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By J Koshy, M Ralph, P Foley

Mining in the state of Western Australia (WA) formally commenced in the 1840s, and over the ensuing 180 years has evolved to be the epicentre of the Australian mining industry and a significant contributor to the national economy. The lithology of WA is replete with mineralisation that hosts uranium and ‘critical minerals’ required for the global renewable energy sector. The state’s first uranium mine is under development, and high levels of activity are occurring in the state’s nascent critical minerals sector, with 168 WA-based companies pursuing rare earth-bearing minerals, 51 of which are actively drilling on their tenements. WA’s mineral deposits typically contain levels of the naturally occurring radionuclides (NORs) thorium-232 and uranium-238 that are elevated above the global crustal average. Workers are exposed to NORs during the mining and mineral extraction processes, and radiation doses that exceed applicable exposure standards may eventuate. The research traces the history of worker radiation doses from 1977 to 2020, finding the maximum dose was 163.4 mSv, more than eight times the current derived annual dose limit. Whilst 93.5 per cent of all workers received doses of less than 5.0 mSv per annum, the potential for elevated doses is ever-present as witnessed by 10.3 mSv reported in 2009/2010. The increase in activity coincides with a revision of the dose coefficients (DCs) associated with the intake of radionuclides. The research evaluates the revised DCs and forecasts doses from inhalation of radioactive dusts will nearly double, and lead to workers receiving doses exceeding 5 mSv for the first time since 2009/2010. The research finds that the current regulatory framework is fit-for-purpose. However, inter-agency relationships, and the capacity of the regulator to effectively regulate the current and future number of mining operations is questioned. The mining industry is vulnerable to capability and capacity constraints – but has failed to respond to issues in relation to competent radiation safety officers first raised by the Winn Inquiry (Winn, Mathews and Tough, 1984). Disconcertingly, monitoring of worker exposures to NORs reached a nadir in 2021, raising questions as to the veracity of worker doses reported to the regulatory agency. The research recommends personal dust sampling be prioritised.

Apr 16, 2024

By J Salaya, J Kwak, L Keeney, S Dehkhoda

In addition to volatile commodity prices influencing decision making, in recent years, social and environmental performance have become important decision drivers within the mining industry. There are increased demands from stakeholders, communities, and governments to ensure that raw materials are mined, processed and refined responsibly. The industry also faces the challenge of better managing its waste, which has led to severe consequences when not done properly. The high commodity prices of the late 90s and early 2000s encouraged larger economies of scale and drove mining companies to extract large volumes of rock for separation and concentration at the downstream processes. Over time, as ore grades dropped, the cost of mining escalated and tailings volumes grew. This arduous process also caused strains on recovery cost and performance. Scarcity of water and energy resources coupled with increased production demands and higher operating costs are putting pressure on companies to find innovative ways to increase mining intensities. Hatch’s value chain optimisation methodologies, specifically Grade Engineering® and early waste rejection of the mine, have been of interest to intensify operational performance and minimise waste generation. Enabling preconcentration of the plant throughput, the methodology has significant potential to improve overall metal production and reduce water and energy intensities, whilst minimising wet tailings. Using representative data from real world mines, this paper reports on a case study that evaluates the impact of preconcentration using sensor-based ore sorting on downstream process improvements as well as energy, water and tailings reduction. Financial and economic viability of this technique is presented for both brownfield and greenfield implementation cases. The results show that business case for preconcentration is best when: the distribution of metal in the run of mine ore is negatively skewed and left tailed; mining costs are low; energy, water and tailings management costs are high; and low cost methods of recovering pay metal from low grade material are available.

Nov 10, 2020

By T Perera, B Fan, S Thang, T Hsia

Minerals are valuable resources and critical elements for a broad range of biological and technological applications, including technological developments to improve energy efficiency and the global movement to promote a low-carbon economy. However, in order to extract these critical metals, large amounts of waste and toxic chemicals are generated, as well as the use of high energy and large amounts of water consumption. Froth flotation is one of the most commonly used processes to separate and collect high-value minerals, but it still has some limitations, including low flotation efficiency performances using existing collectors and other reagents. Therefore, there is an urgent need to design and develop new metal-specific collectors to more efficiently separate and recover valuable minerals and to allow bulk water recovery from flocculated tailings. In this research, we propose to use our newly designed and synthesised novel collectors derived from a type of vitamin E (α-tocopherol), a relatively inexpensive and non-toxic natural molecule. As a potential collector-building block, α-tocopherol has a long hydrophobic carbon chain that facilitates the attachment to air bubbles during the froth flotation process. In addition, the phenol group of this molecule can be easily modified to incorporate various functional groups for targeting different types of minerals. Furthermore, α-tocopherol can be converted into a monomer for polymerisation by the reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) process, which can provide us with polymer based-collectors with high precision control of molecular weight and architecture. So far, small-scale qualitative experiments on α-tocopherol-based collectors have been performed with good results, which indicates the feasibility of these compounds as novel collectors for improved froth flotation processes.

Aug 24, 2022

The current talk of risk management as a separate discipline and management function is like earlier imposition of Quality Control (QC) as an overlay on shoddy production management. Risk management is vital, but is integral in the way we marshal our staff, make decisions, then monitor and review and make crucial secondary decisions. New leaders must not assume that hiring experts ensures good decisions. It is only the essential step one. The worst company I worked for had more expertise than the best. The difference was in culture and decision-making processes. Failed feasibility studies, persistent technical factions in a company that cancel each other, heaps of expert consultant reports piled up like a dump of bricks, even great but half-managers in large and small companies cancelling expertise at their disposal, are the worst manifestations. Just daily foul-ups are common even amongst smart people. We miners have made a great industry but are content to drift far below excellence, even where that word is bandied around. All the management literature and management courses will not right the situation û we have been sending budding managers to this good stuff for two generations and the effects are worthwhile but marginal. A few key ideals, ideas and slogans are not the way. These make inspiring books that work about as long as the Christmas spirit does in the real world. What we need is a coachesÆ manual and a standard of the essential package of culture and work processes that make excellence possible and show how to maintain it long term. It has not been written until now because most managers want to remain dilettante amateur managers without the discipline that creates excellence. First, believe excellence is possible and worth any effort; then commit to it.

Jan 1, 2007

THE choice of a pumping plant for the drainage of a mine is a matter of such importance that it is obvious that in a short paper it is impossible to go fully into the reasons governing the adoption of any particular type. The author, therefore, proposes to briefly discuss the methods.in vogue, and, as far as possible, to point out the advantages and disadvantages of the numerous systems. The probiem is of extreme importance to the mining engineer, and it appears that in the past sufficient thought has not been given to this branch, as shown by the numerous failures which are encountered.When water is met with in large quantities, the development of the mine depends upon the pumping plant to such a great extent that the most careful consideration should be given before deciding on any particular scheme for drainage. The pumpingplant in a mine should be looked. upon in the light of an insurance policy, and should be treated as such, care being taken that the premium is as low as possibl~, and to ensure this it is necessary that the most efficient plant be secured. Local conditions play such an important part ill the design of a plant that no hard and fast rules can be laid down. When the amount of water to be handled is small, and there is no possibility of any increase...

Jan 1, 1912

Rehabilitation, reclamation and restoration are all terms used to describe the repair of land after mining. Here, restoration is used to mean restoring the land's original use, capability or productivity. Effective restoration is dependent on good planning before mining commences and must include a clear definition of post-mining objectives. The physical condition of the land within the mining licence was that of an imperfectly drained soil in permanent pasture, supporting a seasonal supply dairying unit. During the mining process, the soil layers were separated, with the topsoil stockpiled separately. As part of the restoration process, the land was recontoured to encourage surface drainage, with topsoil spread evenly over the recontoured tailings. Low grond pressure machinery was used to minimise soil compaction, with light discing and harrowing used to increase water infiltration. A permanent pasture was sown, with weed species controlled by spraying, both before and after pasture establishment.  Soil testing has been used extensively to ensure there were no nutrient deficiencies that good compromise pasture establishment and performance. Controlled grazing practices were used to ensure that the sown pastures became well established.

Jan 1, 1998

By D Johansson, A Nordqvist, D Mihaylov, N Petropoulos, M Wimmer

The flowability of the caved rock masses in the sublevel caving (SLC) mining method is of great importance. During the blasting process of a SLC-ring, the caved rock mass in front of the ring is compacted. As a result of this compaction, the mechanical properties of the fractured rock masses change, for example void ratio, angle of internal friction and structure of the compacted material. The changed mechanical properties of caved rock mass and recent blasted material can influence the mobility of the material, which could result in blockage of the flow path of the material. The identification of the involved mechanisms in this process can be done after a series of tests in different scales. However, there is no available equipment for dynamic measurements during blasting, ie velocity and displacement of the burden and in the caved masses. This study focuses on the development and laboratory evaluation of a measuring system that can be installed in a borehole. The first trial was carried out in a pillar, where two blastholes had been drilled (9.5 m) parallel with the drift and two measuring holes (16.5 m) were perpendicular to the drift. Two measuring systems were installed in the measuring holes. Some preliminary tests were carried out to find suitable initiation procedures for the emulsion explosive. Applicability and robustness of the developed measuring system were also evaluated. In addition to these tests, an expandable cement mixture was developed to firmly anchor the measuring systems in the boreholes. The measuring system consists of an anchor, armoured cable in a pulling tube and a protective case. The anchor is equipped with uniaxial and triaxial accelerometers. A potentiometric measuring system for displacement up to 2 m is installed at the end of the pulling tube and connected to an extendable spiral cable. All sensors are connected to a data acquisition system (DAS). Both measuring systems have their own DAS to acquire data in case of failure of one of the systems. The measuring system was tested in laboratory conditions with impact velocity up to 10 m/s. It was proven to be functional and gave reliable results.CITATION:Petropoulos, N, Mihaylov, D, Johansson, D, Wimmer, M and Nordqvist, A, 2015. Design of equipment for dynamic burden measurements, in Proceedings 11th International Symposium on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting, pp 493–500 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 24, 2015

By J Centofanti, D Conti, R Riske, C Morley, A Cook

Why is it so difficult? Why are there differences throughout the resources industry in how reconciliation factors are reported and calculated? Why is there no standard formula to use? These are common questions asked when mining companies try to compare reconciliation results across operations or attempt to undertake internal or corporate governance reporting processes. For many mining companies the calculation of reconciliation factors is often a very time and resource intensive part of mandatory reconciliation reporting. Some major mining companies, that move millions of tonnes of material per annum, dedicate full time resources to the calculation of reconciliation factors. The willingness of these companies to set aside resources demonstrates the value that operations place on good reconciliation reporting. Reconciliation is about measuring the variance between two like measures at different points along the mining sequence. It can be undertaken between predictive models, forecast plans and actual measured performance. Calculations are used to derive a variance between two sections within the mining sequence, with the result being commonly known in the resources industry as a æfactorÆ. Mining companies use the calculation of reconciliation factors as key performance indices (KPIs) to provide a æhealth checkÆ of their operation, with variances often pointing to issues either with the accuracy of the original estimate or the quality of the measurement being used in the comparison. There are many reconciliation factors that can be calculated and reported. This paper will set out, clarify and provide a recommended standard means of calculating each specific factor that, where adopted by a company, will ensure compliance with the international reporting codes, such as JORC. Using case studies from Rio Tinto Group (Rio Tinto) and BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (æBMAÆ), and the authors experience across a wide range of mine sites, the outline of a generic solution for tracking a parcel of material from the pit through to the port along with appropriate reconciliation factors is provided. The intention of proposing standardised reconciliation factor terminology and methodology is to provide the foundations of a system to enable communication and comparison across different commodities, companies and mines sites.

Jan 1, 2009

By S Hapugoda, H Han, L Lu

Charcoal produced from Syzygium Zeylanicum trees was widely used in ancient Sri Lankan iron smelting practices. Charcoal made from Syzygium Zeylanicum tree trunks, branches and leaves were analysed by optical mineralogy and SEM and found to contain unusually high concentrations of calcium oxalate (CaC2O4.H2O – CaOx) crystals in plant cells. Partial and full reduction tests of a high-P Brockman ore were conducted at several temperatures with coke and coke doped with CaOx and CaCO3. It was observed that CaOx promoted reduction and generated comparatively more metallic iron in reduced samples. Furthermore, CaOx encouraged phosphorous partition into slag phases than into the metallic iron, suggesting CaOx can a potential alternative fluxing material to calcium carbonate for treating high-P iron ores in ironmaking processes.

Sep 18, 2023

By Cole RT

The cultural ages of man have been defined in terms of smelting and hence as a prerequisite, mining for example the iron age and the bronze age. There could be no separation of the man from his role as the technologist (miner/ smelter) for his early metal working efforts were to enhance survival. In the millenniums since, the artisan specialist developed and the technologist emerged. The process is a sort of technical natural selection. From the generalist hunter, gatherer, miner, metalworker we advanced over the centuries with great 'steps for mankind' to the series of specialists each largely intent on securing his/her technical functions from the curious assaults of other tribal members. The relevance of all this to the theme, 'Past, present and future of the Victorian mining and metallurgical industries', is simply that people have always, and will always, be the moving force in our industries. It is the effectiveness of people now and in the future that this paper addresses.

Jan 1, 1982

By C Munro, S Emery, M Flynn, K Tan

"AEROPHINE® 3418A Promoter is a well-known and widely used collector and is an industry standard for its excellent selectivity and efficacy in the processing of complex polymetallic sulfide ores, particularly those containing silver. Until now, however, it has not found widespread use in primary nickel flotation.In an effort to increase nickel recovery without compromising selectivity over iron sulfides, Western Areas Forrestania Nickel operation trialled the use of AEROPHINE® 3418A as a secondary collector at low dosage. A series of ON/OFF trials were conducted, with the finding that a very low dose of AEROPHINE® 3418A increased nickel recovery by 0.6 per cent compared to using xanthate alone.This paper provides a brief operational history and overview of the Forrestania operations, a description of the trial and an analysis of the results.Citation:Emery, S, Flynn, M, Tan, K and Munro, C, 2016. Aerophine® 3418A Promoter as a Secondary Collector to Boost Nickel Recovery at Forrestania Nickel Operations, in Proceedings 13th AusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference 2016, pp 145–148 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Oct 10, 2016

By B Goebel, G Baker

The Australian Magnesium Corporation Limited (AMC) is constructing the worldÆs largest magnesium metal plant at Stanwell, 24 km west of Rockhampton in Central Queensland. The $1.3 billion, 97 000 tonne per year plant is scheduled to commence production in mid-2004. It will produce magnesium from magnesite using the innovative, locally developed AM Process Technology which enables magnesium to be produced at internationally competitive costs. The technology will enable the plant to have the lowest environmental impact of all the available magnesium production processes. The project will meet current world-best-practice environmental and emission standards while on a life cycle analysis, magnesium produced by the Stanwell plant will result in net reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions. Magnesium is the lightest of the structural metals. Its high strength to weight ratio and ease of casting and machinability makes it particularly suitable for the manufacture of light weight automotive components. Reducing the weight of motor vehicles through the use of light weight materials such as magnesium is the current primary means adopted by the automobile manufacturing industry to improve motor vehicle fuel efficiency and the lowering of emissions of greenhouse gases. The Australian Magnesium or AM process has been developed over the past decade by AMC in conjunction with the CSIRO to produce magnesium from magnesite mined at AMCÆs Kunwarara deposit. Over $200 million has been spent developing the AM process, designing, building and operating a demonstration plant at Gladstone and to complete an environmental impact statement and receive environmental approvals as well as funding for the commercial Stanwell Project. The paper outlines the development of the AM process technology, the operations of the Gladstone demonstration plant confirming the process technology, its operating costs and environmental performance. The paper covers the particular attention that was given to minimising the production of CHCÆs, the development of new cover gases for molten magnesium, the minimising of emissions of greenhouse gases and the life cycle analysis of magnesium as a replacement for steel and heavier metals in motor vehicles which confirmed its use resulted in a net reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions. The project received both Commonwealth and Queensland Government environmental approvals by August 2000.

Jan 1, 2002

By J J. Cilliers, K Hadler

The potential of air rate profiling to significantly improve the flotation performance of a bank of cells has been shown by numerous studies. To date many profiles have been evaluated; balanced, increasing, decreasing and combinations of these. An increasing air rate profile, where the air rates are increased proportionally to each cell down the bank, has been typically found to yield improved flotation performance compared to other profiles. Air rate profiling has two distinct components; determining the correct total air rate for the bank, and determining the correct distribution of that air. This can be done simultaneously by finding the optimal air rate to each cell in the bank in turn through air recovery optimisation. Air recovery is the fraction of the inlet air which overflows the weir of a cell as unburst bubbles. The peak in air recovery (PAR) is a robust measurement of optimal performance for the operating conditions in the cell, and sets the PAR air rate. In this study, plant trials of different air rate profiles and profiling based on PAR, were evaluated. The total air rates to the bank for all profiles tested were approximately equal, allowing direct comparison. The highest cumulative mineral recovery was achieved by operating at the PAR air rates for each cell down the bank. Different distributions of the same total air rate to the bank gave the same cumulative upgrade ratio, but lower cumulative recoveries. In this work the upgrade ratio is defined as the ratio of the concentrate grade to the feed grade. The increase in cumulative mineral recovery, at the same upgrade ratio, in this study was greater than 33 per cent. Air recovery based optimisation of air rates to banks of cells significantly improves flotation performance as it simultaneously determines the optimal air rate to the bank, and the optimal distribution of that air.

Jan 1, 2009

By J Shillabeer

Paste backfill has been adopted by many underground mines in North America and a growing number elsewhere. Paste offers a number of advantages. This paper suggests wider applications of paste technology to surface tailings disposal and water management. Advantages include improved overall stability, potentially easier permitting, smaller water inventory and earlier reclamation. It may be feasible to use the same plant to prepare backfill and to dispose of surplus tailings. Example cost models are given to illustrate potential applications.

Jan 1, 1998

OneSteel and BlueScope Steel have been working with the CSIRO to develop sustainable carbon fuels and reductants which are suitable for use in the iron and steel industry. One of the initial focuses of this work has been a process called steel recarburisation which is the addition of carbon to liquid steel to produce particular steel grades. This paper reports on the preliminary work and the recent full scale recarburisation plant trials conducted at the OneSteel Sydney Steel Mill.   Preliminary experimental work involved kilogram scale recarburisation of liquid steel with a range of commercial and prepared charcoal products. This work showed that charcoal dissolves into liquid steel very quickly and that carbon recovery to steel was inversely related to the charcoal volatile content. Initial larger scale work focused on the collection of wood, and preparation of low volatile charcoal which is required for steel recarburisation. Approximately three tonnes of charcoal was prepared at the Corrimal coke ovens of the Illawarra Coke Company. This charcoal was dried, crushed, sized and packaged in a form suitable for addition to 80 tonne liquid steel ladles.   The recarburisation trial was conducted over 30 ladle heats during June 2009. The charcoal was manually added to the liquid steel in 5 kg bags using normal plant practice. Conventional commercial recarburiser was also added to the liquid steel in alternate ladle heats. The performance of the charcoal was compared with the conventional recarburiser based on the carbon recovery to steel, hydrogen pick-up by steel and the rate of carbon dissolution into steel.   An analysis of the trial results showed that the charcoal performed at least as well as commercial recarburiser in carbon recovery and rate of dissolution but may have resulted in a slightly higher hydrogen content of steel. This is probably due to the higher moisture content of charcoal. The main challenges in the future include: increasing the charcoal density to improve transport and handling economics, securing a sustainable supply of biomass for the steel industry and developing a charcoal production industry so materials of suitable quality for both production and trials on other applications can be conducted.

Jun 1, 2010

By H W. Wu

The objective of this paper is to examine some modern forms of auxiliary ventilation fabric ducting with streamline design fittings and the efficiency of construction practices. The most dynamic form of auxiliary ventilation is a moveable fan and ducting, which is easy to install and uses light weight fabric. The porous nature of some ducting construction results in leakage and loss of efficiency. Flexible fabric ducting is primarily associated with metalliferous mining and industrial material quarrying. Some applications are found in coal in stone/rock development and with use of dust scrubbers.Forcing auxiliary ventilation systems employing circular fabric ducting have been examined. Leakage of air from ducting is affected by ducting material and construction methodology (such as welded or sewn), quality of installation, number of joints, total length, pressure differences between the inside and outside and diameter. The best ducting system with welded construction can have up to four times less leakage as compared with some systems with sewn construction. It is also evident that the sewn type ducting will deliver less air to working faces and require more fan power, hence higher operating costs to run when connected to the same fan.A case study has also been undertaken to compare predicted operating costs of auxiliary ventilation systems connecting various types of ventilation duct fittings. The study also assesses the technical importance of streamline design with low aerodynamic resistance to reduce the shock losses of the duct fittings. It was found that the system connected with streamline designed fittings is able to provide some power cost savings and deliver more air compared with the system fitted with conventional fitting pieces.Using a ventilation ducting system with a lower leakage and frictional characteristic represents a sound solution to new challenges faced by the industry for increasing demand for better quantities and quality of air delivered to working faces; this is due to higher production schedules and stricter mine health and safety regulations within the Australian mining industry.CITATION:Wu, H W and Gillies, A D S, 2017. A comparison of auxiliary ventilation systems and their predicted operational performances, in Proceedings Australian Mine Vent Conference 2017, pp 207–214 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 28, 2017

By S C. Dominy, R C. A Minnitt

Determination of the sampling constant and liberation diameter are of importance when applying the Fundamental Sampling Error (FSE) equation to optimise sampling protocols. The method for the direct determination of the sampling constant is based on the æGy 50-pieceÆ experiment and variants thereof, which is generally known as the heterogeneity test. In the coarse gold environment, the heterogeneity test is prone to poor repeatability and bias due to the very heterogeneity that it aims to quantify. A key issue is the large sample mass that can be required in the coarse gold environment, which may reach 1 t or more. The heterogeneity test often provides an evaluation of the background gold grade heterogeneity, but understates that of the high-grade coarse-gold component. This is because the total mass of fragments is usually too small to represent the mineralisation. Despite this relatively well-known problem, heterogeneity tests are often undertaken on deposits where the presence of coarse gold is ignored, not fully realised or vastly understated. Sampling types and protocol designs are frequently based on poor quality data that do not match the characteristics of the orebody. For this style of mineralisation, an empirical approach to define ore characteristics is recommended.CITATION:Dominy, S C and Minnitt, R C A, 2012. Application of heterogeneity testing to coarse gold ores, in Proceedings Sampling 2012 , pp 143-160 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 21, 2012

The first step in the mining and processing of nearly any mineral ore is comminution. Since the oil embargo of 1979, the mining companies have been striving to reduce energy consumption and costs. The first serious step was the introduction of in-pit crushing in the early 1980s. With in-pit crushing accepted as a standard design mode, the energy saving emphasis turned to comminution practices. A great deal of attention has been focused on blasting and grinding. The one step that has not been addressed is the primary crusher. This paper will address the opportunities for comminution improvement through optimisation of the primary crusher.

Jan 1, 2004

By G Cavanough, A Olsson, J Rock, A C. Torrance

There are various methods currently in use to determine detonation performance of bulk explosive products including velocity of detonation (VOD), high speed photographic analysis, fragmentation analysis and unconfined detonation of samples. For assessment prior to detonation the current practice is limited to a measurement of cup density. This paper presents additional techniques that have been developed to provide measurement and assessment of bulk explosive products. Techniques applicable prior to detonation include a mobile laboratory to allow on-site chemical and physical analysis of sensitised products and ‘in-hole density’ measurement to monitor the in-hole density during sleep time. Assessment of detonation performance is achieved using detonation pressure sensors. These sensors allow measurement of detonation pressure, average VOD, propagation time and magnitude of the pressure induced in the explosive column by detonation of adjacent blastholes.CITATION:Cavanough, G, Torrance, A C, Rock, J and Olsson, A, 2015. Measurement and assessment of bulk explosive products, in Proceedings 11th International Symposium on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting, pp 477–484 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 24, 2015

By L Keeney

Geometallurgy is not a mechanism designed to replace current geological and metallurgical deposit characterisation but an added component required to understand orebody variability. Current geological characterisation approaches focus on understanding deposit genesis aimed at identifying new mineralised regions and metallurgical characterisation determines parameters required for engineering design of processing plants. Geometallurgical integration has the task of drawing on aspects of each stream to enable spatial mapping of performance indices across a deposit. It is a complimentary activity to current practice and adds a new dimension to orebody knowledge. Although the notion of conducting an integrated geological and metallurgical analysis is not a new concept, limited publications exist in the field proposing integrated methods, with several technical issues existing in current geometallurgical integration approaches. An iterative method drawing on existing geological and metallurgical characterisation and new measurement tools and inputs is proposed. The integrated method comprises of discrete components dynamically linked together through iterative feedback loops with each component having a specific purpose achieved by applying a range of data acquisition technologies and statistical tests. The key outcomes of the method are:overcoming the lack of optimised geometallurgical domains relevant to processing performance,development of a rigorous approach to identifying parameters controlling processability,improved protocols for relevant metallurgical test data and sample selection, andability to generate greater data support to enable rigorous geostatistical modelling of geometallurgical attributes. This paper outlines the integrated mapping and modelling method developed and draws on multiple data acquisition technologies applied within the AMIRA P843 GeMIII Project.

Sep 5, 2011