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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 Oyarzún

Direct relationships between rock texture and BWi (grindability index) have been established based on geological and metallurgical information supported by optical microscopy observations, gathered from 731 samples.Each recognised rock texture is observed to be related to a certain BWi range and, this texture is also characteristic of distinct lithological subunits (recognisable at mapping scale). Therefore, this relationship may provide an important tool for early milling in situ estimation.Since each textural type is a response to rock formation conditions, the causality of the relationship between BWi and texture is based on such conditions and, particularly, on the interfacial free energy among its components.According to the abovementioned textural features, the greater the free interfacial energy between mineral components, the greater the necessary energy required to break its grain boundaries and, consequently, the greater the necessary energy required for milling.If the textural evidence indicates that the rock was able to adjust the shape and/or size of its components – in a natural tendency of all systems to minimise energy– then the necessary energy required to break its grain boundaries will be lower.

Sep 5, 2011

By R Barritt

Remedial options for a waste rock dump (WRD) were considered as part of closure planning studies at an active mine in Western Australia. To minimise the impact of any seepage from the landform it was determined that placement cover system utilising the moisture ‘store-and-release’ concept was appropriate. The purpose of the cover system was to:•Reduce net infiltration of meteoric water to attenuate peak concentrations for contaminants of concern in natural receptors to levels that can be assimilated without adverse impact to the surrounding ecosystem; •Provide a growth medium for establishment of a sustainable vegetation canopy; and •Improve current quality of surface water runoff from waste storage areas.The project comprised several phases of work: materials characterisation, numerical soil-plant-atmosphere (SPA) modelling and finally cover system construction and monitoring equipment installation.CITATION:Barritt, R, 2018. Conclusions from long-term cover system performance monitoring – a case study, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2018, pp 101–105 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 25, 2018

The uptake of nickel into the lattice of pyrrhotite,Fel_oS has been studied experimentally in the temperaturerange 200 DC to 760 DC. Nickel from both aqueous solutionsand salt melts diffuses rapidly into the sulphide latticewith ,an accompanying rel~ase of iron into the solution ormelt. The rate of uptake of nickel and its diffusion intothe sulphide lattice have been followed ,by opticalmicroscopy and by analysis with an electron probe microanalyser.Some geological consequences of this phenomenonaffecting the distribution of nickel in rocks associatedwith nickel-iron sulphide ores are discussed.

Jan 1, 1980

The phosphatic overburden of Christmas Island is a lateritic soil and consists dominantly of crandallite and millisite. These minerals are polymorphs of general formula, (Na,K)x Ca2-x (Al, Fe)6 (PO4)4 (OH)10-x (2+x) H2O. Iron occurs only in millisite. Both minerals exhibit similar thermal transformations, dehydroxylating near 600¦C and recrystallizing above 800¦C. Dehydroxylation results in crystal structure collapse but retention of crystal morphology. Ggethite, boehmite and apatite are minor constituents of some-of the phosphatic Soils.

Jan 1, 1971

By M Burdick, A Harding, M Krulc, M Chappell

Substantial schedule advantages can be made on projects if cross-passage construction can occur at the same time as tunnel boring machine (TBM) operation with little or no impact on TBM logistics. However, this approach can prove difficult to achieve with many of the more cost-effective means of supporting the segmental lining during cross-passage break-out. This paper discusses the constraints and shortcomings of conventional approaches, and describes how a cost-effective solution involving a shotcrete shell and opening constructed inside the segmental lining was designed and constructed to deliver cost and time savings on Seattle University Link contract U220.The paper explains the spatial and schedule constraints on the TBM tunnelling and cross-passage construction, and how a shotcrete solution was arrived at in preference to traditional approaches. As the solution was novel the design had to be robust, and the paper explains how this was achieved through a combination of 3D finite element modelling and closed form solutions. Following a description of the trials to verify that the structure could be demolished post-cross-passage completion, the paper describes how the shell solution was constructed, used and demolished safely to leave the lining surface in a clean and undamaged state fit for tunnel operation.CITATION:Harding, A, Chappell, M, Burdick, M and Krulc, M, 2014. Opening supports to segmental linings – a novel shotcrete support solution, in Proceedings 15th Australasian Tunnelling Conference 2014 , pp 267–274 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 17, 2014

Sublevel open stoping (S.L.O.S.) was introduced at Rosebery in 1972 in the wider ore blocks below 14 level, largely replacing cut and fill methods which had been in use up till that time. During 1973/74 the method produced 10% of primary stoping tonnes, and by 1981/82 it increased to 65%. Because of the increasing reliance placed on sublevel open stoping for primary stoping production, every effort was made in both planning and operating to: - maximise ore recovery and reduce dilution - increase productivity - reduce costs.

Jan 1, 1982

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

Alcoa of Australia's Del Park mining op eration is centred 9 km. east of the Pinjarra alumina refinery, and is centrally locatedwith- in the 10, 000 sq. km. lease which the Company holds for bauxite in the Darling Ranges. An- other mining operation is situated near the township of Jarrahdale, and supplies bauxite to the Kwinana refinery. Definition of the bauxite ore, development works and mining to the ore haulage stage, are identical for both mining operations. Exper- ience, and production cost figures, obtained from the Jarrahdale mine, where 100 tonne trucks are used to haul ore to a fixed crushing plant, led to the development of the Del Park mining concept with increased mobility of op- erations. The crushing-conveying-stockpiling arrangement at Del Park consists of a 1200 t. p. h. mobile crusher feeding bauxite to an overland conveyor system which transports the ore approximately 6. 66 km. to the stockpile area in the refinery. In the refinery raw mat- erials area the bauxite is distributed into 200, 000 tonne stockpiles by means of a travel- ling boom stacker.

Jan 1, 1973

By G R. Hancock, M J. Saynor, J B. C Lowry, K G. Evans, M Narayan

Tools such as landform evolution models (LEMs) provide a means of predicting how a landform may evolve over extended periods of time. Here, we utilise the CAESAR-Lisflood LEM to assess a proposed rehabilitated landform of the Ranger Uranium Mine in the Northern Territory of Australia (Figure 1). The environmental requirements for the closure of the mine state that the final landform must be able to physically isolate tailings material from the environment for a period of at least 10,000 years (Australian Government, 1999). However, uncertainty exists as to the reliability of model predictions representing thousands of years.In this study, we use model predictions from an undisturbed pre-mine landform to calibrate the parameters used in model simulations of a post-mining rehabilitated landform over a simulated period of 1,000 years. Specifically, we vary environmental conditions such as rainfall, presence/absence of vegetation and surface particle size characteristics in a series of model simulations to determine their impact on the respective landforms, to revise model input parameters as required. A simulated period of 1,000 years was used as it represents a period in which long term landform evolution patterns and trends may be established and identified. CITATION:Lowry, J B C, Narayan, M, Evans, K G, Saynor, M J and Hancock, G R, 2018. Using an undisturbed landform to calibrate long-term predictions of the evolution of a rehabilitated landform, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2018, pp 133–137 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 25, 2018

By T Baumgartl, A Costine, B Boshrouyeh, M Edraki

In mineral processing, the management of tailings may become increasingly more challenging with a change of ore type and the quality of water used in the plant. This, in turn, may affect the overall costs of the operation and water usage and, in the long-term, pose challenges for mine closure and rehabilitation. Depending on the applied treatment technique, the short and long-term properties of tailings are largely determined by the fine particles. Most clay materials and ultrafine particles exist in tailings from oil sands, coalmines and base metals, bringing about challenges in dewatering performance. Moreover, given the growing concern for water scarcity, the minerals industry is increasingly turning towards the use of saline water, which poses yet another challenge for tailings management. The high salt content alters the behaviour of clay particles, making dewatering a more complex process than in freshwater systems (Boshrouyeh Ghandashtani et al, 2022; Costine et al, 2018). High-density techniques for tailings management have been used for several years in the mineral industry. In this regard, one of the novel and promising dewatering methods is in-pipe or inline flocculation, where the polymer is added at high dosages to thickener underflows, giving additional (likely denser) aggregation, releasing more water on deposition compared to low solids thickening. Previous research in the field of flocculation has primarily focused on the process of flocculation itself, specifically the settling rate and size of aggregates, rather than the long-term impacts of the produced tailings materials (Liu et al, 2020; Jeldres et al, 2017). This is particularly true for the novel method of this technology, where polymer is added to the thickener underflow. Furthermore, these studies have used small-scale set-ups using buckets/beakers, plungers and mechanical stirrers for the flocculation process. Unfortunately, these methods lack the necessary control over the properties of the treated tailings, which can lead to irreproducible mixing and dispersion of viscous polymer solutions (Fawell, Costine and Grabsch, 2015). Consequently, a system that can work with a wide range of operational conditions for high-solid tailings material is essential for reliable and reproducible results. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of different type of polymers in the presence of monovalent and divalent salts on the inline flocculation of artificial tailings. The next step was to evaluate the impact of high-dosage polymer addition on geotechnical properties such as settling rate, consolidated density, rate of consolidation and the hydraulic conductivity of tailings. In addition, this research aimed to fill a knowledge gap and investigate the feasibility of using polymer-treated tailing in removing the copper ions and then quantify the performance of produced aggregates under time-dependent processes.

Aug 2, 2023

By Reeve JS

Heap leaching is a low capital cost alternative to conventional processing techniques for gold recovery from areas that contain small gold particles in a porous host rock.For successful heap leaching the ores to be leached must maintain good permeability after being stacked into heaps so that the leach solutions can percolate evenly through them.The presence of clays, slimes or excessive amounts of fines can hamper the flow of leach solutions causing channelling and producing dormant or unleached areas within the heaps. This results in unreasonably long leach periods and poor extractions. In extreme cases the clays or fines completely seal ore heaps, causing leach solutions to run off the sides of t'he heaps rather than penetrate the ore.The Northern Queensland Company uses the Agglomeration Heap Leach technique (AHL) to overcome the difficulties associated with clays or fines. This technique involves cementing the fines, by using readily available binders, into a rigid, porous network that greatly enhances uniform flow of cyanide leach solutions through the ore heaps.

Jan 1, 1986

By M Berry

Many mining companies routinely use benchmarking to review their operational activities and associated costs. The aim is to measure operational performance against industry norms, and identify areas where a company is performing better or worse than industry best practice. The goal is continuous improvement.In general, mine technical services, including mining geology activities, are not routinely benchmarked. There are exceptions, such as the cost of drilling per metre and the average discovery cost per unit of metal, but generally mining geology activities are only included indirectly in mining benchmarking studies.Aspects of benchmarking can play a critical role in assisting mining geologists to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the services they provide. Industry norms for many generic mining geology functions have not been developed and measured, and therefore it is impossible to use external benchmarking to assess performance against other mines. But when used in parallel with quantifying the value of mining geology functions and establishing strategic goals for the team, key components of benchmarking methodology can provide essential feedback on how a team is performing against these strategic goals.CITATION:Berry, M, 2014. Benchmarking – does it have a role in improving the performance of mining geology?, in Proceedings Ninth International Mining Geology Conference 2014 , pp 361–366 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 18, 2014

This paper aims to address the issue of the public's image of the extractive minerals industry. What is it about the industry that incites such negative feelings and are they justified? Are we really the 'rapists of the land' that many would have us believe? Has the industry really not improved since the old gold boom days?   I believe that the fundamental cause for the public's view is lack of knowledge and understanding of the industry as a result of the dislocation of the end production from its source. There are few people who look at a house, car, record, toilet, tooth-brush, bottle of coke or pair of glasses and see the mine site that supplied the source material. But the mine site and its products should be inseparably linked. This is one area where we should be educating the public û it is all very well being anti-development but the population as a whole is not really prepared to live without its 'mineral'-derived necessities. It is very easy to say that we do not want minerals development in New Zealand but are we prepared to live with the consequences, ie go without its products? We have a duty as a global citizen to develop our own resources rather than expect Third World nations desperate for overseas investment, often with governments who are not prepared to constrain or control their development, to be exploited. New Zealand is not the only 'beautiful' place in the world and we should be aware of the impact that our demands for resources have on the countries who supply us. We have a duty to be a good global citizen.   So how does the industry improve its public image? The key here has to be to educate. This does not have to be high powered or expensive but can be as simple as getting a few local kids' hands dirty panning, and gaining some firsthand knowledge of the industry. The industry also needs to be more pro-active in the public arena. Yes, the industry has skeletons, but the industry should be publicly displaying them û admit that things have gone wrong but let's do it ourselves and not leave it up to the environmental groups to accuse, point the finger and put the industry under public scrutiny. The industry should also be publicising its successes, inviting the local press, councils, etc to view the latest area rehabilitated. But more than anything else we must tell the public what the minerals industry means to New Zealand. Can they really live without us?

Jan 1, 1991

By M Berner, N A. Sifferlinger, E Fimbinger

Today, the advance rate of underground roadway development by drill and blast operation is limited by the need to ventilate the toxic blast fumes after each cycle. In deep mines this usually is only possible during shift changes when the related mine sections are free of persons. This results in roadway development advance rates of 4 m per shift, or 12 m per day. For long roadways this is a limiting factor in mining development in deep mines. Companies like EPIROC, KOMATSU, ROBBINS and SANDVIK are making serious R&D efforts to disc-cutting mobile miners to overcome this bottleneck. However, today, the achieved advance rates are less than 12 m per day in hard rock. If we achieve full robotisation and/or teleoperation from a safe place for drill and blast operation of an underground roadway development section, we could eliminate this bottleneck. Poisonous blasting fumes do not affect robots and machines as long as these fumes do not create aggressive acids. If we can keep the blast fumes isolated in the roadway development section for the shift until the next ventilation opportunity (eg shift change or designated ventilation times), we can do the drill and blast cycle more often in a shift, which will significantly speed up the advance rate. This requires robotisation of all work steps in the section: surveying, drilling, charging of explosives, blasting, loading and transporting material, roof support, installation of infrastructure etc. Also, cache storage for the material is needed. Special care for the ventilation system to keep the blasting fumes under control in the section is necessary. The paper discusses the aspects needed to achieve this robotisation and the related technical and operational tasks.

Sep 1, 2024

By J Shandro

This paper stems from recent multidisciplinary research between mining engineering and health researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria, Canada. It considers the implications of a future state of sustainable mining development that places more emphasis on consideration of mine community health and sustainability within the definition of mine planning best practice. It reviews recently completed research studies on mining and other resource communities in British Columbia, Canada and a process undertaken by the research team to share research findings. It then examines the outcomes of this knowledge sharing process placing emphasis on the development of a more collaborative and enhanced mine planning process that integrates community- level indicators of health and sustainability to more effectively address mine impact-benefits. The paper concludes by discussing current initiatives that aim to benefit the mining industry, communities, and governments as they plan future mineral development projects.

Nov 22, 2011

By A Murphy

Mining plants and infrastructure, and the decisions made by their designers, can have large impacts on their environmental and social context, commonly referred to as the site or plant footprint. They can also be the source of constructive contributions to sustainable development when designers are enabled via the information, systems and tools to incorporate sustainability in engineering processes. A facility’s footprint and the project’s contribution to sustainability – economic, environmental and social aspects – are now key considerations in regulatory approval processes and are the fundamental drivers of support, or opposition, from the project’s stakeholders.Historically, plant and infrastructure designers have not been well integrated with the environmental and social professionals who are engaged to pursue regulatory approvals. Despite this, many objectives central to technical and process engineering have in fact contributed positively to a facility’s footprint and indeed its contribution to sustainable development. Examples of these objectives include increasing process and energy efficiency, and minimising the quantities of waste requiring disposal. With the framework of sustainability, mining plant and infrastructure designers are indeed at the forefront of incorporating sustainability into resource industry projects and are central to the process of obtaining regulatory approvals and ongoing stakeholder support. The process of incorporation starts with a shared understanding of sustainability and sustainable development, and continues with project processes that facilitate information and knowledge exchange throughout the project life cycle.CITATION:Murphy, A, 2014. Incorporating sustainability into mining plant and infrastructure design, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2014 , pp 637–646 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 16, 2014

By R Ibarra, H Solis, G Teowee, B E. Papillon

The authors have previously described a piezoelectric-based system to measure the dynamic pressure during actual detonation in the field. This technique is used in a water hammer test set-up where a donor detonator is fired first, with the pressure sensor and an acceptor electronic detonator placed underwater in a water tank, and maintained at a fixed distance away from the donor detonator. The functioning and timing of the acceptor detonator are captured using a customised microcontroller board called the water hammer timer. Using such water hammer testing, the effect of dynamic pressure was studied as a function of the magnitude of pressure during the electronic timing countdown. Data obtained indicate there is no significant impact in the timing of the electronic detonators in contrast to what has been reported in non-electric detonators.CITATION:Teowee, G, Solis, H, Papillon, B E and Ibarra, R, 2015. Effect of dynamic pressure on electronic detonator timing, in Proceedings 11th International Symposium on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting, pp 575–578 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 24, 2015

By G R. Hancock, J F. Martín Duque

Post-mining landscapes are required to geomorphologically and ecologically integrate with their surrounds (Martín Duque et al., 2015). Designing and constructing an erosionally stable landform is the first and arguably most important part of the rehabilitation process. Without an erosionally stable landform topsoil and nutrients are lost, shallow groundwater is depleted as well as when excessive erosion occurs, expose suboptimal materials. Here we examine the ideas of geomorphic design and rehabilitation and how the landform can be tested and enhanced using computer based design and landscape evolution models. Specifically we evaluate the complementary capabilities of landscape modelling (SIBERIA) (Hancock and Willgoose, 2017) and geomorphic design software (Natural Regrade with GeoFluv) (Bugosh et al., 2016), in order to maximise erosional stability on post-mining landscapes (Zapico et al., 2018). CITATION:Hancock, G R and Martín Duque, J F, 2018. Geomorphic design and landscape evolution modelling for best practice mine rehabilitation, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2018, pp 119–121 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 25, 2018

By P Moynagh

"A plan is critical but on its own it is a bit one dimensional, the three dimensions critical to success over the long-term, through changing economic, geological and management conditions are:the quality of your planning an ability to see and adapt to change a disciplined continual improvement/learning system.This paper will examine how a number of major Australian resource companies have used a commitment management system to connect the ‘theory’ embodied in plans (whether mine, project, maintenance or training plans) and immediate reality ‘practice’ as experienced by supervisors and their crews in the workplace. This paper draws on management theory embodied in management operating systems (MOS), Lean, Theory of Constraints and Six Sigma approaches to continuous improvement and a good dose of real world experience. It is embodied in the statement: ‘successful organisations are driven by a series of commitments that people make to each other and deliver on’.Citation:Moynagh, P, 2016. Everyone Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Mouth – Creating Trust, Commitment and Results in Tough Times, in Proceedings Ninth AusIMM Open Pit Operators' Conference 2016, pp 293–299 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Nov 15, 2016