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By Arnold J. J

The design of a coal preparation plant using bore core data cannot be discussed without some reference to the wider considerations of design. A thorough knowledge of coal preparation processes and processors as well as ancillary equipment is essential if the coal properties determined from bore cores, are to be fully utilised. Whilst generalised information of processes is available from a wide range of publications and equipment suppliers for the intending plant designer, local operational experience must be taken into account where there are similarities. However it would be wrong to assume that satisfactory plant design can be achieved merely be repeating previous design parameters. A detailed examination of bore cores used in conjunction with well proven design 'criteria will identify important differences in design parameters without which efficient and economic plant/sectional sizing cannot be achieved.

Jan 1, 1977

By Roberts M. L

Long Shaft was initially developed using a rail haulage system on every working level comprising battery electric locomotives and granby trucks loaded by rail mounted rocker shovels. Production was commenced using conventional hand held cut and fill mining methods. In an effort to improve productivity and reduce operating costs a mechanised cut and fill stoping method evolved to suit the wider sections of the orebody. To further improve productivity and reduce costs the mechanised levels of the mine are progressively being redeveloped to enable the use of trackless diesel haulage equipment. An added benefit of trackless haulage equipment will be the ability to place development mullock into stopes as Fill.

Jan 1, 1988

In-pit crushing systems have been known in the mining industry for many decades. The question whether in-pit crushing is a viable option has often been asked. More than 200 mobile and semi mobile crushing systems have been installed worldwide at various locations and applications. Economic pressures have forced mine operators to reconsider the use of a conventional truck-shovel operation and have contributed enormously to the development of in-pit crushing and conveying systems. The in-pit crushing concepts have varying mobility capabilities. These range from fixed, stationary crushing plants to semi-mobile and fully mobile crushing plants. All these systems are operated in connection with a conveying system. In general in-pit crushing systems have technical and economical cost advantages over truck-shovel operation, particularly as mine capacities increase and mines become deeper. The integration of an in-pit crushing system represents a significant up-front capital investment and the mine is only able to depreciate the capital investment over a sufficient mine life including plant capacity to realise the benefit of the much lower operating cost.

Jan 1, 2003

The Japanese Government promulgated the æLaw Concerning Special Measures Against DioxinsÆ on 16 July 1999 and it was enforced on 15 January 2000. This is a unique law specialised to protect the environment by the control of dioxin emissions from waste incinerators and several industrial processes. In this law, a few metallurgical processes other than waste incinerators are designated as æspecified facilitiesÆ emitting certain dioxins. Thus, emission standards for dioxins to the air were set for electric arc furnaces (EAF) for steelmaking, iron ore sintering, zinc recovery from EAF dust and aluminum recycle processes. In this paper, the inventory of dioxin emissions for Japan and the recent research and development to reduce emissions from those processes are introduced. Further, some details on the formation mechanism of dioxins and future subjects for effective control of their emissions are discussed.

Jan 1, 2002

Estimation of the semi-variogram is basic to the geostatistical processing of data. The most widely used arithmetic average estimator is here employed with various sampling patterns to calculate experimental semi-variograms in a deposit which is simulated to have a defined semi-variogram. Percentage differences between theoretical and experimental semi-variograms are reported.

Jan 1, 1984

By Millen M. J, Rainey S, Sowerby B. D

The control of size reduction in grinding machines and circuits may be enhanced by a continuous and accurate measurement of the particle size of solids in appropriate process streams. This paper presents a brief review of commercial particle s

Jan 1, 1997

The future of the Tasmanian mineral industry can only be estimated from a knowledge of the past, and armed with this knowledge an orderly plan for the future can be developed. Brief mention is made of the major historical developments through to the present day, with past and future development areas clearly mapped. Areas of importance which have been discussed are divided into the mining of metals, fossil fuels and non-metals; and the process- ing and extractive industries. Discussion then follows on the current general non-insular pressures on the mining industry, the energy crisis, scrap, world shortages, new techniques, inflation, and the effects of exploration on the environment. This is then followed by a discussion of the advantages of Tasmania as a mining state and a cataloguing of the present exploration and some possible areas of future development. From this a suggested plan emerges for the future development of the Tasmanian mineral industry, to incorporate the latest technological advances and by planning to meet the challenge of survival and growth in a turbulent environment.

Jan 1, 1977

By Siddall B

A brief review of the capabilities and practical limitations of blast simulation packages has been carried out. It is concluded that the simulators accurately reflect size distributions in the mid-ranges of 0.1 to 1.0 in, but are less reliable

Jan 1, 1998

By R Castroviejo, F Segundo, C Brea, J-C Catalina, H-J Bernhardt

Optical microscopy is a basic but still indispensable tool for examining mineral parageneses in ores. The design and concepts behind the reflected light ore microscope have obviously not been subject to spectacular technical evolutions in the last decades. However, digital imaging capabilities have opened new and stimulating perspectives for automated mineral identification. Recent works in developing multispectral image analysis (Pirard, 2004) have demonstrated its superior potential with respect to conventional colour imaging, but at the same time reconciliation with spectroscopic databases such as the Quantitative Data File III (Criddle and Stanley, 1993) still needs a more in-depth investigation as well as the possibility to extend both imaging and spectroscopy into the near infrared domain. In this paper, the authors present results gained from multispectral imaging in the range between 400 and 1000 nm together with spectrophotometric data from the QDFIII database, with an emphasis on minerals that cannot be easily distinguished in the visible spectrum.

Jan 1, 2008

By Brouwer G, Shaw J

As South African gold mines go deeper, and improved and more uniform working condi- tions are required, ever larger amounts of refrigeration are needed. At the same time new and more suitable cooling equipment is becoming available for use with new mining layouts as well as on existing shaft systems. The advent of the large diameter rotor screw compressor has meant that there is now a machine available with great flexibility in performance and construction for efficient underground use. The first installation using this type of machine is described.

Jan 1, 1988

By D Langberg, R Taylor

Many metallurgical operations produce fine residues and dusts as by-products which can be difficult to handle and offer little direct financial incentive to treat. There is a growing imperative to deal with these materials particularly since land fill is fast becoming an uncertain long term solution. One possible means of treatment is to extract the valuable metals while fusing the remainder into a slag. In this way valuable metal components of the material can be recovered and the less valuable components be converted into useful products, eg cements and inorganic polymers which have a high environmental stability and a growing market. The aim of this project is to establish solids injection and fusion in a slag bath as a viable method of treating industrial wastes and residues. The benefits of this approach are expected to be: the ability to treat a wide range of organic and inorganic residue materials, ease of recovery of volatile and valuable elements and the production of final materials which could be used in other industries. In ongoing experimental work at the CSIRO Minerals a 250 kg slag bath reactor has been used to test the injection of Paragoethite residue into an iron silicate based slag. An experimental apparatus has been designed and commissioned to pneumatically inject solid material at feed rates of up to 80 kg/hour. The capture efficiency of injected solids by the slag bath was calculated by monitoring the composition of the slag. Using this method of treatment, the zinc contained in the residue can be recovered as a fume by varying the oxidation state of the slag. Other valuable elements could be recovered by creating a matte or metal phase in the reactor with the final material being used in the production of cement. A capture efficiency of injected solid paragoethite particles in the slag bath of up to 97 per cent was achieved. Under the conditions of the experimental work capture efficiency was found to be independent of injection velocity and slag depth. The rate of fuming during injection was found to increase slightly with injection velocity and was independent of slag depth.

Jan 1, 2002

By Fink ST

Management requires up-to-date information on the activities of an enterprise in order to maintain control and to assist in decision-making and planning. In today's environment it is essential that this information is immediately available and in an easily assimilated format. If this is not the case, management is forced to make decisions based on intuition and past experience. At Mt Newman Mining Co, a computer application has been developed and implemented with the objective of providing this type of information to management. The Key Parameter Reporting System (as the application is known) allows for daily (constant) on-line capture of selected production statistics, safety statistics and free format textual comments relating to topics such as industrial relations, major maintenance and other pertinent news. Information can be retrieved,'and displayed or printed in either a tabular or graphical format. All senior managers have colour visual display units in their offices for immediate access to the system. Access to selected sensitive information is controlled. All company staff are able to retrieve unsecured information from the system via visual display units installed in all company Locations.

Jan 1, 1983

By Rennie J. W

In the first five years of longwall mining at Pacific Colliery, special techniques of goaf sealing, gas drainage, goaf edge ventilation and goaf sampling were developed and used to o crcome the concurrent problems of spontaneous combustion and high methane emissions. The English-inspired back-return face ventilation system was modified to suit Australian mining methods and was first used as part of a 'Y' ventilation system and more recently was used with a 'U' system of ventilation. In conjunction with this ventilation system, the maintenance of a sealed goaf area was an essential element in the control of the spontaneous combustion in the goaf.

Jan 1, 1988

A model of dense medium cyclones is developed based on balancing the terminal velocities of the discrete particles due to the centrifugal force against a random turbulent eddy velocity. An expression of the form P - or Q _ 1 100 e."A where P is the partition number., is a function of cyclone efficiency, particle size and density differential between the particle and medium, and is the slurry spilt, is developed and may be used for regressing plant partition data. The above model provides an understanding of peculiarities of the partition curve such as asymmetrical tails, elevation of the cutpoint and elevation of the d50 with increasingly fine feed. The effect of feed variables such as particle size, medium viscosity and changes in spigot or vortex finder diameter is shown. A means of convoluting the partition curve with various feed washabilities is discussed together with how the above may be used to evaluate plant performance for a variety of feeds.

Jan 1, 1987

By Fleming GJ

The Miwah prospect lies on the dilational 070¦ trending Miwah Lineament near its intersection with northerly oriented fractures within Pliocene volcanic rocks exposed between a NW trending segment of the dextral transcurrent Sumatra Fault, and the more northerly trending Samalanga-Sipopok Fault to the east. These faults reflect the continued interaction between stresses from the India-Australia plate located to the southwest, and spreading within the Andaman Sea to the north of Sumatra. A system of deep seated faults is believed to have facilitated emplacement of post-Miocene magmas and Quaternary volcanic centres at shallow crustal levels throughout northern Sumatra.

Jan 1, 1995

During 1995 a catastrophic accident took place at the No 2 Vaal Reefs shaft in South Africa, when a locomotive fell onto a cage, causing the death of 104 people. The subsequent Commission of Enquiry found that the safety detaching hook had opened when hit by parts of the falling locomotive, detaching the cage from the rope and allowing the cage to drop 400 m down the shaft. It was believed that had the hook not detached, the rope would have been sufficiently elastic not to have failed, implying that many fatalities may have been avoided. In addition, the risk of accidental opening of hooks due to impact with smaller falling objects in shafts became a concern. This paper deals with a comprehensive statistical investigation that was performed to quantify this risk, establish acceptable levels of such risks and to derive criteria for the resistance of detachment hooks against accidental opening caused by impacts. The investigation involved a survey, dynamic finite element analyses and Monte Carlo simulations.

Jan 1, 2005

By Wright D. C

The operation of the cyanide-sensitive Mintek/TB1 kegold electrode was studied in the laboratory, with regard to equilibration time and drift, the effects of pH, stirring, salinity, dissolved oxygen, zinc and copper(I) ions. Methods for valid calibration in the range 20-600 mg(NaCN)/L and pH values in the range 9 - 12 in the absence of copper were also studied. Increasing the salinity beyond a threshold of 40 g(NaCI)/L improves calibration and measurement. The sensitivity is 91 mV per decade change in the concentration of ionic cyanide, and output is reproducible to within 10 mV with attention to the factors listed above. However, salinity of 40 g(NaCI)/L also sensitises the electrode to interference by copper(1) ions. This copper sensitivity seems capable of saturation, suggesting a research strategy for possible remedies.

Jan 1, 1996

By Pollard D. M

Chalcopyrite samples from two different localities were leached in oxygenated mixed chloride-sulphate lixivants at elevated temperatures and atmospheric pressure. The oxidation of chalcopyrite was found to follow predominantly linear kinetics. The slope of the major region was dependent on stirring rate, oxygen flowrate and chloride concentration while only slightly dependent on the surface area of the sample leached. This region was found to predominate only at low temperatures. The oxidised chalcopyrite releases cuprous and ferric ions into solutions. Chloride ions complex these dissolved ions to effectively move the equilibrium of the leaching reaction to the right. When the level of chloride in solution was below 6 g/l, the unstable cuprous ions were found to reprecipitate with sulphur as covellite. When no chloride was present and the lixivant was a solution of sulphuric acid then ferric sulphates precipitated. The overall leaching reaction occurring in the leaching system is: CuFeS2 + 5H+ + 1.25 02 = Cu 2+ + Fe 3+ + 2S¦ + 2.5H20

Jan 1, 1987

By Parr JM, Scott SD, Herzig PM, Gemmell JB

PACMANUS is an actively-forming seafloor analogue of volcanic-hosted massive sulfide orebodies, situated on the crest of an andesite-dacite-rhyodacite ridge overlying rifted older arc crust in a back-arc basin. Hydrothermal deposits range from Mn-oxide crusts to Cu-Zn-rich massive sulfide mounds and chimneys containing significant Au and Ag. Preliminary data suggest a substantial magmatic component to fluids and metal sources, and we speculate that PACMANUS is the cap to a complete hydrothermal system including subvolcanic and intrusive-related mineralisation.

Jan 1, 1995

Any project carries a number of challenges and risks. Inappropriate design, poor project management, time, industrial disputation and capital over runs are all areas which can impact on a project cash flows and return on investment. In the resource Industry you have the added complexity and risk of geology which is difficult to predict and sometimes unforgiving. The Dartbrook Mine was designed and constructed as a high output longwall mine and has overcome a number of hurdles to produce over 2.3 million tonnes for the first year of operation. A number of problems were encountered during construction which resulted in the inseam development being delayed for six months. Dartbrook people have demonstrated they can manage adversity and produce world class results. The mine has been through a very steep learning curve during 1997 and with this experience behind the mine is now producing at an annualised rate of 3.4 MTPA.

Jan 1, 1998