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The traditional measure of Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) as a measure of improvement in safety performance is recognised as inadequate and misleading, lulling managers into believing that safety is improving. It is a reactive measure, and steadily declining LTIFRs around the world have failed to be accompanied by a similar reduction in the fatality rate. This paper confronts the industry with the attitudes of some mining managers, such as one that allowed fatalities to occur in the case of a gold mining company at a rate of one death per 150 000 ounces of gold produced while claiming their safety record has improved, as shown by a falling LTIFR, and viewing fatality reductions as a long-term goal instead of an immediate priority. A quantum shift in management attitudes is required to focus on proactive measurements to detect the indicators of an impending disaster, and to predict conditions conducive to fatalities. Corporate CEOs are challenged to attend the funerals of all workers killed in the workplace. CEOs who fail to attend such funerals send a message to employees that the CEOÆs priorities lie elsewhere, and that profits take priority over workersÆ lives. The dichotomy of whether mining companies are run for the benefit of shareholders or whether companies owe social responsibility to the community is examined. The role of individual responsibility for personal safety is examined, together with the psychology of employees in the mining industry. A number of proactive measurable indicators are suggested to stimulate discussion on developing robust measuring tools to predict and therefore prevent fatalities.

Jan 1, 2003

Why innovate? ? How are we doing in Canada? ? How can we do better? ? Why now? ? What?s next? ? Lowering production costs ? Improving productivity ? Increasing value-added ? Discovering new mines, extending life of existing ore bodies ? Reducing environmental footprint ? Improving health and safety

May 1, 2008

By Reinhold A. Errath

The Antamina Concentrator plant was one of the first plants in the world, where about 60 Megawatt only in Milling Power was installed. As a consecuence of the use of Gearless Mill Drives the speed of the mills is adjustable, which allows the operators react to the different ore grades correspondingly, in order to get the best results in terms of milling efficiency. In this sense, this paper describe the basic idea of a Gearless Mill Drive, the construction of it, the manufacturing facilities, the transport, the installation and the function in detail. It gave enough insights to understand why Gearless Mill Drives are so reliable and used as an adjustable speed drive, why it counts with the highest efficiency of all drive systems.But it did describe as well the overload capabilities, the reaction to the network, the reason why the maintenance of the drive system is proven as a minor issue, and finally it was self- explaining why the Gearless Mill Drive is called a working horse.

Sep 12, 2005

By Russell C. Frith

Risk-based roadway roof support design is now a critical part of the Australian Coal Industry. Safe and efficient mining demands that roof support be tailored to the prevailing geotechnical conditions and coal mining legislation in New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania is clear in requiring that formalized roof support design be undertaken. The assumption of dead-load suspension of an otherwise unstable roof has been used in roadway roof support design for many years. However longevity does not necessarily translate into either a best or even reasonable practice in the current industry, particularly when pro-active strata management systems are now routinely used and reinforcing support design methods are available. The paper discusses why the assumption of dead-load suspension is fundamentally incorrect in almost all instances when pro-active or reinforcing roof support is applied and how it can easily result in misleading and potentially under-designed roof support systems under various circumstances. The commonly used design methodology of balancing the installed axial capacity of long tendons with the assumed ?weight? of a future roof fall is summarized, and several fundamental flaws are identified. The critical area of selecting the design Factor of Safety is also discussed in detail. Accepting that under certain circumstances the roof of a roadway will require it to be ?suspended?, suggestions are given for how a robust support system can be developed, designed and applied.

Jan 1, 2011

By Stuart Marsland

"Reference materials have always been important for validating and controlling analytical methods', They have recently become even more important as quality requirements have become more stringent and customer demands for properly verified and controlled results increase. Clients, especially from the resource exploration industry demand critical validation of all results reported. Mintek has been producing geological and semi processed ore references since the early 1970's and recently due to increase in demand other manufactures have entered the South African Market.This paper describes Analytical challenges from the customer's perspective. The customer being the metallurgist, mine geologist, environmental scientist and geologists from resource companies. Reference Materials and their appropriate use and good understanding of them can aid greatly in building confidence in the results, choosing the right Laboratory for a project, deciding which set of results arc correct and providing evidence to the customer's clients that the results obtained are the very best possible.Throughout the world there are hundreds of reference materials produced by over 80 organisations and these are mainly ores, rocks, semi processed ores, metals, and many more. Mintek is one of the top 10 producers with over 75 products. Many of these producers including Mintek and their respective standards organisations belong to the ISO REMCO committee and their respective work groups. This committee's main task is to draw up guide lines for the use, manufacturing and certifying reference materials. In South Africa a mirror committee has recently had its inaugural meeting the function is to give clear mandate to the South African representative on the main ISO REMCO committee, the South African delegate bas an opportunity to influence the contents of the guides.Tile SARM program has since the year 2000 increased its sale three fold, the question is why? There is more accountability needed in our world. That means Analytical results have to be the very best possible and risks associated to them must be well quantified. Consider that the risk of wrong results of wrong decisions made from a result is trivial to laboratory, in comparison to the laboratories customers. The consequence to a laboratory could be a loss of income or some one may lose their job. To the customer he may dig up 1000 of ton's of rock with nothing in it or worse still don't mine it when the grade is high enough. This is seriol1s money."

Jan 1, 2014

EIA is a test of a development proposalÆs legitimacy and asks two questions: not only æis the proposal competent?Æ but also ædoes the proposal have moral authority?Æ For reasons of miningÆs historic importance and of a scientific and technological industry culture, traditional EIA has focussed on the first on these, an increasingly misplaced priority in a changing world.This paper explains why competence alone is not enough and examines the second of the two questions: what is meant by a projectÆs moral authority, why does it matter, why has it taken so long to become an issue and what, in practical terms, can project proponents do about it.

Jan 1, 2004

By W. J. Fene

A comprehensive study of all bituminous coal-mine fatalities occurring in Pennsyl¬ vania during the 5-year period, 1926-1930, was made to try to determine the factors that in¬ fluence accidents which cause these fatalities. During this study some two thousand reports of fatalities were reviewed, and pertinent information as to causes and influencing factors were tabulated therefrom. These tabulations are discussed in detail, and in some instances recommendations are made with a view to reducing the hazards in certain classes of these accidents.

Sep 1, 1931

By M. D. Evans

"Note: The views expressed herein are those of the author, not of the Government of CanadaThe mining industry has a significant opportunity to capitalize on past learnings to build better social relationships. The industry’s relationship with society is critical and under pressure. Rising levels of public opposition and social conflict are already having material impacts on operations around the world. The industry has an opportunity to shape the future direction of this social engagement, build public trust, and proactively respond to a material risk to operations, but first it needs to better understand the nature of the challenges and the urgency of addressing them.RÉSUMÉ L’industrie minière a actuellement une excellente occasion de tirer profit de ses expériences antérieures pour établir de meilleures relations sociales. Les relations entre l’industrie et la société sont critiques et elles subissent de grandes pressions. L’escalade de l’opposition par le public et les conflits sociaux ont déjà des impacts physiques sur les opérations partout à travers le monde. L’industrie a l’occasion de façonner la future direction de son engagement social, d’accroître la confiance du public et de répondre de manière proactive à un risque matériel aux exploitations, mais elle doit tout d’abord mieux comprendre la nature des défis et l’urgence de les traiter."

Jan 1, 2015

By Russell Frith

Probably the most expensive but least well understood roof falls in underground coal mining, are those that occur ahead of the powered supports in the centre of longwall face. Even small roof cavities result in the dilution of the ROM product and large cavities can stop the face for days if not weeks and the incurred cash flow losses can be catastrophic. Expensive and time-consuming remedial measures (e.g. PUR, cavity filling, removal of stone from the AFC by hand) are required and equipment wear and damage can be significant when the need to blast and convey stone is also considered. Through four major research projects within the Australian coal industry and numerous consulting assignments, the author has spent the best part of fifteen years attempting to identify and defme the various geotechnical and operational factors that determine whether a major roof cavity occurs ahead of the powered supports or a normal goaf fall occurs just behind them, the difference in operational outcome being enormous. The paper presents a condensed summary of the overall technical findings covering such issues as roof fall mechanisms, the measured influence of cover depth, periodic weighting of massive strata units and its quantification, the role of cut-throughs in chain pillars, face width and height, the role of the powered support and the influence (both positive and negative) of mine site operations. The big picture outcome is the view that high production longwall extraction is well-suited to certain geotechnical environments, is marginal in others and under certain conditions is fatally flawed and beyond the control of mine operators, although fortunately the latter category is a relatively rare situation. Various risk-based research findings in this regard will be given as a basis for future discussion.

Jan 1, 2005

By Silas C. Nichols

FHWA Interest is due to: ? An increase in successful projects in the U.S. private sector and in other countries ? Cost effective and more efficient in many circumstances ? Agency Priorities - FHWA "Vital Few" AASHTO TIG

Jan 1, 2005

By S. Marsland

Reference materials have always been important for validating and controlling analytical methods. They have recently become even more important as quality requirements have become more stringent and customer demands for properly verified and controlled results increase. Clients, especially from the resource exploration industry, demand critical validation of all results reported. Mintek has been producing geological and semi-processed ore references since the early 1970s and recently, due to increase in demand, other manufactures have entered the South African market. This paper describes analytical challenges from the customers? perspective, the customers being metallurgists, mine geologists, environmental scientists and geologists from resource companies. Reference materials with their appropriate use and a good understanding, can aid greatly in building confidence in the results, choosing the right laboratory for a project, deciding which set of results is correct and providing evidence to the customers? clients that the best possible results have been obtained

Jan 1, 2007

By Graham Andrews

Experiment shows that the microbial degradation of pyrite does not necessarily proceed stoichiometrically. Under some conditions sulfur is oxidized preferentially leaving something approaching iron in composition; under others, the pyrite is converted almost to elemental sulfur. A kinetic model for the process based on three elementary biochemical reactions can explain these observations. The diffusion of sulfur along grain boundaries and dislocations in the solid pyrite uncouples the oxidation rates of sulfur and iron from the requirements of stoichiometry. This mechanism also explains qualitatively why bacteria adsorb preferentially at dislocation sites on pyrite surfaces, why they form "pits" at these sites, and why amorphous pyrite is more readily degraded than pure crystals. The rate-limiting step for pyrite oxidation is discussed

Jan 1, 1989

By I E. "Chip" Harris, G Alan Foster

Whilst a great deal of published data exists as to safe ground vibration and air blast levels which result from blasting little documented research has been carried out to determine how and why human beings complain about blasting operations. This paper gives the authors thoughts and experiences of why complaints arise and practical steps to minimize such complaints.

Jan 1, 1977

By D Connelly

Magnetite orebodies generally means mining lower grade iron ores, crushing and grinding with significant energy costs in processing and the capital costs being significantly higher than for direct shipping ores (DSO). Overseas, the mining and processing of magnetite ores has a long history of production due to the lack of DSO deposits. This raises the question as to why the new magnetite projects have been so problematic and also whether there is a future for the long list of potential magnetite projects in Australia.The quality of the magnetite concentrate product is superior to most DSO products and the magnetite contains energy benefits when converted to hematite in sintering or pelletising. The industry’s hopes for new projects have been dashed and questions are being raised as to the financial viability of such projects.A comparison of Grange Resources Savage River, Arrium’s Project Magnet, the Sino Iron Project and Gindalbie’s Karara Iron Project is used to understand the differences between the projects and why some are more successful than others.CITATION:Connelly, D, 2015. What is the future for magnetite projects in Australia and why have some of the new projects been so problematic?, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2015, pp 107–114 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 13, 2015

By G Hancock, A Kemp, I Taylor

The mine site is situated south east of Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. A detailed engineering design was undertaken for six irregularly shaped waste rock dumps at the site. The design was undertaken to ensure long-term stability of the dumps and optimise material movements for closure construction. The Watershed Erosion Prediction Program (WEPP) and SIBERIA landscape evolution modelling was undertaken for the landforms using regional and site-specific material characteristics to provide an indication of the maximum allowable slopes and corresponding slope lengths for long-term stability.The majority of the waste materials present in the waste rock dumps are considered likely to be subgrade banded iron formation (BIF) and chert, which is generally competent material. The presence of a large number of dolerite dyke swarms indicates appreciable volumes of dolerite were produced as waste from the pits. Geological records also indicate that the dolerite is logged as being heavily kaolinised in the geological logging, hence kaolinite is very likely to be present within the waste dumps on-site. This material has an elevated risk of being highly erodible/dispersive. Clays and shales are also likely to be present in the dumps and are considered to be less competent material (relative to the BIF/chert).The final design configuration of the largest existing ‘unplanned’ waste rock stockpile is compared to a hypothetical continuous ten degree outer embankment alternative. This paper will present a brief description of the alternatives for closure of three waste dumps in close proximity to each other and how the detailed design based on site-specific materials and conditions compare to an alternative approach blankly assuming that most materials will be erosionally stable at less than ten degrees.CITATION:Kemp, A, Taylor, I?and Hancock,?G,?2014. Landform design for Pilbara mine site – why plan and design waste rock dumps for closure based on site-specific conditions?, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2014 , pp 47–54 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 16, 2014

By V. F. Parry

Under the present emergency every consumer should store as much coal as he can. Although there is no shortage of coal, there is likely to be a shortage of labor to mine excessive quantities in the fall, and railroads cannot be expected to deliver coal promptly on account of the need for transporting war materials. Some miners must join the armed forces, and those who are left may be unable to mine coal as rapidly as you will need it when winter comes. When the first cold days arrive, there may be a shortage of trucks to deliver coal. Deliveries may be planned in advance, and your turn might not come until it is too late.

Jan 1, 1942

By M. E. Rossi

In mineral resources, geologic and mining data are acquired, processed, analysed, interpreted and modelled, eventually serving as basis to generate predictions and production plans. This is a complex process, and the resulting predictions are impacted by uncertainties related to the data itself and the processing methods and techniques used. They are also impacted by the subjective decisions made by the modeler(s) at each step of the way. Knowledge, biases, skills, and prior experience come into play in the long mineral resource evaluation development workflow. It is meaningless to discuss uncertainties without evaluating the associated risks that those uncertainties imply. It is important to quantify and assess uncertainty, and to evaluate and mitigate its consequences. This paper discusses (1) conceptual and practical sources of uncertainty; (2) the utopia of an “objective” uncertainty; and (3) the quantification and public reporting of uncertainty using geostatistical conditional simulations. The objective of this paper is to postulate that the industry is running out of reasons and excuses to ignore uncertainty and risk in project evaluation. This is done in two parts, with this, the first one, presenting a more conceptual discussion. Part 2 will present case studies from different types of mining projects and operations showcasing the impact that risk assessments can have in a mining project.

Feb 22, 2026

By Russell Frith

For many years, underground rock mechanics and in particular, roadway/tunnel roof stability has been underpinned by the often unchallenged assumption that roof strength (as defined by the UCS) and stiffness (E) are key stability controls. This has logically led to the proliferation of laboratory testing of rock specimens and the development of indirect geophysical methods to gain estimates of these two rock parameters. Furthermore, many design methods are significantly focussed on replicating rock mass behaviour through either intact or failed constitutive models. Demonstrably the strength and stiffness of the host rock material is commonly used as one of the key indicators of excavation roof stability and it finds either direct or indirect use in just about every rock mass rating system in use today. In more recent times there has been a common move to consider and apply (even if only conceptually at the current time) structural engineering type principles (e.g. buckling) to coal mine roadway roof (and rib) stability. Similarly our knowledge of the in situ stress environment and its likely origins has improved significantly, largely through stress measurements and subsequent analysis. This paper combines knowledge in both of these fundamental areas through a deterministic model for roadway roof stability and in combination with field examples, reaches the almost certainly controversial conclusion that UCS and E are commonly irrelevant, albeit that the former may provide an indication of other relevant geotechnical parameters (e.g. bedding cohesion). As with all hypotheses or rules, there are naturally exceptions and in this case, the most obvious is the tailgate of the longwall panel (with adjacent goaf). Due to the significant change in the strata loading environment of a longwall tailgate as compared to first workings for example, the stability equation materially changes so that UCS and E become critical controls. The point of the paper is to present a different perspective on a traditional mining problem and to challenge geotechnical professionals to keep thinking ?outside of the square? in the never-ending endeavour to improve our understanding of the engineering problems we regularly face. Such an understanding impacts upon such issues as geotechnical data collection from borecore, support hardware requirements and design capabilities. Therefore making the assumption that our understanding is always fundamentally correct could in fact be limiting the development of new and improved engineering in the future.

Jan 1, 2006

By A. D. Rovig, T. J. Fisher

By converting its autogenous mills to steel ball mills at the C. E. Weed concentrator in Butte, Mont., The Anaconda Co. has achieved substantial increases in through- put tonnage, plus better recoveries as a result of the finer feed size to subsequent flotation operations. If steel grinding is so superior to autogenous grinding, why wasn't it chosen in the first place? Briefly, here's why:

Jan 10, 1975

The space probe Magellan is on its way to Venus (May, 1989) and with its sophisticated radar systems will discover much more about our twin planet. There is tennuous evidence that Venus once had liquid water. Did it have life? Why was it not stable and why did liquid water not persist through the period of the dimmer young Sun? These are profound questions for us. We understand why Mars froze when volcanism terminated (Just as Earth will freeze one day) but could Earth boil if we continue to add greenhouse gases (Broecker, 1985). What will happen if 10 billion humans continue to use fossil carbon as their main fuel source? The Earth is warming fast and the new satellite data show that the oceans are warming faster than we thought. Is this just a fluctuation or is the greenhouse signal coming through the normal noise of climate?

Jan 1, 1990