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By K Eglinton

The extractive industries response to community engagement due to social and political pressures in the 1980s and 1990s was the starting point of development leading to the modern function of corporate social responsibility.Challenged by communities who have greater access to information, demand greater transparency and responsibility of corporate organisations and who possess greater awareness of the communities they participate in, the mining sector faces another step change in how it approaches and integrates corporate social responsibility, transparency and engagement.Mining is seeking reserves of lower grades, in more sensitive environments and in countries with minimal transparency and governance. Not only are the locations changing but so to the stakeholders to engage with and issues to contend with. An increasingly savvy opposition, including not just the ‘green hippies’ but the Gen-Ys interested in the wider sustainability debate and Baby Boomers moving to life style environments, are now questioning mining’s behaviour and encroachment into ‘their space’. Issues including effect on lifestyle amenity, property value, energy efficiency, social provision; concepts such as ‘doing more with less’, participatory engagement, increasing transparency and balancing economic, environment, cultural and social aspects are becoming the norm.The traditional model of supporting local communities, communicating plans and providing employment, community investment and indigenous support programs is not enough. Our industry faces challenges on multiple fronts. It must now be able to address these from a personal/community perspective if it is to remain relevant within communities and play a role in addressing the global sustainability issues.This paper draws on corporate social responsibility trends, integrated functions and implementation approaches through the application of activities within Newmont operations across Asia Pacific.The approach presented works on the philosophy that communities do not necessarily have to like what we do, but should be able to identify and recognise the way in which we involve them in decision making, communicate our intentions and respond to issues.

Nov 22, 2011

By L H. G McClean

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors have always been important to the minerals industry and is now considered one of our most important opportunities (and risks). Getting it right from the beginning is critical for the minerals industry, and that starts with mineral exploration. Exploration, or the process of investigation of an economic mineral deposit, is generally low impact and short-term. Exploration operations vary in size and scale and often shift priority, focus and location relatively quickly. Australia is a highly regulated jurisdiction with different regulatory systems and requirements in every state and territory. Most mineral exploration is undertaken by junior exploration companies or ‘explorers’. Exploration companies are lean operations with limited staffing and resources, traditionally with no income apart from funds raised or work through partnerships. Funds are tight and administrative investment is minimised so that investment into activity on the ground is maximised. All these variables mean that understanding and implementation of ESG frameworks for an exploration company can be challenging. ESG is a fast-moving sector with currently multiple frameworks and reporting standards. Interest from community and government stakeholders as well as investors and off-take partners has been growing, with mandatory reporting soon to be implemented. The upcoming changes to the JORC Code will ensure that ESG considerations will be a key component of all public reporting. Resources have been developed to support explorers implement, manage and report on ESG considerations. Due to their scale, agility and direct importance of land access and social licence, many explorers are not the ‘cowboys’ (or ‘cowpersons’) of the industry, but industry leaders in ESG. Strong interest and leadership have led to innovative practices and strongly embedded vertical frameworks that directly contribute to social licence to operate.

Sep 1, 2024

By Dennis J. Riley

A. This outline addresses what a sub-contractor, or a subsub-contractor should do to get paid in the event the general contractor or building owner files for bankruptcy. B. Negotiating payment terms. Progress payments vs. "pay when paid". How a sub or subsub can avoid financing the contract. C. Court interpretation of "pay when paid" clauses allow postponement not excusal of payment. See, e.g., Seal Tite Corporation v. Ehret. Inc., 589 F. Supp. 701 (D.N.J. 1984) (where the court held that the general contractor could not delay payment indefinitely to the subcontractor in the event of non-payment from the owner); United Plate Glass Co. v. Metal Industries. Inc., 525 A.2d 468 (Commw. Ct. Pa. 1987) (where the court held that payment from owner was not a condition precedent to paying subcontractor but instead a timing mechanism indicating when payment should be made); But see. Straham v. Landis Construction Co., 499 So. 2d 417 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1986) (where the court strictly interpreted the "pay when paid" clause).

Jan 1, 1991

By Prince Lazarovich, Hrebelianovich

I WAS asked by the chairman of one of the Sessions on Employment Problems to talk about the viewpoint of the foreign workingman. I am not a workingman. I have never done what a work-hand might call an honest day's labor; that is, I have never been in a factory or manufacturing plant or in a mine, though in truth, hard work and I are well acquainted. I was a soldier, am an engineer, have long been actively interested in the most important waterway construction in the near East, have served politics and diplomacy, written books and lectured at universities. My knowledge of the foreign workingman in this country comes from the fact that my own compatriots here at various times came to me and appealed for advice and help, and last year I was asked by the employment manager of a corporation to undertake a welfare job at one of their plants. I went out, saw the plant, talked with the superintendent and outlined certain of my ideas which he personally heartily approved, but which did not find favor with those higher up. I approach the subject of the foreign workman's point of view with the understanding that the industrial employer's effort is for the maximum of efficiency. I am conversant with labor conditions abroad both in industry and agriculture. What I have learned of industrial conditions in America as they affect the foreign immigrant has been chiefly gathered from the cases referred to of foreign workmen who from time to time have come to me with their troubles. In the course of those investigations, in order to give whatever help or advice was possible, I have been impressed with the fact that the great United States industries evidently had- pot yet sufficiently recognized the value of studying the conditions of the workingman in the lands of his origin across the seas. A careful study of that which could be called the moral element in connection with its foreign labor would give industry a knowledge of the man's reason for coming, what' grievances he brings with him, his hopes for a future, and the peculiar character of his capacities. The employer would thereby be enabled to meet the man, to be helpful to him, to aid him and at the same time promote industrial efficiency, inasmuch as a workman who believes that he is being dealt with humanly and squarely is contented and satisfied and will give willingly, and even with pride, the best that is in him; justice and a fair deal is all the man wants.

Jan 4, 1918

By B. A. Filas, H. N. Lammers

Responsible environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices are not new to mining. It is the ESG acronym that has become the “flavor-of-the-day” with the stock markets, accounting firms, and investment strategists. This increased interest from the financial sector has heightened executive awareness and accountability to where corporate leadership and directors are proactively prioritizing ESG issues from the top down within their companies. This paper aims to convey what the authors believe one needs to know to be able to conduct and prepare effective ESG audits and reports. The emphasis is on how ESG fits within the mining sector, some of the ways that many mining companies have been practicing ESG responsibility for decades, the importance of effective communications with stakeholders, and the roles that regulatory and international lending institutions play in enhancing ESG practice on a global scale as a precursor to the discussion on ESG auditing and reporting. Without this background, the ESG audit may become a purely academic exercise.

Feb 1, 2023

By T G. Vizcarra, T J. Napier-Munn, A T. Karbowiak, M G. Hart

Squeezing extra performance from existing equipment (‘sweating the assets’) is key to continuous improvement initiatives, particularly during times of cost cutting where the option of spending additional capital to facilitate circuit upgrades can be severely constrained. A common challenge, however, is identifying the best combination of settings for different process variables, as their effects can be camouflaged by interactions with other process variables and, of course, noise in historical data.This paper describes a recent investigation at Boyne Smelters Limited to identify strategies to coarsen the product of its dry, fixed-speed, open-circuit AG mill, without the need for installing pre-screens prior to the mill. The product is used as insulation material for the reduction of alumina to aluminium, and an excessively fine product was inhibiting the ability of the cover material to dissipate heat from the underlying anodes. The approach was to undertake a series of experiments, designed according to statistical criteria, to elucidate the effect of key process variables (feed blend and power draw) upon the product sizing. The results provided clarity about what strategies would encourage the production of a more desirable mill product (with some surprises). The study is a good example of how properly designed experiments can identify hidden potential in processing circuits, thereby mitigating the need for capital-intensive upgrades.CITATION:Vizcarra, T G, Hart, M G, Karbowiak, A T and Napier-Munn, T J, 2018. Getting the most from existing processes: using cleverly designed experiments to optimise the line 3 AG mill at Boyne Smelters Limited, in Proceedings 14th AusIMM Mill Operators' Conference 2018, pp 207–216 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 29, 2018

By R. A. Winters

At the operations level, productivity is a principle key to profitability. If you are competing with other mines that are paying roughly the same wage rate and the same prices for capital, materials, and energy, the only way your profit can be greater is by producing more output per unit of input. Mines with higher productivity have higher profit margins. Higher profit margins lead to greater operating cash flow, and cash flow is what distinguishes a dog from a cash cow. The turnaround in U.S. metals during the 1980s was in large part due to incredible improvements in productivity. According to statistics compiled by Kaufmann, 1991, labor productivity, measured as tonnes of primary production/manhour, increased 64% in steel, 94% in copper, 75% in lead, 143% in zinc, 132% in molybdenum, and 75% in gold. These improvements were hard won. However, with most modernization programs now complete, measuring and monitoring productivity becomes even more important as producers strive to maintain the gains they have achieved.

Jan 1, 1993

By K Sommerville, J Parkinson

"Open pit mines today have more technology and data available. The challenge is to effectively use resources to analyse and identify mine productivity improvements. AMC Consultants Pty Ltd (AMC) has completed more than 100 benchmarking studies worldwide. In the process of gathering cost and productivity data, insights have been gained on how mines are using data to drive productivity. This paper aims to share good practice on using data, what benchmarks operations should be aiming for, where mines are currently sitting, high value areas to target, and how to best prioritise improvement to meet operational goals.A key purpose of data is to assist in managing and improving operations. Key information is used to drive meetings, decisions, budget estimates and reports. Safety, equipment productivity, available stocks, grade and spatial reconciliation are examples of where data is important for management systems. The key is to keep reporting simple whilst maintaining access to source data for troubleshooting and analysis.Some operations still have paper-based reporting systems. Some operations collect data directly off machines and instruments, use cameras and have off-site control centres. The level of technology is a fit-for-purpose choice.Comparisons of productivity assumptions commonly used in feasibility studies with good practice productivity numbers sourced from AMC’s benchmarking database will be shared in this paper. A typical activity mining cost breakdown will highlight where the high value areas for productivity improvement sit.In addition to examining the productivity of each mining step it is also important to examine the impact on the mine plan. Equipment numbers, strip ratio, grade and material hardness can impact the results of bottleneck analysis. A bottleneck example case study will highlight how productivity and other factors can be used to identify and prioritise improvement opportunities.Keep it simple. Use only the critical data for meetings, decision-making, reports and plans. Knowing and communicating the key performance indicators (KPIs) you are striving for aligns the operation and prioritises improvement plans.Citation:Parkinson, J and Sommerville, K, 2016. Getting the Most Out of Technology to Drive Mine Productivity Improvements, in Proceedings Ninth AusIMM Open Pit Operators' Conference 2016, pp 84–93 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Nov 15, 2016

By Mel Torrie

1 Want access to low level vehicle data so 3rd party apps can be applied as desired 2 Hardware Agnostic (COTS plug and play) 3 Common/Open protocols that facilitate integration and the coexistence of a variety of applications on a variety of equipment 4 Minimum computer hardware footprint 5 Technology Independence (including comm. backbone)

May 1, 2013

By J Player, P Evans, G Sweby

Achieving quick underground access after the completion of an open pit mine can be critical to maintaining project value and ensuring regular ore feed to the mill. This paper outlines the design and construction for two portals in an active open pit to commence underground development quickly whilst installing appropriate ground control to maintain long term access in an uncertain setting. Implementation of the portal designs was complicated by the change in underground design from hangingwall access to footwall access late in the life of the open pit due to preferable ground conditions. The portal locations did not have easy access for ground support installation integrated into the pit design due to the timing of the underground design changes. Practical implementation of the ground support systems subsequently became a key part of the project. Intact rock strength, rock mass characteristics, gradational weathering / alteration profile and structural information were modelled against pit displacement monitoring as the basis from which the portals were located and ground support schemes designed. Conditions around one of the portals necessitated numerical modelling to estimate the appropriate level of ground control for long term stability. The design was completed whilst the open pit was actively on-going and the portal areas not entirely exposed. The rock mass assessment and analysis for the two portals indicated different ground support scheme capacities would be required. The expected level of control for one of the portals also necessitated the use of monitoring with extensometers and load cells to ensure the rock mass response and ground support scheme performed as planned. Construction of the portals demonstrates the benefit of a considered design process, a plan which allows practical installation of ground support schemes where access is limited, the benefit of ongoing monitoring to ensure performance remains within design limits and the challenges involved working within an active pit with limited floor space.

Mar 15, 2021

By E. H. Rose

From the more distant members and some not so distant, the plaint is often heard that they cannot justify the expense and time required to attend the AIME Annual Meeting. Almost invariably, the reason given takes this form: "I just don't see that I would get enough out of it." Often the would-be clincher is added: "Besides, the meat of it all comes out in print anyway." Not long ago, a group of us who have seldom missed a meeting in recent years fell to discussing this phenomenon, and found ourselves in emphatic agreement that anyone holding such a belief indicates by his first remark that he does not know how to attend a convention, and by his second, proves it. He is, by and large, the man who has never been there, and of him, there are many.

Jan 1, 1949

By A. H. Burns

"Regenerative and recuperative burner systems require advanced combustion techniques to minimize NOx emissions. Various methods of pollutant minimization and furnace design considerations are described. Cited examples are a large high temperature furnace and a small Zinc vaporizing furnace. The concept of total carbon footprint is introduced. The application of Biomass combustion as an effective method of cost and green-house gas (GHG) reduction is discussed. Practical considerations of scale, location and process limitations are discussed. Two examples of biomass fired equipment are cited. Ideal sites have large biomass resources available locally. Processed biomass fuels will be an important substitute for fossil fuel. INTRODUCTIONIn 1992, I presented a paper entitled Combustion Strategies In The Modern Industrial Environment (1992). At that time an abundant supply of cheap fossil fuel made many of the measures I talked about difficult to justify for anything but new equipment.Since 1992 we, as a society, have demonstrated an ability to accelerate the pace of industrial and societal change. The term industrial revolution applied to this age of incessant change is completely meaningless, implying a discrete moment in historical time. What our society has built is a system capable of unfettered, continuous and accelerating technological change. With this change comes an increasing demand for energy and materials.This year is the anniversary of the Titanic disaster, a moment in time when technological certainty met the caprice of nature and gave us a brutal reminder of what can happen to us if we underestimate that power (Mowbray, 1912). In the intervening interval we have regained the technological arrogance that was lost in 1912 bringing us back to the problems of climate change and the need for sustainable industrial activities.We use advanced mathematics to describe many complex systems, sometimes with disastrous results. For example there has been a recent attempt to model the global economy as a completely deterministic system. This premise is flawed at its foundation as human nature and emotion are indeterminate constants in the equations, yielding probabilistic solutions at best. As engineers we are all familiar with stiff problems. The solution to such a problem is meaningless and we have all had the misfortune to live through and rue the effects of that miscalculation over the last few years."

Jan 1, 2012

By D. M. Xue, T. B. Li

"With the increase of human engineering activities, global climate change and active plate tectonics movement, the giant landslide frequently occurred in southwest China, which caused huge property and human losses. Besides, the potential landslides pose severely threaten to the construction and operation of airports, railways, highways and power stations etc. In order to provide accurate guidance for the landslide investigation, stability analysis and mitigation, the giant landslide is redefined according to landslide volume, depth of slip surface, complexity of landslide mechanisms, and degree of landslide mitigation difficulty, and classified with the typological classification approach based on the twofold attributes of landslide behavior including formation mechanisms and reactivation features. Finally, the threefold particularity of the giant landslide is also summarized, which enables a more effective landslide mitigation design.INTRODUCTIONWith the increase of anthropogenic activities, global climate change and active plate tectonics movement such as continual uplifting of Qinghai-Tibet plateau and strong earthquakes, the occurrence of giant landslides was in ascending trend in southwest China (Huang, 2009), which caused serious destruction, and greatly endangers such engineering construction from safety, time and economic aspects as airports, railways, highways, power stations, etc. Giant landslides have huge scale, complex formation/reactivation mechanisms and mechanical behavior. They may not be identified during the hazard investigation, but may be firstly initiated or reactivated due to the following engineering activities, heavy rainfall or strong earthquakes. Consequently, the landslide mitigation is inevitable and costly. However, it is difficult to control the deformation of giant landslide with lack of a correct understanding of genetic mechanisms (Marui, 2012; Zhang, 2000) and the excessive large sliding forces of the slide blocks calculated by the conventional limit equilibrium method. For instance, the failure of anchored pile wall for the No.102 giant ancient landslide (Zhu et al., 2012) and stabilization measures for the Sidi Rached viaduct landslide(Guemache et al., 2011); four rows of piles had not prevented the occurrence of the No.12 landslide in a high fill slope in the Panzhihua airport (Li et al., 2012)."

Jan 1, 2015

By H. E. Pawson

Giant Yellowknife is located 600 air miles north of Edmonton on the north shore of Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. In its 24 years of operation some 7,730,000 tons of ore have been treated to yield $175,000,000 worth of gold.The gold ore occurs at irregular intervals throughout a fold-like sericite schist zone cutting Precambrian rocks. The ore is characterized by 40 to 80% quartz - carbonate and about 10% pyrite and arsenopyrite. Considerable amounts of stibnite and antimony sulpho-salts are also present. Gold is finely divided in the native state existing in complex association with the sulphides. In most instances stibnite is barren but minor values are evident on occasion. Visible native Fold, quite prevalent in the early operating years, is, practically non-existent today. It was readily apparent from mineral dressing investigations conducted in .1944 that Giant ore would be difficult to treat. By 1948 a flow sheet had been established and operations began. In the ensuing years, changing ore characteristics necessitated modifications to some process steps and complete abandonment of others. By 1962 the major metallurgical problems were solved and all that remained was the refining of operating performance to its highest level.With one or two exceptions today's operation follows the practice established by 1962 (Fig. 1 - Flowsheet).

Jan 1, 1973

By G. R. Burman

Gilsonite is a brittle, natural solid bituminous resin, classified as an asphaltite. It is found in near-vertical veins in the Uintah Basin of Eastern Utah. Discovered well over 100 years ago by Samuel Gilson, this unique material has, since its finding, enjoyed a variety of commercial and industrial applications. Early uses for the product included black automotive paint and beer vat linings. Among its many important uses today are additives for oil well drilling fluids and cements, additives for sand castings for the foundry industry, reinforcing agent for asphalt pavements, and dispersing agent for black inks. Gilsonite is mined and processed in Bonanza, Utah, by two companies, American Gilsonite Company (AGC), an operating division of Chevron Resources, and Ziegler Chemical, a privately held company headquartered in New York.

Jan 1, 1990

By G. Howell, J. Wates, A. Coetzee, C. J. MacRobert

The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) requires mining companies to make four key appointments as part of their tailings management structure. These four positions are an Accountable Executive with policymaking responsibilities, a Responsible Tailings Facility Engineer with operational responsibility, an Engineer of Record to ensure facilities are designed, operated, and closed safely, and an Independent Tailings Review Board to assess safety drivers regularly. Little guidance on the traits of these individuals is available in a South African context. Consequently, the tailings community of practice was surveyed to develop a table of ideal competencies and establish the flexibility in meeting these traits.

Jun 2, 2022

Mineralisation was identified at Gladstone Hill as far back as the late 1870's û early 1880's, shortly after the initial discovery of Martha Hill. Indeed, early recovery problems from the Martha Hill mineralisation led to the preferred development of are bodies within what is now the Union Hill Joint Venture tenement; ore bodies such as Silverton, Amaranth, Union to name a few. Work at Gladstone Hill is carried under the Union Hill Joint Venture, a 50:50 joint venture between Auag Resources Ltd - manager (a fully owned subsidiary of Otter Gold Mines Ltd) and Welcome Gold Mines Ltd (a fully owned subsidiary of the Normandy Group). The joint venture participants also operate the adjacent Martha Hill operation. Mineralisation of Gladstone Hill, as with mineralisation at the adjacent Martha Hill, has been interpreted as a low sulphidation epithermal Ag-Au system hosted within hydrothermally altered andesites of the lower Coromandel Group. Drilling in recent years has successfully identified extensive mineralisation associated with the Gladstone vein set and the more recently identified high grade Moonlight Lode. Veining ranges in character from thin stock works to broader lode-style banded chalcedonic to cherty quartz. Visible gold is rare, with mineralisation generally associated with very fine-grained pyrite, arsenopyrite and minor electrum. The potential for the Gladstone Hill area is yet to be clearly defined as drilling to date has yet to close off mineralisation both along strike and down dip. If further drilling is successful, the joint venture partners believe Gladstone Hill could contribute significantly to the economic future of current operations.

Jan 1, 1999

By S Henderson

The Otago Goldfield has produced approximately 8 million ounces of alluvial gold and over 2.5 million ounces of hard rock gold and is currently home to New ZealandÆs largest producing gold mine. In the eyes of explorers this production history makes the goldfield a good place to explore.   Modern exploration in the Otago Goldfield commenced in the late 1970s with the exploration for tungsten. However, a rapid rise of the gold price in the early 1980s saw the focus shift to the exploration for gold which lead to the discovery of the Macraes Gold Project in 1984, which since it came into production in 1990 has been New ZealandÆs largest producing gold mine. With the exception of the Macraes Gold Project, exploration continued in the Otago Goldfield for a further 20 years without further success.   In 2006, Glass Earth (NZ) Limited (Glass Earth) reviewed all the exploration technologies applied to the Otago region and available geological data, including the 1996 OceanaGold Helicopter Electro-Magnetic (HEM) data, and concluded that combined magnetics and HEM were able to delineate the Hyde Macraes Shear Zone (HMSZ) which hosts the Macraes Gold Project. Unlike previous explorers who explored the Otago region in a piecemeal manner, Glass Earth opted to collect a new, region-wide dataset which could be integrated with all previous collected geological information to come up with new exploration concepts and targets. As part of this process, Glass Earth applied in mid 2006 for New ZealandÆs largest on-shore gold Prospecting Permit, PP39-322 which was subsequently granted in November 2006. In mid January 2007, Glass Earth commenced acquisition of approximately 50 000 line kilometres of HEM data, making the Otago regional aerial geophysical survey (survey) the largest aerial geophysical survey ever undertaken in New Zealand.   This paper will report on the progress of the Otago Regional aerial geophysical survey and outline some of the preliminary findings from what is still a work in progress.

Jan 1, 2007

By Thomas E. Shufflebarger

Definition of glass sand prospects may be modified by constraints which range from demography to critically important product-control. Characteristics of usable raw materials, physical and chemical, are discussed; an ideal raw material is defined. Following field investigations and preliminary sampling, evaluation of selected prospects includes use of modern drilling techniques, viz.: core, percussion (air-hammer), auger, jet, rotary jet, split-spoon and other. Nearly complete core (sample) return is mandatory. Land-use regulations, availability of water and transportation continue to direct exploration in a major sense. But fitting a prospect to burdensome politics nay be considered a decidedly negative factor.

Jan 1, 1983

By M. B. Holt

At this time, when electricity in its various applications is attract- ing so much interest, and with such good reason, it has been suggested to me that, as the Aspen Mining and Smelting Company, of Aspen, Pitkin county, Colorado, was the first mining company in America to employ electrical power for hoisting, a record of what has been accomplished by this company would be of interest. Early in the year 1888 the question of power for the development of the ore-horizon lying below the level of the tunnel through which the property is worked, became one of importance. The conditions under which it was proposed to use power were as follows (See Fig. 1): The company's mines lie upon the northwestern slope of a mountain, the ascent of which is at an angle of 28' from the horizon. The ore, consisting of argentiferous galena and other silver-bearing mineral, is found at or near the plane of contact of a superincumbent mass of blue limestone, with an underlying bed of dolomite. This contact plane dips north 30° west, at an angle of 60' with the horizon. A tunnel 1000 feet in length, driven south into the mountain near

Jan 1, 1892