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By A Suokas

Boliden Tara Mines Ltd, located in County Meath Ireland, produce in excess of 2.5 million tonnes per annum of ore from the underground resource located 40 miles north west of Dublin. The zinc-lead ore is mined using long hole open stoping techniques, with ore treated on site. The operation is continually searching for new ways to improve productivities at the mine, and have employed a detailed data acquisition and reporting system on site to provide feedback around performance. One area where both Boliden Tara Mines Ltd and Orica Mining Services believed improvements could be made was in the application of bulk emulsion technology through an Orica supplied but Tara operated Maxipump Delivery System for all production and development blasting at the mine. Both parties committed to the evaluation of this technology at the mine, however the capital cost and technical and economic changes meant the project needed to be diligently investigated and any improvements documented. The first stage of this project was for Orica Mining Services personnel to visit the operation, and conduct a detailed analysis of the operationÆs performance over the past 12 months. The next step in moving forward was then to commission and utilise the customer operated emulsion system at the mine. This was then followed with the collation and analysis of data from the demonstration period to examine and document the benefits of the system. This paper is a summary of the observations made during the site inspection and the data analysed to date, and has been used in determining operational and financial improvements in the comparison between a Maxipump Emulsion Service and the current ANFO loading systems.

Jan 1, 2005

By G Brewster

The Eagle on the Hill tunnels form part of an upgrade of Mt Barker Road, 15 km to the southeast of Adelaide. The upgrade significantly improves safety and reduces delays on this major road, which winds steeply through mountainous terrain. The twin tunnels each spanning 15 metres run in parallel for a length of 480 metres. The tunnels are excavated in slightly weathered high strength slates and very high strength quartzites of the Saddleworth Formation on the western margin of the Mount Lofty Ranges. Steeply dipping slate cleavages and the high fracture ratio result in many slope stability problems in the project area. The level of geotechnical investigation undertaken prior to the calling of tenders for the project was extensive. This included the excavation of a pilot tunnel along one of the tunnel alignments, which allowed accurate mapping and rating of the rock, resulting in an increased level of confidence during the tender process. One of the features of the winning alternative tender design was the use of canopy tubes, flexible steel ribs and shotcrete to replace up to 40 metres of deep portal cuts in unstable rock with driven tunnels. Slope stability issues were overcome with the use of rock dowels and shotcrete. The support concept allowed the safe driving of the tunnel portals with as little as two metres of overburden. The design incorporated lining drainage and criteria for fireproofing based on European experience to ensure the ability of the tunnels to remain stable in the case of a severe fire incident. The support design allowed for maximum flexibility with a range of support types able to deal with the varying ground conditions. Design development and support refinement continued throughout the tunnel construction phase with close liaison between the designer and the constructor. Monitoring and review of feedback from the construction site by the Sydney based design team was easily achieved by means of electronic transfer of photographic and survey information, telephone and fax communication and regular site visits. The contractor for this project is Macmahon Concrete Constructions Joint Venture (MCCJV) and the designer is Connell Wagner. Excavation commenced in January 1998 with tunnel breakthrough having been achieved in early-August 1998 and mid-September 1998 respectively. Concrete lining construction is scheduled for completion in April 1999.

Jan 1, 1999

By C Young

The identification of Critical Risks, their associated Critical Controls, and the implementation of processes to ensure their ongoing management can be difficult and resource intensive. Answering the following Critical Risk Management related questions can be challenging: • What is a Critical Risk? • What is a Bow-tie Analysis and when should it be used? • What is Critical Control? • How is the effectiveness of a Critical Control assured, and how is this measured? • Who is responsible for managing Critical Controls? • What are the implications if a Critical Control is not effective? It appears that in the mining industry’s efforts to implement the Critical Control Management Process outlined by the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), instead of embedding an integrated, well understood, value adding process, we have instead created a resource hungry monster that is poorly understood by numerous layers of the organisation.

May 5, 2022

By R Yang

This paper presents a fragmentation model for large production blasts in an open pit or underground environment. The paper shows that the particle velocity is directly related to pressure, strain, and strain rate and so it can be considered as driving force and mechanism of rock fragmentation. This is supported by the fact that a vibration with a larger peak particle velocity (PPV) generates larger disturbance in rock and so finer fragmentation or more blast damage than a low PPV. The crack distribution in rock from impact is based on findings from previous researchers (Seaman, Curran and Shockey, 1976; Liu and Xu, in press). The fragmentation size is calculated at three-dimensional grid points within a blast. The fines and oversized blocks are calculated explicitly – the fines generated close to blastholes and big blocks far from boreholes are modelled naturally. The multiple blasthole fragmentation (MBF) model takes surveyed irregular geometry of the free face of a blast as the calculation boundary. The MBF can model fragmentation with over one million grid points. Examples of the model’s field comparison are also included.The PPV at a calculation grid is estimated based on the same approach used for the near field non-linear vibration model (Yang and Scovira, 2007). The method is based on the dominant charge for a calculation grid point, non-linear charge weight superposition within a charge and from multiple charges, strain wave broadening, and amplitude attenuation with distance from a charge segment. The blasthole confinement affected by earlier firing charges is also taken into account.The MBF model inputs from blast design, such as: location and orientation of each blasthole, stemming length, blasthole diameter, multiple decking, bench height, initiation sequence, etc. It models the effect of the delay and its scatter in each blasthole on fragmentation and has a statistical modelling capability for geological random variation on attenuation of particle velocity wave. The wave reinforcement due to instantaneous waves arriving or diminishing cooperative contribution due to long delay intervals between charges is also simulated.The results are displayed in 3D volumetric plots, contour of fragmentation in cross-sections, and size passing curves for a whole blast or a region of the blast.CITATION:Yang, R, 2015. A multiple blasthole fragmentation model – its concept, formulation, capability and field comparison examples, in Proceedings 11th International Symposium on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting, pp 177–186 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 24, 2015

By Elford H. S

Australia has many potentially important tin deposits, particularly on the eastern shore of the continent and in Tasmania. A number of these have been worked on a meagre scale, while some of them, because of metallurgical, transport, and other difficulties, have not as yet been developed.Believing that the full development of the tin fields of the Commonwealth of Australia is in part dependent upon the adoption of the most efficient methods of milling and smelting, the Development and Migration Oommission arranged for the first-mentioned author to visit the mining fields of Cornwall, one of the oldest tin-producing districts of the world, and prepare a report for the information of the Commission.This paper, now presented to the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy with the hope that it will assist the full development of tin mining in Australia, is the joint work of both authors.For over two thousand years tin has been produced from the Cornish mines. Even the ancient Greek historians made mention of tin mining in Cornwall, and it is probable that during the earliest periods the mining was alluvial. As early as 1602 a stamp battery working in Cornwall was described, and in 1671 calcination and buddling was a recognised scheme of treating pyritic ore. In the first half of the 16th century the output of tin from Cornwall was 700 tons per annum, and, from then on, production increased to the maximum in 1914 of 6500 tons. At present (Oct., 1929) the Cambourne-Redruth area produces over 95% of the Cornish tin output. This area includes such mines as the South Crofty, East Pool, Dolcoath, Parkanchy, Polhigey, and Wheal Kitty. The remaining 5% is largely supplied by the Levant and Geevor mines at Pendeen, St. Just area, near Land's End.

Jan 1, 1930

By S McKnight, L Koroznikova, J Begelhole

"This paper outlines a simple methodology for iron ore characterisation. Iron ores commonly contain a range of iron oxides with varying iron content along with generally minor quantities of lighter silicate gangue phases, giving rise to density variations. Companies tend to rely on heavy liquid separation (HLS) in the evaluation of samples arising from exploration, mining or metallurgical processes. Heavy suspension separation (HSS), a simple laboratory technique of density fractionation, employing suspensions of fine tungsten carbide (WC) particles in lithium heteropolytungstate (LST) solutions, can be used in the evaluation of iron ore.As part of Arrium Mining’s program to improve its knowledge of ore types being processed in two hematite ore beneficiation plants (OBP), metallurgical evaluation of hematite feed and geometallurgical evaluation for the OBPs has become a major focus.Metallurgical evaluation of the hematite ore ultra-fine size fraction, formally treated as waste but now upgraded by HSS, is a part of Arrium’s program to improve recovery.The HLS method for iron ore characterisation is not generally used as part of routine iron ore feed metallurgical evaluation due to the expense, toxicity and time-consuming nature of the technique. Results show that the HSS method for iron ore characterisation can achieve low-cost, low-toxic separation and can be used on-site to improve turnaround time of results (Begelhole, Jasper and Koroznikova, 2013).Arrium have applied this technique successfully for the past three years to progress process improvement for the two OBP as well as to assist Arrium’s on-site laboratory services, Bureau Veritas in Whyalla.The main objective of this program has been to further develop the HSS procedures using a low-toxicity, high specific gravity (SG) suspension; LST and WC as the dense medium for metallurgical evaluation of ultra-fines.A suspension of a particular density will separate iron ore into two products: a sink fraction (denser iron oxide – hydroxide particles) and float fraction (silicate – iron ore composite particles). A theoretical grade and mass recovery can be calculated, and a grade – mass recovery curve can be constructed for iron.Metallurgical evaluation of the plant feed ultra-fine size fractions are used to improve efficiency of an upgrading plant process. This type of characterisation can be used to prepare feed piles of known processing characteristics, or to benchmark the performance of the process against what can be theoretically achieved.CITATION:Koroznikova, L, Begelhole, J and McKnight, S, 2016. Characterisation of Low-grade Hematite Ore Ultra-fine Size Fraction Particles by Heavy Suspension, in Proceedings The Third AusIMM International Geometallurgy Conference (GeoMet) 2016, pp 327–334 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Jun 15, 2016

By J Col, D La Rosa, W Valery, A Jankovic

Metso Minerals Process Technology Asia-Pacific and South America (MMPT) has been working with operations around the world to increase their efficiency through æMine-to-MillÆ or Process Integration and Optimisation (PIO) projects. These projects have delivered significant improvements in mine efficiency, mill throughput and reduced operating costs at mines around the world. The MMPT methodology involves rock characterisation, site auditing, data collection, modelling/simulation and implementation of integrated operating and control strategies on site. This results in significant benefits to the operations û for example, 5 to 20 per cent increases in concentrator throughput have been measured. MMPTÆs rock characterisation utilises simple and inexpensive measurements that can be performed by trained site personnel. The advantage of these measurements is that a large amount of data can be collected in a very short timeframe, as the samples do not require shipping to an outside laboratory. Typically, a PIO project starts with a site visit to perform blasting and process audits, collect high quality data including measurements of run-of-mine fragmentation and survey data around all crushing and grinding circuits. These measurements are combined with rock characterisation and the definition of strength and structure domains to model the complete production chain. Site-specific models of the blast fragmentation, crushing, grinding and flotation processes can then be developed. This proven methodology has applications ranging from greenfield projects to long-standing operations with AG/SAG or conventional grinding circuits. Process improvements can be higher mining productivity, higher mill throughput, decreased overall operating costs and higher flotation or leach recovery. This paper discusses a recent application of PIO conducted at a large open pit operation in South America and emphasises the potential that every operation has to ædo more with what they haveÆ.

Jan 1, 2007

By A B. Richards

Time window analysis that limits the explosive mass fired within a specified time window (commonly eight milliseconds) has been used for many years in blast design by explosives engineers. Despite several warnings in the past that this technique has limited practical or scientific basis and, in many cases, does not effectively control vibration, almost every textbook and blasting manual refers to time window charge mass limits as a primary vibration control technique. It has become entrenched in some blast vibration management plans, despite being inappropriate for the particular situation. With the flexible initiation timing available with electronic detonation almost a practical reality, and the 8 ms constraints in-built into the signal tube initiation system thereby lifted, it is timely to review the significance of the 8 ms time window in controlling blast vibration. This paper re-visits the original research that led to the development of the 8 ms criteria and the non-supportive conclusion of the original researcher. Because airblast was not measured, the 8 ms time window was never intended to be applicable for airblast control. Examples of blast designs are given in this paper that comply with the 8 ms time window limit that result in substantially increased air and ground vibration, together with examples of blast design that does not satisfy time window considerations, which results in reduced air and ground vibration. Techniques that identify wavefront reinforcement, due to the combined effect of drilling pattern and delay sequence, can assist explosives engineers to avoid high blast vibration situations that result from the inappropriate application of time window techniques and other adverse delay combinations.

Jan 1, 2003

The Queensland Magnesia Project is based on a unique cryptocrystalline nodular magnesite orebody which required an innovative approach to process design in order to economically exploit the characteristics of the ore and produce a marketable range of high quality refractory magnesias for a declining world market. High quality natural refractory magnesia must have an MgO content in excess of 95 per cent with a very strictly controlled content and ratio of residual impurities such as calcium, silica and iron. The natural products compete with magnesias derived by chemical extraction from sea water or brines which exhibit very high purity but often lack other characteristics which are of value to refractory brick makers. Since start up in late-1991 QMAG has achieved a remarkable market penetration for both its deadburned and electrofused products with sales for the 1993/94 financial year representing 92 per cent of deadburned capacity and 138 per cent of original electrofused capacity respectively, all at a time when the world steel industry has been in recession.

Jan 1, 1995

THE exceptional rainfall characteristic of the West Coast of Tasmania, in conjunction with the rugged topography of the district, has always suggested the utilization of water-power, and from the earliest days of the Mount Lyell Company theeventual installation of a hydro-electric power scheme, making use of some near-lying lake, has constantly been kept in view. At the period of the inception of the company, however, the time was not ripe for such an undertaking, and it is only oflate that the various important considerations involved have sanctioned incun;ing the heavy expenditure necessary, with the positive assurance of permanently reaping the benefits expected. The West Coast of Tasmania contains many lakes of varioussites; situated at high levels, and, although the catchments of these lakes are not very extensive, still, the excessive rainfall is so constant over long periods that its regularity may be relied on as offsetting the limited catchments. The explanation of the abnormal rainfall is simply the circumstance that the West Coast Range forms the first high land barrier which is met by the moisture-laden westerly and north-westerly winds blowing off the Southern Ocean. By the time the clouds strike the mountains they ride very low, consequently the elevation of the range, the peaks of which do not exceed 3000 to 4000 ft. above the sea, is sufficient to cause a copious precipitation. Lake Margaret, which is situated five miles north of the reduction works, was first recognized as a possible source of waterpower by Mr. Hugh Ohrisp, a surveyor, who visited it about 1893-4. Earlyl in 1895, while the preliminary work on the erection of the first furnaces of the Mount Lyell Co.'s reduction...

Jan 1, 1915

It is a very great privilege for me to be able to address you tonight and I am deeply sensible of the honour which has been done me. I am equally sensible of the inadequacy of my training for the position of President of your Institute.May I say at once what a very great pleasure it is to have so many members from the mainland States visiting us here in Tasmania. We do hope that you will find pleasure and profit in your stay.Since the Annual Conference is always held in the vicinity of one or other of the great mining fields, it has become the practice for the Presidential address to review the history of the particular field and t(j) indicate its place in the economic structure of the country.I propose to follow this practice and to try and present to you a short picture of thÇ mineral industry as it has existed in Tasmania. None of the information is new it is available in diverse and remote geological reports and in publications such as Witham's Western Tasmania and the more recent Peaks of Lyell. The last composite approach was written twenty years ago by P. B. Nye and published as a Geological Survey Bulletin.I have enjoyed preparing this address because on occasion I find it refreshing to look back and see what was known and what was accomplished in the days when the going was a little tougher than it is now, and to speculate upon the reasons that drove men to do what they did. I shall therefore discuss the search for minerals in this State; the discoveries over the years; the elation with which the new fields are greeted; the disappointments attending some of them; the mines that have come and gone; and the...

Jan 1, 1958

By R Carreau

The results of a detailed acid rock drainage (ARD) prediction program were used to revise the waste rock segregation criteria at the Restigouche open pit mine. Waste rock at the site was predominately derived from altered volcanic rocks that hosted a massive sulfide lead/zinc orebody. The program assessed the five years of drainage chemistry from both the potentially acid generating and the non-acid generating waste rock storage facilities in addition to laboratory-based kinetic test results. Material-specific leaching characteristics including relative metal-release rates and neutralisation potential depletion rates were determined from 12 laboratory-based kinetic tests. Solid-phase analyses indicated that, although pyrite was typically the most abundant sulfide mineral in the waste rock, its abundance varied significantly as documented by total sulfur contents ranging from 4.0 per cent. Kinetic test results were used to establish revised waste rock segregation criteria based on total sulfur content and neutralisation potential. The revised criteria maintain that waste material with a total sulfur content 4.0 per cent as potentially acid generating. When present in sufficient quantities, ankerite provided an effective source of neutralisation potential for the range of observed sulfide oxidation rates. Kinetic testing documented that up to 6 kg CaCO3/t was ineffective at neutralising acidity in samples that contained >4 per cent S. The carbonate molar ratio measured from the humidity cells was adjusted to reflect the stoichiometry of the ankerite and applied as an NP/AP criteria for waste rock containing 0.1 <S per cent <4.0.

Jan 1, 2003

By S Russell

The completion of the $1.1 B Cape Lambert Upgrade project is the second ‘pillar’ in Rio Tinto Iron Ore’s expansion program that has enabled Rio Tinto Iron Ore to effectively double iron ore shipping capacity from the Pilbara between 2003 and 2009 to 220 million tonnes per annum (Mt/a), following the successful completion of the Dampier Port upgrade project two years earlier.The Cape Lambert Upgrade has built on and enhanced many of the engineering achievements of the Dampier Port upgrade project, as well as developing innovative and unique engineering solutions for this complex ‘brownfields’ project that presented its own challenges, particularly in this distinctive open-water port environment.The project was implemented in two phases to achieve an increase in port shipping capacity from 55 to 80 Mt/a – an enhancement phase and an expansion phase.The initial enhancement phase, which provided an increase to shipping capacity from 55 to 60 Mt/a, focused on increasing the utilisation and effi ciency of existing plant and equipment with a relatively small capital expenditure.The expansion phase, which provided the increase in shipping capacity to 80 Mt/a, included extending the existing iron ore wharf by 256 m to create four shipping berths, a new shiploader, an expanded stockyard (including a new fourth bucket wheel reclaimer) and a new surge bin facility to maximise outloading tonnage rates.The Cape Lambert Upgrade project was implemented whilst the port remained fully operational and continued to ship record tonnages of iron ore throughout the project duration. This achievement required signifi cant upfront planning and sequencing of construction activities to support the operation of the port. Innovative design and construction techniques were used to mitigate the impact and enable construction activities in and around the operating plant.Throughout the project, new benchmarks in engineering design and construction practices were established, which have since been adopted for new iron ore port facilities currently in planning phases.

Jul 11, 2011

This paper talks about the experiences of groups we have worked with over the last few years in the Asia-Pacific region (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea) and the ways that they have worked to bridge the divide between traditional and introduced structures, governance at a regional level and the introduction of traditional values into monitoring and evaluation practices. In doing this these groups have created structures and processes which have helped them engage both more effectively with external stakeholders while maintaining the legitimacy of their own operations with their own constituents. These are important ideas for those involved in the mining industry that could provide a number of very tangible benefits to mining firms and their engagement with these kinds of groups.

Jan 1, 2009

By Williams C

A stibnite concentrate from Golden Spec (WA) was subjected to a series of tests involving high pressure cyanidation and pressure oxidation followed by conventional cyanidation. The concentrate, whose gold content was 18.1 g/t, yielded only eight per cent of the gold when leached directly by a standard 24-hour cyanidation test. The recovery was increased to only 15 per cent when pressure cyanided under the following conditions: ambient temperature, 2000 kPa oxygen pressure, two hour retention time and 30 per cent w/w solids pulp density. This poor response to pressure cyanidation emphasised the refractoriness of the material. Evidence of the fine distribution of the gold through the concentrate, from measurements of the particle sizing distribution and the gold analyses of the individual fractions, also suggested that this concentrate was highly refractory. Pressure oxidation of the concentrate at elevated temperatures followed by cyanidation yielded recoveries as high as 94 per cent. However a preoxidation treatment under the following conditions was necessary: 230¦C, 2000 kPa oxygen pressure for a period of four hours.

Jan 1, 1992

In October 2005 Phelps Dodge mining, a US based company, visited several Australian mining companies and mine sites to ascertain the current applications of risk management methods in the organisation. The results of this review, documented by the author, indicated a ælayeredÆ approach from high level site or major hazard analysis through to face level, æstop and lookÆ, methods. The approaches of several companies were summarised in one simple layered model. This model is helpful to other sites and companies to identify potential improvements but also offers an image of best practice that may assist with the governance of OH&S by both company boards and community regulators. The issue is particularly relevant as we discuss national consistency in mining regulation. This paper examines the layered model, the company and site approaches that helped define the model, as well as the suggested implications of the layered model to governance.

Jan 1, 2006

The paper re-visits an old and proven concept of winzing, a method widely used in the past to gather exploration data for accurate definition of the orebody. It is proposed to use a mobile Supersucker (a giant vacuum cleaner also known as vacuum lift), to carry out winzing activities underground. A brief description of conventional underground winzing used in the past is provided, together with a discussion on other underground bulk exploration methods used in Australia to date. Historical background, principles of the proposed system, Supersucker construction details and productivities, and benefits and advantages of the proposed system in comparison with other exploration methods, are outlined. Other relevant applications of the mobile Supersucker, including surface winzing, are also briefly discussed in the paper. With a view of using the mobile Supersucker to recover all broken ore stocks underground, included are also results of floor sampling conducted recently in the in-stope decline excavated in a coarse gold type, high-grade orebody.

Jan 1, 2002

By V A. Diemar

The Chatree Gold Project represents a greenfields discovery of metallurgically clean shallow gold mineralisation in a logistically simple terrain. Total Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources are currently 31 tonnes of gold and 160 tonnes of silver. Gold occurs in an adularia-sericite epithermal system within quartz-calcite-adularia veins, breccias and stockworks. Host rocks are volcanic arc porphyritic latite-trachyte flows, their pyroclastic equivalents and volcaniclastics of upper Permian to upper Triassic age. The mineralisation was deposited in dilated zones during repeated reactivation of pre-existing structures. To-date five mineralised prospects have been defined by drilling with three reaching JORC Code Mineral Resources status. The project is in its definitive feasibility stage and is anticipated to be in construction during 2000.

Jan 1, 1999

By Mine F. J, Woods P. H

Waste waters from mine sites may be screened for all constituents of significance as a first step in establishing water quality criteria for protection of aquatic ecosystems. Inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) offers the capability to screen water samples and digest solutions for virtually all elements in the periodic table. This technique is therefore able to identify elements whose concentrations are elevated in waste waters and may be rarely present in background surface or ground waters. Such elements may be present in waters at only a few ¦g/L. ICP-MS has sufficient sensitivity to detect sub-¦g/L or even ng/L levels of many elements. Waste waters from most mining activities in the Northern Territory have been examined by ICP-MS. The concentration data provide the basis of a contaminant data base. The data can show specific tracers in the ore or mineral itself, subsequently found in waste water. An example is the presence of rhenium in uranium ore. Such trace elements may be present in soluble or insoluble chemical forms and are more useful as indicators when soluble and exemplifying conservative chemical behaviour. The approach described, based on ICP-MS screening of mine site waste waters, together with general physico-chemical variables, provides the most comprehensive means yet available of selecting variables for monitoring programs and ensures that key elements and/or their chemical species are not excluded from monitoring programs.

Jan 1, 1994

By G Hancock, J Lowry, T Coulthard, W Erskine, M Saynor

An important part of planning for the rehabilitation of uranium mine sites is the ability to assess the geomorphic stability of the final landform, over time frames ranging from decades to millenia. Depending on the environmental conditions, erosion features such as gullies may incise into containment structures, potentially leading to the exposure and transport of encapsulated radioactive material. Further, erosion may lead to increased sediment loads and the transport of other mine-related contaminants off-site and into downstream waterways. While erosion may be monitored and assessed over the short term (years to decades), the longer-term behaviour (centuries to millennia) of such landscapes is not within any meaningful human management time frame. Landscape evolution models (LEMs) can provide information on soil erosion rates at decadal or centennial scales over large spatial scales, and evaluate the sensitivity of these processes to environmental changes. However, an important issue associated with the use of models is the ability to assess the reliability and accuracy of the model. In this paper, the CAESAR-Lisflood LEM is tested for its ability to predict soil erosion from a series of 30 m × 30 m experimental plots specifically constructed for this purpose on a trial rehabilitated landform at the Ranger Uranium Mine in the Northern Territory, Australia. Model predictions of bedload and suspended sediment loads from the erosion plots were compared with field measured observations collected over four wet seasons from the trial landform. Once calibrated for the specific site hydrological conditions, the predicted sediment yield – specifically, bedload – demonstrated an excellent correspondence with the field data. However, longer-term simulations of ten years identified an exhaustion effect in sediment yield from the landform. These latter results indicate that a weathering function needs to be incorporated into CAESAR-Lisflood to ensure confidence that the CAESAR-Lisflood LEM will be able to correctly predict the long-term evolution of a rehabilitated landform once it has been?constructed.CITATION:Lowry, J,?Saynor, M,?Erskine, W, Coulthard, T and Hancock, G, 2014. A multi-year assessment of landform evolution model predictions for a trial rehabilitated landform, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2014 , pp 67–80 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 16, 2014