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By W Lunwongsa, S Meffre, S Nuanla-ong, K Zaw, R James, A Salam

Gold and silver mineralisation at the Chatree low sulfidation deposit is hosted in andesitic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks and characterised by multiple hydrothermal alteration assemblages and quartz-carbonate (chlorite-adularia) replacements, veins and breccias. The ore-bearing veins are influenced by intersecting structures and host rock lithologies. Emplacement of the host succession occurred at 250 ¦ 6 Ma (dated with laser ablation ICP-MS U-Pb zircon techniques), which was closely followed by mineralisation at 250.9 ¦ 0.8 Ma based on the analysis of adularia from coarse-grained quartz-sulfide (chalcopyrite-pyrite- sphalerite) veins using laser ablation Ar-Ar methods. An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation.

Jan 1, 2008

The non-metallic minerals, excluding the construc- tions and fuel materials have for long been the "poor relations" of the Mining Industry of New South Wales. The State is self-sufficient in only a few of the industrial minerals and is almost completely lacking in any of the essential fertilizers. The deficiencies must be met by imports from overseas and interstate and in fact New South Wales imports some quantity of every one of the non-metallics. For the year 1967 the value of non-metallic mineral production amounted to only $9,390,000 or less than 3.5% of the States total of $275,900,000 for all classes of mining and quarrying. In roughly the same period, the 1967-68 financial year, New South Wales imported non- metallic materials, valued at well in excess of $22,000,000 from overseas and over $2,000,000 from interstate sources.

Jan 1, 1969

A pilot plant has been constructed for the low temperature carboni-zation of Wallarah (N,S,W6) coal at the rate of 300 pounds per hour. The plant was built and tested at Australian Mineral Development Laboratories for Broken Hill Pty, Ltd. Char product was required within the specifi-cation 15.5 `S' 1 per cent volatile matter. The design was based c atz an entrained state carbonizer developed by Parry and U.S. Bureau of Mines co-workers at Denver, U.S.A. The method involved the carbonizatioan of fine coal by entrainment with air in an externally heated reactor.. The heat required for carbonization of tits coal was supplied to the be, both through the reactor walls and also by internal cambustion of products .

Jan 1, 1963

By B Wong, R G. Coleman

In flotation, the selection of the size, number and type of cell for a particular duty depends on two important factors. Firstly, the required flotation residence time and secondly, the physical constraints of how much concentrate can be recovered for a given froth surface area and concentrate lip length. The residence time is influenced by ore type and characteristics such as liberation, kinetics and reagent dosage. The amount of concentrate that can be recovered for a given froth surface area and lip length depends on ore type and other characteristics such as particle size, specific gravity and mineral grade. Residence time is determined through a combination of laboratory-scale test work and design scale-up factors. However the critical froth transport parameters such as froth carry rate and froth lip loading cannot be determined in a laboratory. This is because the froth is scraped during a laboratory flotation test and thus does not exhibit natural behaviour, and it is not possible to scale-up froth transport distance or air rate. These values are generally compared via calculation to rule-of-thumb maximum values to establish if these values will be exceeded by the flotation cell selection.This paper first reviews these critical froth transport parameters and then discusses actual parameter values across diverse operating sites, with varying cell duties, cell sizes and types, orebodies and particle sizes. These values are compared against the industry rule-of-thumb to test the applicability of the rule-of-thumb to actual performance. Options are also presented for adjusting these parameters in operating flotation cells.CITATION:Coleman, R G and Wong, B, 2018. Flotation launder design and the measurement of critical froth transport parameters, in Proceedings 14th AusIMM Mill Operators' Conference 2018, pp 353–362 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 29, 2018

By G Lane, M Bueno

In a recent publication (Bueno and Lane, 2011) the authors presented the analysis of a consolidated dataset composed by 137 autogenous/semi-autogenous grinding (AG/SAG) mill pilot trials. By comparing the measured data against theoretical specific energy consumption, the analysis indicated which circuit configurations were more or less energy efficient. However, the analysis has also indicated that the energy efficiency of each of the types of circuits vary significantly.There are numerous factors that contribute to the variations of energy efficiency of AG/SAG mill-based circuits, such as feed size distribution, recycle ratios and ore characteristics. In view of this, the present work accesses these factors individually and discusses what may lead a particular circuit configuration to be more or less efficient in terms of energy and costs.CITATION:Bueno, M and Lane, G, 2012. Key drivers of energy and cost efficiency in autogenous/semi-autogenous grinding circuits, in Proceedings 11th AusIMM Mill OperatorsÆ Conference, pp 113-118 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Oct 29, 2012

By S Talu, E Savage, S Howe

Major falls of ground, strainbursts, airblast and mudrush events are the major hazards in block caving environments, resulting in both safety and financial consequences and losses. Rio Tinto mines have developed strategies to reduce the likelihood of these events occurring. However, until recently, there have been no tools available to monitor and manage these hazards in real time.Mira Geoscience and Rio Tinto have collaborated to develop real-time geohazmaps to monitor and manage major cave hazards. These geohazmaps are used by mine planners to integrate multiple hazard parameters that contribute to form a combined hazard rating.The benefits of implementing geohazmaps include safety and cost improvements through the early identification of potential locations for major events. These cost savings are realised in the design phase, where development and critical infrastructure is located in areas of lower hazard rating. Additional improvements can be achieved by taking the hazard level into consideration when planning the production and development schedules and ground support design.CITATION:Talu, S, Savage, E and Howe, S, 2016. Geohazmap implementation in block cave mines, in Proceedings Seventh International Conference and Exhibition on Mass Mining (MassMin 2016), pp 817–822 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

May 9, 2016

Over the last decade mineral exploration in New South Wales has increased markedly. This is due to various factors including the influx of overseas companies an. capital, increase and stabilization of metal prices and improvements in exploration techniques. The initiation of full-scale petroleum exploration and recent discoveries of large mineral deposits in the west, north-west and north of Australia has increased overseas capital, and brought scientists and technicians into the country. Naturally there has been an overflow into New South Wales, which is less attractive as an area for new and large-scale discoveries. In some fields, rise in metal prices and price stabilization has largely contributed to the intensif- ication of exploration. Increased tin production in New South Wales since 1963 is a direct result of price rise and stabilization, and rise in the price of silver has revived an interest in silver prospecting in recent Years,

Jan 1, 1969

By Gibson G, Jaques L

The Broken Hill Exploration Initiative (BHEI) is a collaborative venture between the Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO), Mines and Energy South Australia (MESA) and the New South Wales Department of Mineral Resources (NSWDMR) to provide a new generation of geoscientific information to promote and enhance the exploration for, and discovery of, new deposits in the Broken Hill region. The area under investigation (Figure 1) exceeds 150 000 square kilometres on either side of the NSW-SA border and is centred on the city of Broken Hill. N.T. I I OL n. WA 8A I Maw. AC,7 !ii oFCU vlc~ ~T. Fia I - Nlap showing the 150 000 square kilometre regwa,. i.i lcr investigation by the Broken HiII Exploration Initiauvr highlighted on the map of Australia. A major impediment to the exploration for, and to the understanding of, the genesis of the world-class Broken Hill Pb-Ag-Zn deposit is the structural and metamorphic complexit\ of the region. Important objectives of the BHEI are therefore: I. the definition of the three-dimensional structure of the province, 2. the deformation history, and 3. the stratigraphic and age relationships of the rock units. Early discussions between the BHEI partners and industry scientists revealed that new geophysical surveys would be a key requirement to help advance the understanding of the province, especially a contiguous high resolution airborne geophysical dataset covering both outcrop and areas of shallow surficial cover. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the new high resolution airborne geophysical data and to discuss their interpretation and potential for enhancing the knowledge of the Willyama Supergroup geology.

Jan 1, 1997

By H Lieberwirth, M Pfeifer, F Heinicke

HPGRs (high pressure grinding rolls) have been developed within the last decades for energy efficient processing of a wide variety of ores. Special interest has been raised by projects increasing the capacities of processing plants by installing HPGRs prior to ball mills. Bond ball mill tests have been used for decades as a base for ball mill dimensioning in mineral circuits. For final CAPEXOPEX considerations of the processing circuit, one key question is about the level of grinding energy split between HPGR and downstream grinding stages. This is especially interesting if the downstream process comprises multiple grinding stages combined with separation steps. The paper presents investigations on grinding energy consumption, size distribution and microfracturing of HPGR products, which affect the efficiency of the whole comminution and sorting process.

Aug 24, 2022

By Smallnone P, Walker B

Mining of the AKI lamproite pipe at the Argyle Diamond Mine (ADM) commenced in 1985. Originally designed to mine ore at a rate of 3.6 Mt per annum, the project has gone through two major plant expansions to a designed production rate of 8.7 Mt

Jan 1, 1998

By A Roshal

It is anticipated that many future uranium mines in Australia will be using the in situ leaching mining process. It is fair to say that close to one third of uranium production will be generated by this method, whilst the other two thirds will fall on the uranium generated from hard rock mining and other mining methods, such as traditional open cut mining. For other types of deposits the in situ leaching mining method will remain the best technological, commercial and environmental alternative. It is important to identify and prevent all risks involved in uranium mining. The expertise in this subject is limited. Over the years there was only one mine using the in situ leaching process for uranium extraction in Australia. Computer simulation of propagation of leachate during and after the uranium in situ leaching is a crucial factor, not only for addressing the environmental concerns, but also for the most efficient recovery of the deposit. The decontamination can be modelled for a period of up to 100 years, with the acid neutralisation forecast for a period of up to 400 years. The results of the modelling are paramount for definition of the reserves, efficiency of the mining method and the environmental impact statement. The accuracy of the hydrogeological modelling and carefully selected environmental management program enables a mining company to quantify and minimise the impact of the mining activities on the regional aquifer and to prevent environmental disasters. In the study, the completed hydrogeological model allowed the client, the authorities and the community to make an informed decision about the environmental impact of the in situ leaching of uranium. In particular, the model proved that neither during the mining, nor during the neutralisation the toxic elements would interact with the local catchment area.

Jan 1, 2008

A resource rent taxation scheme is based on the concept of taxing the rent or surplus profit generated from primary industry activity. Rent has been defined as profits that remain after deduction of company income which corresponds to the minimum return necessary to attract private investment to a new project.Rent taxation schemes on the mining industry within the Australasian region have been examined and widely discussed during the decades of the 1970s and 1980s. Forms of resource rent taxation schemes have been imposed on Papua New Guinea mining, some sectors of Australian petroleum, the Roxby Downs venture and are being discussed for the New South Wales coal industry. While no introduced applications have been pure rent taxation schemes, the concept has generally come to encompass arrangements which tax rent at a partial rate which may or may not vary with the level of profitability or return.An examination is made of a number of the more recent schemes. Aspects which should be considered in implementation of new forms of this taxation are discussed. It is concluded that there is an increased acceptance for this form of taxation on the Australian mining industry.

Jan 1, 1990

By B Beamish

"All underground coal mines in Australia are required to develop a Spontaneous CombustionManagement Plan (SCMP). The New South Wales Government has developed a guideline (MDG1006) to assist operations to comply with this requirement. A reference document is alsosupplied with the guideline that describes the type of information that is needed for input to theplan, including identifying possible tests that can be used for propensity assessment. However,there is no clear indication of what program of sampling and testing is suffi cient to provide adefi nitive assessment of spontaneous combustion propensity prior to and during mining. This paper reviews the existing methods available for quantifying spontaneous combustion propensity and discusses the sampling requirements that are needed from exploration to mining. A new, more defi nitive method of spontaneous combustion testing is also presented that benchmarks coal self-heating performance from mine ambient temperature to thermal runaway. Examples of the eff ectiveness of this new test method for identifying and quantifying reactive pyrite in coal as well as quantifying the diff erence between dry and wet season conditions are provided in the paper."

Jun 1, 2012

By Laing W. P, Neill D. M, O&apos

The Reward polymetallic massive sulphide deposit occurs 35 km south of Charters Towers, adjacent to the Highway gold deposit (Fig. 1). It is hosted within rhyolitic lavas and interlayered volcaniclastics of the Cambro-Ordovician Mt Windsor Volcanics. Reward is a "blind" deposit discovered in 1987 after a long history of exploration by various companies in the area. The main pyrite dominant massive sulphide body occurs under 100m combined thickness of Tertiary fluviatile sediments overlying deeply weathered gossanous volcanics. The exploration case-history provides a striking example of how geological and structural models can be built up almost exclusively from drill information. Four different styles and ages of mineralisation are present: 1) volcanogenic Cu+Pb+Zn+Ag+Au massive sulphides of probable syngenetic origin; 2) remobilised Cu+Au in massive pyrite of metamorphic/deformational origin; 3) supergene and 4) oxide Cu+Au mineralisation of weathering origin. The massive pyrite body, containing chalcopyrite lenses, transects the stratigraphy and is inferred to contain in excess of 5 million tonnes. Overlying the primary mineralisation a supergene chalcocite rich zone contains a measured/indicated resource of 634,231 tonnes of 6.77% Cu which includes 287,000 tonnes of 1.32 g/t Au and 18 g/t Ag. In addition a measured/inferred oxide resource of 309,000 tonnes of 5 g/t Au and 27 g/t Ag overlies the supergene zone.

Jan 1, 1989

By Player R. L

Measurements of the rate of PbO reduction from high lead metallurgical slags were made under laboratory conditions using graphite, a CO-50%CO2 gas mixture and metallic iron as reductants. The results show a transition in rate-controlling step at low PbO contents (i.e. 6 wt.% PbO). At medium to high PbO contents in the slag, the reduction rate was found to be strongly affected by the slag chemistry, temperature and reductant type. The effect of stirring and hence mass transfer in the slag phase on the reduction rate of PbO was found to be insignificant at medium-high PbO contents. Attention is drawn to the importance of chemically controlled reaction rates at the slag-gas interface. Parallels between these results and test work on a 5 tph scale have been briefly drawn.

Jan 1, 1989

By J L. Macdonald, G S. King

"The development of a predictive geometallurgical model is a multidisciplinary and iterative task that involves both discovery and integration aspects. In this paper, the authors discuss the concepts of geometallurgical modelling in terms of the underlying relationships that are used to connect geology, metallurgy and economic value, and how the early-stage preparation of a spatial geometallurgical model enhances project value and provides a sound basis for future studies and test work programs.Hot Chili’s (copper-gold-molybdenum) Productora Project, which is located in northern Chile, is a porphyry-copper style deposit that can be exploited using open pit mining and preparation of a saleable concentrate from fresh ore, as well as heap leaching, solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) extraction of copper from oxide ores. To enhance project value in the Productora prefeasibility study (PFS), Hot Chili developed a geometallurgical model that was used to predict the process responses of both sulfide and oxide ores. The Productora model incorporates test results from mineralogical, metallurgical and comminution testing, as well as other studies completed on a suite of samples collected from the many geological domains of the deposit.Using Bond Work Index and Abrasion Index proxies in the geometallurgical model, Hot Chili estimated the variability of sulfide ore throughput and comminution costs. Heap leach acid consumption in oxide ore was estimated from drill hole calcium concentrations. The model was then used in mine scheduling to identify high and low throughput or high and low acid ore zones so that the processing of these zones could be advanced or deferred to improve net present value (NPV). Additionally, the cost benefits of preparing an early-stage geometallurgy model were quantified through a comparison to a conventional model that was based on test work averages.CITATION:King, G S and Macdonald, J L, 2016. The Business Case for Early-stage Implementation of Geometallurgy– an Example from the Productora Cu-Mo-Au Deposit, Chile, in Proceedings The Third AusIMM International Geometallurgy Conference (GeoMet) 2016, pp 125–134 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Jun 15, 2016

This paper has been prepared to challenge the thinking of new leaders entering the mining industry in two areas. First, what is the worldÆs perception of mining and what does this mean to those entering the industry? Second, what is the future of learning in the mining industry and how can the industry attract and retain the best people?Then in closing, how can mining companies turn these challenges into opportunities and specifically how is BHP Billiton meeting these challenges.

Jan 1, 2004

By S Grobler, T Fares

Understanding the real utilisation of the available volumetric capacity of a conveyor is key to unlocking latent capacity or ‘debottlenecking’ existing plant. Conveyors are typically designed on the basis of conservative density and ore surcharge angle specifications, and consequently there is often latent volumetric capacity available.Laser scanning measurements of conveyor ore profiles has been undertaken on iron ore conveyors to gain an understanding of the actual surcharge angle and the available edge clearances. Iron ore producers seeking to extract maximum production from their assets have used these measurements to debottleneck existing plant and to revise the design criteria for future plant. The benefit is that latent capacity of existing plant can be unlocked and smaller and cheaper conveyors can be designed for future plant, maximising the return on capital. This paper describes the measurements and results.CITATION:Fares, T and Grobler, S, 2015. Laser scanning of conveyor ore profiles, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2015, pp 549–554 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 13, 2015

UNLIKE coal mines, in which some form of artificial ventilation is rendered necessary by gases given off by the material mined and is also enforced by the mining laws of all countries, metalliferous mines have almost entirely relied on natural ventilation, viz., that due to the difference in temperature between the outside atmosphere and the mine air. In small mines natural ventilation has proved sufficient, but as mining proceeds at a greater depth, and where large ore bodies arebeing attacked the writer is of opinion that some means of artificial ventilation will be rendered necessary if only from an economic standpoint.The Broken Hill Proprietary Mine was one of the first metal mines to introduce a scheme of artificial ventilation on a large scale. In order to render the working conditions of the semi-friable stopes of Block 12 and the lower levels of Block 11 morecomfortable for the men at work in these places, in 1903 it was decided to install a fan to thoroughly ventilate these stopes. The fan chosen was a Capell double-inlet fan beltdriven from a steam engine: this engine was later on replacedby an electric motor. The fan was put in commission at the latter end of 1904; its principal dimensions are as follows: Length 6 ft. 6 in., diam. 7 ft., diam. of inlet 4 ft. 7i in. The fan is reversible, though this is a rather misleading term, asthe direction in which the fan blades revolve is not reversed...

Jan 1, 1921

By T Baumgartl, B Noller, B Forsyth, J Park, M Edraki, P Pham

Understanding and quantifying residual risk is the key to the successful closure and rehabilitation of mines. An important aspect of residual risk is predicting the long-term chemistry of mine water and the long-term geochemical stability of mining wastes. This requires updating the characterisation data for mine wastes and monitoring mine drainage throughout the life-of-mine. The intrinsic properties of waste materials (ie the geology, mineralogy and the weathering processes, which in turn depend on the local climate and water balance in a waste storage facility) are the fundamental controlling factors of residual risk. In this paper, case studies of coal and metalliferous mines are used to discuss the definition of residual risk for a range of waste storage facilities and to highlight the benefits and limitations of current geochemical methods in predicting and quantifying residual risk. Consistent with the classification of mine drainage by the Global Acid Rock Drainage Guide, three case studies of acid, saline and neutral drainage are presented.CITATION:Edraki, M, Pham, P, Park, J, Baumgartl, T, Noller, B and Forsyth, B, 2016. Defining residual risk for successful mine closure – a geochemical perspective, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2016 Conference , pp 9–11 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jun 28, 2016