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By J Ashford, Minniakhmetov

Geostatistical simulations are the best practice for uncertainty quantification in non-linear systems. Simulations are currently undertaken on an ad hoc basis in the mining industry due to high requirements in computing environments and advanced geostatistics. In contrast to the estimation process, multivariate simulations can be performed using different methods, tools, and computational environments, similar to data science. For large companies with multiple commodities it is important to have a standard framework to test, build, and run workflows using different methods, applications and computational environments. This work presents an auditable, modular and scalable framework to create geostatistical simulation workflows where the workflow is abstracted from the implementation. Key aspects: automation – workflows should be able to run automatically given updated data (if hands on modelling is not required); auditability – workflows should document key considerations and parameters; modularisation – workflows should permit swapping out components, for example substituting domaining in Leapfrog software with automated domaining using machine learning scripts; scalability – easy, repeatable, portable deployments on diverse infrastructure (for example, experimenting on a laptop, then moving to an on premise cluster or to the Cloud); reproducibility – parameters should be archived to permit re-running and reproduction of workflows in future years; and sensitivity analysis – any component of a workflow should be able to run with multiple scenarios of parameters and data to enable global uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis. The presented framework can be used to create different workflows for geostatistical simulations in multiple assets to quantify uncertainty in the value chain for resource categorisation, reserves uncertainty, value of information and robust mine planning amongst others.

Mar 22, 2022

By Marwick PL

As part of its operations Hamersley Iron operates a heavy medium Concentrator to upgrade low grade, unsaleable iron ore to produce saleable lump and fines products. Firstly, the attempts at delivering a blended feed in both chemical and physical characteristics are presented. Improvements in blending controls are shown to have given process performance improvements. Secondly, improvements to the feed preparation section are detailed. These alterations are providing a much cleaner feed to the subsequent processing stages.

Jan 1, 1987

The Goonumbla district of central-west New South Wales, Australia, hosts four significant porphyry Cu-Au deposits that contain a combined probable ore reserve of 71.7 million tonnes at 1.2 per cent Cu and 0.5 g/t Au. Mineralisation in the Goonumbla deposits is associated with narrow, pipe-like intrusions of quartz monzonite porphyry, in which several intrusive phases have been recognised. Five textural characteristics have been used to distinguish the various intrusive phases recognised in the Goonumbla porphyry deposits: (1) phenocryst abundance; (2) nature of the groundmass; (3 and 4) proportion and mineralogy of the mafic and non-mafic phenocrysts; and (5) the presence or absence of anhedral quartz grains in the groundmass. In addition, each intrusive phase is classified according to its estimated original quartz, alkali feldspar and plagioclase contents. Features common to all of the intrusions are that they contain two types of plagioclase and two or three types of K-feldspar phenocrysts in variable proportions. Most of the intrusions also contain apatite micro-phenocrysts. The groundmass textures range from aphanitic through granular to euhedral K-feldspar in a quartz matrix. With only one exception, all of the intrusive phases recognised are either quartz monzonite porphyry or mafic (>5 per cent mafic minerals) quartz monzonite porphyry. The exception is a biotite - phyric monzodiorite, which occurs in the basal portions of one of the deposits. Textural variants of intrusive phases at Goonumbla have been investigated to establish whether specific combinations of characteristics indicate mineralised intrusions, while others suggest barren ones. Some correlations between intrusion types and Cu and Au grade have been recognised. The most important textural characteristic that relates to high grade mineralisation appears to be the low proportion of mafic minerals, because the quartz monzonite porphyry intrusions hosting most of the mineralisation in the two deposits studied contain

Jan 1, 1999

By Esaki M, Nishimura K

This paper describes the results of the field application tests at Miike Colliery on the integrated automatization of the longwall mining system for medium thick coal seam. The purpose of the research is to develop an automatic longwall mining system which can be controlled accurately from outside of the face, and the ultimate goal is an eliminate of men from the face. Presently, the field test is being conducted in Yotsuyama mine following to a success in the performance test on surface. Remote Batch Control System for shield supports has been adapted to operate all supports from the control panel located at the entrance of the face. Remote monitoring and control system of the drum shearer has also been tested. The system makes it possible to operate the shearer either at the main gate or full automatic. Productivity and safety will be substantially improved as those systems enable to eliminate all workers from the face under the severe working conditions with high ground pressure and hot and humid atmosphere due to increasing mining depth. So far, we have been satisfied with the results of the field test and those system will be an effective countermeasure to operate the face with a high risk of rock-burst.

Jan 1, 1987

A new watersoluble binder for mineral ore pellets has been developed by the sulfonation of bituminous materials. A highly effective binder for iron ore pellet making is obtainable from bituminous materials produced in the hightemperature cracking of crude oils. This paper deals with production process and basic properties of this binder as well as new applications in the field of iron ore pelletizing.

Jan 1, 1974

By Hargraves AJ

Pre-drainage experiments have been conduct- ed at Appin, Cook, John Darling, Leichhardt, Macquarie, Metropolitan and Moura No. 2 Collieries. Appin (550 m deep) experiences particular gas problems in development drivages, and the almost pure CH4 seam gas makes difficult tiro compliance with statutory maxima in intakes and returns. Patterns of 43 mm diameter drain- a,.;e holes drilled ahead and laterally into virgin coal have improved gas conditions in working places and have allowed tolerable advance rates. Cook, Leichhardt, Metropolitan and Moura No,. 2 Collieries have experienced gas and stress phenomena ranging from conical bursts less than one tonne to full scale instantan- -us outbursts of hundreds of tonnes with tens ,f thousands of cubic metres of seam gas. Gas ~Irainage experiments with patterns of holes up a,, 200 mm diameter have been undertaken with ;,;siness monitors on the coal to establish .lative effectiveness. Incremental flows into mg 43 mm diameter boreholes have investigated drainage patterns relative to length, and at comparative incremental flows have nlicated lowered permeability zones at stress ,.,utments. In some CO2 seam gas areas where iammability problems are reduced to perhaps ii, but where outbursts proneness is increased,

Jan 1, 1982

By Longworth C. R

Competing requirements for land usage sometimes make the correct all- ocation difficult. The decision can be complicated by many factors such as local resident pressure, previous government decisions, economic pres- sures and the duration or permanency of the competing land usages. This problem often confronts the extractive industries with consequent delays in granting leases and some- times considerable local dissension. A proposal to extend the high grade silica sand quarry of the Wamberal Sand Company Pty. Limited is a microcosm of these competing requirements. The sand quarry is located on the New South Wales central coast. It is an open pit operation on a near beach deposit of silica sand suitable for flint glass manufacture.

Jan 1, 1976

By Heath E, van Calsteren P, Turner S, McDermott F

U-Th isotope studies of recent volcanic rocks may be used to evaluate the depths and rates of melt generation beneath mid- ocean ridges and ocean islands. Island arc rocks exhibit a similar range in Th isotopes to that seen in both MORB and OIB, but while those with high (230Th/232Th) tend to have excess 238U, many of those with low (230Th/232Th) are in isotope equilibrium. The excess 238U is attributed to the preferential mobilisation of U in hydrous fluids from the subducted slab within the last 100,000 years, whereas the low Th isotope ratios in the higher-K arcs are primarily due to the introduction of subducted sediment. Preliminary results from mineral separates from lavas on Soufriere on the island of St. Vincent indicate that some of the minerals crystallised up to 50,000 years prior to eruption.

Jan 1, 1995

By Oda Y, Hashiuchi M

In the smelting section, flexible fuels such as coal or coke are used in place of heavy fuel oil in order to utilize energy sources more efficiently. Heat recovered from the off gas of the furnace has been converted by the waste heat boiler into steam, which is used for self power generation and for heating or maintaining various temperatures. The amount of the recovered steam in the smelter is currently increasing due to maximum utilization of powdered cokes. The heat source required to maintain the temperature of the electrolyte in the tank house is electric power and steam. However until recent year this steam was provided by its own heavy oil combustion type boiler in the tank house since the amount of steam consumed in heating the electrolyte is large. Though experimental work over the last few years has shown the advantages of reducing steam in the tank house by fully covering the cell, the implementation of the full cover can lead to other operating problems. However various improvements, mainly the covering of the cell with a simple device, have led to greatly reduced steam consumption. As a result, steam for the tank house is now provided by the waste heat boiler only bringing more efficient energy usage.

Jan 1, 1987

By Sharmil Markar M

Ballarat Goldfields Limited is currently re-opening the old workings of the East Ballarat Goldfield which contain an estimated 1800 ML of groundwater. The disposal of this 'minewater' was of concern: the minewater is of moderate salinity; increased salinity levels have interfered with agriculture and water use at a number of locations downstream from Ballarat. Extensive numerical studies indicated that treated minewater could be discharged into the Ballarat Creek system for dilution by sewage effluent and by surface runoff after rainfall events. An automatic real-time salinity management system has been developed to enable the disposal of saline minewater in this fashion. A desk top computer operates the system: discharge and salinity readings are taken automatically each hour and filed away; the maximum allowable rate of discharge of treated minewater is calculated; pumps are switched on and off. The system readily enables daily, weekly and monthly data reports together with floppy disks of 'raw' data to be prepared in formats suitable for direct submission to the Victorian Environmental Protection Authority.

Jan 1, 1990

The pilot scale testing of Australian coals for their NO, emissions was carried out at the ACTC to investigate the influence of coal properties, furnace conditions and different NO,, control strategies on NO,, emissions. The NOx emissions for the Australian coals tested were found to vary over a wide range and primarily depended on combustion temperature and excess oxygen conditions. These coals did not exhibit any fundamental difference in NOx levels to other world coals. Under similar combustion conditions, the conversion of coal nitrogen to NO. was found to be best correlated with coal rank parameter, R, max per centage. The use of staged combustion as a control strategy was shown to reduce their NOx levels by 56 - 77 per cent.

Jan 1, 1991

By J G. Webster-Brown

The Tui Mine is located near Te Aroha at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula. It was a lead-zinc mine, which closed in 1973 due to declining concentrate prices, high overheads, and high mercury levels in the ore. The site was abandoned, leaving behind an acid rock drainage generating system, including a sulfide-rich tailings dam which has since caused pollution of Tui Stream, as well as open adits and waste piles which drain predominantly into the neighbouring Tunakohoia Stream. At the AusIMM conference in 2003, Harvey and Webster-Brown presented water quality results from the Tui mine site and lower stream catchments in 2002. In April 2006, Environment Waikato undertook remediation works to stabilise the dam and reduce acid drainage entering Tui Stream. In this study, water quality results from the Tui mine site and lower stream catchments are again being determined, in order to compare with the pre-remediation results. Preliminary data collected for summer indicate a minor but consistent improvement in water quality in the lower stream catchments, although lower Tui Stream continues to exceed ANZECC (2000) aquatic life guidelines for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. This slight improvement may be due to a decrease in the flow of ARD into Tui Stream, as there does not appear to have been an improvement in quality of the contributing ARD waters.

Jan 1, 2007

By J M. Menacho, L Zhang, A Hoadley, L Verdugo, B Etschmann, W Bruckard

Since the introduction of Lithium-Ion Batteries (LIBs) in 1991, the market for lithium-ion cells has been driven by the high demand for portable electronic devices and more recently for batteries for the electric car industry. It is expected to grow rapidly to reach 2600 GWh globally by 2030 (US Government, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 2021). However, there is a desperate need to recycle LIBs to recover valuable cathode materials and graphite. For this reason, several physical and chemical recycling technologies have been proposed to recover these materials from spent batteries. Amongst these, froth flotation technology is a potential cost-effective technology for separation of the graphite fraction from the lithium oxide components due to the natural hydrophobicity of graphite and density difference between graphite and cathode materials (Folayan et al, 2021).

Aug 24, 2022

In this paper is given a description of the flotation plant recently erected by Broken Hill South Limited at the South Mine, Broken Hill, N.S.W. It has been built on the site of the old flotation plant, which was described in a previous paper published by the author. The present paper is supplementary to the former paper in that it replaced the following sections thereof, namely, those from end of the second paragraph, page 269, to the end of the first paragraph page 282, and from the end of the second paragraph, page 284, to the end of the third paragraph, page 302.The roll crushing, fine grinding, gravity concentration, filtration, disposal of products and sampling in the new plant are the same as described in the above mentioned paper.The reconstruction of the flotation section, described herein, completes the reconstruction and modernisation of the treatment plant which was begun in 1928. A description of these earlier alterations has already been published in the Proceedings of this Institute.

Jan 1, 1935

By K Ehrig, V Liebezeit, Y Li, B Pewkliang, M Smith, E Macmillan

Pre-concentration of low grade ores via the rejection of low/no value materials based on fragment size is the subject of many published papers and studies over the past decade. However, the possibility of upgrading should not limited to low grade ores given the high cost of capital, energy, water, reagents, and ultimately tailings storage across the mining industry. Mining and processing facilities at Olympic Dam consist of an: 1) underground mine where ore is extracted via sublevel open stoping and 2) integrated processing plant located on the surface which produces Cu-cathode, Au-Ag bullion and uranium oxide concentrate. Blasted ore is trucked/trained to underground crushers which produce an ore feed with a product size P80 = -145 mm. Crushed ore is then hoisted to the surface and delivered to the ROM pads via an overland conveyor. The typical copper grade of mill feed is approximately 2 wt%. A rapid assessment of the potential to upgrade Olympic Dam mill feed prior to the ROM pads via rejection of low value materials based on fragment size was completed using existing data. Three separate datasets were utilised to assess the deportment of Cu, U, Au across size ranges of 200 mm down to sub-8 m. Cumulative grade vs cumulative mass distribution graphs for each element were produced. This data clearly demonstrates that Cu, U, Au grades remain constant down to ~212 m, which happens to be the liberation size of the sulfides. Hence, no potential to upgrade the ore stream via rejection of +200 mm - to ~212 m sized materials prior to milling. Mineralisation within the Olympic Dam Fe-oxide Cu-U-Au-Ag deposit (IOCG) occurs as disseminated sulfide grains within granite- to hematite-rich breccias. The typical sulfide grain size is sub-200 m that supports the outcomes of the grade deportment by fragment size study.

Nov 10, 2020

Firedamp drainage has become an essential part of many mine environmental systems, and new applications are arising. Installations are evolving further to satisfy ever changing basic requirements, standards, and iniilny needs. In this paper, water seal, vacuum based installations are considered, as well as moni- toring, protective and control systems which have been developed for continuous, manless, and trouble free operation. Some factors affecting plant capacity and extractor per- formance are identified and assessed. INTRODUCTION Firedamp drainage applications are incr- easing world wide as mining engineers strive for improved safety and security, and further concentration of coal output. Fewer and fewer mines are able nowadays to satisfy coal prod- uction and firedamp control requirements solely by air dilution or by air dilution and underground firedamp extraction plants. As a result, dependence on surface extraction plants is increasing. This paper deals with som requirements and applications of such installations. I. DEVELOPMENT AND PRACTICE Firedamp drainage has existed for over 250 years following the early work of Carlisle Spedding at Whitehaven (1730). Some fundamentals of current firedamp drainage systems can be recognised in the

Jan 1, 1982

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

Jan 1, 1957

The scarcity of truck tyres combined with decreases in the availability of labour, increases in fuel costs and a buoyant international economy driving project budget blowouts, have all combined to change the paradigm behind mining equipment selections. The escalation of commodity prices has occurred in parallel with an increasing maturity in continuous mining machinery, mobile in-pit crushing systems and very large-scale conveyor belt systems. This paper will consider the merits of operating continuous materials handling systems, mobile in-pit crushing systems, relocatable crushing systems, relocatable conveyor systems and automated waste handling systems in place of the more conventional approach of truck haulage.

Jan 1, 2007

The McArthur lead-zinc-silver deposit is of the stratiform type. It consists essentially of a mineralized bituminous shale sequence that incorporates tuffites, numerous graded beds, and isolated but massive slump breccia horizons.The principal sulphides are' pyrite, sphalerite, and galena. These occur mostly in the shales. The accompanying turbidites contain only minor mineralization.The geochemistry of the deposit has been investigated in relation to the stratigraphic column and mineralogy of the sediments.A sedimentary origin is proposed for the deposit. Volcanism, thermal spring activity, salinity, regional faulting, and climate are examined as possible factors that may have contributed to sulphide formation and which could be used as criteria for mineral exploration.The metallurgy 'of the McArthur deposit is discussed in terms of its geological history.

Jan 1, 1972

By Savage E. N

The porphyry copper minerals of Melanesia occur within a host of narrow veinlets in predominantly quartz diorite stocks or as contact metasomatic masses in skarns adjacent to the intrusion. Some 90 per cent of the constituent minerals comprise pyrite or marcasite, chalcopyrite, and magnetite with the remainder mainly bornite and hematite with accessory rutile and chalcocite together with several trace minerals. Gold is found mainly as inclusions in chalcopyrite, and minor molybdenite occurs likewise.Of particular significance is the persistent occurrence of accessory rutile of hydrothermal origin intimately intergrown with chalcopyrite. The rutile occurs relatively late in the hydrothermal sequence and upon weathering of the deposit may be released on a cumulative basis possibly in sufficient amounts to constitute a particulate pathfinder mineral which may aid in prospecting.Rutile is present in all the Melanesian occurrences studied and is also prominent in several American deposits.The porphyry copper mineralogy is characterized by the presence of accessory hydrothermal rutile intergrown with chalcopyrite.

Jan 1, 1975