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By Mules GJ

Geotechnical investigations have played a key role in influencing decisions for development of the Porgera Gold Project in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Porgera is located 130 km west-northwest of Mt. Hagen in steep mountainous terrain with high rainfall. Much of the site is underlain by weak mudstone of the Chim Formation and creeping colluvial soils. Landsliding is common on the steeper slopes and in the valley floors. Structures have had to be sited to avoid areas susceptible to these movements. Early stage feasibility investigations included studies of tailings dam and waste rock dump sites, processing plant sites and hydroelectriic schemes. Further studies, leading into the design stage included the Enga Highway upgrading, water supply and power supply schemes. As construction for the project proceeds geotechnical input remains at a high level, with emphasis now on maintaining viable stable sites and refining data on which designs were based.

Jan 1, 1990

Industrial and telecommunications organizations around the world are now turning to optical fibres to satisfy their growing needs for data, voice and video communications and to solve transmission problems in noisy and hazardous environments. Already, coaxial cables have been made obsolete for intermediate and long distance applications and fibres are making in-roads on other copper cable and microwave system techniques.The idea of optical fibres is not new, but techniques to manufacture the high quality cable and components required have only recently been developed. Nonetheless, the technology is now advanced, reliable and mature, and costs are plummeting with increased production and market competition.The mining industry has benefited greatly from developments in electronics and communications over the years. Optical fibres are to have a further significant impact and the time is now right for the industry to begin to exploit the many advantages of this new medium. Applications include data transmission, long distance telecommunications, measurement and control systems, surveillance, computer networks, etc.This paper briefly describes the characteristics of optical fibres, current status of the technology, applications and possibilities for future development.

Jan 1, 1984

By M Frenzel

At the last MassMin Conference in Sudbury, Caterpillar’s vision of a continuous mining concept for block caving operations was presented on the background of global raw material demand and its continuous increase. By analysing today’s structure of mining processes in block caving, the paper (Krings, Steinberg and Frenzel, 2012) highlighted the main bottlenecks in the process chain and identified conceptual solutions by help of a case study. The main focus was the paradigm shift from discontinuous batch type operation to a continuous mining process of the blocks.In 2016, the strategic vision has taken major strides forwards and remote continuous operation has become a reality. Caterpillar’s continuous operation system – the Rock Flow system – was successfully installed in Codelco’s Andina mine and start of operation is scheduled in the first half of 2016.Based on continuous product developments, this paper sets the focus on two main aspects of continuous mining. First, field experiences of the Rock Flow system will be shared, highlighting the Andina project course from system installation, to commissioning and successful system start. The second aspect concentrates on the system and mine layout as discussed in the case study scenario in MassMin 2012 (Krings, Steinberg and Frenzel, 2012).Based on Caterpillar`s continuous product development, the Rock Flow system set-up and panel design were modified for a general roadway design and drawpoint layout. The new design allows an optimised use in block preparation phase (spreading) and full production phase (reaping), operating a fleet of load-haul-dumps (LHDs) and Rock Flow systems. The combined use of the two technologies optimises the mining process in every stage of block life and significantly increases the performance of the continuous block caving operation in the production panel to pave the road for the next generation of super caves.CITATION:Frenzel, M, 2016. New continuous production system in block cave mining – the rock flow system, in Proceedings Seventh International Conference and Exhibition on Mass Mining (MassMin 2016), pp 543–548 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

May 9, 2016

As part of its Concentrator operation Hamersley Iron Pty. Limited uses wet high intensity magnetic separation to upgrade shaley low grade ore in the minus 0.5mm size range. Materials handling problems, largely caused by fine ore types and design deficiencies, surfaced in the Fines Treatment Plant soon after Concentrator commissioning in 1979. Surging throughout the circuit impaired process efficiency and added to problems caused by capacity and process control limitations. In 1981 extensive modification works were initiated to supplement minor changes made to that date. The new circuit significantly increases capacity and provides greater process control.

Jan 1, 1978

This paper describes the application of a three-dimensional finite element modelling tool to help assess the stability of a highwall at a Central Queensland mine following the weakening of its base due to highwall mining. With traditional stability assessment techniques, likely failure modes are identified on the basis of previous experience and structural, sedimentological and geomechanical data and a mechanistic analysis of these individual modes is performed. The value of the full three-dimensional model over these traditional techniques is that it provides a coherent approach to assessing highwall stability without the necessity of initially deciding upon the dominant failure mechanism and gives a useful adjunct to the traditional tools. The three-dimensional model assumes the rock mass is made of elasto-plastic blocks, incorporating possible planes of weakness, separated by near horizontal joints. The model includes the relaxation of stresses due to the excavation of the highwall and incorporates estimates of blast damage near the highwall surface

Jan 1, 1995

Previous studies on the blast furnace raceway zone have been undertaken at three levels of scale, namely: laboratory models at low temperature, hot models which simulate coke combustion in the zone, and tests performed on operating and dismantled blast furnaces. This paper reviews the results of this published work on raceways in order to illustrate the factors which affect the raceway shape, size and combustion characteristics. As a result of the work it has been established that raceways are influenced by blast parameters such as velocity, temperature and chemistry, as well

Jan 1, 1981

By de Vries D, Wilson EG, Henderson GAM, Carter EK

Canberra is a planned city in which the natural environment, rather than existing development and land tenure, has until recent times at least, imposed the major constraints to development. Even redevelopment poses fewer problems than for most cities. Geological conditions have, therefore, played a significant role in determining its shape and layout. The Canberra experience has relevance for major new mining and engineering projects. The role of engineering geologists and geophysicists in Canberra's development is described, and the problems arising from the geological environment are illustrated by several case histories. Four aspects are addressed: pre-development urban geology; major engineering projects; resources evaluation, including groundwater; and post-development problem-solving. The Australian Capital Territory lies within the Palaeozoic Lachlan Fold Belt. Within the ACT the belt is composed of folded and faulted metasiltstones, metasandstones and acid volcanics, intruded by a major granitic pluton. Some limestone lenses occur. The region has been part of a land mass since Late Devonian times and landscape evolution has been very complex. Geological features of special geotechnical significance include deep but variable weathering, with slight to moderate weathering along faults to at least 70 metres depth in places, and consequential foundation problems; close jointing; weathered limestone lenses with solution cavities containing clay and water; confined aquifers containing artesian water in scree deposits flanking hills; the presence of pyrite; and poor quality and low volumes of groundwater.

Jan 1, 1986

The microstructures exhibited by ilmenite in its association with other oxide minerals have been the subject of a number of papers, the most comprehensive of which is that by Ramdohr. The following observations in some degree extend his conclusions. They are based upon a study of about sixty specimens of "massive" ilmenite and titaniferous ores from a number of wIdely 'scattered Australian localities. Specimens of this character proved much rarer than was expected. The collection was gathered together through the generous aid of the University Geological Departments, Geological Surveys, and Natural History Museums of the several States of the Commonwealth, all of which contributed such specimens of local origin, as they possessed. Special thanks are due to Dr. E. S. Simpson, of Western Australia, who made available several highly interesting specimens, together with his...

Jan 1, 1938

This paper briefly discusses the negotia- tion of the more important provisions in agree- ments for exploration and mining rights with Pacific countries. LAND RIGHTS Land rights are complicated and sometimes controversial in many of the Pacific countries. In some countries, a company will have to deal with land owners directly; in others, the government will act as intermediary. Inevit- ably, a company will have to deal with both. Mining companies need to be sensitive to the culture and particular interests of the land owners and of their history in defending their rights. The issues are too complicated to be dealt with here. Some mining companies have spent, and will continue to spend, considerable time trying to understand them. It will " require patience, perseverance, sensitivity and unflagging optimism. The better advised companies will ensure that their local repre- sentatives get to know the land owners, under- stand their concerns, and will pursue a policy of keeping them informed on a regular basis of all of the company's activities and proposed activities. Good community relations are the keystone for good mining operations in the Pacific. Most countries will require the submission of an environmental impact statement so that they will know in advance what effects a pro- posted mining operation are expected to have on the environment and how it is intended to deal with them. They will also want to approve the company's environmental reclamation and rehabilitation plan. Let's face facts right away - mining, by its very nature, is not going to improve the environment. There will be waste discharges, emissions and deposits. They will affect the land, air and water and hence human, marine and animal life and vegetation. There will be sounds and odours and the esthetics of mining operations, though perhaps pleasing to geolo- gists and mining engineers, will not please Others.

Jan 1, 1987

The Gympie Province is a unique tectono-stratigraphic unit which does not fit into the overall palaeogeographic pattern of the New England Fold Belt (NEFB), and part of it has been proposed as an exotic terrane more closely linked to New Zealand. From E to W the Gympie Province comprises 6 distinct units which can be evaluated as suspect or exotic terranes.

Jan 1, 1990

The paper presents an overview of the mining industry of Papua New Guinea. Although the Bougainville problem is still unresolved, new mines like Ok Tedi, Misima and Porgera, which have come on stream during recent past, have raised hopes of sustained growth period in the industry. Kutubu Oilfield is also being developed in the Southern Highlands and the oil production has commenced from July 1992. Government revenue from these mega projects will increase five-fold during 1993 and 1994. A new mine which is being planned is the fabulous Lihir Deposit, on an island renowned to be full of gold. Gold occurs within a volcano which still contains high temperature ground water because the system which created the deposit is still geothermally active.In Papua New Guinea, problems of environmental management are far easier to tackle than those of a socio-political and economic nature involving compensation payments to the landowners and the distribution of royalties and taxes between the national and provincial governments. At the socio-political level, the country has not been able to resolve the problems of land rights versus mining rights. Whenever mining starts in a big way, it raises people's expectations to a very high level, which then becomes the focal point of dispute between landowners, provincial governments, national government and mining companies. A new system called 'Forum' has been tried to bring all parties together and son out the issues. The system appears to be working well in new mines like Ok Icdi, Porgera, Misima and Kutubu Oilfields.

Jan 1, 1993

By Slater R

The initial planning and detail design phase leading to the development of a 7.5 m internal shaft to service the deep 3000 and 3500 copper orebodies at Mount Isa, Queensland is well advanced. The choice of internal shaft access was made over alternative methods such as a decline from existing levels and borehole hoisting. The resulting access development requirements and shaft configuration for production have been determined. Several techniques are being studied for shaft development. These include the application of blind shaft drilling and large hole reaming methods as well as conventional sinking techniques. As the 3000/3500 Orebodies extend from 1000 metres to more than 1800 metres below the surface, high stress conditions and ground temperatures ranging from 45CC to 62CC are anticipated. The effect of these on the methods being investigated to create a favourable working environment will influence the final choice. Exploration diamond drilling is in progress to confirm the geology of the orebodies so that planning for their extraction including refrigerated ventilation concepts can proceed.

Jan 1, 1982

The Bau Goldfield lies in the southwestern corner of Sarawak in East Malaysia. Evidence of past mining in the form of open pits and adits can be found over an area of 250 sq kin, centred on the township of Bau. Chinese were mining gold in the district as early as 1820. The Bau Goldfield so far has produced approximately two million ounces of gold, from alluvial deposits and over 50 hard rock mines. The largest single producer was the Tai Parit mine (700 000 oz) which was operated by the Borneo Company from 1898 to 1921 and by a local Malaysian family from 1991 to early-1997. Over the past ten years, gold resources totalling around one nullion ounces have been delineated through systematic exploration using modern techniques, with the bulk of the resource hosted in two deposits (Jugan and Pejiru).Triassic to Jurassic andesitic volcanics and coeval intrusives are the oldest rocks that crop out in the Bau Goldfield. These igneous basement rocks are unconformably overlain by 500 m of late Jurassic, massive, micritic limestone which in turn is overlain by a 1500 in thick flysch sequence, composed mainly of shale. Basement rocks and limestone are exposed along the hinge of a ENE-striking anticline that passes through the Bau district (Bau Anticline). A NNE-striking belt of Miocene granodiorite porphyry stocks and dykes also passes through the Bau Goldfield. All of the known gold deposits lie within 5 km of this zone of intnisives, with a concentration of deposits at the intersection of the intrusive hell with the Rau Anticline.

Jan 1, 1997

By Mayer TE

The Granites Goldfield is located 550 km northwest of Alice Springs. Mineralisation was discovered in 1900 and intermittently worked along nine km of strike until the early 1950's, yielding a recorded production of 470 kg of gold. The geological environ- ment, pre-existing exploration drilling results, and an optimistic view on gold, prompted acquisition of the property by North Flinders Mines Limited in 1975. An agreement was signed with the Central Land Council in August 1983 and drilling commenced in the same month. In the past, gold was won from alluvial deposits, rich quartz veins and lower grade, disseminated stratabound mineralisation. The last is contained within a distinctive unit in the Mt. Charles Beds, of the Early Proterozoic Tanami Complex. This informally named "Host Unit" is a metamorphosed, chemical- pelitic sediment. The schist contains variable proportions of amphibole, quartz, garnet, clinopyroxene, carbonate and sulphide, inter- calated with recrystallised chert beds. Free gold occurs in several mineralised horizons within the Host Unit, generally conformably distributed within lithologic bands or at lithologic contacts. The Host Unit occurs within a sequence of metamorphosed pelitic sediments and intermediate volcanics. Although mostly confined to the Host Unit, stratabound gold mineralisation also exists in both Footwall and Hanging Wall Schists, usually within zones displaying certain Host Unit characteristics. The deposits may be loosely categorised as being of banded iron formation (bif) type, although some important differences are noted between them and classical bif type orebodies.

Jan 1, 1984

By Reeves I. And Farquhar J, Pearce S

The irregular shape of the Rosebery orebody, coupled with the inconsistencies in grade over short strike lengths, has meant stoping blocks have had to be small to combat dilution and stability problems. In the past, each lens was divided into regular block sizes and developed up to five years before production commenced. There were two major drawbacks to this practice; firstly, existing development deteriorated over time therefore requiring rehabilitation prior to production. Secondly, the pre-determined blocks could not be easily changed to incorporate changes in mining technology or economic circumstances. Bearing these problems in mind, it was evident that any new lens development had to be designed to allow maximum flexibility. The lens being currently developed is J lens. It represents approximately 50 per cent of the current reserves tonnes, and 65 per cent of the zinc metal. Its importance to the mine's future cannot be over emphasised. At its core the lens is up to 25 m thick at grades of over 30 per cent zinc. The practice of dividing the orebody into levels and sublevels, with consequent crowns was no longer acceptable because of restrictions in stope design and potential loss of ore. To assist in the development planning of J lens, a geostatistical block model was applied in long section to graphically represent the lens. Areas of high zinc concentration, as well as zones of uneconomic material were identified by using the model. This has meant that the development could he targeted, enabling stope delineation to occur in the lens without significant ore loss. Because of limited development resources, and the need to bring J lens on-line in the near future, the development strategy has had to focus on 'just-in-time' principles, rather than accessing the whole lens from bottom, and progressing upwards. Tight development schedules have required individual stoping block to be developed on such factors as grade and available tonnes rather than as a vertical sequence.

Jan 1, 1993

The standard charge weight scaling laws imply that only one particular delay (that possessing the maximum instantaneous charge) contributes to the ppv. However, the present analysis clearly demonstrates that a varying number of blastholes contributes to the ppv. This number also increases with distance, x, between the blast source and the detector, and is caused by waveform broadening due to attenuation. Thus the operative charge weight, itself, is also a function of the distance, and so makes the standard charge weight laws difficult to implement. If the delay time scatter is neglected, then, under certain conditions, relatively simple expressions can be derived for the ppv magnification, FN, as a function of the number, N, of blastholes. When the influence of delay scatter and random fluctuations in each blasthole vibration is included using Monte Carlo simulations, then, to a first approximation, the condition FN=KNx applies, where KN is a constant dependent upon N. Unfortunately, however, for any particular blast this condition cannot be distinguished from the standard charge weight scaling law. The dependence of ppv on N would only be apparent if blasts of differing N were to be compared in an otherwise identical environment. Since this situation is very difficult (if not impossible) to realise, then the influence due to N, although significant, goes largely undetected. Another problem associated with standard charge weight scaling laws is the difficulty of accurately assessing the appropriate charge weight, even if attenuation broadening is neglected. For example, if a number of blastholes are very close, then they experience a vibration interaction which is non-linear. However, if the same blastholes were to be widely spaced, then the separate vibration signatures add linearly. The standard charge weight scaling law fails to distinguish between such linear and non-linear regimes. Unfortunately, in many production blasts, both regimes exist throughout various portions of the blast spatial pattern and so makes it difficult to determine the operative charge weight. The solution to the combined influence of waveform broadening and linear/non-linear interactions will obviously require substantial future research. A possible solution may be found in the use of numerical dynamic codes.

Jan 1, 1990

By Jensen B

The investigation of the explosion characteristics of nine Bowen Basin (Central Queensland) dust samples in a suitable coal dust explosion chamber using a new dust concentration probe provides several advances in the area of coal dust explosibility testing. The 20 litre explosion chamber, of novel design, uses rotation of the main body of the chamber together with air jets for dust dispersion, and allows testing of different types of explosion initiators and analysis of the explosion characteristics of coal dust/methane mixtures of varying concentrations.A new development was a dielectric dust probe for the measurement of coal dust concentration. A capacitive micrometry technique was successfully adapted to measure dust concentration. The system uses a ratio-transformer bridge for measurement of small changes in a capacitive probe designed to sample a representative volume. The device is accurate, and is capable of operating in the hostile environment within the explosion chamber.The explosion chamber and dust probe characterise the explosive potential of coal dust samples by determination of the dust lean limit concentration in varying mixture with methane. Plots of lean limit points obtained in this way present an explosion curve for each sample which indicates the potential of the coal dust/methane to explode under the conditions of initiation in the chamber. The explosion curve obtained for each sample presents a unique signature that appears to reflect the physical and chemical characteristics of the dust.The results from this series of laboratory experiments appear to provide a useful index and indicate potential areas of interest for future research.

Jan 1, 1991

By T Leach, F Kaiqiang

The Jianchaling gold deposit is located about 1200 km south west of Beijing in central China. The deposit was discovered in 1988 by the Northwestern Geological Exploration Bureau (711 Exploration Team). Sino Gold Limited, an Australian based company, developed the mine in 1998 and is currently operating a 1000 t per day underground mine, producing about 80 000 ounces of gold per year. The pre-mine resource for Jianchaling was 1.6 million tonnes at 9.85 g/t gold. The deposit occurs within the east-west trending Mesozoic Qinling-Dabie orogenic belt formed during the Yanshanian Orogeny. In the Jianchaling region, gold mineralisation is primarily hosted by regional west-northwest to east-southeast striking faults, the most important of which, the reverse sinistral F145 fault, hosts the larger gold deposits including Jianchaling. At the mine scale, the most important zone of mineralisation is localised within a shallowly north dipping dilation on the F145 fault. Proterozoic dolomite forms the hangingwall and serpentinite and talc schist the footwall to the fault. Within the footwall, serpentinite is the most important host rock to mineralisation. Initial alteration involves replacement of serpentine to dolomite ¦ pyrite, talc to ankerite ¦ pyrite, and magnetite and chromite to pyrite, the latter locally through a transitional hematite phase. Proximal to feeder structures, the carbonate minerals have undergone partial dissolution and replacement to quartz. Gold is related to arsenean pyrite and marcasite rimming and replacement of early-formed pyrite, and associated with iron release during the processes of dolomitisation, silicification and carbonate dissolution.

Jan 1, 2004

By Favreau RF

Over the last 20 years the blasting industry has progressed from the stage of being artform to a science as it is today. The use of computers to simulate blasting results has allowed blasting engineers to accurately pre- dict blast results and to optimise their blasting. This paper describes the computer blast simulator called BLASPA and its various applications in blasting. BLASPA allows the blasting engineer to predict blast results given known details of explosive properties, their distribution, rock type and properties, hole size, burden, spacing, collar and subdrill. The simulator runs mathematical situations and outputs numerical estimates of fragmentation and muckpile results. The paper discusses results which show that the mathematical outputs correlate very closely with actual results seen in the field, thus confirming the validity of the simulator. BLASPA can be used to help improve blast design by predicting stress levels in the rock mass and consequent rock breakage.

Jan 1, 1986

By Walker E. R

IN the early age of steel it was made hy what is known as the cementation proeess, in which wrought iron was embedded in charcoal and heated in a mufflc furnace to a tcmperature of approximately 1100° C. for varying lengths of time, the length of time depending upon the amount of carbon (or better known in thosedays as the degree of hardness) required in the finished product.By this process the resultant product obtained was not of uniform quality, and because of this uncertainty of quality Huntsman was induced, in the year 1740, to introduee what is known as the crucible process.This process consisted of cutting into small pieces the product of the cementation process, placing these pieces in a crucible, and melting them down with the aid of a eoke-fired furnace, after which the molten metal was cast into suitahly shaped ingots, from which could be hammered any desired shape.A section of crucible furnace is shown in Fig. 1. By this means a product, very uniform in character, was produced.The process is still in use, but, owing to its high operating cost, it is mostly eonfined to the production of very high-grade carhon and alloy steels. Its position to-day as a producer of these high-grade steels is, however, being very seriously challenged by the electric process.It was owing to the excessive cost of crucible steels and the need of producing a steel in commercial quantities and at a reasonable cost, that led Sir Henry Bessemer to introduce what is known as the Bessemer process.

Jan 1, 1930