Search Documents

By N Lefebvre, M Jakeman, R Aseervatham

Semi-arid regions suffer from two afflictions; evaporation may exceed precipitation by multiples of two or more and variations in precipitation can be both extreme and difficult to predict. Many Australian mines are situated in semi-arid areas where communities are reliant upon locally sourced water or special purpose infrastructure is built as part of the mine construction. As the question of climate change looms, issues related to future water supply and sustainable water management become increasingly important. Across Australia several mining operations co-exist in a single surface water and/or groundwater catchment area. The management of water on a mine by mine or a community by community basis is illogical and must be reconsidered based on a single water catchment and a whole-of-community basis. Mine water should be considered on a full life cycle basis where the quality is assessed for specific mine site applications. This paper addresses technical challenges that include surface water and groundwater supply in semi-arid regions, operational water in the mining industry, beneficial uses of water, water economics and demand management. In much the same way as emissions trading evolved into a multi-stakeholder forum, mining regions offer scope for innovative thinking in water supply and reuse. In addition, this paper considers a number of initiatives taken by Australian mining companies that are entering a prefeasibility stage and contrasts these initiatives against the established success within a South African mining region. The challenges and potential solutions to this initiative are presented for future consideration.

Jan 1, 2006

By Leahey T. A

The variability of gold mineralization in the Warrego Gold Pod is described by classical statistical techniques using sample distrib- utions and analysis of variance; and by the use of geostatistical variogram analysis to define the spatial variability and anisotropy of the mineralization. Comparison is made between declared mine production from the Nineteen Stope and a series of ore reserve estimates derived by manual, numerical and disjunctive kriging methods.

Jan 1, 1979

The title of this paper suggests rather a comprehensive survey of the industry, but since it is not possible to do justice to this in a short paper, and, as the bulk of the Australian trade consists of buttwelded tube, the author proposes to deal only with this type.The buttweld process has been praetised for many years and, as the methods of manufacture are not widely known, a brief history of its development may be of interest. Few good reference books in the English language are available, and this reticence may possibly have retarded advancement in manufacture.The earliest method of making ferrous tubes consisted of bending a thin plate or strip to form a "skelp." The "skelp" was then raised to a welding heat and hammerwelded on an internal mandrel on a smith's anvil. Necessity, however, soon produced mechanical methods of making tubes, and, in 1812, an Englishman named Osborn patented machinery for "welding and making barrels of fire-arms and other cylindrical articles." The apparatus was arranged as shown in Fig. 1.The skelp was raised to a welding heat and placed in the swage block "A." A mandrel was then inserted and the tube lapwelded by the action of the tilt hammer.Various modifications of this apparatus quickly followed, to keep pace with the rapidly growing demand and the exigencies of war. These tubes were essentially of short length and mainly used for gun barrels. The advent of coal gas for lighting (patented by Murdoch) created a demand for small tubes of longer length, and necessity, as usual, produced a solution. In 1824 Jas. Russell, from *Works Manager, Stewarts & Lloyds (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

Jan 1, 1935

Autogenous and Semi-Autogenous grinding has become an accepted method of reducing primary crusher product to micron sizes in a single or a two-stage grinding circuit. The elimination of secondary and tertiary crusher circuits and sometimes rod mills helps to lower overall operating costs and, in many instances, can make uneconomical projects viable. Selecting AG/SAG Mills have been rather a "hit and miss" affair over the years, but now with the many different types of tests available, accurate mill size predictions can be made, provided the test data is evaluated correctly. This paper endeavours to simplify the process of evaluating test data and sets down some guidelines for designers to follow when selecting AG/SAG Mills.

Jan 1, 1991

By M Chen, G H. Wang, J R. Zhou, P Yan, W B. Lu

Blast vibration analysis is one of the important topics in the control technology of blast vibration damage. Nowadays, blasting vibration safety standards are based on both the particle velocity and the frequency of vibration and they have been adopted widely and internationally. However, the analysis on vibration frequencies is less studied compared to investigations of peak particle velocity. For the vibration induced by a spherical charge in a viscoelasticly infinite rock mass, an expression of vibration spectrum taking into account the damping effect of rock mass is inferred. Then the attenuation laws of dominant frequencies and centroid frequencies are compared theoretically. For the case of cylindrical charge, dynamic finite element method (DFEM) software of LS-DYNA is employed to analyse the attenuation laws of characteristic frequencies. The research demonstrates that, no matter whether it is a spherical charge or a cylindrical charge, there is a local mutation or fluctuation at some distance when the blast proceeds, while the centroid frequencies conform to a smooth attenuation law. Both the multipeaks structures of vibration spectra and the decay rate difference between high- and low-frequency components contribute to the mutation or fluctuation investigated in this study. Additionally, an increase in longitudinally sonic velocity or the quality factor of rock mass produces an increase in the vibration frequencies, whereas an increase in blast source diameter or the rise time of blast load produces a decrease in vibration frequencies from a spherical charge. In borehole blasting, there is a positive correlation between the vibration frequencies and charge diameter, whereas there is a negative correlation with charge length. And altering the initiation plan will change vibration frequencies to various degrees. Finally, theoretical analysis results were validated by the empirical data from field experiments of Fengning pumped storage power station.CITATION:Zhou, J R, Lu, W B, Chen, M, Yan, P and Wang, G H, 2015. A further study on the attenuation laws of blasting vibration frequency, in Proceedings 11th International Symposium on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting, pp 673–682 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 24, 2015

Mine planning typically involves designing an operation to uncover coal with the minimum initial costs with reclamation planning and earthworks being done as an "add on" task. The landform is too steep to remain stable, has no drainage and frequently has areas of excessive acidity or alkalinity. Extensive earthworks are required to reduce grades to an acceptable level and create a drainage system. The flexibility available to the mining engineer to alter the post mining landscape clearly depends on the mining methods. Straight dragline stripping provides virtually no flexibility. However most mining operations over the term of current ten year plans have a substantial pre-strip component. It is this pre-strip material which has the potential to reduce the final reshaping earthworks. The reshaping operation itself is subject to some flexibility with various options being available to re-grade and provide drainage. The full utilisation of this flexibility to minimise earthworks cost should be the aim of reclamation design. ACIRL's current thrust in reclamation is aimed at the integration of mine planning and reclamation earthworks. This involves gathering all environment and agricultural criteria and designing the earth works necessary to produce an acceptable final landform. A key component of our work is the use of computer aided design (CADD) for the design of spoil piles, pre-strip dumps and spoil re-shaping. This approach has been applied to a number of mine sites with earthworks operations covering hundreds of hectares and hundreds of millions of cubic metres volume. We are continuing to provide that consultancy service and at the same time are involved in the development of more sophisticated software tools to apply to reclamation design.

Jan 1, 1991

IN this paper an attempt is made to describe the sluicing operations on the tin fields of north-eastern Tasmania. No claim is made to completeness, for much of the ground has already been covered, and nothing is to be gained by needless repetition. On this account some portions of the subject have obviously received but scanty attention in order that others may be rather more fully dealt with; for instance, figures referring to the accuracy of various methods of valuing alluvial deposits, particulars of efficiencies, and water duties on both overburden and drift; also, the system of recording water distribution, &c.The plans of the tin-streaming shed, sluice and feed·race, and overburden tail-race represent types of the most modern design.The principal alluvial deposits being worked at the present time are situated either in the ancient or modern bed of the Ringarooma river or its tributaries. This river flowed in a north-easterly direction, receiving numerous tributaries on either bank, and finally emptying into Boobyalla harbour. The most important of these tributaries, from a mining point of view, are the Cascade, Main creek, Weld and Frome rivers (which unite just before joining the modern Ringarooma), Wyniford river, and Bradshaw's...

Jan 1, 1911

By H J. Ross, R K. Beatson, T J, W R. Fright

Traditional method of explicitly defining three-dimensional (3D) ore-waste and geological boundaries relies heavily on a time-consuming process of manual digitisation. This method of modelling can be best described as surface modelling, as complex surface geometry is built up by digitising points that lie on the surface. With the advent of fast 3D interpolation methods, however, construction of geological surfaces using volume functions is now a practical alternative to explicit modelling of surfaces. Unlike explicit modelling, surfaces contained in volume functions are not explicitly defined or digitised. Instead the existence of surfaces in the volume function is implicit, thus the process of modelling surfaces from volume function is called æimplicit modellingÆ. Based on recent advances in fast scattered data interpolation methods, implicit modelling first defines a continuous three-dimensional function that describes the grade or rock distribution. This volumetric function is interrogated for a grade value, or a geological surface, thus allowing the extraction of the 3D object to be automated and eliminating the need to manually digitise surfaces. Since the function is continuous throughout space and does not depend on a mesh or grid for its definition, the extracted geological or grade wireframes can be constructed at any desired resolution in the specific volume of interest. The volume modelling method can work on scattered drillhole data of any data density, including processing combined information from dense grade control data as well as sparse resource drilling. It offers distinct advantages over surface modelling, including: being able to wireframe geological objects that may take days to digitise in tens of minutes; substantial improvement in modelling accuracy; and the ability to generate conditional models rapidly allowing mining risks inherent in geological modelling to be examined.

Jan 1, 2003

By Taylor GP

Mt Kasi in Fiji is a high sulphidation style of gold deposit exposed at a high crustal level. Individual alteration centres are localised at the intersection of cross structures within a through-going structural corridor, the Mt Kasi Fault System. A two stage alteration/ mineralisation model suggests that much of the high sulphidation alteration is derived from the initial rapidly moving gas-rich portion of the hydrothermal fluid. The gradual cooling and neut-ralisation of hot acid fluids by mixing with oxygenated ground waters forms the characteristic zoned alteration assem-blages which grade from cores of residual silica through silica-alunite to peripheral clays. The liquid-dominated phase of the hydrothermal fluid brecciates the competent, altered rocks and deposits sulphide mineralise-ation within the breccia matrix. High gold grades occur in the matrix-rich breccias and decline from the hydro-thermal fluid upflow to outflow zones.CSAMT (controlled-source audio magneto-tellurics) geophysics has been used to define the geometry of the alteration centres while strike slip movement on the major structures accounts for the dilational structural environment in which the ore hosting breccias form.

Jan 1, 1994

By D L. Head

Critical risk management (CRM) has become one of the latest safety buzz terms in mining. Everyone seems to be doing it, everyone seems to know about it, yet we are still having fatalities in our industry from well understood hazards such as mobile equipment amongst others.

May 5, 2022

By M Castello, P Bouchard, M Sabsabi, A Blouin, B Nguegang Kamwa, M Constantin, K Fytas, M Laflamme, K Rifai, F Vidal

Canada’s Quebec province operates 26 metal mines, 19 of which are producing gold and generating over C$1.8 billion (US$1.3 billion) annually. In all those mines, numerous samples of rock are collected and analysed daily in laboratories in order to determine their gold content. However, laboratory results are generally available within 48 hours of sampling (depending on the number of samples received by the laboratory and the priority of the results), thus potentially slowing down mining activities. In an attempt to find a solution for delayed laboratory results, Laval University, in partnership with the National Research Council Canada (NRC), the National Institute for Scientific Research (INRS) and four mining companies (Agnico Eagle, Canadian Malartic, Hecla Québec and Iamgold) have launched the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) project for in situ real-time mining sample analysis. This work aims to minimise the amount of LIBS point sampling necessary to be representative of a full scan of the analysed area. Eight sampling patterns are investigated. A statistical analysis of the data was performed by varying the pattern steps. Results show that two of the patterns, 1 and 5 (single diagonal crossing the stratification of the samples with opposite slopes) minimise the amount of point sampling while remaining representative. The most successful results are obtained from steps which are greater than 6. In terms of the type of material, pattern 5 and steps 9 are better for core sampling, while pattern 1 and steps 8 are better for rock sampling. The geological explanation for these results is the heterogeneous distribution of gold in the sample which seems to be more homogeneous in the rocks than in the core sample due to the small rock size. In terms of the mineralisation, pattern 5 is better for mixed sulfides and quartz veins, and steps 8 and 9 are better for quartz veins.CITATION:Nguegang Kamwa, B, Rifai, K, Laflamme, M, Constantin, M, Castello, M, Vidal, F, Bouchard, P, Fytas, K, Blouin, A and Sabsabi, M, 2017. Sampling strategy by statistical analyses of LIBS data in the context of a portable gold analyser, in Proceedings Tenth International Mining Geology Conference 2017, pp 221–232 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 20, 2017

By T Horberry

This paper describes work conducted as part of an overall research project that aims to identify current and emerging trends in the development of automation and remote mining technologies, and to provide an operator-centred perspective to the design and deployment of such systems. More specifically, this paper outlines a research and development process being constructed to examine the issues of the human skills and capabilities required to operate or maintain automated/remote controlled mobile mining equipment. A human factors approach presented here, where the focus is upon designing equipment interfaces to fit operators, rather than purely designing and deploying the equipment based on a technology-centred approach. However, the importance of training to help develop the required skills and capabilities is also emphasised.The work built on a full review of the literature about the effects of automation in mining and elsewhere, extensive interviews with different stakeholders in mining automation and recognised best practice regarding designing for the human element in automated systems. The human element research and development process proposed is in four stages, ranging from understanding the tasks involved in both manual and automated equipment operation through to user trials to ensure that the automated systems are acceptable to operators and are fit for purpose.It is outside the scope of the current paper to present the full data collection described by this four stage process, but an overview of what will be collected is presented. As such, this paper focuses on the broad methods being developed, rather than the specific results to be obtained. The ultimate objective is to apply a broad ‘technology assessment’ approach to the design, deployment and evaluation of automated mining technologies, in particular by considering the user-centred design implications of these technologies.

Nov 22, 2011

The New Zealand Minerals Industry Association was incorporated as the NZ Mineral Exploration Association in 1982, with a membership that consisted of the gold exploration companies then active in New Zealand . As its membership broadened, it changed its name to the Mining and Exploration Association in 1994, and more recently the Minerals Industry Association. It is a non-profit-making incorporated society relying on voluntary membership, and is not funded by industry levies.   It has employed a full time executive director since 1988 when Robyn Ross was appointed, followed by John Pfahlert (1991 - 1996) and now with Doug Gordon managing the Association.   The Association is one of a number of organisations that represent the mining industry in New Zealand. Others include the Coal Association of NZ (CANZ), the Aggregate and Quarry Association (AQA), The West Coast Commercial Gold Miners Association and Minerals West Coast.   NZMIA membership comprises the main exploration and mining companies that account for over 80 per cent of New Zealand Æs mine output, and nearly all of its exploration investment. Its membership has expanded from gold exploration to encompass exploration and mining companies active in coal, gold, aggregates and industrial minerals.   The Association has developed a National Minerals Strategy that determines its priorities, implemented via a Minerals Industry Advisory Committee. This group was established six years ago to advise the Associate Minister of Energy on issues relating to the long term development of the minerals sector in New Zealand.

Jan 1, 2006

By A A. Roberts, R F. Dewhirst

"Extensive literature surveys, research in the project environment and personal experiences both within and consulting to project teams have revealed some consistent ‘people factors’ that contribute most to ultimate project success. Outside of purely technical and business case issues, there are a small number of leadership characteristics – probably only ten – that if correctly applied can positively leverage a team’s impact on project success.Of the top seven project success characteristics that were consistently highly rated in a recent study, five of them were around leadership. The authors have focused on this topic, noting that good leaders need to display the following traits:passionate commitment to deliveryconsistent modelling and reinforcement of correct values and behaviourfocus on managing relationships well and energising teams and individualscarefully clarifying project vision from front-end loading stages onwardseffective decision making.Not every project manager can and does practise these behaviours all of the time, but being aware of them and receiving training or facilitation in improving their application of these skills can equip project managers with the essential tools to markedly improve their own performance and that of their teams.This paper draws upon experiences in the field and provides lessons – both good and bad – to illustrate. As well as examining leadership traits, the way in which a leader can establish, organise, motivate his or her team and ultimately lead them to success is examined. The paper shares methodologies that have been successfully used to track status within a team and generate appropriate recovery plans where required.In particular, the paper will examine a case study based on an amalgamation of real project issues in some challenging situations using virtual teams (ie physically distant teams located in different centres) to illustrate the importance of strong and positive leadership in achieving success across geographies, time zones and languages.CITATION:Roberts, A A and Dewhirst, R F, 2016. Leadership in projects – a recipe for success, in Proceedings Project Evaluation 2016, pp 49–58 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 8, 2016

The movements of the major continental cratons and the distribution of the principal tectonostratigraphic terranes are reviewed in the Circum-Pacific region during Phanerozoic time. It is concluded that major periods of orogeny and consolidation of accreted terranes in the Circum-Pacific region is best correlated with periods of advance of cratonic blocks over the Pacific Ocean basin combined with relative convergent to transpressive motions between the cratons and the Pacific Ocean plates. Continental collisions and collision of terranes with continental margins has not been a significant geodynamic process in Circum-Pacific tectonic evolution. The permanency of the Pacific Ocean basin throughout 500 MA is remarkable. It appears no continental block or large continental fragment has ever entered or crossed the Pacific Ocean basin since early Paleozoic time. This area where no continent has entered for 500 MA is almost coincident with the present Pacific Ocean basin and seems associated with the 25 to 100 meter geoid high which dominates the present-day figure of the Earth.

Jan 1, 1990

By M Bouare, C Holland, K N’Diaye

Two adjacent open pits in Mali hosted by deeply weathered saprolitic materials were mined consecutively over the course of approximately 12 months. During excavation, both pits experienced significant displacement and tension cracking as the result of deeper than expected depth of weathering coupled with relatively steep slope angles and significant groundwater. In response, geotechnical and operations teams overcame numerous monitoring challenges with prisms and radar to develop a simple and effective monitoring system coupled to a Trigger Action Response Plan (TARP) which enabled continued safe operations while reducing ore loss. Observations of previous slope performance of these two pits allowed for greater confidence in empirical failure runout calculations that was used to specify the standoff widths for the exclusion zones in the pit. Back analysis of the slope as-built performance after the first indications of slope distress was also conducted. The back analysis was used to confirm rock mass parameters for modelling while being utilised as a reality check for the stability analysis. The stability analysis indicated that leaving a large step-out or buttress would not prevent the displacement, resulting in some ore being sacrificed to ensure the safety of personnel. Key learnings from this experience highlight the importance of: • up-to-date geological interpretation of the depth of weathering • ensuring slope design guidance is reviewed and updated as latest information (ie geology and monitoring) is received • having multiple complementary slope monitoring methods to ensure redundancy • ensuring visual observations and as-built performance are utilised as a reality check to provide greater confidence in stability analysis and design guidance.

Jun 22, 2022

By J Pearce, R Ramanathan

hortly after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, the words ‘social distancing’ entered the global lexicon. The effects on the public of social distancing, lockdowns and travel bans are well documented. They also present unique challenges to the mining industry. For Hexagon’s Mining division, this posed a significant challenge. We have built our business – our reputation – on regional, customer-focused service and support. True to Hexagon’s values of being professional, engaged and customer-focused, we innovated to overcome the distance dilemma. Making automation a reality for our customers by implementing and supporting technology projects from a distance has helped deepen partnerships by making it easier to tap into our global experts’ knowledge. For example: • Body cameras were at the heart of a successful safety installation at a mine in Ghana. Despite the pandemic lockdown preventing travel by our South Africa staff into Ghana, the project was completed with minimal delays. • Traditionally, implementation and training for our Blast Movement Technology solution is done physically at the mine site. With COVID-19 travel restrictions in place, we have developed and successfully employed a remote deployment methodology. • Using RealWearTM headsets in the field and utilising the knowledge management platform from HINDSITE, Hexagon workshop technicians have been able to support hardware repairs in local offices, which once would have been undertaken in our overseas offices. • The same headset is being utilised to provide clients with remote mentoring sessions by our skilled team members who are based in our regional locations and unable to travel to their site without extensive quarantine commitments. • In instances where our team members have had to travel to site, we have provided consumer technology such as VR headsets to help them cope with long periods of quarantine to and from site. Post-pandemic, Hexagon will continue to refine and improve this method of working. INTRODUCTION Shortly after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 (COVID) a pandemic, the words ‘social distancing’ entered the global lexicon. As governments, healthcare organisations and the public scrambled to respond to the crisis, one thing became abundantly clear: isolation was and, for most of us, still is the key to maintaining our health. Hexagon, a leader in sensor, software and autonomous solutions, was well positioned to pivot and assist in the global response to the crisis. From simulations of the effects of social distancing to mapping the spread of COVID in real time, to drone technology delivering COVID tests, to providing communities with transparent geospatial information, Hexagon solutions continue to help ensure that innovation is readily available to those who need it most during uncertain times. The effects on the public of social distancing, lockdowns and travel bans are well documented. They also present unique challenges to the mining industry.

Jun 22, 2022

By J Seppelt, B Akerstrom, A Rice, J Bubnich, T Waters

The Concentrator 1 plant at Cadia transitioned from Cadia Hill open pit to the Cadia East block cave ore body in 2013. As a result of this change, major plant upgrades were required to achieve the desired throughput while treating more competent ore. The 40-foot (40’) SAG mill now receives a feed of predominantly high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR) product with a minor component of secondary crushed ore at a combined F80 of 17 mm. The significant reduction in feed size to the SAG mill has markedly changed the operating characteristics of the mill, which has been extensively studied since commissioning in 1998.This paper examines the operation of the 40’ SAG mill in its new configuration in the Concentrator 1 circuit. Operational stability is highlighted as a significant factor in delivering mill performance, which has been achieved through several key improvement projects utilising a theory of constraints framework. Five years of successful project implementation has progressively lifted the maximum processing rate of Concentrator 1 from the design estimate of 2455 t/h to above 3000 t/h. CITATION:Waters, T, Rice, A, Seppelt, J, Bubnich, J and Akerstrom, B, 2018. The evolution of the Cadia 40-foot SAG mill to treat the Cadia East orebody: a case study of incremental change leading to operational stability, in Proceedings 14th AusIMM Mill Operators' Conference 2018, pp 217–232 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 29, 2018

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 P J. Cullen, B P. Banerjee, S Raval

Continuous monitoring of mining impacts on the surrounding environment is a necessary sustainability criterion. Traditional monitoring approaches such as in situ sampling and airborne and satellite-based remote sensing have several limitations. Over the past few decades, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have evolved into popular platforms for remote sensing. UAV-based remote sensing has been successfully applied in different sectors, including agriculture, forestry, urban environments and disaster management. However, the potential of UAVs for mine environmental monitoring has not yet been fully established. This paper envisages the use of UAVs and sensor systems to monitor the environment of future mines.CITATION:Banerjee, B P, Raval, S and Cullen, P J, 2015. Unmanned aerial vehicles for mine environment monitoring, in Proceedings Third International Future Mining Conference, pp 137–144 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 4, 2015