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By C G. Sweeney

The underground mining industry is seeing unprecedented shortages in skilled labour. Migration to Australia being at an all-time low is a leading concern, with pandemic-induced border closures and lockdowns only exacerbating the skills shortage, not causing it. The skills shortage is forecast to peak in 2023 and remain high beyond 2025. With this skills shortage in mind, mining companies throughout Australia are trying to deal with stricter protocols around Health and Safety (H&S) legislation, as well as more stringent controls on quality assurance, particularly as underground mines are reaching greater depths and extending into ‘unchartered territory’. The cumulation of this is proving to be a major hurdle in ‘effective’ operational geotechnical management. The drive for automation in mining is bringing another level of complexity. However, ‘once automation is up and running, it presents the opportunity to access talent pools that may not normally be available. There is also a change in skillset that will be required to drive automation. ‘The top two emerging roles that will be critical for the future of the mining industry are artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) specialists, and process-automation specialists’ (Writer, 2021). If anything positive has come from the pandemic, it has shown that remote working can be effective and that the drive for automation and critical evaluation of skills required on-site should be given greater priority. UQ acknowledges that the industry is changing, and that digital technology is required to be offered in mining related disciplines. Industry and academia need to do more to promote geotechnical engineering in mining and balance the curriculum to suit the future of mining and make it more enticing. The average cost of a geotechnical failure is about $5 million in coalmines and can be into the hundreds of millions of dollars if production is affected (Cartledge Mining and Geotechnics, 2020). The cost of a good geotechnical design far outweighs the potential losses if a failure were to occur. This alludes to the growing importance of experienced geotechnical consultancies playing a pivotal role in managing mine site geotechnical hazards, while the industry is developing the next generation of geotechnical engineers.

Nov 29, 2022

By M Delaney

Alliancing is a contractual relationship in which organisations with an interest in a project are brought together in an atmosphere of co-operation to produce superior results to benefit all of the participants. Fundamental to the concept is the management of the risks associated with the project. The traditional risk management strategy adopted by clients has been to transfer this risk to others in the belief that this will result in the lowest overall project cost. It is assumed that competition in the market place will allow these risks to be transferred without paying a premium. However, this approach often results in the development of an adversarial climate, a high level of litigation, time and cost overruns and an overall poor project outcome. Under an alliancing arrangement the parties (client, designer and contractor) are aligned through shared interests in the projectÆs success by linking profitability to performance. Under such an arrangement, an atmosphere is created whereby the participants are motivated to focus on cost-savings, pursue best value and to innovate. Successful alliancing can result in highly motivated project teams and realisation of extraordinary productivity and cost-savings flowing from increased efficiencies. The situations in which alliancing can be successful are discussed with particular reference to the Wandoo Alliance which successfully completed the $375 million Wandoo B offshore oil platform in record time and with considerable savings to the project budget.

Jan 1, 2000

The theme of this paper is the development of-the project feasibility study which includes discussion of the work which is carried out in preparing the project feasibility study, the necessary evaluations and structures that are employed to ensure that not only does the feasibility study itself stand up to scrutiny and is sound, but also that the investment the company is proposing to develop, "the project", is an investment decision which will represent good returns to the company. This theme is particularly relevant when there are competing divisions within the company and only limited cash resources are available to make the correct investment decision. Thus various potential investments may be evaluated against each other to determine which project will be given the go ahead for development. This paper will particularly focus on the various investment analysis techniques that are used and discuss the work that is required in preparing the project feasibility study and specifically the interaction of the project team members and the thought process that must be undertaken to complete the project feasibility study. Finally comments will be made on tax planning issues particularly with respect to taxation of gold production to be introduced in January 1991. Some ideas are presented which may help and possibly improve the financial position of the projects being reviewed. Further, it is suggested that the thought process which goes with the financial engineering aspects of a resource project can be widened to take account of taxation issues and tax planning to ensure the rise of the project feasibility and hence the decision to proceed to development by the project sponsors.

Jan 1, 1990

The current boom in the mining sector has required mining operations to ramp up production to meet the international demand for minerals. This increase in production is putting enormous pressure on on-site professionals, and in particular the role of the on-site geotechnical engineer is ballooning. Mining engineers are focused on machinery and schedules; geologists concentrate on grade control and resources; everything else becomes the responsibility of the geotechnical engineer. Day to day geotechnical engineering is very different from geotechnical design work, and a practical understanding of both is required to successfully carry out either role. In addition, a successful geotechnical engineer has to have a good understanding of almost all technical aspects of mining. Even more important are good communications skills and the ability to problem solve on the fly. None of these skills are taught at tertiary institutions and therefore need to be learnt in the workplace. However, the shortage of geotechnical professionals means that young engineers do not always receive the mentorship and training they need to develop confidence and technical effectiveness. This paper outlines the changing role of on-site geotechnical engineers and presents some thoughts on how industry and young engineers can adjust to the changes.

Jan 1, 2006

The phrase "Total-Energy" has, during the past few years, become widely used to describe a wide range of very different operations. However, if accurately described they all have one basic factor in common - energy usage is optimised with the prime mover being powered by gas or oil to generate shaft horsepower and the products of combustion being put to some use. The item which distinguishes a Total Energy system from any other engine or turbine driven project is that orate pains are taken to utilize the waste heat, whether this be in the form of exhaust gases and/or engine jacket ling water. n areas where grid supplies of electricity are readily available, the economics of most projects undoubtedly hinge upon the successful application of waste heat. However, there has been a growing awareness of other benefits, such as reliability of supply, which can be incorporated into the system. In particular these factors sway managements of hospitals and companies with complex computer facilities to examine closely the feasibility of Total Energy, Consequently, in America for example, where many systems have proved themselves the list of applications is wide - shopping centres, apartment blocks, office buildings, airline terminals, universities, schools, motels. And these do not cover the industrial sectors where the range is wider. The total number in North America is now approximately 500 and this to some extent-speaks for itself. In Australia, the real work involved in carrying out feasibility studies for Total Energy is only just beginning. 'in some quarters, the concept is not well received in that it is too new. Therefore, a typical approach is to play safe and wait until some other company has proved its operation "under Australian conditions". This is certainly a realistic approach when considering something revolutionary but as far as Total Energy.is"concerned all the individual components and sometimes combinations, (engines, generators, boilers, air-conditioning units) have been in operation for many years. The only innovation is that they are now all being brought together under one roof. This should not be forgotten when the question "where can I see something like this operating?" is asked.

Jan 1, 1970

Three major and two minor uranium deposits 'have been worked by open out mining since the discovery of ,the Rum Jungle field in 1949. Total production has been about 9679000 tons of uranium ore at 7;39 lb U308/ton and 4029000 tons of copper-uranium ore at 6.27 lb U308/ton and 2.7% Cu, with significant tonnages of base'metal ores. The deposits occur in or near black pyritic slates of the Lower Proterozoic Golden Dyke Formation, near the contact with the under- lying Coomalie Dolomite. The mineralization is probably younger than the grahite complexes in the area, and a structural-stratigraphic control of ore deposition is used as a basis for uranium exploration.\

Jan 1, 1968

By Robertson K. S, Hunter T. C

AEG-Elotherm's electromagnetic dosing channel, or Eldomet, is a recent invention enabling the transport and metering of molten metals. The development of a reliable refract- ory lining, and the use of suitable construct- ion and operating techniques has led to the successful application of the Eldomet for casting copper anodes at Copper Refineries Pty. Ltd.

Jan 1, 1974

The role of a project metallurgist is diverse and covers input into the resource definition, mining studies, metallurgical test program development, process engineering and plant design, cost estimate preparation and financial analysis aspects of project feasibility studies. Mining project schedule and cost overruns can often be attributed to cutting short metallurgical test work, engineering and cost estimating leading up to commitment to development. In a significant number of cases this may result from the lack of understanding and commitment by the project proponent to the requisite metallurgical and processing studies required during the various pre-commitment stages of a mining project. Metallurgical test work, process development, engineering and cost estimating requirements for each stage of pre-commitment development are described together with a summary of the ongoing role of the project metallurgist during detailed engineering and commissioning of a process plant.

Jan 1, 2008

The outlook for suppliers of energy to the expanding economies of the Pacific Basin region is essentially positive, but particularly for exporters of high quality steam coal. This paper argues that economic growth in the Pacific Basin region has exceeded world economic growth for some years and that this will continue to be the case for the next decade at least. It looks briefly at the link between economic growth and energy demand and at the relationship between energy demand and the demand for electricity. Changing preferences in fuel mix for electrical generation in the region are noted and tentative forecasts made about variations in this mix. The pros and cons of various forms of fuel used to generate electricity are considered from the point of view of the consumer. Having concluded that steaming coal in particular is likely to become even more important as a generator of base load electricity, the paper looks at the opportunities this presents for exporters such as Australia, and touches on some factors that could prevent development of those opportunities. This paper will concentrate on electrical energy. For the purposes of this paper, the Pacific Basin refers essentially to Australia, New Zealand and the Asian countries bordering the Western Pacific. As a supplier, Siberia is not included because, although it has great potential, it is thought that problems of climate, infrastructure and political restructuring will delay the realisation of that potential until the next century. Although it deals with the Pacific Basin region, where many countries are industrialising rapidly from a predominantly agricultural base, it looks at the experience of mature industrial DECD economies where their experiences seem relevant.

Jan 1, 1990

The End of the Line for Roadway Development By Michael Kelly, CSIRO Exploration & Mining Michael Kelly highlighted that roadway development performance remains one of the threats to expansion of Australia underground coal exports to the growing Asian market. In a recent industry study, automation was highlighted as one of seven strategies for roadway development improvement. Growing Asian markets The expansion of the Asian coal market is a long term driver for expansion of the underground coal industry in Australia - if significant productivity improvements are made. Imports of steaming coal by Asian APEC members are predicted to rise by from 150 MT to 190 MT. Australia is one of the few countries which has a potential capacity larger than predicted internal needs. Predictions are for exports of black steaming coal from Australia to increase from 50.3 MT in 1992 to 106.3 MT in 2010. To meet this prediction, an investment of $10.7 billion (in 1992 dollars) will have to be made in mining and transport facilities. This is equivalent to the opening of a major new mine each year until 2010. Many of these mines will be underground operations. However, much of Australia's capacity to respond to increased Asian demand will depend on its ability to develop underground technologies and improve productivity. The inability to make sustained improvements in roadway development rates has to date been one of the main reasons why new underground projects have failed to deliver the expected returns.

Jan 1, 1997

By Riches N, Harbort G

The Jameson flotation cell was developed jointly by Mount Isa Mines Limited and Professor GJ Jameson of the University of Newcastle. The cell has been used in a number of cleaning applications within Mount Isa Mines Limited. In 1989 Peko Mines tested the Jameson flotation cell at the Warrego concentrator to upgrade recleaner concentrate. 2 x 1.4 m diameter Jameson flotation cells were installed in 1990. This paper describes the testing, commissioning and operation of these Cells.

Jan 1, 1991

o Resource production is essential for society. o Demand for resources will increase as population grows.o Resource industries are the main consumer of trained geologists.o The lead time from(1) training to productivity(2) research to resource production is measured in years.o An adequate supply of well trained geologists and successful geological research is an important agent in ensuring cost effective, adequate supply of mineral resources for society. Therefore the main beneficiary of geological education is society itself.o Society is paradoxically apathetic or antagonistic to the resource industry because (1) it represents change(2) lobby groups working for other causes have successfully moulded a bogey man image for the resource industry in the public eye.Professional training and research for resource industries consequently lack popular support. Funding is at an absurdly low level in comparison with the economic importance of resource supply.

Jan 1, 1990

By R Bertuzzi

Permanent rock bolts in civil engineering are taken as having to serve their design purpose for at least 50 years. In many projects the design life is specified as greater than 100 years. A review of recent Australian tunnelling projects shows that substantial differences exist in the level of corrosion protection provided for permanent steel shafted rock bolts. This paper reviews the current state of practice and sets out what the authors consider to be appropriate requirements for corrosion protection.

Jan 1, 1999

The Pilbara Block is a nucleus of Archaean rocks which lies in the North West Land Division of Western Australia, and it constitutes a mineral province that has been divided into two areas-the West Pilbara Goldfield and the Pilbara Goldfield.In the West Pilbara Goldfield two contemporaneous environments are represented by laterally equivalent volcanic and sedimentary successions which together comprise the Roebourne Group. The two successions are lithologically similar to the classical Warrawoona (volcanic) and Mosquito Creek (sedimentary) successions of the Pilbara Goldfield; but in the West Pilbara Goldfield there is no sign of the erosional break which separates the Warrawoona Succession from the Mosquito Creek succession. The Roebourne Group and the igneous rocks which have intruded it belong to the Archaean Pilbara System.Evidence of preconsolidation movement and igneous intrusion into unconsolidated sediment suggests that tectonism and igneous activity, localized along lines of fracture in an unidentified basement, beganbefore lithification was complete. Movement was primarily vertical, and persisted into the Lower Proterozoic.Vulcanicity and chemical sedimentation, accompanied by a diminution of detr:tal sedimentation, is thought to have caused a relative enrichment in the metal content of the middle part of the Roebourne Group; and the metal may have been remobilized during diagenesis and metamorphism, and localized in zones of dislocation formed both before and after consolidation of the sediments.INTRODUCTIONThe name "Pilbara" has been widely applied in the area under discussion, and to avoid confusion the various uses are summarized below.1. The town of Pilbara, now abandoned, was a centre of mining between 1888 and about 1914. It lies some 90 miles FJSK of Roebourne (Fig. 1).2. The original Pilbara Goldfield was modified several...

Jan 1, 1965

New Zealand has often been quoted by metallurgists and others as one of the countries in which Tellurium is found, and locally it has been recorded that appreciable quantities of tellurium have been met with in the Thames and surroundingdistricts. However, specimens containing tellurium which have been obtained on this field have not been preserved and their scarcity today points to the fact that tellurium is not here abundant.To ascertain its distribution, analyses and assays have been made by the author on a large number of ores, the results of several of which are given below.The presence of any considerable percentage of tellurium has an important bearing on the metallurgical treatment of ores in which it is found.

Jan 1, 1901

By R D. Morrison

This paper reviews the need for, and potential of, dry technologies in mineral processing, and considers the problems that will have to be solved for such technologies to be economic. The need for water in conventional mineral processing is reviewed, together with the advantages and disadvantages of operating wet and dry. A wide range of dry processing techniques have been developed in the past, some of which are in routine use either in mineral processing or in allied industries. However more information is needed to determine which of these is appropriate to replace conventional wet processing. It is concluded that a new paradigm is required for the design of processing flow sheets, which will need to extend to innovative ways of valuing particular process routes. Research is also required to develop current dry methods to increase throughput and overcome other disadvantages, and to develop new or refined dry separation methods, perhaps exploiting alternative mineral properties.

Jan 1, 2003

By T Amiconi

Ernest Henry Mining commenced operations on its copper-gold project in August 1997, some two months ahead of schedule and ten per cent ($35 million) under budget. The mine is located in the highly prospective Mount Isa/Cloncurry mineral district in north-west Queensland, approximately 38 km north-east of Cloncurry. The developer and operator of the project is Ernest Henry Mining Pty Ltd (EHM), an incorporated joint venture between MIM Holdings Limited (51 per cent) and Savage Resources Limited (49 per cent). The deposit is located approximately 40 km north of Cloncurry in North West Queensland and lies beneath a featureless black soil plain with no significant creeks or gullies cutting across the site. Vegetation is sparse and consists essentially of Mitchell grass with occasional low shrubs and trees. Up to nine million tonnes of ore and over 43 million tonnes of waste will be extracted each year from an open pit operation to produce approximately 350 000 tonnes of concentrate when in full production.

Jan 1, 1998

By Holdgate G. R, Thompson B. R, Webster R. L, Bolger P. F

The Gippsland Basin in south-eastern Australia has an area of approximately 46 000 sq km. It is one of the world's major coal and petroleum bearing basins, with most of the former occurring in the smaller one fifth on-shore part. The stratigraphy, structure and economic resources of the Tertiary sedimentary pile is now well known through extensive drilling for coal and petroleum. In contrast, the older Cretaceous sequences through their lesser economic importance are relatively less explored. The sedimentational history of the Gippsland Basin has largely followed along similar lines of development to the many other southern Australian basins since the Cretaceous break-up of Gondwanaland. However, the scale of accumulation of coal and hydrocarbon source rocks is unprecedented and differentiates this basin, for reasons less well understood, from the others. Large scale open cut brown coal mining since the late-1920s has been carried out in the western extremities of the basin, while vigorous extraction of some two thirds of Australian petroleum products taken place in the offshore part. Brown coal seam thicknesses and economically winnable reserves are huge and outrank most other brown coal basins of the world. Development of the resource currently meets the need for electricity generation throughout the State of Victoria, but other future developments such as conversion to oil, being investigated.

Jan 1, 1992

The pyrite-sphalerite-galena and barite orebodies at the Rosebery mine are concordant with the shale host rock and have been deformed into one system of folds with an associated axial plane cleavage. The folds are tight and overturned with east-dipping axial planes. Folds in the sulphide ore are commonly disharmonic, particularly between adjacent bands of different composition.Concentric style folds occur in the competent bands, e.g. pyrite-rich bands. Similar style folds are predominant in the less competent sphalerite-galena-rich bands and also in the shale of the host rock. The trends and plunges of the fold hinge-lines are variable but axial planes are of reasonably constant orientation throughout the mine area. The folds in the orebodies are of limited axial extent, approximating to conical folds, and are arranged in en echelon patterns. The fold system was possibly formed in one period of folding by heterogeneous strain that may have been caused by the presence of a mass of tectonically mobile sulphide ore. Lineations parallel to the ore/host rock contacts appear to reflect movement between the ore and the host rock during folding.

Jan 1, 1972

Longwall mining in Australia is approaching maturity. Longwall production from 'state of the art' Australian longwall mines now rivals similar US based longwall operations. Regrettably however, Australian gate road development rates in general fall short of the required development to longwall production ratios that are required to sustain annual longwall production capabilities. By contrast, most US based longwall mines achieve the required development to longwall production ratios to sustain their longwalls. This is despite many having to drive three heading longwall panel gate headings to meet regulatory requirements.

Jan 1, 1998