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Silver-lead ores are widely distributed through- out the Mount Lofty and Flinders Ranges, but none of the deposits is large. Historically the Glen Osmond Mines are the most significant as the site of the first metalliferous mining in Australia, but Talisker was one of the three largest producers of silver-lead in a state whose mining history is dom- inated by copper. The mine is located in a magnificent natural setting on Talisker Conservation Park, near Cape Jervis, southwest of Adelaide (Figure 1). It is exempt from the operations of the Mining Act and listed on the Register of State Heritage Items. The mine and associated township of Silverton were dominated by Cornish influences during the period of principal activity between 1862 and 1872. Silverton, located on a ridge overlooking the mine, grew to a population of about 300 at its peak in 1870 and the area was very much another 'little Cornwall'.

Jan 1, 1987

The major greenhouse gas emissions from coal combustion are leading certain people to argue for uranium mining and nuclear power to meet these challenges. Although there is considerable rhetoric around promoting nuclear power as 'green' due to its relatively lower greenhouse intensity, a careful study of the data is required to properly underst and the sustainability of uranium mining and nuclear power and whether it can or should have a role in future energy supply scenarios. This paper presents detailed research and analysis on uranium mining, focusing on known economic resources, production, solid waste and water management, pollution issues as well as energy and greenhouse aspects. A particular focus will be on Australia and its operating and prospective uranium mines. Overall, the paper raises fundamental issues concerning the long-term sustainability of uranium mining and nuclear power and documents the greenhouse intensity of uranium production and the nuclear fuel chain.

Jun 1, 2010

The mine manager is one of the oldest jobs in the world. Over many centuries the fundamentals of how this job was approached did not change much. However since the later part of the 1980s there has been a dramatic shift in the expectations and role of the mine manager as the pressures of globalisation and consolidation have increased the size of companies and the production levels of mining operations. The changes have been dramatic, with demanding requirements on mine managers to continually improve the skill levels of people, to apply and develop rapidly changing technologies and to consider far broader business issues that need to be managed in a truly globally connected world. This paper will attempt to outline some of the issues, the complexity surrounding them and some of the approaches that have been made to manage them. There is not a single correct answer or approach, but there are many key success factors that have led to some amazing levels of performance being achieved as we go deeper, broader and literally move mountains to meet the customerÆs needs for today and tomorrow. This contrasts with many mining operations in developing countries that still have a traditional approach to how they mine. Society is the river of life that continually flows and changes the environment that surrounds it. The pressures from the customers and world growth, shape and force alterations to be made in an industry that has to live with the far greater primal and uncompromising forces of the earth we mine. This has led to some paradigm shifts in how we accept what we manage. TodayÆs mine manager must manage a far broader range of issues, than just how do we get tonnage out of the mine and product out of the ore. These include but are not limited to technical, commercial, product quality and end use understanding, employee and community issues, environmental and the ever increasing complexities of sustainable development. Organisations will have to look at how they structure their management of the business to manage functions to meet the complexity of different stakeholders needs û the business, the employees, the customer and the broader community within an environment that is becoming more attuned to the harm impacts to the world in which we operate. The attraction and retention of skilled people that contribute to the value and worth of the corporation, will become critical to sustain a companyÆs growth. One of the fundamental elements of successfully doing this will always be the skills of the mine manager and his/her extended team with the continued development and support that they will need to meet these demands.

Jan 1, 2006

The increasing global demand for rough materials forces almost every mine to look at the mechanisation in their processes. This will not onlyimprove performance but with safety issues becoming more and more prevalent, the need for the introduction of mechanisation technologies to mining applications is essential. Ongoing developments are occurring in almost every field, ranging from basic developments to specialised mining. Mechanical tunnelling and shaft sinking have set the standards regarding safety, profitability and environmental protection. Different machine types and working principles have been developed to suit the geological and hydrological requirements of tunnelling projects worldwide. Continuous activity in research and development leads to constant optimisation of tunnelling performance.

Jan 1, 2008

By Field R. V, Graieg O, George T. J

The design, construction and operation ofa laboratory scale rotary pot kiln are outlined. Charges ofup to 3 kg can be heated to temperatures up to 1200°C in a controlled atmosphere. Some examples of pyrometallurgical investigations carried out using the kiln are briefly described, including thermal reactivation ofcarbon using steam at 550-850°C, high temperature testing ofkiln liners for corrosion resistance to fluoride, and calcination oflimestone. Results obtained from these trials allow either direct scale-up to the Engineering Chemistry Laboratory's pilot-scale (50-100 kg/hr) rotary kiln or modifications to be made to commercial scale processes and/or equipment.

Jan 1, 1986

By N Fullelove

The Renison Bell Tin Mine on the West Coast of Tasmania has recently installed a new underground ore handling system incorporating underground crushing, conveying and hoisting facilities. Contracts for the sinking of the shaft and the development of the mine were let and managed by the operator, Renison Limited. Hardcastle & Richards was responsible for the design, procurement and construction management of the fixed plant and equipment including civil, structural, mechanical, electrical and instrumentation services. The system demonstrates worldÆs best practice in design and incorporates a state-of-the-art integrated control system allowing the entire system to be controlled by a single operator located in the underground crusher chamber. A rapid construction period was achieved, despite the difficult and constrained underground environment, without affecting the ongoing operations of the mine. The mine, which was established in the mid-1960s, had previously operated by trucking ore to the surface via a decline. Truck haulage distances and costs had increased as the mine became deeper over the years. By the 1990s it had become apparent that, in order to remain economically viable, it was necessary to reduce truck haulage distances and allow the mine to go still deeper to access orebodies such as Rendeep beneath the current workings. The Internal Shaft System achieved this by eliminating approximately 5 km of truck haulage. It allows the production rate to be increased to up to 1 Mtpa compared with a limit of 628 kt per annum by direct truck haulage to surface. The access it provides to the Rendeep ore and other deep orebodies greatly increases the amount of ore which can be economically mined.

Jan 1, 1998

By Wall J, Platell R, Knight P

The Argyle diamond mine is located in the East Kimberley area of Western Australia, some 100 km south of the town of Kununurra. The diamondiferous Argyle olivine-lamproite diatreme was discovered in August 1979. Production began in December 1985 at a planned throughput of 3 Mtpa to recover 25 million carats of diamonds. Presently, Argyle is the world's largest producer of natural diamonds and produced over 40 million carats in 1993 from seven million tonnes of lamproite ore treated. Two phases of evaluation have been carried out. The first in 1981-82 was designed to prove around 60 million tonnes of ore to justify the establishment of a mine with a minimum life of 20 years. The second phase, in 1989-90 involved drilling the orebody to greater depths to provide data on which to plan the final pit design. The final pit contained 120 million tonnes of ore at 5.3 carats per tonne (ct/t) grade. Mining of the planned pit will extend the mine life to around the year 2004, following which it is possible that a further cut-back could be mined. There is also the potential for future underground mining. A substantial amount of geotechnical work has been undertaken due to the fact that the pit will be nearly 500 m deep and is located in a mobile zone causing abnormally high residual stresses to occur in the pit walls. The occurrence of low strength rocks at depth in the pit walls further complicated the situation. Hydrogeological investigations were done to determine pit dewatering requirements and to assess the effect of dewatering on pit wall stability.

Jan 1, 1994

By J Slade, R Trueman

Unplanned dilution has the potential to seriously undermine the economic viability of a mine, and in some cases results in mine closure. The effect of stress damage on dilution has become increasingly relevant as mining depths increase. In the case of narrow vein mining, the incremental extraction of long-hole rings has the potential to result in a moving high stressed zone at the stope brow. This leads the hanging wall and footwall to experience a spike in the stress to strength ratios as the brow passes. In some cases, the stress to strength ratio may be high enough to result in fracturing or damage to the rock mass. The aim of the study described in this paper was to investigate whether stress damage results in a significant increase in dilution. The study involved analysis of overbreak from 410 case studies from the Kundana Gold mine in Western Australia. Site personnel had already undertaken calibration studies of the stress levels that result in rock mass damage. This calibration, in conjunction with numerical modelling showed that stress damaged stope walls at this mine had on average 50 per cent more overbreak than stope walls where stresses had not exceeded the damage criterion. For a design mining width of 1.5 metres, and with both walls impacted, this represents 36 per cent increase in dilution. After adjustment for possible sources of bias the difference reduced to an average 0.10 metres per stope wall, representing 13 per cent dilution for the mining width under consideration. The potential for stress damage related overbreak should therefore be considered as part of any assessment of narrow vein dilution.

Jan 1, 2005

By T C. McCuaig, D B. Mapleson

The Wannaway Deposit is a structurally modified komatiite-hosted nickel-sulfide deposit. Until recently, nickel sulfide accumulations surrounding the Widgiemooltha Dome had been studied with a focus on understanding volcanological aspects of komatiite flow regimes and nickel-sulfide accumulation. Although volcanological features can be observed at Wannaway they are overprinted by several generations of structures associated with multi-phase deformation of the Dome. On the mine scale, two significant deformational events can be distinguished that control ore distribution. The first deformational event is represented by the formation of a layer parallel foliation within the footwall metabasalt and boudinaging of the ore into two distinct orebodies (mega boudins) during a north-south compressional event. Evidence of a second compressional event (east-northeast-south-southwest) is defined by reverse > dextral thrust-folding of the ore zone. The latter deformational event focussed the sulfide ore into thrust front positions where folded ore sequences are mined with stope widths up to nine metres wide. Later stage compressional and extensional deformation phases are observed but have minor, localised effects on the geometry of the ore zone. Four orders of control on the geometry and distribution of ore are interpreted through a combination of primary and secondary features observed at Wannaway. Extending the structural aspects of the secondary overprint features into areas of potential mineralisation has not only defined targets for extensions to the Wannaway Deposit, but has also aided to delineate high grade mineralisation and aid mining decisions. Obtaining an understanding of the volcanological conditions of formation, and more importantly, the structural evolution of the Wannaway region has been an integral part in optimising production.

Jan 1, 2003

By S T. Jarvis

Colliery spoil is the major constituent of colliery spoil ærockpasteÆ which has been used to infill abandoned limestone mines in the West Midlands of England since the early-1980s. The other constituents of rockpaste are pulverised fuel ash, lime and water. A key property of the rockpaste is its ability to flow within the mine workings over considerable distances before setting. This paper describes the work carried out to identify suitable sites as sources of colliery spoil for making rockpaste and goes onto consider the flow properties of the material and the monitoring methods used on-site. A full-scale trial comprising infilling a 6600 m3 section of an abandoned mine was conducted prior to the infilling of the Littleton Street Mine which had a volume of about 500 000 m3. As well as describing the methods used for monitoring the movement of rockpaste material, a description is also given of a dip-meter developed specifically for the purpose of measuring the level of paste in the mine. This paper shows how a colliery spoil based paste has been successfully used for infilling abandoned mine workings. The monitoring systems developed for use in the two case studies presented in this paper are now being used extensively for infilling other abandoned mine workings. To-date over 11 mines with a total volume exceeding two million cubic metres have been backfilled.

Jan 1, 1998

By B OÆNeil

The Trent-Severn Waterway is a 386 km long navigation route through central Ontario between Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay, and is operated by the Parks Canada Agency. Its primary focus is to pass recreational boats through a system of 44 locks. The Big Chute Marine Railway (BCMR) is one site in the system that provides transportation for boats. The BCMR carriage is used to transport boats and their passengers on the inclined railway a distance of 230 m over a natural barrier from one body of water to another, with an elevation difference of 18 m. The unique feature of the haulage system used in this application is the variable angle of the incline from about 20 per cent rise changing to horizontal and followed by 20 per cent decline. In such conditions, unlike as in standard incline haulage, special configuration of hoists and drives is required. On the uphill part of the track, there is a need to have a motoring mode, on the downhill part a regenerating mode and on the horizontal part a combination of motoring and regeneration is required. The original system was built in 1978 and employed four 100 hp dc drive mine hoists to haul the 100 tonne conveyance loaded with 90 tonnes of boats. Due to failures and operational problems with the original system, in 1999 Parks Canada awarded a turnkey contract to ABB for a new, modern system of four single drum hoists. The new system was put into operation in 2000, only six months after receiving the order. The hoists are controlled by digital drives and a digital control system. Due to dramatic changes in the load conditions for individual hoists involved, the new system features many interesting solutions like changing drive modes from speed to torque control and a multiple, regulated braking system. It is a unique hoisting system, which could be also used in mining applications.

Jan 1, 2005

Gold mineralisation at the Macraes Gold Project is hosted in the Hyde-Macraes shear zone and can be traced for ~30km along strike, although economic resources are confined to a 7 km section in the vicinity of the Macraes township. The shear zone, which typically dips at a low angle (~20 o ) to the NE, is bounded by an upper hanging wall shear and a lower footwall fault. Mineralisation occurs along the hangingwall of the shear zone as well as in low angle concordant shears and stockworks. Ore types include graphitic cataclasites with variable amounts of quartz veining, ælode schistsÆ and quartz-vein stockworks. Rehabilitation at the mine has focused on creating an environmentally benign site dominated by pasture to allow continuation of the traditional pre-mine farming economy. Changing regional economics, continued urbanisation and a reduction in traditional employment opportunities has seen a rethink in the long-term rehabilitation outcomes. The community has recognised that the rehabilitated site will provide the basis of a viable tourism venture and the creation of a Heritage and Art Park (working title æGolden Point ParkÆ) is the culmination of that process.

Jan 1, 2002

The paper describes the reasons for developing, specifically in South Africa, dense medium processes to allow baths to operate at low (about 1,35) and high (about 2,0) cut points. Low density processing was developed to meet the demand for low ash coals; high density processing was developed to enable heavily contaminated raw coals, destined to be burned in captive power stations, to be de-shaled without loss of combustibles. The anticipated and actual technical difficulties of operating baths at such density extremes are described, and the results from operating plants outlined.

Jan 1, 1987

By M A. Gontalves, A F. D C Varajpo

The Rio Capim kaolin district, located in the north-east of Parß State, Brazil, constitutes one of the worldÆs largest high-whiteness kaolin reserves for the paper coating industry. It contains, at the base of the main ore, a soft kaolin that gradually changes at the top into a ferruginous duricrust followed by a flint kaolin. The flint kaolin is completely discarded during the exploitation of the soft kaolin. With the view of a more complete beneficiation, aiming at a sustainable development of the minerals industry, the use of this residual flint kaolin has been considered for the manufacturing of zeolites. Zeolites were synthesised from the flint kaolin through a reaction between metakaolinite with soda at 80¦C, for durations of 24 to 144 hours. The transformation into metakaolinite was carried out at 800¦C and was not affected by the titanium oxides. For a synthesis time of only 24 hours, a zeolite 4A very close to its theoretical definition was obtained, whereas for synthesis times longer than 96 hours, a slight formation of hydro-sodalite was also observed. The synthesised zeolites were tested as cationic adsorbents on 0.5 molar solutions of Cu, Pb, Cd and Zn. The adsorption was measured for contact durations of one and three days. It was noted that the exchange kinetics were slow and that the retention was significantly greater after three days than after one day. The retention was greater than 50 per cent of the theoretical exchange capacity for Pb, Cd and Zn, which was different to Cu, where the retention exceeded its theoretical exchange capacity.

Jan 1, 2008

By Finlayson J. F

The advantages of rapid and accurate analyses are becoming appreciated in many industries today and have resulted in a great increase in the number of samples received by their laboratories. This has caused some firms to consider the installation of one or more of the instruments available for analytical chemistry. In this country there are relatively few people with experience of instrumental methods and it is difficult for a firm considering the installation of such equipment to assess the advantages which instruments may give them, and to decide which instruments, if any, will be of most use to them. The object of this paper is to give a brief survey of instrumental methods in the field of inorganic analysis. Instrumental methods of analysis have numerous advantages when used correctly. They enable extremely rapid analyses to be made in many cases, e.g., analysis of refined lead by purely chemical means takes about two days whereas spectographically the analysis can be completed in approximately one and a half hours. The accuracy ofinstrumental methods, generally between 1 and 5%, is higher than most chemical methods for small percentages of impurities. Furthermore, if the instrument can be calibrated against absolute standards the errors are usually random and not biased to one side of the correct result. The sensitivity is high, enabling in many cases the detection and determination of smaller percentages than can be detected chemically. This high sensitivity enables and, in some cases, requires the use of very small samples, and results in considerable savings in reagents, allowing the analysis of considerably more samples without undue loss...

Jan 1, 1951

By Scaife PH, Cripps Clark J, Cameron DB

Tuyere coke samples have been taken through the tuyere openings of B.H.P. International Blast Furnaces since 1978 with Whyalla No. 2 Blast Furnace taking samples on a regular basis since 1982. The degradation of coke during it's passage through the Blast Furnace can be measured and the relationships between these data, feed coke data and blast furnace operating data demonstrated. Tuyere coke sampling has been useful in revealing misleading external coke testing results and is still the method to monitor directly the performance of coke within the Blast Furnace.

Jan 1, 1987

IntroductionOre BodiesRio GrandeBlack RockLeadCopperBlack StarLeadCopperStoping Methods and DesignFactors Affecting Ventilation PracticeTemperatures and Climatic ConditionsGeothermic GntdlentLegal RequirementsMine CasesMain Ventilation SystemMajor Fans and ShaftsVentilation CircuitsMan and Supply Shaft; No. 2 Ore Shaft; Urquhart ShaftMan and Supply Shaft; Davidson Shaft; No. 46ShaftLawlor Shaft; Urquhart ShaftControl of VentilationSummary of Upcasts and DowncastsAuxiliary VentilationType of Fans used, Vent Pipe, etcVentilation and Temperature SurveysDust SurveysInstruments Used

Jan 1, 1953

The kinetics of chlorination of alumina and bauxite with CO/CI2 mixtures were studied in the range 300-1100°C. The temperature of prior calcination is critical in determining the reaction rates. An optimum chlorination temperature in the range 600°C-750°C was demonstrated such that there is no increase in reaction rates with increasing temperature. This lack of rate sensitivity to rising temperature is largely a function of the influence of gaseous diffusion gradients in the porous alumina together with a progressive decrease in surface area.

Jan 1, 1976

The progress between 1983 and 1989 towards Management Guidelines for R16 was extremely slow and painful because protection of the mining heritage was a new function and administrative activity not referred to in any Queensland mining law. Also, until 2 December 1989 the Queensland political climate was anti-preservation. Therefore an understanding had to be achieved between John Hay, the Mines Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, to ensure preservation of the mining machinery in situ rather than being removed to a town site such as in Ravenswood.

Jan 1, 1990

Investigations of the Mineragraphic Section; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, have included most of the known stannite-bearing ores in Australia, and have revealed several new occurrences of this relatively uncommon mineral. They provide information about its paragenesis, and its possible effect on tin recovery, that may be of general interest.Several of the investigations used in the preparation of this paper, were made in the first instance by pr. F. L. Stillwell or in collaboration with him.CASSITERITE-SULPHIDE ORES IN NORTH-WEST- TASMANIA Stannite is a minor component of most of the cassiterite sulphide ores of north-western Tasmania. These include the orebodies of Mount Bischoff, the Cleveland mine, Moina, the Stanley River district, Renison Bell, and the Heemskirk-Zeehan district, and form a well defined metallogenetic provence which is related to the Devonian granites of this part of Tasmania.In these ores mineralisation began. with deposition of cassiterite, a little wolfram, and quartz, topaz and tourmaline. With falling temperature, deposition of cassiterite ceased and arsenopy-rite, pyrite, and especially pyrrhotite, formed in abundance, tending to give massive sulphide ore. A little chalcopyrite; stannite, sphalerite and native bismuth accompanied the pyrrhotite. Deposition of quartz ceased after the pyrrhotite, was formed, and the later-formed nonsulphide gangue consists chiefly of carbonates and fluorite. With, the advent of the carbonates the pyrrhotite was altered to fine-gained intergrowths of marcasite and pyrite. Excess iron from the pyrrhotite entered the intergrown carbonate, or was precipitated as magnetite. Some solution of the cassiterite occurred at this stage, the tin being redeposited chiefly as stimnite replacement rims around the residual cassitellrite grains. Varying, but small, amounts of sphalerite, galena, tetrahedrite and silver minerals were depoSited at this stage, bringing the mineralisation to a...

Jan 1, 1951