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By C I. Edwards

Phosphorous is typically present in iron ore either in the mineral apatite, Ca5(PO4)3OH, or associated with the goethitic fraction of the ore. In this paper, we present results that show that phosphorous associated with the goethitic fraction can be removed with a heating pretreatment around 300 176;C for 1 h, followed by a caustic leach with 1 - 5 M NaOH, or a leach with sulfuric acid at pH 0.5. The heating pretreatment is considered to dehydroxylate the goethite to form a haematite intermediate phase, ‘protohaematite’, that reacts during the leach making the phosphorous accessible to the leachant. In the acid leach, ten to 15 per cent of the sample was dissolved to obtain a leach product with 0.08 per cent P. In the caustic leach, as no weight loss occurs, it is proposed that iron species associated with the protohaematite have either not dissolved or have reprecipitated at the high pH values of the leach.For an ore containing apatite as the source of phosphorous, a leach with sulfuric acid dissolved the apatite, lowering the phosphorous levels in the sample. The sample treated contained carbonate minerals (including siderite) that also reacted with the acid, and in practice a balance between the dissolution of the apatite and the carbonate minerals may be needed to minimise acid consumption.

Jul 11, 2011

By Cloutier JY, Quinn P, LeClerc A, Dube G, Agar GE

Gold dissolution by cyanide requires the presence of oxygen which is usually supplied by sparging compressed air into the gold containing slurry. For those ores that contain certain obnoxious substances that consume oxygen, maintaining the required minimum level of dissolved oxygen can be troublesome. One of the most economical solutions to the problem of low dissolved oxygen, especially in plants that have air compressors installed, is to enhance the rate of oxygen mass transfer. The oxygen mass transfer rate was measured in a two phase system using two different sparger arrangements, and with addition of a frother that is known to reduce the bubble size produced by the sparger. The common sparger system was shown to be inefficient compared with a readily available but under utilised method of gas dispersion which introduces air directly below the reactor turbine. Transfer of this technology to an operating plant confirmed the beneficial effect of the improved sparger system. The addition of the frother did decrease the bubble size, but it also reduced the oxygen mass transfer rate.

Jan 1, 1993

By R Bearman

The importance of crushers in the mining industry declined with the introduction and resultant dominance of AG and SAG based circuits, but the recent move to consider more energy efficient circuits has caused the industry to re-consider the role of crushers.Different types of comminution equipment have different efficiency in the way the energy is applied in the size reduction process. Because of the general trend towards more sustainable production processes and emission of carbon dioxide, energy use has become more important. To fully understand how crushers can contribute to optimising the energy application in comminution circuits, detailed models of process performance are required. Such models need to take into account the mechanical design factors and how the crusher performance changes in response to feed conditions, the control strategy utilised and the wear of the crusher liners.It is also critical to analyse the total circuit, not just the individual crushers. To fully understand the performance of the entire circuit, dynamic simulation should be applied. Without the holistic understanding of the total circuit and the incorporation of transient effects, the full circuit performance cannot be adequately determined and the true energy picture will not be quantified.Based on detailed mechanistic modelling of crushers by the authors and the application of dynamic simulation, the opportunities to optimise the use of crushers for energy efficiency are examined.

Aug 8, 2011

By V Rasouli, G Cavanough, A Mokaramian

The sampling time, the costs and its quality are the three factors that determine the best method of drilling in mineral exploration. The two principal methods of reverse circulation (RC) and diamond core drilling are often used in combination by mine operators. RC is used for drilling shallow holes and in-pit grade control, and core drilling for deeper holes to identify future resources. The RC method is faster and more flexible than coring and provides virtually uncontaminated cuttings (ranges from dust to 25 mm chips) to the surface cyclone suitable for geochemical anomalies. The diamond coring produces core samples to increase the level of geological knowledge and the 3D extension and distribution of the orebody. However, both of these methods are subjected to certain limitations and inefficiencies in reaching deeper depths and drilling complex hole geometries. Examples of such shortcomings include the inability to provide enough air pressure for RC drilling and high friction between drill pipe and the hole wall in diamond core drilling.Considering that delivering large volume of reliable samples from deep zones to the surface in shortest possible time is of paramount importance in mineral exploration, and assuming that obtaining core samples over whole overburden is not always essential, then drilling small size holes as fast as possible and delivering the small chip samples to the surface would be a good alternative with several advantages over conventional drilling methods for deep hard rocks mineral exploration. As a result, the use of coiled tube (CT) drilling technology has been proposed recently for such applications. CT is a continuous length of ductile steel or composite tube stored and transported on a large reel; and allows fast drilling by eliminating the connection time and providing continuous circulation during drilling. This enables quick access to the zone of interest to collect the cuttings or obtain core samples. CT is advantageous particularly in drilling directional boreholes and multi-laterals. In this paper, feasibility of using CT delivering reliable samples is discussed for deep mineral exploration. In addition, recent developments and practices are presented that make CT a reliable drilling technology to drill cheaper, faster and deeper and to deliver more continuous and reliable data and samples from deep formations.CITATION:Mokaramian, A, Rasouli, V and Cavanough, G, 2012. Quality sampling using coiled tubing drilling in deep mineral exploration, in Proceedings Sampling 2012 , pp 73-80 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 21, 2012

By B T. Park, S D. Fundingslan, K W. Wangerud

The EPA National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL) Mine Waste Technology Program (MWTP) and the EPA Region VIII Superfund office are jointly conducting a field-scale technology demonstration of a two-step in situ treatment of the acidic Anchor Hill Pit lake at the Gilt Edge Mine Superfund site near Deadwood, South Dakota, USA. The project goal is to develop cost and performance data for the in situ treatment for potential application in long-term water treatment/management activities at the Gilt Edge site, and for potential application at other similar sites. Lime neutralisation of the pit using a Neutra-Mill was accomplished in the spring of 2001, with a resultant lime utilisation efficiency of about 71 per cent, and a typical throughput of about 1 tonne per hour using coarse, pebble quicklime and 1.4 tonnes per hour using finer, ground lime. Redox-mediated biotransformation treatment of the pit has been ongoing since May 2001. As of January 2003, denitrification is complete in the near-surface waters and about 90 per cent complete in the deeper waters. Bacterial sulfate reduction is expected to begin in the near future. This paper describes project activities, results, and lessons-learned to-date as well as future monitoring plans.

Jan 1, 2003

By H Lehtonen, H Mansikkaviita

In primary copper smelters, the received copper concentrate and other materials contain a certain amount of moisture, ranging from six to 14 per cent. Moisture in wet concentrate has a negative effect on the performance of the smelting furnaces when it is fed directly to the furnaces, namely increasing the energy consumption and the off-gas flow. There are several drying technologies available for drying copper concentrate, varying from direct heated rotary dryers and flash dryers to indirect heated steam dryers. Application of steam dryers has changed the drying process for copper smelters. Produced from a waste heat boiler, steam as heating medium enables plant-wide heat utilisation. Fossil fuel used from outside sources to remove water is no longer required and the combustion chamber is not required. In addition special attention has been paid to overcome the known problems of pollution emissions, excessive wear, clogging and frequent maintenance. The Kumera steam dryer is featured with many advantages based on principal improvements in reducing tube element wear and increasing drying efficiency. Thus, it has been considered as the first choice for those smelters where steam is available.

Jan 1, 2006

About 20 percent of world gold production has been contributed by gold deposits in Archaean greenstone belts, of which ca 2100 tonnes of gold has been produced from Archaean greenstone belts in Western Australia (Phillips, in press). These deposits are, therefore, important exploration targets and an under-standing of their nature and genesis can help to formulate exploration strategies and delineate potential targets.A literature survey of Archaean granitoid-greenstone terrains indicates that a wide variety of lithologies host gold deposits. The major part of production from the Yilgarn Block, Western Australia, has come from mafic volcanics andintrusives (70% of production),with significant contributions from BIF-hosted ores (15%) and low production from sediments, felsic volcanics, porphyry intrusives and granitoids (Groves et al., in press). Similarly, most

Jan 1, 1984

By A Fitzpatrick

An integrated and dynamic water balance and water quality model for a proposed base metal mine has been created using the GoldSimÖ software package. The model was initially developed to address the water quality of the Tailings Management Facility pond and how pond discharge would potentially affect downstream water quality. However, due to changing project objectives, the modelling has expanded over time through an iterative process to encompass the full mine site and all receiving environment water quality. The model results have been used as part of the mine planning/design process but are also intended to be used for the environmental impact assessment and permitting process. The model has been built to allow for changes to input terms to be readily made as additional data becomes available. The model results serve as a prediction of water quality and the potential project impacts to the receiving environment water quality. This paper presents the process by which data from a wide variety of sources was used to construct the model and how the model results were used to guide development of a conceptual water management plan. In addition, the role of the model in establishing proposed discharge criteria will be highlighted. The model has been delivered as a fully functional application with the intent that the end-user can be other than the modeller, the development of this aspect shall also be covered. CITATION:Fitzpatrick, A, 2012. Predictive site-wide water quality modelling as a tool for mine planning and permitting - A recent Canadian example, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2012 , pp 71-78 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 10, 2012

By M Haest, O Dominguez, D Mittrup

With the current focus in the mining industry on reducing costs, while simultaneously improving ore quality, infrared spectroscopy is a tool that can potentially assist companies to meet both challenges. Changes in the nature of infrared spectra are strongly influenced by changes in mineralogy, which is a key input variable for exploration (geology and orebody modelling and ore characterisation) and mining (pit design, mine scheduling and processing plant design/management).Infrared spectroscopic logging of drill holes has been embedded as a standard tool in BHP Billiton Iron Ore exploration, with a process set up to automatically deliver mineralogy and associated imagery to the end users (typically exploration geologists). The availability of consistent and automated mineralogy drill hole logs across a project is improving the output quality and reducing re-work.BHP Billiton Iron Ore is now looking into using the same infrared spectroscopic data for other applications, including improving predictions of geometallurgical and geotechnical parameters. Trials show that addition of infrared spectroscopic data to conventional data sets (element analysis and depth information) is significantly improving the accuracy of regression models to predict the lump-fine ratio.Further initiatives around infrared spectroscopic data in BHP Billiton Iron Ore include the installation of infrared spectroscopic sensors over conveyor belts, infrared spectroscopic mine face scanning and infrared spectroscopic blasthole logging. The ultimate vision is to have consistent, seamless mineralogical data from infrared spectroscopic sensing available throughout the mineral value chain (exploration/mining/processing). This seamless infrared spectroscopic data ‘bridge’ will allow the transfer of knowledge between the different sections of the value chain (exploration, mining and processing). For example, ore handle-ability could be predicted on exploration samples using regression models built from processing plant observations. In the opposite direction, information gathered about the buried stratigraphy by infrared spectroscopy utilised during exploration, could be used to predict the stratigraphy encountered during mining. This collaboration across BHP Billiton Iron Ore is expected to deliver significant savings, while improving the quality of the final product, thus helping to drive efficiency over the next decade.CITATION:Haest, M, Mittrup, D and Dominguez, O, 2015. Reaping the first fruits – infrared spectroscopy: the new standard tool in BHP Billiton Iron Ore Exploration, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2015, pp 277–284 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 13, 2015

By S T. Jarvis

Colliery spoil is the major constituent of colliery spoil ærockpasteÆ which has been used to infill abandoned limestone mines in the West Midlands of England since the early-1980s. The other constituents of rockpaste are pulverised fuel ash, lime and water. A key property of the rockpaste is its ability to flow within the mine workings over considerable distances before setting. This paper describes the work carried out to identify suitable sites as sources of colliery spoil for making rockpaste and goes onto consider the flow properties of the material and the monitoring methods used on-site. A full-scale trial comprising infilling a 6600 m3 section of an abandoned mine was conducted prior to the infilling of the Littleton Street Mine which had a volume of about 500 000 m3. As well as describing the methods used for monitoring the movement of rockpaste material, a description is also given of a dip-meter developed specifically for the purpose of measuring the level of paste in the mine. This paper shows how a colliery spoil based paste has been successfully used for infilling abandoned mine workings. The monitoring systems developed for use in the two case studies presented in this paper are now being used extensively for infilling other abandoned mine workings. To-date over 11 mines with a total volume exceeding two million cubic metres have been backfilled.

Jan 1, 1998

By S K. Michelic, M Schickbichler, A Kharicha, E Karimi-Sibaki

The requirements for the controllability of metallurgical processes are increasingly becoming the focus of both industry and research. Advances in this field of research not only impact the stability of processes but often also influence the quality of the final product. One important way to examine processes in-depth, and thus show potential for improvement, is to describe them using physicsdriven models. In metallurgy, thermodynamic and kinetic descriptions of interactions between individual components of a system are often used to describe and analyse important metallurgical phenomena across the entire process. However, for the creation of physics-based models, boundary conditions and process variables must be implemented to enable a description that is as realistic as possible. The collection and generalisation of boundary conditions and process variables is, therefore, an important step towards functional models. The focus of this study is the determination of mass transfer coefficients between all components in a steel/slag/refractory system. For this purpose, experimental and theoretical methods are applied. Laboratory scale experiments are carried out in an induction furnace, and the mass transfer coefficients of the defined steel/slag/refractory system are calculated from changes in the chemical composition of the various components. Additionally, a calculation of the mass transfer coefficients based on dimensionless quantities is carried out. By comparing the values of the mass transfer coefficients determined theoretically and those determined experimentally in the trials, the suitability of the calculation is examined. The collection of mass transfer coefficients provides essential findings for future kinetic descriptions of inclusion modification based on the effective equilibrium reaction zone (EERZ) approach.

Aug 21, 2024

The old Trekelano mining area is situated in the Cloncurry Gold and Mineral Field 14 km east-south-east of Duchess. It connected with the main Cloncurry-Dajarra railway line by a private line from Juenburra, a distance of 10 km. The distance by rail from Townsville is 561 km. The area was first mentioned circa 1902 - 1903 when a very short report said, that a Tony Allis had taken a parcel of copper ore out of a mine which, he called æThe InheritedÆ. After that report, nothing further was printed until about 1906, when traces of copper were noticed on a wagon track going to Kiama Well. The Trekelano deposit did not outcrop, with the cap covered by about two metres of soil. The deposit was named after an early pastoral holding. The early prospectors were however disappointed by TrekelanoÆs low copper grades, approximately five per cent Cu. This is understandable when, in those days, about 25 per cent was the cut-off grade for mines in the district. Meanwhile, The Hampden Mining and Smelting Company were constructing a smelter to treat their sulphide ores at Kuradala that was replacing their high grade oxides ore. By about 1910, the Hampden Mining and Smelting Company was experiencing smelting problems, and needed suitable oxidised copper ore to blend with the Kuradala pyritic ore. Someone must have remembered the Trekelano low-grade oxides, resulting in agreement to mine and cart the ore to Duchess, from where it was railed to Hampden, as Kuradala was known at that time.

Jan 1, 1998

By J Herrmann, J Richards, B Hutchison

An extensive trial of laser-based survey and monitoring systems at Hillgrove Resources Kanmantoo Copper Mine in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia, has proved the capabilities of the system in monitoring rock movements on open pit walls. Initially, the trial involved deploying a Maptek I-Site 8820 laser scanner and the proof-of-concept Maptek Sentry software in the Nugent Pit to monitor ductile rock movements located up to 260 m away. The system was proven to be capable of monitoring various rock movements from 1.5 tonne rockfalls up to a 40 m high toppling wall failure. Data collected from smaller rockfalls was used to help build a database for Hillgrove’s rockfall management program. As part of the trial, the laser scanner was deployed to monitor a ramp movement event, as well as the toppling failure, adjacent to an IBIS slope stability radar. Both devices monitored the slump and the slowly developing toppling movements, with similar results. Although the radar was used as the successful ‘critical alarm’ device for the toppling failure, post-failure analysis showed the laser-based system to be capable of performing a similar role in the ductile rock regime; albeit over much shorter distances than the radar capability. A second laser scanner was deployed to monitor Kanmantoo’s Emily Pit in early December 2014, where it successfully provided critical alarm warnings for a block topple event. Sentry software, which takes advantage of Maptek I-Site 3D spatial imaging technology, was first released in November 2014 to meet industry demand for a cost effective, flexible system to detect movement. Sentry has now been re-launched as a fully transportable monitoring system. Deployed in a custom trailer, the system offers a power and communications module, cellular and Wi-Fi networking and a stable bollard for the I-Site laser scanner and Sentry software. This paper will present rock wall movement data from the Sentry trial and a subsequent two years of monitoring of the open pit walls at the Kanmantoo Copper Mine, at distances out to 750m. In addition, examples of remote geological mapping and small rockfall detection, using the laser scans, will be described. The Sentry system has proven to be beneficial for the continual improvement of slope monitoring and risk management at hard rock mines. CITATION:Hutchison, B, Richards, J, Richards, J and Herrmann, J, 2018. Mine rockfall and rock wall failures – proven digital laser-based approach for monitoring slopes at the Kanmantoo Copper Mine, in Proceedings The Fourth Australasian Ground Control in Mining Conference (AusRock), pp 463–472 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 30, 2018

On 15 August 1998 the first section of the PUTRA LRT system was opened to the public as a free service prior to official commencement of revenue service on 1 September 1998. It is a remarkable achievement to open a highly advanced medium capacity urban railway scheme in four years after the outline concept began. Even more remarkable is the implementation of the next stage which is the underground section planned to be operational in mid-1999. The decision to build the first underground railway in any major urban centre is a technical challenge. The PUTRA LRT System can be likened to Hong Kong when the initial MTR system began in the 1970s and Singapore MRT in the 1980s. Prior to the PUTRA railway very little bored tunnelling had been undertaken in Kuala Lumpur. A few shallow sewer tunnels had been built but the main experience of tunnelling in Malaysia had been for water, hydroelectric and road tunnels usually through granite formations. The ground conditions in Kuala Lumpur were known mainly from experience of piled foundations and occasional deep excavations. The suitability and likely difficulties to be experienced during bored tunnelling could only be theoretically predicted. In both Hong Kong and Singapore, government owned corporations were set up to implement the scheme, but in Kuala Lumpur the whole project has been undertaken by a private company PUTRA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Renong Berhad.

Jan 1, 1999

By C Hoffmann

Given that each year, 30–40 per cent of mining industry deaths are attributable to failures of vehicle interaction controls (EMESRT, 2023), the mining industry is now armed with a growing body of knowledge from EMESRT (Earth Moving Equipment Safety Round Table) and ICMM (International Council on Mining and Metals) global vehicle interaction initiatives over the past years, that enables mining companies, OEM’s and technology providers to work together to develop and implement more effective controls and drive the adoption of capable solutions. Leveraging 20 years of experience as a global technology provider of Proximity Detection System (PDS) and Collision Avoidance System (CAS) solutions for surface mining operations, Wabtec Digital Mine Technology shares key insights for ensuring the effective selection, implementation and integration of these technologies into existing mine site controls and mining operations for effectively reducing vehicle interaction risk enabling mines to drive towards ‘zero-harm’ objectives. Topics covered include: alignment with industry best practice for controlling vehicle interaction risk by EMESRT and ICMM, importance of the maturity of EMESRT levels 1–7 vehicle interaction (VI) control framework, managing expectations that PDS/CAS is a ‘silver bullet’, alignment with industry functional – performance – technical requirements, proximity detection versus collision avoidance, sensor performance and fusion and limitations, rules engine intelligence critical to mitigating nuisance alarms during normal operations, system health monitoring and reporting, human factors engineering and operator acceptance, implementation strategy, installation standards and quality control, change management program, training programs, reporting and data analytics with actionable insights and maintenance strategies. Insights will also be provided on the challenges moving from EMESRT levels 7 (operator awareness) and 8 (advisory controls) to level 9 (intervention controls) as it’s a journey not an out-of-box solution, the growing demand for coexistence of CAS and Autonomous Haulage Solutions (AHS), functional safety approach, value added systems integration and the applicability of new emerging technologies.

Apr 16, 2024

By A P. Wibowo

Indonesia holds a significant role in the utilisation of coal resources in the world. Although the number of Indonesian coal resources and reserves do not fall into the world’s top ten, according to 2009 statistics, Indonesia is the seventh largest producer of coal with a production of 256 Mt. More than 80 per cent of this amount is sold in the export market, making Indonesia the world’s second largest coal exporter. Most of the exported coal from Indonesia is used to fulfil the needs of the Pacific market, such as Japan, Taiwan, China, among others. It is also possible to reach the Atlantic market.Along with Indonesia’s development program, until 2025 the Indonesian government has adopted a National Energy Policy that aims to reduce the role of petroleum in electricity generation and replacing it with coal. As a follow-up of the policy, since 2009 PT PLN, the state electricity company has built steam power plants throughout Indonesia as an implementation of the first stage of the Electrical Acceleration Project with a capacity of 10 000 MW. Moving forward, in 2011 PT PLN will also build the second stage of the project with a capacity of 10 000 MW. As a result of the program, the domestic need for coal is expected to increase as much as 44.8 Mt.With the increase in domestic need and decrease in the number of reserves, the Indonesian government has adopted policies to secure the domestic coal supply. A policy that may potentially be adopted by the government is the limiting of coal production, seeing the high rate of increase in Indonesian coal production. The adoption of such a policy will change the distribution map of coal in the Pacific market. Thus, this paper will evaluate the change of coal distribution patterns in the Pacific market along with the increase in Indonesian domestic needs and Indonesian adoption of policies regarding the securing of coal supplies.

Nov 22, 2011

By D J. Gray

The 4 km long Huguenot Toll Tunnel in the Western Cape region of South Africa celebrated its tenth anniversary on 18 March 1998. At present a single (South) bore with bi-directional traffic flow is operational. The North bore was originally excavated but not lined and equipped.The tunnel is fitted with a semi-transverse ventilation system comprising 45/350 kW two speed fresh-air and 1 MW exhaust air fans at each of the portals. These provide ventilation through fresh and exhaust air ducts above the ceiling separated by movable partition doors. Secondary air ducts deliver air at low level. The fan control depends on the levels of CO pollution or visibility measured at six positions along the tunnel.The system performed well during initial tests and under conditions of low traffic volumes. As traffic volumes increased, and user complaints of bad air in the tunnel were received on several occasions, we realised that we had a problem. Tests confirmed that natural airflow within the tunnel induced by prevailing meteorological conditions outside the portals affected the performance of the ventilation system causing a plug of bad air to be trapped at varying positions along the operating tunnel.The control systems in the tunnel are presently being upgraded as described by Gray, Rieckert and Bullock (1998). As part of the retrofit we are implementing a new control strategy for the ventilation system which takes into account the external weather conditions. This paper discusses the 24 month long meteorological data gathering exercise, which is on-going, and explores the philosophies planned for controlling the ventilation system. The correlation between winds external to the tunnel and induced airflow inside the tunnel are examined. The effects of the weather induced airflow on the existing ventilation system are considered and proposals given for taking these effects into account in the new control strategy. These include the implementation of an expert system to predict ambient airflow from prevailing weather conditions, and the use of airflow measurements taken in the uncompleted North bore as a cross-check.The paper highlights the need to take cognisance of external weather conditions when designing tunnel ventilation systems.

Jan 1, 1999

By Fickera M. A, Marshall S, Burgeese F. L, Burgees J, Estrina H

A new high intensity flotation process FASTFLOT was deployed to recover residual zinc from the zinc circuit tailings at Pasminco Mining's Concentrator, Broken Hill. Performance of the FASTFLOT process is discussed with respect to various size fractions. Results suggest that the process has an affinity not only for fine particles but also for +200 ¦m particles which the conventional flotation cells failed to recover. Various strategies for FASTFLOT deployment are also discussed.

Jan 1, 1995

By A Giblett, M Daniel

"The Global Mining Standards and Guidelines Group (GMSG) currently supports nine individual industry working groups focused on developing standards and guidelines for the mining industry. In 2013 the GMSG established the Industrial Comminution Efficiency (ICE) working group to develop freely available guidelines for plant operators to quantify the operating efficiency of industrial comminution circuits. This initiative has engaged a diverse group of representatives from mining companies, equipment vendors, consultants and metallurgical laboratories with vast experience and capabilities in the field of comminution. The GMSG has issued the first two guidelines from the ICE working group in 2015–2016, with the third guideline having completed the approvals process and being in the final stages of editing ahead of release later in 2016.Two of the ICE guidelines present methods to quantify comminution circuit efficiency, and a complementary guideline describes best practice methods to collect the necessary samples and data to furnish these assessments. Collectively the guidelines cover sampling, survey data collection, laboratory testing procedures and calculation processes to allow the user to generate a relative circuit efficiency factor for the comminution circuit at the time of survey. The reference energy consumption is calculated considering the measured F80, P80 and ore strength at the time of survey, using either or both of the Bond or Morrell methods presented in GMSG guidelines dedicated to each method. The guidelines consequently provide the end user with practical tools to perform circuit efficiency analysis and to readily quantify the impact of optimisation efforts.This paper presents the content of the three ICE guidelines and describes their intended application.Citation:Giblett, A and Daniel, M, 2016. Global Mining Standards and Guidelines for Determining Comminution Circuit Efficiency, in Proceedings 13th AusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference 2016, pp 3–8 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Oct 10, 2016

By J Joy, A Bye, G V. Kizil

This paper presents an application of the newly developed risk-cost-benefit (RCB) framework to support risk management decisions for the selection of wall monitoring technologies at an open cut mine site. The RCB framework quantitatively assessed the risk of unstable slope-induced wall failure and its impact on both loss of life and coal recovery. The RCB framework was utilised in the selection of an optimum group of risk-controls to effectively manage the risk of wall failure to ensure safety and optimal production occurred. The RCB framework incorporates mathematical modules that integrated RCB calculations and risk-control effectiveness assessments to determine the risk reduction and financial impact of the examined safety initiatives.This paper provides an overview of the five-staged RCB framework, incorporating the RCB decision support tools, RCBGEN (Risk-Cost-Benefit Generator) and RCEMETHOD (Risk-Control Effectiveness Method), and demonstrates its application to slope stability risk management at the case study site. The RCB charts are designed to display a balance between risk, cost and benefit for easy interpretation by decision makers to support the objective selection of an optimum suite of risk-controls. The RCB analysis revealed that a combination of ævisual inspections, automatic extensometers and radarÆ for fast- and slow-wall failures with structure were sufficient to reduce the probability of loss of life (PLoL) to the æModerateÆ zone as defined by the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS, 2007) for the case study site. The new framework presented in this paper provides a method to effectively determine the suitability of risk-controls and supports industry efforts to reduce risk to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP).CITATION:Kizil, G V, Bye, A and Joy, J, 2012. Risk-cost-benefit analysis of early warning technologies impact for wall failure risk management in surface mines, in Proceedings Eighth Open Pit OperatorsÆ Conference , pp 55-64 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 18, 2012