Search Documents

Plant growth is likely to prove the most suitable and satisfactory material to stabilise and cover quarry faces and worked-out surface mining sites. The careful selection of plant species is of paramount importance to the success of any attempts to re- vegetate these sites. Various tech- niques are recommended and attention is drawn to different factors,which will adversely affect plant growth.

Jan 1, 1976

Gold mining in Waihi spans three centuries and five generations. Following the discovery of gold in 1878 the Martha Mine was developed and the town of Waihi grew up around it. Now, five generations later, descendents of many of the original settler families continue to live and work in Waihi. Many have returned to mining, in jobs far removed from those of their parents or grandparents.   Members of three local families were interviewed on video. This paper is a summary of some of the major themes and gives some insight into the role gold mining played in the development of the region and its continued its importance today.

Jan 1, 2006

Over the last five years the :forward momentum in the Australian resources sector has been dominated by gold production and exploration companies. While reporting of exploration results to shareholders and Stock Exchanges has generally been detailed and responsible, the standards of reporting ore reserves still leaves much to be desired in terms of contemporary investor expectations. Australian gold ore reserve reporting practices are critically examined and suggestions are made as to how gold mining companies can enhance stock market recognition by investors through more informative and useful Reporting.

Jan 1, 1987

The title of my address today is "Oil and Gas Valuations - A Simplistic View of Some Critical Issues". Alternatively I could have called this address "Pitfalls for investors' and corporates in accessing Independent Experts Reports" 'as in this brief 12 minute talk I will briefly comment on some common misconceptions with regard to the valuation of exploration areas and production interests, and comment on how the draft release guidelines address these issues.

Jan 1, 1989

Does coal mining get enough out of its people?. In a number of cases, Yes. Several companies have rethought their management systems and accordingly are improving their utilisation of people to improve productivity. For some, capital and technology are the panacea for improved productivity and lower costs. Computerised mine planning, improved beneficiation processes, heftier longwall equipment, bigger trucks and shovels and upgraded coal clearance systems are expected to provide the answers.Whilst these factors are important they only contribute to part of the productive potential of a mining operation. Production flexibility provided by recent Industry award changes has brought about increases in total output. However, these improvements have not been matched by corresponding decreases in the unit cost of production.

Jan 1, 1991

By T C. Hughes, R Hughes

Ausmelt has developed and commercialised high temperature reactor technology that has been applied to waste processing in the form of a catalytic waste converter (CWC). Ausmelt Technology uses a top submerged lance system within a versatile converter containing an oxidised molten siliceous slag. Metals and other valuable products can be extracted from wastes for recycle into the community. Non-valuable components such as toxic organochlorinated compounds are destroyed and prevented from reforming. The slag produced is inert and can be safely used in building and concreting. The CWC can be applied to practically all types of wastes and examples from Ni-Cd batteries to toxic wastes are discussed. Additional benefits can be derived from large-scale operations if the surplus heat generated is exploited to produce steam and electricity.

Jan 1, 2000

To reduce the corrosion of a stainless steel crystallizer, caused by accumulation of chloride impurity in the liquor during the crystallization of ammonium sulphate, a strongly basic anion exchange resin in the sulphate form may be used to remove the chloride from the liquor. The spent resin may be regenerated with dilute ammonium sulphate.The ions involved are sorbed by the resin in the order Equation 1. The sorption of chloride from the liquor and the regeneration of the resin depend upon the effect of concentration on the formation of the the ion pair NH6SO4. The sulphate ion dominates sorption from dilute solution of ammonium sulphate containing minor amounts of choride; choride ion dominates sorption from concentrated solution.

Jan 1, 1976

By R M. Papini, A C. Araujo, A E. C Per

Flotation is an important process used in the concentration of iron ores. One of the challenges for process engineers is the low metallurgical recovery associated mainly with the fines fraction. In this work, the use of synthetic flocculants in iron ore reverse cationic flotation was investigated. The flocculants utilised were polyacrylamides of high molecular weight and different ionic degrees. Bench scale flotation tests were performed to compare the flotation performance with and without addition of polyacrylamides. It was observed that cationic and non-ionic polyacrylamides cause a significant increase in the metallurgical recovery. The anionic flocculant did not improve the flotation performance. An adverse effect was a slight increase in the silica content of the concentrate. Flotation with polyacrylamides was influenced by the hydrodynamic conditions of the pulp, such as agitation and the weight percentage of solids in the flocculant conditioning and flotation stages.

Jan 1, 2005

By Connor J. W

Nifty Copper Operations was established to treat a copper orebody situated in the East Pilbara area of North West WA, located approximately 70 km west of Telfer in the Great Sandy Desert. The plant was designed to treat the oxidised portion of the orebody with underground development following at a later date. Nifty was designed to produce 16 500 tpa of copper cathode. This will increase with treatment of the chalcopyrite ore (underground resource). Ore processing is similar to other operations of this type but has its unique challenges. Problems discussed are: fine clay minerals which hinder percolation; oxidation of organic by manganese in the electrolyte; crud formation by clays; third phase emulsions; and organic carryover into the electrowinning tankhouse. As the orebody utilisation progresses, some sulphide material will require leaching and further investigations into liquor chemistry.

Jan 1, 1996

A Master of Applied Science degree course in Mining Geomechanics commenced in 1983 at The University of New South Wales, taught by extern- al (correspondence) studies. The course is aimed at graduates employed in the mining indust- ry, and especially people involved in geomechan- ics projects on a routine basis in remote locations. This kind of course is unique in Australia and is one of only two correspondence programmes available at this University. The author designed the course and nursed it through the early years, and was Director until 1986. The paper describes the teaching and assess- ment methods and also discusses aspects of admin- istration and coordination of such a course. It is concluded that an important need of the mining industry is being catered for and it appears that similar correspondence course for- mats would also be useful in other areas of the minerals industry.

Jan 1, 1986

By L Ryan, S Halley

The use of a field spectrometer to systematically analyse drill samples from over 200 holes around the Permian-Carboniferous Ravenswood gold deposits in north-east Queensland has successfully identified both small and deposit-scale changes in the alteration mineral chemistry. Changes in chlorite composition within the tonalite host rocks are evident at the district scale, with Fe-rich chlorites seemingly more common in the vicinity of the deposits. Significant variations in white mica chemistry also occur, but mostly on the vein selvage scale, with no clear distinction between near-mine and distal compositions. The results indicate that chlorite compositional maps produced from regional field or airborne spectrometer data could potentially be used as a vector to ore in exploring for similar deposits in the area. An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation.

Jan 1, 2008

The Key Centre for Mines consists of the School of Mines of the University of New South Wales and the Departments of Geology and Civil and Mining Engineering of Wollongong University. The Key Centre for Mines/International promotes, markets and develops overseas activities in applied geology, mining engineering, mineral processing and extractive metallurgy specifically in response to the perceived needs in the region for mineral resource and other related earth-science based development. the Key Centre for Mines/International will be involved in the overseas marketing of formal courses; special training activities such as short courses and in-house programs; technical and educational consultancy; research and development projects, and in the establishment of regional links through twinning, exchange and various network arrangements with other organisations in the region. Activities which are now being developed include a training program for Korean mining engineers and geologists, teaching and curriculum development in the Mineral Resources Engineering Faculty of the University Sains Malaysia and a staff development proposal for the Department of Geotechnology of Khon Kaen University, Thailand

Jan 1, 1990

The primary objective of designing, constructing, commissioning and operating a technically and economically viable processing plant cannot be achieved without a rigorous scientific understanding of the chemical principles underlying every facet of the total flowsheet, from feed preparation through to a final product. Having developed a thorough understanding of the chemistry involved, the next challenge is to match the innovative advances with the necessary engineering skills. In simple terms, there is little point in proposing a new processing route if it is not possible or practical to design, construct, commission and operate it. Thus to achieve our objective, it is necessary that processing facilities that are both smarter and cheaper be developed. This presentation highlights a number of the more significant research and development activities that are designed to facilitate the conversion of a smart idea into a real process. Following a brief discussion of several examples, the presentation concludes with the observation that a pro-active team approach is almost mandatory in order to achieve an acceptable outcome.

Jan 1, 2000

The relative importance of magmatic and metamorphic fluids in Archaean gold mineralisation has long been a subject of debate. Computer simulations can be used to explore the interaction between competing fluid flow drivers, thus providing insight into their role in mineralisation. This approach has been applied to Archaean gold mineralisation in the Yilgarn craton, Western Australia. A simple model representing regional metamorphism in a granite-greenstone terrane indicates that fluid produced during a regional metamorphic event in the Yilgarn was unlikely to have been involved in mineralisation, because it would have escaped from the crust long before the main gold event. Another model illustrates the competition between magmatic fluid production, convection, and deformation. The model shows that the timing of deformation relative to fluid production is important in determining the fate of magmatic and metamorphic fluids, and hence their potential to play a role in mineralisation. An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation.

Jan 1, 2008

I start with some lines from "Pleasures of Hope" by the poet Campbell, published in 1798, which sets the flavour of what I am going to say. They blissful omens bid my spirit see The boundless fields of rapture yet to be; I watch the wheels of Nature's mazy plan, And learn the future by the past of man. I hope to echo the poet's optimistic view of what is yet to come. I am not sure I can find all the omens blissful but we all have some experience of what the wheels of Nature's mazy plan get up to. His advice to learn the future by the past of man seemed sensible to follow, so on the principle that the past of several men would be better than one alone I invited Alan Attwood, Maurice Cahalan, Gavin Moncrieff, Derek Temple, and Peter Wright to help me prepare this address; I am most grateful to them for their contributions. Of the technologies covered in this sequence of keynote addresses, metallurgy is the one which is closest to our consumers. On the age-old principle, which I do not expect to see changed in the 21st Century, that production is about providing the customer with what he wants, when he wants it, where he wants it, and at a price he can afford, I think we should start by trying to see how the market place is likely to develop, and to work back from there to review what technology we need to meet these demands.

Jan 1, 1986

By Somerville M, Muray A, Bocking M

Australia has an extremely large total hot dry rock (HDR) resource above a depth of 5 km, equivalent to 7500 times its present annual energy consumption, of which 80 per cent underlies the Great Artesian Basin. The resources most likely to be exploited first are those residing in homogeneous granitic bodies beneath sedimentary basins containing insulating rocks such as shales and coal measures. In the Sydney Basin south of Muswellbrook, an area of high geothermal gradient corresponds to a gravity low thought to be a buried granite body at a temperature of possibly 250¦C. This locality is suspected to have the ideal geological characteristics for Australia's first hot rock test facility. Australia's high HDR potential is possibly unique in the world, in that the potential sites satisfy four independent, geological conditions, each considered as favourable for the creation of a resource, and for the ease of extracting that resource. They are: ò Higher crustal heat generating capacity than that of normal continental crust. ò Much of the Australian continent is covered by sedimentary basins which contain a high proportion of shales and coal measures that have low thermal conductivities, thus providing an insulating blanket for the heat being generated beneath. ò The sedimentary basins are in many places underlain by large untectonised granitic bodies that are not only a major contributor to heat generation, but also ideally suited to the establishment of HDR reservoirs. ò The crustal shortening stress field that is found in the majority of the Australian continental crust results in a vertical minimum principal stress orientation which should result in the development of favourably oriented horizontal stimulation cells necessary for maximising an HDR resource.

Jan 1, 1995

Every estimate of ore reserves necessarily contains an assumption in regard to the specific gravity of the ore. This assumed figure may be based on experimental data, on textbook data, or on a reconciliation of past tonnage estimates and production figures. Not infrequently it is simply a guess - shrewd or otherwise.Errors in the density factor are not likely to be serious in gold-quartz mines-or, at least, not so serious as in base metal mines. It is to the closer determination of ore density in the latter that this paper is devoted. Moreover, the remarks apply to ores which show no appreciable pore space.Not many ore bodies are sufficiently homogeneous to allow of a truly representative factor being obtained by the simple testing of a few specimens of ore, or by the weighing, after breaking, of a carefully measured block. The empirical figure derived from a comparison of past ore reserves and actual production can never truly describe conditions other than those now past; no real link with ore as yet unmined is provided. The dilution of heavy ore by waste is not exposed by this method, but is effectively cloaked. Anyerrors in past estimations of ore reserves are transmitted, by way of the density factor, as a source of error in all future estimates.ObjectIons may be raised to the practice of weighing measured blocks of ore in the case of any but a very homogeneous ore body. Even then, the exact composition of the block weighed, and an indication of whether its moisture content is representative of the whole, are difficult to determine.

Jan 1, 1940

By J, J M. Young, P T. Nielsen, R Zhu

Improved understanding of the variables that influence hydrocyclone performance is of increasing interest to the iron ore industry, where hydorcyclones are widely used to deslime fine ore. In many cases, the impact of particular variables is not quantified sufficiently well experimentally to ensure that industrial performance will match expectations. The current work focused on developing and implementing a systematic methodology to evaluate and compare the performance of four different hydrocyclones in a desliming application. A critical component of the project was the design and construction of a pilot-scale hydrocyclone rig using state of the art monitoring and sampling methods. A wide ranging test programme was conducted to quantify the effect on metallurgical performance of the key hydrocyclone variables such as pressure, feed density, vortex finder size, spigot size and hydrocyclone make/overall design. Details of the experimental approach are presented, along with a discussion of the sizing analysis methods used. Performance criteria were established to assess the four hydrocyclones. The effects of each major variable were quantified over a wide range of conditions. The results show that clear performance differentiation was achieved, enabling the selection of the optimum configuration. The results from this work demonstrate the benefit of objectively assessing the performance of nominally equivalent units in selecting an optimum configuration that best satisfies the performance criteria.

Jan 1, 2002

Study on the Recovery of Zinc Minerals from the Tailing of a Lead and Zinc Mineral Processing Plant

Sep 13, 2010

This paper looks at the development in management education for engineers at the undergraduate level with particular reference to mining engineers. The management core content of the engineering degree course at Ballarat C.A.E. is described is some Detail.

Jan 1, 1986