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Economic recovery of valuable natural resources is enhanced through an integrated approach to establishing and operating the mine.Gordonstone has a unique and valuable high quality coal and the basic aim for the mine is to satisfy customers through high standards of safety, productivity and reliability and genuine regard for its people.Gordonstone defined its main resources available for recovery of its natural resource and has designed and built facilities which display technical and engineering excellence.But to build a world class mine Gordonstone recognised the need to take a large- step beyond relying on technical excellence. In designing Gordonstone mine all aspects of coal mining were treated as part of an integrated process.This paper will explain the route Gordonstone has taken and will continue to take into the future in using an integrated approach to mining.

Jan 1, 1993

As the gold price, and consequently ore reserves, improved in the late 1970's, a programme of upgrading the gold recovery circuit at the Phoenix treatment plant at Central Norseman was initiated. The introduction of oxidised ore with a high clay content from the North Royal open cut caused a reduction in thickening and filtering capacities, which in turn restricted plant throughput and increased gold losses in the residue solutions. Test work into alternative washing facilities showed that the installation of a five stage counter current decantation system would restore throughput and reduce soluble gold losses. Installation of the system achieved the objectives of increased plant tonnage, increased proportions of the high grade oxidised ore in the mill feed and decreased gold losses in the residue waters.

Jan 1, 1978

The Professional Standards Act responds to the growing problem of professional liability by introducing a mechanism whereby professional associations can have schemes approved. Those schemes include a cap on liability; a requirement for compulsory insurance; the development of risk management strategies; and the establishment of a complaints and disciplinary system. The Act is also designed to support and develop the concept of self-regulation by the members of occupational associations who provide services to the community by providing them with those tools. It implicitly accepts that self-regulation is preferable to statutory regulation and that self-regulation serves the interest of the community and of the providers of services. The Act arose from a review of professional liability commenced in 1988. The Attorney General's Department produced an Issues Paper, released in September 1989, which outlined in detail the extent of the problem. This was widely circulated and an extensive number of comment were received.

Jan 1, 1995

The incidence of colliery disasters has highlighted the need for more centralised and directed coal mining safety research in Queensland, with particular impetus from explosions at Box Flat in 1972, Kianga in 1975 and Moura No 4 in 1986. Inquiries which identified the likely causes recommended measures and, research and two outcomes have been the present Mines Safety Research Advisory Committee and The Safety in Mines Testing and Research Station at Redbank, near Brisbane, dealing with all mining problems, coal and metalliferous. Already, important research into ignition and explosion and other health and safety matters has been accomplished; the Station has become an accredited testing laboratory; and international recognition has been achieved. Now the advisory, testing and research arms are soundly in place to pursue preventive investigations and be ready to provide assistance in any emergencies.

Jan 1, 1991

By W J

Al ores arriving at the works which contain more than 3% sulphur, together with all sands and other fine residues, are delivered to the roasting department. Those that are in a coarse condition are first sent to the crushing plant, consisting of 15 in. x 9 in. jaw crushers and two No. 5 Krupp mills. The ore is here crushed through a quarter mesh screen. Any pyritic concentrates high in sulphur are given a preliminary roasting, to bring the sulphur contents down to about 12 % and the roasted material is delivered to the H. H. charge-making bins. Here the various ores, sands, residues, roasted pyrites, together with about 12 % of limestone, are made up into I-ton charges in hopper trucks with bottom discharge. The trucks are elevated by hydraulic lifts to a tramway running over the roasting furnaces, and the contents are dropped into hoppers over each furnace, from whence the mixture is fed into the centre of each furnace by means of a Challenge ore-feeder.

Jan 1, 1918

By Noller B. N, Mine F. J

Modem open cut and underground mining in the tropics inevitably expose partially weathered and unweathered rocks to oxygen and water, leading to weathering and the release of solutes and often acidity as well. Historical monitoring data can demonstrate these phenomena. Three case studies from open cut mines in the north of the Northern Territory illustrate the deterioration in quality of pond water receiving drainage from waste rock dumps. The potential for deterioration of water quality was not recognised in many mine Environmental Impact Statements prepared and accepted in the 1980s. The examples documented indicate the importance of adequately planning for this near inevitable process. Retrofitting a mine water management system to 'no' or minimal release can be very difficult and expensive, and may not be feasible, leading to downstream pollution. The characterisation of acid and solute production potential of ore and waste rock, and improved dumping strategies and water management are very important to minimise the environmental impact of mining in the tropics.

Jan 1, 1994

In the last few years it has become legal for women to work without restriction underground in some States in Australia. Since the mid 1970's there have been women graduates in mining engineering from several Australian tertiary institutions. Women from this group are the first females to have been employed to do manual work underground this century. The questions which arise are "What are the current parameters surrounding the employment of women underground?" and "What have been the experiences of those women who have worked underground?". In order to answer these questions, contact has been made with the various mining schools in Australia, the relevant government departments, the main underground mining companies, the relevant unions and professional associations, and other women who have worked undergrond. Personal experience as both a miner and a mining engineer at the CSA Mine near Cobar in New South Wales is also used.

Jan 1, 1988

Extensive infrastructure construction works were required for the development of the underground and open-cut coal mine at Ulan to a production capacity of 5 million tonnes of steaming coal per annum. The Ulan Mine development project was constructed in a two year period at a cost of $240 million. The infrastructure component included the construction of the mine site building works, civil works and 150km of railway, valued at $105 million. These works were successfully completed under a construction management agreement within two years. The separate elements of the project are described in detail in the paper.

Jan 1, 1983

By P Murthy, Z Guan, P Townson

In this paper, we introduce a methodology to optimise mining equipment operation in terms of the conflicting concerns of productivity and availability. We also introduce the concept of damage points and equipment dutymeters. These provide the mine management with tools to monitor the success of such optimisation. Since we have quoted the results of an on-going Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP) project, the apparent focus of this article is on draglines. However, the concept is equally applicable to other equipment. Mining is the type of business that requires a large investment in capital infrastructure and equipment to produce a product that is sold at a relatively low unit cost. In such a business, the key to competitiveness lies in achieving the full realisation of capital investment ie sustained production at high levels. Some of the concepts outlined in this paper are essential components of this picture.

Jan 1, 2000

Attention is given to three possible alternative structures namely corporate joint venture, partnership joint venture and unincorporated joint venture. A corporate joint venture involves the formation of a separate and distinct legal entity with limited liability. The shareholders of the Company will be the members of the consortium. A partnership joint venture involves the members of the consortium joining a formal partnership. The partners will conduct the business in common with each other and will share the profits and losses of the project activities. The partners will be jointly and severally liable. An unincorporated joint venture is distinct from a partnership. The members of the venture will not be jointly and severally liable. Taxation and accounting aspects are examined and an outline provided of a typical joint venture agreement. The two main advantages of an unincorporated joint venture are considered to be a favourable treatment for income tax purposes and a greater degree of flexibility when compared with the corporate joint venture and the partnership joint venture.

Jan 1, 1983

The global economic, political, sociological, and technical environment has become extremely volatile and unpredictable. Price and demand patterns for fuel and non-fuel minerals have become highly variable. Increasingly militant environmental movements now have a material effect on the price, cost and availability of energy sources and indirectly also on non-fuel minerals.The pace of political change in the U.S.S.R., Eastern Europe, and China has accelerated. Western Europe, Japan, and the U.S. are reacting to these changes with varying degrees of confidence or timidity.Technical and economic developments continue to have a substantial effect on the fortunes of the mineral industries. However, they are increasingly influenced by social and political factors. Supply, demand, and trade patterns in the Pacific Rim Region will continue to be influenced by developments in other regions, such as southern Africa

Jan 1, 1990

The Filblast Cyanidation Process incorporating intense high shear mixing, high gas mass transfer efficiency and high oxygen concentrations under conditions of elevated pressure has now been been successfully applied in gold cyanidation mills since May 1993. The first commercial unit had a slurry capacity of 110 cubic metres per hour. Since then 230 and 450 cubic metre per hour units have been installed and a 1000 cubic metre per hour unit has been designed. Laboratory and pilot plant Filblasts have also been built.The reactor is a robust, compact in-line or end-of-line device and may be constructed out of a wide range of materials including wear and corrosion resistant alloys and ceramics. The Filblast Process may be applied to high temperature leaching of refractory gold ores and base metal concentrates.

Jan 1, 1997

By Sijing Cai, Chengpu Zhou

The requirement of mineral resources is increasing as the economy is continually increasing in China. The mining practices of various complex sulphide deposits and precious metal deposits, and the treatment of mine tailings and other industrial solid wastes, have greatly improved fill quality in the metal mines. From early-1980s, high density slurry fill, paste fill of total tailings, low density slurry fill with addition of silicate gelling agent, etc has been studied and applied, and some progress has been achieved. Today, mine tailings, slag and power plant ash are widely used as fill materials in mining. A number of cemented fill mines equipped with large capacity trackless mining machines are in production. Recently, The 3rd Chinese National Symposium on Mining with Backfill, 1995 has been held, the progress of fill technology in mines has been exchanged and summarised. In the paper, some aspects of fill technology used in the metal mines of China are briefly introduced and some applications of fill research work are presented.

Jan 1, 1998

By A Sinuhaji, R Poedjono, G Flumerfelt

PT Freeport Indonesia is currently building the DOZ mine. It is a 25 000 tonne/day block caving operation which is scheduled to reach designed production levels by the fourth quarter of 2002. This paper describes some of the issues and challenges faced by the operation when introducing a new undercut method part way through the project. Advantages and disadvantages are discussed as well as the expected benefits of the new method.

Jan 1, 2002

By Moore R. F, Macias L. F

The Filbara region of northwestern Western Australia contains several known occurrences of mafic/ultramafic rock assemblages which may host platinum group element (POE) mineralisation. This paper deals with occurrences at Munni Munni and Andover. The Munni Munni complex is of particular interest because it is known to contain PGE mineralisation and is currently undergoing active exploration. The US/Australia Joint Scanner Project of October 1985 collected airborne scanner data for the BMR over Munni Munni. Such an ultramafic-mafic complex had not been previously researched with advanced remote sensing instrumentation. Extensive investigation of data from the NSOO1 (Thematic Mapper Simulator) scanner resulted in successful differentiation of gabbroic and ultramafic rocks, and also subdivision within the ultramafies. Similar differentiation could not be achieved using conventional Landsat MSS imagery and aerial photography. Encouraged by those results and in support of BMR field research into the mafic-ultramafic suites of the region, data from the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) instrument were investigated to attempt differentiation of the ultramafic and mafic rocks in the Andover complex some 50 km to the northeast of Munni Munni.

Jan 1, 1988

By M D. Kuruppu

Fleet operational effectiveness is fundamental to any operation, becoming highly topical in mines experiencing less than optimal output from their fleets. It is an all encompassing aim to identify those factors that could be improved within production and suggesting solutions in order to optimise the existing fleet and obtain the highest return on capital expenditure. The fleet operational effectiveness of a large open pit truck and shovel operation in Western Australia was examined and a study was undertaken allowing identification of areas falling below target. The annualised hours and production downtimes were investigated to quantify the potential gains of improvements in these areas. The project aimed to maximise direct working hours through determination of the main issues hindering performance. External and internal factors were considered and a continuous improvement program (CIP) was developed. The CIP aimed at internal site-based improvement teams to identify and implement solutions for improvement on a day-to-day basis. Strategies were then identified for the implementation of the proposed changes.

Jan 1, 2003

Gallery Stoping, an old but little used stoping method, has been reintroduced to workings at the Paringa South Shaft.Orebodies which are amenable to such a method are being mined in this manner with considerable advantages and savings.The advantages of gallery stoping as used at Paringa, compared with traditional mining methods are:1. constant cash flow2. low set up cost and initial stope development3. nearly 1005 recovery 4. no access problems 5. quicker tonnagesAs compared with highly mechanized mining methods, it has been found to be slower but requires less development, gives improved grade control, has less impact on the surrounding rock and fragmentation is much better, reducing secondary blasting costs.This paper examines the mining method and illustrates the advantages of gallery stoping at Paringa.

Jan 1, 1985

Exploration of a coal deposit provides the data on which a range of mine plans can be developed during project feasibility. The stages of exploration use methods and procedures which initially outline the deposit with more detailed data gathering and analysis of the specific site complexities. The in situ coal resource and reserves are calculated. The mine plan is a function of the mining method chosen and can have significant impact on the recoverable reserves. Other factors which can impact on the recovery of the reserves and the ability to maintain planned production levels are those which were either undetected during exploration or were misinterpreted. Exploration programs should be detailed enough to minimise to an acceptable standard the recognised and potential risks. Past programs which explored to achieve a minimum exploration density required to satisfy measured reserve status have generally proven to be inadequate, placing reserves and production at risk.

Jan 1, 1997

By W A. van der Westhuizen, Beukes G. J, Vermaak J. J

Large parts of the arid northern Cape Province South Africa are blanketed by Quaternary cal- crete under which potential base-metal ore- deposits may occur. In an attempt to examine the nature of the distribution of such ore-re- lated elements in a calcrete environment, calcrete and soil samples from the copper-nic- kel prospect at Jacomynspan and the copper- zinc deposit at Copperton were examined. Both deposits form part of the Namaqua mobile belt. CALCRETE GENESIS In Southern Africa calcrete is restricted mainly to the western two-thirds of the sub-continent, south of the latitude 17¦ S. Various models have been put forward to explain calcrete genesis and Goudie (1973) and Netterberg (1969a) give detailed discussions on this topic. The most popular model for calcrete genesis is one of pedogenic origin. McPherson (1979), Watts (1980), Wright (1982), Arakel (1982), Netterberg (1969a), Goudie (1973) and Multer and Hoffmeister (1968), amongst others, support the hypothesis of calcrete formation by carbonate precipitation from downward percolating calcium carbonate rich soil waters. Calcium carbonate is usually initially precipitated as nodules or grains which can develop to form more compact layers.

Jan 1, 1988

In the past two decades the global metalliferous mineral industry has trended away from pyrometallurgical (pyromet) and towards hydrometallurgical (hydromet) technologies including biometallurgical (biomet) processes. Pyromet, biomet and hydromet technologies have all developed considerably over this period. New projects have been biased or directed by legislation towards supposedly cleaner and greener hydromet and biomet technologies. The environmental cost and energy cost of pyromet production processes for copper and cobalt are compared with comparable hydromet processes using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The æreal costÆ of the global warming obsession and negative public perception of pyrometallurgy include greater carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption per unit, associated with current hydromet technologies. Specific examples for copper and cobalt produced via the different routes are provided. The poor science involved with the global warming hypothesis is discussed. The use of LCA with sensitivity analysis as a decision making tool for mineral processing projects and technology developers is discussed.

Jan 1, 2004