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Two small coral islands in the Pacific Ocean, situated close under the equator, and formerly classed among the Line Islands, have, during the last three or four years risen into prominence owing to the valuable deposits of phosphate of lime discovered on them.The deposits of Ocean and Pleasant Islands are under the control of the Pacific Islands Company (1902) Limited, of London and, Sydney, and the high grade of the phosphate, together with the exceptionally favourable facilities for mining this mineral, of which there are several millions of tons on these islands, give this company advantages which enable them to command the Australian and New Zealand markets, and also to make large contracts with Japan and other countries. Both islands, as far as surface indications are concerned, are entirely constructed of coral, with phosphate on the top from the highest points to the present sea level, there being no sign of volcanic rocks, with the exception of a few pieces of drift pumice on the coast.Banaba (Paanopa according to. the Admiralty charts), also known as Ocean Island, was discovered in 1804. It is situated in lat. 0° 52" S. and long. 169P 3[)" E.

Jan 1, 1904

By C J. Kruger, E le Roux

Anglo American Platinum has adopted a strategy of Best Practice Principles (BPP) for sampling, mass measurement, analysis and metal accounting for more than a decade now. When new plants are designed, the most suitable sampling equipment and sampling protocols are implemented and material flows and plant layouts are designed around sampling strategies. A few years ago, a crushing plant for a high-grade matte stream was commissioned.The design called for the high-grade material to be crushed to 95 per cent passing 2 mm and the design allowed for a single cutter primary Vezin sampler, increments taken from a gravity flowing stream at regular intervals, whilst filling a tanker for the pneumatic offload at our base metal refinery. This was a single point of sampling and analysis that would measure the wanted output from our smelting complex and the input to our refineries. In addition, the design incorporated the functionality to collect increments in an ‘interleaved’ fashion from the Vezin sampler for internal precision checks.The metal accounting strategy for Anglo Platinum is the ongoing measurement of all inputs, outputs and stock levels for all our operations for platinum group metal (PGM) and base metal (BM) content. Included are yearly stocktakes, usually done on 1 February every year, across the smelters and refineries (at least the base metal refinery). A trend was developing in the accounting period immediately following the introduction of the new crushing and sampling facility, whereby the absolute difference between the physical stock and theoretical stock (PGMs predominantly) increased for the two respective sites on an ongoing basis. The smelter (sender) showed an increase in physical stock compared to the theoretical stock and the base metal refinery (receiver) showed that their theoretical stock increased against their physical stock. Because of this anomaly, an additional stocktake was held in September for the period in question and it was confirmed through the physical stock measurement results, that the PGM accounting problem was indeed pointing towards the evaluation of the high-grade matte stream.This paper showcases parts of the process that took place to explain the poor accountabilities for the respective sites. Previous results from the sampler ratification process (of the interleaved sampling design) were analysed again, a physical inspection was carried out on the sampling system again and the sampler performance was monitored (quality control parameters) for the period.From these investigations, it was found that airflows present inside the Vezin introduced the sampling bias and a change in sampling protocol was introduced as well as physical changes to the sampling equipment were made to eliminate the airflow and thus the bias conditions significantly. The accounting period which followed, after a phased upgrading process, showed that the accounting between our smelter and base metal refinery had been restored to within statistical limits (difference between physical and theoretical stock below five per cent relative to theoretical stock).CITATION:Kruger, C J and le Roux, E, 2017. Pitfalls in Vezin sampling for finely crushed materials, in Proceedings Eighth World Conference on Sampling and Blending , pp 151–158 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

May 9, 2017

By J Pric, M Fulton, C Xia

A cyanidation study was conducted on a mild refractory gold ore sample from the Central zone of Clarence Stream Property, owned by Freewest Resources Canada, to develop a leaching strategy to extract gold. Gold, at a grade of 8.00 g/t, is present as native gold, electrum and aurostibite. The ore also contains 2.8 per cent pyrrhotite, together with several antimony minerals (0.8 per cent berthierite and gudmundite, 0.18 per cent native antimony and stibnite). It also exhibits weak preg-robbing properties with 0.16 per cent organic carbon. Aurostibite, a gold antimony compound, is particularly known to be insoluble in cyanide solution. The antimony dissolves in cyanide solution to form antimonates, which retards gold dissolution. Industrial practice of extracting gold from aurostibite generally consists of producing a flotation concentrate, which is leached in a pipe reactor at low alkalinity and high oxygen pressure with about 20 g/L cyanide. The proposed new approach is efficient and allows the extraction of gold directly from an ore at atmospheric pressure and a low cyanide concentration at pH 10.5. The effects of grinding, pretreatment, lead nitrate, kerosene and cyanide concentrations have been investigated. The maximum gold extraction obtained on the ore was 87.9 per cent using 800 ppm NaCN, 500 g/t lead nitrate, 30 g/t kerosene, DO 10 ppm and pH 10.5 in 168 hours. The associated cyanide consumption was 1.3 kg/t. The additions of lead nitrate and kerosene increased gold extraction. In comparison to a P80 of 74 ¦m, a P80 of 30 ¦m significantly increased gold extraction. Gold in solid solution in gudmundite and arsenopyrite was believed to be responsible for the unleached fraction until mineralogical analysis of hydroseparation concentrates of leach residues showed that most of the unleached gold occurs as aurostibite, either as locked grains in sulfides/sulfarsenides or as grains with passivation rims of an Au-Sb-O phase. Coarse gold was also found. Gold extraction was not sensitive to cyanide concentration from 250 ppm to 1200 ppm NaCN and high pH was detrimental. Decreasing the cyanide concentration reduced the cyanide consumption to 0.85 kg/t. The removal of coarse gold using a Knelson concentrator and a Mosley table prior to leaching increased the gold extraction to 90.4 per cent (leach residue at 0.77 g/t).

Jan 1, 2007

By Whang K, Choi H

A study of flocculation of ultra-fine coal particles by ultrasonic waves was investigated on a laboratory scale.The coal suspension was dilute, with low ionic strength, and at pH 6·2.When a stationary sonic wave is set up in a solution containing suspended coal particles, it is believed that high and low pressure regions are alternately established at the half wave-length of the sonic wave and this resultsin the migration of coal particles towards the low pressure regions.As expected the flocculation is more effective as to frequency and the power of the ultrasonic waves is increased.The shape and size of the test equipment are also important variables.

Jan 1, 1977

Judicious placement of a range of geotechnical instruments was employed at the Tasmania gold mine, Beaconsfield, Tasmania, as a key strategy in the monitoring of rock mass conditions over the past four years. The range of instruments employed included vibrating wire stress-meters and hollow inclusion cells to monitor changing stress conditions, resistance wire and multipoint borehole extensometers to monitor the impact of stress changes on the integrity of the rock mass, and instrumented cable bolts and threadbar bolts to monitor the static and dynamic impact of rock mass changes on the installed ground control system. Initially the monitoring was of a qualitative nature, monitoring change from the time of installation. The value of the output was considerable when considered in relation to the ongoing seismic record which was also being monitored. It was clear from the seismic record and the monitoring results that stope blasting was the primary trigger for changing rock mass conditions. However, it was unclear how well observed behaviour was reflecting conditions anticipated by elastic numerical modelling. The latter had predicted significant stress increase in the near field of man-access footwall development. Qualitative monitoring and visual inspection did not support the modelling prediction, and this led to a program of quantitative measurement being undertaken. Measurement of the absolute stress condition in the backs of footwall development immediately adjacent to monitoring hollow inclusion cells provided the benchmark for tracking quantitative stress change. The program provided insight into the evolution of principal stress field magnitude and orientation in relation to rock mass change observed with extensometers and instrumented ground control elements, as well as providing a degree of calibration between the elastic numerical modelling and the virgin stress field. Calibrated monitoring data has also provided a useful benchmark for finite element modelling which is to be used for future mine-wide design.

Nov 25, 2010

By S E. Munro, P D. Munro

The commonly traded base metals concentrates of copper, lead, tin and zinc are sold by miners to custom smelters using contracts whose terms were generally established at the beginning of the 20th century or even earlier. Technical clauses in these concentrates for items such as payable metals and penalty elements do not reflect current realities of extractive metallurgical technologies and hygiene/environmental issues.It is an axiom that the miners and smelters have a symbiotic relationship. While the existing antique and arcane commercial arrangements serve the purpose of transferring money from the buyer to the seller, they are not likely to result in the industry achieving better overall technical and economic outcomes. By examining the cases for copper concentrates and zinc concentrates in particular, it will be shown that the practical application of these antiquated technical clauses does not drive the miners to produce the better quality concentrates that should be desired by the smelters. This is despite development of mineral beneficiation and hydrometallurgical technologies that would allow the miners to make better products.The adage that any extractive metallurgical problem in the smelter is cheaper to solve in the concentrator still generally holds.While nickel concentrates are only touched on lightly in this discussion because sales terms are more opaque than those for the other base metals, it is expected that the same conclusions will apply.CITATION:Munro, P D and Munro, S E, 2015. Base metals concentrate sales contracts – change Pavlov and the dog, in Proceedings MetPlant 2015, pp 46–60 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 7, 2015

By Flavelle IV

A survey is made of changes in the technical status of a number of western world copper extraction and refining operations over the past 20 years. Specific developments in pyro- and hydro-metallurgy and refining practices are identified together with factors in the changing environment of the industry which has influenced their adoption. Nickel extraction and refining is similarly discussed.The replacement of traditional technology by more attractive alternatives has occurred in a considerable number of operations. The develop-ment and status of new continuous smelting processes, advances in hydrometallurgy and refining innovations which emerged during the 1960s and early 1970s is discussed. The varying experience in commercial acceptance of these new technologies is noted.Finally some possible future directions are canvassed for both operators and the research and development institutions.

Jan 1, 1985

By S Smit, P J. J Strobo

ZINIFEX Century Mine is a zinc, lead and silver concentrate producer. Flotation is the primary method of minerals separation in this circuit. The flotation circuit is quite large with 79 flotation cells. The levels in each of these interconnected cells are controlled at more than 45 level control stations. Due to the multivariable interaction throughout the circuit, good level control was found to be difficult to achieve by just using normal Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control. As a first step in advanced process control, the FloatStar Level Stabiliser, a multivariable controller developed specifically for flotation circuits, has been commissioned at Century mine to solve the level control problems. The first section of this paper therefore discusses and shows the results and improvements obtained by using the FloatStar level stabiliser. The results and benefits of the FloatStar Flow Optimiser are discussed in the second section of this paper.

Jan 1, 2004

By Muir DM, Ritchie IM, Gibbons SL

Fundamental studies on the transformations of iron oxides have been carried out and related to the solution conditions in the Becher Process. The results show that a number of iron oxide interconversion reactions occur in the aeration reactor with the products depending on the pH, temperature and oxidation potential of the aeration liquor. It is concluded that the lack of process control in the aeration reactor of the Becher Process significantly hinders the ability to predict and produce high quality single phase iron oxides of a consistent colour.

Jan 1, 1989

By D Wyatt, J Domenico, W Kow

Over the past few years developments in heavy minerals processing have concentrated on the mineral separation portion of the business. The best example of this would include new developments in rare-earth magnetic separators and associated flowsheet modifications. Except for some minor modifications in spirals, the æwetÆ side of the separation business has lagged behind the ædryÆ side. Basic concentrator design has not changed in 20 years. Recent pilot trials by Outokumpu Technology have shown the benefits of a new gravity flowsheet that combines density separation and spiral concentration on a variety of heavy mineral deposits. This concept is already well utilised within the iron ore industry. The synergistic combination of these two technologies allows smaller, simpler, and controllable gravity concentrators to be built while providing equivalent or better grade and recoveries of valuable heavy mineral. This is contrasted to the all spiral flowsheet characterised by the diminishing returns of multiple stages of spirals and associated recirculating loads. Examples of the flowsheets and associated benefits will be presented from a variety of cases.

Jan 1, 2001

For small particles of niekel flotation eoncentrate (av. size 50 pm) the predominant heat transfer mechanism under suspension smelting conditions, prior to ignition, is conduction from the gas and not radiation from nearby hot bodies. Results of laboratory tests using gas temperatures 380-700°C and furnace wall temperatures 380-1100°C were in accord with heat transfer theory. In practieal flash smelters earlier ignition, and hence better utilization of the space in the shaft, would result from introduetion at the top of the shaft of gases hotter than the ignition temperature of 500-600°C.

Jan 1, 1979

GENTLEMEN, lt is with much pleasure I meet you tonight at this the second meeting of the Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers, held in Western Australia, and I sincerely thank you for the honour you have conferred upon me in electing me as your President. I greatly appreciate the distinction, and will endeavour to fulfil the duties of the office to the best of my ability, and hope to prove a worthy successor to those gentlemen who have held the position before me. On behalf of the local members of the Institute, I extend a hearty welcome to the members from the other States of the Commonwealth, who have come so far to attend this meeting, and also to the non-members whom we have invited this evening. We are especially pleased to have Mr. Gregory, our Minister of Mines and Railways, and the Government and School of Mines officials with us; and I take this opportunity to thank the Premier, Mr. Gregory, and the Government officials for the assistance given us, and for doing so much to make the visit of our members from the other States so pleasant and instructive. I have also to thank the Mayor and Councillors of Kalgoorlie for the courtesy and hospitality given to our members, which is much appreciated.I assume you want me to follow the time-honoured custom of giving a Presidential address...

Jan 1, 1909

The beach sand industry is the only Australian mineral industry which, so far, has used electrostatic separation on a full commercial scale. The main application of the process is for the separation of rutile from zircon. Laboratory work has demonstrated that electrostatic methods are effective for ilmenite-monazite and cassiterite-zircon separations, thus facilitating the production of high grade monazite and cassiterite products from top-strip table concentrates, but the commercial application of these processeshas been rather limited so far. Overseas, electrostatic methods are becoming more widely used for the treatment of granular material which is not amenable to flotation. The use of electrostatic separation for the treatment of ores other than beach sands has been investigated in this laboratory 1, 2, 3, and two pilot separators were built during i953 to carry out field tests. Of these, the first was an inclined feed plate separator for the removal of silica from granular lime-sand in Western Australia, the second a conductance roll separator for the removal of diamonds from alluvial gravel in New South Wales. In both cases the whole of the ore passed through the separator, not a gravity concentrate only as in beach sand practice. The two types of separator mentioned are shown diagramatically in Figs. 1 and 2.

Jan 1, 1954

LANDSAT imagery has renewed interest in linear features first recognised by E. S. Hills in a physiographic model of Australia. Certain of these lineaments are aligned with structures which control mineralisation.Lineament guidelines are potentially useful in many poorlyexposed areas if they can be recognised early enough in exploration and drilling programs leading to mine development.A case history based on the Charters Towers Gold Field indicates that lineament guidelines can be established early enough to guide development ofnew mines. The position of the Charters Towers Lineament was known as early as 1956. Subsequently, more detailed publications identified and classified associated lineaments which provide intersections correlated with gold occurrences. The discovery of a significant orebody at one of the most prominent lineament intersections came in 1975. Mine drilling has confirmed the influence ofintersecting structural trends indicated by lineaments but not by previous regional mapping.Recent gold discoveries south of Charters Towers lie in a grid of prominent lineaments. The development of mines about Charters Towers will provide additional understanding of relationships between centres of mineralisation and lineament intersections. This understanding may in future be sufficient to encourage exploration for a new generation of concealed gold deposits in northeastern Queensland.

Jan 1, 1986

As part or a programme to raise lead smelter capacity from 65.000 to 140.000 tons bullion per annum. one new 1000 sq. ft. updraught area sintering machine replaced eight small downdraught machines.The metallurgical specifications were based on and laboratory tests at Mount Isa. Existing practice filtering concentrate as part of the charge preparation system and discharging wet filter cake to mixing was retained. This dictated a hot return fines circuit to maintain the required feed moisture content at low return sinter ratios.The engineering specifications provided for cenlralized control of plant and process, minimum operating labour, high plant availabi;lity and highest standardsof hygeine. Crushing and conveying capacity was set to cater for the most optimistic level of sintering capacity.On start-up a number of major engineering and hygiene problems became apparent, in addition to normal teething troubles. These problems have largely been overcome and reliable operation. at less than optimum production rate is now being achieved.

Jan 1, 1968

Delivered at the University of Sydney, on June 4th, 1954.THE TORCH WE HOLDLast year Our Institute celebrated its Diamond Jubilee, coincident with the holding of the Fifth Empire Mining and Metallurigcal Congress in Australia and New Zealand. We can be proud of our growth over the 61 years since the inaugural meeting in Adelaide in April, 1893, which followed suggestions from a provisional committee of mining men, formed in 1892 in Broken Hill.We can also be proud of our technical achievements in the fields of economic geology, mining and metallurgy.Should we be content with the growth of our mining and metallurgical industries over these years? My answer is in the negative. The discovery of new mineral deposits is essential for the continuance and development of the industries we represent.Let me review the background and trends of our industry in an attempt to emphasise the changing factors influencing the search for minerals and their exploitation.Australia was blessed with the discovery of coal in New South Wales in 1796; copper in South Australia at Kapunda, Burra, Wallaroo and Moonta in the eighteen-forties; gold in Victoria and Eastern Australia in the 'fifties; tin at Mount Bischoff, Tasmania, and gold at Charters Towers, Queensland, in the 'seventies; lead-silver at Broken Hill, New South Wales; gold and copper at Mount Morgan, Queensland, and copper at Mount Lyell, Tasmania, in the 'eighties; and gold at Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, and zinc-lead atRosebery, Tasmania, in the 'nineties. As well, the iron ore deposits of the Middleback Ranges, South Australia, and Yampi Sound, Western Australia, were known before...

Jan 1, 1954

By L J. Ingle, K L. McPhee, A G. Hunt

Iron Road Limited (IRD) is currently developing the Central Eyre Iron Project (CEIP) at Warramboo on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. The project consists of a 30 year open pit mine, magnetite processing facilities, standard-gauge railway and deep water, Cape class capable port. Major South Australian government approvals have been received and funding arrangements confirmed.The 4.5 Bt Mineral Resource (3.7 Bt Ore Reserve), the largest in Australia and among the largest globally, is to be mined to produce 24 Mt/a high-grade, 67 per cent Fe, magnetite concentrate. This in-demand, premium product has a P80 of ~100 µm, suitable for both direct sinter feed and an additive in pelletising.The extensively drilled, homogeneous orebody is unique in both geology and mineralogy; only averaging 15 per cent Fe yet coarse-grained with almost negligible phosphorus and sulfur content. This has allowed significant opportunities to tailor the mining method to the orebody, utilising both optimised blasting as first stage comminution, as well as in-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) to reduce the heavy haulage diesel fleet and optimise the pit shell.Approximately 1 Mt/d of total material, ore and waste, is required to be moved from the pit daily, introducing materials handling challenges, overcome by a flexible IPCC set-up, multiple overland conveyors and an exacting mine plan. Non-conventional waste and tailings storage is utilised to allow for significant water savings, progressive rehabilitation and minimisation of land impact.The processing facilities utilise both the magnetic and density properties of the magnetite to beneficiate the ore. The coarse-grained nature of the ore is exploited to minimise comminution yet still liberate a high quality product. Utilisation of modular construction methods allows risk reduction during construction and reduced pumping requirements during operation.This paper highlights the uniqueness of the CEIP, with focus on the mineralisation of the orebody, and the beneficial impacts this has on both the proposed mining method and processing. Magnetite mining is not new and IRD has used the learnings of others, and input from various vendors and industry experts, utilising knowledge and expertise to engineer an innovative, yet supported, project design.CITATION:McPhee, K L, Hunt, A G and Ingle, L J, 2017. The Central Eyre Iron Project – developing a new iron ore mine in a challenging climate, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2017, pp 613–620 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 24, 2017

By Weber P, Sneyd S

The total world steel production in 1998 amounted to approximately 780 000 000 t. The share of electric steelmaking was in the range of 35 per cent and is expected to increase further to over 40 per cent of the world's production within the next ten years. As electric steelmaking is primarily based on the use of scrap and as it is progressing more and more into higher steel grades the need for low-residual metallics will become increasingly important. Consequently, the demand for scrap substitute material will increase, reflected in the world wide spate of interest for DRI (Direct Reduced Iron) and HBI (Hot Briquetted Iron). The increased significance of DRI/HBI as a substitute for steel scrap has obviously emanated also from its comparatively lower and more predictable costs per ton and definable chemistry. In 1998 already 37 million tons of DRI/HBI were globally produced.

Jan 1, 1999

By M Pizey, M Kingsbury

Since 1950 Stockton Open Cast Mine has excavated over 60 million tonnes of Brunner Coal Measures overburden sandstones and mudstones. The current operator, Solid Energy New Zealand, recognises that acidic drainage from this overburden and from historic underground mines has led to depressed pH levels and elevated levels of metals in streams draining the Stockton Plateau. These streams report to the Ngakawau River. To quantify the effects of mine site acid drainage remediation/mitigation on the lower Ngakawau River water quality, a catchment hydrogeochemical model has been field calibrated and ecotoxicology tests have been undertaken. The hydrogeochemical model indicates that pre-mining and present pH values in the lower Ngakawau River are similar but present aluminium and iron concentrations are elevated. Ecotoxicology tests have semi-quantified the critical metal concentrations and interim water quality targets to achieve ecological recovery are presented. Analyses of long-term total suspended solids (TSS) and turbidity monitoring in the lower Ngakawau River and St Patrick's Stream indicate that TSS of 120 mg/L and turbidity of 20 NTU are exceeded for <20% per cent of the time. Hence, specific criteria to protect migratory native fish from turbid water are currently met in the Ngakawau River and St Patrick's Stream.

Jan 1, 2003

As has been the case since the early Phoenician traders, the minerals used by modern man come from deposits scattered around the globe. The price received is more and more being set by worldwide supply and demand. Thus the price component in the profit equation:Profits = Material sold (units)x(Price/unit û Cost/unit) is largely determined by others. The recent price history for two of the major metals, copper and iron, are given in Figures 1 and 2, respectively. As can be seen there has been a steady decline in the prices (when expressed in constant dollars) over the 20 years which have lapsed since the first of the International Conferences on Mass Mining, æDesign and Operation of Caving and Sublevel Stoping MinesÆ was held. If one would look back over the entire 20th century this would also be the trend. Cost containment/reduction through efficient, safe and environmentally responsive mining practices is serious business today and will be even more important in the future with increasing mining depths and more stringent regulations. A failure to keep up is expressed very simply as: Profit This, needless to say, is unfavourable for all concerned (the employees, the company, and the country or nation). The mining companies have had to look at ways of reducing the expense part of the profit equation while maintaining safe, environmentally conscious operations. Table 1 summarises the rules for working in todayÆs economy.

Jan 1, 2000