Search Documents

CONTENTS: Broken Hill The mixing stations.Operating and mixing apparatus.Pulp distribution.Stope preparation.Filling procedure.Consolidation of old fill.Drainage:Pulp density tests. Life of sand pipe lines.Results.Advantages and disadvantages.Conclusion and acknowledgments.General remarks on South Limited.Mining methods.History of stope filling in Broken Hill.Need for a new and better filling method and transport system.Initial experiments with hydraulic stowing.Source of the sand.Water Supply.Signalling system.GENERAL REMARKS ON BROKEN HILL SOUTH LIMITEDThe South Mine, property of Broken Hill South Limited, is situated at Broken Hill, N.S.W., Australia, towards the southern end of the main lode.The leases (M.L's 7 and 8)' cover a length of 2,400 feet along the lode outcrop and the workings extend, at this date, to a depth of 1,940 feet below the collar of the original main shaft and to 825 feet below sea level.Mining operations have been continuous for about 58 years and during this period nearly 12.5 million tons of ore have been mined. The monthly tonnage extracted approximates 30,000 tons in normal times.The ore is a mixed sulphide containing galena and marmatite; the gangue minerals are principally calcite, rhodonite, quartz and garnet.A typical assay for a monthly period is 14·40/0 Pb., 5·6 ozs. Ag., and 11· 60/0 Zn. The whole of the ore is concentrated on the property by combined gravity and flotation methods. The lead and 'zinc concentrates produced are railed to other centres for the extraction of the contained metals.MINING METHODSMining practice throughout the field varies only in minor details. The ore-bodies forming the Broken Hill Lode lie within complex folds arranged along a shear and vary in size and mineralogical associations, but all the mines have similar types. Some of the ore-bodies have weak walls, but the chief difficulty in mining is caused by "heads" and "flaws" in the ore.Besides these local weak areas there are ground movements-referred to later-of varying magnitude extending throughout the central portion of the lode where the large ore-bodies, several hundred feet wide, approached the surface.

Jan 1, 1944

By D. Govender

In recent years, economies of scale have continued to drive copper projects to larger throughputs to offset depleting lower grade resources. A decade ago there were only a small number of projects that stretched beyond 100,000 Mtpd throughput rates. Nowadays and moving forward virtually all the major copper projects are sized beyond this, with throughput rates up to 250,000 Mtpd now under evaluation for a number of key projects in Chile and Peru. This paper explores the development from the 160 m3 flotation cells, through to the 257 m3 cells and nowadays to the 660 m3 machines. The contributions of specific copper concentrators to this growth phase are reviewed herein. The historical basis of flotation machine scale-up is also briefly discussed. Metallurgical results as well as layout, maintenance and operational aspects are highlighted.

Feb 27, 2013

By Prosper Lamothe

El presente texto describe la metodología ad-hoc para evaluar proyectos de Inversión estratégicos a través de la flexibilidad y la teoría de opciones reales. La clave de dicho enfoque metodológico radica en realizar la mejor proyección del precio de los metales aplicando las mejores prácticas mundiales al respecto. Para ello, se analizan una gran variedad de modelos concluyendo que el mejor modelo a aplicar, debe ser la simulación del precio del metal con reversión a la media con saltos de tipo aleatorio.

Sep 9, 2007

By N. Andersen

During the preliminary design phases and feasibility study of a proposed vertical shaft, a vertical diamond drill-hole is normally drilled on the site. This paper outlines how rock mass characteristics, in-situ rock stress, rock strength, hydrological characteristics, and structural parameters can be determined using wireline logging of this borehole. In addition, a rock mass classification scheme is developed, based on published work, and in particular the Q-factor is adapted to assess the stability of raise-bored shafts. The ‘stick plot’ is introduced, which combines all geotechnical parameters applicable to the stability of a vertical shaft into a colourcoded format where cross-correlations can readily be made on a day-today basis during the shaft-sinking process.

Jan 1, 2015

By Siegfried Arce

Existen muchas herramientas para la gestión de proyectos. Sin embargo, éstos no están en capacidad de realizar análisis de riesgos y evaluar alternativas que consideren incertidumbre. En ese sentido, aparece GoldSim como una herramienta flexible que a través de una plataforma gráfica, posibilita la simulación probabilística y dinámica de sistemas complejos. Asimismo, permite observar las relaciones entre los diferentes elementos, de forma que nos genera transparencia del modelo preparado, por ende,confianza en el modelo y en sus resultados.

Aug 25, 2002

By Andy Fortin, Jeet Basi, Simon Hille

Goldcorp’s Eleonore mine is situated in Ell Lake area in the northeastern part of the Opinaca reservoir in the James Bay region of Quebec. The design of the 7000 t/d process plant includes crushing, grinding, bulk sulphide flotation, separate concentrate and tails leaching and detoxification circuits and residue handling. Detoxified flotation tails are thickened and filtered. A portion of the filtered tails are blended with the thickened detoxified sulphide concentration for paste backfill. The remaining filtered tails are trucked to the waste management facility. This presentation will describe the challenges faced with the commissioning and subsequent ramp-up of the flotation tails filter plant and the successes achieved by the multi-discipline team at Eleonore.

Jan 1, 2016

Plant-Based Trials of Monitoring of Coal Flotation Systems Using Electrical Impedance Spectrum Technique

Sep 13, 2010

By A. Tylczak, C. Norman, C. Shook, S. Loif

"There are a lot of good reasons to manage energy use at mining operations. Optimizing process energy use reduces operating costs. Tracking energy use can help identify unplanned process changes or malfunctioning equipment early, which allows problems to be corrected promptly.Sacré-Davey Engineering in Vancouver has performed over 50 Energy Management studies for various industries including: mining, pulp and paper, oil and gas, etc. Energy Management programs can be used to identify energy reduction opportunities, assess project feasibility, complete equipment selection trade-offs, as well as to monitor and manage energy costs. Benefits of energy management programs are reduced energy costs, reduced maintenance, and increased plant automation. Additionally, energy management can provide access to utility incentive funding and quantify savings which can greatly improve the return on investment of potential projects.Energy management studies are funded by many Utility programs across Canada. There are various programs available for existing plants energy audits, project feasibility studies, new plant design reviews and energy monitoring and targeting, etc. There are capital incentives available which can significantly reduce payback period.This paper discusses how energy management can be used to support mill/mine operations groups, maintenance programs, as well as expansion or green field projects. This paper will also provide an overview of Canadian Utility companies programs and how they can assist mining companies.IntroductionThere are a lot of good reasons to manage energy use at mining operations. Optimizing process energy use reduces operating costs. Tracking energy use can help identify unplanned process changes and identify malfunctioning equipment early, which allows problems to be corrected promptly."

Jan 1, 2015

By Mark R. Svinkin

Construction vibrations may be harmful to adjacent and remote structures, sensitive instruments and people. Construction vibration sources have a wide range of energy, displacement, velocity and acceleration transmitted on the ground. Effects of different dynamic sources and soil conditions on construction vibrations is analyzed. Consequences of construction vibrations are developed in various ways. It is important to assess intolerable vibrations before the beginning of construction activities. Guidelines for preconstruction survey are presented. Pre-construction survey and prediction of anticipated vibrations by IRFP method, monitoring and control of measured vibrations are important steps in preventing intolerable vibration effect.

Jan 1, 2000

Ok Tedi Mining Limited has recently completed the first phase of a trial to compare the performance of D26B Krebs cyclones in different configurations to the new Warman 650 mm CAVEX cyclones. From 1992, rougher flotation feed size has increased from the target d80 grind size of 150 ¦m with increasing SAG mill throughput. At high SAG mill throughput, operators have difficulty maintaining the target cyclone feed pressure and must increase the cyclone feed density, thus resulting in a coarsening of the cyclone split. Warman International have developed the CAVEX high capacity cyclone. The new CAVEX cyclones, when compared to the Krebs units appear to:produce a measurable increase in volumetric flow for the same pressure drop; maintain or decrease the proportion of coarse particles reporting to overflow; and lower the overflow density. In all plant trials to-date, the CAVEX cyclones appear to be superior to the standard Ok Tedi Krebs cyclones. Further testwork is planned to evaluate modified Krebs cyclones (with recent design improvements) against the CAVEX cyclones.

Jan 1, 2000

By Ray Schmahl

The Glenwood Canyon is a 13 mile long river gorge formed by the Colorado River approximately 2 miles East of Glenwood Springs, Colorado and approximately 150 miles West of Denver Colorado, (See Drawing #1). The canyon walls rise some 800 feet from the river elevation on either side of the river. The South-side river bank is occupied by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. The Northside is currently occupied by completed sections of Interstate 70 and US Highway 6. The railroad was built in the late 1800's and a hydroelectric power generating station was built in about the center of the canyon in the early 1900's. The Highway 6 platform was completed in the 1930's. The design and alignment for Interstate 70 thru Glenwood Canyon began in the early 1970's. The Highway thru Glenwood Canyon was designated a scenic Highway by the United States Congress, thereby allowing certain deviations from standard Interstate requirements. Environmentalists objections to the construction of Interstate Highways thru Glenwood Canyon resulted in especially careful design to avoid adverse environmental impacts. As a result, in many areas the new Highways will have restored the canyon to its more native configuration than what was the case in the building of the US 6 Highway platform.

Jan 1, 1990

I HAVE to thank the members of the Institute most cordially for the honour conferred upon me in selecting me President, which position my poor services have prevented my filling adequately. I have, therefore only been able to stumble through my year of office under the guiding direction of our esteemed Secretary. I fully appreciate the honour done to me; and, now that it is over, I can look back with pride and pleasure at having occupied the chair; but I am told that it remains for me to fill one of the requirements of our Institute and present you with what has been dignified by the name of a presidential address. My relief in complying with this is in the knowledge of its freedom from the usual discussion which appertains to papers presented by our worthy members. It has been usual in the past for the subject chosen to be specially connected with the work immediately engaging the attention of your president, and on this occasion I would like to break away from this time-honoured custom and engage your attention for a brief space on what is equally dear to us all namely, Ideals of the Profession. In doing so, the retort of Whistler to an art student gives me, I must admit, much misgiving, for, on being asked how he developed his artistic talents, replied that he painted what he saw, which produced the immediate reply, "Ah, but the tragedy will come when you see what...

Jan 1, 1909

By K. K. Murray, D. G. Gelderland

"The pressure oxidation autoclave at the Goldcorp’s Red Lake Gold Mines (RLGM) was commissioned in 1991. Since commissioning, the circuit has been well maintained and its capacity increased to mechanical and gaseous oxygen limitations. With advances in available technology, opportunities to produce more sulphide concentrate and a changing business environment, an optimization project has been initiated at RLGM. A multi-phase approach has been developed to optimize both the operations and economics of the circuit. This paper describes the history and future of the autoclave circuit at RLGM.AcknowledmentsWe would like to thank the operations and maintenance staff at Red Lake Gold Mines for their support and openness of mind to enact changes to enhance the operation. We would also like to acknowledge the members of the integrated team from Red Lake maintence, metallurgy, operations and corporate technical services that did the hard work to push past the status quo in order to advance productivity.OpportunityThe Red Lake Gold Mines (RLGM) pressure oxidation (POx) circuit has been in operation for over 25 years processing the high sulphide content gold bearing minerals. Increased sulphide concentrate production from improved flotation recovery and increasing gold sulphide association at depth has led to the POx circuit becoming a throughput bottleneck. The opportunity exists to process increased tonnages of sulphide concentrates and increase gold production. In order to realize this value, it will be necessary to increase the throughput capacity of the POx circuit.BackgroundThe POx autoclave at the RLGM, commissioned in 1991, was Canada’s first gold autoclave. It was installed to replace the two-stage fluid bed roaster that was built when the Campbell mine and mill were constructed in the late Forties. The circuit was originally designed to process 12.5 t/d sulphide sulphur in about 50 t/d of Campbell flotation concentrate. Following the merger of the Campbell and Red Lake Mines in 2006, the POx circuit started processing flotation concentrate from both Campbell and Red Lake Mills. In recent years, the circuit has been processing about 18 t/d sulphide sulphur in 75-85 t/d flotation concentrate."

Jan 1, 2017

By C. Garcia, J. J. Opazo, A. Potulsha, T. Comi

"Sierra Gorda SCM is a joint venture partnership of KGHM International (owned by KGHM SA, Poland), Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sumitomo Corp. (Japan) operating in northern Chile. The Sierra Gorda openpit mine and coppermolybdenum processing plant will become one of the largest mines in the world. The need for optimum production efficiency and sustainability has driven the creation of the most modern, wellinstrumented mine in Chile. This article contains a general review of the project including geology and history.This was a fast-track project going from greenfield site acquisition to mill startup in 10 years. Highly experienced and motivated engineers and technical staff have overcome many significant challenges resulting in a rapid ramp-up of production capacity. A potential expansion to double the production rate in the fourth year of operation has also been intensely studied.The Sierra Gorda property is located in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, in the District of Sierra Gorda, Region II of Antofagasta, Chile (Fig. 1). There is almost no precipitation in this area. The mine site is generally flat with some rolling hills. The project is located about 5 km (3 miles) from the village of Sierra Gorda at an elevation of approximately 1,700 m (5,600 ft) above mean sea level. The village is near a highway and railway line. The city of Calama, home of the famous Chuquicamata Mine, is located about 60 km (37 miles) northeast of Sierra Gorda. In addition, the SG mine is in the midst of numerous other mines including Spence, Esperanza, Mantos Blancos, El Tesoro, Lomas Bayas, Gabriela Mistral, El Abra, Radomiro Tomic and Escondida, to name a few.The primary organizational value at Sierra Gorda is "Zero Harm." This includes employees, contractors, the environment, the community, plant facilities and mine equipment. A cornerstone of this program is called 5X5S (five by five S), which combines the lean principles of 5S with the safety model of taking five steps back and thinking about the task at hand for five seconds, five minutes, the time it takes to assess and manage the risk. "People caring about people" promotes proactive engagement in the safety of coworkers and others at work and at home."

Jan 1, 2014

By Simon D. Handelsman

?Artisanalmining ?Application of human energy (e.g. pick & shovel) directly to produce minerals ?majority no technical skills and lack adequate working tools ?Small-scale mining ?Application of modern technology for limited scale mineral production Significance of ArtisanalMining ?15 million people in artisanaland small scale gold mining ?55 developing countries ?Use of mercury damages health of 100 million people

May 1, 2006

By David Lin

"Modal data from Red Dog Main Pit ores were collected and analysed on a size-by-size basis. The Main Pit data were compared to data from composite samples of Red Dog Aqqaluk ores. The data revealed that a large fraction of the sphalerite in the Aqqaluk baritic ore was tied up in sphalerite/galena binaries. This provided an explanation for its poor leadlzinc selectivity compared to Main Pit ores. The Aqqaluk vein ore exhibited levels of sphalerite/galena binaries comparable to that of Main Pit ores resulting in comparable lead/zinc selectivity.An attempt was made to correlate the modal and metallurgical data for Main Pit stockpiles. It was found that there was moderate correlation between the percentage of sphalerite locked in binaries with galena in the <C5>C6 size fi-action and sphalerite deportment to the leadconcentrate.INTRODUCTIONTeck Cominco’s Red Dog Mine in northern Alaska is one of the richest zinc districts in the world. Red Dog Mine has been in operation for over ten years and produces nearly 1 million tonnes of zinc concentrate per mum. Red Dog Mine is an open pit operation and current mining is conducted in the area known as the Main Pit. The Main Pit contains proven reserves of about 41 900 000 tonnes of ore grading 19.2% Zn and 5.2% Pb (Cominco 2000). To the north of the Main Pit is the Aqqaluk deposit. It contains probable reserves of 56 100 000 tonnes of ore grading 16.6% Zn and 4.1 % Pb. After the Main Pit has been exhausted, the Aqqaluk deposit will be exploited.The Aqqaluk deposit consists of three main geologic ore types: baritic, siliceous and vein. The siliceous ore type is dominant, representing 64% of the mineralisation. Composite samples of these ore types were created from drill core and batch flotation tests were performed on them. The flotation tests indicated that there were significant metallurgical differences between Main Pit ore and the Aqqaluk siliceous and baritic ore. The siliceous and baritic ores were found to suffer from poor lead/zinc selectivity (Lin 1999, G&T 1999). It was suspected that there were problems with the original Aqqaluk composite samples, thus a new set of composite samples were created and batch flotation tests were conducted again. In this set of tests, the new baritic ore still suffered from leadlzinc selectivity problems, but the new siliceous ore provided excellent metallurgical results. A summary of the flotation results is given in Table 1. Stockpile 132, which is typical of Main Pit ore, is given for comparison purposes. The mineral suite at Red Dog is relatively simple. The ore consists of galena, sphalerite and pyrite in a silicate matrix. The low zinc recoveries of the baritic ore were largely due to sphalerite losses to the lead concentrate."

Jan 1, 2002

By Patrick J. Coleman, John C. Kerkering

Problem: Mining in the United States remains one of the most hazardous industries, despite significant reductions in fatal injury rates over the last century. Coal mine fatality rates, for example, have dropped almost a thousand fold since their peak in 1908. While incidence rates are very important indicators, lost worktime measures offer an alternative metric for evaluating job safety and health performance. The first objective of this study examined the distributions and summary statistics of all injuries reported to the Mine Safety and Health Administration from 1983 through 2004. Over the period studied (1983 2004), there were 31,515,368 lost workdays associated with mining injuries, for an equivalent of 5,700 person years lost annually. The second objective addressed the problem of comparing safety program performance in mines for situations where denominator data were lacking. By examining the consequences of injuries, comparisons can be made between disparate operations without the need for denominators. Total risk in the form of lost workday sums can help to distinguish between lower and higher risk operations or time periods. Method: Our method was to use a beta distribution to model the losses and to compare underground coal mining to underground metal/nonmetal mining from 2000 to 2004. Results: Our results showed the probability of an injury having 10 or more lost workdays was 0.52 for coal mine cases versus 0.35 for metal/nonmetal mine cases. In addition, a comparison of injuries involving continuous mining machines over 2001 2002 versus 2003 2004 showed that the ratio of average losses in the later period to those in the earlier period was approximately 1.08, suggesting increasing risks for such operations. Discussion: This denominator free safety measure will help the mining industry more effectively identify higher risk operations and more realistically evaluate their safety improvement programs. Impact on Industry: Attention to a variety of metrics concerning the performance of a job safety and health program will enhance industry&apos;s ability to manage these programs and reduce risk.

By Gerard de Vries

pipeline industry and are still growing in size. Liquid epoxy and polyurethanes are an excellent choice for whatever the aggressiveness of the substance transported and whatever the harmful outside influences, maximum protection is required. They can be used as coatings on all kind of pipelines varying from the mainline coating to the field joint coating. Compared with traditional systems like dual layer FBE and 3-layer polyolefin there are some benefits to be considered like easiness of repairs, amount of coats, application temperature and film thickness. The interior coating renders the pipe surface so much smoother that considerable savings can be realized in pump stations. Apart from the interior of the pipeline, the industry is faced with new challenges like higher operating temperatures of lines and an emphasis on product benefits in order to save money. Key words: liquid epoxy, liquid polyurethane, phenolic epoxy, pipeline, field joint coating, internal coating, corrosion control

Jan 1, 2006

By D Preedy, J K. Claflin, S R. La Brooy

A gold mine in north-eastern Africa has expanded throughput from 5 to 10 Mt/y in recent years. The original carbon regeneration kiln was incapable of achieving required throughput or meeting process conditions to reactivate the carbon due to heavy fouling by high molecular weight frothers and collectors. A new high temperature kiln was required.The design criteria for the carbon reactivation kiln and associated equipment were revised, then implemented in close cooperation with a kiln vender who had previously supplied kilns operating successfully on highly fouled carbon. The result is a whole facility, holistically designed to achieve the technical criteria.The new carbon reactivation facility has been operating since 1 July 2014. What have we learned? What has performed to expectations? What could be done better?This paper presents lessons learnt regarding the design, implementation, operation and maintenance of the Ausenco Carbon Reactivation Kiln. ‘Lessons’ are associated with threats and opportunities (risks) that have that have been realised. The importance of identifying and managing risks for even small straightforward projects is demonstrated.CITATION:Claflin, J K, La Brooy, S R and Preedy, D, 2015. Lessons learnt and performance – installing and commissioning an Ausenco carbon reactivation kiln in Africa, in Proceedings MetPlant 2015, pp 163–174 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 7, 2015

The El Pe±on gold-silver deposit comprises four epithermal, low-sulfidation veins, which contain 2.9 million oz Au and 48 million oz Ag. Provisional data on alteration mineralogy, fluid inclusions, and vein textures constrain the chemistry and hydrology of the hydrothermal system responsible for ore mineralisation at El Pe±on. Alteration minerals include quartz, adularia, albite, illite, smectite, calcite, chlorite, and pyrite. Alteration minerals suggest the existence of near neutral pH, low salinity hydrothermal fluids, which circulated over an area greater than 18 km2. Complex mineral zonation patterns result from variations in host rock permeability and composition, overprinting alteration possibly produced by thermal waters from surficial and peripheral parts of the hydrothermal system, and supergene weathering in the hyperarid environment. Upflow zones were focused along N-S and NE trending structures, producing crustiform quartz-adularia+carbonate veins. Fluid inclusion data indicate vein deposition from low salinity (

Jan 1, 2002