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The sinking of the new No. 3 Shaft being mainly concerned with providing for the continuation of mining operations north of the existing workings, requirements for the shaft and haulage equipment were assessed, having in mind the anticipated needs of the Company in future years, the .available knowledge and probable future trends of the orebody, and also that the shaft would be required to act as a downcast airway for the ventilation system associated with the northern underground workings.

Jan 1, 1957

In recent times there has been a marked increase in public awareness of air pollution. Some of this has been induced by the Press but our own senses tell us that there is a visible haze over our cities on many mornings. The people are now demanding a clean environment and will no longer tolerate smoke and dust fall or gaseous and odorous emission which either soil building and furnishings or interfere with comfort and well being.

Jan 1, 1971

Legislation, if it is to be effective, must be enforceable by the state and acceptable to the industry. In the mining industry the relationship between the government inspector on the one hand and the mine management and employees on the other, must be one of full co-operation before the system can be effective. To understand our present system, which is-duplicated in most countries of the world, an examination of the history from which it evolved is necessary.

Jan 1, 1975

It is a great privilege to be invited to give this address at this centenary conference. A centenary is a time for recollection, for celebration and for looking ahead. The AusIMM has much to celebrate and many things to recall. I hope in this address to make some useful comments about Australia's future (and mindful of but not forgetting New Zealand), looking ahead for 25 years or so, and the mining industry's role in that future.

Jan 1, 1993

In the- past, at Great Boulder Gold Mines Ltd,, ,' s.. number of attempts ' ha'tre been made to remove water ' `solublo copper and' iron sa'lt's from calcined pyritic concentrates, but various problems have arisen and the methodsi ve been abandoned. A method of rapid washing has now been developed,, and although some problems still. exist,, a workable `process has boreh established .which. has; resulted in 'substantial savings of 'reagents used for. the. cyanidation of calcine

Jan 1, 1964

In July 1997 Macraes Mining Company Limited deferred a 9 Mtpa expansion of the Macraes Gold Project because of the uncertainty of the future gold price and its impact on equity markets.  Additionally delays in the resource consenting process led to further uncertainty.   It has subsequently announced that a study has been commissioned to recommend a staged approach to development of its New Zealand business. The best economic development path will be determined to maximise returns to shareholders.

Jan 1, 1997

Contractors have penetrated all areas of the Australian mining industry over the last 15 years. The process started in the WA gold and nickel mines and has since spread around the nation to iron ore, base metals and coal mines.The mine contracting industry has progressed from tentative beginnings in the 80s to the current situation where it is now providing high standards of professional management, safety and workmanship with competent people and high quality plant and equipment.

Jan 1, 1998

Subsidence issues associated with historic mine workings have highlighted the need for enhanced geotechnical management of the Martha pit over the remaining life. In conjunction with a detailed analysis of pit slope issues a comprehensive geotechnical management plan has been developed at Martha and is being used as the basis for development of similar plans in other Newmont operations.   This paper covers the geotechnical issues facing the Martha operation and the development and application of the management plan.

Jan 1, 2004

The bureaucracy in Victoria has worked against exploration and mining development. There is no doubt that the new Mineral Resources development Act has simplified matters on the mining side of the system. However, WMC's Bendigo and Deep Lead experiences demonstrate that other parts of the bureaucracy can cause serious delays. The mining industry continues to view the approval process causal of excessive costs and delays compared with other States (and countries) and prohibitive to investment in Victoria.

Jan 1, 1992

By Adranyl W. W

Sub-level caving with bottom ore drawing has gained wide acceptance in rich, soft, low magnetic iron ores because it provides moderate ore dilution and ore losses. The main problem here is the high rock pressure exerted on sub-level drives situated in the sub-level sill pillars. To reduce this effect, the ore block is divided into panels. This paper illustraes the method of determining the maximum panel width providing low maintenance cost of sub-level drives.

Jan 1, 1995

Roadheader tunnelling machines have been used in Australia by both mining companies and contractors involved in the mining and con- struction industries since the early 1970's. They have both advantages and limitations, and this paper discusses machine excavation from the point of view of a contractor who has both reaped the benefits and suffered the conse- quences of using roadheaders. The paper also includes brief descriptions of three projects tackled by roadheader, all the projects being Declines.

Jan 1, 1987

The importance of good winding rope practice is stressed. Details of the ropes used for various duties in the four shafts of The Zinc Corporation, Limited (ZC) and New Broken Hill Consolidated Limited (NBHC) are given. Inspection, testing (including non destructive methods), maintenance and rope discard criteria are discussed. There are sane catments about rope installation methods and an appendix is included which outlines the appropriate statutory requirements for winding ropes in New South Wales (NSW).

Jan 1, 1983

One of the biggest drawbacks of deciding upon a heap leach method of treating gold ore is the risk associated with the full-scale production heaps not performing as predicted by the testwork. This paper examines the key decisions that are taken in the design of a heap leach project, and suggests ways in which exposure to these risks can be minimised. It also looks at monitoring techniques to give early warning of problems and possible remedial actions.

Jan 1, 1994

By Hill J. R M, McDonald M. M

A prediction technique for support perfor- mance of hydraulic backfill in narrow stopes is applied to two stopes separated vertically by a sill pillar. Predicted stope wall closures and fill pressures compare favorably with field measurements taken over a period of several years at two mines in the Coeur d'Alene dis- trict. Stope wall closure and peak pillar stress can be substantially reduced by improved fill quality within a practicable range of fill and rock properties.

Jan 1, 1973

In many mining operations, the truck and loader equipment represents the bulk of the invested capital and the majority of the mine operating cost. The profitability of these mines is therefore critically linked to the efficiency of the truck and loader operations. The various factors which affect the productivity of trucks and loaders are analysed by computer simulation, and the results presented in a form allowing assessment of the importance of each factor on overall productivity.

Jan 1, 1983

The object of this paper is to show in some detail the mining challenges that have been presented and overcome during the successful development of the main exhaust ventilation drive that will service the Ballarat East mine during its 20+ year lifespan. Topics to be discussed in this paper include the ground support regimes employed, the ground conditions encountered during construction, how the heading was recovered after falls of ground and the effectiveness of geotechnical probe drilling at Ballarat.

Jan 1, 2006

By Wright S, Rogers L. J, Precious T. H

Brown coal and its char were investigated as substitutes for petroleum coke in the manufacture of anodes for Hall-Heroult cells. The char, which had been densified by several techniques, was made into compacts with various binders and the anodic consumption determined during electrolysis. The results were an improvement on previous work, but the anodes still fell short of acceptability for use in aluminium smelters because of intractable microporosity. Some options for future development have been discounted.

Jan 1, 1986

By G Collecutt, T O’Beirne, D Humphreys, J Greenwood

Much of our knowledge of the behaviour of underground coal dust explosions has been derived from less than full-scale experimental explosions in facilities as small as 0.25 m diameter pipes. Although a substantial body of research has been undertaken in larger galleries approaching the size of full-scale modern mine roadways, there are still questions regarding the scaling of results to full-sized roadways in modern coalmines. Questions also surround the issue of comparing or scaling results between smooth and rough walled galleries, round and rectangular galleries and galleries with differing wall thermal properties due to different materials of construction.This paper will examine the influence of gallery size, cross-section area and wall roughness and thermal properties upon the characteristics of a coal dust explosion. Data from past explosion research will be examined and assessed for its application to the problem along with theoretical considerations for these factors.Recommendations on the design and minimum appropriate size of explosion galleries for assessing the performance of explosion inerting strategies, passive and active explosion barrier performance and determination of appropriate pressure ratings for ventilation structures will be made.CITATION:Humphreys, D, Collecutt, G, Greenwood, J and O’Beirne, T, 2015. The impact of facility construction and scale on the characteristics of experimental coal dust explosions, in Proceedings The Australian Mine Ventilation Conference, pp 301–308 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 31, 2015

By F M. Weir, M Fowler

A discrete fracture network (DFN) approach involves numerical modelling that explicitly represents how defects may be spatially distributed through a rock mass. A DFN is a 3D realisation of the ‘smaller scale’, non-deterministic defects; it is not an attempt to model larger, deterministic structures that should be identified as part of an engineering geology model. The approach utilises structural data in stochastic analyses to give a range of possible models that provides a tool for visualisation and analysis of a rock mass and indicates the potential large-scale slope or tunnel performance and stability.Stochastic fracture modelling for rock mass characterisation has significantly advanced over the past 25 years. With recent improvements to field data collection and computational power, it has become recognised internationally as a valuable tool for modelling some geomechanical problems encountered when designing excavations in fractured rock masses.This paper provides an introduction to the DFN approach, particularly the necessary input parameters and derivation of these from typical structural data sources, such as boreholes or scan line mapping. Of particular importance for engineering applications is validation of the simulated fracture network and techniques for doing so are discussed here.CITATION:Weir, F M and Fowler, M, 2014. An introduction to discrete fracture network modelling and its geotechnical applications, in Proceedings AusRock 2014: Third Australasian Ground Control in Mining Conference , pp 435–444 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 5, 2014

By A Parry, C Fitzmaurice

After conducting laboratory ore sorting testwork on samples of a low grade nickel ore stockpile at Western Areas’ Flying Fox nickel mine, a mobile crushing, screening and ore sorting plant was located adjacent to the stockpile. An initial two month trial of the ore sorter program proved successful and was extended to process the entire Flying Fox low grade stockpile in a further four month campaign. A total of 167 660 t of low grade ore was processed, providing highly upgraded feed trucked 26 km to the Cosmic Boy concentrator. A more than three-fold grade increase was achieved on ore sorter accepts. The moderately upgraded fines that by-passed the mobile ore sorter were also subsequently blended into plant feed. This paper describes the mineralogy of the Flying Fox low grade ore, the mobile ore sorting campaign and provides some commentary on the economic and environmental benefits achieved in the ore sorting campaign. The ore sorting campaign demonstrated the benefits of being able to utilise mobile ore sorting equipment temporarily located adjacent to sub-economic low grade stockpiles in order to effectively treat these stockpiles and produce viable plant feed.CITATION:Parry, A and Fitzmaurice, C, 2018. The upgrading of low-grade nickel ore stockpiles at Western Areas Ltd Forrestania operations, using a mobile ore sorting plant, in Proceedings 14th AusIMM Mill Operators' Conference 2018, pp 541–550 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 29, 2018