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By S Tjerry, S Szylkarski, B Willis-Jones, I Dubinski

Achieving relinquishment of mining sites is becoming increasingly difficult, with a study by Byrne (2013) estimating that out of a set of 73 mining and metals sites around the world, less than ten per cent had achieved relinquishment over the last 50 years. The median forecast duration of time allocated for water management in the closure plans studied was approximately ten years, while the reality at the actual sites was a median duration of 22 years to date and growing.One of many challenges in mine closure planning is managing geomorphic stability of stream diversions. The challenge is to be able to demonstrate to regulators and the community that a proposed rehabilitation solution will be stable over the long term.During the mining operations, local watercourses and surface drainage can be diverted and managed using engineered channels and drainage structures. However, during the post-operations stage, the engineered channel and drainage may require modification to a more natural condition that will facilitate long-term environmental sustainability. Achieving geomorphic stability of a diverted watercourse is difficult, with the majority of stream diversions in Australia failing to meet expected design performance (White et al, 2013). Geomorphic stability is a complex process that is controlled by a combination of factors, including hydraulic flow conditions, geotechnical conditions and vegetation.This paper proposes that a fully dynamic and deterministic geomorphological model can be used to supplement the traditional empirical approaches to assess long-term geomorphic stability. The paper provides an overview of the geomorphological models and how they have been applied in engineering studies for forecasting future evolution of stream systems. The paper discusses the potential application of these models in the mining industry for forecasting and optimising surface water structures for the operations and post-operations stages of the mining cycle.CITATION:Szylkarski, S, Willis-Jones, B, Tjerry, S and Dubinski, I, 2016. Improving the reliability of stream diversion designs in mine closure plans using a morphological tool, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2016 Conference, pp 212–215 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)

Jun 28, 2016

By A Murphy, I Samsonova, N Eastwood, D Whittle

Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS or the Convention) (United Nations (UN) Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, 1982) establishes a comprehensive regulatory framework for the conduct of deep seabed mining (DSM) activities of mineral resources in the Area (defined in Article 1(1) of UNCLOS as ‘the seabed and ocean floor and subsoil thereof, beyond the limits of national jurisdiction’). Under that framework, DSM activities can only take place in the Area pursuant to an approved Plan of Work in the form of a contract with the International Seabed Authority (ISA) (the Authority), a 168-member international body created under UNCLOS to administer the Area. Private contractors can undertake DSM activities if they are sponsored by Member States of UNCLOS, providing a dual system of international and domestic regulatory control and oversight for activities in the Area.

Sep 1, 2024

By E Hondros

Innovation and Business Skills Australia (IBSA) commissioned The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to undertake a study into how the role of AustraliaÆs senior managers is likely to change between now and 2020 and to identify the skills and attributes that will be needed to respond to those changes. This report builds on a previous study prepared by BCG in the early 1990s for the Industry Taskforce on Leadership and Management Skills (Karpin Committee), which provided a snapshot of the Senior Manager in 2010. The following powerpoint slides summarise the 2020 Vision û The Manager of the 21st Century û outlining how the role of AustraliaÆs senior managers is likely to change between now and 2020 and to identify the skills and attributes that will be needed to respond to those changes. The presentation is summed up in the following quote from Jon Nicholson û Senior Vice President of BCG: We believe that to succeed in the years up to 2020, executives will need to master a range of hard and soft skills. Amongst other things, they will require to manage multi-generaional teams, the creativity to measure staff performance on outputs rather than inputs, and a high degree of technical and functional expertise in addition to their general management credentials. This paper is available as a PowerPoint presentation only.

Jan 1, 2006

By P Ramsaywok

The use of saline water for mineral beneficiation in arid regions is general practice and also the case with Exxaro Namakwa Sands, situated on the west coast of South Africa. Although it is ‘cost effective’ to use sea water for mineral beneficiation, downstream process separation efficiencies may be negatively affected. This is more specific to surface dependent separation techniques such as electrostatic and high tension (HT) separation. If minimal fresh water is available then, proper washing is often neglected. Salt crystals can form on particle surfaces during the drying process before electrostatic separation.This paper describes a study that has been conducted to determine the effect of upfront salt water processing on downstream electrostatic/HT separation. The study indicated that minor quantities of salt can cause the separation efficiency to decrease substantially.

Oct 5, 2011

By X Li, J Wang, D Liu, Y Liu, K Hu

"Since the adoption of open-door policy 30 years ago, rapid economic growth has resulted in serious resource depletion and environmental destruction, especially in mining areas. As an urgent response to this situation, the central government and the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) have adjusted policies with concrete and realistic actions for halting this trend of non-sustainable mining activities in China. æGreen Mine CampaignÆ is one of the actions implemented. In 2010, MLR announced the æGreen Mine CampaignÆ, in which existing and new mines will be evaluated against the æGreen Mine Construction StandardsÆ and certified as æGreen MineÆ if complying with these standards. The standards cover five key aspects: the considerations of science-supported resource exploitation efficient resource utilisation standardised management environmental friendliness harmonious community relationship.Every year, MLR reviews ægreen minesÆ from all provinces. Thirty seven mines, including coal, metal, non-metal, gold, chemical industry and building materials mines, passed the review and were certified as green mines in 2010. In 2011, 187 out of 194 mines that participated in the review were certified as ægreen minesÆ. These mines are viewed as good examples of sustainable mining development in China.CITATION:Liu, Y, Hu, K, Li, X, Liu, Y, Liu, D and Wang, J, 2012. The green mine campaign and sustainable mining in China, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2012, pp 339-342 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Jul 10, 2012

By M Laxman, A Kundu

After multiple tailings dam failures in recent times, the owner organisations have made increased efforts to step up the governance systems to industry best practise in the design, construction and operational management areas. The measures include but are not limited to, site investigation, rigorous peer review (both internal and external), certification through appropriately qualified personnel and improvement in operational management practises. While a lot of focus is on design and operational practices, the construction stage requires adaptation (both in terms of materials and approved design) and immediate decision making on site. Work undertaken in these areas is mostly irreversible and sometimes poses serious threat to the future TSF raise/ expansion planning and may lead to reduced life of the TSF and additional risk to the Owner.This technical paper will discuss some challenges and highlight the importance of appropriate processes to achieve a successful construction regime. The process will include a robust quality control/ quality assurance process, a team of designer-constructor-owner with suitable skills and technical understandings and robust documentation of the entire construction process from day 1 to the completion of construction.CITATION:Kundu, A and Laxman, M, 2018. Robust construction and quality assurance culture for tailings storage facilities – equally important as robust design and review practice, in Proceedings Mine Waste and Tailings Stewardship Conference 2018, pp 111–116 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 23, 2018

By M Nagarajan

Orica Mining Services (Orica) in partnership with Coal and Allied’s Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) has developed a risk management process to maximise mining efficiency whilst controlling vibration and maintaining critical electricity continuity to New South Wales (NSW) electricity grid in the Riverview Pit. The issue is a high tension tower which supplies electricity located within 40 m of mining and blasting activities. The process involved developing an understanding of the relationship between vibration, explosives, geology and the location of the blasting in the geological horizon. From this an optimum methodology for blasting in each region was developed.

Nov 8, 2011

By A Harburg, A Dendys, G Green

Dugald River Mine (DRM) is located approximately 85 km north-east of Mount Isa, and 65 km northwest of Cloncurry, in the north-west Queensland Minerals Province of Australia. DRM is an underground operation and includes an above ground processing area, a 200 ha tailings facility, two waste rock dumps and associated infrastructure. The mining method is conventional underground longhole open stoping and downhole benching of a lead/zinc deposit within a black slate environment. The deposit is estimated to contain ~53 Mt of zinc and lead, which will be mined over a 30-year period. During operations, waste rock is segregated into either Potentially Acid Forming (PAF) or Non-Acid Forming (NAF) based primarily on the sulfide concentration of the rock. In particular, the NAF waste rock is an asset and is used for various small construction projects during operation; however, its primary use is for rehabilitation work at closure. Since beginning operations in 2017, DRM has generated more NAF than was originally anticipated. Whilst this is an excellent asset to DRM, it did pose a logistical problem of where to store the additional NAF for the life-of-mine and how to manage the run-off. DRM experiences distinct wet and dry seasons with hot conditions and periods of rainfall between November to April, and relatively dry and mild conditions between May to October. Majority of rainfall is received between January and February with an annual average rainfall of 501.1 mm. Short and intense rainfall events are common. DRM’s above ground infrastructure is land-locked between two large ephemeral watercourses, making the significant expansion of any assets challenging from a permitting/regulation and cost perspective. MMG is also a member of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) and is committed to adapting to a changing climate through operations and closure. Following extensive studies DRM opted to store the additional NAF material into the adjoining NAF Dam and concurrently upgrade a previously minor sediment basin into a highly engineered sediment basin which relies on automatic flocculant dosing to meet the required discharge quality limits. This basin is climate-resilient in that the dosing system can be adjusted to counter high intensity extended rainfall events which produce highly variable inflow water quality. This abstract broadly describes how DRM designed and implemented an engineering innovation to enable the site to meet the changing climatic challenges. The abstract then describes the process to design the sediment basin and how the dosing rate was established and validated. Finally, the abstract comments on the effectiveness of the sediment basin and how it has revolutionised DRM’s approach to water treatment and management; all whilst minimising the disturbance footprint of the operation

Aug 2, 2023

Oceana Gold CorporationÆs (OGC) Frasers underground (FRUG) transitioned into production in early 2008. The mine uses a relatively unique yielding pillars mining method that takes its lessons from empirical coal mining practices more so than hard rock techniques. Being a low-grade, flat-dipping resource hosted in the highly structured relatively weak Otago schist in central South Island in New Zealand, meant a number of iterations were undertaken to find the right mix of mining cost and resource extraction. Mining is on the down dip extension of the active Frasers open pit at the Macraes site (that extracts the full shear zone package at a head grade of 1.5 g/t). The challenges for the FRUG feasibility study team was to deliver an net present value (NPV) positive operation that would exist as a coproduct with OGCÆs other New Zealand operations, allowing it to make use of the high throughput low cost refractory ore treatment facility.Key factors in the successful project design were: Net capital costs kept to less than NZ$30 M by realising significant gold revenues from mine development from month four onwards. Virtually eliminating waste development by putting all key capital infrastructure in the low-grade ore adjacent to panels and maintaining the option of extracting this resource on retreat from the mine. Targeting a specific higher grade halo ore package within the entire mineralised shear zone. Applying a mining method that accepted a higher degree of dilution, ore loss and resource loss (in yielding and non-yielding pillars) to the flat-dipping resource. Thus providing an acceptable margin per tonne and resource tonnes mix, as the resource could not support a conventional low-cost caving operation, nor a higher cost room and pillar or open stope and backfill operation. 2008 has seen increasing tonnes and grade performance with a corresponding decrease in cost per tonne and cost per ounce as the mine has reached nominal capacity and is producing an operating surplus. The challenge will be to maintain and improve.

Jan 1, 2009

By Heyer T, Wasmuth H-D

The concentrator plant of Fahrica Mine, that started production in 1977, was using nine Jones wet high intensity magnetic separators (WHIMS) of the standard type DP 317 with a 1.5 mm gap width for the production of pelletfeed concentrate. These WHIMS units were operating in parallel with a feed rate of 110 t per hour, with about 47 per cent Fe in the feed, and with a maximum of only 0.8 per cent magnetite. The field strength was about 1.2 Tesla. From 1986, the mine has adapted its production facilities to mine and concentrate larger amounts of lowgrade itabintes to maximise the use of the available iron ore reserves. An increase of up to three per cent magnetite in the magnetic separator feed, resulted in a reduction of capacity. This was due to partial clogging of the separation boxes at high field intensities, which were required for the recovery of the very fine hematite. Even by lowering the feed rate and the field intensity the problem could not be resolved. After extensive testwork in a pilot plant, with a Jones separator model DI' 90, the commercial WHIMS plant was modified into a two stage process using the existing nine Jones separators. The gap of the first stage with four machines was increased to a width of 3.5 mm, corresponding to a maximum field intensity of 0.7 Tesla. This first 'medium intensity scalping stage' is followed by a second 'real' high intensity WHIMS step with five machines operating at the original settings with 1.5 mm gap width and 1.0 Testa maximum field intensity. Feed rates of up to 320 tons per hour in the first and up to 240 tons per hour in the second stage could be achieved. The design concept of the concentrator at Fabrica mine is described using the old and new flowsheets. Details of the pilot plant testwork as well as actual performance data of the new plant section are presented.

Jan 1, 1993

By S Talu, E Savage, P Sturm, A van As

It is estimated that substandard ground support installations and elements cost the Rio Tinto Copper Group millions of dollars between 2000 and 2014. These issues have also created significant safety and financial risks in Rio Tinto mines. As a result, Rio Tinto Copper has developed CaveCAD, an integrated system to collect, store and analyse all ground support-related data. The CaveCAD system stores geotechnical data and has the ability to automatically import data, collect data through tablet applications, report processed/analysed data and present this data through 3D visualisation software.The CaveCAD Ground Support module closes the design–implementation–verification loop by providing a method of verifying the compliance of all installed ground support, recording manufacturer specifications, recording quality control test compliance and rectifying any non-conformant areas. The module uses innovative technology to create value through cost saving, safety improvements and data collection efficiency. Cost savings will be achieved by a decreased need for excavation rehabilitation, less ‘waste’ due to faulty installation and quality assurance checks reducing the likelihood of substandard support units being used. Data collection will be improved through the use of a mobile tablet application that can be used underground in ‘off-line’ environments.CITATION:Savage, E, Talu, S, Sturm, P and Van As, A, 2016. Development and implementation of the CaveCAD ground support module for cost and safety improvements in block cave mines, in Proceedings Seventh International Conference and Exhibition on Mass Mining (MassMin 2016), pp 769–772 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

May 9, 2016

By A Huebner, A Noack

Companies all over the world are very sensitive concerning their IT and network security. In most network connected technical installations and machines however, network security is not taken into account to a significant extent: insecure protocols are run, unencrypted information is exchanged freely and even broadcasted wirelessly and networked machines are accessible via insecure file transfer protocol (FTP).What happens in case of malfunctions of such technical installations? Who is responsible? Who can be held liable in case of accidents? The first computer worm for automation systems (æSTUXNETÆ) (Symantec, 2010) was discovered during 2010.The paper is intended to create sensitivity among decision makers for potential security and resulting safety leaks and points out the current status quo in technical network security. It outlines best practices for secure networking and procedures for remote access and remote software updates on stationary equipment and mobile mining machinery. It describes how to ensure authentic and genuine configurations and software targets and how to ensure secure communication for autonomous and remote controlled equipment. For such equipment in particular, the following statement should apply: æThere is no safety without network securityÆ.

Sep 26, 2011

By J Wood

Steady depletion of the world’s primary copper reserves coupled with a meteoric rise in electronic waste (e-waste) generation has led to secondary copper processing assuming an ever-increasing importance within the global copper industry. Treatment of secondary copper feeds at existing smelting operations has traditionally been performed in the Blast furnace, Peirce-Smith converter and/or anode furnace. In the past decade or more, bath smelting technologies have been preferred for the processing of these materials due to their superior environmental performance and flexibility to operate under a wide range of conditions. This paper focuses on the pyrometallurgical processing of copper secondaries in the Outotec Ausmelt TSL Furnace and some of the unique issues facing secondary copper smelters and downstream gas handling/cleaning equipment.

Aug 8, 2011

By A Lechner, T Baumgartl, S Arnold, P Audet

When revegetation is a part of a rehabilitation strategy at mine sites in arid and semi-arid environments, its success can be strongly affected by the availability of water prior or during the time of seed dormancy, germination and early growth of seedlings. The semi-arid and arid environments of northern Australia are characterised by highly variable and erratic rainfall and hence the actual weather conditions at and around the time of germination and seedling emergence play a critical role in determining the success of plant establishment and the type of plant community that may develop.Using available climate data, an analysis has been undertaken and a set of indices has been developed which describe the suitability of the climatic conditions for rehabilitation. In total, eight sites from Queensland and one site from New South Wales, Australia have been analysed. It could be determined that regular rainfall and relatively short periods of water-deficit are key characteristics of climate suitability. A comparison of the locations studied allowed the separation into suitable and susceptible locations in terms of the availability of water, amount of rain and duration of drought between rain events.In our experience, specific estimates of climate suitability are rarely incorporated into the design of mined land rehabilitation programs. We consider that the regional intensity, seasonality and extremity of climate represent an overarching component of landscape complexity, which in turn will influence the development of post-disturbance ecosystems in these regions. This paper presents the outcome of climate analyses paired with the development of suitability indices. A conceptual framework is presented explaining the suitability matrix and its incorporation as a prognosis tool to achieve greater certainty for success in rehabilitation development.CITATION:Baumgartl, T, Arnold, S, Audet, P and Lechner, A, 2014. Development of climate-based suitability indices for the improvement of success in rehabilitation, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2014 , pp 483–490 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 16, 2014

By R Williams, P Godwin

In a time of changing rainfall patterns and in the light of recent tailings dam failures, there is closer environmental scrutiny for proposed tailings dam construction or expansion. Therefore the elimination of the traditional tailings dam could provide both environmental and cost benefits to an operation. One method to dewater tails is using pressure filtration to achieve lower moistures than what is currently available using other dewatering technologies. Further benefits include a higher rate of filtrate recovery, reuse of waste material and the potential for dry stacking of the filtered tailings cake, thereby minimising both risk and cost. This paper chronicles the replacement of two existing belt filter presses with a single McLanahan recessed plate filter press to dewater a tailings stream at a Bacchus Marsh site. It covers the slurry testing, equipment selection, installation, commissioning and operation of the filter press to achieve the following objectives:• removing the current tailings dam and slimes cells from the existing process to minimise failure risk and reduce the cost of a dam upgrade, as well as operational and maintenance costs• free up the surface area which was previously occupied by tailings dams and slimes cells• recover additional water to be returned to the process• reduce flocculent usage• reduce truck movements and handling.The project’s owner also expects to reduce carbon emissions by over 3000 t over the lifetime of operation as well as substantially reducing operating expenditure. By recognising the carbon reduction benefits, the project owner was able to successfully achieve partial funding through the Voluntary Waste Industry Protocol.An unanticipated, but as yet unquantifiable, bonus for the project was to seek an offtake agreement for the tailings thereby allowing the tailings to be considered a valuable source of beneficiated clay suitable for the construction industry.CITATION:Godwin, P and Williams, R, 2017. Pressure filtered tailings – environmental and cost benefits, in Proceedings MetPlant 2017, pp 324–334 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 11, 2017

By G Harbort, T Georgiev, M Phillips

Phu Bia Mining Ltd, a subsidiary of Pan Australian Resources Ltd owns and operates the Phu Kham copper concentrator located in the Xaysomboun District, Lao PeopleÆs Democratic Republic. Construction and commissioning of the 12 Mt/a copper concentrator and associated facilities was undertaken by Ausenco Ltd and handed over to Phu Bia Mining Ltd in April, 2008. The first copper concentrate was produced in April 2008 and the ship carrying the first shipment of copper concentrate set sail 27 July 2008. Nameplate mill throughput was reached in August, 2008 when 1 020 000 dmt of ore was treated in the milling and flotation circuit. The Cu-Au mineralisation is contained in skarn and stockwork mineralisation and is interpreted as a distal expression of a conventional porphyry copper-gold system. Copper mineralisation is principally in the form of chalcopyrite with lesser bornite. Gold occurs as small grains, typically associated with copper minerals. In the upper portions of the orebody, oxidation and water table movements have resulted in near surface leaching of the copper and below the leached zone, supergene enrichment resulted in chalcocite mineralisation. The circuit operates with a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) û ball mill circuit, feeding a bank of OK200 rougher cells. Rougher concentrate is reground in an IsaMill prior to entering a cleaner circuit consisting of three stages of cleaning and one stage of cleaner scavenging. The concentrate typically assaying 24 per cent Cu and 6 - 7 g/t Au is hauled for over 1000 km across the border to the Port of Sriracha in Thailand, and stocked in sheds at the wharf from which it is shipped to various Asian smelters. This paper discusses the successful commissioning and ramp up to design tonnage and metallurgical performance. In addition, a program to optimise both the comminution and flotation circuit is detailed with reference to grinding efficiency, flotation residence time and size by size mineral recovery.

Jan 1, 2009

The Bendigo Goldfield is AustraliaÆs second largest goldfield, having produced 22 million ounces of gold between 1851 and 1954. Development of the modern decline mine, initially for underground exploration and bulk sampling, commenced in 1998. The project is targeting new reefs below and along from historic workings beneath the city of Bendigo. The major technical challenge for the project is the inability to solely use drill core gold assays to estimate the grade of reefs, due to the coarsegrained nature of gold mineralisation, known as the nugget effect. In 2002, a program of bulk sampling commenced, resulting in the development of factors for converting drill hole grades to in situ reef grades. In mid 2006 commercial production commenced following the construction of a 600 000 t/yr processing plant adjacent to the Kangaroo Flat Mine portal, with plant feed being derived from four reefs in the Sheepshead and Deborah lines of reef. In early 2007 it became clear that the initial ore reserves had been overestimated, leading to an immediate change of strategy from production to exploration. A cash conservation program was also put in place. Exploration refocused onto the more historically productive Garden Gully and New Chum lines of reef, whilst a new grade estimation tool based primarily on the visual assessment of drill core was implemented. Immediate exploration success occurred with the discovery of four reefs in the Garden Gully line in early 2007. Successful step-out drilling during the year led to the decision to undertake trial mining in Gill reef. Trial production commenced in June 2008 and includes the processing of discrete ore blocks and the introduction of selective mining techniques. This paper examines the steps that have been taken to refocus exploration and to gain confidence in new exploration results, particularly through the visual grade estimation technique and assessment of trial mining Gill reef on the Garden Gully line. In addition, project factors relating to human skills, community relationships and financial management in a dynamic external environment are also addressed.

Jan 1, 2009

By Z Endut, T F. Ng, G H. Teh, J H Abdul Aziz

"An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation. Gold mineralisation at the Penjom gold deposit in the Central Belt of Peninsular Malaysia is hosted in structurally-controlled quartz-carbonate veins that display a variable degree of overprinting events under a ductile-brittle regime. Mineralised veins are categorised into two main types: shear and extension veins. Shear veins are interpreted as forming during the fold and thrust episode (D2 event) along the bedding and the Penjom Thrust ore zone. The shear veins are associated with discordant extension veins. In addition, NE- to NNE-trending splays and Penjom-Thrust-parallel reverse-dextral and locally NNW to N–S reverse-sinistral faults overprint earlier vein events, forming a new episode of extensional veins during the D3 event. This is mostly at the fault contacts of intrusives, either as shallow-dipping or vertical-sheeted stockwork or brecciated veins. At least two episodes of faulting comprising D4-D5 are evident, which postdates the main episodes of veining and mineralisation. This is indicated by a series of late episode N–S-trending sinistral and oblique to normal faults that transect and displace the Penjom Thrust and the folded footwall sequence at low angles, and are interpreted to be responsible for intensive vein deformation along the Penjom Thrust and displacement of the orebody. Structural interpretations of mineralised veins suggest that the veins were formed under a compressional to transpressional regime, with later post-vein displacement in a transtensional to extensional regime. Vein formation in response to deformation observed at Penjom reflects regional structural deformation within the Central Belt of Peninsular Malaysia and specifically along the Bentong-Raub Suture zone.CITATION:Endut, Z, Ng, T F, Abdul Aziz, J H and Teh, G H, 2015. Style of veins in Penjom gold mine, Malaysia – implications for gold mineralisation and structural episodes, in Proceedings PACRIM 2015 Congress, pp 507–514 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 18, 2015

In Australia we usually define "resource" in purely material terms, and rarely relate it to intellect and human capacity. We look at the sheer abundance of our natural resources and are satisfied with the feeling that we don't really need-to rely on using our brains. Certainly our country is fortunate to have the mineral resources it does, but in many ways Australia's worst enemy is its "lucky country" syndrome because we tend to underutilise the great resource we have in the capacities of our people. Raw material exports will undoubtedly continue to contribute a major share of our export revenue, but to harness the riches our country has to offer most effectively we need the vision and planning necessary to bring together our material and human resources. There is a need not only to find, exploit and process our minerals economically, but to turn as much of our mineral wealth as possible into high value products before it leaves the country. In particular we must use our brainpower if we want to maximise economic benefit from and political influence over the strategic minerals which leave our shores. In the past we have been successful in finding and exploiting minerals because our mining industry has been in the forefront of private sector research and development. But if Australia is to have an advantage over other mineral rich countries in insulating itself from the effects of cyclical swings in commodity prices, then the future of the industry must lie even more in technological sophistication rather than depending. on such considerations as size and location of mineral deposits. To survive, our mineral industry must have the foresight and resourcefulness to make its own luck. There are two keys to increased efficiency in exploration and production and in further processing methods: enhancement of the skills of the workforce and continual improvement of R&D.

Jan 1, 1986

By T Hausler

The pitfalls, pleasures and management issues associated with international and remote projects are diverse.However, no problem is insurmountable and if an engineering team chooses (by luck or good planning) to push through the difficulties, success can mean an extremely satisfying experience for individuals and a significant, positive result for an organisation.International projects are not for the faint hearted or inflexible. Working in foreign lands with people who may or may not speak English and who may not initially respect you can become mentally and physically tiring.Sometimes the challenges are not fully explained to individuals in advance. Individuals then often learn about the challenges ù and discover solutions ù on the job. While this initially puts great pressure on individuals, matters improve eventually, especially when the locals come to understand that you are on site to make a positive difference.This paper will discuss aspects of a recent international project including meeting international clientsÆ expectations, dealing with cultural differences, social reckoning, environmental issues, and personal challenges. Specifically, it will cover aspects of working within a Russian cultural setting and overcoming social barriers.The paper also presents coping strategies for long periods of time spent away from home in remote places with extremes in weather beyond the normal experience of most Australians. For example, dealing with the effects of the spring thaw and coping with temperature ranges of -45 to +45¦C.Lastly, and possibly most importantly, there will be a focus on the role of translators. They have the power to make an engineer everyoneÆs best friend or, on your behalf, to order cold chicken liver and heart salad for lunch. If an engineering team can establish a working relationship with translators, they can become an invaluable asset and both on and off site.CITATION:Hausler, T, 2013. Achieving success in large-scale, remote area metallurgical plant projects, in Proceedings MetPlant 2013 , pp 539-552 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 15, 2013