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By R Grobler, D Burger, L Alberts

The current climate in the mining industry is allowing mining companies to further broaden their views and investigate technologies to improve the safety, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of their operations. Furthermore, underground mine environments will become more demanding for mining equipment and personnel as orebodies become deeper in weaker ground conditions with more extreme environmental conditions. Loading and hauling can represent significant components of the production cycle of an underground mine and automation of these activities can offer considerable benefits. Sandvik has accumulated a long history and experience in loading and hauling automation in underground mining. Since the late 1980s Sandvik has actively participated in several major research and development automation programs leading to the commencement of the development of an integrated system for semiautomated loading in 1999. Development work was later conducted to expand the capabilities of the system for automated hauling during 2001 and the AutoMine« system became commercially available. The first delivery of the AutoMine« system was completed in August 2004 in South America, where the system continues to operate in a full-scale production environment and is being expanded as the production area enlarges. Further systems have been delivered and are operational in North America, Africa and Europe. This paper focuses on the AutoMine« system deployed in Block 4 at De Beers Finsch Mine in South Africa. An overview of the mine and the process used to acquire the system and the key drivers which led to the selection of an automated solution are described. An overview of the initial system installation, subsequent expansions and future plans are presented. This is followed by a summary of the implementation and operational experiences associated with automated underground operations. The paper concludes by summarising the benefits that have been realised.

Jan 1, 2008

By Kanaan Hanna

A joint research program between the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Mines and Cyprus-Yampa Valley Coal Company is being conducted at the Foidel Creek Mine, Oak Creek, Colorado. This program goal is to study the effects of state-of-the-art, high-speed, automated longwall mining on health and safety, and primarily, ground stability under various geological conditions. The Bureau installed an automated data monitoring system, known as the Ground Control Management System (GCMS), to monitor in real-time the effect of rapid mining on pillar and face loading, stress redistribution in and around the longwall panel, and caving characteristics of the roof. The Bureau's GCMS, combined with the company's existing monitoring systems, which include environmental monitoring, a computer programmable conveyor belt system, and gamma ray roof control thickness indicators, has been effectively used to improve safety at the face, increase productivity, and reduce production costs.

Jan 1, 1991

By Fraser Rowe

This paper discusses the philosophies, strategies, goals and pitfalls in automating a mine schedule. The intention of the paper is to give an open and honest view of who could benefit from moving to an automated system, what you can expect from such a system, and what you should be aware of. Many companies feel that moving to an automated mine planning solution will allow the mine scheduling engineer to push a button and walk away, but the reality is that is hardly ever the case. Part of that awareness comes from understanding what is meant by ?automated mine scheduling?, and this paper address that. By contrasting what is meant by ?manual scheduling? and ?automated scheduling? it is hoped that the reader can gain an appreciation of the entire process.

Oct 1, 2009

By V. Králová

The TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analyzer (TIMA), an automated mineralogy system, enables fast and quantitative mineral analyses of rocks, ores, concentrates, tailings, leach residues or smelter products. It combines BSE and EDX analysis for identification and measurement of mineral concentrations, particle size distribution, and liberation/locking parameters. In addition, it can provide bright particle searches for PGM, gold-silver ores, and/or REE. With the newly developed Automated Loading System (AutoLoader), the TIMA has become the world?s first automated mineral analyzer which permits robust, continuous and unattended sample loading. With the AutoLoader (robotics) system, the TIMA has emerged as a powerful plant support instrument. It increases the sample throughput, minimizes manual labor and enables 24/7 operations. As such, it can be used in daily, continuous mineralogy for mine geology/ore control, concentrators, leach operations, and smelter support. It will also increase the capabilities of technical service centers for mining companies, commercial laboratories, large drilling programs or pilot test campaigns. In combination with a highly automated sample preparation lab (sizing, potting and polishing), TIMA technology can establish high-throughput and fast-turnaround automated mineralogy lab modules for mine-site production support.

Feb 23, 2014

For years traditional optical microscopic techniques have been used successfully to carry out mineralogical studies on processing products. Essential information could be obtained by supplementing microscopic data with X-ray powder diffraction data, chemical analyses, etc. However, most of the time the mineralogists working on plant related issues, would supply qualitative information to the metallurgists, due to quantification not being possible in the available time. Since the late-80s, the use of semi-automated to automated techniques for mineral quantification has impacted positively on the use of mineralogy for optimising processing plants. Rustenburg Platinum Mines (now Anglo Platinum) were the first mining company to purchase a Qem*Sem in 1987. With the success achieved in quantifying the minerals in the concentrator streams of the Rustenburg Platinum operations, a second instrument was purchased soon after. These instruments have proven invaluable tools in understanding the flotation behaviour of the sulfide and gangue minerals in the various reefs of the Bushveld. Restrictions in the resolution of these earlier instruments, as well as the time involved in searching for and correctly identifying the fine-grained platinum-group minerals (PGM), meant that these investigations focused on the deportment of the more abundant base metal sulfides, rather than on the actual PGM. The Mineral Liberation Analyser (MLA), which became available in the late 1990s, was well suited to detect and analyse minerals occurring in trace amounts such as the PGM. Anglo Platinum was the first mining company to purchase such an instrument and now has fourteen systems operating at the AR Crown Mines site. One of the applications of these systems involves the study of feeds, concentrates and tailings from the various concentrators on a monthly basis. These routine investigations provide information on a variety of mineralogical parameters, including liberation, association, and grain size. Results are used to emphasise areas for improvement, and specifically underline those areas where improvements will have the most impact on recovery. After new or different technologies have been implemented, mineralogical characterisation of the different process streams is an essential component in the assessment of the impact of these changes on flotation performance. In addition, the knowledge is databased for future reference to draw trends across the various concentrators around the Bushveld complex, and is also used for comparative studies when plants experience high losses to tailings. Due to the success of these investigations the question was posed whether it was possible to obtain data on a daily basis, as compositing samples could hide the impact of daily events. Although the instruments currently used are suitable for a research environment, these are not ideal for mine-site implementation. For that reason Anglo Platinum, together with FEI embarked on a development program to develop a system that can be implemented on-site to measure the important mineralogical characteristics on a daily basis. Important requirements for such a system include time-to-data, ease of use and regular quality control. Highlighting some results from concentrator studies, the presentation will review the progress on the development of automated mineralogical techniques for fast, automated mineral measurements. This is an abstract only. No full paper was prepared for this abstract.

Sep 13, 2010

By Y Gu, R Fandrich

Traditionally, characterisation of the mineralogy and textures of ore and rock samples were based on observations of hand specimens and thin sections using an optical microscope. The extent of the data collection was limited by the available tools and thus variations in mineralogy and texture were generally not described by quantitative data. These qualitative to semi-quantitative approaches, even though well established over the years, resulted in variable observations and data sets. The data were unlikely to be representative of a sample and limited statistical validity meant the results could not be reliably used in modern digital mining design and planning. With recently developed SEM based quantitative mineralogy tools and the corresponding methodologies, ore textures can be quantified and compared numerically. The numerical data can not only enhance the understanding of an orebody in geological terms, but can also be used in the creation of metallurgical models for mine and mineral processing design and simulation. These capabilities provide valuable inputs to risk assessment studies and the evaluation of mineral projects.

Jan 1, 2007

By Andrew G. Martin

In 1991, Modular Mining Systems began marketing a Slope Monitoring System (SMS) now installed at twelve mines. The SMS uses automated wire line extensometers to monitor field conditions frequently. Every few minutes, the slope displacement values and current temperature are transmitted to a central computer via a packet radio telemetry system. The desktop workstation receiving the data continuously provides updated displays of active slope monitors and generates audible and visual alarms if movement exceeds user specified thresholds. The computer system also generates numerous graphs and reports for quick analysis of slope stability. This work describes the functionality of the SMS, details improvements to the SMS hardware and software developed for several clients, outlines different installation techniques needed for wall rock and spoil monitoring, and interprets slope movement data using illustrations of stable and unstable conditions.

Jan 1, 1996

By C McHugh, F Oppolzer, B Rogers, A Stokes

Rio Tinto has embarked on a journey to use automation to improve the performance of its surface mines. The driver for automation has more to do with improving the accuracy and consistency of mining processes and less to do with cost savings through labour reduction.A key task in most surface mines is blasthole drilling. The degree to how well this is done cascades through the downstream mining process. It impacts scheduling, excavation, slope stability, material handling, beneficiation, ore loss and final product blending. Improved blasthole drilling was identified as an objective that has a significant business case in most of Rio TintoÆs surface mines.This paper describes Rio TintoÆs multi-drill automation project, which has developed a robust system for automating most of the functions on several Caterpillar SKSS16 drill rigs. Automated drilling is currently being trialled in production at the West Angelas iron ore mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. A description of the essential elements of the automated multi-drill system is given together with an overview of how automated drilling is performed remotely from the operating bench.A review of the performance and benefits of the automated multi-drill system is given together with future plans to extend the functionality of automated drills.CITATION:McHugh, C, Stokes, A, Oppolzer, F and Rogers, B, 2012. Automated multi-drills in Rio Tinto, in Proceedings Eighth Open Pit OperatorsÆ Conference , pp 83-88 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 18, 2012

By J Franke, C Gonzalez

One of the regular tasks of geotechnical and mining engineers is the measurement and management of deformation in underground excavations. Although several methods are used to do so, the incumbent methodologies for monitoring deformation and ground support serviceability are limited to the use of visual observations or measurements at discrete points, resulting in a qualitative assessment only. The introduction of LiDAR technology allows a quantitative assessment across the entire excavation volume and its rock surface, by collecting a full three-dimensional image of the entirety of an excavation such as an underground drive, decline, or a tunnel. Comparisons between epochs of complete 3D data coverage allows for change detection over time that doesn’t feature otherwise typical omissions. The implementation of regular scanning has shown to be highly advantageous for mines with swelling or squeezing ground, but also at mines with rapid deformation. Despite the LiDAR potential, its adoption has been slow. A key reason for that is that working with point clouds is foreign to most geotechnical engineers. Point clouds have long been the realm of surveyors, but to fully adopt their use in geomechanics requires retraining, upskilling, and devotion by the individuals and the company. Sites are already stretched, so often there are insufficient resources to be applied to bringing the new technology into use. The solution to this hurdle is to partner with subject matter experts to achieve the desired high-quality outcomes without the commitment of time by geotechnical personnel. This paper presents a new solution of fully automated raw LiDAR point cloud data processing that not only enables geotechnical engineers to avoid having to learn unrelated skills by allowing for deformation monitoring without associated training or expertise, but it also provides instant reporting results as well as a sophisticated database with features otherwise not available. All data processing time and effort is completely replaced by an automated process which at the same time opens up the opportunity to monitor many more excavation volumes at a higher frequency than is possible with conventional tools and methodology.

Nov 29, 2022

Brand se Baai, on the North-Western Cape Coastline of Southern Africa, is the site of the Namakwa Sands Limited Heavy Mineral Sands Mining Operation. The mine is a 14 000 000 tonnes per annum open-cast strip-style mining operation using truck and excavators to mine the sand. The orebody consists of relatively unconsolidated sands reworked by fluvial, marine and aeolian mechanisms. The total orebody includes three primary ore types, namely the Red Aeolian Sands, the Dorbank (a hardcap layer) and the Orange Feldspathic Sands, which forms the bulk of the resource. Mine planning and scheduling is done using a 50 m + 50 m variable bench height system with three primary bench heights. The Aeolian and Dorbank each have a bench that varies with their thickness of up to a maximum eight metres and the Orange feldspathic sand, a standard bench height of eight metres. For a number of years Namakwa Sands used a complex 2D, Datamine Based, macro system to perform the resource evaluation and mine design. As the mining operations expanded it became clear that a complete system redesign was required to cope with the increasing operational pressures coming to bear on the old system. The biggest challenges facing any replacement system are the sheer scale of the mining operation (16 km long and 7 km wide resulting in a minimum of 30 000 individual 50 m + 50 m mining blocks), the size of the geological data files (up to one gigabyte) and representing the benching system accurately (as the benches follow the topography and are not horizontal). In addition to these large-scale issues, the ability to run multiple mine design scenarios was required, an aspect which the old system was unable to perform adequately. Based upon these primary difficulties, a new business process was developed which required a complete rethink of the mine design methodology as well as the creation of a new system to deplete the resource model, produce monthly reconciliation evaluations and create a ultimate pit limit based on the operations mining cost model. Using a system based on the Earthworks Mine2-4D Mine Design and Scheduling System (with its mine design and scheduling specific tools), as well as a small, customised program, massive time-savings have been made. It is now possible to run several life of mine scenarios in the same timeframe that a single life of mine run took under the old system. This paper will present the methodology and business decisions behind the new Namakwa Sands system, and detail the restructuring and development used to deal with the large data set sizes and long processing times inherent in the old system. Future enhancements to the system that will make it more generically applicable to open-cast mining scenarios will also be dealt with.

Jan 1, 2003

By Joel L. Volterra

Since 1910, Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers (MRCE) has regularly provided professional engineering services including inspection of pile load tests. Historically, such services included on-site inspection of the driving of test piles and subsequent static load tests by qualified Geotechnical Engineers. Load testing procedures are specified by local or State Building Codes, locally the 1968 Building Code of the City of New York (1968 BCCNY). Between 1968 and 2008, the 1968 BCCNY required a minimum 48-hour hold period for standard loads per pile type, an extended 96-hour hold period for higher capacity piles, and a settlement criterion that the pile maintain a test load equal to two times the design load with less than 0.012 inches of settlement over the last 48 hours of the hold period. Effective July 2008, the new 2008 BCCNY shortened the hold period and relaxed the settlement criteria to that which is more similar to other governing codes and standards such as the International Building Code (IBC 2006) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). MRCE implemented an automated load test monitoring system to reduce costs and to alleviate or minimize overnight and off-hour staffing for load test readings. Initially, a series of linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs) and data loggers were included in the Contractor?s load test setup to electronically record pile head settlement and where applicable, settlement of telltales installed to varying depths in the pile. A pressure gage was subsequently added in the hydraulic line, then a load cell, strain gages, and remote access using modems. The ease of the setup and modular adaptive nature of this system have proven it to be a useful tool and improved our ability to better serve our clients and manage our pile load testing services.

Jan 1, 2008

By A. Melkumyan, K. Silversides

Chemical assays collected from blast holes have the potential to greatly improve the local accuracy of grade models. Assays must be assigned to the correct domain or they will introduce errors. Boundary surfaces created from the widely spaced exploration holes (~50m) do not provide sufficient resolution to correctly delineate domain boundaries between closely spaced (3-5m) blast holes. This paper demonstrates a probabilistic method for classifying production blast holes near domain boundaries. Gaussian processes models are applied to identify the assays and assay ratios most suited to distinguishing particular domains. These models are combined with the exploration based surfaces to classify the blast holes that can be confidently assigned to a particular domain. A reiterative method is used, where information from the blast holes closest to the exploration holes is used to label blast holes further away. This is tested on two domain boundaries in a banded iron formation-hosted iron ore mine.

Sep 1, 2021

By T Mattiske

The Fimiston Open Pit (commonly referred to as the æSuper PitÆ) is a part of the Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines Pty Ltd (KCGM) operation in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. KCGM manages the Fimiston Open Pit, the Mt Charlotte underground mine, the Fimiston Mill and the Gidji Roaster for its Joint Venture Owners, Newmont and Barrick Australia. KCGM produces up to 850 000 ounces of gold per year. The KCGM operations are located on the historical Golden Mile on the outskirts of the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, about 600 kilometres east of Perth Western Australia. This traditionally underground mining centre has been worked since 1893, yielding in excess of 50 Moz of gold from ore with an average head grade of 10 g/t. This represents approximately ten per cent of the gold produced in Australia and one per cent of the gold produced in the world. The Fimiston Open Pit is essentially an aggregation of what were known as the Judd, South, Paringa, Croesus/Eclipse, Central, Brownhill, Drysdale, Morrison, North and Horseshoe pits into one continuous large-scale operation. The old Fimiston Underground Operations (included the Main, Croesus, Chaffers, Lake View, and Perseverance shafts) were also located within the area of the Fimiston Open Pit. The underground operations closed in 1992 due to high mining costs.

Jan 1, 2002

Characterization of ore and waste-rock material using automated quantitative micro-mineralogical techniques (e.g., QEMSCAN® and MLA) has the potential to complement traditional acid-base accounting and humidity cell techniques when predicting acid generation and metal release. These characterization techniques, which most commonly are used for metallurgical, mineral-processing, and geometallurgical applications, can be broadly applied throughout the mine-life cycle to include numerous environmental applications. Critical insights into mineral liberation, mineral associations, particle size, particle texture, and mineralogical residence phase(s) of environmentally important elements can be used to anticipate potential environmental challenges. Resources spent on initial characterization result in lower uncertainties of potential environmental impacts and possible cost savings associated with remediation and closure. Examples illustrate mineralogical and textural characterization of fluvial tailings material from the upper Arkansas River in Colorado.

Feb 27, 2013

By Karl Nienhaus

The BGMR has developed a method for an online-analysis during drilling processes in cooperation with Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology in Aachen and various industrial partners. This allows for efficient utilization of deposits, maximum recovery of desired minerals and frequent and costefficient updates of deposit models. The used method, namely laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), was implemented into a compact demonstrator in order to analyze drill dust and loosened material within mining environments and directly on drill rigs. The consequently developed OFURanalyzer (OFUR ? online-analysis of mineral deposits) provides possibilities for exploration and visualization of deposit models in real-time and thus creates an opportunity for innovative applications, such as contactless, continuous quality control of minerals throughout the extraction process. A major challenge in the execution of this project was the necessity to develop a laser system that could withstand rough mining environments dominated by dust, shocks, vibration and therefore would be suited to operate under such conditions.

Oct 1, 2009

By C. Kim

The integration of three-dimensional (3D) data with infrared thermography has received much attention for its potential use as input data for building energy simulations. Therefore, researchers have proposed methods to integrate 3D data with infrared thermography obtained by different sensors. These studies show the potential of the integration of 3D data and infrared thermography using various systems. However, these studies have ignored property aspects of infrared thermography, such as the low resolution of infrared thermography and external environmental influences. Thus, their proposed methods to integrate 3D data and infrared thermography are inadequate because these problems can affect the resulting building energy simulation. This research proposes a framework that integrates infrared thermography and 3D data while accounting for the resolution and shadow effect of infrared thermography. The proposed framework consists of three steps. In the resolution enhancement step, bi-cubic interpolation is proposed. In thermal data correction from the shadow effect, the shadow area is detected from the visible image, and then the shadow effect is removed from the registered infrared thermography. Finally, enhanced infrared thermography is mapped to the 3D data obtained by a laser scanner. The performance of the proposed framework was evaluated using test images obtained from a building in operation. The experimental results show that the proposed framework provides a 3D thermal model that is useful and accurate in simulating building energy. It is expected that the 3D thermal model can be used for accurate energy simulation of existing buildings. In addition, the proposed framework can be applied in defect detection for buildings. Furthermore, this novel approach enhances infrared thermography using visible images.

Aug 1, 2013

By Pentti Niskanen

"The ventilation system of the Pyhasalmi Mine is described. The mine is located in an area where the annual atmospheric temperature may vary from +30°C to -30°C. Natural ventilation causes serious difficulties because the underground mine is connected by drifts and finger raises to the bottom of the 120 m-deep open pit.The natural ventilation tends to make the ventilation net unstable. The paper describes how the instability characteristics of the ventilation net can be studied and how they have been taken into account when automating the control of the ventilation. In addition, the software, hardware and costs of the system are described. The system consists of 12 automated ventilation doors, two mine fans, 8 elements for sensing the air flow and temperatures, a control panel and a process computer."

Jan 1, 2014

By P Hofmeyr, D Pretorius

Iron ore, which is transported by rail from the iron ore mines at Sishen in the Northern Cape, to the Saldanha Iron Ore Terminal in the Western Cape, needs to be analysed while loading to be exported. Every shipment will be sampled and an average analysis of the ore will be produced which is required by the purchaser at the receiving port. On arrival at the iron ore terminal at Saldanha, the ore is tipped from the rail trucks onto conveyor belts to be either stockpiled or direct-loaded. The conveyor belts run under the sampling plant and the ore is sampled periodically by means of an automated cross-belt sampler. This is the first iron ore port sampling facility in which the automated sampler is situated above the conveyor belts and not adjacent to them. A portion of the primary sample taken off the belt is moved to the dedicated sampling laboratory situated behind the cross-belt sampler and over the conveyor belt lines. The sample is split in the laboratory, one split being used for moisture and particle size determination and the other part is dried and then analysed by means of X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRFS) on fusion beads for major and minor elements. Particular care is taken to obtain high quality data for penalty elements.This sampling plant is completely automated and from the primary cross-belt sampler to final analysis by XRFS no manual steps are involved. This has meant that some processes are used which are suitable for automation and are ISO compliant but not necessarily ISO-certificated. The ISO manuals were developed with manual laboratory processes in mind. Precautions are also taken to maintain the integrity and representativity of the samples. This paper is a case study?describing?the automated sampling systems used at the Saldanha Iron Ore Terminal sampling facility and laboratory from conveyor belt to analysis.CITATION:Hofmeyr, P and Pretorius, D, 2012. Automated sampling of iron ore for analysis at the Saldanha Iron Ore Terminal in South Africa, in Proceedings Sampling 2012 , pp 25-32 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 21, 2012

By J. M. Rebstock

Recent re-classification of crystalline silica as a potential human carcinogen has resulted in a new limit of 0.1% free silica in bulk powdered minerals. Detection of silica at this level can be expected to severely challenge or exceed the capabilities of existing protocols for x-ray diffraction, the traditional method for free silica determination. Automated SEH-EOS analysis provides an attractive alternative method, with direct analysis of individual particles for the determination of the concentration of free silica, and a direct measurement of silica particle sizes. This paper will discuss automated SEH analytical procedures, sample preparation, and statistical considerations.

Jan 1, 1990

By D. Chetty

The characterization of platinum group minerals (PGMs) from concentrator flotation circuits provides valuable information towards understanding PGM recovery under given milling and flotation conditions. Additional mineralogical characterization also provides information on ore variability, which may affect recovery. Considering the low grades involved, automated scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characterization of PGMs has enabled relatively quick analyses, compared with older, time consuming and less accurate optical microscopy methods. Over the years, parameters, such as species, size distribution, liberation, gangue and base metal sulfide (BMS) associations, have been used to characterize the PGMs in a process mineralogical context, to aid metallurgical interpretation. This paper considers whether flotation indices determined for PGMs can be empirically validated, using initial results from analysis of PGMs in a concentrate bank from a South African concentrator treating UG2 ore from the western limb of the Bushveld Complex. The aim is to determine whether floatability is adequately described by these parameters, or whether other mineralogical factors must be considered when assessing PGM floatability, and hence accounting for recovery vs. losses to tails. The data obtained to date, show that flotation parameters (including liberation index, BMS/gangue relationships and size distribution) have merits where large changes in PGM concentration occur, as observed in the first four cells of the concentrate bank. Larger data sets, however, are required to assess floatability, particularly where concentrate cell grades are similar, as observed in the last six cells of the concentrate bank. Furthermore, the floatability indices could be enhanced by the incorporation of selected associated gangue mineral information, chief amongst these being the content and mode of occurrence of naturally floatable talc and associated orthopyroxene.

Jan 1, 2009