Search Documents

A Study on Main and Interaction Effects of Operating Variables of Column Flotation

Sep 13, 2010

This method determines tellurium at concentrations down to 0·01 p.p.m., with geochemical accuracy. Tellurium is volatilized from the rock at 800°C in the presence of sulphur from decomposing pyrite, condensed, dissolved, and finally determined by atomic absorption in a long tube burner. The distribution of Te is shown near some gold lodes at Kalgoorlie. Lastly, a method of synthesizing Te-free pyrite from sulphur and ferrous sulphate is described.

Jan 1, 1969

When the first rush of miners took place on the Molyneux River, in the Dunstan Gorge, the gold was won by means of cradling the gravel, which was shovelled from the various beaches and crevices in the rock-bound sides of the river.The above method of winning the gold was only practicable when the beaches were not covered with water, hence the work was usually carried on during the winter months, the ordinary level of the river during spring and summer months being some ten or twelve feet above winter level. The melting of the spow in the Lakes water-shed being responsible for the high summer level of the river.As the available beaches were worked out, other methods of winning the gold were proposed and worked with more or less successful results the first advance being to work the bed of the river by means of a spoon dredge. The spoon was made with a round lip or ring of iron, having a steel cutting edge on one half of the circumference, at the opposite side a socket being forged to take a long spar or boom, which was securely fitted thereto. At intervals round the hoop, half-inch holes were bored to enable. a bullock-hide bag to be laced on to same. The spoon was worked from a pontoon which carried a crab winch, tackles and the necessary washing appliances to treat the washdirt lifted. In starting to dredge, a tackle was attached to near the upper end of the boom, and a line or chain was carried over a cat head from the crab winch...

Jan 1, 1901

This paper is intended partly as a summary of the conclusions that have been arrived at by various authorities on this matter, and also with a view to initiate some discussion on the subject, especially as most of the quartz gold mines in Victoria are operated without having any proper assay plans or any idea of the real values other than those given by the mining managers, who, from experience in the particular cases, are supposed to be able to arrive at a correct idea of the true values of- the ore, and, in many cases, oppose any other methods than their own, holding the view that no sampling is equal in correctness to the bulk sample of the battery. The necessity of properly sampling and estimating the ore in a mine in every case, perhaps hardly needs to be urged on the members of the Institute, but is not, apparently, so obvious to others.It is proposed to confine this paper to the sampling of ore reserves in a mine, and the various points which have to be taken into consideration in arriving at values, from the assayer's point of view, leaving the methods of sampling metallurgical products out of consideration for the present. "It is advisable to define" ore reserves" as ore exposed on three sides at least, and accessible to the sampler on all three. "Prospective ore" would include all ore not so fully exposed; but which may, from the nature of the case, and the geological conditions prevailing, be reasonably supposed to exist.

Jan 1, 1904

Several factors contributing to the loss of fibre during treatment are a function of the paragenesis of the veins. The occurrence, of magnetite from the cap rock within the veins prevents complete fiberization. There is a marked similarity between these veins and those in the Koegas-Westerberg area of South Africa.INTRODUCTIONAn investigation of the mineralogy of the Wittenoom Gorge crocidolite veins was undertaken in the latter part of 1962 at the request of the Colonial Sugar Refining Co. Ltd. It was anticipated that such a study might reveal the cause or causes of the lack of recovery of some asbestos during beneficiation. Some interesting features of the mineralogy and paragenesis of the crocidolite veins become apparent, but it is emphasized that the investigation is far from complete, as the study did not extend to the field occurrence.The samples examined were selected from the mill and from the untreated ore.GEOLOGICAL SETTINGWittenoom Gorge is situated on the Fortescue River in the Hammersley Ranges of Western Australia and is one of several gorges in these ranges, on the sides of which 'crocidoIite asbestos is known to occur. The Hammersley, Ranges consist essentially of a series of quartzites, shales, ferruginous quartzites and dolomites. These' rocks are part of the Nullagine Formation (Proterozoic) and are usually either horizontal or gently folded. In some 'areas small beds of riebeckite as well as crocidolite are known to occur interbedded in the sequence.Riebeckite is a monoclinic amphibole, the formula of which may be stated as Na2Fe2"Fe2" (OH) 2Si8O22, and crocidolite is a fibrous variety of this mineral. This formula...

Jan 1, 1963

Geochemical projects in progress or recently completed in the Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology, and Geophysics (BMR) cover a wide range of topics and include research projects, regional studies, and prospecting programmes. However, in these notes emphasis is given to projects which are directly relevant to mineral exploration.FIELD INVESTIGATIONSStream sediment sampling, rock and soil sampling, and geobotanical surveys have been used by the BMR in a number of areas, partly in attempts to locate specific zones of mineralization, and partly to investigate the effectiveness of the various methods under different conditions of climate and topopraphy and in different geological settings.Stream sediment sampling has been most successful in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. For example, in the South Sepik area, zones of disseminated su1phide mineralisation were found to give rise to anomalies with peak values of up to 1,000 p.p.m. copper, compared with background values of about 40 p.p.m. (Dow et al., 1968). By contrast, the results of rather limited work in the Northern Territory and in the Kimberley district of Westen Australia were inconclusive.Rock and soil sampling, on the other hand, was successfully used in a number of areas in Northern Australia, particularly at Rum Jungle and Tennant Creek.Rum Jungle area In the Rum Jungle area, where uranium and base metal mineralization is mainly associated with a Lower Proterozoic black slate sequence, samples, of c-horizon soil or weathered 'rock are generally collectedfrom the bottom of drill holes, usually 15 to 20 ft deep, bored with a power-operated auger.Surface sampling indicates that such a technique would probably have shown up all the major geochemical anomalies delineated by deep sampling, but the latter gives slightly more consistent and slightly

Jan 1, 1970

Suggestions have been made at various times that there may be a recurrence of lodes similar to those at Kalgoorlie in the country to the south of the Golden Mile, but, so far as is known, there has been no geological evidence to support these suggestions apart from the possible extension of the younger quartz-dolerite greenstone in this direction.Geological mapping carried out by the writer in the Coolgardie district in 1946, provided some additional geological evidence to support this claim, and the ideas then held have since been expanded and are now considered to be sufficiently advanced to present them as concrete suggestions. As will be seen from the following pages, the critical area for lode prospecting is Hannan's Lake, where the basement rocks may include younger quartz dolerite greenstone, which, although perhaps distributed over a smaller area than at Kalgoorlie, could, on structural grounds, have a similar fracture system and similar ore deposition.There is little need to stress the importance discoveries in this area would have in prolonging the life of the field, and stimulating the post-war gold mining revival.Previous Work: Only the publications having a direct bearing on the preparation of this paper are given in the list of selected references, but the writer is very conscious of the fact that much other geological work has been carried out in the Kalgoorlie district since its discovery, by the W.A. Department of Mines, by mining companies, and others, all of which has contributed to the present knowledge of the field, and acknowledgment of the value of this work is given herewith. In presenting the suggestions in this paper a broad structural control of ore deposition is assumed, but this has already been established in other parts of the goldfields of Western Australia, including adjacent areas. In the early nineteen thirties, the Western Mining Corporation commenced work on the basis that there was a close relationship between geological structure and auriferous ore deposition, and a similar approach was first made by the Geological Survey of Western Australia in the South Yilgarn in 1935. These ideas were further developed during later surveys, particularly in the North Yilgarn and the Mount Margaret Goldfield.During the Coolgardie Survey in 1946, broad structural mapping was done in greater detail than before, and the structural ideas were implemented and further developed, leading to some success.Other work to which particular acknowledgment is given is that of Stiltwell, Gustafson and Miller, Forman, Prider and Finucane, at Kalgoorlie, and that of Honman in the Kalgoorlie-Coolgardie district, references to which are given at the end of this paper.Valuable constructive criticism of this paper has been given by Professor E. de C. Clarke and Dr. R. T. Prider, of the University of Western Australia.

Jan 1, 1950

Triboelectric Charge and Separation Characteristics of Industrial Minerals The basic principles of triboelectric charge and separation of minerals and the factors affecting the entity of the charges developed on mineral surfaces are discussed and the surface pretreatment methods by which the electrophysical properties and thereby triboelectric charging and separation of minerals can be artificially altered/modified are reviewed. Furthermore, the triboelectricfication theory of materials is envisaged from the chemical concept of acid-base donor-acceptor and an attempt is made to correlate the physical concept of triboelectrification with the donor-acceptor properties. The triboelectric charge characteristics of the quartz, calcite and wollastonite mineral samples for different size classes were defined using different tribocharging medium. Based on the triboelectric charges acquired by mineral samples their energetic work function values are estimated. In addition, the main electrophysical properties, ie dielectric constant and electrical conductivity, of different size fractions of the mineral samples are measured and their donor-acceptor chemical properties were defined. A series of triboelectric separation tests were conducted to explore the possibilities for separation these mineral from each others. The results from the triboelectric charge and separation of the single mineral systems showed promising prospect in separating quartz, calcite, and wollastonite from each others. Finally, attempts were made to explore the possibilities to implement triboelectric charge and separation process to real ores. Promising results achieved when separation of calcite from silicate impurity was sought from a carbonate ore. A very high purity (99 per cent) calcite product was obtained at a recovery of 80 per cent. Interesting results were also achieved to concentrate wollastonite from a complex silicate ore containing quartz, different feldspars, wollastonite and other Mg-Fe silicates. In this case conditioning of the ore with salicylic acid at defined temperature and relative humidity was found to be essential to concentrate wollastonite. The outcomes indicate despite the fact that triboelectric charge and separation process has not been completely perceived, it pronounced to be an environmentally friendly and economically viable technique for minerals and wastes beneficiation. Being a dry beneficiation technique the process has special appeal, which must be explored further in particular for treating industrial minerals.

Sep 13, 2010

Before presenting this address I desire to express my appreciation of the honour which has been conferred on me by my election as iPresident of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. At this stage it might not be out of place to recall that Broken Hill was the birthplace of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, originally formed as the Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers in 1893.In selecting for my address the topic of "The Broken Hill Mining Industry and its Contribution to the Economy of Australia" I realise it is impossible to cover fully every aspect of the nation's economy which owes all or part of its origin to the Broken Hill field. Nevertheless, I feel that some attempt should be made to give credit to the Broken Hill mining industry for its part in the progress which Australia has made over the past seventy years.. If we care to reflect for a moment it soon becomes apparent that, not only is the Broken Hill mining industry an important producer of base metals for domestic and overseas consumption, but its profits have provided the means whereby many of Australia's leading secondary industries have been established or built up. Examples which come to mind are the founding of the iron and steel industry by the Broken Hill Proprietary Company; the establishment of plants at Port Pirie in South Australia, and at Risdon in Tasmania, for the production of metallic lead and zinc; and also at Port Kembla for the smelting of copper ores. From profits derived from operations at Broken Hill, capital has also been provided to assist other new essential...

Jan 1, 1956

By C Barton, B Randall, T Weldon, M Lefler

FLSmidth-Summit Valley Technologies has been a leader in gold processing equipment for nearly two decades. Over the past several years an extensive research and development effort has led to improvements in Mercury Abatement systems and process efficiency in Adsorption Desorption and Regeneration (ADR) or "Carbon" plant operations. Two technologies will be discussed that are focused on efficiency improvements followed by an explanation of Mercury Abatement systems. Gold and silver can be desorbed from carbon in several ways. FLSmidth has made significant improvements to the Pressure ZADRA process allowing for lower energy consumption and lower capital costs. This patented process is known as the Split-ZADRA Strip method. Split-ZADRA allows a plant to elute loaded carbon in a semi-continuous fashion. This increases the grade of the Pregnant Strip Solution, improves electrowinning efficiency, reduces capital equipment costs, and reduces energy requirements. During desorption and electrowinning for the Pressure ZADRA process, the pressure and temperature of the circulating strip solution is changed multiple times. A self-contained heating and cooling system has been developed which decreases the energy requirements for elution. Mercury Abatement technology has become increasingly important in recent years. Along with FLSmidth Summit Valley Technologies' complete Mercury Retorting Systems, FLS-SVT has developed systems for the capture and removal of mercury from electrowinning cell and strip solution exhaust, Carbon Regeneration exhaust, and the dore furnace exhaust. This paper describes each of the technologies introduced above and their success in operational gold and silver mines. Case studies will be discussed showing the advantages of each specific technology as it applies to operations around the world. CITATION:Lefler, M, Weldon, T, Barton, C and Randall, B, 2013. Improvements in the mercury abatement and process efficiency of adsorption, desorption and regeneration gold processing operations, in Proceedings MetPlant 2013 , pp 468-478 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 15, 2013

By Yates C, Gillie E. W, Finucane K. J

During the year 1940 a complete investigation was made of the whole of the stoping operations throughout the Great Boulder Mine and, as a result, it was decided to convert some of the existing shrinkage stopes into cut-and-fill stopes, and also to mine many of the more recently developed ore blocks by the latter method. The necessity for filling was due primarily to the structure of the ore blocks, the character of the walls and possible excessive dilution, but was influenced also by the grade of the ore-block and by the fact that cleaner mining can be carried out by cut-and-fill stoping.The comparatively few cut-and-fill stopes in operation prior to 1940 had been filled mainly with waste rock from development work, but as the amount of this material available, or likely to become available, would have been wholly inadequate for future operations, it was proposed to construct a system of passes to supply filling material from the surface.Owing to the distribution of the stopes, no central pass or system of passes could be devised which would service all the stopes satisfactorily.However, work was commenced on two passes, one designed to service the cut-and-fill stopes in the Eastern Section of the mine, and another to service those in the Western Section. It was realised that these passes could serve only a small proportion of the total number of Stopes (Figs. 1 and 2). During the progress of this work experiments were undertaken to test the possibility of using filtered tailings underground as an adjunct to the above scheme, but for various reasons these were only partially completed.Early in 1942 it was suggested by the Mill Superintendent that an attempt be made to fill with wet classified flotation tailings as practised at Mt. Lyell in Tasmania and at the Triton Mine at Reedy, West Australia. For the purpose of testing this, an experimental stope was prepared on the 309-ft. level, "X" Lode. This was 100 feet long and averaged 4 feet in width. Water-tight rearings were built at each end of the stope and waste rock fill was spread to a height of 6 to 8 feet above the timber. Used filter cloths were laid on top of the fill and brought a few feet, up the walls of the stope. A two-inch victaulic drainage line was then placed in position, the end passing through a hole in one of the bearings and thence to a sump. In the central portion of the stope two vertical pipes were brought up from this line. These were bored with one-inch holes staggered on opposite sides of the pipe, the vertical interval between each hole being one inch. The holes were then stopped with...

Jan 1, 1945

By D Brouwer, P Wild, B Belle

Due to the steep geo-thermal gradient in Bowen Basin area, as underground coalmines reach increased depths of extraction, the Bulk Air Cooling (BAC) requirements will increase as opposed to cooling the workplace using the ventilation means alone. One such mine has already been using a 4 MW surface BAC plant for the last six years to manage the working temperatures with reduced cooling efficiency as the mine expands. Due to the horizontal nature of the longwall mine layout, distances from the working face to intake shafts are rapidly expanding to over 6 km as opposed to the vertical mine layout of a hard rock mine. To improve the positional cooling efficiency, reduced panel pressure differentials, improved rib emission gas management, and intake dust management, small diameter intake shafts were located on the inbye end of production panels and halfway up the development panels with localised mobile small BAC plants. This paper summarises the results of extensive underground data of this innovative cooling concept for development and retreating longwall face heat management compared to a larger remote BAC plant.CITATION:Belle, B, Brouwer, D and Wild, P, 2017. The use of mid-panel ventilation shafts to improve positional cooling efficiency in a Bowen Basin longwall mine – a case study, in Proceedings Australian Mine Vent Conference 2017, pp 217–224 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 28, 2017

These may be of interest to members examining the collection of ores, etc., from Mount Lyell, which is a feature of the Victorian Gold Jubilee Exhibition, and may have some value as geological records. No. 7 and No 8 are analyses of samples of footwall rock from the Lyell Tharsis mine. No. 7 is hard, crystalline, fine-grained, and of homogenous structure. It has a dark-red colour, due to ferric oxide (Fig 1); and was taken from a place eight feet east of the ore body and about half way between the 50 feet and 100 feet levels. No. 8 is from the same excavation and from four feet east of the ore body it is softer than No. 7, being easily scratched with a knife-blade, of a deeper dark-red colour, and has a slaty cleavage.

Jan 1, 1902

The Acid Leaching Process for the Synthesis of Zeolitic Material from Paper Sludge Ash

Sep 13, 2010

By Honeycombe R. W K, Greenwood J. N

Powder metallurgy has been developed rapidly in the last twenty years by overseas metallurgists. The technique of making the powders and their subsequent pressing and sintering into useful forms has' only been introduced into Australia under the stress of war-time economic conditions.The technique involved has very little in common with our usual methods of fabricating engineering alloys by melting the ingredients to a homogeneous mass, followed by casting to shape or casting to ingot form and shaping by application of pressure-so-called mechanical working. On the other hand, the technique includes operations, such as milling and sizing, familiar to the primary metallurgists.The compacting of metal or other powders finds important application in two outstanding fields of engineering production: (a) in making porous bearings and contact brushes, in which such a material as powdered graphite can be incorporated; (b) in making cutting tool tips of hard -carbides, which have a melting point too high to make casting feasible, and which would be too brittle in the cast condition in any case. In both these cases; the final article can be made of the desired shape and size (subject to shrinkage allowances) whilst the compact is in a soft and readily machined condition a consideration of great importance in connection with the hard carbides.In order to develop the necessary equipment and technique and at the same time to assisil in the war effort, it was decided to divert the research work of the Metallurgy Department of the University of Melbourne to the problems associated with the production of hard carbides from local raw materials and the sintering of such into tips for cutting tools. Since this work was started at least two industrial concerns have started to produce these materials in the Commonwealth.The work. to date has included (a) the purification of crude cobalt oxide from Risdon and the reduction of this to metal Particles of less than 10 p. diameter; (b) the production of tungsten powder from King Island scheelite and its conversion into tungsten carbide with particle size less than 4 p. diameter; (c) the sintering of the latter product, using the former as a bond; (d) the production of titanium carbide from titanium dioxide; (e) the separation of columbium and tantalum oxides from a Northern Territory tantalite, and the conversion of these into the respective carbides.

Jan 1, 1942

Effectiveness of Lead as an Alternative to Copper Activation in Gold Bearing Iron Sulfide Flotation

Sep 13, 2010

THE object of this paper is to review certain features in connection with the mining of narrow lodes, say up to 20 ft. or so wide. The types of ore-body to which it is intended to refer are those which occur. chiefly as fissure or shear-Iodes-that is, those lodes which are to be found in belts of country which have been subjected to dynamic stresses, resulting in the formation of cracks and fissures, into some of which has been concentrated sufficient metal-bearing material to form ores. Very frequently one of the walls of such a lode is found to be a fault, or plane of differential movement.The first point which comes up for consideration is the shaft and its position. From the information afforded by the prospecting which has been done on a lode relative to the dip, nature of country, &c., the position of the main hauling shaft can be determined. For purposes of general utility the hangingwall is generally chosen, if a vertical shaft, though, on account of freedom from creeps, the foot-wall would be safer. Vertical shafts are preferable to underlie shafts in many ways; but wherethe lode maintains a flat dip the cost of cross-cutting at the various levels becomes very heavy'. This difficulty may to some extent be modified· by sinking a vertical shaft in the hanging-wall...

Jan 1, 1912

Well designed and maintained haul roads are the key to minimising truck haulage on-road hazards and costs, as well as increasing productivity. However, practically designing and managing a haul road for optimal performance is often diff cult to achieve. Poorly designed and built roads exhibit high rolling resistance - a one per cent increase in road rolling resistance can typically reduce speed on ramp by as much as ten per cent - and on the f at by up to 26 per cent. In the current economic climates, investment and operating decisions come under scrutiny. In the long run, this scrutiny returns improved efficiencies and leaner, healthier operations. The focus of this evolving evaluation process should and will certainly fall on haulage operations - simply by virtue of their contribution to overall cost of operations - often in excess of 50 per cent of total costs for deep open-pit mines. Whilst the end result - improved efficiency and reduced cost per ton hauled - is not in itself problematic, it is the route, or process followed to achieve these savings that needs to be carefully managed. We can be guided on this journey by our understanding of how a road is designed, and, critically, the interplay between a good design and safe, cost efficient haulage.This paper brief y summarises the evolution of mine haul road design, from the seminal USBM work of Kaufman and Ault in 1977, through to current geometric, structural, functional and maintenance management design components. These augmented design and management guidelines have been developed over the past decade, both in response to the requirements of mine operators for more safe and efficient haulage systems, and the truck manufacturers' requirements for a more predictable and controlled operating environment. These developments have been paralleled by the need to minimise haulage hazards, both from a health and safety perspective. Generally, both objectives have been achieved, but with some specific areas of design and operation still presenting ongoing potential health and safety hazards.The paper then summarises current design guidelines for these safety-critical issues, both from a road-design 'best-practice' and road management perspectives. Implementation of the approach is seen as a basis for reducing the potential of an under-designed mine road to lead to health and safety defects and secondly as a means of giving haul road safety and performance issues greater prominence in the minds of the road-user, operator, mine planner and designer alike.

Dec 6, 2010

In the context of sustainable development, the Minerals Council of Australia (2010) states that 'investments in minerals projects should be financially profitable, technically appropriate, environmentally sound and socially responsible'. In other words, the business of mining can only be sustained if these criteria are met.   Science and technology plays a major role in all four of these criteria. This paper will present the technology and innovation emerging from the Minerals Down Under National Research Flagship which brings together CSIRO and more than ten of Australia's leading universities to work with industry to drive efficiency, productivity and environmental performance. This work is required if the Australian minerals sector is to thrive and continue to deliver national benefit in the face of increased global competition, declining ore grades, depleting ore deposits, increasingly constrained national resources (land, energy, water and people) and changing societal expectations.   Science and technology to reduce emissions and water use, discover greenfields resources, enable deeper mining operations and transform mineral processing are described. Technology is presented as an enabler of sustainability: a means to this end but not as an end in its own right.

Jun 1, 2010

Lower greenschist quartzo-feldspathic schists within the N-S trending Earnslaw Synform of the Upper Wakatipu area are pervaded by late-stage quartz filled extensional and extensional shear fractures, with quartz-scheelite lodes infilling normal faults. Exposed veins/lodes mapped over at least 1000 km2 define a paleoflow system developed during late metamorphic exhumation of the schist. Both veins and lodes have consistent angular relationships to the schist foliation independent of their location on the Earnslaw synform. Unfolding the synform leads to a regional subhorizontal foliation and a systematic set of subvertical quartz veins striking NNW extending over a depth interval >5 km, striking parallel to a set of normal faults hosting the quartz-scheelite lodes. The structures define an extensional regime with s1 sub-vertical, s3 oriented WSW-ENE, a low differential stress, and suprahydrostatic fluid pressures.   The quartz-scheelite lodes (<2 m thick) occupy faults which cross-cut the quartz veins, and are traceable for a few hundred metres, at most. The lodes consist of laminated and/or massive quartz, slivers of crushed and folded schist, random and discontinuous lenses of scheelite with clay selvages separating the lode from relatively undisturbed wallrock schist. Textural evidence suggests that slip developed incrementally with total displacement on faults during lode formation on the order of a few ten's of metres.   The distribution of Glenorchy veins demonstrates broad scale hydrothermal flow through low-permeability schist, channelled within dilatant mesh style structures comprising interconnected shear and extension fractures. Flow through the lodes was likely derived from the greater surrounding area via the interlinked network of fractures and focused into the low displacement shears. Available evidence suggests the system developed together in a uniform extensional stress regime toward the bottom half of the seismogenic regime.

Jan 1, 2001