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By Dunlop GA

Pilot Plant confirmatory testing of the treatment route developed in the Metallurgical Laboratory is an essential factor in the development of complex ore bodies. Objectives should be well defined to permit the efficient planning and cost effective operation of the pilot plant project. The primary objective for the pilot plant should be to confirm the viability of the developed flowsheet on a continuous basis, examining only major variables such as ore types, quantum changes in grind, comparison between bulk and sequential flotation circuits, use of flotation columns, evaluation of autogenous grinding and production of samples of concentrates for market evaluation. Secondary objectives may include the collection of engineering design data and the production of a comprehensive report to Bankable Document standards to provide technical support for capital financing. The complexity of the ore body and the scale of the final operating project together with the pilot plant objectives will determine the extent of the pilot plant operations. The level of expenditure associated with a pilot plant can vary, in total cost and as a percentage of the total development capital investment required to take the prospect from exploration to a producing mine. Factors contributing to expenditure are discussed. Associated with cost considerations is the level of confidence mining company investors can have that their capital investment will return dividends.

Jan 1, 1990

Formation of either sodium jarosite or lead jarosite from concentrated chloride solutions containing small concentrations of sulphate has been demonstrated. Sodium jarosite is precipitated at 95-100°C from FeC13-FeCI2-NaCI-PbCI2 solutions to which was added Na2SO4 or Li2SO4 in amounts greater than 0.05 M. In the absence of alkali metal ions capable of forming jarosites, lead jarosite was precipitated from either FeCI3-PbCI2 or FeCI3-FeCI2-LiCI-PbCI2 solutions to which had been added small amounts of sulphate. Many of the factors affecting jarosite precipitation from chloride solution have been elucidated, and the most critical were sulphate concentration and initial pH. Concentrations of HCI in excess of O. I M essentially suppressed the production of jarosite in chloride media. Alkali jarosite, precipitated in the presence of dissolved lead, incorporates a small amount of this metal into the alkali jarosite lattice. Small but significant amounts of copper can also be incorporated into alkali jarosite and the amount is further increased in the presence of lead. Other divalent base metals such as Zn, Cd or Ni are not significantly precipitated. Sulphate control in either FeCI3 or FeCl3-NaCI leaching systems could likely be maintained by jarosite precipitation provided that the acid concentration of the solution was low.

Jan 1, 1981

Small scale' table concentration tests have many critics. Many metallurgists consider that such tests are of problematical value because of the difficulties involved in conducting and interpreting them.Many kinds of small-scale ore dressing tests are difficult to conduct, and there is, perhaps, good reason for thinking that table concentration tests are amongst the most difficuIt.Interpretation of results from small-scale tests is the responsibility of the metallurgists and engineers in charge, and it is often held that small-scale table concentration tests are particularly difficmlt to interpret.TESTING FOR TABLE CONCENTRATIONOn analysis it appears that the difficulties encountered in conducting small-scale table concentration tests are of three fairly distinct kinds. Firstly, there are difficulties due inherently to the smallscale nature of the operations; for example the smaller width of all mineral bands on the table and the less complete separation due to the shorter length of travel between the feed and discharge points.Secondly, there are the effects of batch operation owing to the fact that the mineral particles behave differently during the initial period when the sample is just beginning to spread over the table, the middle period when feed and discharge are even and continuous, and the final stage, when the last of the sample has been added and the table is beginning to empty itself.

Jan 1, 1954

Whilst much has been written in past years by geologists, scientists, mining engineers, etc., regarding the well·known and justly notorious anticlinal, or, as they are more commonly known, " saddle" reefs of Bendigo, comparatively little noticehas been given to the synclinal or "inverted saddle "reefs and their relationship with each other. In taking up the question of the synclinal folds, I recognise that it is a large undertaking to confine within the limits of a short paper, and at the same time convey a comprehensive idea of their characteristics, and the importance of their relationship with the anticlinal folds, in the general question of practical mining. However, from a practical point of view I consider the question of great importance, and if an interest in it can be awakened, more particularly among practical men, the object of this paper will be achieved.Before entering into the subject I must briefly state some facts, and perhaps some theories, in respect to the deposition of the Lower Silurian rocks, and their subsequent buckling up, as now seen on the Bendigo gold-field. At the same time, I do not intend to go very closely into the geological aspect of the question, as I wish the paper to be considered as a practical one.

Jan 1, 1902

By M Wortley, R Morrison, T Rivett

The tracking of ore through process hold-ups such as stockpiles has been traditionally been difficult to achieve. The inability to pinpoint the exact source in the mine of material that is feeding a processing plant has led to inefficient mine-mill reconciliation processes. In addition, a lack of understanding of the behaviour of ore in process hold-ups such as bins and stockpiles often leads to poor predictions of plant performance and to poor reconciliation of this to the orebody.This paper reports on two short case studies. One case study addresses tracking ore from various parts of two mines to the concentrator. The other follows synthetic particles through the coarse ore stockpile. Both studies use radio-frequency identification (RFID) tracer technology. The paper concludes by discussing general strategies for implementation of such concepts into mine-mill metal accounting and reconciliation systems. As shown in this paper, reliable ore tracking systems will allow much more effective mine-mill reconciliations as well as the ability to model process hold-ups with regard to size by residence time distributions. This should, in turn, allow metallurgists to have a better understanding of the size and grade of material that will report to the plant at different process hold-up (eg stockpile) conditions.

Jan 1, 2009

GENTLEMEN, lt is with much pleasure I meet you tonight at this the second meeting of the Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers, held in Western Australia, and I sincerely thank you for the honour you have conferred upon me in electing me as your President. I greatly appreciate the distinction, and will endeavour to fulfil the duties of the office to the best of my ability, and hope to prove a worthy successor to those gentlemen who have held the position before me. On behalf of the local members of the Institute, I extend a hearty welcome to the members from the other States of the Commonwealth, who have come so far to attend this meeting, and also to the non-members whom we have invited this evening. We are especially pleased to have Mr. Gregory, our Minister of Mines and Railways, and the Government and School of Mines officials with us; and I take this opportunity to thank the Premier, Mr. Gregory, and the Government officials for the assistance given us, and for doing so much to make the visit of our members from the other States so pleasant and instructive. I have also to thank the Mayor and Councillors of Kalgoorlie for the courtesy and hospitality given to our members, which is much appreciated.I assume you want me to follow the time-honoured custom of giving a Presidential address...

Jan 1, 1909

By Turner WG, Short RR

Obviously, the paramount advantages of contract mining have been recognised by mine developers throughout Australia, as evidenced by surface gold mining operations of significant output almost exclusively being performed under contract. These paramount advantages of using an experienced professionally managed contractor result from the mine developer being freed from financing the required relatively large capital expenditure at current relatively high interest rates or in a capital scarce stock market, and from the need to recruit and sustain a large operating work force in a competitive labour market.

Jan 1, 1990

Mr. Chairman, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for asking me to your conference, with its most fundamental and appropriate topic of 'Investment in Mining'. I must confess at the outset that I am one of those Australians who has rarely visited your fair land of New Zealand. This is in fact only my third visit, with all three related to Institute Conferences, and all much too brief. In so many ways your country provides a counterpoise to ours, despite the obvious disparities in size and population. And I am not only referring to the Bledisloe Cup! We would certainly each be much more lonely without the other, in this strange long-lost corner of the globe û if globes can have corners. Such an important factor in common in our shared heritages has been the mineral industry we have won from our alluvials and our rocks û especially for gold. So much of the major mineral developments which have supplied the world's appetite for metals and fuels in the past two hundred years has come from the countries settled in that period by people from Europe, especially those from the British Isles. So much of the technology for mineral and metal extraction has come from the skills of those people in New Zealand and Australia. And so much of the further development of metal processing and manufacturing of productive equipment has come from those people and from their cousins throughout the world. It is, I believe, a fair question to ask why we have failed to build on those early and considerable successes, and why we have in so many ways apparently been so content to allow others to add value to our raw materials, and to take our technological developments on to levels far beyond those that our domestic markets could sustain.

Jan 1, 1988

Gold was determined directly in eight different mill cyanide solutions, by atomic absorption spectroscopy in an acetylene-air flame. Some of the mill solutions were diluted with water to bring them into the most sensitive absorption region (5-50 p.p.m. Au) whereas those solutions with very low gold content «2 p.p.m.) were concentrated by evaporation.Calcium was complexed with ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) to avoid the undesirable effect of a precipitate on atomization.When added to standard gold solutions, EDTA had no effect on absorption, nor did any of the impurities common in mill cyanide solutions.Known amounts of gold, ranging from 2 to 30 p.p.m., were added to mill solution'aliquots and recovered to within 100 ± 2·5 per cent. For duplicate determinations under normal worKing conditions, standard deviation was 1·32 p.p.m.Excellent agreement was found between atomic absorption gold values and accurate fire assay values.INTRODUCTIONAtomic absorption spectroscopy has been shown to offer a rapid and accurate method for the determination of trace amounts of a number of metal ions. In the field of primary metallurgy atomic adsorption has been used for routine determinations of lead, copper, silver, zinc, cadmium and iron in a variety of raw materials and intermediate products.The scope of atomic absorption spectroscopy was reviewed recently by Willis (1963).The noble metals silver, gold, platinum, rhodium and palladium were determined by atomic absorption from chloride solutions by Lockyer ·and Hames (1959). In their determination of gold down to 1 p.p.m., they found no interference from the noble metals, nor from considerable excess...

Jan 1, 1964

The mechanization of the coal industry in New South Wales involved the introduction of large face and transport machines. The trend is towards still higher capacity units with .greater horsepower and it became apparent that a potential risk of damage to the hearing of workmen existed. In order to assess whether the sound levels were SUfficiently high to impair the hearing of workmen a sound level survey of all major operations in the industry was carried out by the Mining Engineering Division of the Joint Coal Board.The results indicated ·that the operations could be classified into three categories of risk, probably hazardous, of doubtful hazard due to the intermittency of the operations, and of low hazard.Legislation has subsequently been enacted requiring the wearing of hearing preservation aids in some of the probable risk operations.

Jan 1, 1974

Unrelieved residual strains can influence the states of stress in rock masses. If cheap, stable structures are to be constructed in Tock in which large pressures are exterted by unrelieved residual strains, the pressures must be either utilized or neutralized. A photoelastic technique has been used to show that the release of residual strains in rocks is influenced by the mechanical properties of anisotropic rock fabrics. The relationships between directions of residual strain release and the attitudes of minor geological structures have been determined. For engineering design purposes it is possible to estimate the principal stress directions in rock containing unrelieved residual strains if the attitudes of such minor geological structures as foliation planes, lineations, and joints are known.INTRODUCTIONQuarry workers have long been aware that near-surface rocks may be highly stressed. In many cases the stresses are too large to be the result of gravitational loads. Dale (1923, pp. 34-35) gives many instances of deformation produced by the violent release of residual strains in quarry rocks. Coates (1963) has described powerful rock bursts and cases of rock deformation underground implying the existence of much larger stresses than are likely to result from present-day gravitational loads. The only explanation is that pressures of up to several thousands of pounds per square inch may be caused by unrelieved residual strains in rock.Instruments have been developed for measuring states of stress in rock masses. Most stress determinations in rock have been made on the assumption that rock behaves as a simple elastic material. It is now known that rock is a...

Jan 1, 1964

Updraft sintering of lead concentrates was introduced at Port Pirie in 1955 and since that time a considerable amount of investigational work has been carried out in the laboratory and on the plant with the objective of improving both the understanding of the process and its practical application.From this work it is now possible to predict trends in design and operation, which should result in capital savings and increased efficiency of future updraught plants.INTRODUCTIONOver the last 70 years a remarkable advance has been made in the method of preparing lead concentrates for smelting in the Port Pide blast furnaces of The Broken Hill Associated Smelters Pty. Ltd. (RH.A.S.). Beginning in 1889 with heap roasting, the process progressed to Ropp roasters and Huntington-Heberlein pots in various combinations, then to multiple small Dwight Lloyd (D.L.) downdraught machines. In 1940 two large 10 ft by 50 ft D.L. downdraught machines were installed, and finally in 1955 updraught sintering was ,introduced with the installation of the present 10 ft by 99 ft sinter machine.At the time this last machine was built it was the first unit of its type and thus, of necessity, an experimental machine. During the eight years it has been operating a considerable amount of investigational work on sintering has been carried out both on the plant and in the laboratory.It is now felt that sufficient information is on hand to predict at least tentatively, some of the future developments in lead sintering, whereby both the quality of the sinter and the rate of production may be improved. This will result in a considerable reduction in smelting costs.

Jan 1, 1964

By Ray H. S, Galgali R. K

It is well accepted that the blast furnace will continue as the main route for iron-making for many more years. However, its limitations have motivated researchers to look for alternative routes, particularly, those where non-coking coal is used for liquid iron production. Smelting reduction (SR), where coal and oxygen are used to produce liquid iron and power is now receiving serious attention. Several smelting reduction reactors are now operating in pilot plant scale and one or two have reached commercial status.

Jan 1, 1999

Supplement to Proceedings Number 120, December, 1940. Drawings accompanying paper by T M Carey 'The Surface Plant at the Zinc Corporation Mine, Broken Hill'

Jan 1, 1940

By F N. Baez

This paper supplements a keynote address prepared for the MassMin 2016 conference on mass underground mining methods, including block, panel, inclined and sublevel caving. It advocates for a new cave mining paradigm that takes advantage of a number of new and disruptive technologies or innovations that have evolved over the last 15 years, some of which were initiated by major mining companies such as Codelco. The paper will address the challenges that the industry will be facing in the future as well as possible solutions. As background, the paper summarises the challenges that the industry has faced in the past and how such challenges were addressed. The author acknowledges that given his more than 30 years of experience with Codelco Chile (operations and corporate), aspects of his intelligent mining concept have no doubt been influenced and have matured during his invaluable time with Codelco also as the Head of Technology and Innovation. In the paper, he uses some of the innovations developed within Codelco and by the Chilean Government to illustrate the concept of ‘intelligent mining’.CITATION:Baez, F N, 2016. ‘Intelligent mining’ – the way of the future, in Proceedings Seventh International Conference and Exhibition on Mass Mining (MassMin 2016), pp 3–8 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

May 9, 2016

By Paterson R. G, Compston W

The Mine granite at the Ardlethan tinfield is dated by Rb-Sr on a muscovite concentrate at not less than 417 ± 2.5 Ma (2s), consistent with the intrusion of this granitic body into folded Late Ordovician sediments. A combination of Rb-Sr and K-Ar evidence suggests a slightly younger age, 41O ± 2.5 Ma, both for the neighbouring Ardlethan Granite and for the hydrothermal alteration of the Mine granite, with which the tin is associated.On this basis, the somewhat high 206Pb/204Pb of two galena samples from within the hydrothermal alteration zone is best explained by an increase in U/Pb of order 10 per cent during a geochemical event in the Late Precambrian, in the rocks which eventually yielded the Pb to the mineralising fluid. This earlier event probably increased Th/U in these rocks as well, by as much as 5 per cent. If these reconstructions are valid, the lower-than-average U/Pb implied for the original Precambrian source rock bespeaks a mantle component of marginally greater proportion than for "average orogene".

Jan 1, 1982

By Zwaan J, Kepa J

Ok Tedi mine has become one of the major copper producers in the world. In the process of becoming of age, it overcame the challenges of operating in a locality which is young in geological terms, experiences very high rainfall and has a topography which gives rise to frequent landslides. This paper discusses some of the geological, mine and geotechnical engin- eering aspects of the Mt Fubilan ore deposit.

Jan 1, 1991

By Hargraves A. J

The paper outlines events at the Collinsville State Coal Mine, Queensland, leading to the practice of full face multiple shotfiring in bord and pillar development places. The 1954 disaster is referred to, and factors involved in simultaneous shotfiring in coal are discussed. Promising preliminary multiple shotfiring tests at the Colliery are described, as well as the resulting routine measures adopted, and the changes involved. The subsequent inducing of two outbursts under safe conditions by remote multiple shotfiring is given as justification for the changes made.INTRODUCTIONFollowing a disastrous instantaneous outburst (1.0.) of coal and gas at the Collinsville State Coal Mine in 1954, the necessity for inducer shotfiring for the control of possible further outbursts was established. However this mine, immediately classified as gassy after the 1954 outburst, is subject to the general restrictions pertaining to gassy mines which at present preclude the use of inducer shotfiring due particularly to the non-existence of a permitted exploder for more than six shots, and further, because permitted multipleexploders are not designed for remote firing through long lengths of cable. This situation was met by arresting or reducing progress in the production places, thereby reducing the danger of outbursts while means were being considered to achieve overall maximum safety.In August 1957 two full faces were successfully blasted in experimental simultaneous rounds. In June 1958 four full faces were blasted, and in October 1958 full face grunching without prior cutting, Le. inducer shotfiring, was introduced in No. 1 Tunnel as a production feature. In March 1960 it...

Jan 1, 1960

By Matthew I. G

A new process for leaching zinc sulphide concentrates with gaseous mixtures of SO2 and O2 in aqueous solution is described.The reaction of SO2/O2 with Rosebery, Mt. Isa, Broken Hill and Elura zinc concentrates yields zinc and iron sulphates, elemental sulphur and some sulphuric acid. Rates of zinc extraction are controlled by a surface chemical reaction without apparent interference from the elemental sulphur layer for SO2 concentrations up to 9 per cent in the gas phase. Pyrite in concentrate exerts an activating effect, possibly through galvanic interaction with the sphalerite. Metal extractions are dependent on SO2 and O2 tenors of the gas, particle size, and the acidity and zinc content of the solution, but are independent of the ferric ion level. Extractions also reach maxima at about 85°C.Generation of acid may be prevented by conducting the reaction in the presence of ferrous iron and at acidities of 40 g/l or greater. Zinc and iron levels in Elura lead concentrate may be reduced by leaching with SO2/O2.

Jan 1, 1981

Although bismuth mineralization is spread widely through the Lachlan Fold Belt in New South Wales, broad grouping of the various deposits can be effected on the basis of geographical and geological (age and type of associated rocks) affinities. As a result, significant concentrations of bismuth can be recognized in the Mid-Western granites, Cobar-type ore, the Yass Silurian acid volcanic belt, and the Albury, Bega, Braidwoodand Bathurst districts.In these deposits bismuth generally occurs in minor amounts associated with molybdenite, wolframite, scheelite, cassiterite, chalcopyrite, galena, magnetite, pyrite, arsenopyrite, and native gold. From this group of minerals three broadly defined associations can be recognized.I. Bi-Sn-W-Mo2. Bi-Au( -Te)3. Bi-Pb-Cu(-Au)There may be some interchangeability of these metals, as instanced by occasional Bi-Cu-W-Mo mirleralization, but pyrite and/ or arsenopyrite are usually prominent in all associations.The first two of these associations occur mainly in the form of narrow quartz veins rarely averaging more than O· 3 per cent Bi, although there is often a marked enrichment in ferruginous material in the oxidized zone.Most of these veins occur within or adjacent to granitic rocks of varying ages (principally Silurian or Devonian), although Bi-Au mineralization tends to be related to more basic igneous activity than the Bi-Sn-W-Mo association.The latter is also occasionally developed in pipes, usually coarse-grained and richer in bismuth (as at Whipstick, the principal mine in New South Wales with a production of 343 tonnes of the metal), or in lower grade, but probably larger tonnage skarn deposits. The bismuth-base metal association occurs mainly in Silurian acid volcanic sequences and may also form low grade but large tonnage deposits, such as is possibly developed at Cobar.

Jan 1, 1973