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The mining of mineral sands in coastal aquifers is often constrained by other land use conflicts and inappropriate controls imposed through a lack of understanding of environmental interactions and processes. The recent experience with the Tea Gardens mining operation illustrates how increasing our knowledge and understanding leads to more effective management of environmental problems. As well as a source of heavy minerals, the Tea Gardens sand bed serves as a town water supply source. From past experience it was believed that mining could cause undesirable increases in dissolved iron concentrations in the aquifer, but the reasons and mechanisms for this phenomenon were not clear. A water monitoring program was therefore designed for the mining operation which was aimed at protecting the water supply borefield from any detremental effects. After one year the results of the monitoring program were assessed in the light of new knowledge and understanding of iron hydrochemistry. It was found that the existing program was not achieving some of its major aims, and was therefore modified to a more effective and cost efficient program.

Jan 1, 1988

An integrated computer system (the Short Term Mine Management System) has recently been developed by B.H.P. Steel Long Products Division in Whyalla, South Australia for use in their open pit iron ore mines.The system incorporates blast design, comprehensive blasthole data handling, grade coilrol, stockpile scheduling and management and reconciliation within a single, user friendly computer package. The blast design system allows the blasting engineer to design the layout of holes for a production blast using geological information projected from the bench above to aid in appropriate blasthole positioniog in particular rock types. The grade control system allows mining blocks to be designed and evaluated from blasthole information using interactive graphics processes. The handling, storage and reporting of blasthole survey, assay and geological logging data forms an integral part of this system. Stockpiles can be constructed from a number of mining blocks to reach a specified target grade using the stockpile management system. Although not yet integrated, the reconciliation system will reconcile stockpiles back to mining blocks and to the geological model.

Jan 1, 1990

By Marshall GA, Dickerson AW

The efficient operation of large haul trucks in large open pit mines requires an economic trade off between the haul route quality, the haul truck payloads and the level of haul truck reliability. This paper describes an investigation into the relation- ship between haul route surface quality and the level of structural reliability of a haul truck main frame. An instrumentation system for unattended recording of data on a haul truck operating normally in a mine and com- puter based analytical procedures were developed and used to identify which road segments contribute significantly to fatigue cracking at various sections of a haul truck main frame. INTRODUCTION In many open pit mines there is exten- sive use of large haul trucks to move over- burden and minerals. In most open pit hard rock mines, both the overburden and mineral ore are moved by large rear dump type haul trucks. Similar haul trucks are also widely used for coal overburden and mine site coal haulage operations in New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia. Large bottom

Jan 1, 1982

By West-Sells P, King J. A, Patel C

The Eskay Creek orebody is located in north-central British Columbia (Canada). The ore contains major gold and silver values and minor but economically significant quantities of zinc. The refractory nature of the gold necessitates a pressure oxidation pretreatment prior to cyanidation. After solid-liquid separation the oxidation solution can be treated by oxyhydrolysis for iron removal and cementation with zinc dust for noble element removal. The resulting solution, as obtained in pilot studies, contains 7 - 10 g/L Zn, 0.5 g/L Ca and 2 - 4 g/L Mg. Minor amounts of cadmium, copper and iron may also be present in the solution. Over 90 per cent recovery of zinc from Eskay Creek oxidation solutions could be obtained by four stages of zinc extraction with Cyanex 302 extractant (Cyanamid Canada Inc, Niagara Falls, Canada). Zinc was stripped from the organic with spent zinc electrolyte in two stages. A complete description of the bench scale and miniplant studies of the solvent-extraction electrowinning circuit follows. The behaviour of minor amounts of copper, cadmium and iron in the circuit is also Discussed.

Jan 1, 1993

Myuna Colliery long term ventilation requirements were included as part of the overall planning of colliery construction and underground development. Ventilation, during the simultaneous sinking of two drifts and the downcast shaft, was accomplished by established methods of ducted exhaust and blower fans. Drivages for the 3 seam interconnections of shaft and drifts were ventilated by extension and duplication of the exhaust systems. Ventilation, for the below seam extension of the belt drift, construction of between seam and below seam bins, and the completion of a circular between seam drift, required a step by step changeover to a temporary main ventilation exhaust fan mounted adjacent to the top of the completed downcast shaft. The second, permanent upcast, shaft was commenced and colliery production started one seam at a time, using the transport drift, while the underground bins, belt and between seam drifts were completed. The uocast shaft was completed and a connection made in the upper seam, completing all contract mining and allowing the main fan to be erected. The permenent twin centrifugal fan system was installed, commissioned and test run to

Jan 1, 1983

By Roe P, Lowell A

This paper outlines software development and design work carried out by Mincom Pty Ltd in collaboration with Capricorn Coal Management (CAPCOAL) for computer based design of rehabilitated strip mine landforms at German Creek Mine. Current developments and future application areas for this software are also discussed in relation to other mines in Central Queensland. The development program was initiated in response to statutory requirements placed on mining companies in 1990 to produce a five year Plan of Operations which was to include a contour plan of the final rehabilitated mine landform at the end of the five year planning period. This plan was to be submitted to the Department of Resource Industries (DRI) by 1 December 1990. Due to the limited time given to prepare the plan, a work program was formulated in collaboration with Mincom Pty Ltd to develop suitable software to carry out the design work and provide the required plans and quantities. The software had to include computer based methods to allow design of the proposed landform in line with the rehabilitation strategy adopted by CAPCOAL at the time.

Jan 1, 1991

By Martin C. H, Met B

INDEX OF CONTENTS:1. Introduction, Explanatory; and Reasons for Coal Cleaning.2. Principles on which Coal Cleaning is based.3. Location of Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd. Plant.4. Description of Processes Selected Barvoys Bath Process; Barvoys Medium Preparation and Treatment; Static Dry Cleaning Plant.5. Detailed Description of Plant.6. Typical Results of Cleaning Operations.INTRODUCTION, EXPLANATORY, AND REASONS FOR COALCLEANING:The Institute proceedings have not previously published any matter on coal cleaning and the reasons thereof; in consequence it has been deemed advisable to allot a part of this paper to explanatory matter, prior to entering into a detailed explanation and description of the Newcastle plant.At the outset it would be as well to consider briefly the kinds of materials from which coal has originated. All coals represent some stage in the decomposition and transformation of vegetable matter laid down in prehistoric times, the vegetable matter undergoing numerous geological changes, such as submergence, overlaying by sediment, with subsequent pressure and re-elevation; these processes may...

Jan 1, 1946

By Ruston R

When coal mining first commenced in Australia, the principle objective was low cost production with development directed toward recovery of 'easy' coal. Future expans- ion of these early mines into major under- ground operations was neither envisaged nor planned. As the demand for coal grew, these mines were expanded to increase output. however, the absence of initial ventilation planning brought about ad hoc systems wh;ch required continual repair and upgrading. These systems proved satisfactory in the short term because the majority of undergrouni coal mining operations were carried out at relatively shallow depths where gas emission rates were low. By comparison, coal is now being won at depths exceeding 500 metres with a corresponding increase in gas flow from the working seams and adjacent strata. The following paper addresses, firstly, the planning and institution of a ventilation system in a mine where previous inefficiencies were many, and secondly, the value of pre- planning a mine ventilation system in the early stages of mine development, and the need to continually review and upgrade the plan to account for unforeseen ^hanges.

Jan 1, 1983

By Dennis B

The Hilton Mine, 20 km north of Mount Isa was discovered in 1947. The underground mine has been a significant producer from 1989. The long development history is the result of complex orebody geometry, difficult metallurgy, dewatering problems and competition for development funds from the then expanding Isa Mine at Mount Isa. At present it produces 1.4 million tonnes annually. Its 21 million tonnes of reserves are necessary to supplement Isa Mine production.Hilton Mine is located in the Urquhart Shale formation of the Mount Isa Group, within the Mid Proterozoic Mount Isa Inlier. The seven developed orebodies have suffered strong structural deformation. Each orebody has a unique mixture of mineralogy and texture which effects ore value and metallurgical performance. These characteristics have proven useful for correlation purposes.The faulting and folding have caused difficulties with orebody interpretation, geomechanical complexities and has influenced the choice of mining methods: Initial cut and fill and open scope designs have given way to bench mining methods in response to better understanding of the eedloav and economic constraints.

Jan 1, 1993

GENTLEMEN, I have to thank you very much for the honour you have conferred upon me by electing me President of the Institute for this year. On behalf of resident members, I have to offer the visitors a very cordial welcome to Mount Morgan, and to tell them that all arrangements have been made to enable them to inspect the mine and works at their own convenience, and to supply them with any particulars they may need.It is very pleasing indeed to see such a large gathering, especially on account of the long journeys many have undertaken in order to be present. The first congress in Queensland, about eleven years ago, was attended by a comparatively small number of members, and a rather long time has been allowed to pass in consequence. The large attendance at this meeting encourages the holding of meetings in Queensland more frequently. Owing to the long distances, and the number of mining centres in Australia and New Zealand, we cannot expect to meet oftener than once in six or seven years in...

Jan 1, 1911

By S Sandover, D Glenister

Alcoa World Alumina Australia is committed to sustainability principles as a basis of business success into the future. In March 2001, Alcoa Inc chairman Alain Belda announced a set of far-reaching environmental goals for the corporation, with the challenge that they should be achieved in ways that enhance economic and social performance, while substantially reducing environmental impact. Application of Cleaner Production methods is seen as the key to achieving these joint objectives. In Australia Alcoa has launched a co-ordinated effort to accelerate our application of Cleaner Production principles to delivering cost-effective in-process solutions to environmental issues. Our Western Australian Operations are a signatory to the WA Cleaner Production Statement, through which we provide a Cleaner Production Plan to the State Government on a voluntary basis. This paper describes in general terms AlcoaÆs goals, achievements and directions in applying Cleaner Production to enhance business performance in the economic, environmental and social dimensions. Quantification of the benefits and tracking of progress in quantitative terms is a key challenge for the future

Jan 1, 2002

On a worldwide basis trackbound transportation is on the decline. As mining operations progress from open cast operations to underground operations, most utilise mechanised equipment. However, in South Africa hard rock mines, only a small percentage (¦10 per cent) of the production can be generated by mechanised methods and therefore trackbound mining methods will remain the dominant means to transport ore. In the Australian context there may be occasions where the nature of the orebody would dictate the use of rail transportation with the ore being transported from drawpoints by means of locomotives and hoppers. This paper focuses on horizontal rail haulage systems from the stope loading boxes to the shaft station area and will be largely based on South African experience. It is intended that this document will provide a practical guideline for mine designers and planners during the design process. The paper looks at trackbound transport systems and evaluates such items as construction and management of an underground rail haulage system. Current transportation systems for personnel, material and rock transportation are evaluated, gaps in technology highlighted, and recommendations made.

Jan 1, 2005

By A Rantala, K Aberkrom, O Haavisto, P Blanz

More complex ore bodies with lowering grades increase the challenges of maintaining high throughput, energy efficiency and required particle size for optimal downstream processing in grinding circuits. Continuous and often rapidly changing characteristics of the mill feed requires constant focus to operate the circuit at optimal level. Modern process instruments, on-line analyzers, monitoring and process control systems provide attractive and managed options to increase the circuits’ capability to respond to the challenge, often in phases and in rather short time period. Furthermore, well instrumented and performing base level automation in the grinding circuit enables advanced process control (APC) strategies that utilize measurements from the whole circuit to stabilize and optimize production. In this paper alternatives for incorporating process measurements and controls to typical grinding circuits are proposed. The expected benefits to throughput, availability, energy efficiency and particle size stability are described in recent case examples.CITATION:Rantala, A, Blanz, P, Aberkrom, K and Haavisto, O, 2015. Increasing grinding circuit robustness with advanced process control, in Proceedings MetPlant 2015, pp 129–141 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 7, 2015

By Belcher C. B

The Groote Eylandt manganese ore deposits contain mainly pyrolusite and cryptomelane with lesser amounts of the manganese minerals lithiophorite, todorokite, psilomelane, and nsutite. The major non-manganese minerals which occur are quartz, kaolinite, and goethite.Determination of the mineralogy relies mainly on x-ray diffraction analysis. Quantitative methods for the determination of pymlusite and cryptomelane in Groote Eylandt manganese ores have been developed, A large amount of isomorphous substitution may occur in the manganese minerals and a number of minor and trace element associations have been noted. A correlation has been established between the potassium and cryptomelane contents for a wide range of ore types. Anomalous calcium, magnesium, and sodium values occur in samples containing todorokite, and barium is associated with psilomelane. Groote Eylandt lithiophorite appears to contain negligible amounts of lithium (<O· 05 per cent).A relationship between the H20+ and the Al203, K20, and Fe203 contents has been estahlished indicating that much of the combined water content is due to the presence of kaolinite and goethite, and cap be removed by beneficiation of the ore.

Jan 1, 1975

By C E. J de Ronde, J G. Scott

Economic gold mineralisation was discovered at Round Hill by Homestake NZ Limited in 1984 and was subsequently put into production by Macraes Mining Company Limited (MMCL) in 1990. The total mineral resource in 1990 was estimated at 41.4 Mt @ 1.42 glt at a 0.7g/t cut off, for 1.8 Moz of gold. Since project start up the mill has been upgraded twice to increase throughput and reached its current capacity of 3.2 Mtpa. At 31 December 1996, a total of 16.2 Mt of ore at average grade of 1.73 g/t has been excavated, yielding 655,000 oz of gold. MMCL began exploration along the Hyde Macraes Shear Zone in 1994. Since 1994, exploration has been successful with the discovery of over 3.5 Moz of gold. The resource now stands at 110 Mt @ 1.46 g/t gold for 5.1 Moz. This success has led to a planned expansion of the processing capacity to 9 Mtpa with the building of a new 6 Mtpa processing plant.

Jan 1, 1997

In the Broken Hill South mine tile practice of issuing to the miner a quantity of fuse and a box of caps from which he made up the "rods" required for a particular blast, has been abandoned. Instead, capping stations have been established, and the miner can now obtain, from the magazines, fuses cut to accurate lengths with the detonators attached.Various types of fuse-cutting machines and crimping devices are available, but only those used by the Broken Hill South Mine Ltd. are described in this paper.The fuse-cutting machine, designed by the engineering staff, is an electrically driven unit fitted with a gear box for the purpose of adjusting the rate at which the fuse is fed to the cutting device, thereby enabling fuses of various lengths to be accurately severed from the main coil of fuse.The machine in question is designed to cut 4, 6, and 8-ft. fuses, but no difficulty should be experienced in designing a machine to cut fuses to any required lengths.

Jan 1, 1932

In the early stages of opening up a mine, when there is some uncertainty as to its future career, necessitating caution in laying out works of a permanent character, the want is often felt of an assay furnace, easily built and easy of transportation, should the" mine " prove to be " no mine." Again, cases occur in which parties buy the right to treat comparatively small heaps of tailings, and then shift their plant to other localities. Under these circumstances it is necessary to restrict the plant to the barest necessaries, to suit, so to speak, the nomadic character of the work.An assay furnace that is really portable, easily transported, erected, taken down, of little weight, always ready for action on short notice, is indeed in these cases a desideratum which has long been wished for. The gasoline furnaces introduced intothe Australian market some time since practically fulfil these conditions; but they have the fatal drawback of being dependent on a constant supply of the liquid fuel, gasoline, which is seldom, if ever, obtainable locally in' any wayback mining township...

Jan 1, 1904

I would take this, opportunity of thanking you for the high honour you have conferred on me in electing me to the responsible position of President. You may rest assured I will use my best endeavours to promote the interests of the Institute in every way that lies in my power. In reviewing the work of the past year, it is a matter for congratulation to find the Institute in a position at once so healthy and robust, and that notwithstanding the acute depression which has prevailed in the mining industry.Owing to deaths or departures from the colony, the names of six members have disappeared from the roll of membership, but you will be pleaed to learn that several new members have been elected, the register now, showing 56 Members, 25Associates and 2 Students. A complete record of the papers read and the discussions that took place will be found embodied in the splendid volume of Transactions which has just been issued, and which I am sure will be welcomed by mining engineers in all parts of the world.

Jan 1, 1901

By D Skinner, P Haeussler, D Bradley, A Christie

Mesothermal gold deposits of southernAlaska and Westland, New Zealand have both formed at the seaward edge of major collisional zones in the Pacific basin. In Alaska, production of large fluid volumes correlates in time with the addition of heat into the lower parts of the accreted terranes in the late stages of collisional orogeny. This heat was critical for driving both the metamorphic reactions that released the large volumes of fluid that carried the gold, and the contemporaneous widespread anatexis and magmatism. In Alaska's Chugach terrane, this heat as produced by subduction of a spreading ridge beneath the North America continental margin in the Eocene. The resulting products were the S-type granites and gold-bearing veins. The similar widespread S-type plutonism and gold veining in Westland's Buller terrane suggest that a similar tectonic event could have triggered ore formation along the southeastern edge of Gondwanaland. Based on the Alaskan model, a Devonian or Early Carboniferous age is favoured for high volume metamorphogenic fluid generation and gold vein formation in Westland.

Jan 1, 1995

By Pooley F. D

The coal measures of the South Wales coalfield contain at least 50 horizons at which coal seams are known, to occur. More than 300 samples of coal were collected from these coal measures and this paper outlines thefindings of an investigation of the pattern and distribution of 12 trace elements in South Wales coals. A comparison of trace element contents of the South Wales coals is made with trace element values found elsewhereand an attempt was made to establish the organic affinity of the elements in different seams and in the coalfield 'as a whole. An important function of such an analysis is to determine the order of abundance of trace elements and this was performed for individual seams and for the whole coalfield.The interrelationship of certain elements in some seams is also examined with a view to understanding the effectiveness of such an approach to seam correlation.Ranges of values are quoted together with the mean values of the various elements. Variations of elemental values within a seam section and over the coalfield as a whole are discussed.

Jan 1, 1977