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White Cliffs Opal Field is situated in the Parish of Kirk, County of YulguIgra, New South Wales, about sixty miles from Wilcannia, and the River Darling. It is near the southern edge of the cretaceous basin of the interior of Queensland, New South Wales, and South Australia. Twelve miles south-west of the field, at Tarella station, a well sunk at the homestead reached silurian slates at about 127 feet, getting no water but about three miles north-west from the originally discovered and no central portion of the field, a well was sunk by the Momba, Pastoral cmpany, to a depth of 270 feet all the way through the cretaceous beds. At 250 feet a small supply of water was struck, but so much mineralised as to be quite useless. The temperature also was so high that a man could not keep his hand in it and Mr. Hogarth, the Momba Pastoral Company's manager, informs me that so corrosive was the action of the water, that a shovel left down the well for a fortnight, at the time of sinking, was completely eaten away.The well having now fallen in, I have been unable to obtain any of the water for analysis.The western termination of this portion of the cretaceous basin is situated about twenty miles from the present opal field, at which distance the slates, with (probably) devonian sandstones and quartzites resting unconformably thereon, commence to appear. The opal bearing country, as far as at present known, follows a more or less well defined line running north and south towards the northern end of the field, and north-east and south-west towards the southern extremity.

By Richards RG

The Australian glass sand industry produces some 2.8 million tonnes per annum of silica sand, of which about 2.0 million tonnes are exported and the rest is for the domestic market. Approximate production rates for each Australian state are listed.The variety of processing methods used in the currently exploited deposits reflects the size, location, and characteristics of the various deposits and the requirement of the end market/s. The industry uses to a large extent equipment developed for the separation of mineral sands, particularly as it applies to low grade heavy mineral deposits, where low cost, high capacity and metallurgically efficient equipment has proved eminently suitable for the production of the low value glass sands.The requirements of the domestic market, as well as those of the present and potential export markets are discussed covering quality requirements, distribution channels and other factors critical to success.

Jan 1, 1990

By Newell RB

Grinding circuits are used in most mineral processing plants. Their widespread application makes the efficient running of the circuits essential to almost all resource projects. This paper will show that, with the application of modern multivariable control techniques, improved plant performance can be obtained when compared with conventional single loop control strategies. Results are presented for a simulated closed-circuit ball mill.The grinding circuit was controlled using the rod-mill water and primary and secondary sump dilution flowrates as the manipulated variables. Variables controlled were the primary cyclone feed flowrate, the primary cyclone feed density and the particle-size measurement (percentage smaller than 75 um).

Jan 1, 1985

Mine evaluation methodologies are well suited to evaluating many projects in capital-intensive industries other than mining. These industries include oil, gas, power generation, transport and infrastructure projects. A case study of an open cu

Jan 1, 1998

By Belton G. R

The kinetics of the interfacial reaction of H2O on liquid silica-saturated iron silicates has been studied by means of measurement of the HDO-H2 isotope exchange reaction. The apparent first order rate constant, ka, was found to be inversely proportional to the H20/H2 ratio, consistent with two electron (melt to adsorbed/dissociating molecule) transfer mechanism and can be given by the expression In ka = -1.97 x 104/T + 1.57 - ln(pH2O/pH2), where the units for ka are mol cm -2 s-1 atm 1. The results of the current study are shown to be consistent with the indirect measurements of earlier work.

Jan 1, 1987

By Smith I. T

Mine operators have long recognised that the results achieved in primary blasting are critical to subsequent mining activities. With the introduction of "in the hole" drills under- ground and the advantages offered by the use of water gels in conjunction with ammonium nitrate-fuel oil (ANFO) explosives, new mining methods have been developed and enabled improvements in older methods. Pumpable water gels have been used with varying success underground. These gels allow a high loading density even in ragged bore- holes. The problems encountered with slumping in upholes is recognised so the current trend is to use these gels in downholes where wet holes are prevalent. Cartridged water gel technology has advanced to the point where it has allowed the replacement of nitroglycerin (NG) based explosives and pumpable water gels. Today, gels can be made as a tampable product for use in development headings or as a slump- ing product for downholes to give an effective coupling. With the introduction of the Tovex« pneumatic loaders, the problems associated with a pumpable gel were eliminated and gave the user the ability to alter his loading density.

Jan 1, 1977

Financial markets are subject to constant change and project finance, as a product within these markets, adapts and will continue to adapt with those changes. A meaningful discussion of these adaptations requires an understanding of differences between non-, limited and full recourse project finance. The reasons sponsors seek and lenders provide project finance are also pertinent in this context. Arranging a project, financing package can be a canplex and time consuming task. An important first step is choosing the right advisor for the assignment and then structuring and tailoring the financing before approaching prospective lenders. The last thirty years has seen changes in the needs of sponsors and the ability of lenders to meet them. These shifts in preference may well be a guide to the future. Several major project financings successfully canpleted in Australia in the last few years and more recent examples are broadly discussed. Project finance will be keenly sought in the future and the form and nature it takes will continue to vary.

Jan 1, 1983

In recent years, the. art of electric steelmaking has received a great deal of attention, and naturally, much controversy has existed from time to time regarding the relative merits of different practices and tywes of furnaces. Nevertheless, at the present time, the basic principles of the process are reasonably well established, and by far the greatest percentage of electric steel is a product of the basic lined, direct arc type furnace. Ferro alloy manufacture has demanded the development of furnaces having very different characteristics to those used for steel. Some special alloys, however, require conditions of manufacture which are more closely approached in the steel type furnace, and thus the latter has been adapted where necessary for the production of these alloys.One such alloy, low carbon ferro-manganese, is manufactured at Whyalla, South Australia, in a basic-lined, direct arc furnace, which is used alternatively for the production of alloy steels.BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ELECTRIC FURNACEThe principle of melting by electricity was first applied to the melting of iron in 1879 by William von Siemens, whose equipment consisted of a small crucible into which were introduced two carbon electrodes. Very little practical development took place in the next 20 years, although in 1890 a Frenchman named Heroult designed a direct arc furnace for the production of ferro alloys. At the beginning of the 20th century, several types of furnaces were patented for steel melting, the most important of these being the Heroult, using a direct arc, the...

Jan 1, 1951

By Johns AS

Comissioning of a new residue disposal tcluding upgraded classification for none backfill preparation, new variable speed pumps and a new residue dam took place in 1¦76. The system is described.

Jan 1, 1978

By Hutchings SG, Skimmings T

This paper describes the results of the field application tests at Miike Colliery on the integrated automatization of the longwall mining system for medium thick coal seam. The purpose of the research is to develop an automatic longwall mining system which can be controlled accurately from outside of the face, and the ultimate goal is an eliminate of men from the face. Presently, the field test is being conducted in Yotsuyama mine following to a success in the performance test on surface. Remote Batch Control System for shield supports has been adapted to operate all supports from the control panel located at the entrance of the face. Remote monitoring and control system of the drum shearer has also been tested. The system makes it possible to operate the shearer either at the main gate or full automatic. Productivity and safety will be substantially improved as those systems enable to eliminate all workers from the face under the severe working conditions with high ground pressure and hot and humid atmosphere due to increasing mining depth. So far, we have been satisfied with the results of the field test and those system will be an effective countermeasure to operate the face with a high risk of rock-burst.

Jan 1, 1987

The Nelson province was chosen as the prime area for rhenium sampling, based on its mineral associations. Sample preparation involved benefication by grinding and flotation A modification of published procedures for rhenium analysis was developed and the results compared with those obtained for molybdenum on the same samples using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The results of the analysis for both metals is discussed and the relationships between rhenium and the molybdenum mineralisa- tion of this region is commented on. A metal- 1ngenic province is defined for molybdenum and r'.ienium and the tectonic setting for this is discussed. Some consideration has been given to rhenium possibilities in Fiordland and the Coromandel Range.

Jan 1, 1980

By A Crosky, S Saydam, H Chen, H L. Ramandi

Cable bolts and rock bolts are used as primary and secondary anchoring systems in many underground mines. Reports on the premature failure of cable bolts and rock bolts due to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in underground coalmines have been increasing in the past two decades. The previous studies found that the SCC in both rock bolts and cable bolts occur as a consequence of atomic hydrogen diffusion into the material, which is known as hydrogen-induced stress corrosion cracking, HISCC (Craig et al, 2016; Wu et al, 2018b). While research to understand the process of SCC occurrence in underground mines is still required, finding a prevention solution to protect the bolts from HISCC is crucial. In this study, we analyse a variety of commercially available coatings for steel corrosion prevention, including barrier coating (ie epoxy, polyester TGIC) and sacrificial coating (hot-dip galvanising). We test the coating on coupons manufactured from rock bolts and cable bolts used in the coal mining industry.

Nov 29, 2022

By K Dagdelen

A vehicle proximity warning system is being developed using GPS and wireless local area networks to improve safety of off-highway trucks in open pit mines. After two an a half years of research, software development, and laboratory testing, field tests were carried out at operating limestone quarries and open pit mining operations to evaluate GPS accuracy and overall system effectiveness under rugged operating conditions. This article describes the progress made on this NIOSH funded project and discusses the GPS accuracy tests and overall system tests that were carried out during 2001 at the Morenci open pit copper mine in Arizona.

Jan 1, 2003

By Tooley S. M

An experimental investigation of the hydraulic cuttability of coal from the Theiss Dampier Mitsui mine near Moura, Central Queen land illustrated the ability of established cutting equations to describe the behaviour of the coal during cutting. The experimental equipment developed for the work proved reliable. The results of the experimental programme are consistent with accumulated experience from overseas.

Jan 1, 1985

Early in 1950 a new laboratory was set up to deal with problems in mineragraphy, petrology and metallography. This paper describes the equipment, the organisation and association of the laboratory with the various departments of the company, the work that has been done and future plans.At Mount Isa it was soon realised that the microscope would play a most important role in mineral dressing problems and aiding geological research.As early as 1928, R. J. Colony submitted a petrographic report on Black Star ore for Consolidated Limited; much later, in 1934-5 Dr. Grondijs published for Mount Isa Mines Limited a preliminary study of the Mount Isa orebody, followed by a mineragraphicinvestigation of mill products, and in 1937 a Study of Mount Isa Ores by H. GrondIjs and C. Schouten appeared in Economic Geology, for June-July. Other papers dealing with the petrology and mineragraphy of Mount Isa ores are appended at the end of the paper.The mill research metallurgical staff has endeavoured to incorporate mineragraphy in solving milling problems and determining the effectiveness of laboratory as well as examining minerals sent in by the geological department.For many years the amount of equipment available was limited and much of it was locally made or improvised. An improvised briquetting machine, and grinding and polishing lap gave moderate results in conjunction with an old, but serviceable, Leitz microscope. However, for more detailed and accurate work not possible with improvised equipment, many mineragraphic problems were sent to specialist in.

Jan 1, 1953

By M Grossi, G Baiden

This paper describes a new mine backfill method based on a newly invented binder with several years of test results from laboratory and onsite applications. The new binder has several advantages over traditional Portland and slag cement binders. One tonne of the new binder can replace two to three tonne of Portland cement when used to consolidate backfill and can result in the same compressive strength within seven days. When comparing backfill slurries of the same pulp density, the new binder attains more volume of in-place backfill mass than Portland cement because of the high crystallisation of water, resulting in tightly filled stopes. The crystallisation of the water provides for less or no dewatering in the backfill stope and easier transportation of the backfill slurry. Pastefill performance can be achieved by using pulp densities typical of a hydraulic backfill and the new binder, all the while transporting with the same ease of hydraulic fill.

Jan 1, 1998

By Howes PM

In the iron and steelmaking processes, dusts are generated and treated by wet dedust- ing methods to form slurries which are high in iron content, but also contain certain impuri- ties. For many years these slurries have been processed and the wet cake, which is produced, has been dumped because of the high zinc and alkali chloride contents. Sintering is an appropriate process for recycling of these materials, provided the deleterious impurities can be kept under control. Zinc is a deleterious element in blast furnaces because it promotes the formation of accretions on the upper walls of the furnace. This results in irregular furnace performance. Alkali chlorides effect the emissions from the sinter plant waste gas due to the high resis- tivity of these components, resulting in decreased efficiency of the electrostatic precipitator. Experimental work indicated a concentra- tion of zinc in the -11 pmt particle size frac- tion. A cyclone plant was installed producing a "coarse" usable product and a "fine" waste Product.

Jan 1, 1984

By Mahoney BK

The development of simulation models to reflect accurately the operations of a port and its associated transportation systems can be an expensive and time consuming process. However the complexity of such operations leaves little choice for other than simulation techniques since analytical methods are rarely appropriate. The development of suitable software has now reached the stage that these techniques can be used with confidence. Types of simulation models and their requirements are discussed together with the results from some recent applications to the planning and management of bulk terminals.

Jan 1, 1983

By Klinefelter G

The United States Steel Mining Co., Inc. recently experienced a major mine fire at the Cumberland Mine. This mine is located in Greene County, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. and is mining a high volatile bituminous coal seam (Pittsburgh Seam). The mine fire was success- fully controlled and extinguished without loss of life or serious injury to any miner or mine rescue personnel and finally reopened within 40 days of its inception.

Jan 1, 1988

Recent analysis of backfilling material has shown that a finer size distribution is preferable for stope filling. In order to increase crusher throughput and pit productivity, a reassessment of the quarrying operation was conducted. Part of that reassessment was a review of blasting practice. Six means of reducing the average muckpile fragment size were examined. Different blast initiation and charging options were compared, and patterns using smaller hole sizes were designed, analysed with the JKMRC 3x3o software, then drilled and fired. The ground vibration and face movement was recorded and compared. To determine whether the Kuz-Ram model could be used in an economic analysis of the quarry operation, the fragmentation distribution of the small diameter hole blasts was determined. Photographs of the muckpiles were taken and digitised. However subsequent analysis indicated that a satisfactorily large photo sample was only obtained from the smallest diameter hole blast. The Kuz-Ram fragmentation model prediction was found to be within the confidence limits of those results. An engineering and cost comparison between the blasts was made.

Jan 1, 1995