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The mmmg operations carried out by North Broken Hill Limited, necessitate the use of four shafts for the haulage of ore, men, and supplies. These are:-1. Blackwood's Shaft.-British Section, which has 100 feet intervals between levels to the bottom 800 feet level plat;2. Thompson's Shaft.-British Section, which has 100 feet intervals between levels to the bottom 1400 feet level plat;3. No. 1 Shaft.-With intervals between levels:(a) 100 feet to the 800 feet level,(b) 150 feet from 800 feet level to the 1700 feet level;4. No. {2 Shaft.-2770 feet from collar to bottom plat, with intervals between levels: (a) 100 feet to 800 feet level, (b) 150 feet from 800 feet level to the 2600 feet level. (c) 170 feet from 2600 feet level to the 2770 feet level.All shafts have two cage compartments, and the No. 2 Shaft a skip installation in addition.For the control of hoisting operations an electric signalling system is installed on each shaft, and is supplemented by a counterbalanced rope pull ("Knocker line") operating a surface gong. The latter system is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1.Two sets of electrical equipment are used per shaft. The first, shown in Fig. 2, is that operated by the braceman or...

Jan 1, 1940

Several coal preparation plants are presently "automated" to the extent of automatic sequencing and interlocking via digital means, together with closed loop control on various level and density circuits. This paper will explore the potential for second generation automation utilizing on-stream ash analysers and other measuring elements so as to optimize the total metallurgical process. This would enable maxim-ization of recovery, improved product homogeneity and minimum reagent consumption.

Jan 1, 1985

By Quadrio J. S, MacHunter A. M W

The initial development fl6tation testwork on Mt. Windarra op was completed on composited drill core intersections at the.Australian Mineral Development Laboratory. An exploratory winze provided samples, from the 130 M. level of the Mt. Windarra mine, for pilot plant and bench development tests. A limited test programme was initiated on the South Windarra drill core composites. Detailed mineralogy has been completed on selected samples from both ore deposits.

Jan 1, 1973

By Goodheart B

The Australian Mineral Sands Industry has expanded from the initial export of mixed concentrates in the 1930s, through various development stages, to its current position as a leading world producer of individual mineral products and some further processed products. Opportunities for downstream processing of the separated minerals and locating such developments in Western Australia are reviewed, along with the role of the Western Australian Government in assisting resource development projects.

Jan 1, 1986

Synthetic hollow microspheres have demonstrated reliable sensitization and detonation characteristics in industrial explosives for almost two decades. During that time, water gel formulations and use conditions have changed. The introduction of emulsion explosives has also dictated technical improvements in microsphere sensitizers. In contrast to microspheres, gassing or other sensitizing techniques often cannot satisfy the manufacturing and blasting characteristics required of today's explosives. This paper discusses the sensitizing properties of microspheres, formulating guidelines and quality considerations. Packaging, sampling, transfer, metering, mixing and pumping information is also provided.

Jan 1, 1990

By Darby H. P, Vincent R. J

Sydney's Eastern Suburbs Railway from Central to Bondi Junction required the construc- tion of 10.4 km of single-track tunnel and five underground stations. Much of this work took place beneath the commercial centre of Australia's largest city. This paper discusses the general precautions taken and the specific design solutions made for such problems as support of a 15-storey building with foundations several metres above the excavation to ensure negligible differential settlement, excavation immediately below running tunnels, underpinning of multi-storey buildings, tunnelling under massive masonry retaining walls and demolition and rebuilding of part-completed structures.

Jan 1, 1981

By Singh RN, Yuejin LI

The problems experienced with longwall mining machinery motivate the development of an expert system for fault diagnosis. The techniques of knowledge representation, database, knowledge base and inference engine guide the selection of the expert systems and languages -"Turbo Prolog"- as exemplified in the case study of hydraulic support. The aim is to hasten future development of a fault diagnosis system and the design of a system to locate and determine the causes of failure of longwall machinery. The system would use its stored case history and other information to make fault diagnoses and suggest appropriate remedies. Consequently down-time would be reduced and production and profitability should increase.

Jan 1, 1991

By Hutchinson IN

In order for the Australian underground coal mining industry to achieve the high productivity rates demanded of it without compromising its good safety record, improved geotechnical monitoring systems are required. One of the main problem areas affecting underground coal mining is the deterioration of previously stable roadways.CSIRO Division of Geomechanics has been working on a NERDDC funded project to develop an instrument to monitor coal mine roof deformation. The instrument which has been developed, Roof Alert, is a self contained, battery powered, intrinsically safe device. It can monitor the magnitude and rate of deformation and give multiple, variable visual alarm signals where preset levels ate exceeded.

Jan 1, 1991

The need to estimate the block size distribution of a jointed rock mass is of great importance in the design of blasting rounds to attain a pre- established fragmentation. Other Geomechanics topics, such as ,hydraulic behavior of rock-masses, as well as the determination of their strength properties, also require the accurate prediction of a rock-mass composition in terms of block size taking in due account the three dimensional interference of joints and other geologic discontinuities. In this paper, a method for computing the block size analysis of a jointed rock mass is described, using as input the common geologic data (dip and strike) of fracture planes existing in a rock bench prior to blasting.

Jan 1, 1977

By Fairhurst RM

High pressure abrasive water jets have been shown capable of cutting a wide range of materials including steel, stone, rock and concrete. Acceptable performance can be achieved using relatively low pressures and expendable abrasives. The cutting head can be made small and abrasive feed systems have been developed that allow reliable pumping of slurries over long distances to supply such cutting heads. These features make abrasive water jets ideally suited to automated control in remote areas.Another major advantage of abrasive entraining water jet cutting heads is that they may be operated safely in potentially explosive environments due to their cold cutting ability. Therefore there are many possible applications for such equipment in mining.This paper gives an introduction to the abrasive water jet process and includes results of trials carried out at BHRA on a range of hard materials. Work is also described which investigated the operational safety of abrasive water jets in explosive environ-ments. In a special environmental chamber, cuts were made on steel and sandstone with atmospheres of methane/air and hydrogen/air, without caypsing ignition.

Jan 1, 1985

By Mills KW

Coal mine pillar design formulae available to mine planners are typically based on relationships determined for specific site conditions. Application of these methods is difficult when other factors, relating to mining or geological conditions, not specifically addressed in these relationships are encountered. A review of pillar design methods, coal strength properties and relevant field monitoring of pillar behaviour has shown pillar strength and deformational characteristics are extremely sensitive to in situ behaviour of the rock and other material components that make up the coal pillar system. A method has been developed that has been found to provide excellent correlation between existing field data using the strength and deformational characteristics of materials determined in selected laboratory tests. This method is based on definition of the loading conditions, accurate modelling of the strength, confining conditions and deformation occuring in the roof, floor and coal seam and definition of the in situ strength of coal based on underground monitoring of appropriately sized coal pillar. The design method is considered to provide an accurate and rigorous pillar design method that will give mine planners a more rational mine design capability which is based on the mine geometry and geological setting of the operation. It is envisaged that availability of such a method will allow significant optimisation of pillar layouts and more closely define the geological and mining issues that relate to pillar design optimisation.

Jan 1, 1992

The issue of fine coal and tailings dewatering has become of increasing concern to many coal preparation operators, both in Australia and overseas due to a variety of factors. Increasing mechanisation and mining of thinner seams over the past decades has resulted in an increasing amount of fines generation while increasing international trade in coal and tighter environmental constraints on tailings disposal have resulted in the production of these same fines to be an increasing problem. However, technology to date has not always been able to supply a cost-effective solution to the handling of these fines in an efficient and environmentally benign manner. This paper will review the key issues associated with the dewatering of fine coal and tailings, will describe the major current practices and constraints, and finally will indicate alternative technologies that may have to be considered in the near future. For the purpose of this paper, "fine" coal is described as that material less than 0.5 mm in diameter (as this is the most common cutpoint between various plant circuits in Australian practice), although the technological constraints are very much dependent upon the fraction less than 45 micron. The amount of minus 0.5 mm material fed to plants varies, depending upon the type of coal and mining operation, but in Australia may range from less than ten per cent to greater than 30 per cent of the feed in higher rank coals.

Jan 1, 1991

By Lunarzewski L, Truong D

Although there are sound principles used in the world recognised methods of gas emission prediction, results based on these methods applied to several Australian longwall extractions have yielded unacceptably high discrepancies. With the development of mining in new seams and at higher rates of extraction, the need has grown for a methodical approach to predicting gas emission levels specifically for local Australian mining conditions. Such an approach is developed from results of recorded emission readings during longwall mining at Appin and Pacific Collieries over the past 6 years.

Jan 1, 1988

By Askew J. E

All facets of current practices of cable dowelling at The Zinc Corporation, Limited and New Broken Hill Consolidated Limited are re- viewed. This includes materials specific- ations, installation practices and design pro- cedures. Cable dowelling for cut and fill stoping, square set timber stoping, longhole open stoping and level reinforcement is considered. Installation is simple and can be mechanised to eliminate heavy lifting. Quality control is essential for optimum performance of the re- inforcement. Design patterns must consider the mining method, reinforcement economics, acceptable stability standards and mine production priorities.

Jan 1, 1977

By Briggs D

Comparing the results of a plant trial by averaging performance measures collected during the trial with measures collected before and after the trial is often quite subjective because of the impact of natural variation on the process. This is

Jan 1, 1997

This paper sets out to discuss some of the more common forms of geological data abuse in project development. The paper illustrates various types of abuse and the reasons behind that misuse of data. This paper is only a brief introduction to a very large subject.

Jan 1, 1983

Geologists working in mountainous terrain were the first to map and interpret in three dimensions and as a result, made the first contributions to our understanding of mountain building and structural geology. However, geology during the 1900s has been dominantly a two-dimensional exercise in data gathering and interpretation. The standard output of geological surveys and university research has been the geological map and the standard methodology of the mineral explorer has been surface mapping and prospecting. The future will be concerned far more with the third dimension.

Jan 1, 1993

Rocks of all geological ages are present on the Australian continent. As a result of its geological heritage, Australia is richly endowed with mineral and energy resources. Due in part to its enormous mineral wealth, the nation is in the position of being a wealthy country surrounded by less developed countries of the Asian and Pacific region. Over many years Australia has developed and gained valuable experience in the exploration, mining and processing of a wide range of mineral and energy resources. In an interdependent world community, it is obviously in Australia's interest to cooperate and provide assistance in geoscience education and training to developing countries of the region.

Jan 1, 1986

Selective continuous surface mining is a rapidly developing system of mining which will have a significant impact on many present and future open cut mines. In many aspects the technology is in its infancy, whilst in other facets concepts drawn from other sectors of engineering are well proven. Full development of the potential and benefits of this technology will only be achieved if the mining companies and manufacturing companies work together to produce machines which the end user really wants.

Jan 1, 1986

By Nyamekye GA, Subramanian S

Adsorption tests have been carried out to elucidate the interaction mechanism between dextrin and sulphide minerals. Sulphides such as galena and heazlewoodite exhibit high affinity adsorption over the pH range that coincides with the iep of lead and nickel hydroxides, and is suggestive of chemical interaction. The adsorption behaviour with respect to the sulphides of copper is of the low affinity type, and follows a different pattern. The adsorption studies on graphite, support the chemical interaction mechanism, with the metallic impurities serving as adsorption centres. In conformity with the proposed mechanism selective separation of galena from chalcopyrite and heazlewoodite from chalcocite has been Achieved.

Jan 1, 1993