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While reaction to immediate demands may be required from time to time, the principal concerns of a Geological 'Survey should be proaction, with respect to the systematic production of maps, reports and data in order to meet exploration needs in the longer term, and interaction, which involves a complex matrix of relationships - firstly within the Department between disciplines and at various levels of responsibility, secondly with the exploration industry, thirdly with Commonwealth authorities particularly the Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR), and fourthly with university researchers in related fields.

Jan 1, 1987

By J Shooter

Pezzimenti Laserbore designed, fabricated and commissioned the first microtunnelling machine in Australia in 1986. The System was initially a very basic one, developed in isolation to the overseas explosion in microtunnelling growth headed by Japan and Germany. Market needs in Australia have demanded increasing flexibility in microtunnelling capacity-longer distances, variable ground conditions and larger diameters. The one constant throughout the development process is in maintaining high accuracy û the attribute which most readily differentiates microtunnelling from other limited steering techniques.This paper will highlight the features of microtunnelling by drawing on case studies of completed projects.

Jan 1, 1999

Australians have always been great travellers but, traditionally Australian companies have been very conservative in contrast to more daring individual Australians. During the 1960s, '1970s and 1980s, the Australian companies spent much of their time exploring in Australia. It was only some of the major companies like CRA and BHP that had explored in places like Bougainville and Chile. However, during the mid-1980s some of the smaller companies started looking beyond their shore towards other opportunities in other countries. Why did they do this? Were they pushed or did they jump? And where did they go?

Jan 1, 1996

The Adavale Basin and Warrabin Trough are remnants of a much more extensive Devonian to Carboniferous depression which evolved through four tectonic stages; an initial period of rifting and three periods of foreland thrusting, which cannibalized much of the earlier depression. The Basin has subsequently been buried by sediments of the Galilee and Eromanga Basins.The Basin was initiated during the Early Devonian when the earlier cratonized Thompson Foldbelt rifted away to form a marginal sea comparable to the South China sea. This crustal extension was probably in a Northeast-Southwest direction. These initial rifts were the site of acid volcanism (Gumbarbo Formation) and later, deltaic and shallow marine facies (Eastwood Beds).

Jan 1, 1990

By H R. Watli, K L. Davies, J A. Johnson

Novel microbial isolates that readily oxidise iron and sulfur were recovered from samples collected from a spent chalcopyrite/pyrite test heap. Methods were developed to enrich and isolate microbes that thrive in low pH environments and utilise iron and/or sulfur as sources of energy. Screening of these isolates revealed diverse substrate utilization (sulfur, ferrous ion, chalcopyrite, pyrite, glucose) as well as growth at temperatures between 30 - 50¦C. When native isolates were employed, shake flask leaching tests of chalcopyrite concentrate resulted in higher copper yields in comparison to laboratory reference strains Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (DSM 583) and Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans (DSM 9293). After 700 hours several native isolates had leached between 20 - 30 per cent more copper than laboratory reference strains during experiments conducted at 45¦C. This research has established a unique culture collection of mining microbes that readily adapt to Australian conditions. Exploitation of these microbes may result in improved leaching kinetics and copper recovery from Australian chalcopyrite ores as demonstrated from shake flask leaching tests. Whilst this research provides a capability for Australian mineral sulfide ores, this technology can be easily adapted to suit ores of any origin resulting in more effective and efficient microbial leaching.

Jan 1, 2004

By Tooth MA

Mining, metallurgical and engineering consultants have made a considerable contribution to mining industry development in Australia. Expertise has been developed locally to a high level during the last decade which has contributed to the success of many recent mining projects. The services available'cover the whole spectrum from the evaluation of ore reserves, through feasibility study and financial evaluation to design, project management and commissioning. Using these services effectively and economically is an objective which client and consultant both must pursue but which is not always achieved. This paper discusses some aspects of the use of consultants which the experience of the authors has shown to be of prime Importance

Jan 1, 1975

By Roberts I. R

The movement of materials is normally associated with a number of problems, some more easily overcome than others. Orebodies are frequently located in remote areas to which transport lines have to be opened. In the case of Mount Isa Mines Limited, the geographical isolation from the major consumer areas necess- itates long lines of transport and communica- tion. The problems associated with transport of metals and minerals vary from time to time because of the changing industrial environment. The increased size of vessels, changes in handling methods, and the economic pressures brought on by increased costs of transport without any guarantee of aligned increase in metal prices all contribute to difficulties which have to be faced by the mining companies in their effort to reach the markets with their products.

Jan 1, 1974

The various functions of public relations are playing an increasingly important part in the activities of the many companies now engaged in oil exploration in Australia.Several of the larger exploration companies, notably West Australian Petroleum Pty.Limited, Ampol Exploration Limited, Caltex Oil (Australia) PtSr: Limited and Australian Oil and Gas Ltd. (and its American Associate Union-Kern), employ staff or consultant public relations specialists. In, most of the other companies now exploring in Australia, public relations are handled within the company, directed from the highest executive level.The object of public relations in.the oil industry is. to create in the public mind an impression favourable to the industry as a whole and'the company -or group of companies with which the public relations officer is associated.

Jan 1, 1962

I have spent most of the past thirty-five years working as an economic geologist in the area of exploration and development of base and precious metals. Most of this period has been as an employee of Trans-National-Corporations (TNC's). I presently act as a consulting geologist to a joint venture company, bringing together two such TNC's: Anglo American' Corporation and affiliated companies De Beers (Diamonds) and Minorco (Metals mining outside of Southern Africa), and Normandy Mining Limited of Australia. Normandy is presently through its gold arm PosGold, Australia's largest gold miner and Anglo American can claim to be the world's largest gold company producing over 280 tonnes of gold a year, more than twice its nearest rival Gold Fields of South Africa. In addressing this topic, the role that Government can, and should play in mineral development, I will be drawing heavily on some examples from these and other TNC's experience in recent offshore mining Investment.

Jan 1, 1995

Over the last 15 years the contract mining concept has developed into an integral part of the Australian mining industry. Today it is a $2 billion per annum industry with the potential to continue to grow at a rate of between ten and 20 per cent. Australian contract miners have also exported the concept overseas where growth prospects are unlimited. The industry today is at a cross-road where both contractors and mine owners must consider the current state of the contract mining industry and where it is heading. To look at the present and the future, it is necessary to look back at the history of contract mining and why it has developed. Current industry concerns can then be summarised and the areas that need to be considered to enable the industry to prosper, reviewed. The ultimate goal is to reach solutions with benefits to both the mining companies and the contractors.

Jan 1, 1996

Most mining projects will involve some level of financial markets price risk. This is because commodities are generally traded in $US. The project will also incur costs in $A and if based in Australia will seek to generate a return in Australian dollars. Therefore the project faces commodity, foreign exchange and interest rates risk. As a business you may wish to maintain these risks within your business. However if the project requires financing to be provided then the financiers will want to ensure that there is a level of certainty attached to the cash flows to support the debt repayments. This is achieved by hedging the financial market risks. Traditionally the hedging process has been based on underlying assumptions within project models, which incorporate views on the direction of the underlying price risk. These views can be formed in an ad hoc manner. Gathering information from a variety of sources including economic forecasting and modelling, technical analysis, seeking market expert views. However, given the historical accuracy of such forecasts locking into long-term fixed hedging arrangements can create an inflexible environment that can restrict the opportunity to benefit from the underlying volatility of financial markets.

Jan 1, 2003

Mineral resource and ore reserve estimation is a challenging and demanding field, requiring application of professional knowledge, skill and experience of the highest order. If the many potential hazards and pitfalls are to be avoided however, there are two other requirements which are of equal, if not greater importance:

Jan 1, 1990

The geologists at the Zinc Mine in Broken Hill have developed a method of logging core using portable MS-DOS computers and LOTUS 123. The computer based logging system has almost halved both the time and cost to produce a completed log. The system is fast, flexible, easy and pleasant to use.

Jan 1, 1990

By Warrillow C

Petroleum and mineral exploration share a common objective; to find and exploit commercial reserves of the desired commodity. Some exploration techniques are similar, others widely different.In peripheral matters such as permits, regulation procedures, land and compensation, there are many similarities. Despite this, the percep-tions and expectations of landowners and other interested parties reflect to a large extent the methodological differences between mineral and petrol-eum exploration. This can cause compensation demands and regimes to be vastly different in the two sectors.

Jan 1, 1994

SLon magnetic separators utilise the combined force fields of magnetism, pulsating fluid and gravity to continuously beneficiate fine weakly magnetic minerals. They possess the advantages of high efficiency, low operative cost and high reliability. Until now there were about 600 SLon magnetic separators widely applied in processing oxidised iron ores, ilmenite, manganese ore and many other minerals. In this paper, several typical oxidised iron processing flow sheets with SLon magnetic separators are introduced.

Jan 1, 2007

By A D. Farmer

Power ultrasound may be used in a number of ways to enhance the processing of minerals. It is both technically and commercially feasible to apply ultrasound to leaching processes in order to enhance the removal of contaminating minerals, or the rate and ultimate recovery of valuable mineral. When applied to the production of synthetic rutile from reduced ilmenite produced by the Becher process, its use proved beneficial to both the aeration and the final acid leach process. The enhanced performance is achieved through the very localised high energy release at the mineral surface from the collapse of cavitation bubbles produced by power ultrasound. This gives rise to two effects: initially, the rapid cleaning of mineral surfaces û of oxidation products and coatings of fine adhering gangue minerals û and the attenuation of the boundary layer at the mineral surface during leaching, which allows fresh leachant to contact the surface more readily.

Jan 1, 2000

Stress Mapping Technology is aproprietary technique developed to target epigenetic mineralisation located in dilatant (low stress) sites. It is a computer based technique, based on rock mechanics principles and stress-strain relationships, which seeks to transform strain data, in the form of a solid geology map, to stress data.The main assumptions in the conceptual model are that:The strain pattern of faults and lithological contacts have not been changed since mineralisation i.e. that ore formation is late in the structural history.Stress orientations and magnitudes are known.Rheological properties of faults and rock units can be deduced.The 2D geometric and rheological data is then treated by a mathematical technique which permits the geometry of the elements to be defined by the spacing and orientation of the discontinuities in the rock mass.

Jan 1, 1990

The most critical step in the development of any mining project is the completion of a feasibility study. The feasibility study has one primary goal; to demonstrate that the project is economically viable if it is designed, constructed and operated in accordance with the concepts set forth in the study. Starting from a mineral resource data base, the feasibility study will define the ore reserves, the mining methods, the mineral processing concepts and the scale of the project. The disciplined activity of developing a feasibility study leads the proponent to examine every aspect of the project, many of which might otherwise be ignored. All technical concepts will be established and the corporate philosophy with respect to organisational structure, social and environmental responsibility, infrastructure contributions and financing will be determined. All the major decisions about how the project will be developed are made during the feasibility study. The success of the project will then depend upon the assumptions and decisions in the feasibility study and the ability and empowerment of the development team.

Jan 1, 1997

By Appleyard B

The objective of this paper is to provide a brief to The AusIMM initiative which originated in 1996 and has developed from a concept proposed by Ric West, a Sydney consultant. The notes which follow are drawn primarily from a paper included in the Ironmaking Resources and Reserves Estimation Seminar volume presented by Vivienne Snowden, a member of the Towards 2000 Steering Committee and of the JORC committee.

Jan 1, 1997

The location of the Inglewood Goldfield is 40 km north-west of Bendigo on the Calder Highway and covers an area of over 1600 hectares. The field was discovered during the 1850s gold rush and over 16 000 people camped on the field. Mining first began in 1859 and since then more than seven tonnes of gold has been removed from four major lines of reef. Most of the gold was won in the period between 1900 and 1940.. Goldquest NL currently has leases over approximately 1550 hectares and through its historical research has identified 142 known reefs.

Jan 1, 1993