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By S Gray

Based on the 2021 Volume 5 State of PlayTM mining survey of key executives and board members in the mining sector, the key responses to ‘Which of the following technologies will have the biggest impact on mining in the next 15 years?’, were ‘Sensing and Data’ followed by ‘AI and Analytics’. From the early 1970s it would have been unlikely to predict the level of sensing and automation introduced to the broad industrial sector. No better example is the automobile industry where the combination of technological advances and external drivers (such as emissions control) have driven an incredible rate of change. The introduction of sensing, data, AI, and automation in the mining industry is just ramping up. Until now our energy efficiency, environmental footprint, labour shortage, skills, and safety have not been challenged by stakeholders in the way we are seeing market forces develop today. In order to address these challenges, we need to look back to the automobile industry and learn their lessons to accelerate our application of digital capability, analysis, AI and automation This is critical, particularly as access to skilled human resources becomes more difficult. An example of how this can be achieved in a gold processing plant utilising the latest real-time sensing technologies is the ‘Carbon Scout’ developed by Curtin University, and OLGA developed by CSIRO, which are both online technologies, coupled together with Gekko’s ‘Neon’ digital platform to achieve a fully automated real-time gold processing system.

Aug 24, 2022

By K D. Tuckwell

The Treasurer, the Hon Wayne Swan, has nominated ‘maximising our advantages’ from ‘Mining Boom Mark II’ as the focus of the 2011/2012 Australian Budget. Australia therefore requires a bolder and better integrated economic reform agenda if it is to convert current strong demand for mineral commodities into lasting prosperity that benefits all Australians. Lasting prosperity, well past 2012, will only be achieved if Australia can effectively reverse a decade-long deterioration in the minerals industry productivity performance due largely to capacity constraints that inhibit growth. This requires improving the efficiency of energy networks, transport infrastructure, water markets, health and education services, access to skilled people and by streamlining costly, inefficient project approvals’ processes. The common thread that holds this economic fabric together is the importance of having the right people using the most appropriate technology within the correct policy framework.In December 2010, employment in the minerals sector stood at 187 200; 21 per cent higher than one year earlier, 15 per cent higher than the industry employment peak prior to the global financial crisis in 2008 and 14 per cent greater than anticipated by industry modelling published in 2008. Managers and professionals make up approximately 15 per cent of the total workforce, yet minerals-related higher education programs (mining engineering, metallurgy and geoscience) continue to be chronically underfunded, requiring direct industry subsidies of more than $25 M over the last decade. Also, the publicly-funded Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector continues to fail the industry in the delivery of quality training programs. Importantly, the industry is a key driver of economic activity in regional and remote Australia and is the largest source of private sector employment for Indigenous Australians who comprise up to a quarter of employees in certain locations.This presentation looks at what our industry and country need to achieve to ensure we have the right people for the challenges ahead. **This is an abstract only. No paper was provided for this abstract.**

Nov 22, 2011

By K Ehrig

Two irrefutable facts in geology and metallurgy are: ore deposits are comprised of variable mixtures of minerals which are systematically distributed throughout the deposit, and mineralogy exerts the primary control on metallurgical performance. If the distribution of process critical minerals can be quantified and mapped, then a logical assumption is that metallurgical performance can be predicted across the deposit.Olympic Dam is a +9 billion tonne Fe-oxide Cu-U-Au-Ag deposit which is hosted entirely within a magmatic-hydrothermal breccia complex consisting of over seventy ore and gangue minerals. Each has a unique set of metallurgical performance properties. Fortunately, 15 of the 70 minerals accounts for >98 per cent of the total rock mass.The mineral mapping journey commenced in the early drilling days shortly after the discovery of Olympic Dam in 1975. Geologists quickly recognised that the copper-iron sulphides had a predictable zoned distribution. However, geological models reflected the presence or relative abundances, not quantitative concentrations, of the minerals. This type of mineral mapping remained relatively unchanged for ~20 years and was of limited use outside of geology.Several things changed during the mid-1990s: assaying costs decreased significantly, instruments capable of automatically measuring mineralogy became readily available, the recognition of two quantifiable relationships at OD (ie mineralogy is a function of chemical composition (ie assays), and metallurgical performance is a function of assays, mineralogy, texture and process conditions. The linkage of metallurgical performance to mineralogy and mineralogy back to assays allows for every assayed sample in the resource model to be assigned mineral concentrations and metallurgical performance predictors. At Olympic Dam, block models (ie 3D maps) are routinely produced for 27 elements, density, 15 process critical minerals and greater than 50 metallurgical performance variables. These geometallurgy-enabled resource models are used for mine planning, process plant design and process optimisation studies. *This is an abstract only. No paper was prepared for this abstract.*

Sep 5, 2011

The Sao Chico gold project is located on the Tocantinzinho trend which is the most mineralised zone in the Tapajos Mineral Field of Brazil (see Figure 1). The Tapajos goldfi eld was the site of the biggest gold rush in Brazilian history in the late 1970s and 1980s when approximately 500 000 garimpeiros (artisanal miners) rushed to the area to exploit extensive areas of newly discovered alluvial gold. Approximately 20 - 30 million ounces of gold were produced from these operations before the easily won alluvial gold deposits were largely depleted. The Tapajos region has had little exploration by modern exploration methods compared to any other equivalent gold fields in the world. The gold occurs in sulfide veins developed in shear zones within Proterozoic granites. Gold grades vary from approximately 15 g/t in the hard rock veins, to up to several ounces per tonne in the supergene weathered upper portions of the veins. Goldbearing vein zones in the weathered profile are free digging. In addition, tailings dumps from previous mining operations contain gold grades of approximately 1 g/t. Metallurgical test work conducted to date indicates that gold recoveries of at least 70 per cent can be achieved via gravity concentration. Gold Anomaly, via its 100 per cent owned Brazilian subsidiary, Gold Aura Do Brasil Mineracao Ltda (GOAB), plans to mine the tailings and weathered vein material by open cut methods to generate a quick cash fl ow and to provide a better understanding of the mineralisation as part of a feasibility study for mining the underlying sulfide zone mineralisation (see Figure 2). Mining will utilise locally hired excavators and trucks and ramp up to a rate of 100 tonnes per day. To treat the gold-bearing material, GOAB has purchased an integrated 'state of the art' gravity concentration processing plant from Gekko Systems of Australia. The processing plant includes a scrubber for clay and oversize removal, coarse gold gravity separation via an inline pressure jig and an inline spinner; and fine gold gravity separation via a Falcon Concentrator. The plant is expected to be operational by late 2010. This is an ABSTRACT ONLY. No paper was prepared for this presentation. 

Aug 1, 2010

With the next mining boom looming, the industry will once again struggle to meet skills needed as the current generation boomers are set to retire. In order to meet these needs it is going to need to focus on what underutilised human resources - in particular women - want!   Women comprise around 14 per cent of the mining workforce, compared with a 45 per cent participation rate in the work force overall. Within the industry, women still make up only one per cent of trades people, eight per cent of operators/production employees, 12 per cent of engineers and 11 per cent of executive management.   It may be worth pointing out that mining has an age profile skewed towards the older end of the spectrum. When it comes to employee retention, what women want may be a good starting point to examine, more broadly, what all employees might want (but are too afraid to ask!).   Women in mining want the following: To be scrutinised for their work and performance, not their personal lives, appearance or relationships. True pay equity. This is addressed at lower levels between companies but at professional levels the salary differentials begin to appear and little is done to identify why this continues to be the case. Recognition and acceptance that women can have different work-styles, and that diversity of work-styles is an asset to be nurtured not a threat to be neutralised! Recognition that a more diverse workforce demographic that better reflects society at large will assist the company in its dealings with many diverse stakeholders from society at large. For employers to recognise that a career break to accommodate caring responsibilities does not mean that an employee's commitment to progressing their career is any less than that of someone who has not taken a career break. Similarly, for employers to recognise that working part-time for to accommodate caring responsibilities does not mean that an employee's commitment to progressing their career is any less than someone who works a more traditional roster. Access to affordable and quality child care compatible with mining rosters in mining towns. Zero tolerance for bullying and harassment, and workplace cultures that promote respect and safety. This is an ABSTRACT ONLY no paper was prepared for this presentation.

Jun 1, 2010

Energy is central to respond to critical stakes on human and industrial development requirements as well as on climate change. The increase of the share of carbon-free energy sources in the global supply mix will help to reduce significantly greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) as power generation accounts currently for 41 per cent of these emissions from the energy sector. In this energetic mix, nuclear and renewable energies are complementary, the first more focused in the baseload power generation whilst the second is well suited for decentralised power generation. In this context, AREVA's goal is to enable everyone to have access to a cleaner, safer and more economical energy. Regarding nuclear energy, AREVA's strategy is to capitalise on its integrated operation model, which groups together fuel cycle and nuclear power plant construction, aiming at building one third of the new nuclear capacities and securing the fuel cycle supply chain for its existing and future customers. Therefore, the front end of the uranium fuel cycle, from mining to the fabrication of fuel assemblies, has a key role in the sustainability of the nuclear industry. The replacement of the current capacity and the entrance of new countries on the nuclear power generation might lead to a significant rise of uranium demand by 2020. In order to be prepared in time, AREVA defined an ambitious industrial program to expand mineral reserves, increase the production of uranium concentrates, replace the conversion capacity, build two new uranium enrichment plants, one in France and one in the United States and upgrade its fuel manufacturing plants. To support the front-end industrial activities in the short and long term, AREVA invests on a portfolio of R&D projects to find out solutions to meet customers' needs, to improve its competitiveness and to develop new concepts and solutions to anticipate future market evolutions. In particular, some important technological challenges in mining must be surmounted to develop cost-effective methods to explore and exploit low grade deposits while creating sustainable solutions for reducing reagent, water and energy consumptions. In this lecture, an overview of the industrial investments of AREVA in the front end of the uranium fuel cycle and some highlights on its R&D major axis will be presented. This is an abstract only. No full paper was prepared for this abstract.  

Sep 13, 2010

By C Young

The identification of Critical Risks, their associated Critical Controls, and the implementation of processes to ensure their ongoing management can be difficult and resource intensive. Answering the following Critical Risk Management related questions can be challenging: • What is a Critical Risk? • What is a Bow-tie Analysis and when should it be used? • What is Critical Control? • How is the effectiveness of a Critical Control assured, and how is this measured? • Who is responsible for managing Critical Controls? • What are the implications if a Critical Control is not effective? It appears that in the mining industry’s efforts to implement the Critical Control Management Process outlined by the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), instead of embedding an integrated, well understood, value adding process, we have instead created a resource hungry monster that is poorly understood by numerous layers of the organisation.

May 5, 2022

The implementation of robust, reliable and accurate sampling systems is the key to the successful management of any mineral processing plant. The representative sampling of a mineral processing plant is the only way to determine what is coming into the plant, what is going out as fi nal product and what is going to tails. In plants with high gravity gold components, where high recovery effort gravity circuits are installed, the use of a gravity recoverable gold (GRG) sampling system can assist in the online monitoring of the performance of the circuit. The typical installation location would be in CIP or fl otation feed (ie cyclone overfl ow), downstream of the gravity circuit. A GRG sampling system generally consists of the following equipment: true proportional, continuous drive, linear cross cut sampler, secondary vezin sampler operated on a timer, a batch centrifugal concentrator, and sample dewatering module. The operating philosophy of the GRG sampling system is that the primary sampler operates on a continuous basis, generating a constant stream of truly representative sample. Consep's H&S drive system is unique in its ability to be able to operate in a continuous mode, therefore enabling a continuous stream of representative sample to be generated. The primary sample stream reports to the secondary sampler. The secondary sampler operates on an intermittent basis (nominally ten minute interval), resulting in a relatively small sample volume per shift. Normally the sample volume would be ten to 15 L per shift. The secondary sample rejects stream reports back to the batch centrifugal concentrator. The sample generated from the secondary sampler can be dewatered using a Consep H&S dewatering module. This device produces a final sample that consists of separate filter cake and filtrate. These are suitable for taking directly to the laboratory. The continuous stream of truly representative secondary sampler rejects is passed through an appropriately sized Knelson Concentrator, typically a KCMD7, KCCD10 or KCCD12 sized unit. This unit recovers any available GRG from the stream. The Knelson Concentrator is also purged of its gravity concentrate at the end of the shift. This sample, which is nominally around 1 - 2.5 kg of concentrate, is also taken to the laboratory. At the end of the shift the client will have a measure of the gravity recoverable gold content of the target slurry stream, as well as a true representative sample of the complete stream. Through the addition of a Knelson Concentrator to an otherwise typical sample station, it is possible to generate a true measure of the performance of your gravity circuit. This will take the guess work out of the daily variation in gravity circuit gold recovery, as the site knows whether the changes are due to gravity circuit equipment performance, or due to the natural variation of ore GRG contents. Maintenance planning can also be designed around the system, as the site will have a composite sample to measure the performance of the circuit, therefore indicating where performance has dropped and maintenance is needed. This is an ABSTRACT ONLY. No paper was prepared for this presentation.

Aug 1, 2010

By K Zhao, H Gong, B Li

Health and safety are the first priority for Australian minerals sector. Australia has a global reputation in the mining industry. However, accidents occur every year. Legislation and regulation are important to prevent the accident from occurring, so do the new technologies. It is sad to witness the collision incident persisting and the long called collision avoidance system (CAS) is still not widely used in underground mines. The main reason is that the existing systems are still not advanced enough. The current CASs utilise GPS, infrared, ultrasonic, RFID, Radar, electromagnetic etc have their limitations and disadvantages. For instance, GPS is widely used in a surface mine, but it cannot be applied in underground mine; Infrared and electromagnetic have the false positive problem.

Sep 1, 2024

By Tuck M. A

The increasing depth, mechanisation and distance of working areas from surface connections places an ever greater contaminant burden on ventilation airflows. Some British Coal mines are already experiencing significant problems in providing adequate climatic conditions in the working areas and have had to introduce air conditioning. Previous work has shown that in mines of low to moderate virgin strata temperature the application of controlled district recirculation could serve to improve climatic conditions at the working area.

Jan 1, 1988

By M Noakes

EcoTechnology refers to a series of potential metallurgical processes for complex ores, concentrates, tailings and slags that are all based on an initial chlorination step at low to moderate temperatures probably in a fluid bed chlorinator (FBC). Examples of the research and development (R&D) results are provided in this paper for a high grade Au/Sb Leach Tailings (EcoGold<sub>®</sub> Process), a very refractory sulphide Au concentrate, a refractory gold calcine tailings, a Cu/Au tailings (EcoCopper<sub>®</sub> Process), bulk polymetallic sulphide concentrates and polymetallic sulphide/oxide complex ores (EcoZinc<sub>®</sub> Process and EcoLead<sub>®</sub> Process). R&D on over thirty different ore types has been conducted at a bench scale as discussed. Latterly a dedicated pilot plant was designed and constructed by EcoTech Mining Pty Ltd (EML) and several of the different feed stock results have been confirmed by pilot plant testing. It is planned to scale up to a commercial demonstration plant. To demonstrate the versatility of EcoTechnology, bench and pilot plant test results on five of the projects are used as case studies as follows: Fosterville ‘leach tailing’, VIC; Wiluna flotation concentrate – BIOX Feed, WA; Wiluna calcine facility tailings, WA; Mt Morgan Cu/Au tailings, QLD; Polymetallic sulphide concentrates from Pegmont Deposit, QLD and Polymetallic sulphide/oxide ores from Commonwealth Mine Project, NSW. CITATION: Noakes, M, 2018. Improved recoveries and environmental outcomes from complex ores utilising EcoTechnology, in Proceedings Complex Orebodies Conference 2018, pp 122–123 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 21, 2018

By R Shaw

There are many small to medium carbonate hosted complex zinc containing deposits where the zinc is not economically recoverable either as concentrate or metal. High grade (>20% Zn) run of mine ore can be processed but even this material gives relatively poor returns. Considerable effort has gone into developing new technology for either upgrading the ore and/or recovering zinc metal hydrometallurgically but there has been limited success. Minetometal has developed a process capable of economically treating these deposits to give marketable lead and zinc products. This paper reviews alternative processes for these ores and gives a detailed description of the Minetometal Process. CITATION: Shaw, R, 2018. Processing carbonate hosted zinc-lead ores, in Proceedings Complex Orebodies Conference 2018, pp 130–131 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 21, 2018

By D Osborne

Current mineral extraction and valorisation activities still have a strong focus on the ‘delivered product(s)’ which might be a bulk commodity such as metallurgical coal, hematite, bauxite, etc., and mineral concentrates such as metal sulphides, oxides, and carbonates; precious metals, such as gold, silver and PGMs, REEs or battery metals; halogen salt forming elements; or industrial minerals, which are non-metals including crushed rock, sand, and gravel etc. With the current focus on tailings disposal the pushback has been to seek alternatives to the currently ‘conventional’ disposal method via increasingly higher risk tailings settling facilities (TSFs) with a changing focus towards ‘dry disposal’. Whichever option is selected, the alarming trend is the increasing cost and ESG impacts. An emerging approach is to pose a focusing question ‘Is there anything else passing into the tailings stream and/or disposable waste streams which could be recovered and pass into the product revenue stream? All of the above ‘primary’ process streams offer opportunities for increasing recovery and offsetting some of the disposal costs. Some secondary opportunities are already being pursued, such as REEs and battery metals from base metals deposits, but other opportunities are still being overlooked, such as building materials and soil conditioning pellets. These potential ‘new’ product streams can also utilise other mining and domestic wastes such as smelting slags, glass waste, plastic waste etc. This paper will address these opportunities and provide examples including process approach, economics and some of the current barriers that exist, which are holding back progress on such initiatives.

Sep 1, 2024

By S Sullivan

The key skills for a competent geologist are observation, documentation, analytical thought and the ability to communicate. These attributes have served the geological world for the past two centuries since the field of geology was separated out from natural philosophy. The understanding of the structural setting, lithologies, alteration and 3D distribution of the target mineral species are essential precursors to resource evaluation and potential economic extraction. The advent of artificial intelligence and machine learning has matured to the point where observation by dedicated sensors and analysis by customised AI algorithms can replace manual processes and deliver credible results. In combination with analytical data such as assays, various sensors now collect physical properties of rocks which are used as proxies for mineral identification and rock mass classification. These sensors include X-ray and infra-red spectra, magnetic susceptibility, gravity/density, EH/pH measurements, conductivity, colourimetric readings, porosity, fracturing and fracture intensity. Analysis using machine learning techniques trained using known data sets can determine rock type classification, rock density, quantification of grade/quality attributes, mineral alteration, weathering and geotechnical attributes such as rock quality. This type of data relies on calibration and quality control of a variety of different types of electronic hardware. The resulting data is non-additive, has error ranges and will be suitable for consumption by fast AI methods providing probabilistic analysis. A second stage could include geometallurgical constraints to provide an ‘extractability index’, which is of more interest to miners than pure geotyping. Using resultant interpreted geological criteria, 3D domain models with spatial attributes will be built.

Sep 1, 2024

By J D. Tolley

The shift towards clean energy technologies is having a significant impact on the mining industry, with the demand for minerals such as copper, nickel, cobalt, lithium, manganese, and graphite increasing exponentially. To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, mineral requirements for clean energy technologies would need to quadruple by 2040, and to achieve net-zero globally by 2050, mineral inputs in 2040 would need to be six times more than today. The most significant driver of mineral demand is electric vehicles (EVs) and battery storage, with lithium seeing the fastest growth, and copper demand doubling over the same period due to the expansion of electricity networks globally. The demand for these minerals is expected to rise significantly as investments in clean energy technologies continue to grow in the future. As the world moves towards a decarbonised economy, the minerals industry is under increasing pressure to reduce its environmental and social impacts and meet the increased demand for minerals. Mining companies are facing additional challenges due to the depletion of near-surface mineral deposits globally, with more mines transitioning from open pits to underground. The transition to underground mining requires the right strategy to economically access deeper mineable inventories and to keep up with future clean energy technology demands to achieve net-zero globally by 2050. One key way to achieve this is through decarbonisation using ‘green’ mining technologies such as replacing current primary diesel mining fleets with battery electric vehicles (BEVs). However, these measures through electrification overlook the bigger opportunity to maximise the socio-economic returns from the mine while also reducing the overall carbon footprint. Corporate cut-off grade policy is one of the most significant influencers on the total environmental and social impacts of the mining industry. The purpose of a corporate cut-off grade policy is to implement strategies aligned with achieving all the mining companies’ corporate goals, with decarbonisation targets becoming a primary driver for mining companies. Table 1 shows the evolution of cut-off theory with the increasing number of dimensions and driving inputs per iteration.

Aug 2, 2023

By P Swart, A Fletcher, P D. Erskine

Glencore Coal Assets Australia (GCAA) operates five coalmines in Queensland and has rehabilitated thousands of hectares of mined land across these sites. Accordingly, GCAA seeks to continually improve rehabilitation outcomes over time and work towards progressive rehabilitation sign-off. The ultimate test of rehabilitation success is the attainment of an agreed land-use target, whether for biodiversity conservation or some type of agricultural production, and the ability of the rehabilitated landscape to resist degradation and retain desired functions (eg biodiversity protection or grazing productivity). However, success must be based on documented evidence that can demonstrate adequate progress towards rehabilitation targets and is assessed at appropriate intervals. To assist this task, a stepwise decision guide for the GCAA monitoring program was developed to ensure consistent monitoring data is collected across the range of sites. This presentation will discuss some of the processes that were followed to allow GCAA to identify appropriate metrics to assess rehabilitation success efficiently over thousands of hectares.CITATION:Erskine, P, Fletcher, A and Swart, P, 2016. Preparing for progressive mine rehabilitation sign-off in Queensland, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2016 Conference, pp 148–150 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jun 28, 2016

By J L. Merritt

The mining industry seeks to engage with and respond to stakeholders through open consultation processes during the various phases of a mining project (Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources, 2006). Two Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP) funded projects conducted in the Bowen Basin coalfields in Central Queensland investigated the use of a stakeholder panel for the evaluation of mine site rehabilitation. The panel members were drawn from the local and regional area, and represented neighbouring landholders, traditional owners, AgForce, local government, conservation groups and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Greening Australia and the Fitzroy Basin Association. The approach of utilising stakeholders to establish rehabilitation criteria was proposed as an alternative to the established practice of assessing rehabilitated areas against a suite of quantitative completion criteria; eg >70 per cent vegetative ground cover or <5 t/ha/a soil loss. The basis of this approach recognises the reality that the definition of completion criteria has proved problematic over the last 40 years with no broad consensus reached on the suite, let alone the metrics; eg the exact cover level that will benchmark acceptance of the mine site rehabilitation.CITATION:Merritt, J L, 2016. Zooming out – learning to see rehabilitation through stakeholders’ eyes, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2016 Conference, pp 163–165 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jun 28, 2016

By R Grogan

Nautilus Minerals (Nautilus) is a sea floor resource exploration and development company focused on developing the Solwara 1 Project, a copper-gold sea floor massive sulfide deposit in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea, for which it holds a mining lease and associated environment permit.During the environmental impact assessment and project development phase, Nautilus completed a number of hydrodynamic modelling exercises in order to predict the nature, volume and extent of the plumes likely to be generated by the sea floor mining tools and return water discharge at the sea floor.The modelling was conducted using the suspended sediment fate model (SSFATE), developed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and RPS APASA engineering consultants. The SSFATE model was originally developed in order to predict and manage dredging plumes, and has since been adapted for deep ocean sea floor mining. The model uses a Lagrangian approach to remove the limitations of grid resolution, and simulates far-field effects of sedimentation plumes by assuming that the average transport and turbulence associated with currents are dominant over the initial turbulence at the release point. The random walk procedure utilised in the model tracks particle size classes as they disperse and settle, and also takes into consideration any re-suspension that may occur following settlement (RPS APASA, 2014).CITATION:Grogan, R, 2016. Predicting, assessing and managing sediment plumes generated by sea floor mining, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2016 Conference, pp 124–127 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jun 28, 2016

By R J. Higgins, M Edraki

What is the meaning of the Life of a Mine (LOM) if that mine results in a requirement for water treatment in perpetuity? ‘In perpetuity’ is of course a duration with no relationship to a Life-of-Mine or what might rightly be regarded by external stakeholders as a fair and reasonable post-mine recovery period. It exceeds the life span of investors, mine managers and governments, indeed even of capital markets as we know them, and of corporate and individual memories.In mine and mine closure planning, decisions are usually based at least to a significant extent on traditional economic analysis underlain by discounted cash flows (DCF). For investments in income-producing facilities, such as mining development and equipment, and ore-processing plant and equipment, this analysis reflects commercial reality and allows for comparison of competing investments. However, for environmental and social infrastructure, the same analysis using the same input parameters, especially the discount rate applied to cash flows, can lead to a bias against the adoption of best practices for non-investor stakeholders. CITATION:Higgins, R J and Edraki, M, 2018. Water treatment in perpetuity – or not?, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2018, pp 131–132 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 25, 2018

By A Kite

Frontline leaders play a critical role in the safe and productive operations of Australia’s mining, resources and heavy industries. These leaders set the workplace culture, especially during night shifts and weekends, by providing team direction and encouragement, providing access to resources, fulfilling statutory requirements, enacting and reinforcing risk management systems, setting the standards on shift and acting as the primary conduit of communications between senior leaders and team members.

May 5, 2022