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By M Alston

Organisations’ incident classification processes are plagued by the overclassification of events, often leading to excessive workloads and suboptimal outcomes. This presentation addresses the pressing need to rethink how incidents are classified to maximise organisational learning and minimise systemic risk. A major issue in the current incident classification landscape is the tendency to classify events at high levels, overwhelming organisations with investigations they cannot efficiently handle. This results in inadequate risk reduction and learning opportunities. The link between injury classification and investigation methods further compounds these problems, creating unnecessary administrative clutter. Challenging the misconception that every event, no matter how minor, requires a comprehensive investigation, this presentation advocates for a shift in perspective. The key recommendation is to decouple injury classification and risk matrices from the decision-making process regarding what and how to investigate. Instead, the emphasis should be placed on identifying opportunities for organisational learning and risk reduction. Organisations can streamline their incident management processes by adopting a more pragmatic approach that aligns incident classification with the organisation’s investigation capacity. This transformation focuses on achieving meaningful outcomes, enhancing safety and improving performance. This presentation provides an innovative process for organisations to revamp their incident classification practices, enabling them to harness the full potential of incident data for learning and risk mitigation. It highlights the importance of aligning incident classification with the opportunity for organisational learning, ultimately leading to more effective incident management and enhanced safety outcomes.

Apr 16, 2024

Rio Tinto Iron Ore is currently working towards finalising comprehensive Native Title land access agreements, which cover all of the current eleven mines and infrastructure owned and operated by the company in Western Australia's Pilbara region. Critically, the agreements represent a mutual commitment to a long-term relationship and address many areas of concern by promoting indigenous enterprise, well-being and regional development opportunities. Our objectives in the process are to obtain the informed consent of the traditional owners for our Pilbara expansions while providing benefits to them in a way which provides lasting and substantial improvements to health, education, housing and real jobs in the mainstream economy.   To facilitate the agreement negotiations, Rio Tinto Iron Ore (RTIO) proceeded in 2005 to research and design a specific strategy around Aboriginal relations and local community engagement in the Pilbara. Wherever we operate, Rio Tinto follows a fairly simple formula in working with communities, which is comprehensively aligned to local context.   This presentation provides an overview of Rio Tinto Iron Ore's community engagement strategy in Western Australia's Pilbara region. It will also explore the establishment of regional standards on employment, business development and contracting that have been developed to ensure Indigenous people are engaged in the development of their region and are able to contribute to supporting the growth and development of mining in the area with the expectation that there is prosperity for all. This is an ABSTRACT ONLY no paper was prepared for this presentation.

Jun 1, 2010

It is always difficult to sum up an open forum adequately and instantaneously, so, with the privilege of hindsight, and also with some time to reflect, I am exercising the Chairman's prerogative to put together my view of the overall conclusions. Hopefully, these may provide a focus for each Institute to formulate its own programme with respect to mineral industry education. First, in answer to the question, "Should there be Schools of Mines?", there was a very clear 'yes'. However, I reiterate what I said in the introduction to this forum, specific professional education for the mineral industry exists only because the mineral industry sees a need and wants it. If the mineral industry should decide that it does not need professionals with specific mineral industry training, then such training will cease to exist. As alluded by Dr Hackett, if such training ceases to exist, one must then question the need for Institutes of Mining and Metallurgy. Now, there's some food for thought! Specialist schools of mines (metallurgy and geology) can only exist in an environment of genuine interaction with, and support by, industry. For their part, schools of mines, used here in a generic sense, require leadership that is strong but responsive to industry needs. It is the leader that puts his stamp on a school, and, to a large extent, determines whether that school is 'good' or only 'mediocre'.

Jan 1, 1986

This paper discusses the potential role of underground space and tunnelling in urban planning in Australia. The paper gives examples of the infrastructure and commercial applications of underground space which have been effectively used overseas but have been slow to be considered as a part of urban planning in Australia. In particular, the paper looks at underground quarrying and underground commercial development and their potential use in the urban environment. Existing sites and potential sites for quarrying and/or commercial use have been classified using a system developed by the author. Underground quarrying may provide some solutions for planning problems involving sand and aggregate supplies, waste disposal and other uses. Commercial development involving underground excavation may be accepted if the cost of underground commercial development can be shown to be equivalent to the cost of above ground development. The paper concludes that one role of the underground construction industry is to promote tunnelling and underground space amongst architects, town planners and planning decision-makers. The Australian Underground Construction and Tunnelling Association (AUCTA) and the Australian Society for Trenchless Technology (ASTT) should be instrumental in actively promoting the use of underground space in society.

Jan 1, 1999

By Glasson K. R

The history of Ore Reserve classification and reporting in Australia is largely a history of the Australian mining industry itself. In the late 1800s, when the industry was dominated by small scale, high grade underground mines, Reserves (if estimated) were based on hand sampling and geological inference, and reporting of Reserves was either non-existent or of extremely variable quality. By the mid-20th century, the industry was dominated by large underground base metal and gold mines. Reserve estimation was coming under the control of skilled geologists and mining engineers, however Reserve classification and reporting standards continued to vary in type and quality from mine to mine. Today, large scale, low grade mining operations predominate, and Reserve estimates are generally based on extensive drilling results processed (with geological control) by computer. Through the efforts of a Joint Committee established by The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and Australian Mining Industry Council, Reserve and Resource classification and public reporting has been standardised and controlled by adoption of the ""Australasian Code for the Reporting of Identified Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves"" released in 1989. The Code, which will continue to be modified and improved by the Joint Committee, has also been used as a basis for guides to reporting in other countries, and there is now some hope that this difficult and vexing topic may finally become subject to international standards and controls.

Jan 1, 1992

By T Baumgartl, A Costine, B Boshrouyeh, M Edraki

In mineral processing, the management of tailings may become increasingly more challenging with a change of ore type and the quality of water used in the plant. This, in turn, may affect the overall costs of the operation and water usage and, in the long-term, pose challenges for mine closure and rehabilitation. Depending on the applied treatment technique, the short and long-term properties of tailings are largely determined by the fine particles. Most clay materials and ultrafine particles exist in tailings from oil sands, coalmines and base metals, bringing about challenges in dewatering performance. Moreover, given the growing concern for water scarcity, the minerals industry is increasingly turning towards the use of saline water, which poses yet another challenge for tailings management. The high salt content alters the behaviour of clay particles, making dewatering a more complex process than in freshwater systems (Boshrouyeh Ghandashtani et al, 2022; Costine et al, 2018). High-density techniques for tailings management have been used for several years in the mineral industry. In this regard, one of the novel and promising dewatering methods is in-pipe or inline flocculation, where the polymer is added at high dosages to thickener underflows, giving additional (likely denser) aggregation, releasing more water on deposition compared to low solids thickening. Previous research in the field of flocculation has primarily focused on the process of flocculation itself, specifically the settling rate and size of aggregates, rather than the long-term impacts of the produced tailings materials (Liu et al, 2020; Jeldres et al, 2017). This is particularly true for the novel method of this technology, where polymer is added to the thickener underflow. Furthermore, these studies have used small-scale set-ups using buckets/beakers, plungers and mechanical stirrers for the flocculation process. Unfortunately, these methods lack the necessary control over the properties of the treated tailings, which can lead to irreproducible mixing and dispersion of viscous polymer solutions (Fawell, Costine and Grabsch, 2015). Consequently, a system that can work with a wide range of operational conditions for high-solid tailings material is essential for reliable and reproducible results. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of different type of polymers in the presence of monovalent and divalent salts on the inline flocculation of artificial tailings. The next step was to evaluate the impact of high-dosage polymer addition on geotechnical properties such as settling rate, consolidated density, rate of consolidation and the hydraulic conductivity of tailings. In addition, this research aimed to fill a knowledge gap and investigate the feasibility of using polymer-treated tailing in removing the copper ions and then quantify the performance of produced aggregates under time-dependent processes.

Aug 2, 2023

By M I. Jeffrey, J A. Rumbal, D M. Hewitt

Ion chromatography utilising an anion exchange column and UV detection has facilitated an improved understanding of sulfide mineral leaching in cyanide solutions. By analysing for sulfide, sulfite, thiocyanate, thiosulfate and metal cyanides it is possible to show that chalcocite dissolution is a non-oxidative process in which copper cyanide and sulfide ions are formed in solution. Further, the homogeneous oxidation of the sulfide ions by dissolved oxygen is slow, but catalysed by a surface of lead sulfide or pyrite. Polysulfides may also be formed as an intermediate oxidation product and these undergo further reaction to produce thiocyanate, thiosulfate and sulfite. The leaching of copper from a pyrite concentrate sample is shown to be rapid, and accompanied by significant iron dissolution; however, the iron is not believed to be from pyrite, pyrrhotite or chalcopyrite. The rate of iron leaching and cyanide consumption is reduced by maintaining low cyanide and high oxygen concentrations. Preoxidation or the addition of lead(II) ions does not reduce the iron dissolution from this pyrite concentrate.

Jan 1, 2007

By Woodcock JT

This paper deals with some innovations and current proposals for the treatment of gold ores and considers the possibilities of incorporating new developments in new or revised ore treatment flowsheets. The main topics considered are I. typical practice in relation to the size of gold particles, 2. concentration of coarse gold, 3. leaching reagents, 4. in situ leaching, 5. heap leaching, 6. carbon-in-pulp adsorption, and 7. treatment of complex ores (gold in pyrite, gold tellurides, and carbon-containing ores).

Jan 1, 1982

By Rolley P

In the course of reviewing grade control practices at the Marvel Loch gold mine in Western Australia in 1992, FSSI Consultants developed and implemented a novel approach to ore selection using a method to maximise financial return (the MP method*). The approach was based on improved grade control sampling and an ore selection method which directly incorporates both a measure of the uncertainty in knowing the true grade of selection units in the definition of ore, as well as the operating cost and revenue parameters of the mining operation. During the past four years, FSSI Consultants have evaluated and refined the use of this approach and have implemented customised variations of the MP method at seven gold mines and a gold-copper mine in Australia. The previous methods of ore selection at most of these operations were based mainly on polygonal - sectional methods of grade estimation. At all of the sites where grade control optimisation has been given a fair trial over several months of production, the use of the MP method has been consistently rewarding to the mining operations. The benefits include increased run of mine ore stockpiles and low-grade stockpiles and decreased fluctuation in the production grade. Most operations have also benefited from a consistent ability to improve production grade through high-grading of the increased ore production. The increase in ore production has the logical benefit of reducing stripping ratios, increasing mine profitability and mine life.

Jan 1, 1997

By Enugroho E, Nashution Y, Susanto M

PT Allied Indo Coal is the owner of the Parambahan Open Cut Coal Mine in the Ombilin Basin in West Sumatera with an annual production of in excess of 0.5 million tonnes/year of saleable coal.The parent company Allied Queensland Coal was one of the first foreign companies granted a contract of work. by the Indonesian Government. PT Allied Indo Coal is therefore a contractor to the Indonesian Government and pays a 20 per cent royalty of all coal mined.

Jan 1, 1992

By Smit J. G

Following an increase in the number of methane ignitions in South African coal mines a new ventilation system was developed. The "Hydravert" system conceived in late 1979 for use in low seam coal mines, where the bord and pillar method of working is used, has been extensively developed to include applications for mining seams up to 4.5 metres high. A brief history of the development is supplied including some of the pitfalls encountered in the hydraulic equipment design and selection.

Jan 1, 1988

By R Shaw, T T. Neidel, C Adams

Sampling equipment manufacturers endeavour to ensure that the mechanical equipment installed in sampling systems are designed and manufactured to adhere to the requirements of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) or other standards relevant to the application. The mechanical parameters necessary to achieve these standards can be well controlled and requirements such as constant speed can be met through good mechanical design and engineering. However, when the equipment is installed and put into operation, the ISO compliance of the system is out of the hands of the equipment manufacturer and handed to the operator, who may be a generalist control system integrator.Making a sampling system perform according to standards, and being able to monitor and report on compliance require that the sampling system knowledge and the control integration is combined and applied in an integrated approach. Using a dedicated library of control routines developed for sampling can change a system from having compliant equipment to being a compliant system. The library has to include monitoring of relevant parameters and control and reporting on sampling parameters.CITATION:Neidel, T T, Adams, C and Shaw, R, 2014. Control and monitoring of International Organization for Standardization compliance for industrial sampling systems, in Proceedings Sampling 2014 , pp 121–126 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 29, 2014

By E Wargem

The optimum mining of an orebody in an underground mining operation is fundamental to the mine’s ability to operate both sustainably and efficiently. The effective mining of an open stope or a cave is largely reliant on the recovery of the initial void created by conventional drilling and blasting. These initial voids are known by various names such as a Longhole Rise, Slot or Winze and can be mined either as a downhole or as an uphole. Regardless of the underground mining method, the process of the design and implementation of this initial void is largely uniform across many operations with various patterns of slot or winze designs used across these different operations. Diligent design, implementation and review strategies in drilling and blasting of these will facilitate cost-effective mining with minimal disruption to mine schedules and production targets. When an operation struggles in opening the initial void in underground mine blasting, it has a negative impact on productivity, mineral recovery, and the overall economics of mining. Near field blast vibration monitoring is a vital tool to use in analysing slot blasts and will provide additional feedback into the reconciliation part of the drill and blast process. It is one that is often overlooked in the mining industry in many operations due to many factors such as lack of skilled personnel, or a lack of required resources. The data obtained from near field blast vibration monitoring can be used to provide additional feedback into blast reviews and help in any drill and blast optimisation projects. This paper highlights key aspects of underground drill and blast reviews and the use of near field blast vibration monitoring for post blast analysis and shares learnings from various projects that the authors have been involved in within Australia and abroad.

Mar 29, 2023

By J D. Tolley

The shift towards clean energy technologies is having a significant impact on the mining industry, with the demand for minerals such as copper, nickel, cobalt, lithium, manganese, and graphite increasing exponentially. To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, mineral requirements for clean energy technologies would need to quadruple by 2040, and to achieve net-zero globally by 2050, mineral inputs in 2040 would need to be six times more than today. The most significant driver of mineral demand is electric vehicles (EVs) and battery storage, with lithium seeing the fastest growth, and copper demand doubling over the same period due to the expansion of electricity networks globally. The demand for these minerals is expected to rise significantly as investments in clean energy technologies continue to grow in the future. As the world moves towards a decarbonised economy, the minerals industry is under increasing pressure to reduce its environmental and social impacts and meet the increased demand for minerals. Mining companies are facing additional challenges due to the depletion of near-surface mineral deposits globally, with more mines transitioning from open pits to underground. The transition to underground mining requires the right strategy to economically access deeper mineable inventories and to keep up with future clean energy technology demands to achieve net-zero globally by 2050. One key way to achieve this is through decarbonisation using ‘green’ mining technologies such as replacing current primary diesel mining fleets with battery electric vehicles (BEVs). However, these measures through electrification overlook the bigger opportunity to maximise the socio-economic returns from the mine while also reducing the overall carbon footprint. Corporate cut-off grade policy is one of the most significant influencers on the total environmental and social impacts of the mining industry. The purpose of a corporate cut-off grade policy is to implement strategies aligned with achieving all the mining companies’ corporate goals, with decarbonisation targets becoming a primary driver for mining companies. Table 1 shows the evolution of cut-off theory with the increasing number of dimensions and driving inputs per iteration.

Aug 2, 2023

About 11,000 tons of contaminated zinc flotation concentrate were available in the form of earth walls from dams used for atmospheric drying of the concentrate.Following successful laboratory tests this material was treated in a plant by crushing, grinding, and then flotation in a circuit consisting of roughing, scavenging, and two stages of cleaning. Reagents used were copper sulphate and a little butyl xanthate and frother. About 5,720 tons of zinc concentrate assaying 52· 3 per cent zinc were produced.

Jan 1, 1968

By Willett, Jacka

Group 3 were asked to discuss the treatment of spontaneous combustion. Before discussing specific cases we agreed that certain preliminary information should be available. The following questions are typical of the information which might be requested: 1. Have workmen been withdrawn? 2. Have gas samples been taken? 3. Is the mine gassy? 4. What are the details of water supply? 5. Are mine plans available? 6. What equipment is available? We discussed treatment in four different circumstances as follows: 1.

Jan 1, 1973

By S A. Prevec

"An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation. Traditional models employed to genetically link associated chromite and platinum-group elements have favoured crustal contamination as the primary process for inducing sulfide and oxide saturation. The association of chromite ores with crustal contamination is well established in the literature. However, in the 1970s (cf Irvine, 1973, 1975), Irvine demonstrated that crustal contamination was in fact problematic as a tool for inducing chromite precipitation in mafic to ultramafic magmas. His results are re-examined here, along with some attempts to reconcile them with the effects of adding Fe to the models. It is concluded that crustal contamination is indeed problematic based on phase relationships alone. However, the role of fluids as a compensating agent is evaluated, which may explain why crustal contamination may indeed facilitate oxide and sulfide precipitation.CITATION:Prevec, S A, 2015. Chromite and platinum-group elements coprecipitation by crustal contamination or magma mixing revisited – genetic and exploration implications, in Proceedings PACRIM 2015 Congress, pp 311–316 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 18, 2015

Through partnering with mining customers, DYNO has been able to develop some specific technologies that benefit blasting operations particularly in underground mining. Some of these areas are: 1. Cost allocation and product tracking systems; 2. Borehole video surveys of breakthrough blastholes; 3. Borehole video photography for logging VRM blastholes; 4. Toe-load uphole loading for sublevel cave mining operations; 5. 3D blast modelling for underground ring blasting. This paper outlines these developments in the context of a Canadian underground metalliferous mine.

Jan 1, 1995

By O Jones

Longstanding occupational health challenges of the underground hard-rock mining sector require both an analysis of historical data to assess evidence of linkages between the source of the problem and subsequent illnesses, as well as investigating the means by which health risks to workers can be eliminated or minimised. This paper refers briefly to a recently established National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) sponsored Epidemiological Study into the incidence of Lung Cancer, contracted by mineworkers in Western Australia (WA) due to the inhalation of diesel exhaust fumes from 1996 to 2012. Thereafter it reviews current knowledge of the nature of the challenges facing those responsible for the health and wellbeing of underground hard-rock miners in WA, commencing with the recent categorisation of diesel exhaust as ‘Carcinogenic to Humans, Group 1’, by the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). An attempt is also made to explore how the challenge has changed with the adoption of more advanced engine technologies, including the increased generation of ultra-fine volatile organic and other nucleates, submicron carbonaceous agglomerates and toxic gases.The compounding effect of using the mine decline access entry as both the primary ventilation intake and haulage-way is also discussed, as is the need to develop a more appropriate metric for regulating diesel engine emissions. Finally the paper refers to ongoing in-mine research pursued by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) at its Diesel Laboratory in an underground limestone mine near Morgantown in the USA.CITATION:Jones, O, 2015. Diesel exhaust and the underground miner in Western Australia, in Proceedings The Australian Mine Ventilation Conference, pp 167–172 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 31, 2015

The West Fork project is located in Reynolds County, Missouri, in the mineralized zone referred to as the Viburnum Trend. The West Fork orebody has a calculated ore re- serve of 13 600 000 tonne (15 000 000 st) con- taining 5.5 per cent lead, 1.2 per cent zinc, and recoverable values of copper and silver. A total of 64 600 tonne (71 200 st) of lead concentrate and 11 300 tonne (12 500 st) of zinc concentrate will be produced annually. The mill was designed to operate at an average capacity of 3450 tonne/day (3800 st/day), based on a 95 per cent availability factor. The mill will operate 24 hours a day, 5 days a week, with maintenance performed, as needed, on weekends. The mine will operate on an identical schedule; but the underground, pri- mary crushing will operate on a six hour/shift, three shift/day schedule. The 1.07m x 1.22m (42in x 48in) jaw crusher will produce a minus 20cm (8 in) material at an average rate of 191 tonne/h (211 st/h). The jaw crusher has almost twice the throughput capacity required, but the decision to install that size of crusher was based on the need to handle over sized rock in the ore.The coarse crushed ore will discharge into a 180 tonne (200 st) skip pocket, which will allow up to a one hour surge capacity prior to hoisting. Hoisted ore will discharge into a 900 tonne (1000 st) storage bin located adjacent to the headframe. The skip pocket and coarse ore silo comprise the total ore storage capacity. The concept of having no intermediate fine ore storage between the secondary crushing and grinding sections was borrowed from the Brushy Creek Mill of St. Joe Minerals, which operates adjacent to the West Fork property. Integration of the secondary crushing and grinding circuits has worked ' successfully for years at the Brushy Creek Mill. The most obvious advantage to eliminating the intermediate fine ore storage is'capital expen- diture savings. The capital expenditure savings include the cost of silos, feeders, and the cost of additional conveyor length and eleva- tion. Savings in operating costs will also be gained, particularly in reduced maintenance costs. Other factors which influenced the decision to eliminate fine ore storage were the simplicity of the secondary crushing sec- tion and the limited area available for con struction of the facility

Jan 1, 1978