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By R Hardie, J Crerar, J Merritt, B Kirsch

Longwall mining and related subsidence, and watercourse diversion for surface mining operations have the potential to impact on fluvial geomorphic processes and the health of river systems. This is evident in the Isaac River in central Queensland. The scale and likelihood of these impacts are a function of the extent of existing and proposed mining developments and of the ongoing geomorphic, hydrologic and ecological processes within the Isaac River. Understanding the objectives for the river, the past and ongoing processes at work, the cumulative impacts of longwall mining development and the options for managing those impacts is essential for the development of an effective strategy to manage the health of the river system. An assessment has been undertaken to identify and understand the cumulative impacts of mining subsidence and other mining influences on geomorphic processes and waterway health in the Isaac River over a river length of approximately 100 km near Moranbah in central Queensland. The assessment included the development of a vision and objectives for waterway health. The assessment has identified mining and landuse changes that have impacted on the hydrology, geomorphology, ecology and hence the health of the Isaac River. The assessment has then sought to identify the cumulative impact of longwall mining and related subsidence on current stream condition and the proposed vision for the system. The primary impact of longwall mining on the river was found to be associated with sediment transport. The investigation included assess- ment of total sand available for transport, the volume of sand transported annually and the fluvial process response to subsidence. Recommendations have been developed for the management of the system and for longwall mining to increase system robustness and achieve the river health objectives.

Jan 1, 2009

By Zajber A, Kulchen R, Letzel D, Weyer A, Schwellenbach J

The search for modem casting plant concepts today focuses more and more on the harmonisation and optimisation of overall concept lines to obtain a continuous quality control and reduce the cost of production (Figure 1). Fin I As far as continuous casting plant concepts are concerned, this specifically requires an optimal adaptation and flexible operation when converting liquid steel into a directly processable product without any in-between treatment. Continuous casters need to fully satisfy the requirements of both the upstream steelmaking facilities as well as the downstream rolling facilities.

Jan 1, 1999

By S Sims, A Stradl, G Hope, B Lacouture

Column flotation cells have been installed in numerous base metal operations around the world. The majority of these cells utilise conventional air-only spargers to introduce air into the bottom of the column. The recent development of instruments to measure the bubble characteristics in these columns has provided a renewed understanding of column behaviour. These new tools provided insight into why the columns at Red Dog Mine had never performed up to expectations. After efforts to optimise the spargers failed to substantially change the bubble size and air efficiency, alternate sparger systems were investigated. The Metso Minerals CISA Microcel sparger system appeared promising and was selected for a full-scale plant trial. The Microcel sparger system was originally developed for the coal industry at the Virginia Centre for Coal and Minerals Processing. In October 2003, a Microcel was retrofitted into one of two 3.66 m diameter flotation columns in the zinc retreat circuit at Red Dog Mine. The operation of the two different sparger systems in parallel allowed a detailed comparison. This paper discusses the performance of the Microcel based on the data collected during several detailed surveys. Bubble size measurements carried out in the pulp zone using the McGill University bubble viewer showed a significant difference in bubble size. The mean Sauter diameter of the bubbles decreased from 3.4 mm for the jetting-type sparger to 1.9 mm for the Microcel sparger. The overall recovery and the recovery by size fraction for both valuable and gangue minerals were compared. Paired t-tests demonstrated that the Microcel column produced a higher concentrate grade (0.6 per cent zinc absolute) and a higher unit recovery (2.8 per cent zinc absolute) than the existing Canadian Process Technologies Inc (CPT) SlamJet column. These improvements provided a payback period of 1.5 months for the $109 000 investment.

Jan 1, 2005

The Beginnings of Mineral Processing Research in Canada - A Short Account

Sep 13, 2010

By A Jewbali, J Phillips, C Boyle

Normal practice in the mining industry is the creation of a single geological model. These models provide a single interpretation of the geological and mineralisation domains. These interpretations infer the exact behaviour of ore domain contacts at shorter scales when resource definition drilling is done on wider scales and are thus locally highly uncertain. The interpreted geological model provides a single number for the volume and tonnes of mineralised material enclosed by the mineralisation envelope. It is on this single number for volume and tonnage that capital intensive mine development decisions (mine design and scheduling, stockpile strategy, waste management, closure planning, dewatering strategy, product quality, etc) are based. Some of these decisions require knowledge of grade variability for small volumes of material such as quarterly production periods. It is generally recognised that this information cannot be derived from single kriged geological models, but can potentially be modelled by conditional simulation techniques. Uncertainty in the extent and continuity of the mineralised envelope and its effect on grade variability for shorter production periods is thus recognised as a major source of uncertainty in new mine development.CITATION:Jewbali, A, Boyle, C and Phillips, J, 2013. Quantifying domain uncertainty for an iron ore deposit, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2013 , pp 157-168 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 12, 2013

Rheological Behaviour of Clay-Rich Gangue Mineral Dispersions During Hydrometallurgical Treatment Alumino-silicate minerals invariable may present an intractable challenge in hydrometallurgical operations employed in low grade nickel, copper and gold ore leaching or high level nuclear waste (HLNW) processing. The interactions and reactivity of alumino-silicate clay gangue minerals such as muscovite/sericite, chlorite, kaolinite and smectite under acidic (eg pH <3) or alkaline (pH >13) conditions can have a striking impact on the particle interactions. These may manifest in undesirable pulp rheology, poor extraction rates and challenges in the subsequent "handleability" and solid-liquid separation processes (eg dewatering). In the present work, a review of investigations involving the interfacial chemistry, interactions and rheological behaviour of aqueous dispersions of mica-group, layered alumino-silicate clay (muscovite / sericite) and chalcocite minerals as a function of pH in the range 2 - 9 and time at 25¦C, is presented. Particle zeta potential, reflecting interfacial chemistry, indicated a strong pH-history and particle volume fraction dependency. Pristine particles' zeta potentials measured from high to low pH indicated mineral-specific isoelectric point (iep) at pH range 2 - 5. Subsequent measurements from low to high pH showed pH-history dependency with iep shift to higher pH values, the extent of which also depended upon particle volume fraction and aging time. Pulp pH-mediated particle interactions revealed by shear yield stress analysis displayed a bifurcation behaviour and good compliance with DLVO theory. The maximum pulp yield values occurred at the iep whilst weak rheology was observed where the magnitude of the particle zeta potential was greatest. The pivotal role played by both pulp chemistry and suspension conditions in regulating the particle interactions and concomitant rheological behaviour is highlighted. The implications of the findings with regards to clay-base pulps' handleability and its control during aqueous processing are discussed.  

Sep 13, 2010

By J E. Everett, D Linden, P Maney

In response to the implementation of a new schedule for iron ore fines in the International Maritime OrganizationÆs (IMO) International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code, improved measures for the management of moisture have been developed. In particular, prediction of cargo moisture allows management of iron ore fines within the supply?chain to facilitate the safe?shipping of iron ore fines.An ARIMA model, augmented to allow for shipment tonnage, has been developed to predict the moisture level from previous shipments of the same product. The model explains about 60 per cent of the moisture variance. It was found that inclusion of other available information, such as ore composition, train/rake assays and recent rainfall at port and mine, did not add to the predictive power of the model.CITATION:Everett, J E, Linden, D and Maney, P, 2013. Predicting iron ore fines shipment moisture, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2013 , pp 17-26 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 12, 2013

By Edwards A. B

A suite of specimens from the newly developed Black Star copper ore body at Mount Isa was made available for mineragraphic study by the Mount Isa Mines, Ltd. The specimens were selected as representative of the different phases of mineralisation found in the ore body, rather than with a view to furnishing a complete cross-section of it; and the examination has been carried out with a view to ascertaining (1) the nature, extent and association of the arsenic, antimony and possibly bismuth, minerals in the ore, (2) the mode of occurrence of silver in the ore, and (3) whether galena and sphalerite occur in minute forms well below the sIzes readily observed in hand specimens.Analyses of the January to June, 1944, mill head composites show that the proportions of the elements Ag, As, Sb and Bi in the ore are as follows:Ag 0.000013 = 0.35 oz./tonAs 0.024Sb 0:002Bi 0.0005The copper content of the mill heads ranges from 3.5% to 4.75%, the lead content from 0.03% to 0.08,% and the zinc content from 0.09% to 0.23%.MINERAL COMPOSITIONThe specimens range from massive sulphide ore, consisting of areas of chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and rarely sphalerite, from 1 to 3 cm. across, to fragments of extremely finely banded pyritic shale in which no minerals other than pyrite are visible. The gangue associated with the massive sulphides is chiefly dolomite, and sometimes white quartz. The pyritic shale fragments show evidence of shearing and faulting on a micro-scale, the fractures sometimes being filled with sulphides and vein minerals.The ore minerals found in the polished sections are pyrite, arsenopyrite, marcasite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, valleriite, chalcostibite, galena, dyscrasite, jamesonite, magnetite, gold, graphite and rutile.Pyrite (FeS2)Pyrite occurs chiefly in two forms according to whether deposition took place along the bedding planes or along the intersecting faults and fractures. Deposition of pyrite along the bedding planes of dense, thinly banded shales ha,s produced a metasomatically altered shale in which the pyritic bands are from 0.02 to 0.03 mm. wide, and alternate with bands...

Jan 1, 1945

By Clarke P. E

At the end of the recent war, reports became available from Europe of the use of tungsten-carbide inserts in percussion rockdrill bits. These bits were used with small size rockdrills, so that the only advantage gained from the use of the harder, abrasion resistant, tungsten-carbide appears to have been the greater life of the bit. Larger machines, such as used in Australia in conventional practice, had to be discarded to protect the relatively brittle tungstencarbide inserts and the vulnerable bonding with the bit body.As it had been found in machine shop practice that some grades of tungsten-carbide had been produced with considerably improved toughness, it was decided by Gold Mines of Australia Ltd. that drilling practice with tungstencarbide bits warranted detailed examination under Australian conditions, and that drilling tests should be undertaken at Morning Star (G.M.A.) Mines N.L., for which it acts as General Manager and Consultant.These investigations progressed through three stages:1. Preliminary Investigations and Tests.When the investigations were initiated no commercial bits were available in Australia, and manufacture was commenced with improvised equipment from virtual scratch. These early tests indicated that the use of 3 in. bore rockdrills in conjunction with tungsten-carbide insert bits was a 'possibility, and that it was unlikely that a small bore...

Jan 1, 1950

By Edwards A. B

The occurrence of lollingite (FeAs2 ) in the Broken Hill lode is recorded by an analysis of lollingite published in the Annual Report of the Department of Mines, New South Wales, for the year 1934 (p. 69). The analysed specimen came from the North Broken Hill mine, and material from the same occurrence (Specimeh No. 1), as well as two specimens (Nos. 3 and 4) from the Zinc Corporation mine, have been forwarded· to us by Mr. M. Mawby of the Zinc Corporation Mine. This material has been supplemented by another specimen (No. 2) from the Zinc Corporation mine, passed over to us by Dr. I. Wark.The original analysis of lollingite is quoted in Table I, and shows that the Broken Hill lollingite contains appreciable amounts of cobalt and nickel, and, indicates that the iron is to a considerable extent replaced by cobalt and nickel, so that its formula should be written (FeCoNi) As2This is supported by a microscopical examination of a polished surface of the lollingite, in which no individual arsenides of cobalt and nickel can be detected.Coarse grained galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite are attached to our specimen of lollingite from the North mine, and are separated by a sharp junction from a mass of lollingite associated with some arsenopyrite and garnet. The massive lollingite can be distinguished from arsenopyrite in the hand specimen by a much brighter, silvery lustre, against which arsenopyrite appears a dull silver grey; but the passage from lollingite to arsenopyrite appears transitional.

Jan 1, 1939

NATURE OF ORETHE Edna May ore consists mainly of clean quartz of a moderately hard and tough nature. The gold content is "free" and fairly coarse, so that a large percentage is recovered by amalgamation. The ore is practically free from metallic minerals.GENERAL OUTLINE OF PLANT AND TREATMENTThe ore, received from underground in trucks, is broken by a jaw breaker, then stamp-milled, follow~d by partial filie-grinding in pans. Mercury is used both in the mill boxes and pans. The pulp, on leaving the pans, passes over amalgamating tables and is then elevated by tailings pulp to cone classifiers and separated into a sand and slime product, each product receiving a separate cyanide treatment-sand by leaching in vats and slime by agitation and decantation in a "Trent" plant. Gold solutions from both sand and slime are precipitated together by zinc shavings in the usual type of precipitation boxes. Accumulated slime is trucked from the dam to a vortex mixer and from this point receives with the cement slime the same treatment.ORE BREAKING AND TRANSPORTThe ore is trucked from the brace of the shaft along an overhead line to the breaker station. Hence it is, by means of a "kick-up" dumped upon a grizzly, set with 2-in. spaces, the oversize being broken by a 15 x '9 Fraser and Chalmer jaw...

Jan 1, 1919

Large scale fluid extraction from the Latrobe Group in the Gippsland Basin is occurring as a result of offshore petroleum production and coal mine dewatering in the Latrobe Valley. Groundwater extraction in the Latrobe Valley exceeds recharge and is causing an expanding area of declining hydraulic head in the Latrobe Group, and regional land subsidence which is well documented. Recently the government water sector completed the installation of a network of Latrobe Group monitoring bores in the remainder of the onshore part of the Gippsland Basin. The bores situated along the coastal area show a steady decline in hydraulic head of about 1 m/year which can be attributed mainly to petroleum production.

Jan 1, 1992

It is easy to demonstrate the importance of aggregates in any conversation about infrastructure and other engineering artefacts. Peoples around the world have made use of stone to enrich and enhance their lives since the earliest days of civilisation. In New Zealand, Maori used hard durable rocks for weapons, tools, and basic structures. European settlement accelerated the use of quarried materials and formed the basis for development of our society as we see it today. Logic might suggest that the quarrying sector would be recognised positively for, and encouraged to continue to contribute to, this underpinning of the way we are. The reality is æNot In Most Back YardsÆ. Why? The rock is where it's always been (often overlooked) and our æsocialÆ environment is today's hard place. For a resource-based business in New Zealand, that environment is principally the Resource Management Act, with the widespread power it has distributed to anyone prepared to invest their time. This coupled with a lack of leadership and direction in the implementation of the Act has created a climate that stifles development and diverts energy and resources to æplaying the gameÆ rather than ælifting the gameÆ. Perhaps the real costs of this are not yet widely recognised. The paper will draw mainly on the experience of endeavouring to consent a ægreenfieldÆ quarry in the Waikato region. This is supported by commentary based on nearly 10 years of ælivingÆ with the RMA at sites across much of New Zealand. RMA Scorecard Summary: Effects based? Rarely. Level playing field? No. Maori Consultation? Could do better. Efficient use of resources? No. Timely? No. Is it working for other sectors? Certainly not the quarrying industry's customers and end users.

Jan 1, 2000

The Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) has developed an airborne sensor, the SWIR Full Spectrum Imager (SFSI) which detects in the short wave infrared range of the solar spectrum from 1220 to 2420 nm. In June of 1995, a demonstration flight was undertaken in the state of Nevada with the support of the companies listed above. The focus of the flight was to collect image data over well known mineral deposits with the objective of evaluating the applicability of this sensor to alteration mineral mapping. Some of the Nevada sites chosen include Cuprite and Goldfield, volcanic hosted acid sulfate systems; Yerington, a structurally complex porphyry copper deposit; and Virginia City, a quartz-sericite-pyrite vein system with advanced argillic pods. Ground spectral data was collected with the PIMA-II spectrometer. Solar reflectance calibration was done by Desert Research Institute personnel at Virginia City and Cuprite. This paper will discuss the configuration of the sensor and present image and ground data for Goldfield and Virginia City.

Jan 1, 1995

The literature pertaining to the electrochemical reaction at the anode during electrolytic reduction of alumina by the Hall-Heroult process is not in universal llgreement about the gaseous product. The possibility of electrochemical formation of CO at the anode was examined using existing data. Although the thermochemistry favours co-evolution of CO and CO2 with CO as the major product, the mechanism of the reaction shows this is unlikely. Since the origin of CO can be more logically explained by non-electrochemical mechanisims, it is concluded that CO2 is the only product from the electrolytic reaction at all current densities.

Jan 1, 1967

Over half of the molten aluminium produced at the 52,000 tons/ year eapacity plant operated by Comalco Aluminium (Bell Bay) Limited in Tasmania is cast into saleable produets by the direct chill process. Considering the importance of direct chill casting to the aluminium industry it is surprising that so little published literature on the subject is available, although Easton (1947), Smart (1954), and Uppert (1940, 1944, 1945) have contributed much toward lifting the veil of secrecy surrounding the process.The direct chill, or D.C. process as it is commonly called when related to aluminium, consists basically of feeding molten aluminium or its alloys into; water-cooled mould from the bottom of which solid aluminium is continuously extracted. Although the casting procedure is continuous in principle, the equipment is normally operated in an intermittent manner. Castings up to 20 ft long are formed during a cycle. At the end of the cycle casting is stopped and the pit into which thc castings are dropped is cleared before a new cycle commences. Depending on the size of the casting in relation to the cross sectional area of the pit and the support mechanism (commonly a hydraulic ram), 'drops' of up to 15 tons are not uncommon. This method of D.C. casting IS termed vertical D.C. casting and is the one most commonly employed in the aluminium industry.Horizontal casting has come more to the fore in recent years with the casting being extracted from the mould in the horizontal plane and is a truly continuous casting method since flying saws can be simply used to cut the continuously cast shape into required lengths as it emerges from the mould...

Jan 1, 1967

This paper endeavours to lay as concisely as possible, before the members the salient features of local gold milling practice, and to point out in what respects this practice differs from that of other large mining camps. This is essentially a free milling ore the gangue being quartz and the gold occurring in a coarse form. At times the ore crushed contains a good deal of slate, the latter imparting to the tailings a somewhat leaden hue.Small amounts of sulphides, chiefly iron pyrites, and at times smaller quantities of arsenical pyrites, zinc blende, and galena are contained in the stone. The average amount of sulphides contained in the ore cannot well be ascertained, as the concentrate obtained in all cases contain too much silica to form a basis of calculation...

Jan 1, 1902

Process Options for Difficult Arid-Region Nickel Laterites In the absence of the discovery of significant nickel sulfide deposits, the future of Australia's nickel industry will increasingly depend on cost effect processes for low-grade nickel laterites. The problems encountered with the West Australian HPAL plants, resulting in three of the four plants being shut down, have caused the industry to revisit atmospheric leaching options, particularly heap leaching. West Australian laterites are characteristically very varied in grade, chemical composition and mineralogy with the result that, thus far, one process does not fit all laterites. In this paper the leaching of an especially refractory ore is compared using column leaching of whole ore and atmospheric leaching and HPAL processing of ground ore. The key characteristic is the resistance of the goethite phase to acid attack with low-to-moderate temperature leaching conditions. The refractory characteristic is attributed to the stabilising influence of chromium and aluminium and possibly manganese substitution in the goethite crystal structure and goethite morphology. A significant three-fold increase in both nickel and cobalt extractions under atmospheric leaching conditions was achieved by the relatively simple modification of bubbling sulfur dioxide into the reaction vessel to create a reducing environment. Recoveries increased from <30 per cent to 90 per cent nickel and 86 per cent cobalt after 10 hours of leaching at 95¦C. An even greater improvement was achieved under ambient conditions by heating the ore to temperatures above 250¦C for 30 minutes. Subsequent leaching at ambient temperature gave an eight-fold increase in both nickel and cobalt recoveries after 14 days bottle rolling. Both methods could be optimised and implemented in such a way as to increase laterite reserves in conjunction with a heap leach operation but may be better suited to vat or closed tank processing.

Sep 13, 2010

By Silver EA

The Finisterre Range on the north coast of Papua New Guinea is the uplifted forearc riagio.n. of a modern arc-continent collision. The core of the range is composed of the P- nisterre Volcanics, an Oligocene''-arc terrane. The southern flank of the range consists of a clastic sedimentary sequence which is an uplifted accretionary wedge and collision complex. This clastic sequence can be subdivided into three distinct units. To the south of aiid structurally below the Finisterre Valcanics are the Mebu beds, an Oligocene- $arly Miocene sequence of volcanolithic turbidites. The Erap Structural Complex is south of, and structurally below the Mebu 43eds. , It consists of three subunits; the 3rly Pliocene micaceous turbidites of the Sukurum unit, contemporaneous pillow basalts AF{ the Basalt unit, and Late Pliocene to Pleistocene volcanolithic turbidites of the -Nariawang unit. The Quaternary Leron Formation, a fluvial to shallow marine 'clastic unit, is the southernmdst. and structurally lowest unit of the clastic -sequence The Finisterre Range is dominated by a fold-and-thrust belt with most thrusts "dipping steeply N. Melange fabric _ is developed in the vicinity of major thrusts. "ffle thrust belt strikes NW, oblique to the regional convergence direction, but no strike-slip motion is observed along NW striking faults.

Jan 1, 1991

The structure of the Bulli coal seam at Appin Colliery was detailed by the seismic reflection method. This unusual application of the seismic method was possible because there is a reflector near the seam as was revealed during exploration for petroleum in an area north-west of Appin. The reflector, which was at a depth of 1,500 ft, was shallow by normal reflection survey standards. Measurement of the seismic velocity at two ventilation shafts showed that the reflector was probably the Bulli coal seam. Accurate depth control was established from previous drilling results.INTRODUCTIONAppin Colliery, situated on the Southern Coalfield of N.S.W. (Fig. 1), is being developed to supply coking coal to the Port Kembla steelworks of Australian Iron and Steel Pty. Ltd. The colliery is mechanized and a detailed knowledge of structure, particularly faulting, is important in planning the workings.The Bulli seam, which is approximately 9 ft thick, and between 1,500 ft and 1,800 ft below the surface, is worked in the colliery. It is the uppermost member of the Permian Coal Measures and is overlain by Triassic rocks, which consist of thick sandstone beds containing beds of coloured shales, and which are subdivided into the Narrabeen Group, the Hawkesbury Sandstone, and the Wianamatta Group.In the early stages of development of the colliery, surface geological mapping and diamond drilling provided information on structure. Generalized results of the mapping are shown on Fig. 2. Drilling indicated that the physical and chemical properties of the Bulli seam are relatively constant, and that the seam is nearly horizontal, the average dipbeing about 1 in 25 to the west.

Jan 1, 1965