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Techno-Economic Evaluation of a New Early Removal Process to Treat High-Arsenic Copper Ores

Sep 13, 2010

By B Waldon, M Valastro

A coal dust explosion is one of the most significant risks in the harsh and complex environment of an Underground Coal Mine (UCM). Reviewing literature, regulations and existing systems surrounding explosive dust management shows that there have been few advancements in managing this risk over the past 90 years. Legislation has remained relatively stagnant and minimal systems are implemented in the real world that can simplify, standardise and improve the effectiveness of UCM explosive dust management. To help bridge this gap, Corehesion, in collaboration with an UCM has designed, developed and implement an Explosive Dust Risk Mitigation System (EDRMS) utilising components of Business Intelligence (BI) that is capable of real-world use in industry. To do this the existing explosive dust management process at the associated research mine was evaluated to form high-level and detailed design requirements, focusing on digitally simplifying the procedure, not replicating it. The system was then iteratively and incrementally developed and implemented at the research mine to commence real-world use. The developed BI platform is compared with the existing process to highlight the advancements in performance transparency, efficiency and optimisation of UCM explosion mitigation. This comparison and evaluation of the real-world system implementation at the research mine demonstrate its success in automating procedure steps, providing a readily accessible source of data and enabling a proactive approach to planning and managing explosion risk mitigation. In addition to improvements just for the research mine, this EDRMS created directly address many Queensland regulatory audit findings. By finalising the total system and making the highlighted changes for standardisation, this BI system will have the adaptable capabilities for implementation across the UCM industry. As accurate data availability improves at UCMs, further work can be done to improve the systems’ optimisation techniques and integration of other risks.

Apr 16, 2024

By P K. Seccombe

The McKinnons gold deposit is hosted by weakly deformed, Palaeozoic metasedimentary rocks of the Cobar Basin in the western Lachlan Fold Belt of New South Wales. Mineralisation comprised a largely supergene resource of 1.7 Mt of ore, grading 1.7 g/t gold, established over structurally controlled, primary gold and base-metal mineralisation in underlying, carbonate-rich meta-siltstones and sandstones of Early Devonian age. Mineralisation was associated with at least two major fluid cycles. The first cycle was characterised by four stages of vein formation. Early quartz and carbonate veins (Stages 1 and 2) and quartz-pyrite breccias (Stage-3) occurred prior to, or early in, the main regional deformation (D1). Continued D1 deformation produced syntectonic, carbonate-base-metal veins (Stage-4), primarily in dilatant zones adjacent to fold axes. The second cycle of mineralisation was an epithermal-style event, driven by a shallow, syn-D2 or post-tectonic intrusion, defined by aeromagnetic imaging. The intrusion may have exploited a jog, controlled along the basin margin by basement faults. Mineralisation produced gold-pyrite veins, associated with pervasive quartz-sericite-adularia and chlorite-sericite alteration. Highest primary gold grades are confined to quartz-adularia boiling zones. The McKinnons deposit offers an important example of mineralisation formed by multiple processes. Early-stage, base-metal mineralisation at McKinnons reflects structurally focussed, basin dewatering and metamorphic processes, typical of other deposits in the Cobar Basin. By contrast, late-stage gold mineralisation at McKinnons is magmatically driven and of epithermal style. Recognition of overprinting distinctive geological events is critical, not only in modelling ore formation, but in developing a versatile exploration concept.

Jan 1, 1999

THE following paragraphs represent an endeavour to describe, briefly the equipment used for the manufacture of sulphuric acid and superphosphates by the Corporation.SULPHURIC ACID PLANTS.Two separate units are in operation, No. I Plant working on sulphur dioxide generated from pyritic ore, No. 2 Plant working on sulphurous gases obtained from the Huntingdon-Heberlein desulphurizing process. The latter plant is unique in being the first installation for the successful use of these gases.

Jan 1, 1918

By C Zhang, R Liang, I Canbulat, S Saydam, B Li

The integration of digital twins in mining represents a significant advancement towards enhancing operational efficiency and decision-making. Central to this development is the role of visualisation, a crucial element in mining digitalisation. This paper aims to develop a data-driven visualisation solution for the construction of mining digital twins, highlighting how this innovation revolutionises the representation of physical mining environments. It spotlights the shortcomings of conventional visualisation methods, particularly their inability to accurately depict complex underground environments and their predominantly historical orientation. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a novel, data-driven approach. This approach extensively utilises CAD files, encompassing data from geological surveys to intricate mine plans, thereby significantly elevating the precision of digital twins. It supports real-time updates and enables flexible interaction with a variety of data types. Moreover, it introduces a comprehensive data diagram alongside the adaptation of a 3D tile index. This strategy ensures the efficient rendering of extensive mining environments, allowing for a more dynamic and interactive digital twin model. In conclusion, the implementation of data-driven visualisation in the construction of mining digital twins marks a pivotal advancement in the industry’s digital transformation. It promises a more detailed, accurate, and dynamic depiction of mining operations.

Sep 1, 2024

By F D Durao, Muge F. H, Rogado J. Q

In the scope of the project named CAPUME II (EEC BRITE/EURAM contract - project MA2M-CT90,-0042(SMA)) for the development of an integrated mine planning system for underground mines, two of the main tasks were the development of a short-term mining planning procedure (module) and a numerical simulator of the mineral processing plant of Pirites Alentejanas - PA. The short-term mining planning module defines the mining sequences by solving a constrained minimisation problem. The ore grade variability is the objective function subject to the geometrical constraints of the mining method and to the maximum of `internal blending'. The optimisation problem is solved by applying a dynamic programming algorithm. The plant simulator is an essential tool of the planning system allowing the preview of metal grades/recoveries of copper, lead and zinc of concentrates streams, given the corresponding metal assays of the run-of-mine ore, defined by the short-term mine planning module. This way, the management can plan the short-term mining operations (the weekly sequence of exploration blocks and the internal planning) in order to fulfill given required conditions, based on a shipment schedule and on a purchaser's formula. In this paper, after a short description of the short-term mining planning module and of the simulation package named SIMUL, a synthesis of the main model development steps and the results of some simulation runs are presented and discussed.

Jan 1, 1995

By I Ross

The ground handling system needed for the second lift of the underground block caving operation at Northparkes Mines had to link into the existing infrastructure. Production requirements indicated that an annual output of 5 Mtpa was necessary from a depth of approximately 850 m. The shaft that serviced the first lift stopped at a depth of 520 m. This paper covers the selection of the design for the system and the factors that were taken into consideration in making the decision. It will describe the installation program and methodology and highlight areas of significance and then detail some of the issues concerning commissioning of the ground handling system.

Jan 1, 2005

The Pike River Coalfield is located on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand near the top of the Paparoa Range approximately 45 km north east of the coastal town of Greymouth. The Pike River Coal Company Ltd (PRCC) is owned jointly by New Zealand Oil & Gas Limited (NZOG) and private investors.   The project has followed a long and difficult road towards project implementation which is now a reality with mine construction scheduled to commence in November 2005. The first stage of the project, the consent and land access process has been the most difficult. Resource consents for the project were first applied for, granted and appealed in 1998. A second round of modified resources consents followed a similar path in 2001. Following consultation with a range of parties including local and central government as well as the Department of Conservation, in March 2004 the Minister of Conservation granted PRCC access through Department of Conservation land. In October 2004, the Environment Court issued a Memorandum of Consent granting resource consents with conditions that had been negotiated between PRCC and the appellants.   The second stage of the project, investigation and design, commenced in December 2004 and was completed in June 2005 with the PRCC board ratifying the project capital and operating budgets. While the investigation and design work was proceeding, PRCC were also engaged in securing private equity and bank debt funding for the project. Formal Board approval to proceed with project construction was granted in September 2005 following completion of fund raising.   The project consists of a number of significant construction activities, namely: +        10.5 km of mine access road through previous logged and virgin rain forest; +        2.2 km of tunnel through metamorphic rock; +        a coal preparation plant about 8.3 km from the mine portal; +        an underground coal preparation plant; and +        a major slurry pump station, high and low pressure underground water supply systems to support hydraulic mining units and underground coal transport respectively.   Project construction is expected to be completed in April 2007 with completion of the ventilation shaft. Mine production will commence in December 2006 with coal from pit bottom development which will be carried out by the mine owner.

Jan 1, 2005

By Ghiani M, Currelli L, Fuganti A

the results of an experimental study aimed at beneficiating a complex ore containing bastnaesite and other rare-earth minerals, with associated barite and fluospar are illustrated. Owing to its minero-petrographic, physico-mechanical and structural characteristics, the crude ore is not amenable to classic concentration methods, such as flotation, magnetic and gravity separation. Therefore the technical feasibility of selective disintegration followed by size classification has been studied, whereby bastnaesite and the other rare-earth minerals can be concentrated into the finest size fractions. Leaching and subsequent extraction of rare-earth metals by liquid-liquid separation represents the final stage of beneficiation.

Jan 1, 1993

By G Ferguson a, P Carrasco, P P. A Dowd

International codes of practice offer broad definitions with respect to the classification of resources in terms of risk. Specific guidelines and protocols, to analyse sample data, carry out geostatistical appraisals, develop geological models and finally estimate and classify resources, are not addressed. Neither are detailed requirements for engineering mineable reserves from estimated resources. In addition, international codes of practice fail to distinguish between types of deposit, other than in broad terms, as for example, The AusIMM JORC Code (JORC, 1999) which makes reference to diamond and coal deposits. The objective of this paper is therefore to set in motion the process of specifying detailed protocols, acceptable to the international community, for the assessment, reduction and management of risk associated with the development and extraction of mineral deposits. Ordinarily, the main risks and issues encountered during the process of estimating resources and subsequent conversion to reserves, encompass:failure to understand relevant geological controls of mineralisation; validation of grade interpolation; optimism in geotechnical appraisals of dilution and stability and the consequent selection of inappropriate mining methods; metallurgical modelling of minerals and contaminants reporting to concentrates; appraising the hydraulics of heap leaching and the numerous factors that can affect recovery; difficulty of managing metal price cycles and changes in regulations within the constraints of long-term mining plans; and development of better evaluation techniques for mining ventures. Uncertainty is inherent in estimation and engineering work, and its identification, reduction and management should be a fundamental goal of all involved in the mining industry (Figure 1). Variability may be reduced by:following internationally accepted practices for the collection, manipulation and analysis of geoscientific data; and verifying that the procedures actually performed meet the associated standards. Increasing amounts of data will also reduce uncertainty, but only if the procedures used to collect and appraise such data follow the relevant procedures. It is thus the aim of a series of papers in preparation, Beniscelli et al (in prep), to put forward detailed guidelines, for:project sponsors û to provide a global view of the work and documentation needed to support requests for funding various phases of project development and budget approvals; geologists û to indicate a checklist of the requirements and standards for the exploration and estimation of resources; and engineers and economic analysists û the protocols for characterising, modelling, engineering and evaluating the extraction of reserves. It is therefore hoped to encourage the development of consistent standards for declaring reserves within the mining industry. Data from projects and operations will be utilised to illustrate the benefits of adopting a rigorous approach to estimating resources and engineering reserves, Beniscelli et al (in prep).

Jan 1, 2000

Severe development difficulties were experienced soon after in-seam mining commenced at Appin Colliery in'1962. Thirteen years later no significant pro- gress had been made in overcoming some aspects of this development problem. Some success had been achieved in destressing roadways both in development and pillar extraction. Longwall retreat mining had shown promise of being highly productive but at an extremely high cost in terms of development requirements both in number of roadways and intensity of support in those roadways. No real advance was made in the problem of driving the first heading of a group of headings under conditions of apparently high stress in directions other than the preferred mining directions, although failure of the roof in this heading did seem to give easier work in the subsequent headings driven particularly if they were driven on narrow centres.

Jan 1, 1976

By Elford H. S, Hughes J. F

The object of this paper is to bring before Members of the lnstitute the very important and much discussed question of scientifically prospecting for ores, oil, coal, etc.The paper is divided into three sections:SECTION l - Description of Geophysical Prospecting methods.(1) Sound-Vibration.(2) Magnetic.(3) Gravitometric.(4) Electrical.(a) Equipotential.(b) Electro-magnetic.(c) Schlumberger.(d) General.SECTION II - General discussion of Cicophysical Prospecting.SECTION III - Appendices.(1) Systematic summary of methods of survey.(2) Table of electrical conductivities.(3) Bibliography.SECTION I - DESCRIPTION O:F GEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING METHODS.(1) SOUND-VIBRATION.THE transmission of sound waves or vibrations underground will depend on at least three factors: (a) Type of Rock. - Hard, dense rocks wiII transmit sound waves much more quickly than softer, more porous rocks. In the former the speed may be eight times that of the latter.(2) Uniformity of Rock. - Any variation in the texture, hardness, etc, wiII have an effect on and direction of transmission of the waves.

Jan 1, 1927

The seam gas content at Westcliff Colliery is 12-15m3/tonne of coal.Composition ranges from 99% CH4 to 52% C02 in one area. Desorption rates are proportional to gas contents and CH4 is preferentially desorbed. A crushed zone of reduced permeability advances with the face - at Westcliff ribside crushed zones are 2.5 to 6.5m wide. Poor strata control widens crushed zones. 12 months of pre-drainage allowed 2 heading development and longer pillars to be used in a virgin area instead of 3 or more headings without drainage. Machined coal may lose as much as 1.6m3/tonne being conveyed out of Westcliff Colliery. Experience differs from mine to mine. Permeation is affected by time, strata movements, changing water content, and changing stress. Permeabilities vary from lOmd for Pittsburgh Seam to less than 1 and for the Bulli Seam. All these data and differences await further investigation.

Jan 1, 1982

This study introduces a new probabilistic approach to seismic stability analysis of embankments and slopes. The approach is based on Sarma's solution, which is modified through presentation of the seismic force by its horizontal and vertical components; i.e. the force may have an arbitrary inclination. The probabilistic modelling includes Monte Carlo simulation of the shear strength parameters of the soil mass, which are assumed to have a normal distribution. The probability of failure is determined based on the seismic co-efficient, which is treated as a random quantity. The probabilistic approach is illustrated through a solution of a numerical example from an opencast coal Mine.

Jan 1, 1992

GRD Macraes Limited, owners and operators of the Macraes and Reefton Gold Project in New Zealand, have taken up the challenge of sustainably producing in excess of 300 000 ounces per annum within five years.GRD Macraes is well on target to achieve the forecast of 170 000 oz at a cash cost of A$310/oz for the 2002 financial year, with our Reefton operation set to add about 70 000 û 80 000 ounces per annum from late 2003.At the end of 2001 GRD Macraes Limited had resources of 5.5 million oz with reserves at 2.8 million oz.

Jan 1, 2002

Bauxite Resources Limited is grade drilling in its Western Australian Darling Range tenements to firm up resource definition and to develop mine plans. The Darling Range bauxite is generally in shallow deposits with minimum overburden. In the northern tenements, the ore is characterised by a higher silica layer which may extend from 0.5 to 1.5 m below, which high grade bauxite is found to a depth of four to 7 m. When grade drilling samples are taken, every 0.5 m and the recovered sample is weighed, logged and bagged. To eliminate splitting errors, the whole sample over the short interval is pulverised. Twinning holes variations are observed when using various drill rigs. Diamond core has been shown to give close to 100 per cent recovery and grades have been verified by digging bulk samples. As such, diamond core is used as the reference. It is intended to include sonic drilling as an alternative to diamond cores. This presentation details and attempts to explain the reasons for the observed variations in the various drilling methods used by Bauxite Resources Limited. This is an ABSTRACT ONLY no paper was prepared for this presentation.

Mar 1, 2010

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

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

Jan 1, 1989

Folklore suggests that oxidation is detrimental to sulfide mineral flotation, and in many instances is the reason given for values reporting in the tailing. However, while a considerable body of work examining galena oxidation is available in the literature there are very few studies that investigate the consequences of galena oxidation on its subsequent flotation in base metal sulfide ores. This work clearly demonstrates that pyrite forms a galvanic couple with galena, due to the large difference in their rest potentials, and results in accelerated oxidation of galena, particularly as the pyrite content of the ore is increased. The most obvious effect of the galvanic oxidation of galena by pyrite is the release into the system of galena oxidation products, providing an ample supply of lead ions available to activate gangue minerals, most notably of which in lead/zinc ores is sphalerite. The inadvertent activation of sphalerite by lead ions inevitably leads to the recovery of liberated sphalerite into the lead concentrate, and as a consequence a reduction in the lead concentrate grade. That is, a loss of selectivity for galena against sphalerite. If galena oxidation is excessive not only is there a considerable loss in lead concentrate grade, but also a marked decreased in lead recovery as the flotation rates of the gangue minerals increase, until they rival that of galena.

Jan 1, 2005

By Ellyett C. D

This paper is an appraisal of the application of optical-mechanical-scanners operating in the non-photographic infrared wavelengths (3-5 and 8-14 micrometres) to mineral exploration in Australia. Pundamental principles of the operation of airborne scanners and their data output, thermal infrared (IR) imagery, are summarized. It is contended that thermal IR imagery often depicts the distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted from earth surface materials better than aerial photographic techniques because optical-mechanical-scanners sample wavebands which straddle the wavelength peak of earth surface emission. To illustrate the geological features which such scanners can depict, reference is made to thermal IR imagery of a number of areas in Australia where the technique has been applied for exploration purposes. The images demonstrate that this technique can detect structural features like faults and folds, stratigraphic data by distinguishing different rock types and delineating their

Jan 1, 1973

The Escondida Porphyry Copper Deposit, located in Chile's II Region 160 Km to the southeast of the city of Antofagasta, is currently owned by Minera Escondida Limitada, a company comprising The Broken Hill Proprietary (57.5%), Rio Tinto Zinc (30%) a group of Japanese companies represented by Mitsubishi Corporation (10%), and the International Financing Corporation of the World Bank (2.5%) (Fig.l)By 1983, most of the reconnaissance drilling was completed and prefeasibility studies were regularly updated as new drilling results were reported and project concepts re-evaluated (Fig.2). In October 1982 the project was transferred from Exploration Management to Operations. By the end of 1984 project pre-development activities, including inpit development drilling, geological exploration, water resource definition, an underground bulk sampling program and the initial project feasibility report, were completed.

Jan 1, 1990