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By C Catania

Mining companies and operations across the globe typically target best practice financial management, along with a focus on economically driven mine plans. Not only is this inherent in running a successful mining business, but also critical in addressing investor scrutiny. The standards for social and environmental practices is less consistent than this, with most companies adopting standards that are driven through legislative and compliance requirements of the nations in which they operate. Although there is still room for improvement, Australian is a country that stands at the forefront of social and environmental legislation, driving more sustainable planning practices for mining operations, with an ever-increasing focus on mine closure considerations. Of the many nations yet to reach such a legislative position, Kazakhstan is a place where some companies are driving towards world class standards beyond what is government mandated. CITATION:Catania, C, 2018. World-class mine planning for a sustainable future in Kazakhstan Mining, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2018, pp 6–7 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 25, 2018

The law including legislation such as the Occupational Health & Safety Act 1983 imposes stringent obligations on employers to ensure the health and safety of their employees. The use of pre-employment medical examinations is one tool that employers can use to assess the suitability of a job applicant for a particular position and protect themselves from prosecution or claims for compensation or damages.At the same time, however, legislation such as The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Commonwealth) ("DDA") and The Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (New South Wales) ("ADA") affords protection to individuals against discrimination.

Jan 1, 1998

By A Lu, C Wang

The natural semiconducting mineral rutile and sphalerite exhibited highly photocatalytic activities on degradation of methyl orange under visible light irradiation. The isomorphous substitutions of host metal ions by foreign ions and other defect states in natural semiconductors altered the band structure, decreased the intrinsic band gap, and then made them very attractive for solar energy utilisation. Our study indicated that natural semiconductor minerals might be suggested as a new class of cost-effective and solar light-responsive photocatalyst.

Jan 1, 2008

Depressed prices for minerals will force the mining industry to became more efficient. The continuous conveying of pit product is one area in which savings can be made. Conveyors are available, or can be adapted to provide the flexibility and reliability required. Each conveying system will need to be custom designed to suit the particular requirements of the mine. The Australian mining industry must take the initiative and accept the challenge of the new technology.

Jan 1, 1986

In 1939 at the annual meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Canberra, a paper was contributed by E. de C: Clarke and H. A. Ellist in which a plea was made for more "facts" concerning metasomatism near ore-bodies in Western Australia. From time to time writers here, and in other parts of the world, have discussed the alterations in wall rocks of various reefs and lodes, but little has yet been attempted in the matter of accumulation of quantitative data, both chemical and mineralogical, and in the correlation and comparative study of this data. Such a detailed comparative study is needed to determine the economic value of a practical application of our accumulated knowledge of the phenomena of metasomatism.When in 1939 the opportunity offered for an examination of the core from 4 bores recently put down by the Big Bell Mines Ltd., to explore the ore-body of the Corinthian G.M. 10 miles N.W. of Southern Cross, Western Australia it was hoped that some small beginnings might be made of an accumulation of comparative and quantitative data regarding the metasomatism of the wall rock immediately adjacent to this ore-body.By the courtesy of the Big Bell Mines Ltd., the core from the 4 bores was delivered to Survey Headquarters, Perth;in the middle of June, 1939 and copies of assay plans of part of the underground workings at Corinthian, and of the results of assays of the bore cores, were also supplied by the management of the above company.It was not, however, until March, 1940, that it was 'found possible to investigate the core. At that time the writer's colleague, Mr. R. S. Matheson, conducted a: megascopic examination of all the bores and selected material from two of these for possible future chemical analyses. Late in 1940 the writer commenced a microscopic petrological examination of this material.AIM OF THE INVESTIGATIONThe object of the petrological part of this investigation was to determine whether from a megascopic and microscopic examination of the core, any evidence could be obtained indicating changes, in mineralogical composition...

Jan 1, 1942

By Baoqi S, Zhengbing C, Wenguang L

A new flotation method is introduced for separating zircon from rutile and other Ti-bearing minerals at normal temperature, using a mixture of cationic and anionic collectors without any acid, alkali or fluoride as regulators. By combining the method with gravity concentration and magnetic separation to process the seabeach placer, the technological flowsheet can be simplified and the pollution of environment and the corrosion of acids, alkalis and fluorides on equipment can be removed.

Jan 1, 1993

By van Eck M, Orr T, Eggleton R. A, Taylor G

The Charters Towers locality has been a historically renowned gold producing region and discovery of new ore deposits during the past decade have renewed exploration interests in the area. Further mineral exploration with conventional techniques is hindered by the presence of Cainozoic sedimentary deposits and volcanic flows overlying a major portion of the basement geology. Mineral exploration thus warrants new, innovative and cost-effective methods to probe beneath the Cainozoic cover in an attempt to discover new orebodies. There is growing awareness of the role of weathering as an agent of chemical dispersion into the cover sediments as well as a producer of supergene deposits in tectonically stable cratons (Butt and Zeegers, 1992). Consequently, landscape evolution coupled with regolith geochemistry is one of the methods increasingly being used to identify relevant sampling media to explore beneath weathered cover sediments and deeply weathered bedrock terrain (Anand, 1993). The aim of this paper is to describe and elucidate the regolith - landscape features of the region and combine geochemistry to assess the pertinence of the same on mineral exploration strategies in the Charters Towers area.

Jan 1, 1997

By A Densten, C Gimber

Surface water management and drainage is a key aspect of mine rehabilitation and closure planning. In the authors’ experience, drainage related problems are amongst the most common forms of failure in mined landscapes. The appropriate design of surface water infrastructure is therefore a key focus of practitioners. While there is currently a trend towards distributed drainage networks and avoiding hard engineered structures, in many situations (especially for existing landforms) engineered drainage structures cannot be avoided. CITATION:Gimber, C and Densten, A, 2018. A risk-based approach to drainage design standard selection for mine rehabilitation and relinquishment, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2018, pp 116–118 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 25, 2018

By Shonhardt JA, Bagster DF

This paper firstly examines the pollu- tion potential of burning colliery wastes. A comparison of two means of estimating the pro- pensity for coal to combust spontaneously is next presented. The use of microwaves, as a new procedure, is discussed in detail, while a comparison of the results is made with a modi- fied adiabatic technique. A number of coals that are known to combust spontaneously was tested, as were some coals that are not consi- dered to have self heating potential.

Jan 1, 1987

By K Sherry, N Shahbazi

Scope 3 emissions are a set of often overlooked indirect greenhouse gas emissions within a company’s value chain and represent the majority of emissions for many sectors. These emissions arise from activities conducted by entities beyond the reporting organisation’s ownership or direct control and are often challenging to calculate. Scope 3 emissions typically encompass purchasing goods and services, transportation and distribution, managing operational waste, downstream processing and utilising sold products. Within the mining sector, scope 3 emissions often constitute a significant portion of the overall carbon footprint. Therefore, these emissions are a significant aspect of the future of sustainable mining. As the journey towards a world committed to achieving Net Zero Emissions has started, the time to spark a transformative conversation in the mining industry has arrived. Consequently, a better knowledge of scope 3 footprints allows organisations to assess their emission mitigation projects against the total carbon impact of their operations and products.

Sep 1, 2024

By H J. J Boshoff, A J. Karrasch

Mine planners frequently face the challenge of mitigating the impact of climatic events on mining operations, such as floods and droughts. Specific water management infrastructure can be implemented to meet operational requirements in response to these events. However, the effect of flood protection, for instance, may reduce the resilience of the site to drought. The probability and duration of unfavourable climate sequences significantly influences the net present value (NPV) of implementing specific water management infrastructure.Good life-of-mine planning will consider the incremental development of the project, and provide staged development plans. Water management infrastructure and the timing of implementation are facets of this process.CITATION:Boshoff, H J J and Karrasch, A J, 2016. A decision-making framework for water supply and flood protection options in net present value terms, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2016 Conference , pp 196–199 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jun 28, 2016

By T R. Anderson, A R. Butler

Haymont (2012) notes that in parts of Australia significant areas of mining disturbance cannot be relinquished. In Queensland it has been estimated that by 2010, just 0.3 per cent 507 ha of mining disturbance had been rehabilitated to the regulator’s satisfaction (Short, 2015).One reason for this poor record is the presence of inappropriate, unachievable or unmeasurable rehabilitation targets (Glenn et al, 2014; Butler, Anderson and Sexton, 2015). In the authors’ experience in Queensland many mature operations have licence conditions that hinder the achievement of sustainable outcomes or prevent successful validation of rehabilitation success. This creates a lack of certainty for industry and a lack of confidence in the community that the sector can deliver good rehabilitation outcomes (Short, 2015).This extended abstract presents a framework approach that has been applied at two contrasting operations. Without the changes presented, the goal of progressive rehabilitation certification, reduction in financial assurance (FA) and a path to surrender at these sites would have been impossible. The framework can be adapted for use across different bioregions and commodities.CITATION:Butler, A R and Anderson, T R, 2016. Reassessing rehabilitation objectives and targets for mature mining operations in Queensland, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2016 Conference, pp 139–141 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jun 28, 2016

Some only types of bank finance are appropriate for mining development, with conventional fixed rate finance having significant limitations of flexibility. New, innovative and flexible instruments have recently been utilised within project financing packages. A strictly limited number of specialist project finance banks exists, with the necessary specialist personnel able to address project cost-competitiveness, cost and commodity forecasting, joint venture negotiations, and completion and sales undertakings. Different techniques of internal bank appraisal are applied, with the usual equity investment project valuation criteria being seldom useful for loan assessment purposes. Company attention paid to the preparation of a sensitively structured bankable presentation can prove most effective for securing development project finance. Substantial scope is possible for savings of time and money.

Jan 1, 1983

By Noakes M. J

Research and development into alternate gold and precious metals adsorbents has resulted in the development of a new technology named the AUROSAVE adsorption process (ARGOSAVE'" for high silver con- tent ores). Adsorbents called VITROKELE'" can be tailored for either Gold I (cyanide leach) or Gold III (halide leach) applications. VITROKELE consists of a chemically synthetic adsorbent carried on an inert substrate, often a polystyrene bead. It is suitable for both in- pulp and in-solution use. VITROKELE adsorbent offers certain advan- tages over both carbon and ion exchange resin adsorbents. This paper describes testwork on Australian ores and commercial solu- tions obtained from operating Australian plants demonstrating the kinetic loading characteristics, elution methods and other operating parameters of VITROKELE adsorbent in the cyanide system. Brief reference is made to VITROKELE in the Gold III system.

Jan 1, 1988

Whilst employed by Dyno Nobel as the Technical Services Engineer û Brisbane, I was asked, as part of a contractual agreement, to look at optimising PioneerÆs blasting process to provide the most effective rock to the new crushing and screening plant. This paper details the preliminary blast designs and practices that have been in use at the quarry and the initial changes made to these designs, and the effect they have had on the excavation and crusher performance.

Jan 1, 1999

By K L. Silversides, A Chlingaryan, A Melkumyan

Multiple data sources can be fused to improve boundary modelling in stratified deposits such as the banded iron formation (BIF) hosted deposits in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia. Accurate boundaries are essential to produce high quality geological models. Initial models are based on the widely spaced exploration hole data. This creates a high level of uncertainty in areas between the holes, with different interpretations of the boundary equally probable. Including directional information collected in these holes in the models can reduce the number of possibilities. Including data collected during mining, such as blastholes and bench measurements, can further guide the model. This research demonstrates a Gaussian Processes based method of fusing these disparate data sources to better inform the boundaries. Our results demonstrate that when only exploration points are used the model creates a smooth boundary with minimal variation between the holes. Each additional data source refined the model and added additional detail to the boundary. For the blast data, the new detail projects down to the bench below the current bench to allow for a better prediction before mining commences on that bench.

Mar 22, 2022

By M Donatelli, E Grazio, A Heissenberger

The distribution of a contaminant in a bulk mass greatly influences the effectiveness of sampling procedures. Most currently used sampling guidelines for genetically modified organisms (GMO) testing have stringent distribution requirements. Specifically, all these protocols are based upon the assumption that GM material, if present, is randomly distributed. Yet, assuming randomness is risky because the applied sampling plan may not provide an accurate estimate of the content of the contaminant. Despite the general consensus that an evaluation of the possibility of non-random distribution of GM materials within lots is a pre-requisite for the definition of effective sampling protocols, no experimental data on the distribution of GMOs in kernel lots are available anywhere in the world. Additionally, to date there is no distribution-free statistical model to estimate sampling errors, thus making the theoretical definition of optimal sampling technique impossible when randomness cannot be assumed. Here we present preliminary results of the KeLDA project, which is the first study investigating the distribution of GM materials in large soybean lots imported within the European Union. The extensive variability of GM content, observable both within and among soybean lots, indicates that heterogeneity issues cannot be overlooked when defining sampling strategies for large lots of particulate material and that randomness cannot be assumed a priori. A new statistical model free from any distribution assumptions, developed in order to estimate the sampling error associated with different sampling protocols together with the risk of false-negative results, is also presented. The new model, which is applicable to any consignment of particulate material with respect to any kind of contamination, presents two novelties: first, freedom from any distribution assumption; second, the possibility of estimating the magnitude of the sampling error associated with different sampling protocols as a function of specific distributional properties.

Jan 1, 2005

By Lynce AJ

A method has been developed for the prediction 'of 'the- . performance of a multi-stage grinding=cyclone classification circuit of any degree of complexity on any ore for a wide range `of operating conditions, The-.method involves ;the. s` inu ation b'f the circuit on a digital computer by means of. matheinatical' models ":bf the"' individual units:, the. development of which is- also discussed'., At present, in order to establish 'the!'" charac'teristtics of they ¦ore- and the machines. in mathematical terms;. it is necessary to know'the performance of a , simpl,.e. ; system on tri.e ore - for! one known ,,feed rate and.fe.ed s,l-zing, analysis. ' ,Fiiither work on :the- separate identification 'of the terms defining the characteristics of the ore and the machines may permit the method to be, applied directly to the cj.4ta,derived from small scale tests on ores,

Jan 1, 1964

By Richards AB

This paper describes the ENVIB software system, which has been developed in a menu-driven form to aid in the monitoring and assess- ment of vibration caused by routine blasting operations and for research and development projects. The paper gives an outline of the capabilities of the system by means of screen-dumps and a general descriptive commentary. Technical notes have been added where appropriate to further describe the system. The ENVIB system covers: I . Analysis of blast vibration results, and preparation of graphs and tables for control and estimation purposes. 2. Effects of atmospheric conditions and air vibration propagation. 3. Real-time acquisition and analysis of analogue blast vibration sig- nals directly from transducer equipment or from FM tapes. 4. Analysis of digital files on floppy disc or transferred via the serial port from blast monitoring equipment. 5. Transfer function calculation for structure response studies.

Jan 1, 1988

By Scott B. R

Bougainville's copper mine is located on the west slope of the Crown Prince Range on Bougainville. A high grade copper concentrate is produced for sale to overseas customers. Production planning which was originally based on pilot plant data has developed progressively since commissioning of the concentrator in 1972. Pilot plant data and mine sampling have been supplanted by the correlation of concentrator performance with ore sources, as the basis for short term planning. The influence of accurate sampling is reflected in 1. hourly shift control, 2. the daily milling statement, 3. the prediction of the characteristics of ore from various mine locations, 4. production reconciliation, and 5. the control of copper losses. The mechanical and electrical failures of the original sampling system emphasized the need for a reliable, automatic sampling facility. The development of a pneumatic drive mechanism, which has now been fully field tested, was undertaken.

Jan 1, 1976