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THE object of the present paper is to give a brief description of the metallurgical process followed by the Grand Junction Co, and the results obtained therefrom. All figures quoted are from the actual working of the plant over a period of six months from January to June, 1910. The short ton of 2000 lb. is used by the company. Its gold is valued at 84s. per oz. fine, silver at 2s. per oz. fine. The ore consists essentially of a gangue of quartz and calcite, with 8 to 10%sulphide-pyrite, sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, and traces of arsenic and antimony. The colmtry-rock is a highlyaltered dacite. Small stringers of highly-mineralized ore penetrate the footwall of some of the lodes, forming a valuable stockwerk up to 3 ft. in thickness. In stoping, this is mined with the well defined lode, thus bringing into the mill at times a considerable quantity of hard country-rock. The gold exists in an exceedingly fine state of division, consequently rendering it necessary to grind very fine to obtain a satisfactory extraction.

Jan 1, 1912

By Sparrow G. J

The effect of polyelectrolyte flocculants on the de-watering of a tailing suspension of very fine clay was investigated.Sedimentation and filtration experiments were carried out in the labqratory to characterise the de-watering properties of the tailing. The results were used to calculate the effect of flocculant additions on the drainage and vaporation components of the de-watering of a clay suspension ponded on to a sand drainage bed.A flocculant increased the drainage rate, but decreased the volume of water that could be removed by drainage leaving more water to be lost by evaporation.The sorptivity values measured in the laboratory were used in the de-watering equation previously established for the tailing to estimate the effect of flocculant additions on the time required to de-water the suspension from 18.2 to 60 per cent solids w/w. The calculated de-watering times were found to increase or decrease depending on the volume of water removed by drainage and the prevailing evaporation rate.

Jan 1, 1980

Two outstanding features of the world's young orogenic belts are their very consistently developed suites of volcanic rocks and, it is now recognized, the rather distinctive types of mineralization they contain. Further,it is now known that these volcanic suites exhibit evolutionary patterns, and it is beginning to appear that this evolution in style of igneous activity is accompanied by a parallel evolution in style of mineralization. Specifically,podiform chromite and stratiform pyritic copper ores of Alpine ultramafic/submarine tholeiite association progressively give way to more zincian stratiform ores associated with andesites and dacites, "porphyry copper"deposits developed in quartz dioritic to dacitic plugs, and lead-zinc stratiform ores related to increasingly pyroclastic, rbyodacitic volcanism.This "coupling" is exhibited well in the volcanic arcs - the young orogenic zones-of the SW Pacific which, with tbeir abundance of youthful and commonly unmetamorphosed materials provide an opportunity for investigating, through a petrochemical approach, the possible significance of ores in the elucidation of mechanisms of lava formation. It is suggested as a working hypothesis that in the orogenic (voleanic arc) regime ores are associated with the cale-alkaline rocks because these cale-alkaline rocks are in part generated by exhalative loss, and the ores are among the manifestations of tbat loss.

Jan 1, 1978

By C Ross

This paper uses the results of research trials by Landcare Research and Forest Research Institute and assessments of reclamation plantings at mines and other drastically disturbed sites to describe methods of enhancing restoration of native forests. The characteristics of mine and forest environments are compared to highlight the difficulties facing restoration and techniques which result in successful restoration are described. Selection of the most appropriate technique is illustrated by describing restoration of lowland beech-podocarp forest at a West Coast coal mine. The key to successful reclamation is to understand the factors controlling and limiting plant establishment and growth, then to design rooting media, surfaces and management regimes to create a favourable environment. This paper concludes with a summary of the planning and technical factors which are critical for successful restoration of native forest.

Jan 1, 1995

Mount Isa Mines Limited first installed electronic data processing equipment in 1959. The decision to replace this equipment with a computer was motivated by the need for greater processing power and the availability of new and less expensive computers. Consideration of hardware software and delivery features of available equipment, resulted in the selectIon of an ICT 1900 series computer which was installed in March 1966. Special air-conditioning and power stabilization equipment was also required.Systems design and programming was carried out by personnel recruited from within the Company and trained by the computer manufacturer. Early work was hindered by the problems of remote location.Initial applications were basically accounting functions whIch were taken over from the EDP installation. Subsequently computer applIcatIOns of a more complex technical nature have been undertaken. Future work will include both "scientific" and data processing applications.

Jan 1, 1968

Process Simulation and Plant Design of a Mineral Selective Magnetising Flash Roasting Plant Using Neutrons

Sep 13, 2010

The Tasman Orogenic Zone is regarded as a single metallogenic province (the Tasman Province) with four SUb-provinces corresponding with its major tectonic components: the Lachlan, New England, Hodgkinson.and North Queensland orogenic provinces. Within the Tasman Province there are four main ore-rock associations.These are1. manganese and iron with sedimentary and basic volcanic rocks,2. zinc-lead-copper and copper with intermediate-acid volcanic sequences,3. minor chromium, platinum, and osmiridium with ultramafic complexes, and4. tin, wolfram, gold, and copper with syn- and posttectonic granitic intrusions.Whereas the ores of ultramafic and volcanic associations form geographically-restricted metallogenic districts, the ubiquitous granitic ores may be subdivided into twenty-one districts that cover almost the entireOrogenic Zone. The Tasman Province is notably lacking in uranium ores and Mississippi Valley-type deposits.There is a distinct tendency for ores of each association to be progressively younger to the east and north, thus paralleling the progressive growth and stabilization of the Zone. Similar ore-rock associations are present in repeated phases of mineralization from the Cambrian to the Permian-Triassic, reflecting the essential homogeneity of the Tasman Province, and the similarity of the successive tectonic cycles.

Jan 1, 1972

THE treatment by chlorination of the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company's ores was first accomplished, early in 1886, by a works having a capacity of 25,000 tons per annum. Shortly afterwards another works was established, capable of dealing with 50,000 tons per annum. The extraction of gold was originally successful and satisfactory, but running expenses were high, averaging £2 19s. 6d. per ton of ore treated. These works were believed to be the largest chlorination pJants in the world at that time. As might have been expected, the mechanical details and chemical process had not been perfected, and, moreover, both works were hurriedly built, and operating expenses were not then considered of such prime importance, as the ore at that time was of very high grade the large quantities of low grade ore since dealt with not being then considered, since the bulk of it was not even known to be in existence.These two works consisted of lock-breakers, high speed rolls, screens, elevators, &c., for crushing; a large number of small handrabbled reverberatory furnaces for roasting; one-ton chlorination barrels and three-ton leaching vats for chlorination.

Jan 1, 1910

The mineral industry is an important element in the human environment and in varying degrees contributes to the general standard of living throughout most of the world, both by supplying the basic materials required for heavy industry, transportation, construction, scientific equipment, and many labour saving tools and also by its contribution to the international economy.When projecting population growth and per capita resource utilization against a finite amount of nonrenewable mineral resources, it is apparent that at some future time, if the established trend continues, the supply of industrial minerals will progressively become exhausted according to their relative scarcity and world demand.In one way or another all of nature's mineral resources are used in the sel'vice of man. Some of the products of their manufacture are essential to the survival and further development of our civilization, others are luxuries, desirable but not essential. Marine vessels are essential to maintain a flow of resollrces around the world, and as trade increases the size of the fleet will grow and the quantities of metals needed will be greater.The commodities they transport, may be used in an inefficient or extravagant manner causing unnecessary depletion which may adversely affect the activities of future generations. An example that comes readily to mind is fuel oil, the international transport of which uses a vast tanker fleet. When refined, large quantities of motor spirit are used in motor vehicles. The U.S.A. alone uses 70 billion gallons annually in the 90,000,000 automobiles in use.Much of this is used in private cars-of which there is one for every 2'3 people-for transport between home and city. Well organized community transport would serve the same purpose, conserve a scarce commodity, take some of the stress out of livingdriving in a major city can hardly be considered a relaxing experience-and minimize the problem of atmospheric pollution.Whilst man has demonstrated his great versatility...

Jan 1, 1973

By B Orchard

New Zealand SteelÆs Waikato North Head mine, situated at the mouth of the Waikato River, supplies approximately 1.2 million tonnes per annum of titanomagnetite concentrate to the Glenbrook steel mill. The mine draws its fresh water supply from the Waikato River, abstracting approximately 38 000 cubic metres per day. During the concentration process of the ironsand, slimes are liberated into the plant wastewater. The plant wastewater, storm water and groundwater from the mining operation is treated and passed through settling ponds. Around 118 400 cubic metres per day of water are drawn from the recycle settling ponds for use in the concentration plant. Typically a daily average of up to 15 100 cubic metres of the treated water is discharged back to the Waikato River. Since the early 1990s significant improvements have been made to the water treatment at Waikato North Head mine and regularly the mine discharge water quality is similar or better than background river water quality.

Jan 1, 2002

Most mines in the Bundamba, North Ipswich, and Rosewood districts of the West Moreton coalfield of south eastern Queensland have installed washing plants during the last five years. Many problems were encountered in their installation, including the small size of washing plant required in many cases, the economical minimum ash content under present and future market requirements, production from a one-product washbox of large and small coal of quality to satisfy both markets, measures to avoid adding unnecessary moisture to the washed slack coals, and excessive middlings in some coals or soft clay in others.INTRODUCTIONIt was fortunate for Brisbane, which was to become the capital of a new State, Queensland, in 1859, and grow into a city of over half a million people by the time of its centenary, that coal was found in abundance almost on its doorstep near Ipswich, the first mine being opened at Redbank in 1843. This was followed by the opening of many more mines in that district and, some 40 years later, in the nearby Rosewood district where high-volatile gas coal was produced (Fig. 1). These discoveries ensured a supply of reasonably priced coal (currently about 85/- per ton delivered) in Brisbane, but the quality is inferior to that of other coals mined in Queensland beyond economic range of Brisbane.Various factors led to an increase in the average ash content of the West Moreton coals during and after the war. Between 1940 and 1952 the gasworks coals rose in average ash from 13 8 per cent to 23·9 per cent and the powerhouse coals from 17·1 per cent to 27·1 per cent. This drift was arrested by the installation of 28 screening and picking plants from 1952 onward, but it became obvious that mechanical cleaning of the coals was essential due to the competitive market for coal and the worsening quality of reserves.

Jan 1, 1963

Updraft sintering of lead concentrates was introduced at Port Pirie in 1955 and since that time a considerable amount of investigational work has been carried out in the laboratory and on the plant with the objective of improving both the understanding of the process and its practical application.From this work it is now possible to predict trends in design and operation, which should result in capital savings and increased efficiency of future updraught plants.INTRODUCTIONOver the last 70 years a remarkable advance has been made in the method of preparing lead concentrates for smelting in the Port Pide blast furnaces of The Broken Hill Associated Smelters Pty. Ltd. (RH.A.S.). Beginning in 1889 with heap roasting, the process progressed to Ropp roasters and Huntington-Heberlein pots in various combinations, then to multiple small Dwight Lloyd (D.L.) downdraught machines. In 1940 two large 10 ft by 50 ft D.L. downdraught machines were installed, and finally in 1955 updraught sintering was ,introduced with the installation of the present 10 ft by 99 ft sinter machine.At the time this last machine was built it was the first unit of its type and thus, of necessity, an experimental machine. During the eight years it has been operating a considerable amount of investigational work on sintering has been carried out both on the plant and in the laboratory.It is now felt that sufficient information is on hand to predict at least tentatively, some of the future developments in lead sintering, whereby both the quality of the sinter and the rate of production may be improved. This will result in a considerable reduction in smelting costs.

Jan 1, 1964

Most types of nuclear power reactors use uranium dioxide fuel. Power reactors using natural uranium dioxide fuel are of special interest to countries such as Australia that have their own uranium supplies. A wide range of uranium dioxide powders can be fabricated and the ideal one flows readily, presses without the need for binders or lubricants, sinters to the required density and gives low reject rates at all fabrication stages. Sinterable uranium dioxide is usually produced via the ammonium diuranate route.The Australian Atomic Energy Commission is aiming to demonstrate production of nuclear grade uranium dioxide from Australian concentrates, improving technology where possible. Details are given of the dissolution, solvent extraction, precipitation, filtration, drying, and· calcination-reduction steps. Solvent extraction from sulphate media is also under study with a view to developing a process to produce a nuclear grade product at the mine treatment plant site.

Jan 1, 1970

By Madgwick J. C, Ralph B. J

A method for the determination of microgram quantities of uranium in leachates from low grade uranium ores is described. Solubilized manium is purified by transfer to an organic solvent by a selective solvent extractionprocedure using tributyl phosphate, iso-octane, and aluminium nitrate. The organic phase is mixed with scintillation fiuors in toluene and the radioactive decay determined in a liquid scintillation counter. The method is sensitive and reproducible in the range 3-30 µg uranium.

Jan 1, 1978

By Freeman C, Dingley W

Addition of sodium nitrite-borax, sodium hydroxide, sodIUm carbonate, lime, or sodium silicate reduced wear of forged steel balls and cast iron slugs in wet grinding a complex zinc-lead-copper sulphide ore in laboratory ball mills. Maximum wear reductions were 27 per cent (forged steel balls) and 33 per cent (cast iron slugs) with sodium hydroxide and nitrite-borax additives respectively.Potential measurements of balls and slugs during grinding, and analysis of the data in terms of corrosion theory demonstrated that corrosive wear had been reduced or prevented by these additives. Actual per cent wear reductions were not equated to the rate of corrosive wear because of the undefined interdependence between abrasion and corrosion in wear processes. The investigation verifies that in laboratory ball mills corrosion is significant in the wear of grinding media and wear can be reduced by corrosion inhibition and pH adjustment.

Jan 1, 1978

By G McMillan, P Mulvey

"Geochemical characterisation is done based upon the geology and metallurgical batch testing prior to commencement of the operation of the plant.  Tailings repository design is based upon geochemical assessment of the waste material, as well as the geomechanical issues associated with storing the waste. The resultant conceptual and detailed design is incorporated into the environmental impact statement (EIS), upon which mine approval is based. The entire environmental monitoring and harm mitigation program, which is usually a condition of the Mine Lease approval, is based upon the applicability of the original characterisation.Tacit to this process is that there is no change in the geochemistry of the tailings, i.e. no change in the implications for acid & metalliferous or saline/neutral mine drainage (AMD/SNMD) generation. But any changes in milling and processing can have a substantive impact on the geochemical behaviour of the tailings metallurgy, and potentially render an operation non-compliant within the conditions of the mine license.Environmental and statutory approval implications for continuous improvements of metallurgy need to be understood because unintended consequences could cost more than the benefits of the improvement, and in some cases cost more than all the profit made from the mine.  Examples uncovered during audit and consultant practice will be presented together with a process to ensure implications for adverse environmental harm and license conditions are fully considered.*This paper is only available for individual download. It is not included in the conference proceedings*CITATION:Mulvey, P, 2013. Continuous improvement - how changes in metallurgy can have a substantive impact on environmental impact and closure - lessons learnt from environmental auditing, presented to MetPlant 2013 Conference (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Jul 15, 2013

The Hill 50 Gold Mine is situated at Boogardie, 3 miles on a bearing of 295 degrees from; Mount Magnet township. Mount Magnet lies 300 miles north-north-east of Perth, Western Australia (Fig. 1).The older workings of the mine may be identified with those of Sirdar, Gold Mining Lease 696M The Sirdar had been worked before 1902 though no records remain, and irom 1903 to 1912 about a thousana tons at a grade of 6' 2 dwt. was extracted annually; by the end of 1918 6,225 oz. of gold had been obtained from the milling of 17,852 tons of ore. In view of these yields, and the length and width of the lode, this mine was early recognized as one of the most promising in the district. From 1919 to 1924 the ground,including G.M.L. 1282M, was held as Mt. Zion G.M.L. 1183M.The Hill 50 Gold Mine N.L. company took up the workings as Hill 50 G.M.L. 1282M in 1934 and have continued operations to the date of writing. To the end of 1956 the Hill 50 Gold Mine had yielded 982,106 tons of ore for a return of 448,'602 fine oz. of gold.The mine has been described by: J utson (1915), Feldtmann (1920), Johnson (1949), and Finucane (1953). Finucane (1953) details the mine structure to a depth of 414 ft. The author was able to examine the mine to a depth of 1305 ft. Detailed main level mapping to the 1060 level and a detailed surface examination have revealed aspects of the structure which were previously obscure.

Jan 1, 1960

The coalmining industry in most countries has, at various times, suddenly been confronted with a decrease in demand for coal. Readjustments made to reduce productive capacity to match the reduced demand for coal have often resulted in hardship to mineworkers, loss of capital investment to mineowners and loss of coal reserves. The consequences of the methods of readjustment adopted in the past have contributed to the low esteem in which coalmining has come to be regarded by a large section of the gel).eral public in many countries.Four sections of the coalmining industry, representing different periods of time, different countries, and different methods of industrial organisation have been examined:Great Britain and the U.S.A. during the inter war years, the post war European Coal and Steel Community, and post war Great Britain under the National Coal Board. An assessment has been made of the methods adopted in each case to reduce productive capacity to match a reduced demand for coal. Finally the fundamentals of the problem-as it affects the coalmining industry of any country-are considered, and possible solutions put forward.During the 1950's, surplus productive capacity was a problem in many coalmining countries, including Australia and New Zealand. As a rule no techniques are developed beforehand to solve problems introduced by a sudden decrease in demand for coal. The situation is usually tackled by a series of short term decisions based on expediency, which often in the long run only aggravate the problem.

Jan 1, 1961

Recycling and Recovering Fine Particles from Auto Shredding Residue (ASR/SR) to Conserve Raw Materials and Protect Environment

Sep 13, 2010

Terramin Australia LimitedÆs Angas Lead and Zinc Mine operates in the unique and picturesque environment of Adelaide Hills, 60 km South East of the Adelaide city centre itself. The mine was granted approval for construction by the South Australian Government in April 2007 and the Process Plant was constructed and commissioned in July 2008. This paper outlines the background to the plant design and the approval process given the close proximity to the local town of Strathalbyn, with a major focus on the commissioning learnings from the Concentrator startup for future reference and a review of the operational performance of the Concentrator throughout the first year of successful production versus design and expectations.

Jan 1, 2009