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By S M. Stewart

Industry, especially extractive industry, must now give serious attention to the impact its operations have on the natural environment and on the economic, social, and cultural context within which it operates.   While this obligation is statutorily managed, there has been a recent shift towards a culture of self responsibility. Industry is now talking about earning its ôsocial licence to operateö and the importance of maintaining the ôtriple bottom lineö, thus adding environmental and social performance to the usual financial criteria used to measure organisational performance. The social context within which companies operate has also become more sensitive with industry responding to a growing public expectation that it conduct itself in a way that strives for sustainability by operating and developing in a way that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.   There are glowing accounts of industries engaging and collaborating with the communities within which they are based. In amongst these are also some disasters which result from cultural assumptions, industry created dependencies and the failure to attain community buy-in despite significant investment by the industry involved.   There are also remarkable stories of communities, and action groups within communities, being a significant catalyst for positive change of their natural, cultural and social environment. In amongst these stories there are also accounts of long and drawn out battles; adversarial situations where no one wins; a litany of mistrust, tricks and tactics, with the better resourced party ultimately achieving its primary objectives at the cost of the other (and at the cost of any potential fruitful, mutual relationships).   So what makes the difference in achieving the positive rather than negative outcomes? The answer lies in the way the outcomes are achieved. Building relationships based on good communication, respect for divergent views, mutual understanding, and the development of trust and empathy, makes it possible to identify shared goals and objectives that best meet the needs of all parties.   Research indicates the mining industry is making good progress in developing policy and commitment to community development and engagement but that, ætranslating commitments into improved practices at the site level remains one of the industryÆs toughest challengesÆ. (Australian Government - Community Engagement and Development Handbook October 2006 @ page 49.)   This paper considers the merits of a process of community collaboration and what it has to offer in terms of meeting that challenge.

Jan 1, 2007

In March 2003, Rio Tinto Coal AustraliaÆs (RTCA) new Hail Creek open cut coal mine commenced operations in the Bowen Basin. Hail Creek is a two-seam strip mining operation utilising two 90 m3 draglines and a fleet of excavators and trucks to remove the overburden. All overburden at Hail Creek is blasted prior to excavation. The mine conducts its own drill and blast operations while engaging Dyno Nobel for the provision of explosives supply and loading truck (bulk explosives vehicle û BEV) services. This arrangement was favoured over outsourcing the entire blasting function to a contractor. Subsequent to a value engineering review, the mine set about developing and implementing a blasting operation that did not rely on the need to store bulk quantities of ammonium nitrate on site. There were advantages identified in doing this, in particular the reduction of capital expenditure required and reduced exposure to a number of recently introduced security requirements. This approach also makes sense operationally. The establishment of reload facilities for the BEV close to the blasting location, where turnaround times are kept to a minimum, increases the productivity of the BEV. For this strategy to be successful the logistics of ammonium nitrate supply into the blasting operations has to be well planned and thoroughly executed. This means a robust planning and forecasting arrangement needs to be established with the supplier and transporters of the ammonium nitrate. To date, 80 million bcm of overburden has been blasted at Hail Creek and each year the quantity of overburden requiring blasting is increasing. The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a study: evaluating the effectiveness to date of the strategy to conduct blasting operations without ammonium nitrate storage on site, and identifying whether there is a limit to which this strategy can operate after which the introduction of bulk ammonium nitrate storage facilities are necessary.

Jan 1, 2007

RME has a vision for a new grinding plant operational paradigm made possible by RMEÆs fast, safe Mill Relining System. Some new liner designs can degrade SAG mill performance because of mill volume loss, ball strike (rotational speed limitations) and other issues often brought about by modifying liner design for maximum life and without a backward glance at metallurgical consequences. Freshly relined mills can initially produce as little as 80 per cent of their maximum throughput, that maximum occurring toward the end of the linersÆ wear life. RMEÆs proposition is to see new liners designed for maximum commercial performance. This may mean more frequent mill relines but with liners designed to yield optimum grinding, metallurgical and profitability performance, not maximum life. In other words, mill liner profiles and mill relining speed become key operational controls and not simply æmust doÆ maintenance functions. Taken to the extreme, liner profiles may prove capable of ætuningÆ a grinding plant for maximum profitability in any metal price environment. Following the introduction, the first section of this paper provides an update describing recent and significant developments within RMEÆs range of Mill Relining Systems, the enabling technologies which permit more frequent liner exchange without incurring additional downtime imposts. The second section outlines RMEÆs vision of a æliner profile versus profitabilityÆ commercial model, developed either intuitively or by using a combination of new measurement and modelling technologies. These new measurement and modelling tools provide the opportunity to predict the optimum commercial outcome, off-line in the virtual world, before committing to an expensive liner experiment.

Jan 1, 2007

By Ron Stewart, Richard Youmaran, Andy Adler

In the current context of heightened concerns with explosives security, there is significant interest in technological controls to improve security. It is important to be able to control what is fired, by whom, where and when. This paper describes research Orica has performed to investigate and test biometric systems to address the question of "by whom". The goal of this research is to incorporate the most suitable biometric system onto the 'blaster' unit of an electronic initiation system. This approach will ensure that only authorized personnel can initiate a blast involving electronic detonators. Requirements analysis: we initially explored many different biometric technologies to evaluate them against the requirements, including security, usability, ruggedness, size, form factor, privacy, and operational temperature range, This analysis identified chip based fingerprint sensors as the best candidate. Development of prototype units: in order to test the identified sensors, we modified standard, commercially-available, electronic blast initiation units ("blaster") to incorporate a fingerprint reader. Testing and evaluation: Biometric We conducted a biometric scenario evaluation in order to determine: 1) security level (measured by false accept rate (FAR)); 2) usability (measured by failure to enroll (FTE) and false reject rates (FRR)), and to 3) discover environment specific issues and challenges (such as temperature, humidity, dirt, or those related to the usage patterns of the user group). Tests were conducted at quarry sites in eastern Ontario, Canada. Results show rates of: FAR= 0%, FTE= 1.67%, FRR= 28.81%. Overall, these results suggest that this fingerprint biometric technology has a good level of usability in this application of electronic blast initiation control.

Jan 1, 2007

By Terri Jordan, Gregory Hempen, Thomas Keevin

Water-borne blast pressures from confined blasts were recorded as part of a submerged blasting program in Florida for channel deepening. The blasting was confined within the rock floor by stemming. Shot patterns of stemmed borings were recorded, as were two open-water shots. One hole of one shot was not confined properly, which allowed comparison of confined and a poorly confined larger charge weights per delay. The pressure data were intended to gain information on typical pressure measures from the rock removal program relative to impacts on marine organisms. Water-borne pressures from actual confined, rock-removal shots validate the hypothesis of lessened impacts to aquatic and marine biota.

Jan 1, 2007

By Lazar Kricak, Vladislav Kecojevic, Dragan Bogunovic

In spite of many advantages explosives have, their usage may cause environmental problem such as seismic vibration. One of the solutions to this particular problem may be application of an artificial screen as a barrier to the seismic wave path. This paper presents the results of experimental research on the artificial screen concept, its characteristics and role in attenuation of seismic effects generated by blasting. More than 1,500 laboratory measurements were conducted with different combinations of screen sizes, positions of the screen to blasting source, and intensities of blasting impulses. The results of the study show a significant reduction of generated vibrations by employment of artificial screens.

Jan 1, 2007

By Andreas Bienz

The safety of persons from accidental explosions and fires during manufacture, storage, transport etc. of explosives, pyrotechnics, propellants, firework and ammunition is most commonly assessed according to prescriptive rule-based approach: Safety is given when all requirements which are listed in numerous regulations and directives (such as e.g. safety distances, limited quantities, protective installations etc.) are complied with. Such a deterministic prescriptive rule-based approach is quite easy to apply but has got disadvantages, however: The actual state of safety in a specific case is not explicitly and quantitatively expressed, and it is not distinguished between the endangered individuals and the whole group. As a result, the effects of the safety measures cannot be measured. This is why uneconomical and in the worst case useless safety precautions cannot be avoided. In addition, waivers are difficult to negotiate, meaningful and sound arguments for pro and con being lacking.

Jan 1, 2007

By Gy. Deák Deák

The ECOMINING platform aims to develop a scientific and technical organization in order to promote within the natural resources industry a framework for environment-friendly exploitation technologies (on Best Available Technologies principle) and also to develop a solid basis for performing Research and Development projects. The ground of this project is the success of the First International Seminar: ECOMIN-ING - Europe in 21st Century1, organized by the Research and Development National Institute for Metals and Radioactive Resources Bucharest in co-operation with ITASCA Consultants GmbH Germany, the University of Petrosani and supported by the National Society of Salt Bucharest & Praid salt mine branch and the Ministry of Economy and Commerce. The platform provides a complex data base, for partners? selection and researchers? team structure. This can provide the scientific results with a high level of confidence for the projects of interest in the field of exploitation of mineral resources and for the participation on national and international project proposals competitions (i.e., target the 7th Framework Programme or any European / national programme, which can provide funds for the ECOMINING platform field of interest). The next step is the affiliation of the ECOMINING platform to the European ones, and to be compatible with them. The ECOMINING platform represents itself a 7th Framework Programme (FP) project idea.

Jan 1, 2007

By C. A. Clark

The Chagres Smelter is located 80 kilometres north of Santiago - Chile, in the middle of an agricultural valley which is also one of the poorest districts in the country. This condition sets the main focus for the smelter's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes, which ultimately aim at building self sustainable social and economic capital in accordance with the local capacities. With the help of Anglo American's SEAT (Socio Economic Assessment Toolbox), a corporately developed instrument designed to help the operations understand the needs of the communities and the impacts of those operations, the Chagres Smelter implemented several programmes, such as the CETTA (Experimental and Applied Technology Transfer Centre) programme. This project started in 2003, and consists of creating a centre for the transfer of sustainable techniques and skills for the small agricultural and livestock producers that live in the rural areas near the Chagres Smelter. Its main impacts are: Improved production quality (goat cheese and bee honey) and access to relevant markets, improved training and self-sustainability levels of producers, enhanced socio-economic level of the District's inhabitants by improving their income earning opportunities and technical knowledge, creation and promotion of a local brand as a symbol of quality products from the valley and a positive environmental impact of good breeding and native flora protection practices in the area. Other relevant social programmes are the 'Environmental Strivers', which created a recycling centre in the community; and the 'Beautiful Valley" project, which provides management knowledge and skills to local youngsters and leaders who can contribute to finding solutions for local environmental needs.

Jan 1, 2007

By J Gotte, C Morley, J Froud

Newcrest Mining LimitedÆs Telfer Mine is a world-class gold and copper producer, situated in the Great Sandy Desert, in the north west of Western Australia. The mine has a number of distinctive characteristics such as being one of AustraliaÆs most remote mine sites, being within 270 km of the hottest town in the southern hemisphere (Marble Bar) and having been shut down and reopened after a two-year feasibility study. The construction of a new plant and reopening of the mine gave Newcrest the opportunity to review their mining practices and systems including the opportunity to incorporate reconciliation as a core process. Telfer is now well on the way to being one of the largest gold and copper concentrate producers in Australia. When the mine reopened in June 2003, Telfer implemented SnowdenÆs Reconcilor software system to facilitate reconciliation of geological models, production data and plant measurements. The system was implemented on site in June 2004, as a web-based information management system, integrating other existing mining and plant software packages. It continues to provide an auditable process and consistency of data, providing ease of analysis with standard and customised reporting. This paper provides a case study of the reconciliation system implementation at Telfer. It outlines the consolidation of a number of management systems into one centralised system that can be used to compare and reconcile the tonnes and grades from the mine through to the mill. The authors outline the key estimates and measures that are used for reconciliation at Telfer, detailing the characteristics of the system used to capture the information and the benefits that have been gained through the use of a rigorous reconciliation process on a complex orebody.

Jan 1, 2007

By P. Nelson

Extending the campaign life of the Mitsubishi furnaces at Xstrata Copper's Kidd Metallurgical Division Copper Smelter has been a major focus of attention for many years. One aspect of this effort is real time monitoring to detect abnormal conditions and safely shut the furnaces down before significant damage occurs. Traditional real time methods of monitoring the integrity of refractory furnaces containing molten metal include alarms on individual temperatures of the refractory or cooling water. The need to set alarm limits which are not exceeded across the range of normal operating conditions leads to a system that only provides a limited warning, if any, before a failure occurs. Integrity monitoring systems that look at many different signals and alarm only changes in the relationships between the signals have been implemented on the smelting and converting furnaces. The systems are based on principle components analysis (PCA) models and implemented with the monitorMV software package. These provide much more sensitive and selective alarms so that changes in integrity are alarmed well in advance of any event. At a critical alarm level, the converting furnace is set to automatically shut down so that operating and technical personnel can review the situation. The configuration of the systems and operating experience with them will be discussed.

Jan 1, 2007

Xstrata CopperÆs Mount Isa Copper Operations is located in mineral rich north-west Queensland and is one of the largest sources of copper in the world. This world-class underground operation is planned to produce over 6.6 million tonnes of copper ore in 2007 from the X41 and Enterprise Mines. With an underground mining history of over 50 years and underground reserves of over 83 million tonnes at 2.6 per cent copper, mine planning for the future becomes an exciting challenge for the technical team due to the older nature of certain areas. The 1100 Orebody of the X41 mine was one of the first places that copper mining occurred, with its discovery in 1953 - 1954 and mining commencing in the 1960s. Sublevel open stoping mining methods have been employed since that time as the means of extraction, using a primary-secondary sequence to maximise stope turnaround time. Large Transverse Pillars within the 1100 orebody were not mined out in order to provide access for ventilation, power, orepasses and other services. The Panel Pillar, 4180XC and 4010XC pillars are three such Transverse Pillars in the 1100 orebody that will be mined as a final retreat. This paper discusses the technical challenges and issues associated with the extraction of Q390 stope, one of the stopes located in the Panel Pillar, and the design solutions to overcome these issues. Managing the exposure of backfilled stopes of variable fill strength, ensuring the stability of the crown, stope walls and drawpoints, managing vertical openings, re-establishing service networks, and stope filling are the critical issues given consideration for the final design of Q390 stope and other such stopes within a Transverse Pillar. Communication and coordination between the different departments in the mine are essential for the necessary work to be completed in a timely manner to bring pillar stopes into production.

Jan 1, 2007

By S. Rideout

The United States Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining (OSM) is responsible for regulating active coal mining and reclaiming abandoned coal mines in the United States. In working with the State government agencies that implement these programs, OSM is building a new approach that moves away from traditional "command and control" regulation and towards an approach that focuses on providing long-term environmental and economic sustainability on lands disturbed by coal mining. This initiative called "Reclaim the Future!" looks to enhance opportunities for economic development, wildlife preservation and enhancement, reforestation, and other beneficial and productive uses of lands disturbed by coal mining. The initiative is also focused on ensuring that the landowners and the local public have significant involvement in determining how best to reclaim mine sites and what post-mining land uses are most appropriate for each individual abandoned mine reclamation project or active mine reclamation. Through the use of the best scientific input in an open, participatory process, OSM hopes to further sustainable development principles for coal mining within the framework of existing United States law.

Jan 1, 2007

By T. R. Curr, W. A. Gericke, J. Basson

South Africa is a leading player in the international ferro alloys industry. Historical factors that have contributed to this dominant position include an abundance of natural resources and relatively low cost electricity. A number of relatively recent developments are potentially threatening this position. These include new legislation affecting the mining and minerals industry, a shortage of some types of suitable reductants, depletion of surplus electricity generation capacity with resultant threat of real escalation of electricity prices and pressure resulting from the recent strengthening of the South African Rand. The industry is addressing these challenges in a number of ways to ensure long-term viability. Some of these measures include investments in more efficient technologies that have economy of scale benefits and are less dependent on expensive reductants and electricity. Local macro-economic impacts include new legislation regarding ownership of enter-prises, mineral rights and royalties on mineral sales, development plans for port and rail infrastructure, as well as initiatives to expand electricity generation and coke production capacity. The fundamentals for being a successful ferro alloy producer are still largely in place for South African producers. Therefore the South African ferro alloy industry will remain competitive and is well placed for continued growth in line with the international growth in ferro alloy demand. The industry should emerge leaner, more efficient and ready to respond to any future demands of the industry. This paper will cover the present status of the industry, the factors that are impacting thereon and a view on its future outlook.

Jan 1, 2007

By Syamujulu. M

Subsequent to the unbundling of the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) and the privatization of its constituent parts, the Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) represents a third of the original conglomerate. Now run by private hands as a sub group of Vedanta Resources Plc of India, KCM is strategizing on how best to deal with the operational issues of the organisation to resolve some of the difficult, logistical, environmental, mineralogical and metallurgical problems being encountered to tum them into opportunities as the company turns around. This paper reviews the options being put in place to provide appropriate solutions and strategies including the treatment of the highly siliceous low energy copper belt concentrates in its mining operations in Zambia.

Jan 1, 2007

By B. K. Gorain

Barrick' s Buzwagi copper-gold deposit in Tanzania comprises oxide, saprock and sulphide mineralized zones averaging approximately 0.058oz/t gold, 0.13% total copper and 0.03% cyanide-soluble copper. A comparative evaluation of the project based on two potential flowsheet alternatives is presented. The first flowsheet included a gravityconcentration and carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant. The second flowsheet was based on a Gravity-Flotation-CIL plant, which proved to be more economically robust. Selective flotation of copper minerals to produce a saleable copper concentrate proved to be challenging. Detailed characterization of the Buzwagi deposit was carried out through understanding of ore mineralogy, mineral liberation, floatability and selectivity, reagent chemistry and regrinding issues. With this insight, a flotation concentrate of greater than 25% Cu was achieved, recovering a significant amount of copper minerals and tellurides. The overall economics of the project improved significantly with the addition of flotation. Leach tests on gravity and flotation tailings showed an overall increase in gold recovery of approximately 6% for a Gravity-Flotation-CIL plant compared to that for a Gravity-CIL plant.

Jan 1, 2007

By F Cesnik

The past few years has seen a concerted effort to improve the recovery of gold along with its co-product copper from the æhigh-gradeÆ Ridgeway concentrator at Newcrest Mining LtdÆs Cadia Valley Operations. A number of initiatives were identified and implemented, culminating in a sustained improvement in recovery of approximately three to four per cent for both metals. The key projects that contributed to this improvement included the installation of a 355 kW Metso stirred media detritor (SMD) to create a regrind circuit, installation of froth crowders on the scavenger circuit, installation of a Falcon SB2500SE gravity concentrator as part of the regrind circuit to improve gold recovered to bullion on-site and the optimisation of the grinding circuit to reduce the 80 per cent passing size (P80) of the primary grind from 160 to 121 ¦m for the same throughput via process control, cyclone and ball charge optimisation. This paper will focus on the supporting test work, where applicable, that was used as the design basis for the project, but more importantly the plant data before and after the changes to clearly identify the improvements to plant recovery.

Jan 1, 2007

By D Horacek, I K. Sheppard

Ok Tedi is in a period of transition. By 2008 mill feed will consist of higher levels of high-grade but metallurgically challenging skarn ores. Additionally, the Taranaki pit will start production in 2008 along with the start-up of a new pyrite concentrator. Taranaki ores are very high in sulfur. Sulfur is captured in a pyrite concentrate prior to tailing entering the Ok Tedi River. These and other complex scheduling issues will need to be resolved over a critical three-year period. With these requirements in mind, Ok Tedi contracted AMC Consultants to develop a custom version of the Life of Business Optimisation System (LOBOS¬) to assist medium-term production scheduling at Ok Tedi. LOBOS utilities enable Ok Tedi planning engineers to:import polygon-based reserve data (Blast Masters) from MineSightÆs Interactive Planning Tools (IP Tools); graphically construct block sequencing and material flow constraints; edit constraints defining standard scheduling, processing and financial relationships; define dump and stockpile attributes; and assign capacities to production systems, plants, dumps and stockpiles. LOBOS converts Ok TediÆs production scenario into a mixed integer program (MIP) and submits the resulting model to IlogÆs Cplex MIP Solver. The Solver seeks an optimal production schedule that maximises net revenue per mill hour while meeting all constraints. This paper introduces Ok Tedi and its production requirements and relates these requirements to the facilities developed for an Ok Tedi version of LOBOS.

Jan 1, 2007

By Christopher Mark

Dr. Christopher Mark serves as Team Leader of the Rock Mechanics Section in the Rock Safety Engineering Branch of the NIOSH - Pittsburgh Research Laboratory. In this position he leads a multi-disciplinary team and conducts individual research directed towards fundamental ground control safety issues affecting miners. Dr. Mark is recognized as one of the country?s leading authorities on coal mine ground control. Through his research, he has made numerous important contributions to mine safety that have been widely adopted into mining practice. He is a highly original researcher, and has often developed new and innovative methods to tackle extremely complex problems in his field. In recent years Dr. Mark has also achieved wide international recognition. Five research projects in Canada, Australia, and South Africa have been based largely on his work.

Jan 1, 2007

By Neville Rockhouse

This paper examines the interrelationship of conducting full risk assessments in the context of the coal mining industry and under the framework of the Health's Safety in Employment Act 1992. In the context of Occupational Health's Safety, Risk Management is a holistic management process that can be used by individuals working in all organisations and from all industries. The Australian New Zealand Standard 4360: 2004 defines a Risk as being; The chance of something happening that will have an impact on objectives. This definition is followed by several notes that include: a risk is often specified in terms of an event or circumstance and the consequences that may flow from it, risk is measured in terms of a combination of the consequences of an event and their likelihood, and risk may have a positive or negative impact. For the purposes of this paper, the above definition will be adopted. This paper examines the newly expanded approach of the fully documented risk management process in the New Zealand coal mining industry. This is done in the context of the coal mining regulations but more importantly by using the framework of the Health & Safety in Employment Act 1992. This legislation under Section 6 requires all employers to, Take all Practicable Steps to prevent harm coming to employees while at work and to others who might be at or in the vicinity of a workplace. When the term 'all practicable steps' is studied, one can clearly see that such steps should be the same steps taken that a prudent and reasonable person would have taken given the same type of circumstance. Due to the fact that in New Zealand parliament made statutes is administered by a Government Department, means that their breaches will be heard before a judge in the District Court. Under the Westminster System of Justice, a basic dictum of that court in matters relating the occupational health and safety is that a breach needs to be satisfied to a specific standard. That standard is, 'Beyond a reasonable Doubt'. One of the primary benefits of adopting a proactive approach to risk management is that if the industry were to adopt similar approaches, then this mythology could be seen as an industry standard. As such, the approach carries the same status in a court of law, as that of an Approved Code of Practice.

Jan 1, 2007