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In a field test at Mount Isa Mines Ltd., a system developed by ICI Australia Ltd. for bulk loading "MOLANITE", an ammonium nitrate slurry blasting agent into ring drilled holes of wblcvel open stopes, was shown to be satisfactory. The fragmentation produced by the slurry was a significant improvement over ANFO and the stope production rate was increased by approximately 50%. Indications are that the charging rate and labour costs will not be greatly changed if a slurry system is used.

Jan 1, 1973

By Bohrn W, Milionis K, Tessmer G, Reidetschlager J

The share of electric arc furnace based steel production is increasing - New technologies for the production of virgin raw materials for EAF production are under development and on the market - VAI has a strong position in the field of scrap substitution technologies with their COREX«-, COREX«-DR and FINMET«-technology. In late-1998 the steel plant SALDANHA was started up successfully. This integrated compact mill is using the COREX«-technology as hot metal and a combined DR-plant as DRI production unit. Also in 1999 the BHB FINMET« plant Port Headland went on Stream.

Jan 1, 1999

Three methods of gold analysis are briefly described highlighting some of the problems and advantages of each. The variation of results between samples and splits and due to method of preparation is illustrated. The mean per cent difference of the fire assay values from the means of sample split values for three cases is 15 per cent.Finally, a comparison of the aqua regia leach atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and fire assay fusion AAS techniques is made.This shows that the mean precision, the ability to obtain the same value, of the methods at 98 per cent confidence is ± 30 per cent and ± 15 per cent respectively. The fire assay fusion AAS method is relatively more accurate than the aqua regia one.

Jan 1, 1984

By I M. Platten, C J. S Sangster, Y Xie

The Cononish gold-silver deposit is a steep, relatively narrow quartz-vein system, with a current total mineral resource of 154 000 oz Au and 589 000 oz Ag. The northeast-southwest trending system was emplaced into late Proterozoic metasediments, and postdates metamorphism and associated Caledonian Orogenic foliations. Assay and mineralogical data show that gold and silver is spatially associated with sulfides in quartz. The main sulfide is pyrite, but galena, chalcopyrite and sphalerite occur in small amounts. Gold occurs as electrum, with minor native gold, and silver occurs additionally as tellurides and native metal. The gold/electrum is fine-grained, generally less than 100 microns in size. The main ore shoots plunge 45¦ south-west, have a 40 m to 80 m intersection with the existing underground development and extend between 40 m and 260 m down plunge. Small-scale sulfide-bearing domains within the vein carry the highest gold grades. They collectively define the ore shoots, where one or two, and rarely three, of the domains are present at an individual site in the vein. Discontinuity of individual domains, variation in domain thickness and internal heterogeneity results in short scale variation in grade across the structure. Geological mapping along a 1.2 km exploration adit has provided critical æconditioningÆ data to support resource evaluation based on development and relatively wide spaced drilling. In addition, it has provided an indication of potential challenges that could be encountered during production.

Jan 1, 2009

That electricity is an important and valuable agent, the limit of whose capacity for utilisation is as yet unknown, is a truism; although enormous advances have been made, the possible developments are yet greater. Mining, along with other industries, shares already to a large extent in the practical utilisation of this agent. Electrical engineers have been employed for several years past in developing and applying electricity to all classes of machinery, and for every purpose where power is required and in no instance, that the writer is aware of, has its use been curtailed in favour of any other agency now known, while extensions are continually made. The first modern electric motor was shown at the Vienna Exhibition of 1873, and it was used to work a pump through a mile length of cable but it was not before 1878, that an electric motor was put into daily commercial use by Messrs. Chretian and Felix to work a beet sugar hoist. This early plant effected a saving of 40 % as compared with hand work.In 1879, the first Electric Railway was constructed for the Berlin Exhibition, and in the same year, Mr. T. A. Edison was running an experimental line at Menlo Park. The first electric line opened for the public, was constructed by Siemens and Halske, in 1881, at Lichtenfelde, and was 11 miles in length.

A tectonic interpretation of the Coromandel Peninsula which suggests that the basement underwent tensional collapse at its northern and southern ends would permit more ready penetration of late stage magmatic fluids. This hypothesis is consistent with regional trends of the chloride content of low grade geothermal waters and of the yield of gold and silver per unit weight of quartz worked. The consequences of such a model are that mercury should not only be a good pathfinder for Coromandel gold, but that it should be correlative with ratios of base metals high in the zoning or paragenetic sequences to those lower in the sequences. This is demonstrated successfully in an area of mineralisation in the southern Coromandel.

Jan 1, 1987

Disasters are often tragic outcomes of high-risk technologies such as mines. In Australia, more mines are being developed every day, and the risk of disasters is ever increasing. No matter how effective our conventional safety devices are, there is a form of accident that is inevitable. These relate to accidents that result from æinteracting failuresÆ in a way that could not be foreseen by the designers. In so-called ætightly coupled production systemsÆ (processes that happen very fast, such as on a high producing mine) the risk is even higher and our risk controls mostly introduce some sort of a technological fix. While we are at the one hand attempting to control the risk, we are also introducing another level of complexity. Are we really controlling the risk? This is one of the fundamental questions that will be addressed in this paper: Do we have the ability within the mining industry and other industries to effectively prevent these catastrophes, or are we, on the contrary, faced with an increasing risk as a result of increasing complexities of our technology, management systems and practices. This paper will contend that perceived improvement in risk control is an illusion of activity, and that the likelihood of mining catastrophes may be exponentially increasing. Although the paper focuses on the mining sector many aspects may be applicable across a range of industries. This paper will further contend that we are applying the right solutions to the wrong problems. Our focus is technological and procedural, while our problem is one of production cultures ripe for error and failure.

Jan 1, 1999

Reconnaissance geochemical exploration in the vicinity of low angle detachment faults which bound the core of the Paparoa metamorphic core complex yielded Au up to 14 ppm, with 35% of greywacke, granitoid and quartz vein samples in the northern range exceeding the 0.01 ppm detection limit. Au is associated with Ag, As, Sb and Cu anomalies consistent with epithermal-type mineralisation. The Ag and Cu anomalies also distinguish this mineralisation from older, mesothermal Au deposits widespread in the Ordovician 'slate belt' greywackes, which comprise much of the upper plate of the core complex. Baryte, molybdenite, fluorite and stratiform U mineralisation in the northernPaparoa Range may also be related to hydrothermal activity along the detachment fault zones.

Jan 1, 1995

By F N. Baez

This paper supplements a keynote address prepared for the MassMin 2016 conference on mass underground mining methods, including block, panel, inclined and sublevel caving. It advocates for a new cave mining paradigm that takes advantage of a number of new and disruptive technologies or innovations that have evolved over the last 15 years, some of which were initiated by major mining companies such as Codelco. The paper will address the challenges that the industry will be facing in the future as well as possible solutions. As background, the paper summarises the challenges that the industry has faced in the past and how such challenges were addressed. The author acknowledges that given his more than 30 years of experience with Codelco Chile (operations and corporate), aspects of his intelligent mining concept have no doubt been influenced and have matured during his invaluable time with Codelco also as the Head of Technology and Innovation. In the paper, he uses some of the innovations developed within Codelco and by the Chilean Government to illustrate the concept of ‘intelligent mining’.CITATION:Baez, F N, 2016. ‘Intelligent mining’ – the way of the future, in Proceedings Seventh International Conference and Exhibition on Mass Mining (MassMin 2016), pp 3–8 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

May 9, 2016

By S M Richardson, A W McNeill, J B. Gemmell

"An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation. The Hellyer, Fossey, Que River and Mount Charter volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VHMS) deposits occur within the Que-Hellyer volcanics of the Mount Read volcanics, Tasmania. These deposits occur along a 6 km strike length and are hosted by the same stratigraphic unit. We use a combination of whole-rock geochemistry, short wavelength infrared (SWIR) spectrometry, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analyses and compiled historic whole-rock geochemical data to develop district-scale vectors towards VHMS mineralisation.Strongly sericite and K-feldspar altered rocks concentrate along a linear trend from Hellyer, through Que River, to Mount Charter. Ishikawa alteration index values and whole-rock major and trace element concentrations provide exploration vectors towards mineralisation on a regional scale as significant enrichment and depletion trends. On a deposit scale, composition variations in white mica (sericite alteration), chlorite and K-feldspar are observed and reflected in whole-rock geochemical variations. Regional SWIR data from drill core support the prevalence of phengitic mica and high-Mg chlorite within footwall alteration halos and highlight the main upflow zones of hydrothermal fluids in the VHMS district. The combined use of regional whole-rock geochemistry, SWIR and mineral chemistry is an effective way to highlight prospective areas for VHMS mineralisation in a mature exploration province.CITATION:Wu, S, Gemmell, J B, McNeill, A W and Richardson, S M, 2015. Exploration implications from variations in whole-rock and mineral chemistry around the volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits of the Que-Hellyer volcanics, Tasmania, Australia , in Proceedings PACRIM 2015 Congress, pp 85–90 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 18, 2015

By Ghosh I, Vanangamudi M

Experiments have been made in a laboratory heavy media separator at various specific gravities of separation using zinc chloride solution and magnetite suspension as media for different types of coals. The results indicate that the magnetite bath gives at better separation than zinc chloride solution. Even though the probable error remains the same for most conditions of operation, the error area is found to have a wide variation which emphasises the importance of the error area over probable error in evaluating the performance of a cleaning unit.

Jan 1, 1981

By W C. Cook, S J. Mathews, A H. Purvis

The Golden Cross Gold Mine is located at the head of the Waite kauri Ri ver, 8 km northwest of Waihi near the southern end of the Coromandel Range. The mine produces gold and silver from epithermal veins hosted by Miocene andesitic flows and pyroclastics of the Coromandel Group. Golden Cross is owned in joint venture by Coeur Gold NZ Ltd (80 per cent) and Viking Mining Company Ltd (20 per cent). Mining is by open pit and underground methods. Mineralisation in a near-surface sheeted/stockworked vein zone is mined from the open pit. The deeper Empire Vein System is mined from underground where higher grade mineralisation is restricted to generally discrete veins. The open pit stockwork zone is west of and offset from the updip trend of the Empire Vein System. The Empire (hangingwall) Vein strikes generally north-northeast and dips steeply west. Dips become subvertical at greater depth. The hangingwall vein is a well developed, generally continuous structure with relatively high gold grades. A complex footwall vein system forms shallow west-dipping offshoots to the hangingwall vein. Structure and gold grades become increasingly erratic away from the hangingwall vein. The better developed footwall veins carry economic grades and high 'spot' grades over 50 g/t Au are not uncommon. Highest gold grades are associated with tightly crustiform banded sections of quartz veins and with dark fine grained siliceous breccias. The main hangingwall vein occupies a major north-northeast trending fault structure, the Empire Fault. Footwall veining forms within subordinate splinter fault zones. There has been extensive multidirectional pre-, syn- and post-mineralisation faulting. Fault manifestation is highly dependent on host rock characteristics. The central part of the hangingwall vein and surrounding silicified country rock has been shattered by a major fault structure, the West Mine Fault, forming a poorly consolidated, blocky quartz-breccia ore zone. Away from the more brittle ore zones and associated silicified envelope, wide clay-filled shears mark the major fault trends. Development of the deposit is considered to have occurred in two distinct stages related to separate episodes of dilational jog movement on the Empire Fault. The first phase reactivated the pre-existing Empire Fault as a dilational fissure with subordinate splinters on the footwall side. The Empire Vein System (hangingwall and associated footwall veining) formed during this phase. A second phase of renewed movement with further dilation resulted in more extensive fracturing of the Empire Vein and surrounding country rock and formed the sheeted/stockwork veining of the open pit. An upwards/westward migration of the hydrothermal system is assumed but fluid pathways between underground and open pit veining are unclear. Ore extraction and mining geology methods have responded to improved understanding of the grade and structural variability, and changing ground conditions inherent in the vein system. The underground mine produces ore from flatback cut and fill, post-pillar and bench stopes. Open pit and underground ores are campaign milled through a conventional CIP plant.

Jan 1, 1993

By J Mercuri, S Dunford, P Rothman, E Bartsch, J Snyder, D Newton, R Maron, D Cirulis

The purpose of a mineral comminution circuit with a ball mill running in closed-loop with a hydrocyclone classification cluster is to feed the downstream process with the target particle size. Maintaining the optimal particle size in the flotation feed can significantly improve plant cash flow. In particular, reducing the amount of coarse material is often a major challenge. Existing instrumentation to provide particle size measurement is considered standard equipment in most modern concentrator plants. However, availability is often very low, mainly owing to high maintenance requirements of the analyser and associated sampling system.CiDRA Minerals Processing has developed two novel and robust technologies that address this challenge by providing high reliability and very low maintenance systems for on-line measurement of coarse material in the overflow of individual hydrocyclones. The first system is non-invasive and measures pebbles and rocks greater than 6 mm. This paper focuses on the second system, which is a ruggedized wetted sensor design with no moving parts and provides a real-time trend of the desired target grind size parameter, such as percentage above 150 micron.Both systems have simple robust designs and measure in the primary overflow stream of the individual hydrocyclone. Individual hydrocyclone measurement enables identification of poor performing hydrocyclones in addition to providing a representative measurement of the whole hydrocyclone cluster. The systems do not require sampling and associated sample transfer piping circuits that are prone to plugging, thus avoiding high maintenance requirements.The wetted sensor will be described in detail along with its implementation in a robust control scheme in a major copper concentrator in North America. Plant data shows very high availability, achieved with very low maintenance, has enabled improved process control, thereby maintaining throughput and ball mill target power while reducing grind size.CITATION:Cirulis, D, Dunford, S, Snyder, J, Bartsch, E, Rothman, P, Maron, R, Newton, D, O’Keefe, C and Mercuri, J, 2015. Process optimisation using real-time tracking of coarse material in individual cyclone overflow streams, in Proceedings MetPlant 2015, pp 93–109 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 7, 2015

By S Yuen, T Rana, S Khan

Many open pit mines require dewatering or need aquifer depressurisation systems to manage mine water inflow and/or mine floor stability. In many instances these mining operations impact on regional groundwater resources and therefore access to these resources by other users.As such potential exists for mine development to be hindered or even blocked by groundwater legislation that aims to prevent declining groundwater levels and demonstrate equitable use of a regional groundwater resource.There is a need to manage aquifer systems during and after the mining operations, and in some cases stresses on the aquifers and associated ecosystems may be elastic and can be managed with minimum impacts or reversed once the mine ceases to operate.This paper uses the Gippsland sedimentary basin, with a history of declining groundwater levels and mining and petroleum production, as a case study to pose the question: Should period of mining operation, aquiferÆs storage capacity and its ability to recharge be concurrently considered when granting groundwater abstraction and mining licenses for prospective mine development?It further examines that by utilising an aquiferÆs storage capacity and demonstrating an understanding of aquifer system hydrodynamics during and beyond the life of the mine (time), the approval process for groundwater abstraction and associated cost of statutory monitoring may be made less onerous.

Jan 1, 2009

IN previous discussions on the occurrence of gold in the Bendigo quartz reefs the opinion has been put forward that the gold shoots are primary concentrations in the quartz reefs during the period of vein-formation. The view has been based upon the constant features of the gold shoots in a large number of individual reefs, independent of their depth below the surface. These features include the mineral associations accompanying the gold, the appearance and association of the gold in the quartz, the similarity in all respects (excepting mineral content) between richly gold-bearing quartz and poor quartz, and the variations in mineral content in the reef apart from gold. The view has been supported by a relation of the gold shoots to faults, together with the dependence of the reefs on the existence of pre-mineral faulting. The secondary deposition of gold has only been observed in a few instances .associated with the younger monchiquite dykes, and is of no economic importance.

Jan 1, 1922

It has been proven theoretically and experimentally that the use of 10 - 30 per cent DRI in blast furnace along with iron ore or sinter results in lower coke rate and higher productivity. However, to-date this remains unpractised on a regular basis mainly because of economic reasons. The DRI produced by several methods are expensive and difficult to store/handle in large quantities because of its reactive nature and thus DRI in blast furnace remains unacceptable.

Jan 1, 1999

By Brown H. R, Wright E. A

The authors identify the workable coal seams, their distribution in relation to quality and economic occurrence and relate their analytical characteristics to industrial use. The development of established collieries is also discussed with regard to increased production demand.The authors also indicate the potential of the coal resources of the Southern District and postulate their ultimate development.INTRODUCTIONThe Southern Coalfield yields 30 per cent of the total production of bituminous coal in New South Wales. The economic potential of the coalfield was examined last by Harper (1915). Since that time additional knowledge has been gained by prospectors, mining companies and public authorities. Expansion in the steel industry and the building of power stations on the coalfields together with improvements in fuel technology, mining methops and road transport have resulted in production of coal from seams mice thoughtto have no economic value.DESCRIPTION OF THE COALFIELDFor the purpose of this paper the term Southern Coalfield includes also the South-Western Coalfield which together comprise the following Coal Districts:IllawarraDouglas ParkWollondilly-NattaiMoss Vale-Berrima (Hanlon, 1953).Geographically the coalfield is contained by the Illawarra Range in the east, the Shoalhaven River to the south, the Wollondilly River to the west, and in the north by a line...

Jan 1, 1958

Principles of management in ore preparation before process of enrichment of chrysotile ores are discussed. The formulas, which were tested in industrial conditions, are offered, which may be used for averaging of chrysotile-asbestos fibres by content in ore and grade.

Dec 6, 2010

Silver is one of the three major metals produced from the Broken Hill mines. The accurate determination of the silver in these ores, therefore, is of economic importance.With due appreciation of the divergence of opinion of many who are interested in the subject of the determination of silver, the writer has been prompted to present the results of some recent experiments on silver losses during cupellation and conclusions from these experiments in the present paper. The losses of silver in the fire assay for this metal are due to silver retained in the slag during the fusion or scorification of the ore, and to silver volatilized from, and absorbed by the cupel during the process of cupellation.The literature describing the results of experimental work on silver losses due to the above causes is extensive, and the general conclusion of these experiments is that the silver lost in the slag is small, but that lost by cupellation is larger and more variable.The term cupellation loss in this paper refers to the total cupellation loss, no distinction being made between the absorption and volatilization losses.Volatilization loss is shown by King to be 0.5% of the total cupellation loss and, as it is generally accepted among assayers as being only a small fraction of the cupellation loss (3) (5), it will not receive further consideration in this paper.The factors causing the loss of silver by cupellation and the precautions to be obs~rved to reduce the loss in this operation are described in (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5). The...

Jan 1, 1940

By P Mitchell, J Proffett, I Munajat

Batu Hijau is an island arc porphyry copper-gold deposit located in the southwest corner of Sumbawa Island in the Sunda-Banda archipelago of Indonesia. Southwest Sumbawa Island is underlain by Early Tertiary, low-K calc-alkaline to weakly alkaline volcanic and intrusive rocks. Within the mine area the oldest exposed rocks are medium- to thick-bedded, medium to coarse andesite volcanic lithic breccia, thin bedded, fine-grained volcaniclastic sandstones and mudstones and hypabyssal porphyritic andesite. In the eastern portion of the mine area there is a thick sequence of quartz diorite that postdates the andesites. A small stock of Equigranualar Quartz Diorite predates the Batu Hijau deposit and occupies the contact between the andesitic volcaniclastic sequence of rocks and the Porphyritic Quartz Diorite. Batu Hijau is a world-class copper-gold deposit that has a drill indicated mineable reserve of 914 million metric tonnes grading 0.525 per cent copper (10.58 billion pounds copper) and 0.403 g/t gold (11.8 million ounces gold). Mineralised material not in reserve accounts for an additional 580 million metric tonnes at 0.328 per cent Cu (4.19 billion pounds copper) and 0.171 g Au/T (3.19 million ounces gold), and including an oxide copper resource of 57 million tonnes at 0.37 per cent Cu and 0.12 g Au/T. Copper and gold mineralisation is directly related to quartz veining and wall rock alteration that developed with multiple tonalite porphyry intrusions. The tonalites were emplaced along the contact between the andesitic volcaniclastic rocks and quartz diorite intrusives. Copper and gold are zoned around the porphyry intrusions, which are designated by their contact-age relationships and other features as Old Tonalite, Intermediate Tonalite(s), and Young Tonalite(s). The Old Tonalite was the first copper-bearing intrusion, and although it is the smallest intrusion it has the highest quartz vein density, the strongest alteration and the highest grade. At least two tonalite porphyry intrusions followed the emplacement of the Old Tonalite. Each of these intrusions was associated with less quartz veining, weaker hydrothermal alteration and lower grade copper and gold than the previous intrusion. The intrusive cycle culminated with the emplacement of the Young Tonalite, which contains relatively few quartz veins, is weakly altered and mineralised. Hypogene hydrothermal alteration and sulphide mineralisation developed in five temporally and spatially overlapping stages. These stages consist of Early, Transitional, Late, Very Late, and I Zeolite alteration. Early alteration and sulphide mineralisation accompanied each tonalite porphyry intrusion, but with diminished intensity in each subsequent intrusion. Transitional and later stages of alteration and mineralisation postdate the tonalite porphyries and overprint Early stage alteration and mineralisation. Early alteration and mineralisation consisted of biotisation, secondary magnetite and plagioclase development, fine porphyry-style stockwork veining and ore mineralisation. Magnetite-biotite????quartz stringers and dark micaceous (biotite-sericite) veinlets were developed. The veinlets were accompanied by biotisation of magmatic mafic minerals and groundmass. Thin, irregular and discontinuous æAÆ type quartz veinlets and fine-grained chalcocite, digenite and bornite mineralisation accompanies the Early alteration. It is hypothesized that most of the copper mineralisation was originally deposited as bornite, digenite and chalcocite. Secondary plagioclase was added along the selvages of the early quartz veinlets. Early alteration is pervasive within and proximal to the tonalite porphyries. In the distal portions of the deposit, andalusite and anthophyllite formed at intermediate to shallow depths, and in the deeper portions of the deposit, respectively. The andalusite and anthophyllite probably developed at the same time as the early magnetite-biotite-quartz alteration in the core of the deposit. Transitional-age alteration consists of oligioclase/albite-sericite-chlorite- quartz-¦vermiculite and is associated with æBÆ quartz veins. Through-going planar æBÆ veins are thicker than æAÆ and æA-familyÆ veinlets and have chalcopyrite????bornite along vuggy centrelines and narrow oligioclase????albite alteration envelopes. Rare æCÆ chalcopyite¦quartz veinlets were also formed during Transitional alteration. During Transitional alteration early copper sulphide minerals (chalcocite, digenite and bornite) are converted to bornite and chalcopyrite. The majority of the copper (50 - 70 per cent) in the deposit is contained in ores in which chalcopyrite is the predominant sulphide. Late alteration consists of feldspar destruction and replacement by sericite and other minerals. The late alteration is accompanied by the development of æDÆ sulphide veinlets and veins. These veins consist of pyrite and quartz????chalcopyrite. Within the halos of the late pyritic veinlets biotite is replaced by sericite, quartz-sericite, quartz-andalusite, or quartz-pyrophyllite+kaolinite replace plagioclase, and magnetite is converted to specularite and/or pyrite. In the periphery of the deposit, the feldspar destructive alteration, together with outer zones of Transitional-age alteration, constitutes what is commonly referred to as a æpropylitic zoneÆ. Very Late hydrothermal alteration is also characterised by feldspar destruction, but differs from Late alteration in that feldspar is replaced by smectite in association with sericite and chlorite. Sulphide mineralisation in this stage consists of sphalerite, galena, tennantite, pyrite and chalcopyrite. The last stage or I Zeolite alteration consists of low-temperature, open space filling consisting of stilbite or laumontite¦calcite. Supergene oxidisation of the orebody extends to a maximum depth of 210m. Isolated deep oxidation occurs along open fracture zones to depths of ~400 metres along æDÆ vein filled fracture zones. Weak supergene copper enrichment occurs in a thin horizon (15 to 60 m thick) that blankets the top of the deposit. The main supergene copper mineral is secondary æsootyÆ chalcocite replacement of sulphide grains and as veins.

Jan 1, 1999