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East Nelson and Marlborough, in the northeast of the South Island, contain a wide variety of metallic minerals, including gold, silver, copper, chromite, antimony and scheelite, but no sustained metallic mining industry has evolved. Gold was the most sought-after mineral during the first century of European settlement and numerous discoveries were made but these failed to live up to expectations. While traces of gold are widespread in east Nelson, including in quartz veins in Nelson City, no payable deposits were found. In Marlborough the probability of a gold discovery had initially seemed remote but all this changed with the finding of rich deposits in the bed of the Wakamarina River in 1864, which provided a much-needed boost to the provincial economy. However, the decline of gold mining in Marlborough began virtually as soon as it had commenced. Extensive floods in 1865 hastened the exodus of miners to the profitable new fields of the West Coast.

Jan 1, 1993

The known coal resources of South Australia are either of poor quality, or expensive to extract, or both. Export quality coal occurs only at great depth in the remote north of the State; the balance of the State's coal resources are suitable only for local electricity generation. Currently there is only one coal mine in the State, at Leigh Creek. This provides fuel for approximately 34% of the State's electricity generation, the balance being fuelled by natural gas. In the near future, new fuel sources must be developed to augment diminishing supplies of natural gas, and to cater for increasing demands for electricity. The South Australian Government has determined that future electricity generation will be based on the combustion of local coals. The geological and geographical environment of the known coal deposits and the quality of these coals are such that the most up to date and innovative technology must be applied to both extraction and combustion processes. The Government, the Electricity Trust of South Australia, and several Australian and overseas companies have embarked on an extensive research and development programme to ensure that these otherwise useless resources can be developed to the benefit of the State.

Jan 1, 1987

By G Mulder, M Adams

Since the introduction of raiseboring 30 years ago there have been many operational and mechanical design improvements in the raiseboring machine, its reamers and associated cutters. These have now made the technology of raiseboring a routine and practical operation within the underground mining world. Over the last decade these advances have been aided by the introduction of robust automation packages which have allowed unattended drilling and reaming, real time performance monitoring and enhancement and the rapid diagnostic investigation of mechanical and electrical abnormalities. The constraint to higher raiseboring performance is now the drill string. However when it comes to a cost-effective solution of applying the high drill string torque and tension necessary for the next step change in performance, designers have æhit the wallÆ. Whilst carbon fiber reinforced plastic composites with abrasive resistant sheaths may offer a solution, the limit of conventional steel, drill string technology has been reached. This limit to advancement is however based on the drill string being in tension and alternative solutions may exist by literally turning the raiseboring paradigm on its head. This paper describes the story of a small Australian company engaged in the design and manufacture of mechanical excavation machines, two Australian raiseboring contractors and three Australian mines going against tradition and pushing down rather than pulling up.

Jan 1, 1998

At Copper Refineries Pty. Ltd., Townsville, two reverberatory furnaces of 420 tonnes capacity are used to melt 210000 tonnes/year of copper for subsequent anode casting. When the refinery commenced production in1959, these furnaces were of 300 tonnes capacity. The original furnaces featured a silica brick hearth, magnesite and chrome magnesite side 'walls, and a sprung silica brick roof, but were unsatisfactory because of thelow refractory life and high costs. With continuous expansion in production and the incentive to increase furnace life and capacity the design of these furnaces has changed greatly since that time.The present furnaces feature all basic brick, a flat suspended basic brick roof, very extensive use of watercooled copper sections, and are of substantially increased (420 tonnes) capacity. Particular attention has been concentrated on high wear areas such as the taphole, side walls, and charging door jambs. Each furnace in its 24 h cycle, is charged, the copper melted, impurities skimmed off, metal "poled" prior to casting, and cast.The service condition during each of these operations is important in considering furnace refractory life.The improvements in operating practices and furnace 'construction which enabled the capacity of the furnaces to be increased are discussed. The life between major repairs to side walls has increased from 90 charges to300 charges.The scope for future improvement is considered and areas for development are suggested.

Jan 1, 1977

The Metallurgical Development of an Enargite-Bearing Deposit

Sep 13, 2010

By D Luppnow, C Hore

In-pit tailings storage can provide many advantages when compared to typical above-ground tailings storage facilities (TSFs). As regulations become more restrictive and existing mines expand into new pits, the motivation and opportunities for in-pit tailings disposal is increasing.The Langer Heinrich uranium orebody follows a palaeo-river channel and is mined as an open pit operation. The mine pits intersect two main aquifer systems, one at the surface and one at the base of the orebody/pits. The tailings storage methodology is full in-pit disposal in multiple TSFs for the life-of-mine. Continuity of the initial hydrogeological conditions is incorporated in the design by the use of the pervious surround concept and the reinstatement of the lower aquifer (palaeochannel aquifer) at the base of the pit. Containment embankments are required to facilitate the staging of the TSFs development and are constructed using waste rock liberated during the mining of the pits. All of the TSFs are equipped with decant structures and an underdrainage system is included to improve water recovery, enhance consolidation and increase tailings density.This paper presents the design of a unique in-pit tailings storage solution for the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia owned by Paladin Energy Ltd.CITATION:Hore, C and Luppnow, D, 2015. In-pit tailings disposal at Langer Heinrich – tailings storage facilities in a unique hydrogeological setting, in Proceedings Tailings and Mine Waste Management for the 21st Century , pp 373–380 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 27, 2015

I would like to start by thanking The AusIMM and CSIRO for organising this excellent conference and inviting me to give a keynote address. Today I will focus on some broad observations of our industry, and leave the technical discussion to my colleagues who are presenting specific papers covering a wide range of topics. In preparation for this paper, I did a little research into the early history of the Pilbara iron ore industry. I was fascinated to read a quote attributed to Harry P Woodward, the Government Geologist in the late 19th century, before Federation. Mr Woodward described the Pilbara as an iron ore country and observed that æthere is enough to supply the whole world should the present sources be worked outÆ. Mr WoodwardÆs prediction could be viewed as wishful thinking and certainly at Hamersley Iron I would gladly envisage the Pilbara supplying the worldÆs entire iron ore needs! In reality, Western Australia accounted for 162 million tonnes or 36 per cent of seaborne trade in 2001. An impressive effort, but not quite the total world supply as Mr Woodward imagined. But we shouldnÆt dismiss these historical musings out of hand û perhaps we could see it as a challenge for the industry to æwork outÆ the present sources. We all know there is abundant iron ore in the Pilbara, and I expect it is only a matter of time until our collective technical expertise and sheer hard work will enable us to utilise its greater range of ore types. Opening up new markets will be a key pathway to creating additional value from the Pilbara ores. Today I will examine the state of play of our industry and the major influences that shape our business at present, before considering what the future might hold for us. I canÆt guarantee the accuracy of my crystal ball, but the stability and long-term nature of our industry does enable some reasonable hypotheses on where we are heading. I will also spend some time examining the way in which the iron ore producers are working to maximise the value of their resource base and obtain more from their existing capital assets.

Jan 1, 2002

By V A. Diemar

The Chatree Gold Project represents a greenfields discovery of metallurgically clean shallow gold mineralisation in a logistically simple terrain. Total Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources are currently 31 tonnes of gold and 160 tonnes of silver. Gold occurs in an adularia-sericite epithermal system within quartz-calcite-adularia veins, breccias and stockworks. Host rocks are volcanic arc porphyritic latite-trachyte flows, their pyroclastic equivalents and volcaniclastics of upper Permian to upper Triassic age. The mineralisation was deposited in dilated zones during repeated reactivation of pre-existing structures. To-date five mineralised prospects have been defined by drilling with three reaching JORC Code Mineral Resources status. The project is in its definitive feasibility stage and is anticipated to be in construction during 2000.

Jan 1, 1999

By Davies H, Pigram C, Sunata W, Falvey D, Loxton C, Giddings J, Rogerson R

PALAEOMAGNETIC CONSTRAINTS ON TERRANE TECTONICS IN NEW GUINEA Chris Klootwijkl), John Giddingsl), Wahyu Sunata2), Chris Pigraml), Charles Loxton3), Hugh Daviesl), Rick Rogerson3) and David Falveyl) 1) Bureau of Mineral Resources, Canberra, Australia 2) Geological Research and Development Centre, Bandung, Indonesia 3) Geological Survey of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Jan 1, 1987

By Edwards A. B

The occurrence of lollingite (FeAs2 ) in the Broken Hill lode is recorded by an analysis of lollingite published in the Annual Report of the Department of Mines, New South Wales, for the year 1934 (p. 69). The analysed specimen came from the North Broken Hill mine, and material from the same occurrence (Specimeh No. 1), as well as two specimens (Nos. 3 and 4) from the Zinc Corporation mine, have been forwarded· to us by Mr. M. Mawby of the Zinc Corporation Mine. This material has been supplemented by another specimen (No. 2) from the Zinc Corporation mine, passed over to us by Dr. I. Wark.The original analysis of lollingite is quoted in Table I, and shows that the Broken Hill lollingite contains appreciable amounts of cobalt and nickel, and, indicates that the iron is to a considerable extent replaced by cobalt and nickel, so that its formula should be written (FeCoNi) As2This is supported by a microscopical examination of a polished surface of the lollingite, in which no individual arsenides of cobalt and nickel can be detected.Coarse grained galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite are attached to our specimen of lollingite from the North mine, and are separated by a sharp junction from a mass of lollingite associated with some arsenopyrite and garnet. The massive lollingite can be distinguished from arsenopyrite in the hand specimen by a much brighter, silvery lustre, against which arsenopyrite appears a dull silver grey; but the passage from lollingite to arsenopyrite appears transitional.

Jan 1, 1939

By R Bourcier, T Rafferty

Following an underground coal mine explosion, it is important that ventilation is quickly restored to ventilate the mine and affect a mine rescue. To achieve this, surface ventilation fans must be suitably protected from explosion damage, but still able to be quickly restored.A review of all Australian coal mine regulations was carried out, revealing that Australia has no prescriptive regulations that specify the design of explosion relief panels and the protection of ventilation fans in the event of an underground explosion.To better define the level of protection required, this paper reviews and extracts details from relevant major international regulations and standards on the subject.A suitable design methodology for the protection of ventilation fans is presented that could be applied in Australia, using a combination of explosion relief panels, appropriate isolation of the fan, and ventilation shaft/mine design.CITATION:Rafferty, T and Bourcier, R, 2013. The protection of surface ventilation fan installations from underground explosions, in Proceedings The Australian Mine Ventilation Conference , pp 169-173 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 1, 2013

By X-F Zhao, J-W Li, L-P Zeng

"An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation. The formation of Kiruna-type deposits has been ascribed to either immiscible iron phosphate melt separated from silicic magma or precipitation from magmatic-hydrothermal fluids. The early Cretaceous Ningwu volcanic basin in Eastern China contains tens of Kiruna-type iron deposits. The orebodies are mainly hosted within the top zones of subvolcanic dioritic intrusions and along the contacts between these intrusions and adjacent volcanic rocks/strata.The orebodies are commonly associated with widespread brecciation and wall rock replacement. Magnetite formation was closely associated with extensive hydrothermal alteration that may extend kilometres, with both vertical and horizontal zonation. Field and textural data indicate that magnetite formed slightly later than albitisation but coeval with apatite and actinolite. Elemental analysis of magnetite and apatite from ores shows distinct features to those as igneous accessary minerals in the host dioritic intrusions, suggesting a genetic relationship to magmatic-hydrothermal processes. Magnetites have elevated TiO2 (up to 5 wt per cent) and V2O3 (up to 0.7 wt per cent), which implies that they are derived from incipient high-temperature magmatic fluids. It is concluded that the Kiruna-type deposits in the Ningwu basin most likely formed from high-temperature magmatic-hydrothermal fluids. The emplacement of dioritic intrusions into a subvolcanic setting likely plays a critical role in the development of Kiruna-type deposits.CITATION:Zhao, X-F, Zeng, L-P and Li, J-W, 2015. Kiruna-type iron deposits in the Mesozoic Ningwu volcanic basin, Eastern China – origin and relationship to subvolcanic dioritic intrusions, in Proceedings PACRIM 2015 Congress, pp 657–662 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 18, 2015

By L J. Ingle, K L. McPhee, A G. Hunt

Iron Road Limited (IRD) is currently developing the Central Eyre Iron Project (CEIP) at Warramboo on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. The project consists of a 30 year open pit mine, magnetite processing facilities, standard-gauge railway and deep water, Cape class capable port. Major South Australian government approvals have been received and funding arrangements confirmed.The 4.5 Bt Mineral Resource (3.7 Bt Ore Reserve), the largest in Australia and among the largest globally, is to be mined to produce 24 Mt/a high-grade, 67 per cent Fe, magnetite concentrate. This in-demand, premium product has a P80 of ~100 µm, suitable for both direct sinter feed and an additive in pelletising.The extensively drilled, homogeneous orebody is unique in both geology and mineralogy; only averaging 15 per cent Fe yet coarse-grained with almost negligible phosphorus and sulfur content. This has allowed significant opportunities to tailor the mining method to the orebody, utilising both optimised blasting as first stage comminution, as well as in-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) to reduce the heavy haulage diesel fleet and optimise the pit shell.Approximately 1 Mt/d of total material, ore and waste, is required to be moved from the pit daily, introducing materials handling challenges, overcome by a flexible IPCC set-up, multiple overland conveyors and an exacting mine plan. Non-conventional waste and tailings storage is utilised to allow for significant water savings, progressive rehabilitation and minimisation of land impact.The processing facilities utilise both the magnetic and density properties of the magnetite to beneficiate the ore. The coarse-grained nature of the ore is exploited to minimise comminution yet still liberate a high quality product. Utilisation of modular construction methods allows risk reduction during construction and reduced pumping requirements during operation.This paper highlights the uniqueness of the CEIP, with focus on the mineralisation of the orebody, and the beneficial impacts this has on both the proposed mining method and processing. Magnetite mining is not new and IRD has used the learnings of others, and input from various vendors and industry experts, utilising knowledge and expertise to engineer an innovative, yet supported, project design.CITATION:McPhee, K L, Hunt, A G and Ingle, L J, 2017. The Central Eyre Iron Project – developing a new iron ore mine in a challenging climate, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2017, pp 613–620 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 24, 2017

The Middleback Ranges are a series of parallel northsouth ridges on the eastern side of the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, about 20 miles inland from the Spencer Gulf, as shown in Fig. 1. They extend for some 20 miles across the centre of the County of York. North of them, on the same line of strike, in, the County of Manchester, is a disconnected series of lesser which ends in the Iron Monarch-Iron Knob ridge, the principal iron ore locality. These ridges are referred to in the following pages as an integral part of the Middleback Ranges.The deposits of hematite which outcrop in these ranges (Fig. 1) form the most important group of iron ore bodies in Australia, and are exploited by the Broken Hill Proprietary Company. The largest of them is the Iron Monarch (Fig. 6) .H: The next largest are the Iron Duke, the Iron Prince and Iron Baron. The Iron Knob, Iron Duchess, the North and South Iron Knights, Iron Queen, and the small body south of it, the Kimba Lease, and the deposits in the Cook's and Ash Leases, are all smaller.Numerous small lens-like bodies of hematite occur throughout the ridges, but are not of sufficient size to be of commercial use. At present only the Iron Monarch and the Iron Prince bodies are being worked. The Iron Knob was quarried previously, but its remaining supply is held in reserve.*Published by permission of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

Jan 1, 1936

By D J Williams

Coal washery wastes comprise tailings, finer than 0.5 to 0.1 inn depending on the sophistication of the washery, and coarse reject, typically finer than 50 mm. Subaerial disposal of coal tailings slurry at about 30 per cent solids by mass results in the formation of a delta with an average slope of about 1 in 100, representing one extreme. The ravelling of coarse reject on loose-dumping, results in an angle of repose slope with an angle of about 37" (1 in 1.3), representing the other extreme. The pumped co-disposal of coal tailings and coarse reject results in the formation of an upper delta with an average slope of about to one in ten, between the two extremes. The depositional behaviour of these three waste streams is discussed and compared in this paper. The important depositional and material parameters, and a theoretical description of the processes involved, are also presented. Comparisons are made between the depositional behaviour of the various coal washery waste streams, and natural depositional systems, such as rivers, alluvial fans, and scree slopes.

Jan 1, 1998

By A D. Campbell

The Homer Tunnel is located in a remote area of the South Island of New Zealand and carries large numbers of tourists to Milford Sound through an avalanche prone area. The tunnel is 1280 m long with a steep ten per cent unidirectional grade descending to the west. Construction of the tunnel began in the 1930s and was completed to a nominal 6 m width in 1954. In 1996, two passing bays were stripped-out to accommodate bi-directional flow of tourist coaches. During all phases of construction and widening there have been episodes of strain bursting.The condition of the tunnel and standard of internal services is below current international practice, principally in terms of; in-tunnel air quality, fire life safety, ground support, and road safety. A number of near-miss events have occurred involving coach fires on the approaches and inside the tunnel. The national road authority, NZTA, is considering a substantial investment to improve amenity and safety of the tunnel.This paper describes the rationale for the proposed upgrade works and the investigations undertaken to enable that design. A holistic approach to road tunnel safety has been adopted that balances the key interrelated safety drivers, namely; tunnel lining, traffic operations, ventilation, power supply and egress while ensuring continuity of safe access to Milford Sound.

Mar 8, 2011

By J Paradis, K Dudgeon, M Topping

At Newmont’s Jundee Operation, exploration and resource geologists collaborated to produce an open pit resource model. Using a variety of modelling and estimation techniques but no new data, an uneconomic underground target was converted into a potentially economic open pit evaluation. During an industry downturn, it is more important than ever to efficiently share expertise, ideas and resources to problem solve and produce meaningful project outcomes. The two departments brought together different methods and ideas, and the process showed that certain methods worked better than others in different situations, thus the appropriate method was applied to each part of the evaluation. The results were used to create new procedures and improved lithology modelling and resource model estimations. Adaptability of the geology departments and collaboration such as this are key to ongoing improvements and future mine life at Jundee.CITATION:Dudgeon, K, Paradis, J and Topping, M, 2014. Cook open pit model – the hurdles: how we leapt, lunged, stumbled and overcame them, in Proceedings Ninth International Mining Geology Conference 2014 , pp 169–174 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 18, 2014

Syferfontein Colliery, part of the Sasol group of companies which specialises in the field of petro-chemical production, was established in 1990. The mine is situated about 150 km east of Johannesburg, South Africa. Two coal seams are mined, utilising two 75 m3 draglines, shovels and a fleet of 177 ton rear dump trucks. The mine will reach its full production capacity of seven million tonnes per annum in 1992. During the planning period, prior to the establishment of the mine, management were confronted with the unstable socio-political environment in South Africa which could jeopardise the eventual success of the mine. They consequently conducted a strategic planning exercise to determine guidelines for mine planning to improve the chances of success in this unstable third world environment.The strategic guidelines formed the basis for specific actions taken during the planning and commissioning of the mine. Specific actions were taken in the field of operating cost, labour relations, working environment, logistics and the general environment. First results indicate that these actions have played a major role in the success of the mine to-date. This process can be utilised by others facing similar or even totally different uncertainties.

Jan 1, 1992

By Alvin J. F

Tin in ores containing 0·025 to 1·5 per cent tin can be determined polarographically by the reduction of the chlorostannite ion at the dropping mercury electrode in 2M hydrochloric acid solution containing 15 per cent ammonium chloride. The tin is separated from interfering elements by distillation as the tetrabromide and collected from the distillate by co-precipitation with aluminium hydroxide. The method can detect 0·01 per cent tin in ore.INTRODUCTIONAn iodimetric method, suitable for routine analysis of titrating tin in concentrations down to 1 per cent, has been available for some years (Low, Weinig, and Schoder, 1939).As concentrations fall below 1 per cent tin, there is increasing difficulty in obtaining a distinct end point due to large amounts of iron and silica normally present after fusion of the ore. Since concentrations of tin down to 0·02 per cent are significant in ore dressing products it was necessary to examine methods to determine such low concentrations, and to adapt these to tin ores containing a wide variety of other minerals.EXPERIMENTALDigestion and separationCassiterite, the principal tin mineral, is refractory but readily attacked by a sodium peroxide flux to yield soluble sodium stannate. In a recognized procedure, a sample of ore is mixed with up to 15 g of sodium peroxide in an iron crucible and swirled over the full heat of a Meker burner for 7 min. The fusion is leached with water and acidified.This solution then contains tin, silica, and other soluble...

Jan 1, 1962

By C R. Stanley, D Lawie

The measurement of error in assays collected as part of a mineral exploration program or mining operation, including errors introduced during sampling, sample preparation, or geochemical analysis, historically has been undertaken in a variety of ways. Different parameters have been used to describe the magnitude of relative error and each of these parameters is related to the standard measure of relative error, the coefficient of variation. Calculation of the coefficient of variation can be undertaken in a variety of ways; however, only one produces unbiased estimates of measurement error: the root mean square coefficient of variation calculated from the individual coefficients of variation. CITATION:Lawie, D and Stanley, C R, 2012. Average relative error in geochemical determinations - Clarification, calculation and a plea for consistency, in Proceedings Sampling 2012 , pp 181-184 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 21, 2012