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By Twemlow GL

The accounting profession in Australia and overseas has taken up the responsibility of setting standards specifically relating to the minerals and energy industries. Australia led the way with AAS7 Accounting for the Extractive Industries. This statement was issued in 1976 and amended 1977..It largely deals with accounting for preproduction expenditure and uses the term "economically recoverable reserves". It does not require disclosure of reserve quantities or values in balance sheets or as supplementary information in financial statements. The United States accounting profession in 1982 finally resolved an accounting standard in the same area as AAS7-SFAS69 Disclosures About Oil and Gas Producing Activities. It applies only to oil and gas producers, but has extensive disclosure requirements, including proved oil and gas reserve quantities. Current developments indicate that Great Britain is about to follow the US example. At this time in Australia, AAS7 or some other statement relating to the extractive industries has not been issued as an approved accounting standard by the ASRB. Standards issued by the ASRB are binding in law.

Jan 1, 1987

By S J. Woods

As a part of Solid Energy's progressive rehabilitation of the Stockton Mine, it was determined that significant rehabilitation of the existing Mt Frederick Sidecast would be required to ensure the long-term stability of the sidecast. The goal of this rehabilitation is to reshape the existing stockpile into a more stable slope configuration, and the construction of a comprehensive stormwater collection and discharge system. The reconfigured slopes will facilitate the final revegetation of the exposed surfaces and the management of surface and groundwater discharges from the area. This paper briefly describes the specific details of the project and the significance of seismic conditions on the long-term stability of the reconfigured stockpile.

Jan 1, 2003

Dr. Willett. I will start by answering one or two general points which have been posed. The first point is a question of liability of a seam to spontaneous combustion. Some seams are very liable to spontaneous combustion. Some seams are not liable at all except in most abnormal circumstances, and some seams have a liability somewhere between these two extremes. Dr. J. S. Haldane made the comment some 50 years or so ago that if you try hard enough you can make any coal seam in the world fire spontaneously. Many heatings have in fact occurred because the coal has been allowed to be ground up into a fine state and there has been air leakage through it for many years. This has resulted in spontaneous combustion which would not have occurred in some seams unless conditions had been very abnormal indeed. One comment I heard while listening to the discussions of one team was the importance of encouraging morale and the team seemed to go to the extent of suggesting that this was more important than the actual technical action taken. Though I agree that everything possible should be done to encourage morale, it must be in conjunction with the correct technical method of dealing with the Emergency.

Jan 1, 1973

By S Strohmayr, R Harvey, A See

Ernest Henry Mining Pty Ltd started production in August 1997. The Ernest Henry orebody consists of two distinct parts, a complex supergene ore zone overlying a primary ore zone. The economic copper minerals in the supergene ore were chalcocite, bornite, secondary chalcopyrite and native copper while the primary zone has only chalcopyrite. The variability of the supergene zone made concentrator operation difficult and predicting metallurgical performance using mineralogy essential to establish the capabilities of the concentrator. A paper presented at the 1998 Mine to Mill Conference entitled Mineralogy Controlling Metallurgy at Ernest Henry Mining (Barnes, Strohmayr, Brindley and Munro, 1998) presented the testwork and initial plant surveys that showed that the mineralogy of the ore controls the metallurgy of the concentrator. This paper presents the data obtained from the subsequent years of operation treating both the supergene and primary ore types. A review of the actual supergene mineral distribution in feed and subsequent recoveries compared to those predicted as part of the flowsheet design is also presented.

Jan 1, 2003

The purpose of this paper is to provide some practical commercial advice in relation to issues of access and trespass during exploration. It is not my intention to provide a detailed analysis of the applicable law because this is not the appropriate forum for latin maxims and turgid case studies. Instead I will explain the issues in sufficient detail to enable those who are not familiar,with the legal concepts to understand their obligations and responsibilities in relation to exploration activities. Take as an example a situation where a company (for the sake of attempted light relief, called Rogue Mining) holds an exploration tenement adjacent to one held by Lamb Exploration. In conducting aerial exploration activities over its own tenement Rogue overflies the tenement held by Lamb, doesn't turn off its equipment and accidentally collects data in respect of the adjacent land. In analysing that data it becomes apparent to Rogue that there is a substantial anomaly on the adjacent land of which Lamb is apparently unaware. Rogue subsequently negotiates to purchase an interest in Lamb's tenement.

Jan 1, 1995

By S Marsters

Imerys Tableware New Zealand Limited has mining rights to four deposits of halloysite, which are located about 203 km north of Auckland, New Zealand. These primary deposits were formed by the hydrothermal alteration and weathering of rhyolite domes. Halloysite clay is currently being mined from two of these deposits and then processed for export markets. From humble beginnings in the mid 1950s, the Northland halloysite was processed initially for paper filler markets and then for higher value tableware and technical ceramic niche export markets. The paper will briefly cover the geology and processing of halloysite and then examine the history of New Zealand China Clays Limited, now Imerys Tableware New Zealand Limited and then look to its future as part of global industrial minerals company, Imerys.

Jan 1, 2002

By A Sellgren, M R. Carstens, R Visintainer

There is a wide variety of industrial pastes or non-settling slurries pumped in mining, dredging and reclamation projects as products, refuse and tails. The types and/or names of some of the common ones are alumina red mud, phosphate clays, tar sands mature fine tails, tar sands (CT) consolidated clays and fly ash. The pipeline performance or friction of these varies dramatically with the type, its concentration and the particulars of the actual slurry making it difficult to select pumping equipment and to design associated pipelines. The GIW Hydraulic Laboratory in Grovetown Georgia has tested a number of these slurries over the last 30 years for various mining customers. Where available in the public domain and/or where permission has been obtained, the results of those tests are presented in this paper in a form usable for pipeline and pump system designers and users.

Jan 1, 2005

By Player WP

The legislative operating environment, or the mineral regime, that a country has to offer is one of the key determinants that a company wanting to invest in an area takes into account in formulating its investment decision. The New Zealand Government recognises this and the importance of getting the regime right in order to provide for continuing investment in mineral exploration and mining in New Zealand. In recent years, the Government has given considerable attention to developing legislation which provides for investment to take place; for those making the investments to have a stable, fair and open investment environment with government intervention only when considered absolutely necessary because other approaches are not working; and for the people of New Zealand to know that investment must meet acceptable health and safety standards and have acceptable impact on the environment. Also of key importance is having a clearly defined mining regime which includes rules on how to obtain a permit and rules in respect of ongoing permit compliance, rights to develop a mineral resource and permit conditions (in particular, the royalty regime). In New Zealand, these matters will all be addressed in what are referred to as "minerals programmes".

Jan 1, 1995

By Whitehead A. B

INTRODUCTIONDuring the past few years there has been considerable interest in developing the so-called direct reduction processes for treating iron oxides. The various methods proposed were recently reviewed by Scortecci and Palazzi (1960).In particular the application of fluidized bed techniques received considerable attention and, on first examination, this seems to be the ideal method 'of dealing with fine iron oxides. Several difficulties (e.g. product agglomeration) require the method to be investigated further before its potentialities can be fully assessed.PROPOSED FLUIDIZED BED REDUCTION PROCESSESBrassert and De Jahn (1951) were among the earliest to suggest the use of fluidized beds for the reduction of iron ore to metallic iron. Their patent was followed by many others proposing similar concepts, mainly from Lewis (1955), Ogorzaly (19.56), Shipley (1956), Agarwal (1960'), Osborn (1958), Texaco Development Corporation (1956) and Stelling (1957).The H-iron process (Squires and J ohnson, 1957; Lubker and Bruland, 1960) is the only scheme that has been an economic success. This process, mentioned later, manufactures a 'premium quality product in the form of sized iron powder.AIM OF THE PRESENT WORKThe work reported here was performed to assist in the formulation of a comprehensive pl'ogramme of research into fluidized bed reduction processes to be undertaken at the...

Jan 1, 1962

This paper critically reviews the role of institutional research contractors (eg universities and the CSIRO) in the delivery of effective research, development and demonstration outcomes in mineral and coal processing to the Australian mineral industry. The criteria by which such R&D is justified, and the problems of quantifying the benefits of such research, are considered. Third-party funding mechanisms such as NERDDP and AMIRA are reviewed in the context of the difficulty of setting national research priorities. Some case studies are presented which illustrate both the problems and the advantages of institutional research for industry. The transfer of research outcomes to industry is identified as a significant problem which limits the effectiveness of all institutional research. Other topics reviewed include research management, the relationship between industrial companies and their research contractors, and the real costs of research. The paper offers suggestions for the ingredients needed for a successful industry-institution relationship, based on the Australian experience. It is concluded that the Australian model for this relationship is a very effective one, although there is still room for improvement.

Jan 1, 1992

One of the strategies introduced within Pasminco Mining to survive low commodity prices is to formally implement a `Quality Education System'. The net result has been a consistent approach to quality within and across mine sites. This `quality system' has been adopted in the technical computing environment and the immediate benefits have been: ò A clearer understanding of the systems, processes and relationships that involve technical computing. ò A re-focussing on customer (user) requirements. ò Inclusion of managers as customers with their own requirements of performance and quality, in addition to access to Executive Information. ò New ways to measure the `performance' of a technical computing environment which includes using maintenance costs. Observations are that there is an overlap between `traditional' information technology (IT) methodologies and quality systems being put in place in the broader workplace. This overlap is most apparent in the area of analysing customer requirements. In the IT environment customers are viewed as users, and their requirements determined by undertaking a requirements analysis. A data flow diagram traditionally used in the IT environment and not as a tool in quality systems, has been used in a novel manner to help identify the customers of the technical computing department. It has also been useful in illustrating the work processes and relationships between the entities in this diagram and in directing the future initiatives needed to fulfil the customers' changing requirements.

Jan 1, 1995

THE auriferous sulphide ores of the eastern end of Gippsland, and notably of the Cassilis and lVIitta districts, are amongst the most complex and refractory in Victoria-perhaps in Australia. The minerals occurring in these ores are pyrite, arseno-pyrite, zincblende, galena, and (in smaller amounts) some of the copper, sulphides, as chalcopyrite and covellite; and some of the antimonial minerals, notably stibnite and jamiesonite. In the oxidized portions of the lodes, the oxidized lead and iron minerals, and small amounts of the hydrated arseriiate of iron, are found.In the Cassilis mine, near Omeo, copper is present usually in quantities of under 1 %. The magnetic sulphide of iron is of fairly common occurrence. In, the upper levels of the Cassilis mine tin was usually present, the amount going up to 3% in some samples of concentrates. These minerals occur sometimes banded, but usually as an intimate mixture-pyrite and arseno-pyrite predominating. The gangue is usually quartz (blackened by enclosed particles of sulphides). Calcite, magnesium silicate and felspar are also present in varying amounts.

Jan 1, 1911

In recent years a number of explosive blends including ANFO, emulsion and watergel products have been used in a variety of ground types and applications. These `standard' explosives' technologies are not new, but out of the uses and applications, have sprung a new generation of tailored explosives that match the ground type and the operating environment. This is in stark contrast to the norm, where various patterns and loading configurations have traditionally been designed to accommodate the explosive. This paper discusses these tailored explosives and the explosives' technology behind why they work. Active tailoring of explosive formulations can save mining dollars while essentially leaving the explosive price unchanged. Tailoring explosives may lead to increased rock breakage, heave, digging rates; lower digging maintenance costs and in some cases replacing earth moving machinery altogether. Tailored explosives may have other benefits such as reduced over pressure compared with standard alternatives. The tailoring of explosive performance generally involves three major methods (other than changing the bulk density and sensitivity): (i) replacing fast burning reactants with slower burning reactants or vice versa; or (ii) leaving the explosive intact and diluting the entire explosive with slow burning or `inert' material; or (iii) changing the concentration of the fuel/oxidiser mix. When tailoring explosives for particular applications, authorising, testing, costing, manufacturing, and delivery systems must also be taken into account.

Jan 1, 1995

The Illawarra Branch of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy over recent years has established an enviable reputation for organising and conducting conferences, colloquia and symposia. And this Symposium must surely enhance that reputation. The subject of the Symposium, Seam Gas Drainage has become a matter of great import- ance to the Australian Coal Industry in a comparatively short time. Our short experience being due to our operations, until recent times anyway, not being unduly affected by gas. The Australian Industry, by virtue of its mines getting deeper and higher rates of extraction being required is now encountering the difficulties with gas which have for so long been part of the coal mining scene in many other countries. Because these gas emissions affect our working conditions by way of creating hazards and affect our production by way of bringing about cessation of operations from time to time this Symposium must be regarded as being very timely out here. I must congratulate the Branch Committee on the general set,yp :o.f the programme of papers. The classification of papers into four groups and the sequence in which the papers were presented provided an excellent flow through from introduction to finality. It is not my intention to further discuss individual papers - already they have been well discussed in this forum and as I understand it outside in the early hours of the morning,

Jan 1, 1982

Trucks are the primary means of bulk material transport in Open Pit hard rock mines worldwide. They are considered to be the most- flexible system available. The large number of trucks used in some mines provides flexibility. Spare units allow for the reduced availability of the single units. Trucks have however very poor energy efficiency. Only 40% of the consumed energy is for transport of the payload, the remaining energy is required to move the dead load of the trucks. With the increase in cost, pressure, mine operators are now looking for alternative methods to make their operation more economical. Energy conservation and increasing haulage distances and uphill haulage are major factors in many well established operations. New methods have already proven themselves as more economical alternatives. Belt conveyors are an alternative means of transport with much higher energy efficiency. They use up to 80% of the consumed energy for transportation of the payload. Energy costs for conveyors are 30% of the energy costs for trucks on level transport and as little as 15% for elevating payloads. Belt conveyors require much fear spare parts and wear components than trucks. A factor of one to two times applies for level transport and ten to twenty times for uphill transport.

Jan 1, 1986

Most mineral products exported from Australia to Japan, with the notable exception of coal, are purchased with weight and quality determined on discharge. Sampling of imported minerals for purpose of payment is done at facilities owned and operated by the purchaser. The selling shipper is represented at the weighing, sampling and testing by an independent inspection group who supervises the whole procedure. Sampling and testing are done within the provisions of the contract between the two parties, and normally in accordance with the relevant Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS). These JIS specify such things as the number and mass of increments to be taken; the practice of taking these increments; the method of determination of moisture, size distribution and quality. The JIS concerned with sampling however, are meant to be basic guides rather than rigid rules. Hence sampling and testing practice varies from plant to plant. In general Japanese sampling facilities and methods are elaborate and efficient. Opportunity is given for the discussion of varying technical viewpoints between consumer and shipper. However the resolution of differences and the implementation of changes normally takes a long time. Such discussions seem best reduced by prior contract agreement on reasonable specifications and detailed testing methods. The independent inspectors

Jan 1, 1976

Metallurgical accounting can be defined as the monitoring of the valuable metals from the time the ore is broken at the primary crusher until the time that we have the saleable products and residues. The overall purpose of metallurgical accounting is to provide management with up-to-date inform- ation that can be used to control mining and metallurgical oper- ations. The decisions that are taken on the basis of the information that the metall- urgical accounting system provides should result in improved control and, ultimately, increased revenue. The current state of accounting is a result of an extended evolutionary process and will continue as process plants bec- ome more sophisticated. Differences in mine æcall factorsÆ and grade control reconciliation can lead to frustration between the siteÆs geoscie- ntists and its metallurgists leading to a level of distrust in the mill grade. Metallurgical accounting is not included in sufficient detail in undergraduate courses and the acceptable industry standards have developed based on what is considered acceptable to industry personnel and consultants. There is now the AMIRA P754 Metal Accounting, Code of Practice and Guidelines Handbook or reference manual. Computer based databases and spreadsheets have transformed tedious bookkeeping into an important management tool. Over time these standards have improved with developments in analytical procedures, weighing technology and sampling. This paper provides anecdotal examples of problems and improvements observed over a number of years within the gold industry in Australia and overseas.

Jan 1, 2009

WITH the exception of the deposits of the Milburn Cement Co near Dunedin, Wilson's Portland Cement Co., on the Mahurangi River (a short distance north of Auckland), and those of the New Zealand Portland Cement Co., at Limestone Island, the cement. Tesources of New Zealand remain practically undeveloped. The Milburn Company utilizes a mixture of limestone and mud for the manufacture of cement, while Wilson's and the New Zealand Portland Cement companies both have the advantage of a natural cement stock which requires but small additions of highgrade limestone to give the mixture required. The plant and deposits of the New Zealand Portland Cement Co are located in Whangarei Harbour, some six miles from thetownship of Whangarei. The works and dwelling-houses are situated on Limestone Island, which, with an area of 92 acres, and rising to a height of 212 ft., supplies the bulk of the raw material required. In addition to the island, the company possesses a high-grade limestone area of, roughly, four acres, situated on the mainland, 11 miles to the south. A better location for a cement works could not well have been chosen. On the east side of the island there is a deep channel, which never shows less than 18 ft. of water alongside the company's...

Jan 1, 1911

THE writer of this paper well realizes that the majority of engineering and metallurgieal works have from time to time evolved mechanical devices which are of great value as regards application in an operating plant.Many of these deviees would not be apparent to an individual making a brief inspection of works such as these, and it is for this reason that the writer proposes to outline a few of the devices which have been evolved by the engineering department of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Pty. Ltd.NOVEL METHOD OF MACHINING A SPHERICAL JOINTFig. 1 represents one half of a casing for a ball-joint coupling. In the ordinary methods of boring an external spherical casing, that is with a radius bar attached to the tool rest of a lathe, there is always an error in the bore. It has two flat sides, and this error is inherent in the ordinary orthodox method and cannot be corrected. The engineers of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Pty. Ltd. undertook a job that had to be extremely accurate, and the tool shown in Fig. 2 was evolved. The tool is not exactly fool proof, but in the hands of an average mechanic an absolutely perfect FIG. 1. sphere can be bored. The casing has to be held in the lathe in such a manner that one half can be removed without affecting the setting of the work. The business end of the tool is then placed inside the...

Jan 1, 1922

By Kissell F. N, Volkwein J. C

The U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Mines has the opportunity to visit many U.S. mines, including some that claim 2 to 5 times the national average of 334 raw tonnes/unit shift (tps) from a continuous miner section. In a project to assess the reasons for this high production, the Bureau conducted two studies. The first study focused on the 25 highest producing continuous miner sections. What stood out during the visits-was the quality of the labor-management relations. In each of the mines there was a positive labor/management relationship based on mutual trust and a sense that the employees were the company's most valuable resource. Discussions with labor revealed a universally positive attitude toward the company. Interviews with the mine superintendents invariably ranked the quality and attitude of workers as more important than anything else. Also during the mine visits of the 25- mine study, no engineering factors obviously stood out. Time at the face was greater than average, most were in coal over 1.52 m and the roof was generally good. Also, none of the 25 mines had to contend with high methane levels. Because this study found that a high percentage of mines were in seams less than 1.52 m thick, the second study examined thin seam mines only.

Jan 1, 1988