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By S L. Nicol, B J. Hogg, O J. Mendoza, S Nikolic, A Burrows

The top submerged lance (TSL) technology, developed in the 1970s, is now widely used for the processing of a range of materials. The key advantage the ISASMELT™ TSL technology provided was the ability to process feed materials in a highly turbulent bath, reaching close to equilibrium conditions, uniquely allowing for operation below the liquidus of the molten slag phase. The details on what happened below the liquidus line in the phase diagram became critical for the successful operation of the technology. During the development of the ISASMELT™ technology this led to a collaboration between the Process Technology group of Mount Isa Mines, now part of Glencore Technology, and the Pyrometallurgy Research Centre (PYROSEARCH) at The University of Queensland. The fusion of the phase equilibria research into the technology development allowed for understanding of the behaviour of molten splash, reliable tapping of the furnace, and the ability to operate the furnace with a refractory lining and achieve a year campaign life in excess of four years. The outcome has allowed for the highly successful adaption of the ISASMELT™ technology to recycling of complex feed streams necessary to drive circularity in our modern global economy.

Aug 21, 2024

By P Edmondson, S Narendranathan, S Setchell

The complexities of mining in current economic conditions, where ore extraction schedules are varied on a weekly basis so as to ensure constant supply to the process plant, can result in a number of scenarios that pose geotechnical challenges. This paper presents a case study where alterations in the mining schedule of a particular mine resulted in the necessity to mine under a large uncompacted embankment, ie integrated tailings and mine waste landform. To effectively ensure that ore recovery was maximised, a well-designed slope monitoring system to evaluate design performance and to provide timely warning of impending failures was imperative. In order for an appropriate slope monitoring strategy to be developed, a thorough understanding of the potential slope failure mechanisms, capabilities and limitations of available monitoring techniques is required. Communication of the monitoring results and response strategy to alarms generated by monitoring systems must also be carefully considered to maximise effectiveness. The results of preliminary stability modelling can be used to guide the design of a monitoring system, which in turn can then generate data which can be used to iteratively refine the geotechnical model. This paper illustrates the development and implementation of a slope monitoring system and associated communication system, using a case study developed at a large iron ore open pit mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.CITATION:Narendranathan, S, Lee, E C, Setchell, S and Edmondson, P, 2015. Modelling of an integrated waste storage facility, in Proceedings Tailings and Mine Waste Management for the 21st Century , pp 183–190 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 27, 2015

By F I. Cox, D Peeler, T Bodisco

"Diesel particulate matter (DPM), in particular, has been likened in a somewhat inflammatory manner to be the ‘next asbestos’.From the business change perspective, there are three areas holding the industry back from fully engaging with the issue:There is no real feedback loop in any operational sense to assess the impact of investment or application of controls to manage diesel emissions.DPM are getting ever smaller and more numerous, but there is no practical way of measuring them to regulate them in the field. Mass, the current basis of regulation, is becoming less and less relevant.Diesel emissions management is generally wholly viewed as a cost, yet there are significant areas of benefit available from good management.This paper discusses a feedback approach to address these three areas to move the industry forward. The six main areas of benefit from providing a feedback loop by continuously monitoring diesel emissions have been identified: Condition-based maintenance. Emissions change instantaneously if engine condition changes. Operator performance. An operator can use a lot more fuel for little incremental work output through poor technique or discipline. Vehicle utilisation. Operating hours achieved and ratios of idling to under power affect the proportion of emissions produced with no economic value. Fuel efficiency. This allows visibility into other contributing configuration and environmental factors for the vehicle. Emission rates. This allows scope to directly address the required ratio of ventilation to diesel emissions. Total carbon emissions. For National Greenhouse Emissions Reporting (NGER)-type reporting requirements, calculating the emissions individually from each vehicle rather than just reporting on fuel delivered to a site.CITATION:Cox, F I, Bodisco, T and Peeler, D, 2014. Continuous remote emissions monitoring – the lynchpin for air quality management, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Underground Operators’ Conference 2014, pp 137–142 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 24, 2014

By P Craig, I Canbulat, J Naylor, J Emery, A Sykes

Longwall mining is by far the most common method of underground coal extraction in Australia. Industry trends and expectations are placing increasing emphasis on the reliability and productivity of these operations. Longwalls are becoming wider and longer while retreat rates are continuously increasing due to significant improvements achieved in longwall equipment reliability and automation. This increased longwall productivity is placing significant emphasis on the reliability of longwall panel development.Although there have been significant improvements in the reliability of continuous miners and hydraulic drill rigs, the traditional resin-encapsulated bolt installation is still the principal method used in all major coal producing countries around the world. Anglo American realised that an opportunity existed to introduce an alternative roof bolt installation technique called ‘spin-to-stall’ (STS) into Australia. STS was first introduced by Anglo American Coal in South Africa, where it has been successfully used for over a decade, though implementation of South African STS resin in Australia has proven to be near impossible. Therefore, a new STS development project was initiated between Anglo American Coal and Jennmar Australia. This paper summarises the journey of this project, the results achieved and the successful implementation of STS at Grasstree mine.CITATION:Emery, J, Canbulat, I, Craig, P, Naylor, J and Sykes, A, 2014. Development and implementation of spin-to-stall resin at Anglo American’s Australian Underground Coal Operations, in Proceedings AusRock 2014: Third Australasian Ground Control in Mining Conference , pp 287–294 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 5, 2014

This paper describes the mechanical and electrical maintenance activities as practised at Isa Mine. The principles of preventative maintenance adopted are described as well as the basis of maintenance cost control.

Jan 1, 1978

By Andrews B. S

The sinter plant at the Sulphide Corporation's Cockle Creek works produces a feed for the company's Imperial Smelting Furnace. The feed contains lead and zinc oxides and all the fluxes necessary for furnace operation. The quality of this feed is a major factor in furnace performance and the considerable flexibility of operation possible at the sinter plant has been used in efforts to achieve optimum operating conditions.Operating data is processed daily and information gathered from this source has led to three of the four improvements described.These improvements have resulted from elimination of gas recirculation, reduction of sinter returns sizing and alteration of ignition conditions and main layer fuel loading.

Jan 1, 1964

By V Gumba, S Narendranathan, C Barker, R D. H Thomas, G P. Bungard

This paper presents the positive outcomes on an EPCM project, which was undertaken in a challenging environment, whereby the design team had to generate a design with a number of stringent serviceability criteria, any deviation from which would have had significant implications to the proposed design performance. The success of the design implementation within the tight time frame hinged upon the precise installation by a skilled contractor. The overall objective was achieved as a result of close collaboration between the designer and contractor ensuring all stringent quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) aspects were met and opportunities to optimise design without compromising on performance were identified and implemented, resulting in a cost saving of over A$13 M.CITATION:Narendranathan, S, Thomas, R D H, Bungard, G P, Gumba, V and Barker, C, 2012. The importance of collaboration between designers and contractors in implementing a design in challenging conditions, in Proceedings Eighth Open Pit OperatorsÆ Conference , pp 97-102 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 18, 2012

By F Faraj, M Pal, M Haest, M Bradshaw, H Lang, K Hume

MineSense Technologies Ltd. is revolutionising grade control at mining operations by installing ShovelSense® sensors on buckets that measure the grade of every load before it is dumped in the truck. This allows the mine to exploit grade variations at a resolution that was not available before, reducing the amount of ore loss to the waste stream and removing waste from material destined for processing. These changes dramatically improve the profitability and sustainability of mining operations. ShovelSense relies on X-ray fluorescence analysis of the rocks as they flow in the bucket and is integrated with fleet management to direct the trucks to the right destination. Lab simulations of ShovelSense measurements on porphyry copper ores show correlations between predictions and lab measurements at 0.98 r-squared with a coefficient of variation of 10 per cent. Visualisation of copper grade predictions in three dimensions shows a reasonable match with the dig plan, but with local changes in the ore-waste contact due to more accurate contact identification, related to blast movement and other mining factors. Correct delineation of these contacts ensures ore trucks are not sent to the waste dump and waste trucks are diverted from the crusher, creating enormous value for the operation and the environment.

Mar 22, 2022

By S K. Michelic, N Preisser

For certain applications, steels have to feature a very distinct and well-defined level of cleanness in terms of the number and composition of non-metallic inclusions. Therefore, one crucial aspect of steelmaking is removing and controlling said non-metallic inclusions during the process. Particle removal during ladle refining comprises three stages, namely: 1. Flotation 2. Transport through the steel/slag interface 3. Dissolution of the particle in the slag. Only if all three stages are completed the particle can be considered as fully removed from the steel melt which, in turn, leads to the slag being one of the most influential parameters for inclusion removal and control. Depending on the composition of the particles and the slag, the dissolution can be controlled by different mechanisms. This study focuses on the diffusion-controlled dissolution of solid oxidic particles in slags. For this, a model of particle dissolution has been developed. For modelling diffusion, either the differential equation following Fick’s second law can be solved, or an analytical solution to this equation valid for stationary interfaces can be used. Both approaches allow for calculations of concentration profiles of the dissolving species in surrounding slag. From this, the mass flux can be derived, which finally leads to calculating the boundary layer velocity due to considerations of mass balance. In this work, both methods as well as results of dissolution experiments using High Temperature Confocal Scanning Laser Microscopy are compared. This research aims to provide a framework for diffusion-based dissolution modelling in further expanding the understanding of particle dissolution in secondary metallurgy.

Aug 21, 2024

Lafayette Mining Limited, a listed Australian company, is developing a polymetallic Project on the island of Rapu Rapu, located to the east of southern Luzon in the Philippines. The Rapu Rapu Project is based on the Ungay deposit, which has proven and probable reserves of 6.0 million tonnes of 2.5 g/t Au, 28 g/t Ag, 1.2 per cent Cu and 2.1 per cent Zn. The Project will produce copper and zinc concentrates from a sulphide flotation plant as well as dore from a CIL gold plant. Average annual metal production over the projected six-year mine life is 9800 tonnes of copper, 14 000 tonnes of zinc, 50 000 ounces of gold and 590 000 ounces of silver. Despite a rich mineral endowment and long mining history, there have not been any significant new mine developments in the Philippines since the early-1990s. The investment climate has been affected by legal challenges to the 1995 mining code, civil unrest in parts of the country, the impeachment of the previous President and community concerns about the industryÆs environmental performance. As a consequence, the Rapu Rapu Project is viewed as a test case û within both the country and the international mining industry û on whether minerals investment in the Philippines is an acceptable business proposition from a risk perspective. Lafayette has faced formidable challenges in managing the development risks of the Project. The major risk areas of the Project for which the company developed strategies include: regulatory, environmental and approvals issues, technical evaluation, project development, social and community issues, land acquisition, and financial and marketing issues. This paper describes the risk management strategies successfully pursued by the company, and which have the Project on track to commence construction in 2003. Dealing with each of the areas in turn, Lafayette sought to develop strategies which either effectively neutralised, minimised or otherwise addressed the key risks most likely to be experienced.

Jan 1, 2003

When studying minerals degrees at university, all the emphasis is towards sending the graduates into the bush to work at a remote mine; however, that is not the only option available to new graduates. There are positions in equipment supply companies, commercial laboratories, research organisations, engineering companies and contractors of many types. The aim of this paper is to show metallurgy graduates that there are non-mine site based career options available to them that offer outstanding career development. This is illustrated by outlining the research being undertaken by Magotteaux Australia and by telling the story of a graduate metallurgist working in MagotteauxÆs small research group. Magotteaux is an international supplier of grinding media and wear resistant components for the mining industry. The Australian research group is focused on determining the effects that the choice of grinding media has on subsequent processing, for example flotation and leaching, by using newly developed tools and techniques.

Jan 1, 2006

By P N. Duan, Z G. Liu, M S. Chu, X X. Xue, B Liu, G J. Cheng, T Jiang, J X. Liu

High-chromium vanadium-titanium magnetite has not been exploited and made full use of on a large scale so far due to the immature utilisation technology and the reality that the utilisation efficiency of valuable metals still urgently needs to be improved. In the present paper, the isothermal reduction kinetics and mechanism of high-chromium vanadium-titanium pellets were studied at 800–1100°C. The mineral composition transformation of pellets before and after reduction was analysed by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the microstructures were examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) to reveal the elemental distributions. The effect of reduction temperature on the volumetric swelling degree and cold crushing strength was also studied. It was found that reduction temperature has a large effect on the reduction rate of pellets, and the increase in reduction rate is more obvious in the range 1000–1100°C than 800–1000°C. The volumetric swelling degree of pellets increased with increasing reduction temperature, while the cold crushing strength decreased. The transformation of mineral species can be expressed as Fe2O3 ? Fe3O4 ? FeO ? Fe, Fe2O3·3TiO2 ? Fe3O4· (2FeO·TiO2 ) ? 2FeO· TiO2 ? FeO·TiO2, (Fe0.6Cr0.4)2O3 ? FeO· Cr2O3 ? Cr2O3 , and Fe2O3· VO/V2O3 ? VO. The apparent activation energy of the reduction reaction was calculated to be 44.3 kJ/mol, and the reduction rate is controlled by the combined effect of interfacial chemical reaction and gas diffusion through the porous product layer. The rate controlling steps were further studied by calculating the resistance percentages. The interfacial chemical reaction was found to be predominant in the initial reduction stage, with the percentage effect of gas diffusion through the porous product layer gradually increasing during reduction.CITATION:Cheng, G J, Xue, X X, Liu, J X, Liu, Z G, Chu, M S, Jiang, T, Liu, B and Duan, P N, 2015. Reduction kinetics and mechanism of pellets prepared from high-chromium vanadium-titanium magnetite concentrate, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2015, pp 349–358 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 13, 2015

By E M. Gama, L Resende

The tailings are waste from mineral processing operations. The type of tailings of iron ore processing are classified into sandy tailings and mud. Already the overburden are showing significant levels of useful mineral. Both iron ore`s waste have in your composition phyllosilicates/clay that indicates the potential for use in niche markets as paving and cement. According to several studies, there are various technologies in bench and pilot levels that could be used on a large scale but there is not an economic environment, tax, regulatory and tax set. Many of these technologies are associated with the reuse of tailings and overburden in construction. All these factors influence for that so many initiatives remain in search formats and cannot advance to the new business format. There is no way to set goals of reuse of this waste, as already occurs in China, if there is not a fiscal, tax and economic structure to support such measures. The way to foster and ensure that reuse of tailings and overburden is an incentive for promoting a culture of circular economy that would allow the emergence of an ecosystem between the private, public and Government sectors with the objective of accelerating and subsidize the entire network of reuse of this waste. The closure of the mine could be the tool used to ensure and boost this ecosystem of reutilization to align it with the vocation of the area of the mining law. Following this model, the end of the mining activity could provide a financial return to the local population, a more effective environmental compensation and a reduction in costs related to the closure of the mine. In this study are shown how the Vale is working in the reuse of tailings and overburden.CITATION:Resende, L and Gama, E M, 2018. The challenges of the reuse of tailings and overburden, in Proceedings Mine Waste and Tailings Stewardship Conference 2018, pp 117–125 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 23, 2018

The Callie Underground Gold Mine (Callie) is owned by Newmont Asia Pacific and located 531 km north-west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Historically, stopes have been mined utilising a primary and secondary stoping sequence with cemented aggregate fill and rock fill respectively. Current and near-future mining will employ long hole open stoping with rib pillars and rock fill with a paste fill system approved to allow a higher extraction ratio from mid-2011. The Callie rock mass is of good quality with little or no mining difficulties during development and stoping to a depth of 1140 m below surface. Development is currently occurring at depth of 1360 m below surface. Stress damage previously observed only in secondary stope accesses is now observed in development unaffected by stoping stresses. A change in rock mass properties is being experienced with depth, with more pronounced and frequent joint planes. Also, other structures are intersected more commonly, such as lithological boundaries and fault zones. The 'Callie rock factory' mentality that has persisted for years is challenged. This paper covers an appraisal of the stress and ground condition changes at Callie. The appraisal outlines the mine design criterion that was developed and examines the transition from a low stress environment to one where stress damage is observed. Discussion includes a judgement on the rock mass damage observed in development, the dominant geotechnical factors influencing the change in ground conditions, and if a correlation can be made between the observed rock mass damage with stress through the use of numerical modelling.

Nov 25, 2010

By J. K. A. McLEOD

Address by the President of the Institute (Mr J K A McLeod) in presenting the Institute Medal to Howard Knox Warner, C.B.E. Address by Howard Knox Warner after accepting the award.

Jan 1, 1978

By D Genge, E Martin, T Goswami, M Rothery

Rio Tinto’s Hunter Valley Operations is a large open pit coalmine situated in the heart of the Hunter Valley in Australia. The Riverview West Pit has faced increasing production challenges in recent times due to decreasing dragline strike lengths and increasing environmental constraints on vibration, overpressure and fume generation. Conventional mining techniques would involve five to six production blasts per strip to recover multiple coal seams. Each blast event carries the risk of exceeding the strict environmental requirements. By working collaboratively with Orica, it was realised that the blasting method known as Stratablast™, in conjunction with advanced computer modelling techniques, could provide productivity gains whilst simultaneously providing more control over the environmental effects and the impact on nearby infrastructure.As a result of this change, the number of blasts per strip was reduced to one, with the implication that a great deal of care and forethought was needed to manage the increased challenge posed by multiple constraints in the proposed mining area. This innovative approach of combining throw and stand-up blasts allowed the extraction of all major coal seams in a single pass blast event. The blasts were initially designed with a large factor of safety to stay within environmental limits as they were over 1.1 km in strike length, with more than 800 holes and with a total charge weight of about 1000 t of bulk explosives. Furthermore, there were conflicting priorities around the desired blast outcomes. So far, 11 such blasts have been designed and successfully fired. After each blast, innovative design changes have been iteratively implemented to provide further control over environmental impacts, whilst continuing to improve productivity. As a result of these changes, blasts have progressively increased in complexity with the inclusion of features such as damage zones, mid-splitting, time gaps and different directions of firing. The consequence of this complexity is that the blast duration can be as long as 28 seconds to accommodate all components of the blast.This project has increased the productivity of the Riverview West Pit through blast design improvements and allowed the environmental impacts to be managed with far more control and predictability than would have been possible under a conventional blasting regime. There still remains room for further optimisation of mine productivity and this is being addressed through a process of continuous improvement.CITATION:Goswami, T, Martin, E, Rothery, M and Genge, D, 2015. A holistic approach to managing blast outcomes, in Proceedings 11th International Symposium on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting, pp 645–654 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 24, 2015

By R H. Knight

Production mine geology must be accurate and efficient in order to reduce risk and ensure that ore value and mining operation revenue are maximised. Present grade control practices are commonly based on outmoded and inaccurate 2D geological mapping techniques where spatial relationships are estimated by eye, sketched by hand and projected to arbitrary reference planes. The 3D mapping approach outlined in this paper integrates 3D photogrammetric imagery with implicit modelling techniques to enable more accurate grade control and reconciliation in underground mines. High-resolution stereo photographs are taken of daily ore development headings. Ore contacts are traced directly on a 2D face photo using a stylus and rugged tablet. Area-weighted face grades are estimated and calculated on mapped 2D face planes. In the office, a 3D photorealistic mesh is processed and georeferenced. 2D face mapping data is transformed into its actual 3D location and true 3D mine mapping is performed by digitising oriented 3D polylines representing ore contacts and other geological features directly onto the image surface. Three-dimensional spatial relationships are fixed, eliminating the projection error of traditional 2D methods. Ore envelope and waste solids are modelled within the closed, drift-round mesh. Volume-weighted ore envelope and round grades, as well as round volume and tonnage, are calculated. Ore/waste classifications, grade, tonnage and per cent dilution are quantified per round, visually assessed in 3D and reconciled with short- and long-term models on a daily basis. Updated geological continuity models provide geological guidance in development headings under geological control and accurate 3D structural and form-line mapping improves definition drilling and stope planning. Three-dimensional imagery provides a permanent detailed survey and geological record of mine workings that can be revisited virtually to reinterpret geological ore controls in light of new observations and insights. In addition images can be used to monitor daily production performance, create training scenarios for miners, engineers and geologists and prepare management presentations. This approach adds value to underground mines by improving the accuracy and efficiency of mine geology practices. The method is particularly effective in mines with visually distinct and geometrically complex orebodies, such as those in the Balmat zinc mine located in New York State, USA, which are used to illustrate the method.CITATION:Knight, R H, 2017. 3D mine mapping – improving grade control and reconciliation in underground mines using photogrammetric imagery and implicit modelling techniques, in Proceedings Tenth International Mining Geology Conference 2017, pp 203–212 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 20, 2017

By I Brunton

Blast fragmentation can have a significant impact on the profitability of a mine. An optimum run of mine (ROM) size distribution is required to maximise the performance of downstream processes. If this fragmentation size distribution can be modelled and controlled, the operation will have made a significant advancement towards improving its performance. Blast fragmentation modelling is an important step in Mine to MillTM optimisation. It allows the estimation of blast fragmentation distributions for a number of different rock mass, blast geometry, and explosive parameters. These distributions can then be modelled in downstream mining and milling processes to determine the optimum blast design. When a blast hole is detonated rock breakage occurs in two different stress regions û compressive and tensile. In the first region, compressive stress waves form a æcrushed zoneÆ directly adjacent to the blast hole. The second region, termed the æcracked zoneÆ, occurs outside the crush one. The widely used Kuz-Ram model does not recognise these two blast regions. In the Kuz-Ram model the mean fragment size from the blast is approximated and is then used to estimate the remaining size distribution. Experience has shown that this model predicts the coarse end reasonably accurately, but it can significantly underestimate the amount of fines generated. As part of the Australian Mineral Industries Research Association (AMIRA) P483A Mine to MillTM project, the Two-Component Model (TCM) and Crush Zone Model (CZM), developed by the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC), were compared and evaluated to measured ROM fragmentation distributions. An important criteria for this comparison was the variation of model results from measured ROM in the fine to intermediate section (1 mm to 100 mm) of the fragmentation curve. This region of the distribution is important for Mine to MillTM optimisation. The comparison of modelled and Split ROM fragmentation distributions has been conducted in harder ores (UCS greater than 80 MPa). Further work involves modelling softer ores. The comparisons will be continued with future site surveys to increase confidence in the comparison of the CZM and TCM to Split results. Stochastic fragmentation modelling will then be conducted to take into account variation of input parameters. A window of possible fragmentation distributions can be compared to those obtained by Split. Following this work, an improved fragmentation model will be developed in response to these findings.

Jan 1, 2001

By C Simpson, J Market

The process of sampling blasthole cones utilising personnel to manually shovel material into sample bags is a long-standing industry accepted process. However, this method has several drawbacks, including the safety issues around having personnel performing manual sampling in a harsh environment and the variability involved in getting a human to repeatedly get a ‘shovel full of dirt’, and make it always representative. Geophysical blasthole sampling, or utilising a Downhole Assaying Tool (DHAT) has been tested and has now begun implementation at many iron ore sites throughout the Pilbara region, Western Australia. This method uses a geophysical tool to capture data within blastholes, and together with a semi-autonomous logging platform to minimise risks around manual handling, delivers a multielement proxy-assay which can be utilised by the mine geology team to accurately domain the orebodies. Logistically, the combination of a specially designed tool and semi-autonomous truck are the way forward for a safer and more data-robust blasthole sampling practice. The method utilises a neutrongenerating geophysical tool and linked elemental spectroscopy sensor, which measures the response of the material surrounding an open hole. This delivers results at submetre intervals. These results are then utilised, similar to blasthole sample results, to map out areas within the blast pattern that are ‘ore’, ‘waste’, or ‘other suitable grade’. This paper outlines a project that has been in ‘proof of concept’ at selected Fortescue sites over the last few years with testing of these tools carried out on reverse circulation (RC), diamond drill and blastholes. The method is now being implemented at operational hematite mine sites. Fundamentally, the method adds more than enough value to justify its implementation. The aim is that these learnings will enable the greater industry to adapt, implement and improve their mining practices. Ultimately, the outcome will be greater value in mining for the industry by having a larger volume of good quality data to make reliable decisions on material movements, minimising ore-loss and dilution, and maximising the value of our current and future orebodies.

Nov 8, 2021

By B J. Beven, A Vatandoost, J Young, S Campbell-Hardwick

The intrinsic value of iron ore depends on its physical and chemical characteristics. For example, silica and alumina are unwanted elements, downgrading iron grade and adversely affecting high temperature processing, attracting penalties in smelter contracts. For this reason, an informed knowledge of processing characteristics and product quality of the ore is valuable and cost effective during mine planning and processing.Ore variability is a significant factor that affects metallurgical behaviour and efficiency of ore processing equipment. Ore of sufficient chemical and physical quality needs to be modelled, mined, processed and usually blended. Feed and product assays are commonly used to assess potential ore upgradability. However, assays alone cannot be all informative of actual processing response given the variability of the physical properties of the ore.This study investigates the potential benefit of implementing a geometallurgical approach during the commissioning stage of the Kings deposit, part of the Solomon Iron Ore project in Western Australia. Kings drill hole database information, ie geological, textural and geochemical data, together with the results of metallurgical test work were used for geometallurgical analysis and modelling. Three main ore types were identified at Kings, namely channel iron deposit (CID), bedded iron deposits (BID) and Detrital Iron Deposit (DID). Additional classifications were utilised to better characterise these units in terms of their physical properties.Bulk sampling for each ore type was carried out across the deposit for metallurgical testing. Multivariate statistical models were developed for prediction of product quality for each geometallurgical unit. A new approach for modelling yield based on ore upgrade factors is introduced. These models were then applied to the Kings regularised mining model to assess product quality across the mining blocks and to plan product stockpiling and blending strategies.CITATION:Vatandoost, A, Beven, B J, Campbell-Hardwick, S and Young, J, 2013. A geometallurgical approach for iron ore product evaluation, in Proceedings The Second AusIMM International Geometallurgy Conference (GeoMet) 2013 , pp 259-266 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 29, 2013