichment above areas of known mineralisation. Therefore, soil sampling at Favona defines geochemical anomalies that correlate with the position of known mineralisation at depth. Thus, there is strong empirical support for the use of Au, Ag and Hg, and possibly Sb and As geochemistry to identify mineralised trends associated with buried deposits at other epithermal prospects.

Jan 1, 2007

By Heinrich CA, Wall VJ, Walshe JL

The Porgera Gold Mine, located in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, has produced over 5 million ounces of Au, since its opening in late 1990. The deposit is located within Upper Cretaceous Papuan Platform sediments approximately 25 km south of the Lagaip Fault, and is spatially and temporally associated with the 6 Ma alkaline Porgera Intrusive Complex.

Jan 1, 1995

By DiStefano AB, Dale SG

This paper describes the laboratory study implemented to investigate the application of the subaerial technique to tailings disposal for the proposed Olympic Dam Mine. The results of the study and the resulting design parameters are presented. The subaerial technique of tailings disposal is described and the advantages of the method for disposal in arid climates highlighted.

Jan 1, 1984

Mining has long been an important activity for the people of Australia. The Aboriginals used rocks and minerals in their culture many thousand years before European settlement. It was not until 1840 that silver-lead ore was discovered in the Mount Lofty Ranges, and developed as Australia's first metalliferous mine.

Jan 1, 1995

By T Muri

The drying operation of materials from particulate solids, through slurries and suspensions, to continuous sheets represents an important part of several processes in the chemical and mineral industries. The increasing demand of high productivity at low cost and minimal environmental impact makes it complex to evaluate and choose the best available drying technology for each industrial application. The drying technologies are mainly characterised on the basis of how the wet product is related to the drying medium, namely: direct and indirect drying. In the direct drying method (convection drying), the product is brought into direct contact with the drying medium, which may be hot gas or air. Large quantities of gas are necessary for transfer of the required energy. A special case of the direct dryer is the fluid bed dryer, in which the product floats on a cushion of air or gas. The process air is supplied to the bed through a perforated distributor plate and flows through the bed of solids at a velocity sufficient to support the weight of particles. Very high heat and mass transfer values are obtained as a result of the intimate contact with the solids and the relative velocities between individual particles and the fluidising gas. In the indirect drying method (conduction or contact drying), the wet product is separated from the drying medium. The drying unit can consist of a rotor forming the indirect contact heating surface mounted in a stationary or rotating shell. The indirect method uses saturated or superheated steam resulting in low energy consumption and minimal environmental impact. In this paper, a review is given of the technologies available on the market based on different drying methods. The advantages and the disadvantages are summarised with respect to issues such as investment and operating cost, maintenance, product capacity, product handling and environmental impact.

Jan 1, 2006

By Mandzic E. H

The Dome Mine of Timmins Mining company is located in South Porcupine, N.W. Ontario. The orebody being mined partially lies in the No. 3 shaft pillar. Stability analysis has been carried out to establish the influence of nearby mining on ground movement in the shaft vicinity. Mathematical modelling of shaft displacement has been done for stope layout at depths from 180-210 m and distances of 10-50 m from the shaft. Analysis indicated that ground displacement around the shaft is below 1 mm/m and one third less for cut and fill than in the case of open stope mining. The result of the investigation was later confirmed by cut and fill mining of this orebody.

Jan 1, 1986

A model of dense medium cyclones is developed based on balancing the terminal velocities of the discrete particles due to the centrifugal force against a random turbulent eddy velocity. An expression of the form P - or Q _ 1 100 e."A where P is the partition number., is a function of cyclone efficiency, particle size and density differential between the particle and medium, and is the slurry spilt, is developed and may be used for regressing plant partition data. The above model provides an understanding of peculiarities of the partition curve such as asymmetrical tails, elevation of the cutpoint and elevation of the d50 with increasingly fine feed. The effect of feed variables such as particle size, medium viscosity and changes in spigot or vortex finder diameter is shown. A means of convoluting the partition curve with various feed washabilities is discussed together with how the above may be used to evaluate plant performance for a variety of feeds.

Jan 1, 1987

Mine site restoration, involving the re-establishment of original ecosystems, is a far greater challenge than revegetation, which simply aims to stabilise the site and to give it a green appearance. One of the challenges is to establish a simple yet effective measure of restoration success. A potentially useful approach is to focus on particular groups of plants or animals which are likely to provide a general indication of the state of the ecosystem in which they occur. Ants have been used extensively by the mining industry in this context, particularly in northern Australia. Ants are likely to be useful bioindicators because of their general importance in the Australian environment, and because of the many linkages they have with other parts of the ecosystem. Moreover, ant community structure responds to stress and disturbance in predictable ways, and therefore provides an interpretable measure of ecosystem change. This is illustrated by a study of ant recolonisation at Ranger uranium mine. However, the extent to which ants reflect the responses of other ecosystem components is poorly documented. This is currently the subject of a collaborative project between OSS and CSIRO.

Jan 1, 1994

An image analysis system has been built which automatically digitizes camera input of rock fragments, analyses the digitised data to determine the sizes and shapes of the rock fragments, and outputs the analysed data to a printer in the form of a histogram or a scatter chart. The high speed of such a system allows for direct collection of data from material thrown into the air by blasting, material travelling on a conveyor belt, and material free-falling on to a stock-pile or into or out of a rock-crusher. Data on the blasted, un-crushed material provides information on changes in the lithology and structure of the rock face as it is quarried or mined: flatter fragments may represent approach to a brittle, unstable shear zone, or a change from sandstone to shale; so that the informa- tion reflects the effect on the sizes and shapes of the fragments by the blasting process and/or by the rock structure. The size and shape distributions of rock fragments produced during blasting and during processing may now be continuously monitored. Such detailed analysis of the results of fragmentation is labour-intensive and expensive when the size and shape distributions are obtained manually, but is cheap and efficient when using this image analysis system. Such a system will enable the results of blasting, quarrying, mining and crushing to be cheaply analysed and correlated with current and changing indus- trial practice so leading the way to increased productivity.

Jan 1, 1988

THE millng methods employed in the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company's mines are, perhaps, less known to the milling world than those of other important districts, due to the geographical remoteness and isolation of the Mount Lyell field,but they present many features which are unusual, and should be of interest to the mining engineer. Typical mining is carried out on an open-stope system, details of which are the result of local experience and evolution, and of which the outstanding feature is that the ground is so worked as to be largely self-supporting by virtue of domical form given to the stope roofs. It is locally termed "rill" stoping,' but differs widely from what is generally understood by that designation, chiefly in that the "rill" or slope is developed in every direction from a central focus, and not merely in directions followllig the strike of a lode or ore-body whose longitudinal dimensions are very much greater than its width. Such terms as "donie stoping" or "arched-back stoping" would be more appropriate and descriptive.The company's active operations' at the present time extend to the Mount Lyell and North Lyell mines, and, though the fundamental principles of stoping methods are the same in each, the dissimilarity of the ore-bodies, both in nature and mode ofoccurrence, necessitates considerable variation as to details to meet the respective conditions. The Mount Lyell pyritic body lends itself to the adoption of the .system in its simplest and almost ideal form, and a description of stoping in this mine willserve best to illustrate it, while later reference to details of practice in the North Lyell mine will indicate how it may be varied to meet more difficult circumstances.

Jan 1, 1915

In China the hydrogeological type of solid mineral deposits can be divided into A. Mineral deposits with fissure water; B. Mineral deposits with pore water; and C. Mineral deposits with karst water. The hydrogeological conditions of mineral deposits with fissure water are relatively simple with the exception of a few cases. Mineral deposits with pore water are few but great amounts of ground water can be encountered in the mine accompanied by floating sand or slope failure during the exploitation. Mineral deposits with karst water are complex in their hydrogeological conditions. Enormous inrushes occur frequently in the mines of north China; Karst collapses are a serious matter in the mines of the south; Subterranean river and conduit systems are often encountered in the southwest. This paper will give full discussion on these features and put forward a way of combating and controlling the groundwater problem in accordance with type and feature.

Jan 1, 1988

By Davies L, Jeffreys J

The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited (BHP) has been successfully using mini computers in its open cut strip and pit coal planning for the past six years. A recent development within the computerised Seam deposit User oriented Mine Planning System (SUMPS) provides the facility for the generation, evaluation, and simulation of colliery workings.Existing computer programs for collieries were studied, but none met the requirements of BHP's underground mine planners.Consequently, it was decided to develop programs, based on those existing within BHP for open cut strip and open cut pit mine planning. The new planning facility was designed to enable any number of proposed colliery developments and operating plans to be evaluated against optimistic, most likely and pessimistic geological lease area interpretations.In mine planning, sensitivity studies should be conducted to determine the likely effects on production, development costs and colliery economics of changes in mine design and budgeted equipment productivity. By automating the manual calculations involved, the computer programs provide the ability to conduct numerous and extensive sensitivity studies. Hence an optimum mine design for budgeting purposes can be derived quickly with an improved degree of confidence in the long term viability of the proposed development.

Jan 1, 1982

In order to formulate appropriate and useful education and training policies and practices, it is crucial to firstly consider the demographic environment of our workforce-and the direction in which it is (known to be) heading. We can predict with a degree of certainty, that the role and influence of training on the future survivability of organisations will- become increasingly critical. This will be particularly relevant for those industries and organisations which are technologically based. The ad-hoc use of training is and, will no longer be appropriate. Organisations must move toward the on-going use of a dynamic education and training strategy based on an effective staff development programme, which meets the short and medium term needs of the organisation. The Technisearch approach is based on maximizing the efficacy of training and learning. The package provides.a total service to meet clients training needs using educational techniques geared to adult learning. it stresses the importance of ongoing research into industrial adult training and its effectiveness in improving skills and productivity. Current research on roles of supervisors in the Australian workplace and the development of the Supervisory Behaviour Questionnaire. (SBQ) indicates the need for a proper framework within which the objectives of training can be addressed.

Jan 1, 1986

A review of publicly available coronial inquiries into fatalities that have occurred within the resources sector since the year 2000 reveals that a loss of corporate memory has been a contributing factor in 40 per cent of these accidents (National Coroners Information Service, 2010, Appendix B). With the highest levels of employee turnover within the Australian economy, increasingly complex operations and an ageing workforce, the management of corporate memory within the Australian resources industry poses a significant and often unrecognised safety risk.    The North Parks airblast of 1999 is used as a case study to highlight how corporate memory loss poses a significant hazard to resources projects and how such incidents will continue to occur if corporate memory is not effectively managed. Best practice from other industries is discussed to demonstrate how knowledge management systems can effectively work. This paper discusses how systems can be put in place within the geographically diverse resources sector, and how at the heart of any knowledge management system a culture of knowledge management needs to exist within an organisation.   The paper then discusses the importance of retaining key personnel and utilises findings from primary survey data collated in 2009 to show the size of the retention problem within the industry. From the data possible solutions to retaining key staff are proposed.   Finally the large and increasing role of contractors and consultants within the industry is discussed and methods of managing their knowledge are proposed.

Jun 1, 2010

The passage of a vast array of new State and Federal environmental legislation over the last couple of years has required many mine operators to sharpen their focus on environmental requirements. Established requirements, such as environmental impact assessment, minimising disturbance and rehabilitation must now be complemented by mine environmental management plans. These may not only require regular monitoring of mine operations and detailed forward planning to prevent or reduce environmental harm caused during mine operation, but annual updating. It is likely that in future these plans will be required to incorporate general principles such as pollution prevention, sustainable development, waste minimisation and conservation of biodiversity and ecological integrity.

Jan 1, 1993