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By M T. Grigoleit, M S. Schneider

The iron ore industry in Australia has, in recent years, experienced an unprecedented growth phase. But now that major expansions are moving into the operation phase, new challenges have emerged. Whereas initial planning may involve a few modelling studies, ongoing performance monitoring and improvement requires a different, more intense approach. This is especially important in the face of changing factors such as commodity prices, exchange rates and labour markets. Response time is key. As a mining operation proceeds from initial planning to daily operations, the time window for analysis shortens, going from months to weeks to days as the business matures.Simulation models and analysis tools are typically built and run by specialists in the planning phase, but then what? The investment has been made, but realised only once. What if further analysis could be carried out in-house, re-using existing models using up-to-the-minute data? Can we create virtual mines that run in parallel to live operations that allow computers to identify areas of a value creation or operational improvement? These questions can be answered by the innovative application of big data, simulation and predictive analytics. The future will be having this all integrated into one platform that offers, for the first time, an opportunity for non-experts to apply existing modelling and analysis assets – combined with live data – to deliver support for continuous improvement, and the ability to respond quickly to external changes in the best possible way, before they become big problems. These techniques will represent a step change in the ability for operations to maximise efficiency and will underpin the intelligent operations of the future. These issues are addressed in this paper.CITATION:Schneider, M S and Grigoleit, M T, 2015. Maximising productivity through big data, simulation and predictive analytics, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2015, pp 475–480 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 13, 2015

By Longworth C. R

Competing requirements for land usage sometimes make the correct all- ocation difficult. The decision can be complicated by many factors such as local resident pressure, previous government decisions, economic pres- sures and the duration or permanency of the competing land usages. This problem often confronts the extractive industries with consequent delays in granting leases and some- times considerable local dissension. A proposal to extend the high grade silica sand quarry of the Wamberal Sand Company Pty. Limited is a microcosm of these competing requirements. The sand quarry is located on the New South Wales central coast. It is an open pit operation on a near beach deposit of silica sand suitable for flint glass manufacture.

Jan 1, 1976

By D J. Hill

"Mining companies routinely invest in improvements to their processing operations, but often these enhancements do not work to full effect.Improvements can be ineffectual because underlying process problems are not identified or prioritised for correction or repair.This is frequently because ‘black box’ solutions deployed to implement process control improvements typically rely on instrumentation to provide data for algorithms to work effectively, and these solutions are often ineffective or disabled at mineral processing sites.There are three key reasons they can fail to deliver: vital instrumentation is not calibrated or functioning as required basic process control and loop tuning was not implemented correctly or is in need of tuning there is an inability to support the ‘black box’ solutions on-site.Many of these problems can be overcome by implementing operational analytics that identify where problems are occurring and prioritise where improvements need to be made.Incorporating operational analytics into process improvement is not a new methodology. It is more a back-to-basics approach to make more efficient use of capital and systems already deployed.Data collection systems, such as the OSIsoft PI System, provide real-time and historical process information for process control experts to analyse and identify areas for improvement. However, most systems are not used effectively. With some simple enabling, data collection systems can provide evidence for prioritising investments in improvements and determining an investment’s effectiveness.MIPAC advocates that the initial step, with analytical evidence, is that clients review the control strategies and implement small influential instrument repairs/calibrations and operator training. This can significantly boost process productivity without the need to spend large sums of money on new capital or employing expensive, difficult to maintain ‘black box’ solutions.A simple Stage-Gate®-style approach ensures that small investments in evidence-based process improvements deliver significant benefits to mining operations.CITATION:Hill, D J, 2014. How to prioritise process improvements, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference 2014, pp 307–314 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Sep 1, 2014

Teleseismic travel time residuals measured on 600-1000 km seismic arrays across the Rio Grande and East African rifts provide evidence for upper mantle low velocity zones beneath each rift of velocity contrast 6%-8%. Refraction studies show thinning of the crust below the rift axes. Regional uplift which extends hundreds of km either side of the axes, is isostatically compensated by negative density contrast at depth. Since the refraction argues against compensation by thickened crust, compensation in the upper mantle low velocity zones is suggested. Temperature effects alone can not explain the reduced velocities. Generation of a few percent of partial melt is the most probable source of the reduction. A passive extensional mechanism is investigated for the Rio Grande rift in which hot asthenosphere intrudes the lithosphere raising its temperature and generating moderate melting. It requires less than 1% extension to explain the melting but a prodigious 26% to raise the temperature from a pre-rifting continental geotherm to the solidus. Geological estimates find that extension is less than 10% over the uplift zone. Such a mechanism is possible only if the prerifting lower lithosphere geotherm lies closer to the solidus than that of stable continent. This is supported by the observed high heat flow in the Rio Grande rift uplift region which, given the long time constant for thermal diffusion, reflects elevated temperatures at depth well in advance of the onset of rifting.

Jan 1, 1987

When studying minerals degrees at university, all the emphasis is towards sending the graduates into the bush to work at a remote mine; however, that is not the only option available to new graduates. There are positions in equipment supply companies, commercial laboratories, research organisations, engineering companies and contractors of many types. The aim of this paper is to show metallurgy graduates that there are non-mine site based career options available to them that offer outstanding career development. This is illustrated by outlining the research being undertaken by Magotteaux Australia and by telling the story of a graduate metallurgist working in MagotteauxÆs small research group. Magotteaux is an international supplier of grinding media and wear resistant components for the mining industry. The Australian research group is focused on determining the effects that the choice of grinding media has on subsequent processing, for example flotation and leaching, by using newly developed tools and techniques.

Jan 1, 2006

The constructionhunnelling industry in Hong Kong has taken an upturn during the last few years due to the commencement of works to relocate the International Airport to Chek Lap Kok Island. The Airport Core Program consists of ten individual projects including roads, landfill, bridges and tunnels to build the airport and link it to the mainland of Hong Kong. Part of one of these projects is Cheung Ching Tunnel located on Tsing Yi Island. The proposed tunnel consists of a 1.6 km twin tube road tunnel through the island's central ridge, taking three lanes of traffic each way. Each tunnel is 16 m wide - (the widest road tunnel in Hong Kong) and are 10 m high. ICI Explosives (China) saw an opportunity to supply bulk explosives to the Cheung Ching tunnel and contacted ICI Australia to determine availability of a bulk system for tunnel blasting, and assist in its introduction. This paper discusses the methodology behind developing that bulk system to suit a large tunnel drill and blast operation. It also looks at the problems encountered along the way, from the development of the product to the application of the system in the tunnel and the eventual success of introducing a bulk system into a large tunnelling project.

Jan 1, 1994

The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) is a professional society for all those associated with the activities of the mineral industry. Differences of opinion exist within the membership of the AusIMM on the role it should play in the future as a professional society in a changing industry and world environment. This same dilemma is concerning other professional societies of which the author is a member. Some of the activities and priorities of the AusIMM are reviewed in order to clarify a frequently expressed opinion that it identifies with and supports industry at the expense of representing the interests of its individual members. By definition and by action this is certainly not the case and it is concluded that all activities whether seen to be industry or member orientated serve to benefit both. The AusIMM plays a most important role in integrating and promoting the interests of all sections of the mineral industry whether corporate or individual and the Presidential activities in education this year provide an excellent example of this.

Jan 1, 1997

By D Willis, A Shanahan, C Jacobs, T Luxner

The application of tunnel boring machines (TBM) for reef mining is a unique practice with benefits over current mining methods given the right geology and geometry of the orebody. The Stillwater Mining Company (SMC) of Nye, Montana, USA operates two mines for obtaining platinum metals. The operation is currently using a 5.5 m diameter open-type machine for further mine development, as well as another TBM that they own.The latest 7.1 km bored tunnel, known as the Blitz Tunnel, will be routed parallel to the ore deposit in igneous mafic intrusive rock, and will be used for the life of the mine operation. It will be used to map the ore deposit, and provide a rail haulage route.Detecting the reef in relation to the TBM requires careful analysis. Diamond core drilling occurs ahead, above, and alongside the machine at every 150 m. The core is drilled, logged, and interpreted on the spot, concurrent with boring. Based on the data, the TBM is readjusted so that it stays on the correct bore path.This paper will highlight the application and benefits of TBM usage for reef mining, with detailed descriptions from the mine site.CITATION:Willis, D, Jacobs, C, Luxner, T and Shanahan, A, 2014. Tunnel boring machine usage speeds up development at Stillwater Mine, in Proceedings 15th Australasian Tunnelling Conference 2014 , pp 683–690 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 17, 2014

Since the discovery of coal of the Southern coalfield (Illawarra 1797, Burragorang 1806) coal mining has grown progressively to the thriving industry of today. Early shallow escarpment mining required no serious access development, but with extension of mining to further and deeper areas, sinking became necess- ary. Now, with 17 major shafts and 7 decline drifts in current use, new mining activities involve several current sinking and drifting projects, with more in prospect. Conventional sinking and drifting, using blasting and mucking techniques proven in recent years are normally in use, with attempts, recent and current to accelerate advances by boring techniques. With export and to less extent local market unpredictability, it is vital to produce mine establishment times to allow advantage to be taken of market upswings and there is great need for research and improvement of mine access construction as the major aspect of establish- ment.

Jan 1, 1976

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

After a short theoretical comparison of various typical large bell tops with the bell-less top for segregation and other ,ffects on the material flowing through the equipment proper, a comparative analysis between classical and the new burdening in the furnace is given, showing the theoretical effects of distribution and segregation on the horizontal pressure variations, temperature values and gas composition in the stack. Then some typical theoretical charging patterns of the bell-less top for wall and centre temperature adjusting, pressure drop corrections, dissymmetric local action for blow-in and scaffolding are described. Finally the available practical results on furnaces equipped with the bell-less top are compared with the theoretical statements made before and conclusions indicate that the new approach to burdening blast furnaces is a real improvement.

Jan 1, 1975

Polish coal mines are well equipped with methane monitoring systems,nevertheless the worsening conditions force a continuous impro- vement in the field of environmental monitoring. Application of modern electronic components make it possible to design the new modular telemonitoring system incorporating the best features of the older systems,widely employed in Polish collieries, eliminating their weak points. Several new sensors and portable instru- ments for methane monitoring and early fire detection have been developed and tested in mining conditions.

Jan 1, 1988

By Morley I. W

In the year 1926, Edie Creek, in the Morobe District of the Mandated Territory of New Guinea, saw the greatest gold rush of recent years. Situated 35 miles inland from the coast, and at an altitude of over 6000 feet, Edie Creek presented to the original prospectors a wet, jungle-clad uninhabited, and inhospitable region. There were no roads; and the only means of approach from the equally inhospitable coast was by an eight to ten days' tramp through coastal swamps and gorge-scarred mountains. All food supplies and equipment had to be carried on the backs of "kanakas," and in many cases through country occupied by hostile natives.Since the first discovery of payable gold at Edie Creek, mining on the Morobe Goldfield has shown remarkable progress, and in spite of the tremendous natural difficulties, the field today ranks as one of the most important in Australasia.Aeroplanes, more than any other factor, have been responsible for this rapid development. They provide the only means of transport from the coast, and at present serve the needs of over 600 Europeans and 3000 indentured native labourers engaged in the industry.

Jan 1, 1933

By A D. Campbell

The Homer Tunnel is located in a remote area of the South Island of New Zealand and carries large numbers of tourists to Milford Sound through an avalanche prone area. The tunnel is 1280 m long with a steep ten per cent unidirectional grade descending to the west. Construction of the tunnel began in the 1930s and was completed to a nominal 6 m width in 1954. In 1996, two passing bays were stripped-out to accommodate bi-directional flow of tourist coaches. During all phases of construction and widening there have been episodes of strain bursting.The condition of the tunnel and standard of internal services is below current international practice, principally in terms of; in-tunnel air quality, fire life safety, ground support, and road safety. A number of near-miss events have occurred involving coach fires on the approaches and inside the tunnel. The national road authority, NZTA, is considering a substantial investment to improve amenity and safety of the tunnel.This paper describes the rationale for the proposed upgrade works and the investigations undertaken to enable that design. A holistic approach to road tunnel safety has been adopted that balances the key interrelated safety drivers, namely; tunnel lining, traffic operations, ventilation, power supply and egress while ensuring continuity of safe access to Milford Sound.

Mar 8, 2011

New Celebration Gold Mine is located 35 km SE of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, in the Archaean Kalgoorlie-St Ives Greenstone belt. The leases total 119 sq kms and arepart of a joint venture between Newmont Australia Ltd (as manager) and Mt Martin Gold Mines N.L. Mining commenced in August, 1986 and is now producing over 115,000 ounces of gold per annum. A variety of gold mineralisation styles with a total resource of 23.5 million tonnes at 2.19g/t are associated with shear zones at New Celebration. Gold production is co-ordinated from 7 open pits with others planned to com- mence soon. A large scale underground trial mining operation has com- menced with a decline on the hanging wall of the main producing orebody, Hampton Boulder. Millfeed produced is classified on the stockpile according to grade and metallurgical performance and blended tomaximise throughput while main- taining grade through a CIL treatment plant currently operating at 1.7 million tonnes per year.

Jan 1, 1991

The Acid Drainage Technology Initiative (ADTI) was initiated in 1995 by federal agencies, the National Mining Association (NMA) and the Interstate Mining Compact Commission (IMCC) to identify, evaluate and develop cost-effective and practical acid drainage technologies. In 1999, ADTI was expanded through the addition of the metal mining sector, which is focused on drainage quality issues related to metal mines. ADTI addresses drainage quality issues from abandoned, active, and future coal and metal mines. The guiding principle of ADTI is to build consensus among industry, federal and state regulatory agencies on acid drainage technology development and technology transfer issues. ADTI is focusing its efforts on mine drainage prediction, sampling/monitoring, modelling and avoidance/remediation. ADTI is not a regulatory or policy development program. ADTI includes the Coal Mining Sector (CMS) and the Metal Mining Sector (MMS) under the overall guidance of the ADTI Operations Committee. The Operations Committee consists of representatives from industry, state and federal government and academia. The Coal Mining Sector includes two committees; a prediction committee and an avoidance and remediation committee. The Metal Mining Sector includes steering committee and work groups on prediction, sampling and monitoring, modelling, mitigation, and pit lakes. The Coal Mining Sector has produced two publications on the prediction and prevention of acid drainage. The Metal Mining Sector has workbooks under preparation covering the work group topics. This past winter, the Metal Mining Sector, working with the US Bureau of Land Management, presented a satellite training session on acid drainage. ADTI has evolved in response to changing needs and technologies as evidenced by the addition of the Metal Mining Sector in 1999. The Operations Committee and the members of the Coal and Metal Mining Sectors will guide future direction in response to identified issues.

Jan 1, 2003

The Mt Sinivit gold project is located approximately 50km SSW of Rabaul in the Baining Mountains of the Gazelle Peninsula, East New Britain Province. The deposits were discovered in mid- 1983 and form part of a larger 26km long zone of variably aurif- erous quartz veining. There are no surface indications or previ- ous records of any prospecting activity or production from the region. The Mt Sinivit deposits consist of a series of oxide and sulphide reserves and resources contained in the Wild Dog (South- ern, Central and Northern oxide zones; Northern sulphide zone) and Kavursuki veins. The proposed exploitation of the oxide reserves by a series of small-medium sized open pits has been fostered by the PNG Department of Mining & Petroleum (DMP) as part of a government policy to encourage the development of a small-medium sized mining industry in the country. The aim of this paper is to document the steps and procedures involved in obtaining the grant of a Mining Lease emphasising the time and the expenditures required during each step of the approvals process for the Mt Sinivit project.

Jan 1, 1997

By Nakajima A

Some attempts were made to recover uranium from aqueous systems by using various biosubstances including microbial biomass. Of hundreds species of microorganisms tested, extremely high uranium absorbing ability was found in Pseudomonas stutzeri, Neurospora sitophila, Streptomyces albus and Streptomyces viridochromogenes. In parallel to this research, various kinds of biomass and commercially available crude drugs were screened to measure their abilities to adsorb uranium. Of these biosubstances tested, high uranium adsorbing ability was observed in chestnut skin, Comi fructus, Geranii herba and Chaenomelis fructus. From these results it may be considered that the uranium adsorbing ability of these biosubstances is due to the following; the uranyl ion is co-ordinated by the polyphenolic compounds such as tannin existing in the biosubstances. Along with these fundamental researches, we have developed a new adsorbent, the immobilised persimmon tannin (kakishibu tannin), for uranium and thorium. This adsorbent can accumulate 1.71 g of uranium per gram of the adsorbent (14 mEq/g), and the uranium adsorbing capacity of this adsorbent exceeds by several times that of commercially available chelating resins (2 - 3 mEq/g). We attempted to recover uranium from uranium refining waste water by using the immobilised persimmon tannin. As a result, the immobilised persimmon tannin can recover trace amounts of uranium from uranium refining waste water containing 10 - 15 ppb uranium with high efficiency. Almost all of the uranium adsorbed onto the adsorbent can be desorbed by washing with 0.05 - 0.1 M HCl or H2SO4. Thus, the immobilised persimmon tannin can be used repeatedly in the adsorption-desorption Cycle.

Jan 1, 1993

By K Barns, H Law, T Whebell, P Scobie, T Perkins, J Siliezar, M Larson

With processing a variety of orebodies at Glencore’s Ernest Henry Mining (EHM) has come a changing mineralogy and more complex requirements for treatment in the concentrator. From mid-2013 and into 2014 the grind size required to achieve sufficient mineral liberation for production of a quality concentrate has reduced significantly. What was once a final P80 of 35–45 microns was forced to 20 microns. This has necessitated some creative changes to the flow sheet that previously had a 937?kW Vertimill regrinding a rougher concentrate to 40 microns. EHM is able to utilise an existing M10 000 3 MW IsaMill previously used for magnetite processing, to provide a quick convenient solution without large scale capital expenditures. Operating the Vertimill and IsaMill in parallel in closed circuit was successful at reducing the P80 of the regrind circuit to below 20 microns which increased the final concentrate grade by four per cent. This circuit and intermediate circuits used are discussed. Performance of the Vertimill and IsaMill is compared for efficiency optimisation to improve the overall circuit performance.CITATION:Siliezar, J, Whebell, T, Perkins, T, Law, H, Scobie, P, Larson, M and Barns, K, 2014. From magnetite to chalcopyrite – a story of versatility and efficiency at Glencore’s Ernest Henry mining?operation, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference 2014 , pp 85–92 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 1, 2014

By Jardine G, Woodall C

The Henty Gold Mine, located in Western lasiuania use, uuiusatise solutions to effectively manage a mining operation in an environmentally sensitive setting and has been presented with several environmental awards. Fill is required as part of the mining method to provide passive ground support, minimise rock exposure and ensure maximum recovery of the small but high-grade orebody. The use of the whole portion of leach residue in the backfill reduces the surface tailing disposal requirements. Therefore, High Density Paste Fill (HDPF) has been selected as the most appropriate fill method to meet these objectives. Additional benefits include the minimisation of excess water from fill and the subsequent need for the collection and treatment of water and slimes. There are minimal equipment requirements during placement, thereby optimising mine resources for production. The initial paste fill design was based on the Bad Grund and Ranunelsberg Mines paste fill systems of Preussag in Germany and comprised pumping filtered tailings paste some 1.2 kin uphill from the mill to the mine portal, where cement was to be added before being distributed underground. The system was designed following initial testwork that was undertaken on a bulk sample of ore mined from the scar surface Sill Zone. Subsequently, during the mining of the Zone 96 orehody, it was found that there were significant mineralogical variations in the composition of the ore mined. Following processing, the resultant Icach residue caused significant changes in the paste rheology and therefore the pump and flow characteristics. An alternative solution was implemented that involved the use of agitator trucks to transport the cemented paste to the portal. This required modifications to the fill preparation system and also the underground distribution system. Laboratory strength tests of the HDPF using actual gold plant leach residue showed low early strengths were attained with HDPF containing only filtered leach residue. Therefore, high binder addition rates or an increase in the fill cycle time would be required to allow the fill to gain sufficient strength. A considerable amount of potentially acid generating waste rock also requires underground disposal. By blending the waste rock with the HDPF, the strengths were improved and the required cement addition rate reduced by about one-half. The potentially acid funning waste rock is encapsulated in the highly alkaline cemented paste, minimising the potential for acid generation.

Jan 1, 1998