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By R Crosbie, K C. Runge, E Tabosa, J K. McMaster

Flotation feed density is an operating parameter which is currently not well understood. Most models of flotation only incorporate its effect on particle residence time, but it is likely to have additional effects within both the pulp and froth phases of the machine. Test work was performed in MetsoÆs 3 m3 RCS test rig to investigate the effect of flotation feed density on metallurgical performance. The rig was operated at Rio TintoÆs Northparkes operation using flotation feed and scavenger tail. For each feed, tests were performed at different feed densities, and measurements were performed to estimate the pulp and froth recovery as well as other key flotation parameters (eg bubble size, turbulence and froth stability). Results of this test work have shown that the pulp density does affect key parameters of the flotation process in both the pulp and froth phases. Pulp phase kinetic rates decrease at high density and this is attributed to a reduction in the turbulence within the cell. Froth phase recovery, however, improves presumably because of a stabilising effect due to a greater loading of solids on bubble surfaces.There is a need for more research to be done to better understand these interactions so that metallurgists can determine the optimum flotation feed density to use at a particular operation, or within a section of a flotation circuit.CITATION:Runge, K C, Tabosa, E, Crosbie, R and McMaster, J K, 2012. Effect of flotation feed density on the operation of a flotation cell, in Proceedings 11th AusIMM Mill OperatorsÆ Conference, pp 171-178 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Oct 29, 2012

ABSTRACTFor the binary system copper-lead two relationsEquation 1andEquation 2have been derived for the activities of copper and lead at compositions and absolute temperatures within the liquid region of the phase diagram.These relations give, with greater accuracy than is given by previously published relations, the activity-composition temperature variations for all regions of the phase diagram of interest to metallurgists.These relations are essentially simple forms of the Margules equations but with linear temperature dependence applied to their coefficients. This has been done in such a manner that a phase diagram obtained from these relations agrees well with the data available for this system. The methods of obtaining the relations and constructing a phase diagram from them are both given in detail. The enthalpies and entropies of mixing are compared with those derived by other methods.

Jan 1, 1971

By R Moreby, J Kok, L van den Berg

The high production rates achieved from mass mining methods such as block caving, sublevel caving and longwall mining require large conveyor belts, trucking loops (diesel/electrical) and rail systems for ore handling. However, the ore handling systems used in mass mines introduce a significant amount of heat into the overall ventilation system, which may be problematic at depth or in mines located in hot climates.In particular, the heat load from a conveyor system is not always well understood and consists of various components, including frictional heat from idlers, heat from electrical motors, heat from the drive train and heat from broken rock transported on the conveyor system. This paper presents results from a study that investigated the heat introduced to the ventilation air from a large conveyor system. The conveyor system transports ore with a maximum virgin rock temperature of 41°C from a depth of over 1 km. Air, belt and rock temperatures were measured in the conveyor system to evaluate the distribution of heat loads.CITATION:van den Berg, L, Moreby, R and Kok, J, 2015. Heat load estimation from conveyor systems in mass mines, in Proceedings The Australian Mine Ventilation Conference, pp 63–70 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 31, 2015

By F Rashidinejad

Iran has had an active mining sector for some 7000 years. Exceptional in terms of its mineral diversity, Iran produces 62 minerals, and is ranked among the world’s 15 most mineral-rich countries. Many people around the world know Iran as one of the major petroleum exporters. Oil and natural gas dominate Iran’s economy, and oil exports provide the principal source of income, contributing more than 80 per cent of foreign exchange earnings. Transformation of Iran from an oil exporter to an independent country to oil has been on the table for many years, even before the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Development of the Iran’s mineral industry is one of the major replacements for petroleum exports. In the last decade, Iran invested billion dollars in the mining and mineral industry sectors and to increase the added value, tried to export processed minerals instead of the raw materials. In accordance with the ‘20-year Perspective 2025’ that targeted by the Supreme Leader, Iran will be a country with the first rank in economy, science and technology in its region. The objectives over this perspective include briefly increasing annual production to 55 Mt of crude steel, 800 000 tonne of copper cathode, 1.5 Mt of aluminium, 200 Mt mineral products, 300 000 tonne of zinc and 5 000 kg of gold. These goals are achievable in normal circumstances, but concurrency of the 20-year Perspective 2025 with commencement of the UN Security Council sanctions against Iran, frustrated objectives of the perspective, at least the ones related to the mining and mineral industry sectors. This paper tries to elaborate the development programs and following challenges for the mining activities of Iran by 2025.

Nov 22, 2011

By G M. Mudd

The growing popularity of platinum and platinum group metals (or PGMs, including palladium, rhodium and others) for a wide range of applications leads to some interesting issues for mining and sustainability. The uses for PGMs includes catalytic converters for air pollution control in vehicles, growing jewellery use, catalysts for various purposes (especially petroleum and chemicals processing), hydrogen fuel cells and many others. Given the growing importance of most of these PGM uses in more sustainable technologies or in making industrial processes more efficient, it is critical to understand the complex sustainability issues which surround platinum and PGMs. At present, South Africa is the dominant PGMs producer and holds about 88 per cent of estimated global resources, with important but relatively minor production and resources in Zimbabwe, Russia, Canada and the United States. Given the concentrated location of PGM resources, what are the likely trends in PGM mining with respect to environmental sustainability? That is, what are the costs in terms of energy, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, water, land use impacts, social impacts, economic aspects associated with this globally important industry? This paper compiles and analyses a range of data on platinum-PGM mining, focusing primarily on South Africa. It synthesises a unique combination of data which relates typical production aspects such as ore grade and scale with sustainability aspects such as greenhouse, energy and water costs. The findings are critical in understanding the debate about the increasing environmental and social costs of some materials and technologies which are considered crucial for sustainable industries based on PGMs. Overall, the paper represents a valuable insight into the platinum-PGM sector, providing a range of useful data for understanding the environmental sustainability of this particular group of precious metals.

Jan 1, 2009

By H Ishikawa, R Halomoan, S Palaniandy

The Karara iron ore project is a magnetite operation consist of open pit mining and concentrator to produce high-grade magnetite concentrate. The concentrator has adopted three stages of comminution, ie fine crushing in the high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR), primary ball milling and fine grinding in the TowerMill plus magnetic separation in between these comminution devices. Since 2014, the concentrator has increased the plant feed rate by 18 per cent. Meanwhile, the ore hardness has increased by 13 per cent to a Bond work index value of 15 kWh/t that led to a coarser flotation feed. Karara Mine has decided to shift the comminution workload from the primary ball mill to the TowerMill circuit by bypassing the 100 µm fine screen in between the ball mill and TowerMill circuits. This action has increased the circuit feed particle size distribution with a top size close to 1 mm. The specific energy consumption of the TowerMill circuit was approximately 3.4 kWh/t, and the circuit product sizes (P80) were ranged between 38 and 45 µm. A joint process improvement exercise was carried out to reduce the circuit product size closer to the magnetite liberation size, ie 35 µm. Among the activities were circuit audit, recommendation for improvement, modelling and simulation, multicomponent analysis, implementation of recommendations and quantification of the improvement. One of the key findings was the density effect of multicomponent minerals in the hydrocyclone. The analysis revealed that the low density coarser gangue minerals were bypassed to the hydrocyclone overflow stream that has resulted in a coarser particle size distribution. Meanwhile, more than 20 per cent of fine (-35 µm) high-density magnetite particles were recycled back to the mill through the hydrocyclone underflow stream and increased the circulating load. Based on these outcomes, several recommendations such as conversion to bottom feed configuration, use of smaller grinding media, high operating hydrocyclone pressure and additional grinding power to the TowerMill circuit were made to improve the overall circuit performances. Karara Mine has prioritised to implement those recommendations that have a minimal financial implication. Full-scale plant trials with bottom feed configuration and 17 mm grinding media were conducted to evaluate its performances. These trials have indicated that the grinding efficiency in the TowerMill was enhanced by 10 – 30 per cent. In May 2017, all the five TowerMills were converted to the bottom feed configuration. This paper discusses the impact of shifting the comminution workload load from the primary ball mills to TowerMill circuit and the performances enhancement of the TowerMill circuit. CITATION:Palaniandy, S, Halomoan, R and Ishikawa, H, 2018. Shifting the comminution workload from the primary ball mill to TowerMill circuit, in Proceedings 14th AusIMM Mill Operators' Conference 2018, pp 163–176 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 29, 2018

By M Saghaeian, V Sheikhzadeh, R Hejazi

Mining dilution is one of the most important factors affecting the economy of mining projects. Instead of quantifying dilution in mining studies, it is common to assume a general dilution such as 5 per cent for massive deposits. Dilution increases the operating costs in the plant by increasing the tonnage of material to be milled. It prolongs the mine life by reducing plant’s effective capacity. It also reduces the feed grade. In most cases, lower feed grade means lower plant recovery. Dilution also increases the cut-off grade, which in turn reduces the overall ore utilisation of a mine. In this study has been investigated applying pre-concentration by dry magnetic separation for decreasing of dilution impact on reserve estimation and open pit design in low-grade iron ore mine. Based on the preliminary open pit design and assumption 3 per cent as dilution factor, the mineable ore in life-of-mine (measured + indicated) has been estimated with Fe = 25 per cent, SiO2 = 49.7 per cent. Based on the experimental test work on the ore, by dry low intensity magnetic separation of dry HPGR product grinding circuit, it is possible to remove diluted waste material and liberated gangue before concentrate plant, so that around 34 per cent rejected and Fe grade increase from 25 per cent to 33 per cent and by weight recovery 66 per cent. The results of the test work showed that this methodology could decrease largely the impact of dilution in the feed to the plant. It also slightly effect on the reducing of dilution factor impact for open pit design and optimisation and leads to increase the mineable tonnage in the low-grade magnetite iron ore mine.

Aug 24, 2022

By J Holdsworth, L Sutton, A Lavrinec, D Ilic

Air quality is a big topic of discussion in regional mining communities as well as urban environments situated close to port terminals handling bulk solids. Community perception of poor air quality can significantly affect the reputation of the mining operation and handling facilities. Dust monitoring for regulatory compliance relies on using a handful of accurate but very expensive sensors, usually situated at the boundary, relatively far from the activities that generate the airborne dust. These reference monitors measure dust leaving the site but dust mitigation and management on-site largely relies on operator judgement. At a fraction of the cost, small wireless solar powered units can be used to supplement reference monitors in real-time. Due to their compact nature, portability and low price, these units can be implemented on a mass scale to increase spatial resolution of dust measurements and, more importantly, in much closer proximity to both the dust generating activity and the sources of dust. This can provide valuable insights into the origins and timing of dust generation thus producing datadriven decision-making while minimising subjectivity. Similarly, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is another supplemental technology that can be used to increase the spatial resolution of dust measurements in near real-time, however, the cost of commercial systems even exceeds that of regulatory monitors. LiDAR also presents difficulties in quantifying dust plume concentrations. This study presents learnings of implementing both technologies for dust emissions management. Several low-cost sensor units and a fast-scanning custom-built 3D LiDAR system operating at a range of 1.5 km with a resolution of 1.5 m were deployed on a surface mine to monitor dust emissions from different activities. The project explores the use of real-time sensor data to quantify LiDAR measurements in parallel with integration into mine planning. The approach can assist in prioritising dust mitigation activities thereby reducing instances of emissions exceedance and minimising water use through databased and targeted application. Demonstrated is an opportunity for a step-change in industry best practice as well as commercialisation and operationalisation of the method across different industries, including future mineral extraction.

Sep 18, 2023

By G P. F Chitombo

The dilution of blasted ore with cemented backfill materials has been recognised as a significant factor influencing the economics of some underground metalliferous mining operations. Several mechanisms have been identified as possible causes of fill failures. The purpose of this study was to determine the possibility of damage as the result of one mechanism, that of production blasting adjacent to bodies of cemented hydraulic fill (CHF). A vibration amplitude transfer function has been developed to model the transmission of blast vibrations from the source, through ore, across the ore to CHF interface and into the CHF mass. The model may be applied in the near field. The model has permitted estimation of vibration amplitude at a point in a CHF mass, to which damage criteria may be applied. A number of assumptions and simplifications have been made to render the problem relatively tractable. Ore and CHF material characteristics recorded by a number of authors were utilised to formulate preliminary damage estimations. A simple application of the amplitude transfer model indicated that a zone of plastically deformed CHF would be produced, and would extend to a distance of approximately 0.5 metres from the interface into the CHF. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted, that indicated that the zone of plastic deformation would be more extensive given appropriate conditions. Recommendations for further model development and future laboratory and field investigations have been made.

Jan 1, 1998

By P Hodkiewicz

Recent structural interpretations based on historic stope shapes were used to develop a rapid and innovative method to domain and simulate structurally complex, high-grade gold veins at depth in the Edna May deposit. This involved ‘implicit’ modelling of drill hole data using Leapfrog software, which allows complex wireframe domains to be built and updated rapidly, compared to ‘explicit’ manual wireframing methods that are too subjective and time consuming. Conditional simulation was used for resource estimation, in order to simulate the highly variable gold grades associated with the veins. Similar modelling methods could be used to determine the mining potential of other historic gold deposits that are receiving renewed interest because of the high gold price.Gold at Edna May is hosted in the Edna May Gneiss, which is a WNW-striking tonalitic intrusion along a shear zone that dips approximately 45° towards the NNE. Gold occurs in multiple 0.5 - 5 m thick arcuate quartz veins that plunge steeply towards the west. Two phases of historic underground mining at Edna May (1911 to 1922 and 1935 to 1947) produced 360 000 ounces of gold at an average grade 19.5 g/t from seven ‘reefs’ to a depth of 240 m. This established Edna May as one of the highest grade gold mines in Western Australia at the time.Recent drilling by Catalpa Resources confirmed the potential for down-plunge continuity of high-grade veins. New structural interpretations, based on historic level maps and wireframe re-constructions of the arcuate stope shapes, were used as ‘structural trends’ in Leapfrog to model the mineralisation. The resulting wireframes capture the complex distribution of gold in the deposit and were used as domains for resource estimation.Conditional simulation using the Turning Bands method was used to simulate the expected variability of gold grades associated with this mineralisation style and the median of the 100 realisations was used to report an inferred resource. Results of this modelling method are being used to target vein extensions at depth, to consider different underground mining scenarios, and to assess the risks associated with developing and mining this high-grade and high-nugget gold deposit.

Aug 22, 2011

By burgess F, Manlapig E. V, Franzidis J. P

Bubble surface area flux, a parameter which is determined by bubble size and superficial gas velocity, has been identified as a criterion for flotation scale-up from a metallurgical point of view. Investigations at Hellyer, Scuddles and Mt Isa

Jan 1, 1997

By C A. Myburgh, S Craig, K Deb

In focusing on open pit mine scheduling, one of the biggest areas that a mining engineer can add value is in the area of cut-off grade optimisation. It is not atypical to add up to an extra 20 per cent in value by bringing forward higher-grade ore and deferring costs into the future.There are many techniques available to maximise net present value (NPV) when applied to open pit mine scheduling. That in itself raises the question of why so many of these techniques exist. The short answer is that none of these techniques are robust. Every time the problem changes, the algorithms also have to change.Instead of trying to make a problem fit the constraints of an existing technique, there is much to be said for usefully hybridising different approaches. This paper describes an innovative approach where evolutionary algorithms are combined with both local search and linear programming. The goal is maximising NPV through optimisation of cut-off grade policy and extraction sequence for an open pit mine. The cut-off/cut-over grade policy produced caters for multiple processing streams and stockpiles.Finally we demonstrate the quality of the algorithm by comparing some results with a well-known mathematical solution.CITATION:Myburgh, C A, Deb, K and Craig, S, 2014. Applying modern heuristics to maximising net present value through cut-off grade optimisation, in Proceedings Orebody Modelling and Strategic Mine Planning Symposium 2014, pp 155–164 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 24, 2014

By J D. Pease, J M. I Tuppurainen, P D. Munro

This paper examines how legislation and regulation can be external drivers of technical change in mineral processing and extractive metallurgy and how the industry can respond. Two examples are considered; the production of copper metal from concentrates and the cyanide process for gold production.The Clean Air Act (1970) in the USA initiated a wave of attempted innovations in the extractive metallurgy of processing copper sulfide concentrates to meet forthcoming standards on sulfur dioxide emissions. Interestingly, a satisfactory technical solution existed (flash smelting and gas capture) but had not been widely adopted.Nearly fifty years later the primary copper industry finds itself with new challenges. One major challenge is how to deal with the increasing level of arsenic in copper concentrates. Most countries impose an upper limit on arsenic in imported concentrate; typically, 0.5% As or less. Higher arsenic concentrates can be blended with cleaner ones to meet the limit, but this tactic cannot be used indefinitely as the average arsenic level of global concentrates rises inexorably. Further, smelters (often in urban locations) cannot be expected to deal with both ever-increasing arsenic in the feed and stricter restrictions on emissions and disposal. A rising “inventory” of primary copper deposits are already constrained from development by high arsenic concentrate. These deposits will need to be developed if future copper demand is to be met. An economic and technical solution to arsenic is needed. The gold industry may also face challenges in the use of cyanide, by far the dominant lixiviant used in gold and silver production. Public perception has driven restrictions on the use or transport of cyanide in some jurisdictions. History suggests that such pressure is only likely to increase. While there are several alternative lixiviants, none can yet match the utility and economics of cyanide.Such important issues will not be resolved by incremental change or new equipment items. They require development of new process technology - a tectonic event rather than an incremental change. It requires sustained effort (and expenditure) over decades and is very unlikely to result from “business as usual” for producers, suppliers or academics. Past major process developments were driven by a dire need for economic survival or by legislative change. What will drive the future changes?CITATION:Munro, P D, Pease, J D and Tuppurainen, J M I, 2017. Technology change by regulation – a cresting wave?, in Proceedings MetPlant 2017, pp 45–58 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 11, 2017

By M J. Newton

As part of the AMIRA P843 project Keeney and Walters (2008) describe how the principal components analysis (PCA) method can be used to identify classes of samples with similar metallurgical characteristics. However PCA does not take account of the location of each sample in 3D space. This paper describes a study to analyse the spatial distributions of the classes and determine appropriate modelling methods to control the estimation of the comminution parameters and mill performance indices into a 3D block model. This includes but is not restricted to geostatistical techniques that are used for grade modelling. The starting point for the study is the class definitions and the regression models for estimating the comminution parameters and performance indices. Each sample is assigned a class and the spatial distribution of each class has been analysed using different techniques including the calculation of variograms. This establishes whether the classes can be used as domain control for estimation into the block model – a procedure similar to using geological rock type domains for controlling the estimation of grades for a resource model. However, standard geostatistical estimation methods such as ordinary kriging assume that the variable being estimated is additive or linear. This assumption is valid for variables such as grade but this is not necessarily the case for the comminution parameters or the performance indices. Therefore the estimation procedure must either use variables that are definitely additive or the effect of potential non-additivity must be tested and accounted for where possible.The results of the study show how performance indices such as recovery, throughput and specific power can be estimated into the block model. This model is then combined with the geological model to provide a multi-parametric model that is used to optimise the mine planning and scheduling activities which can lead to significant improvements in NPV.

Sep 5, 2011

By R Fanni, D Reid, M Kulessa

Recent updates to Australian industry guidelines emphasise the importance of the assessment of liquefaction potential of tailings. This includes assessment of the cyclic liquefaction potential, and the post-seismic strength of tailings expected to undergo strength loss from seismic loading. Despite this increase in focus, a relatively small number of Australian tailings appear to have been characterised through cyclic and post-cyclic testing. This paper presents the cyclic characterisation of four Australian tailings, consisting of iron ore, lateritic nickel, vanadium and bauxite residue. Material was obtained either from surficial tube sampling or through remoulding samples in the laboratory from slurries. Testing consisted of monotonic, cyclic and post-cyclic tests for each material. For three of the materials, laboratory-scale shear vane testing was also performed to provide a comparison to post-cyclic strengths from direct simple shear.The results indicated cyclic resistances consistent with the results of other tailings presented in the literature. The lateritic nickel tailings provided the greatest cyclic resistance of the four materials tested, followed by the vanadium tailings. This was somewhat consistent with expectations for material behaviour based on index properties. Post-cyclic strengths were seen to decrease as cyclic strains increased, consistent with typical observations in the literature. Following significant cyclic straining, in some instances the post-cyclic strengths approached those obtained through residual shear vane testing. This provides further insight into the strain-dependent nature of post-cyclic strengths for some materials. The implications of these observations on the post-seismic stability condition are discussed.CITATION:Reid, D, Fanni, R and Kulessa, M, 2015. Cyclic and post-cyclic behaviour of four Australian tailings, in Proceedings Tailings and Mine Waste Management for the 21st Century, pp 207–214 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 27, 2015

By D R. Seaman, B Adamson, F Burns, B A. Seaman, P Manton

The Telfer concentrator, located in the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia, consists of a dual train gold/copper operation processing ore from one underground and, currently, two open pit mines with differing mineralogy. The flotation circuit of each train was designed to operate in several modes depending on the feed mineralogy. The majority of ore mined at Telfer is processed in a sequential mode where copper minerals are first floated into a saleable copper concentrate followed by the flotation of an auriferous pyrite concentrate which is treated in an on-site hydrometallurgical plant (carbon-in-leach (CIL)). Gold is recovered as a gravity product within the primary grinding circuit, to the copper concentrate, and to a lesser extent, the CIL circuit.Since Telfer was re-opened, with a new concentrator, in 2004, the processing plant has struggled with poor copper concentrate grades, partially due to the excessive entrainment of non-sulfide gangue minerals in the copper flotation circuit and, more recently, due to composite copper particles produced when processing ore from a supplementary satellite pit that has not previously been processed through the new Telfer concentrator. Gold recoveries in the CIL circuit have also been below industry standard. This paper presents the implementation of recent changes made to the circuit to address these performance issues. The reconfiguration of the circuit has involved the installation of the following major equipment items: two ISAMillsÖ in ultra-fine grinding applications (one in the copper circuit and one in the pyrite circuit), two Jameson Cells to improve fine gangue rejection and a bank of 5 + Outotec TC30s to recovery copper and gold from the reground pyrite stream. The equipment was purchased direct from vendors and an engineering firm contracted to design and install the multi-vendor reconfiguration upgrade.CITATION:Seaman, D R, Burns, F, Adamson, B, Seaman, B A and Manton, P, 2012. Telfer processing plant upgrade - The implementation of additional cleaning capacity and the regrinding of copper and pyrite concentrates, in Proceedings 11th AusIMM Mill OperatorsÆ Conference, pp 373-382 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Oct 29, 2012

The role of a project metallurgist is diverse and covers input into the resource definition, mining studies, metallurgical test program development, process engineering and plant design, cost estimate preparation and financial analysis aspects of project feasibility studies. Mining project schedule and cost overruns can often be attributed to cutting short metallurgical test work, engineering and cost estimating leading up to commitment to development. In a significant number of cases this may result from the lack of understanding and commitment by the project proponent to the requisite metallurgical and processing studies required during the various pre-commitment stages of a mining project. Metallurgical test work, process development, engineering and cost estimating requirements for each stage of pre-commitment development are described together with a summary of the ongoing role of the project metallurgist during detailed engineering and commissioning of a process plant.

Jan 1, 2008

By Ward M

The current and future requirements for an underground mine information management system are being met with a flexible, value-engineered approach to mine information/communication infrastructures. El-Equip has developed and delivered to over fifty mines around the world an integrated, high capacity, radio-based leaky feeder communication system called MultiCOM. To meet the requirements of recently developed advanced information management technologies, such as production and ventilation management, the system has evolved to support simultaneous mobile and fixed information delivery services over an integrated single cable system. The following paper will review how MultiCOM is enabling information/communications technology to cost-effectively implement mine monitoring and control applications. Applications described in this paper include mobile vehicle production tracking, vehicle location, ventilation system monitoring and control with integrated ventilation system simulation. The techniques described are leading the world in terms of flexible and value-engineered applications of technology in the underground mine.

Jan 1, 1995

By G J. Halstead, R C. Steinhaus

The True Pipe® in-line sampler was developed in an attempt to address the need for a mechanically reliable and correctly designed sampler to suit one-dimensional pressurised slurry pipelines, often found in metallurgical process plants but for which no reliable and representative sampling solution as yet exists.The design, whose operation is based on the principle of symmetry, is described by Dominique François-Bongarçon (2005) with the synchronous opening and closing of relevant valves. It representatively isolates portions of the particulate material stream at predetermined intervals for effective extraction of primary increments for subsequent sample compositing.Theory of Sampling applicable solutions have proven elusive in flowing pressurised particulate material streams, with various attempts to date not having formulated a viable, mechanically reliable and acceptable design.Compliance to sampling theory is critical, and a number of tests were conducted where certain operating parameters were altered to determine their influence and sensitivity on sampling representativeness.The results of the initial series of tests performed on a carefully designed rig are presented, with additional work discussed for necessary investigation in the near future.Getting closer to a robust, economic and correct design for this challenging application in the minerals industry may now not be that far away. Plant management staff will see improved metallurgical mineral balances around their process plants and significantly reduced sampling discrepancies, particularly in tailings applications. Improved quality control is now possible where, due to plant head room constraints, classical cross stream sampling methods cannot be employed.CITATION:Steinhaus, R C and Halstead, G J, 2014. True pipe sampler – a correct design utilising the principle of symmetry in pressurised slurry particulate streams, in Proceedings Sampling 2014 , pp 127–134 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 29, 2014

Addressing community concerns in relation to an economic activity, particularly when it causes significant community impacts, is especially important for the development of extractive industry projects. Pipelines comprise an integral part of many hydrocarbon developments, which may cause different effects on local economic development, communities and the environment compared with open cast mines. This paper explores community impacts associated with a case study of the oil pipeline æEastern Siberia-Pacific OceanÆ in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia. Based on semi-structured interviews, conducted in 2006 - 2008 in Russia, the paper investigates claims of local communities about potential impacts of the pipeline development of their environments and economic activities as well as community claims for greater involvement in sharing the benefits from this major infrastructure project. A community of Indigenous people, Evenk, is likely to be most profoundly affected by the development due to impacts on their traditional activities such as hunting and reindeer herding. The paper examines in detail the regional economic, social, environmental and Indigenous peoples concerns over the construction of the oil pipeline and investigates actions and methods adopted by community organisations to voice their concerns about the pipeline development. Finally, the paper assesses the process of interaction between the pipeline developers and regional stakeholders.

Jan 1, 2009