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This paper gives a general description of mining operations at the Mount Morgan Open Cut. Certain features such as blast hole diamond drilling, which may be of particular interest, have been described in detail. The paper is covered by the following headings:-1. History2. Ore Reserves and Production Data3. Mining Methodsa. Design and Layout of the Open Cut.b. Overburden and Ore Breaking.c. Loading and Transport of Ore and Overburden.d. Transport of Men and Supplies.e. Survey and Assay.f. Drainage.4. Power and Compressed Air5. Mining Equipmenta. Shovels.b. Mine Transport.c. Dozer Tractors.d. Drill Shop.6. CostsHISTORYIn order to appreciate fully the design of the present Open Cut at Mount Morgan, a brief outline of the Mine's history and past mining methods is necessary. In 1882 the Mount Morgan Syndicate began to mine this large gold-copper orebody by small hill-top quarries...

Jan 1, 1952

Geological maps, data, and prospectivity analysis relevant to mineral exploration in New Zealand have recently been released. Regional-scale geological mapping is increasingly available for the country through the QMAP 1:250 000 Geological Map of New Zealand programme. Published QMAP sheets Greymouth, Wakatipu, Waitaki and Dunedin cover large areas of interest for mineral exploration companies. The QMAP geological data are also available in digital form for use with other digital datasets using GIS software. Crown Minerals, in cooperation with GNS, have completed two gold prospectivity studies; the first covering mesothermal gold in the South Island, and the second encompassing epithermal gold in northern New Zealand. These studies have defined areas of interest for these two mineralisation types and assembled geological, mineral occurrence and production, geochemical, geophysical, topographic and cultural data into projects for use with GIS software. Included are the results of prospectivity modeling for gold using these data and specific mineralisation models. The prospectivity studies and relevant data are freely available on CD through Crown Minerals and are intended to encourage mineral exploration in New Zealand.

Jan 1, 2003

By Rayner B

Five wells have been drilled in the Basker/Manta Block of VIC/P19, Gippsland Basin, resulting in sub-economic Intra-Latrobe Group oil and gas discoveries at Basker-1 and Manta-1. A total of 21 individual hydrocarbon bearing sandstones were intersected by the two wells. These reservoir sand bodies were deposited by fluvial processes in a lower coastal plain environment. The modelling of sand body orientation and geometry is a critical component in the evaluation of the two accumulations. Seismic resolution of the thin (average 2 m to 5 m) sand bodies is inadequate for mapping their orientation and distribution. Dipmeter data has been successfully applied to the problem of orienting the sand bodies using FMS images acquired during the drilling of Gummy-1 and reprocessed HDT data from Basker-1 and Manta-1. Prediction of lateral extensiveness (geometry) of individual sand bodies has also been attempted. Interpreted palaeocurrent direction from all three wells is dominantly from the NW to the SE. Reservoirs in the Manta-1/Gummy-1 area are interpreted to be predominantly channel sands, deposited by relatively low sinuosity streams. As such they would tend to have a laterally extensive, elongate geometry. Sand bodies deposited in the Basker-1 area show a predominance of laterally accreted cycles deposited by meandering streams. Channel geometry may then be limited in the downstream/upstream direction by internal permeability barriers such as clay plugs.

Jan 1, 1992

Single particle breakage tests have been used by a number of researchers to investigate some salient features of the complex comminution process. The characteristics of the common single particle breakage tests such as single impact, double impact and slow compression tests are examined and the results from these tests are compared. A comparison of the results from single particle breakage tests with grindability and ball mill tests is given. Application of the results from single particle breakage tests to modelling industrial comminution processes is described. The necessity for further research into single particle breakage tests to develop a simple but comprehensive technique for estimating the breakage characteristics of ores is discussed.

Jan 1, 1986

Gold mineralisation at the Kerimenge-Lemenge prospects is a classical example of myltiple, overprinting events, associated with intrusive-related hydrothermal systems. Repeated emplacement of high level dacitic porphyry bodies (Edie Porphyry; 2.4 - 3.8 Ma) was accompanied by a phreatomagmatic eruption which formed a diatreme-maar complex. Later hydrothermal fluids utilised permeable fault zones and diatreme contacts. Mineralisation took place during two main events. Stage I consists of early quartz - illite/sericite - carbonate phase with associated pyrite-arsenopyrite mineralisation. This phase is zoned from quartz - sericite-pyrite/arsenopyrite in the south at depth, to dominantly manganocarbonate - illitic clay - arsenopyrite- pyrite_s significant base metals in the north and at shallow levels. The majority of known gold (18.1 Mt @ 2.0 g/t Au) at Kerimenge is associated with Stage I activity. The gold occurs primary within the lattice of the sulphides and is metallurgically refractory. Fluid inclusion studies indicate early boiling and progressive cooling and dilution of hydrothermal fluids during the evolution of the Stage I event. Near paleosurface condensation of gases, which evolved off the boiling system at depth, produced abundant low pH bicarbonate fluids. During the waning phases of Stage I activity, these bicarbonate condensate fluids descended down permeable structures and formed banded manganocarbonate veins. High grade non-refractory gold mineralisation during Stage II event is restricted to favourable structures at relatively shallow levels and in the northern regions of the prospect area. Gold in this event exhibits a distinctive Au - Ag - Te -Cu geochemical signature, and is associated with hessite - tennantite - chalcopyrite mineralisation within quartz veining. Alteration and fluid inclusion studies indicate that this style of mineralisation is a result of the quenching of pulses of hot, late magmatic mineralised fluids by the cold condensate waters.

Jan 1, 1997

Rational decision making is generally perceived by managers of operations to be a delicate process of committing large sums of money and putting other people's life at risk. Consequently most managers may argue that the decision process requires good judgement, intuition and extreme caution; and not one easily made through the use of fancy mathematical algorithms and computer programs. The advent of artificial intelligence and expert systems in the computer industry combined with recent technological innovations in mathematical and economic problem solving is sure to change this perception. PARETO OPTIMALITY is an economic and a mathematical optimisation concept applied to solving real life operational problems; and one that the current volatile economic forces would require managers to employ because it is virtually real. REALISMM is a computer software package developed using the principles of Pareto optimality, dynamic programming, optimal clustering of information and decision maker interaction to generate decision maker preferred solutions. REALISMM has scope for artificial intelligence and expert systems application for cases where the decision maker is unsure about his objective preferences.

Jan 1, 1993

The areas of concern lay in the processing of, and the subsequent hearing into, Waihi Gold's resource consent applications to extend Martha Mine. The proposed amendments to the Resource Management Act 1991 might see the introduction of contestability in the processing of applications - which would have assisted Waihi Gold; and the use of commissioners to hear the applications, with a right of appeal to the Environment Court on points of law only. It is also proposed to have major applications heard directly by the Environment Court. If Waihi Gold's applications had been heard at first instance by the Court, the delays in time and associated costs would have been reduced. However a hearing by commissioners only would not have been satisfactory, there being no right of appeal against the conditions of consent, which if implemented as granted by the Councils would have had a significant impact on the costs associated with the extended project.

Jan 1, 1998

Comparative Studies on Balls Versus Spheroidal Tetrahedrons Working Media to Ore Grinding in an Industrial Drum Mill

Sep 13, 2010

ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE INSTITUTE (MR. J. G. SYMONS) IN PRESENTING THE MEDAL TO LAURENCE CHARLES BRODlE-HALL, C.M.G.The Institute Medal is awarded to a select band of people who have rendered great service to the mining industry and the community. Tonight it is my privilege to present the 1976 Institute Medal to one of our members, Mr L. C. Brodie-Hall, C.M.G.Laurence Charles Brodie-Hall, as chief executive in Western Australia for Western Mining Corporation Limited (WMC) from 1958 to his retirement in 1975, had a profound influence on the company's growth and development which had a significant influence on the prosperity of the State of Western Australia and, in turn, Australia.Following the company's decision in 1952 to diversify from gold mining, he took a leading part in the exploration and development of the bauxite deposits in the Darling Ranges by a subsidiary company, Western Aluminium N.L., and the subsequent formation of Alcoa of Australia Limited, the development of the first long term export contract for iron ore from Western Australia, the development of the nickel deposits at Kambalda and the subsequent establishment of a nickel refinery and nickel smelter in Western Australia.

Jan 1, 1977

By K Cameron, S Strohmayr, J Wallace

In 2012, a single module heavy medium cyclone plant (HMP) was installed at the Glencore Zinc’s (then Xstrata Zinc) McArthur River lead zinc mine. The HMP formed the first part of the MRM Phase 3 Project to increase run of mine (ROM) capacity from 2.4 to 5.5 Mt/a.The purpose of the HMP is to remove liberated gangue from the crusher product at minimal loss of valuable mineral. The McArthur ores are very finely disseminated requiring a fine primary grind size prior to rougher flotation. Rejecting waste prior to grinding therefore offers significant power and grinding media savings. The plant was designed to treat only those ores with a reasonable upgrade ratio at the target zinc recovery across the HMP of 95%.On this basis, a 1.8 Mt/a single module plant was built based on 250 t/h feed rate and 82% availability. In contrast to existing base metal heavy medium plants in Australia, the MRM Flow sheet utilised the principles in modern coal heavy medium cyclone plant design. Since commissioning, the plant feed rate has been significantly increased and is now normally operated up to 540 t/h (dry basis).Although this throughput increase is partially due to debottlenecking work, it is also attributable to the conservative design parameters for base metal heavy medium cyclone circuits in comparison to those used in equivalent coal circuits.This paper discusses Flow sheet design and compares traditional base metal design parameters with those achieved at MRM and those of modern coal plants. It provides information on plant capital and operating costs and the net savings realised by its installation. In addition to power and grinding cost savings, the paper also highlights the savings in water through rejection of near dry waste and reduction of tailings pumped to the storage dam.CITATION:Wallace, J, Strohmayr, S and Cameron, K, 2015. McArthur River Mine heavy medium plant – the benefits of applying modern coal plant design principles to base metal heavy medium separation, in Proceedings MetPlant 2015, pp 311–323 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 7, 2015

The Kingsgate molybdenite pipes are considered on petrochemical data and field occurrence to be, possibly, epi-magmatic plutonic offshoots grading into hydrothermal bodies. There is reason to believe that the ore is derived from a highly acid granite of type similar to that of the tin bearing areas of northern New England. The mineralogy, microtextures and paragenesis of the ore are discussed.INTRODUCTIONThe Kingsgate Mining Field is situated in steep, heavily timbered terrain 18 miles E.N.E. of Glen Innes and 430 miles north of Sydney. Bismuth and molybdenum ores were discovered at Kingsgate (Yarrow Creek) in 1877. Subsequently some 50 pipes were developed yielding tonnages which at the peak of operations, 1905 to 1920, rivalled production from the rich deposits of northern Queensland.Attempts to revive the field have been made periodically and small parcels of ore have been forthcoming.' During World War II demand for piezioelectric quartz again focussed attention on Kingsgate but twinning and other imperfections of the quartz prevented all but a minor exploitation of the otherwise noteworthy crystals of this locality.There is reason to believe that the ore at Kingsgate is not exhausted through exploration and mining costs would probably be high due to the capricious nature of the pipes and to the irregular distribution of rich ore shoots within them.

Jan 1, 1962

By Van Dusen M

The involvement of concerned parties in all aspects of the Lihir Project from an early stage has promoted good relations between all groups. Activities involving landowners, the Lihir community, the New Ireland Provincial Government (NIPG) and the prospective developer include the Lihir Liaison Committee, Lihir Working Group, Environmental Planning Committee, Provincial Mining Task Force and the Lihir Mining Area Landowners Association (LMALA). With modifications, the Lihir Liaison model may be of use in promoting good relationships among parties in other mineral developments.

Jan 1, 1991

By P C. Couper, P C. Keall, S J. Mathews, A Francis

An epithermal gold-silver deposit is presently being developed at the Golden Cross Mine in the Waitekauri Valley, 8 km northwest of Waihi, New Zealand. Highest grade mineralisation underground is mainly confined to an elongate zone of strongly banded quartz veining on the hangingwall. Footwall veining is irregular, flatter lying, and of lower grade. Hydrothermal breccias in the ore zone may have economic grades where clasts of vein quartz are present. Jigsaw breccias, shingle breccias, and layered breccias with sedimentary type structures such as layering, crossbedding, and graded bedding have been identified proximal to, and within, quartz veins. Mineralisation in the open pit occurs in and adjacent to stockwork quartz veining.   Three alteration zones are recognised: a central silicic zone enclosing Au-Ag bearing quartz veins, an argillic zone above the stockwork zone and in the footwall of the underground ore zone, and a propylitic zone which is gradational with argillic zone. Intense shearing is confined to the less competent argillic zone.   Precious metal mineralogy consists of electrum (65% Au; 35% Ag) and argentiferous tetrahedrite, polybasite, pyrargyrite, argentite, and native silver. Pyrite is the dominant sulphide mineral. Marcasite, arsenopyrite, and rare chalcopyrite and sphalerite also occur. Oxidation ranges from a few metres in the argillic western stockwork zone to 100 m in fractured rock in the footwall of the stockwork.   The open pit contains a proved and probable reserve of 2.1 million tonne grading 3.5 g/t Au and 17 g/t Ag. The underground mine will produce 2.7 million tonne grading 7.8g/t Au and 27g/t Ag.

Jan 1, 1991

The phenomena of nature cannot present themselves to any thinking wild without claiming from it some solution. The earth, as it has often been observed, is laid out like a well ordered cabinet, presenting to us, in measure, some means of judging how the laws of nature and the essential properties of matter have worked out all we see before us. "That there have been depositions of strata gradually laid down aud stocked with the remains of the living objects, vegetable and animal, that flourished when they were being imposed, is an universally acknowledged fact. It speaks of a constantly maintained series of operations whereby the globe has been brought to its present condition, and which are ever advancing it to stages that are still before it. That immeasurable ages have been consumed in effecting these developments is also conceded. We witness the very graduated rate of the existing advances and can see that the past action must have been conducted in the same slow deliberate manner. There are many questions, however, upon which inquirers are not agreed, hence they are still within the domains of fair discussion.What has led to those great climatic changes whereby the same portions of the earth have had at various times climates that were glacial, temperate, and tropical? What causes the constant contortions and dislocations of strata and the upheaval and depression of land levels, and that there is a tendency to alternation in the parallel areas undergoing opposite kinds of movement as if the sinking of one area balanced the rIsing of another? What is the reason that the centres of volcanic action are continually shifting, and that the line of greatest activity is always upon the rising areas? That portions of the earth have been subjected to intense alid long continued volcanic action, and again to long periods of repose, and that the periods of activity and repose are·recurrent at long intervals of time? What the mountain chains of the world are in broadly parallel bands? What has caused the stratified rocks to be tilted from their original?

By Davies S. G, Mackey L. C

The oxidation of iron and nickel sulphide concentrates, and the dominant sulphide minerals which comprise them, has been studied under ignition conditions using thermogravimetry (fG). The concentrates were derived from various minesites and they showed differing tendencies to ignite. Ignition temperatures ranged from 416 to 488°C and the extents of reaction, measured at 500°C, varied from 64 to 88 percent. The reactivity of the least reactivematerial was improved significantly by grinding. Particles <63/lm showed 85 percent oxidation compared with 55 - 65 percent for particles >63/lm.Examination of the individual sulphide minerals revealed that these materials also have significantly different degrees ofreactivity and are subject to particle size effects. For particles <45/lm, the ignition temperatures were as follows:ò pyrite and violarite 380 - 385°C; pentlandite 425 - 430°C; and pyrrhotite 470 - 475°;ò for particles >90 /lm, the ignition values were: pyrite 395 - 400°C;ò violarite 430 - 435°C; pyrrhotite 540 - 545°C; and pentlandite 560 - 565°C.Using the data on the individual minerals it was possible to rationalise the differing degrees of reactivity of the concentrates. The role of the most reactive constituent in initiating the ignition reaction has also been discussed.Finally, the results of this work were found to compare. favourably with the behaviour ofthe concentrates in industrial and pilot-scale flash smelters.

Jan 1, 1989

Terramin Australia LimitedÆs Angas Lead and Zinc Mine operates in the unique and picturesque environment of Adelaide Hills, 60 km South East of the Adelaide city centre itself. The mine was granted approval for construction by the South Australian Government in April 2007 and the Process Plant was constructed and commissioned in July 2008. This paper outlines the background to the plant design and the approval process given the close proximity to the local town of Strathalbyn, with a major focus on the commissioning learnings from the Concentrator startup for future reference and a review of the operational performance of the Concentrator throughout the first year of successful production versus design and expectations.

Jan 1, 2009

By L-B Fu and J Tan, J H. Wei, N Tian

"An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation. The Kendenggaoer-Kuokuqueke region lies in the western part of Chinese North-western Tianshan. New laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry zircon U-Pb geochronology for five separate granitic plutons for this region reveal two distinct intrusive periods: late Devonian (367~361 Ma) and late Carboniferous (315~301 Ma). These intrusions all share an arc-like geochemical affinity (ie enrichment of large ion lithosphere elements and negative anomalies of Nb, Ta and Ti). In situ zircon Hf isotopic compositions further differentiate the magmatic cycle, with the late Devonian intrusions yielding more depleted eHf(t) (+1.47~+6.54) composition than the late Carboniferous intrusions (eHf(t) = +4.95~+9.79). These geochemical data suggest that they might be mainly derived from different source regions and the tectonic setting was transformed into post-collisional in the late Carboniferous. As in many significant porphyry-ore districts, this dramatic tectonic reconfiguration, combined with melting of an evolved crust, resulted in genesis of metal-bearing melts. Furthermore, we can show that Neoproterozoic mafic juvenile lower crust intruded by mantle-derived melts and/or partial melting of slab material generated hybrid primary magma during subduction of the Palaeo-Junggar oceanic crust in the late Devonian. Whereas underplating of mantle-derived magma contributed more to the Late Carboniferous post-collisional magmatism.CITATION:Tian, N, Wei, J H, Fu, L-B and Tan, J, 2015. Timing and geodynamic setting of the late Palaeozoic polymetallic mineralisation in Chinese north-western Tianshan – insights from geochronology and petrogenesis of granitoids , in Proceedings PACRIM 2015 Congress, pp 171–174 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 18, 2015

ABSTRACTMechanised cut and fill stoping in the Racecourse orebodies between II and 9 levels was started in 1964.Five stopes are in progress over the two level interval, extracting the full strike length (600-2,000 ft) of each orebody without transverse pillars.Each stope is served by a central 10 ft by 12 ft service intake ventilation raise and an 8 ft by 8 ft return air raise at each end of the stope. Each stope is divided into two sections for drilling. firing. mucking, and fillingto maintain steady production. All equipment is kept in the stope for one level lift stoping. Gardner-Denver 2 boom jumbos are used for uphole drilling and Wagner ST 5 Scooptrams for loading and transport to ore passes located in the footwall of the orebody. A Wagner PTIO is used for materials handling and scaling of the stope backs.Mill tailings, after one stage of cycloning are used to fill the stope, one section at a time. About 80 per cent of the water is removed by decantation while the remainder percolates through hessian-covered pipes and boxes.The ore is passed to 11 level where it is hauled by the 3 ft 6 in. gauge train to the tipple at the shaft area. The ore is crushed underground before hoisting to the surface.A performance of about 100 ton/manshift is achieved by the drilling, blasting, and mucking crews in the stopes.

Jan 1, 1968

TowerMill - Advantages in Wet Grinding Applications The TowerMill, which has now been in existence for no less than 50 years, is one alternative to the horizontal ball mill and offers several advantages. The TowerMill is widely used in (coal-fired) electric power plants for the grinding of raw material for the FGD (Flue Gas Desulphurisation) process involving very high throughputs, very fine product sizes and high availability. Some companies in the mining industry also looked at the use of such optimised grinding machines several years ago and found that many of the advantages offered in other industries are transferable to new applications. Much development work has been undertaken to improve the TowerMill for new applications and, as part of that work, tests have also been conducted to make direct comparisons of their performance with that of ball mills. Grinding tests were performed using the same raw materials and comparable machine sizes. Some of the results are discussed in this paper, along with a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages. The conclusion provides an outlook for some worthwhile future applications. The test results, which are described and analysed, show that the TowerMill offers significant advantages in relation to operating costs and operational safety. An example based on the wet grinding of limestone is presented.

Sep 13, 2010

Using DEM to Model Industrial Banana Screens

Sep 13, 2010