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By N A. Sikwa, L M. van Niekerk, G N. Ndlovu

In June 2012, Lucara Diamond Corporation officially commissioned its Karowe Diamond Mine in Letlhakane, Botswana. The processing plant circuit incorporates variable speed autogeneous milling, a first for African diamond processing - only previously practiced in Russia. The paper discusses the basis for the selection of milling against the more traditional circuits incorporating crushing and scrubbing. It covers early commissioning challenges of operating a mill in an æalien environmentÆ with no immediate reference plant to look up to for bench-marking.The paper describes how these challenges were overcome and learnings quickly incorporated into the mill operating philosophy for maximum diamond liberation and minimum product damage. The plant was commissioned in three months and by August 2012 the production ramp up had reached name-plate capacity. The feed to the mill has varied from highly weathered material to extremely hard kimberlite and the operating philosophy had to be optimised for the full range of ore types. While more work is required to stretch the mill operating envelope coupled with other circuit additions to improve liberation of fine diamonds at minimum capital expenditure, the mill has, to date, performed to its billing.CITATION:van Niekerk, L M, Ndlovu, G N and Sikwa, N A, 2013. Commissioning and operating an autogeneous mill at Karowe Diamond Mine, in Proceedings MetPlant 2013 , pp 215-228 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 15, 2013

By P Fuller, A R. Penney

Re-commencement of mining in the Western Zone of Beaconsfield Gold Mine following a seismically-induced rockfall fatality in April 2006 required a change of mining method involving drilling and blasting from specially developed drives in the footwall of the orebody. Broken ore is mucked remotely from ore drives on each level. Support in the footwall drives is required to maintain stability during their development and as stopes are retreated, which increases induced stresses and further seismic events are triggered. The paper outlines the challenges involved and methods used to select the footwall drive support to handle both static and dynamic load demand. The importance of load development in the support system, its displacement capacity, the compatibility of support elements and energy absorption capacity of the support system are highlighted. It is usual in any support selection process to ensure that capacity exceeds demand to create a factor of safety. In this case the demands on the system relate to load, displacement and energy absorption and the support system capacity for each must ensure that appropriate factors of safety for each are achieved. The paper shows how these factors are not independent and that selecting a high factor of safety for load can lead to compatibility problems with support elements in the support system.

Jan 1, 2008

By H Benzer

Grinding clinker to finished cement consumes more energy than any other comminution process. World production of cement in 2009 was 2840 million tonnes and the energy required for comminution was 40-60 kWh/tonne depending on the clinker characteristics and the fineness of the finished cement. Machines used include single and multi compartment ball mills, HPGRs, vertical roller mills, centrifugal air separators, V separators, screens and crushers. The circuit most commonly used consists of a closed circuit HPGR followed by a single compartment ball mill and an air separator, and in operation the variables are adjusted to obtain maximum throughput with no loss of quality of the separator fines.A common objective in cement plants is to reduce energy consumption without affecting the particle size in the finished cement and simulation is used as one procedure to achieve this. Models are now available for all the machines commonly used in clinker circuits and circuit optimisation studies using simulation have been carried out in many plants leading to decrease in energy consumption per tonne of cement. In this paper the models used will be discussed briefly and several case studies will be reviewed which will highlight the effect of change in ball size in a two compartment mill, the role of the HPGR in an HPGR – ball mill – air separator circuit, and the use of a high intensity vibrating mill for producing finished cement with high additive ratio.

Aug 8, 2011

By P Corbett, P Sheffield

Centennial Coal operates the Springvale longwall mining operation which extracts coal beneath the Newnes Plateau in the Western Coalfields of New South Wales. Springvale, and the neighbouring Angus Place mine, have a history of difficult geotechnical conditions where combinations of a relatively high stress regime and weak, laminated roof and extensive geological faulting has led to numerous roof failures throughout the mine’s life. Following development, the mines underground roadways can experience high levels of roof movement which may lead to roof falls. Multipoint wire extensometers are extensively used throughout the mine for roadway condition monitoring, and to reactively drive remedial strata support through trigger action response plans (TARPs).As a result of the use of high-density extensometer monitoring over a long period, the mines have an extensive archive of legacy data. Data processing has evolved over time in order to accommodate the increasing data volume, including direct data entry from the recently introduced hard-wired real-time monitoring instruments. It is likely that telemetric real-time instruments will be introduced in the future, which will cause another step change in data management requirements. This paper discusses the transition to and evolution of relational database management systems for extensometer and associated data.This paper also presents case studies of the use of a new software tool for reprocessing legacy data to enable time-scaled visualisation of monitoring data in the context of longwall and development face positions and installed strata support. The software can be used proactively in the identification of geotechnical risk factors and their interaction with the mining process to allow a more robust geotechnical hazard process. It interfaces directly with the widely used ExtoChart database software and can be presented with scale drawings of geological and geotechnical data to allow correlation of monitoring data results with risk factors.CITATION:Corbett, P and Sheffield, P, 2015. The use of high-intensity monitoring data to better characterise geotechnical properties of a non-homogeneous rock mass, in Proceedings Third International Future Mining Conference, pp 145–158 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 4, 2015

By A Yáñez, P Vallejos, R Grau, J Yianatos

In flotation cells, especially in large flotation units, froth management is a crucial variable that should be considered during the design phase or optimised to improve the performance of existing flotation circuits. This paper presents a simulation evaluation of the effect of launder design on the metallurgical performance of an industrial flotation circuit consisting of five TankCell® e630 (630 m3 ) cells in a Cu rougher duty. This analysis was carried out using a new industrial simulator, which was built on a wide database collected from many industrial concentrators. This tool is currently incorporated into HSC Chemistry® software and allows evaluation of the effect of launder design on mineral froth recovery, water recovery, entrainment, and other variables to be quantified. The industrial flotation circuit was evaluated under different launder design scenarios, considering an actual flotation circuit that includes TankCell® e630 cells for calibration and as a reference (baseline). Firstly, two different designs were evaluated in the full circuit: a standard launder design and a new launder technology. It was found that the new launder technology enabled improvement of the mineral recovery along the circuit, mainly for coarse particles, due to the improvement in froth mineral recovery. Next, the partial upgrade of the launder design along the circuit was analysed. Thus, the new launder technology was evaluated in the first and the last two cells of the bank. The results showed that upgrading the launders in different cells along the circuit delivered an increase in the final recovery with respect to the baseline, with a partial impact on the concentrate grade. However, these changes are less than those when evaluating the full upgrade scenario. A partial launder upgrade either in the first or last two cells of the bank showed similar final recoveries, but the latter enabled a slightly higher concentrate grade (about 1 per cent higher) to be achieved. Finally, the evaluation of launder design using the industrial simulator made it possible to estimate its effect on variables that are not commonly obtained from plant surveys, including froth recovery per particle size, collection recovery per particle size and liberation, gangue entrainment and bubble loading grade.

Aug 24, 2022

By J White

The Eyre Peninsula (EP) has been known for its iron ore for more than a century. Edward John Eyre noted the ironstone outcrop at what is now Iron Knob in the 19th century. Sir Douglas Mawson visited and reported on the geology of the lower EP in 1906, noting the widespread presence of iron stone and the likelihood of copper being associated with the iron stone. Despite this knowledge there has been only one successful iron ore mining region developed on the EP and that is Iron Knob and the Middleback Ranges which have been mined continuously since 1899. The Middleback Ranges can justly lay claim to be birth place of the Australian iron ore and steel industries.The discovery of large scale haematite resources in Western Australia meant that there was no need to seek out iron ore that needed benefi ciation. The low price of iron ore precluded further development of the EP and many other areas in Australia and overseas. This situation changed rapidly in the mid-2000s with the emergence of China as the world’s industrial power house and the soaring demand and price for many resources including iron ore. This triggered a flurry of activity across Australia and led to the rapid exploration and drives to develop the EP iron ore. A brief examination of the magnetic maps of the EP shows the wide spread presence of magnetite and associated smaller haematite deposits. A closer look reveals the magnetite deposits to vary in formation style and host rock lithology as well as being significantly altered by regional metamorphism. *This is an abstract only. No paper was provided for this abstract.*

Jul 11, 2011

By J C. Carlile

Many low sulphidation epizonal gold and zinc-lead vein deposits within magmatic arcs are situated on basement highs, and post-date both the main volcanic episode and porphyry copper (gold) mineralisation. These features are best explained by emplacement of a flat batholith a few kilometres beneath each mineral district, as recently demonstrated by geophysical data in the Baia Mare district of Romania. The batholith provides heat for the hydrothermal system, and results in extensional faulting both through up-doming of the overlying rocks, and in some arcs through incipient collapse of the thermally weakened crust under regional extensional stress. More water-rich magmas emplaced at greater depths could explain some deep epizonal and mesothermal gold deposits situated outside magmatic arcs.

Jan 1, 1995

This paper describes techniques that have been used at RixÆs Creek Colliery to control blast vibration from throwblasts that face a residential area 4 km in front of the face. The paper describes blast design, face control including laser profiling, selective loading of blastholes after borehole camera surveys, and techniques used to assess the effect of burden variation, the cumulative effect of drilling and delay sequence, and the effects of meteorology.

Jan 1, 2001

By X Hill

Throughout the 2016/2017 financial year, the NSW Resources Regulator conducted an assessment of each underground metalliferous operation across the state to assess how each operation managed the principal mining hazard of ground and strata control. The assessment considered all aspects of the mining process, including all aspects of managing geotechnical risk within drawpoints. This assessment is ongoing and, therefore, this paper is limited to the first six mines assessed in the program.In 2015 there were three fatalities in and around underground drawpoints in Australian metalliferous mines. Whilst many of the systems of work around underground development are consistent across the industry, there are large discrepancies around how each underground mining operation manage the risks associated with drawpoints.For drawpoints to be effectively managed, their management needs to be considered at the earliest stages of the mine planning process. By using downholes and adopting remote systems of work – systems that are continuing to improve with technology – the risks drawpoints posed can be greatly reduced.The assessment by the NSW Resources Regulator revealed a number of common failings across the state in the management of the risks that drawpoints pose. The assessment also observed a number of innovative practices that particular operations have adopted in the wake of serious incidents occurring within drawpoints at their operation; however, these practices have not been communicated to other operations.It is hoped the learnings from the assessment can be considered by industry and reduce the risks drawpoints pose in underground metalliferous mines.CITATION:Hill, X, 2017. Learnings from review of drawpoint management across New South Wales mines, in Proceedings 13th AusIMM Underground Operators’ Conference 2017, pp 143–150 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Oct 16, 2017

By J V. Lawless

Mineralisation processes in epithermal deposits in the North Island of New Zealand are best illustrated by considering the two most productive deposits: Waihi and the Thames Bonanza Zone (TBZ), which have different mineralogies and ore shoots geometries. These two deposits can be taken as typical of certain styles of epithermal deposits worldwide, and recognition of their differences can be used to develop mineralisation models of predictive value. Waihi, the major economic producer in the Coromandel Volcanic Zone (CVZ), has laterally near-continuous ore shoots over a vertical interval of 600 m which consist of quartz, chalcedony, pyrite, base metal sulphides and electrum. They are found in the foot wall of earlier quartz veins which contain quartz pseudomorphs after platy calcite and adularia. The Thames Bonanza Zone which was the second biggest producer in the CVZ has discrete near-vertical ore shoots over 300 m vertically, which consist of quartz, pyrite, base metal sulphides, electrum and in their upper parts barite, that are enclosed in veins of quartz.   The gold mineralisation in both deposits is considered to be a co-precipitate with pyrite, with that at Waihi produced by prolonged boiling in an upflow of a hydrothermal system. That at the TBZ was produced by mixing a deep water primed for gold deposition by prior limited boiling, with an oxidised condensate of the steam released by the boiling, in an outflow proximal to the system's upflow.

Jan 1, 1997

By D O. Hayba

Metal-rich slurries discharged from excess-enthalpy geothermal wells at Kawerau (NZ) indicate that an efficient ore precipitation mechanism operates in some feedzones. In our conceptual model, which takes into account the relative permeabilities of liquid and gas phases in boiling fluids, a metal-precipitating liquid phase is effectively immobilised along boiling fronts, leading to the formation of highly concentrated ore. Chemical equilibrium and heat/mass transport modelling demonstrate the general applicability of this conceptual model to hydrothermal eruption environments.

Jan 1, 1995

By G King, Q Shu, W Cao, F Gyakwaa, H Singh, S Wang, M Huttula, T Fabritius

Metallurgical slag, such as refining slag, is essential to enhance or promote steel cleanliness. The CaO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2 system is the primary source of oxides-based inclusions. It plays a vital role in applications in various pyrometallurgical processes. Numerous thermodynamic databases and physicochemical properties of slag studies mainly focus on quenched samples and measurements at room temperature. Consequently, the present study explored the physicochemical, structural properties and crystallisation evolution for CaO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2 glassy slags via in situ hightemperature Raman spectroscopy and synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The study was carried out by synthesising CaO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2 slag with varying Al2O3/SiO2 ratios. The results from the in situ high-temperature measurement demonstrated a pattern showing a transformation of a broad peak from the glassy matrix to crystalline peaks. The study showed crystallisation of dominant phases such as Ca2SiO4, Ca2Al2SiO7 and CaAl2O4 that correspond and are attributable to changes of structural units during in situ high-temperature measurements. The results further showed a correlation between an increase and transformation in crystalline phases observed from the spectra obtained from non-isothermal heating of the samples.

Jun 19, 2024

Mining and metallurgy are more capital intensive than all other industry in Australia. Capital demands are met by domestic and foreign sources of finance for whom the major constraints are the supply of funds and factors of risk and uncertainty. in both mineral development and institutional financing policies, specific options are available to administrators which would allow mining to benefit from a more reliable supply of capital. The strength of major partners involved and overseas participation are important aspects of financing mineral developments. Future changes in financing for the mineral industry are considered most likely in variable interest rate funding, in the leasing of major plant items, and in the development of flexible techniques to ease the burden of infrastructure costs. In a consultancy sense, financiers are available to mining to assist with and to advise on optimal develop- ment of mineral industry projects.

Jan 1, 1975

The Research on Refined Gold Bullions Surface Upgrading

Sep 13, 2010

Iron ore in the Middleback Range area has a density and susceptibility contrast with adjacent rocks, and gravity and magnetic methods are applicable to exploration for it. The gravity method is satisfactory whether the ore mineral is hematite, magnetite, or limonite; the magnetic method is suitable for detecting ores which contain magnetite, such as some hematite ore, magnetite ore, and possible ore in the form of magnetite-bearing schists. jaspilites, and carbonate rocks.Geophysical exploration began in 1948 and is still in progress. The methods which have been used are aeromagnetic (83 per cent), ground magnetic (13 per cent), gravity (3 per cent), and others (1 per cent). Ground magnetic surveys have been made wherever aeromagnetic surveys recorded large anomalies. The gravity method is being used to investigate those parts of the area considered most favourable for ore occurrence.Qualitative and quantitative interpretation of the geophysical data has been made and the rocks causing selected anomalies tested by bores.Magnetite in the Middleback Group rocks produces the major magnetic anomalies in the area. The average magnetite content of magnetite-jaspilite, which is the commonest rock type, is 33 per cent by weight and that of magnetite-carbonate at the Iron Duke-Iron Duchess is 50 per cent. These rock types also contain hematite and the average total iron content of the former is 35 per cent and of the latter 50 per cent.INTRODUCTIONThe geology and iron ore resources of the Middleback Range area were described by Miles (1954). Since 1954, much drilling, mapping, and quarrying has been done but there is no published report of this work.The rocks which constitute the Middleback Range, Camel Hill-Cooyerdoo line, Katunga Hill-Iron Knob, and Ash Range (Fig. 1) belong to the Middleback Group of Middle Precambrian or late Archaean age. Most outcrops of the Group are jaspilites, formerly called banded hematite (or magnetite) quartzite. The high grade hematite deposits...

Jan 1, 1964

By R L. Koenig

Previous papers at Metplant conferences have covered the options for crushing and grinding circuit selection. High Pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGR) may have considerable advantages over autogenous milling circuits but test work and evaluating different grinding circuits must be done to establish which circuit provides the best option. The Hawsons low grade magnetite project provides a specific example in using thorough test work, careful simulations and detail in design to allow the evaluation of grinding circuit performance. Fortunately tools are available for this evaluation and the test work for the Hawsons iron ore is detailed in this paper. The results of the test work and simulation indicates that although the Hawsons iron ore is competent in terms of autogenous milling given the medium hardness of the ore in the Drop Tests, the HPGR testing indicates that the use of HPGR is likely to use half the energy requirement. This is a characteristic of the Hawsons iron ore and is likely to be valid for other iron ores in the Braemer Iron Formation which stretches from the Hawsons lease in New South Wales to Razor Back and South Dam in South Australia. The Hawsons magnetite iron ore resource has been known from the early 1960s when CRA explored the area. However, the Pilbara region was discovered in this era and this led to development of high grade direct shipping grade hematite ores. Carpentaria Exploration (Capex) rediscovered the magnetite whilst undertaking multi-commodity exploration in the Broken Hill district during 2009. The magnetite grade was found to be low at around 16% Davis Tube mass recovery (DTR) but despite this, the project provides a positive business case as a result of the following key factors:• The mineralisation is particularly soft for crushing and grinding with a Bond Work Index of 6.3.• The mineralised rock fractures easily preferentially along grain boundaries.• The location is close to mining infrastructure and a skilled workforce in Broken Hill, 60km to the North East.• It is close to road and rail infrastructure for access to the resource.• The only contaminant in concentrate is silica.• The resource contains many billions of tonnes of magnetite mineralisation.The low Bond Work index is a key characteristic of the Hawsons iron ore and the use of autogenous milling and HPGR circuits is compared to other iron ores indicating why the plant energy requirement may be just as important as iron ore grades.

Aug 8, 2011

Copper Extraction from Scrap Cables by Biotechnological Means

Sep 13, 2010

By ZáWang, F Hungerford, T Ren

Operations in an underground drill site have to co-exist within the mineÆs ventilation and operational system. The space requirements of a drilling operation have to be adapted to the limitations provided in available site space, which is usually defined by standard mining operations and geotechnical influences. These limitations affect borehole design, equipment positioning in the site layout and possible interactions with mining equipment and services such as water and power supply.The ventilation requirements for drill sites and the means employed vary with depth of the site, space and likely presence of gas. All drilling operations provide a particular service for the mine and in each case, drilling must operate in a manner which controls all gas, water and cuttings returning from the borehole. The various standpiping systems employed have evolved under differing influences and must cater for conditions during and after the drilling operations.The influences that gas content, pressure and flow, rib stability, cleat direction, borehole length, potential water pressure and flow have on a mineÆs operation and ventilation systems have to be considered in the design of standpipe length, diameter and fittings. Past history has a strong influence on common practice while worst case effects of a possible in-hole event should be catered for.This paper describes the early drilling systems and their limitations in ventilation and gas management. The drill site dimensions and set-up are discussed in the context of roadway conditions, equipment layout, ventilation and logistics. The use of standpiping to control all returns from the borehole is illustrated by referring to likely scenarios in a drilling site to achieve the most effective sealed depth to accommodate the worst case possibility of intersecting high pressure gas or water during the drilling operation. Practices to allow gas drainage in the return airway of a panel are described.CITATION:Hungerford, F, Ren, T and Wang, Z, 2013. operational management of underground in-seam drilling sites, in Proceedings The Australian Mine Ventilation Conference , pp 43-48 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 1, 2013

By G Lane, M Bueno

In a recent publication (Bueno and Lane, 2011) the authors presented the analysis of a consolidated dataset composed by 137 autogenous/semi-autogenous grinding (AG/SAG) mill pilot trials. By comparing the measured data against theoretical specific energy consumption, the analysis indicated which circuit configurations were more or less energy efficient. However, the analysis has also indicated that the energy efficiency of each of the types of circuits vary significantly.There are numerous factors that contribute to the variations of energy efficiency of AG/SAG mill-based circuits, such as feed size distribution, recycle ratios and ore characteristics. In view of this, the present work accesses these factors individually and discusses what may lead a particular circuit configuration to be more or less efficient in terms of energy and costs.CITATION:Bueno, M and Lane, G, 2012. Key drivers of energy and cost efficiency in autogenous/semi-autogenous grinding circuits, in Proceedings 11th AusIMM Mill OperatorsÆ Conference, pp 113-118 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Oct 29, 2012

My speech this morning is not a technical one, rather I will aim to tell you about the New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Limited and how I see it fitting into the Western World aluminium scene.

Jan 1, 1983