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By Jr

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the requirements of a full due diligence study for a coal property acquisition in both text and table format. From the initial scoping of the assignment, the paper discusses in depth from reserve base validity and mineability; historic performance; plant and equipment; future mine plans; infrastructure; capital spending and operating costs; labour and management; future risk assessment and environmental liabilities; marketing; valuation and finally acquisition synergies. All are important areas to ensure the viability of the acquisition and to identify and minimise the project risks.

Jan 1, 2003

An airlift pump is fitted to the screw conveyor of a decanter type centrifuge in order to pump out soft cakes which are difficult to discharge from a standard decanter. The new patented2 design improves separation performance and allows more stable operation, particularly when operating the decanter as a thickener.

Jan 1, 1989

Boring of a 7.5Km long tunnel under the city of Stockholm commenced in January, 1987. The 3.5m diameter tunnel will pass under the buildings and as no ground settlement is allowed, the regulation for water leakage into the tunnel is very strict. Probe drilling will be carried out continuously ahead of the boring and when water is encountered the rock has to be grouted before passing with the TBM. The tunnelling system enables probe drilling to be carried out during boring with the TBM. This has earlier been a capacity reducing factor as the whole operation has been stopped during probe drilling. The project is using a new generation TBM especially developed for hard rock formations which require higher thrust per cutter to get a high penetration rate.

Jan 1, 1987

Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. I was delighted to be invited, and to accept the invitation, to welcome to this specialist meeting on an intriguing subject, the local participants and - most importantly - the international contributors. Technical o analysis of blast furnace operations has for many years formed the basis of intense research throughout the iron and steel industry, world wide, because the efficiency of blast furnace operation estab- lishes the foundation for all subsequent processes in a steel plant. So much depends on the constant, efficient performance of iron melting units in relation to costs, quality, regularity of operations and reli- able delivery performance to our customers.

Jan 1, 1981

Maximising margins in today's competitive international commodity markets demands superior productivity. This requires more than selecting the best equipment. It requires continually improving the efficiency of production, commercial, marketing and administrative processes under the control of solid modern management systems.This paper introduces an integrated way of working that includes proven management systems for successfully changing work practices and attitudes, developing managers and increasing accountability. It introduces a proven methodology for systematically involving people in sustained true continuous improvement of processes for maximising productivity, safety and revenue while minimising costs.

Jan 1, 1998

By Sorokin M. L, Komkov A. A

Flash smelting of nickel sulphide concentrate has been practiced at WMC's Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter for 20 years. The mineralogy of the concentrate from the original mines was particularly suited to this process. However, taking a strategic view, potential new processing routes should be fully evaluated as possible replacements for the current technology. The Vanyukov process has been under development in Russia for the past 40 years and has been successfully applied on a large scale to the smelting of copper concentrates, at two locations - Norilsk and Balkhash. The potential for the application of the Vanyukov process to the smelting of nickel concentrates offers a number of processing advantages, including smaller reactor and decreased dependence on fuel oil. This paper reports on preliminary investigations into the application of the Vanyukov process to the smelting of nickel concentrates. At this stage the investigations are limited to semi-quantitative comparisons and modelling studies.

Jan 1, 1992

By H El-Shall, R Stana a

An innovative process for the separation of carbonaceous minerals from bulk ores is presented. In this process, the surface of carbonate minerals is reacted with acid used to nucleate CO2 bubbles at the particle solution interface. Entraining the liberated CO2 gas at the surface via coating agent renders the particle more buoyant providing for a selective separation from non-carbonate containing masses. Different surfactants were tested to stabilise the bubbles and float the particles. In this paper, separation of dolomite from apatite using PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) as a coating agent, is discussed. Interestingly, up to 10 mm particle sizes can be floated. Moreover, flotation of a phosphate and dolomite mixture was carried out and MgO content

Jan 1, 2005

Silver and gold bearing ore from the Palmarejo mine, located within the Mexican state of Chihuahua, contains a complex mix of electrum, native silver, silver sulfides and silver chlorides. This paper presents a case study that describes the selection, development and engineering of a tailored process plant for the recovery of silver and gold from this ore. Process circuit feasibility study modelling, metallurgical test work and engineering studies are outlined. Options considered to optimise the recovery of the contained silver and gold are compared, based upon cost, operability, recovery and engineering aspects. Concentration by flotation was found to be the preferred primary recovery route. Intensive leaching of the flotation concentrate resulted in solution grades sufficient to allow direct electrowinning to be evaluated against the more traditional Merrill Crowe process. The flotation tailings stream is processed through a separate leaching stage as there is sufficient economic metal extractable from this stream. The processing flow sheet, which is designed to maximise the recovery from both the flotation concentrate and tailings, and to utilise a common metal production facility, is presented.

Jan 1, 2009

This paper reviews the use of MTU diesel engines in uses such as Off-Highway Vehicles, Rail traction, Generating Sets, Marine Propulsion and Defence Applications, and focuses on a central theme of maximum power in the minimum of space.

Jan 1, 1986

The coal under the ridgeline is the most valuable part of the known reserve at Solid EnergyÆs Stockton Opencast Mine. Some ridgeline mining had been attempted in the past with mixed results. Solid Energy recognised that significant project planning was required in order to overcome the formidable technical issues associated with mining the area. It also recognised that the local community also had concerns about the potential impacts of this work including the visual impact of changing the topography of the ridgeline and the nearness of the Department of Conservation estate.   This paper outlines some of the risks and challenges that were faced and the management approaches that were adopted to address them.

Jan 1, 2007

By Bearman R. A, Parkin R. M

Traditional quality control procedures for aggregates production within the quarry industry rely on off-line laboratory analysis, resulting in poor performance and inconsistent product quality. A high speed on-line aggregate classification system is described here. A product sampling system directs aggregate through an inspection chamber where a novel imaging system digitises the particle geometry. Data processing algorithms extract dimensional data and image features, while a neural network classifier assigns a qualitative shape descriptor to each rock particle. This system provides each sampled batch with a complete analysis of size and shape distributions, complementing a new generation of cone crusher technology to maximise product quality and plant efficiency.

Jan 1, 1995

By Jepsen L, Gifford M, Thomas G. S

Mine planning requires careful prediction of both the head grade and tonnage of mineralisation. As part of the planning process, operators of the Murrin Murrin nickel/cobalt orebodies (located in the Eastern Goldfields province of the Yilgarn

Jan 1, 1998

By Floyd JM

Conventional smelting reactor systems were designed to recover only one main element from their feedstocks. They did not possess sufficient flexibility to allow optimisation of co-production of multiple values from a complex feed.New reactors such as Sirosmelt and Top Blown Rotary Converters are providing new possibilities for making separation between components and this is of great significance for the complex feeds which are becoming prevalent in the metal extraction industry.Process routes using chemical procedures which take advantage of the flexibility of these reactors will be discussed in relation to a number of possible feedstocks.

Jan 1, 1985

Progress on this project will be verbally reported and a description given of the main features. A detailed feasibility study was completed in December 1986, and the Joint Venture has issued an Environmental Impact Statement. This was open for public comment until 16 February. Issues presently being considered include economic justification traffic, air quality, noise, marine fauna and flora, visual impact, heritage and construction impact. Detail design and construction is likely to commence in mid 1987, following determination of the above matters.

Jan 1, 1987

By Massy-Greene RB

Limited recourse financing techniques reduce the financial exposure of equity holders to major mining projects by transfering some of the risks to the banks which provide loan funds for project development. This can only be achieved by a clear understanding of the principles involved. Engineering and management decisions on how the resource is to be developed and extracted must be made in the light of lender's requirements. The structure of sales contracts, joint venture agreements and many other documents can be important in limited recourse financing. If projections show that the debt can be repaid from project cash flow, loan agreements and other arrangements can restrict lenders ability to look to the equity holders for repayment of project loans.

Jan 1, 1981

This paper describes a plant built at The Broken Hill Associated Smelters, Port Pirie to sample lead sinter automatically. As the plant is still in the commissioning stage results on the precision and accuracy of the sampling are not yet available, but some of the difficulties experienced during commissioning are discussed.

Jan 1, 1976

The nature of exploration in Australia is reviewed from its inception to the present time. It is seen as consisting of three phases: the first, prospecting; the second and third, mainly company-based activity. The first yielded the discoveries on which the mining industry was originally built. The great recent growth of the industry has been due mainly to the discoveries of the third. The technical, organisational, legis- lative and other aspects are reviewed. The overall result has been a very great increase in the known mineral resources and, viewed collectively, exploration is seen as providing the principal means of assessing, evaluating and building up the nation's mineral resources.

Jan 1, 1973

The recommissioning of the plant at Mary Kathleen involved several distinct phases. The previous plant process was modified significantly, the plant capacity was increased by the addition of new equipment and the exist- ing equipment was in most cases overhauled. This equipment was either reused in its original duty or relocated. Maintenance requirements after the plant was cmommissioned were high because of the amount of modified equipment and also because some old items of equipment were deliberately not overhauled during recommissioning. The equipment that was overhauled has operated reliably. However some new equipment has not been as satisfactory.

Jan 1, 1978

By Adranyl W. W

Sub-level caving with bottom ore drawing has gained wide acceptance in rich, soft, low magnetic iron ores because it provides moderate ore dilution and ore losses. The main problem here is the high rock pressure exerted on sub-level drives situated in the sub-level sill pillars. To reduce this effect, the ore block is divided into panels. This paper illustraes the method of determining the maximum panel width providing low maintenance cost of sub-level drives.

Jan 1, 1995

By Albinson T

Mexican epithermal deposits can be broadly grouped into two types based on their contained metals, distribution, associated igneous rocks and fluid inclusion compositions. Silver-gold deposits (e.g. Tayoltita) mostly occur in the western part of northern Mexico where host rocks consist of Eocene, intermediate composition volcanic and intrusive rocks; fluid inclusion studies indicate that mineralizing fluids were _10 eq. wt. % NaCl). The distribution of these two deposit types, crosscutting major major crustal sutures, and the close spatial-temporal relationships between mineralization and magmatism, together suggest that magmatic processes were more important in the formation of mineralizing solutions, as a source of both ligands and metals, than the segments of crust hosting deposits.

Jan 1, 1995