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A combination of highly structured, fissile stope hangingwalls and high ground stresses have caused difficult mining conditions in the Main Lode Deeps at Lancefield Gold Mine. Cyclic reviews of ground support and stoping techniques, coupled with geotechnical investigations, and the application of numerical modelling has led to the successful management of stoping operations.

Jan 1, 1995

By R Sridhar, M Fe, W G. Bacon

The problems of magnetite build-up have plagued the non-ferrous pyrometallurgical industry for many years. To better understand these problems, a study was undertaken to determine the thermodynamic variables that affect the behaviour of magnetite under different smelting conditions. Equilibration studies were performed in the nickel smelting systems of matte-gas and matte-slag(silica saturation)-gas. The relationship of thermodynamic variables such as temperature, sulphur and oxygen partial pressure and matte grade on iron and magnetite activities were calculated and the significance on smelting parameters such as metal losses and partition coefficients were defined. The experimental data from this study were employed to develop practical methods which could be used to control the build up of magnetite, as well as to obtain additional metallurgical benefits. In general, a lower sulphur partial pressure and higher temperature operation was shown to enhance the metallurgical benefits of nickel smelting by decreasing the magnetite activity. Operating in this manner can also have added benefits such as higher metal recoveries, more efficient vessel utilisation and efficiency and lower smelter emissions at equivalent or higher primary furnace matte grades.

Jan 1, 2000

By Kapoor M. L

EMF measurements were performed in the temperature range of 933-1095 K to determine the thermodynamic properties of oxygen dissolution in liquid lead and lead-tin alloys with tin in the dilute concentration range of 0 to 6 atom per cent. The oxygen in the Pb-O system was varied by equilibrating with (PbO) slag, and that in the Pb-O-Sn system was varied with the addition of lead oxide. Wagner's interaction parameter approach was used to evaluate the self interaction parameter and ternary interaction parameters at different temperatures, to yield: E8(pb) = 97.35 - 113.27 x 103/t Eo(pb) = 139 - 20.616 x104/1' Quasichemical formulation was employed to yield Inf to reveal the effect of tin on oxygen in lead. Results have been predicted on the basis of classical models and those obtained using the QCT approach of Alcock and Richardson at Z=2 have been found to agree with the experimental Data.

Jan 1, 1992

By R Heath, P Rose, L Coetser

A sustained eight-year major research effort has been undertaken in South Africa to develop integrated passive water treatment systems for the sustainable removal of sulfates, while simultaneously addressing the removal of metals and acidity. The research effort addressed the problem both at a fundamental science level and at the more empirical pilot plant level. Whereas there are numerous anaerobic sulfate reducing reactors in operation on mine waters that remove some sulfate together with metals and acidity, these are typically plagued by low sulfate removal efficiency and gradual reductions in overall reactor efficiency with time. The South African research effort has focused on understanding the fundamental microbiological and biochemical reactions that occur in anaerobic reactors filled with lignocellulosic material and subjected to high sulfate water. Hypotheses have been developed that differentiate the reactions occurring in such a reactor into groups that should be individually optimised and these hypotheses have been verified through rigorous laboratory and pilot scale studies. The results of this research are incorporated into a patented multi-stage integrated passive treatment system that is capable of sustained high rate removal of sulfates, metals and acidity.

Jan 1, 2003

The nickel ores mined in New Caledonia for one century are mainly silicate ores. These ores are nickel enriched saprolites, formed by partial weathering of peridotites (predominantly harzburgites and some dunites), serpentinised to varying degrees. Saprolites constitute the lower horizon of lateritic soils, sometimes up to 100 metres thick, developed on peneplains now greatly modified by erosion. Saprolites are generally overlain by laterites, a more weathered horizon, where the main components are iron oxy-hydroxides with a low nickel grade. The structure of saprolites depends essentially on the serpentine content of peridotites and, on the other hand, serpentine minerals may have a high nickel content and, so, represent important nickel bearing minerals in silicate ores. Two types of serpentines can be found in nickel ores from New Caledonia: ò primary serpentines, formed by hydration of olivine at temperatures below 400¦C, during overthrusting of peridotites in late-Eocene (Paris, Andreieff and Coudray, 1979), are generally very abundant; ò secondary nickeliferous serpentines, associated with other sheet silicates in garnierites, are now relatively scarce but garnierites were selectively mined one century ago, because of their high nickel grade.

Jan 1, 1996

In a modern economy there is a compelling case why governments should not own property rights to mineral deposits. Assuming they do, however, governments will use these constitutional rights to raise revenue. They have two basic instruments to achieve this; a royalty charge on price or a rent tax on income/profits. On the one hand, a royalty charge creates a 'deadweight loss' to society by increasing cut-off grades and decreasing the life-of-mine. They are also regressive. However, they are easy to administer. On the other hand, a rent tax avoids the problem of 'deadweight loss'; it does not impact on the life-of-mine because the tax structure is neutral. But, they are difficult to administer correctly, particularly in the determination of rents and the definition of mining per se. If rents are incorrectly determined capital markets are distorted. And, if mining activities are incorrectly defined, downstream activities could be adversely affected.

Jun 1, 2010

Although a formal EES was not prepared for the WIM project due it winding down, CRA Ltd has been through the EES and planning scheme amendment process for its demonstration plant. Community consultation was involved with all aspects of this process. The paper outlines the WIM EES consultation program and provides lessons for future community consultation for major projects in regional locations with significant potential to alter the environment.

Jan 1, 1992

By Milawarma E, Cusack C

The Sapan Dalam coal deposit of Indonesia consists of ten steeply dipping seams with thicknesses varying between 0.1 and 3.5 m and split by shale, clay, silt and sandstone. The area contains four faults dipping about 75¦ with four to 85 m vertical displacements. The complex nature of the deposit coupled with limited 27 exploration drillholes at an average spacing of 200 m made it difficult to create a realistic geological model. A three-dimensional gridded seam model gave a fair representation of the deposit. Attempt to create an optimum pit using the WHITTLE 3D pit optimiser proved unsuccessful since the pit optimiser is restricted to standard regular or fixed blocks. The gridded seam model was converted to a fixed block model prior to the optimum pit design. Smoothing and pit base controlling were also introduced to obtain a smoother pit. A mining scenario produced 3.6 million tonnes of coal, 28.4 million bcm of waste and US$18.1 million revenue.

Jan 1, 1995

Willemite mineralization was discovered in 1966 in the North Flinders Ranges of South Australia, in the course of a stream sediment sampling programme. Further work outlined a total of nine separate willemite occurrences in the Copley/Beltana area, and ten small deposits in the Toondana area south of Parachilna. Mineable reserves of 1 000 000 tonnes grading 36.8% zinc were outlined in three deposits in the Copley/Beltana area and campaign mining of the Main Orebody commenced early in 1974. The main group of deposits all occurred within red, dolomitized Cambrian Ajax Limestone, and most are associated with significant thrust faulting. The area of the Main Orebody group of deposits has been intensely fractured, and the surrounding dolomites are often brecciated and contain up to 5% zinc. Lead and arsenic mineralization are minor components of the main group of deposits. Masses of Middle Proterozoic Willouran Formation crop out adjacent to or close to most of the deposits in the Copley/Beltana area. The Willouran is frequently highly sheared, brecciated, and often contains large inclusions of younger formations. It is believed that most of the Willouran outcrops represent piercement structures.

Jan 1, 1975

By M O. Tade, M W. Sze

The particle dynamics of a mixture of coal and zircon system wasstudied in a scaled-down cold model of an industrial kiln. Thefactors investigated in the study were rotational speed (N),zircon-to-coal feed ratio (B), coal particle size (dpc) and the angle of inclination (*) of the kiln. The technique used is the residence time distribution (RTD) method. It was found that rotational speed and angle of inclination are important parameters that affect the residence time of particles in the kiln. A mathematical model for predicting the mean residence time of particles in the rotary kiln was developed. Comparisons with reported models for such systems are discussed.

Jan 1, 1998

By S Planeta

The use of explosives in underground mining has its drawbacks, particularly in the case of thin or narrow vein type deposits. Due to that, there is a need to develop more discriminative and safe rock-breaking technologies. Mechanical rock splitting seems to be one of the most promising avenues in this respect. This paper describes briefly principles and features of radial-axial splitters. It reviews a feasibility study done to evaluate a potential of this technology in selective mining. It was intended to compare productivity and cost of ædrill-splitÆ mining with conventional cut-and-fill method. Hypotheses and assumptions adopted, methodology used and the obtained results are presented and discussed. The study has confirmed an interesting potential of radial-axial splitters in mining thin and narrow vein deposits. In conclusion, it is stressed however, that it will take more R&D work to corroborate the results obtained. Some suggestions concerning future research in this field are also given.

Jan 1, 2003

By M B. Lovitt

At present there exist few engineering calculations and principles to determine exclusion zones for personnel in the vicinity of underground explosive storage areas. This paper is written to encourage discussion and proposes a method to determine the impact of a blast wave through scientific principles. Then, criteria to determine an ‘exclusion zone’ need to be identified.There has been much work on identifying the pressure rise and the energy of explosive detonations underground but little to develop standards in criteria that can be used to identify exclusion zones for useful design of underground infrastructure. The author presents the newest ways of calculating the pressure rise and energy (impulse) of detonations and puts forward some criteria to be used in the identification of personnel exclusion zones to spark peer review and discussion of these criteria towards developing standards for engineering design.Smith and Sapko (2005) used Sach’s scaling laws to develop a relationship for both pressure rise and impulse, which incorporated factors for intersections. Intersections will have a large bearing on the peak pressure and the energy of the blast wave and needs to be incorporated. Silvestrini, Genova and Leon Trujillo (2009) developed the scaling laws with an energy concentration factor to predict blast propagation in partially confined geometries and together the author has proposed equations for determining the peak side pressure and the impulse in a tunnel. Given the weight and type of the explosive, the average cross-section of the tunnel complex and the number and type of intersections encountered, the pressure and impulse can be calculated.The military has carried out many investigations as to the influence of blast pressure and impulse on the human body. Lung damage, ear damage and velocity knock down are three of the criteria standards that are presented as possible methods of determining exclusion zones around an underground explosives magazine. The author suggests that the velocity curves presented by Bowen, Fletcher and Richmond (1968) could be an acceptable method of determining an exclusion zone as it incorporates the side pressure and the energy of a blast wave to determine the ability of the wave to knock down personnel.CITATION:Lovitt, M B, 2014. Exclusion zone calculation for underground explosives storage, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Underground Operators’ Conference 2014 , pp 319–326 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Mar 24, 2014

Jan 1, 2004

By Bacigalupo-Rose

Simulations of complex physical phenomena, such as hurricanes and fluid flow around space vehicles, can now be effectively explored using modem visualisation techniques which have been developed to examine the results of numerical modelling using supercomputers. These techniques are also being applied extensively in medical investigations, including viewing the interior of the human brain. We have now applied these same techniques to the visualisation of gold deposits.Grade control in open pit gold mining operations may involve the collection of at least half a million samples in each mine. Extensive drilling programs also accompany the early reserve evaluation stages and exploration in advance of mining. Maximum utilisation of these very large amounts of information requires an ability to integrate, examine and present large three-dimensional data sets in order to be able to derive and effectively communicate information on grade distribution and geological controls.

Jan 1, 1993

By Mills J. C

Concentration ranges are presented for 15 trace elements not previously reported in Australian bituminous coals. The results were obtained by instrumental neutron activation analysis, which has sufficiently high sensitivity to enable determination of many elements directly in coal at concentrations less than a few µg/g. The ranges found in Australian coal are similar to the ranges reported in North American bituminous coals.

Jan 1, 1983

By Dip L. B

This paper describes the new legislative regime that will apply to the regulation of the minerals industry in New Zealand.The reform of New Zealand's minerals legislation was initiated in January 1988 when the Minister for the Environment, Rt Hon Geoffrey Palmer, announced the Government's intention to review all the major laws governing New Zealand's resources. The Resource Management Bill is scheduled for introduction to the House in December 1989 and its date of enactment is scheduled for June 1990.

Jan 1, 1990

Radioisotope X-ray and neutron techniques of analysis can be used for the determination of a wide range of elements in minerals. The most important applications of these techniques to the mineral industry are for on-stream analysis of slurries and solids, and for geological assay. The radioisotope X-ray techniques are the more developed ones and two installations for on-stream analysis are in routine use in mineral processing plants in Australia. Neutron techniques are being developed, and should prove valuable for geological assay of large numbers of mineral samples, for borehole logging, and for specific on-stream analysis when the cost of the equipment is warranted.

Jan 1, 1969

By Sharma T

Laboratory investigations have been carried out on direct leaching of lead-zinc complex sulphide ore and zinc concentrate using ferric chloride. From the investigation it was observed that the use of 0.15 M and 2 M FeC13 gave an optimum dissolution of metal ions from ore and concentrate respectively. The kinetic studies conducted showed that the leaching reaction followed a shrinking core model for galena and sphalerite. The presence of impurities such as pyrite had increased the dissolution rate and reduced the consumption of ferric chloride. Further, the studies were conducted to recover dissolved zinc from the chloride solution by selectively precipitating it as zinc ammonium chloride.

Jan 1, 1992

This paper introduces a classification of gold orebodies, and comments on the importance of cutting high grade values, the choice of an appropriate ore reserve method and the necessity for producing recoverable ore reserves by considering the mining policy. The author stresses the importance of obtaining the appropriate information from the data relevant to a particular deposit as opposed to transfering parameters from one deposit to another.

Jan 1, 1987

By P D. Munro

The spatial distribution of ore with similar processing properties or domains within an orebody may be identified early in the assessment of an orebody to provide a sound basis for later development of the orebody. The assignment of domains in the primary sulfide portion of an orebody is often more difficult than recognition of the oxidised, supergene and related domains usually located towards the top of the mineralised volume. This paper will discuss some approaches to assigning domains within the primary sulfide portion of an orebody. The processing properties of each mining block will be known if the contained domain(s) and their proportions are known. The use of both physical and chemical ore properties to assign the domains is discussed. The domains based on similar processing properties do not necessarily coincide with geological zones assigned by geoscientists. As part of assessing the physical properties of ore, the modal analysis of the ore with respect to the valuable sulfide minerals and the sulfide and non sulfide gangue minerals has to be known, along with the traditionally used elemental assays for valuable and penalty elements. Two scales for determining other physical ore properties will be considered: the mesoscopic scale (examined by human eye) and the microscopic scale (examined via a microscope under high magnification). The strengths and weaknesses of the data obtained at the two scales are discussed in the paper. Broadly, data collected at the mesoscopic scale are much less expensive but the types of data available are more limited. Methods for evaluation of chemical ore properties are also discussed. After establishing a basis for establishing the spatial distribution of domains, variability testing is required to verify the integrity of the designated domains. In contrast, each block of ore in some orebodies has been assessed principally via the results of a laboratory separation on a number of drill core samples or composites from throughout the block, with minimal or no attention to the concept of domains.

Jan 1, 2008