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By Upfold RW, Nguyen VU

The extraction and utilisation of metals and materials is the basis of modern civilisation, and will remain so for many decades, Traditional metals are facing some challenges and research is needed in specific areas, to improve metal extraction processes, to develop processes for newer metals and minerals, and to develop new applications, The shortage of metallurgists now becoming apparent in Australia is a further significant problem that needs urgent attention, and much more publicity is required for the Mineral Industry, as well as for the utilisation Industries,

Jan 1, 1986

By Fyodorov A. N, Sorokin M. L, Komkov A. A

The Vanyukov Process is a bath smelting technology, that has been investigated for over 25 years and since 1977 has been in use on an industrial scale. Results of trials that have been carried out at the various pilot facilities over the past 15 years are considered in this paper. Both the main process aspects, design of the pilot furnaces and metal distributions are presented for consideration. Experience of the smelting of copper, copper-nickel, copper-zinc, nickel, lead, and pyrite concentrates is analysed.

Jan 1, 1992

By S C. Sc, J Young, N Belluz, D Nicholas

The heavy sulfide zone (HSZ) of the Grasberg deposit has the geometry of a funnel and is located at the contact of the mineralised intrusive and the relatively barren sedimentary rock types. The geometry and the rock properties associated with the HSZ plays a significant role in pushback design and sequencing. Most of the HSZ has relatively low strengths which must be considered in slope design and management. This paper presents the open pit mine geotechnical and planning design considerations associated with the HSZ.

Jan 1, 2007

By Maslov LA

We have considered the following characteristics of the crust and upper mantle of the Pacific Belt: seismic wave velocit> anomalies, mechanical stress and shear deformation rate fields, heat flow and the pattern of metallogenic provinces of the Belt. It has been noted that there exist certain regularities in distribution of the above mentioned geophysical characteristics and metallogenic zones within the Belt, displayed by prevalence of the lithophile elements in the Asia-Australian part of the Belt, and of the chalcophile ones within the American part.

Jan 1, 1995

By Erickson M. E, Smith C. K, Carswell J. T

Thirteen holes totalling 3200m were surveyed using a downhole time domain Geonics EM37 system at the 830 metre level within the CSA Mine, Cobar, New South Wales, in order to search for blind, electrically conductive sulphides at some distance from exploration drillholes. A significant off-hole conductor was detected in only one drillhole.Geophysical modelling and interpretation of the survey results indicated that this off-hole conductor was caused by a sulphide lens 30 metres from the drillhole at a hole depth of 220 metres.

Jan 1, 1990

By Pollard DM, Willis GM

The removal of bismuth from liquid copper in a vacuum furnace was studied over a range of pressures. The rate determining step changes from diffusion in the gas at pressures above 0.2 Torr to approach the Langmuir evaporation rate at pressures of 10-2 Torr. Oxygen and sulphur were found to have a negligible effect on the rate. Bismuth removal from copper sulphide was found to be considerably slower than from copper. This is consistent with the known thermodynamic properties of ternary sulphide melts.

Jan 1, 1980

By Doyle R

Underground operations commenced at Tower Colliery in late 1978 and the early prevailing mining conditions in the worked seam were considered poor as a result of high stress and geological disturbances. This suggested that outbursting activity may be a possibility. The colliery has since recorded a total of 13 individual outburst incidents, all of which have been associated with the same dyke and strike-slip fault zone. This paper depicts the geological conditions and presents the results of investigations undertaken at the time of these outbursts.

Jan 1, 1986

A conventional Bucket Wheel Excavator (BWE) system with conveyor transport, mobile tripper and spreader was commissioned at the Goonyella Mine in 1982. The system was introduced to prestrip ahead of dragline excavations and was specified to remove 7.5 million cubic metres per annum in ground somewhat harder than that inwhich bucket wheel excavators are normally operated.This machine has, since 1982, moved more than 77 millionbank cubic metres of material and has been relocated twice. Extensive trials have been undertaken including digging blasted rock.

Jan 1, 1992

By Jones KW, McClelland RA, Denholm WT, Taylor RN, OÆShea J

Associated Tin Smelters, Sydney, are developing tin smelting operations in a prototype commercial SIROSMELT plant comprising two furnaces of 5 to 8 tonnes capacity. Features of the plant and its operation are discussed and results of its application to tin slag reduction and high-grade tin concentrate smelting are presented. Development work is still in progress but experience indicates that the technology has potential for lowering the costs of tin smelting and relieving constraints on grade and iron content of concentrate imposed by conventional technology.

Jan 1, 1984

The basic flowsheet for the Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter and Kwinana Nickel Refinery are discussed in relation to the mineral components of Kambalda produced nickel concentrates. Both processes handle violarite and pentlandite satisfactorily but the smelter has limitations where high copper recovery is required and in its ability to handle magnesia containing minerals. While the latter can be more economically handled at Kwinana the limitations of this tolerance are discussed together with problems arising from treating pyrrhotite, pyrite and precious metals by the Sherritt Gordon process.

Jan 1, 1973

Aluminium, the third most abundant element in the earth's crust, has been regarded by some people as the metal of the 20th century. A metal symbolising another great leap forward in man's technological development.From the stone age man advanced to the bronze age, the iron age and now the age of aluminium.The 19th Century discovery of elec-tricity was quickly followed by the discovery of the Hall-Heroult process of smelting aluminium. It is this same basic process we use today.

Jan 1, 1985

By Hanaoka K, Ikeda K

Kakogawa Works, Kobe Steel, Ltd. has two pelletizing plants and one sintering plant, and the blast furnaces have been operated with 30 - 50% pellets. At Kakogawa Works, various improvements in pellet quality have been carried out since the beginning of operation of the pelletizing plant. Especially, dolomite-fluxed pellets developed in 1975, have superior high temperature properties. The fuel rate of the large blast furnaces at Kakogawa Works has been reduced to 450 kg/t- hn by using a high percentage of dolomite-flux ed pellets.

Jan 1, 1980

By Rose CW

Typical rehabilitation programmes for spoil piles and waste dumps in open cut coal mines involve the spreading of topsoil to assist vegetation growth. In the early years of rehabilitation before a protective vegetation cover has been established, this topsoil is susceptible to erosion during rainfall events. Since the long term success of rehabil- itation procedures is sensitive to adequate topsoil maintenance and since, on many mine sites, topsoil is a scarce resource, erosion losses of topsoil (particularly once fert- ilised) can severely restrict rehabilitation Measures.

Jan 1, 1983

By Remilton D, Raston GR

The low price of nickel which has prevailed since 1982 has dictated that unit production costs must be minimised. Early in the crisis, a decision was made within Western Mining Corporation to reduce unit costs by increased rates of production, not by a significant reduction in manpower. This paper details developments which have taken place at Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter to enable the higher production rates to be achieved, or to increase energy efficiency. It is significant that most developments were achieved without the need for capital expenditure.

Jan 1, 1985

By C A Heinrich, Jaques A. L, L A I Wyborn

Most orebodies have cross-sections of less than I km2 and hence do not offer a particularly large target for exploration. Fortunately, although in the geological record ore deposits are small and rare and result from the exceptional coincidence of certain geological processes, these processes are mappable on a much larger, district to regional scale and constitute a mineral system in which the ore deposit is the central feature. A mineral system can therefore be defmed as 'all geological factors that control the generation and preservation of mineral deposits, and stress the processes that are involved in mobilising ore components from a source, transporting and accumulating them in more concentrated form and then preserving them throughout the subsequent geological history'. The mineral system concept emphasises that for many ore deposit types, although economically viable mineralisation may only occur on a scale of say, hundreds of metres, the total system offluid-rock interactions that led to ore formation can extend over a distance of tens to hundreds of kilometres around the deposit. When mapped out, the total mineral system provides a far larger exploration target than the actual ore deposit itself. Important geological factors defining the characteristics of any mineralising system include: I. sources ofthe mineralising fluids and transporting ligands; 2. sources ofthe metals and other ore components; 3. migration pathway; 4. thermal gradient; 5. energy source; 6. a mechanical and structural focusing mechanism at the trap site; 7. chemical and/or physical traps for ore precipitation. Many of these factors individually are common through

Jan 1, 1994

By K Saito, M Hasegawa

Removing sulfur and phosphorus from molten iron can be expressed by the following reactions, respectively. [S]Fe + (O2-)slag = (S2-)slag + [O]Fe [P]Fe + (3/2) (O2-)slag + (5/2) (FeO)slag = (PO43-)slag + (5/2) Fe(liquid) These equations indicate that desulfurisation and dephosphorisation have opposite oxygen potential conditions. If a small amount of desulfurisation slag not removed is carried over to dephosphorisation process, the reaction of sulfur mentioned above proceeds toward left hand resulting in increasing sulfur content in molten iron. For better understanding of such re-sulfurisation reaction in hot metal pre-treatments, the present study aimed at evaluating the effect of iron oxide on the sulfur distribution ratio between slag and hot metal. To measure sulfide capacities and FeO activities simultaneously at temperatures below the melting point of pure iron, CaO-SiO2-FeO and CaO-Al2O3-FeO ternary molten slags were brought into equilibria with copper-iron-sulfur liquid alloys, and the equilibrium oxygen partial pressures were determined with an electrochemical technique involving the stabilised zirconia solid electrolyte. The experimental results showed that the sulfide capacity increased with an increase in FeO content, and this trend was consistent with the fact that FeO was basic. Although the addition of FeO raised the FeO activity and oxygen potential, the calculated value for sulfur distribution ratio between slag and hot metal increased with increasing FeO content.

Jun 19, 2024

By S Gossmann, J Barlow, S Denner

"Unconventional gas resources, including coal seam gas (CSG) reservoirs, can be located above and below aquifers that provide groundwater for agricultural, industrial, urban and other uses. Development of these resources may, therefore, lead to potential impacts on groundwater supply.Management of reservoir/aquifer interconnections necessitates a program of focused data acquisition. For example, groundwater transfer from shallow aquifers to underlying CSG reservoirs may occur where CSG-containing units subcrop beneath shallow aquifers, possibly at significant distances from operating wells.Arrow Energy is undertaking studies of connectivity between aquifers including an investigation in collaboration with the Queensland Office of Groundwater Impact Assessment to evaluate connectivity between the Condamine Alluvium (CA) and CSG-containing Walloon Coal Measures (WCM).The Condamine Valley hosts highly productive agricultural land with groundwater resources heavily utilised for irrigation. Water demand outstrips available supply and groundwater has been subject to restrictions on further development since the early 1970s. Developments that could have an additional impact on groundwater resources in the CA are of major concern to local landholders. This paper describes: planned field investigations at two sites: 1. Stratheden, where pumping from the WCM will be undertaken 2. Daleglade, where pumping from the CA will occur how the data to be collected from field investigations will be used to refine predictions of flux between the CA and the WCM.CITATION:Denner, S, Gossmann, S and Barlow, J, 2013. Planned field investigation of connectivity between the Condamine Alluvium and Walloon Coal Measures, in Proceedings Water in Mining 2013, pp 91-98 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Nov 26, 2013

By R Carreau

The results of a detailed acid rock drainage (ARD) prediction program were used to revise the waste rock segregation criteria at the Restigouche open pit mine. Waste rock at the site was predominately derived from altered volcanic rocks that hosted a massive sulfide lead/zinc orebody. The program assessed the five years of drainage chemistry from both the potentially acid generating and the non-acid generating waste rock storage facilities in addition to laboratory-based kinetic test results. Material-specific leaching characteristics including relative metal-release rates and neutralisation potential depletion rates were determined from 12 laboratory-based kinetic tests. Solid-phase analyses indicated that, although pyrite was typically the most abundant sulfide mineral in the waste rock, its abundance varied significantly as documented by total sulfur contents ranging from 4.0 per cent. Kinetic test results were used to establish revised waste rock segregation criteria based on total sulfur content and neutralisation potential. The revised criteria maintain that waste material with a total sulfur content 4.0 per cent as potentially acid generating. When present in sufficient quantities, ankerite provided an effective source of neutralisation potential for the range of observed sulfide oxidation rates. Kinetic testing documented that up to 6 kg CaCO3/t was ineffective at neutralising acidity in samples that contained >4 per cent S. The carbonate molar ratio measured from the humidity cells was adjusted to reflect the stoichiometry of the ankerite and applied as an NP/AP criteria for waste rock containing 0.1 <S per cent <4.0.

Jan 1, 2003

By P R. Lock

The Silver Swan nickel mine is located at the Black Swan Nickel Project, 53 km north east of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The Silver Swan orebody is a massive sulphide nickel deposit dipping 70¦ east with an average in situ grade of 14 per cent. Mining of the massive orebody is by Mechanised Ramp Cut and Fill (MRCF). A mining recovery of 98 per cent and minimising dilution are primary goals in extracting the high-grade ore. Placing a distinguishable marker bed (working platform) on rock fill was identified as a key method to achieving these goals. Gravel from a pit located onsite was considered the most suitable material for the marker beds. Research undertaken to design the marker beds using the gravel revealed conventional methods used in mining would not suffice, but that road stabilisation methods could be a viable alternative. Trials used a road recycler to mix cement and gravel in situ and several test beds were constructed on the surface to determine the final design. The trials attempted to replicate a marker bedÆs life cycle of construction and placement and mucking of ore from the marker bed. Testing the marker bed for strength for use as a working platform was completed using a Clegg Hammer; good correlation to a Clegg Impact Value and the compressive strength of the stabilised gravel was found. This paper describes the use of a road stabilisation machine, tests conducted, monitoring and marker bed design and discusses underground placement of the marker bed and its performance.

Jan 1, 1998

By S Dirdjosuwondo, R Plaisance, L Thoma

PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of New Orleans-based Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold of New Orleans, operates a large mining complex on the Western half of the Island of New Guinea in Tembagapura, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. The IOZ (Intermediate Ore Zone) mine, one of the underground orebodies, is mined by block caving. The area affected by the cave collects a large quantity of rain and ground waters mixing with fine rock particles. The mixture, commonly called æwet muckÆ, sometimes spills into drawpoints and makes the working environment hazardous to the loader operators. Wet muck is observed in an increasing number of drawpoints in the IOZ mine and remote LHD (Load-Haul-Dump) technology has been implemented to handle the ore. The driving force for this automation project has been the safety of the loader operators. The system has been developed mainly in-house and incorporates state-of-the-art features. Up to eight remote loaders and nine rock breakers are controlled from an underground control room located approximately 400 metres from the active extraction panels. The two underground crushers and nine conveyor feeders are also operated remotely from an adjacent control room. The development of FreeportÆs remote system has taken time and considerable effort. Not only the success of the IOZ mine was at stake but also the fulfillment of environmental commitments pertaining to the mill tailings. Approximately eight per cent of the mill feed must come from underground skarn deposits to neutralise the acid-generating tailings generated by the huge Grasberg open pit ores.

Jan 1, 2000