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Both innovation and excellence are desirable attributes of education, as they are also markers in the progression of the human race, but how attainable are they? The interaction of minerals and humanity provides a special insight into the development of both criteria, from the discovery that chert cuts, through the Bronze Age and the first use of metal alloys for implements, to using coal, oil and uranium as sources of fuel. However, there have been many hiccups along the way, where excellence in one respect has meant disaster in another. Examples are in the exploitation of asbestos, and in traditionally poor work practices in mining, both contributing to the widespread public belief that minerals and mining are ecologically undesirable. Yet is this perception based on the unrealistic expectation of innovation and excellence being simultaneous qualities of any given process? Common sense born of experience indicates that the journey from one, to the other, is usually a long and often tedious process, with much trial and error before excellence is attained. In our time, the partnership between academia and industry is the usual pathway to achieve it. Even so, we should take care that innovation does not become overwhelmed by the pursuit of excellence: as history clearly demonstrates, humanity depends upon both.

Jan 1, 2004

Mineral processing is at the hub of the exploration-mining-metals production system. Because of the large volumes of material processed, incremental technology investments can pay off better than for other parts of the system. However, much of mineral processing remains a 'black art', because we are behind in investing in modem technologies. Consequently, we have one of the best opportunities to improve efficiency and competitiveness through the application and transfer of technologies that have already been developed for other industries. The reluctance of minerals companies to place priority in our area is not because we lack new ideas; our senior management has not been convinced, based on our previous results, that such investments will pay off as well as other investment opportunities competing for the same resources. The key is the proper establishment of technology strategy and more effective transfer of technology. The presentation will identify the failure mechanisms of technology transfer and will present a model for improving the success rate, a prerequisite for raising the priority of mineral processing investment. Topics emphasised include strategy formulation, human resources planning, and total quality management principles applied to improving technology transfer.

Jan 1, 1993

Despite mineral sand occurrences having been noted since the 1970s, the Wemen North Mine is the first operation to commence commercial mining within the inland Murray Basin. The deposit was discovered in the 1990s and, following lengthy resource development, mining commenced in 2001. This initial mine was established as a pilot operation to test the commercial viability of mining in the Murray Basin, with subsequent expansions planned if the mine proves successful. The deposit lies beneath arable farmland close to the Murray River and is hosted by Pliocene marine sands, with a geometry resembling a classical beach strand placer. The operation utilises traditional dry mining overburden removal techniques, with ore mining carried out using a floating dredge and concentrator. This paper looks at the geology of the Wemen North deposit, the mining techniques and challenges as well as grade control practices employed to mine this palaeo-beach placer deposit.

Jan 1, 2003

Electronic detonators bring a fundamental and radical change to the potential of rockbreaking operations. The immense technical challenge of safely merging electronic systems with explosives has been largely overcome, but a surprisingly difficult obstacle has been to convert users to the much more capable electronic systems, in routine as opposed to exotic applications. Unit cost is probably the main point of resistance. For years papers have confirmed significant improvements in blasting results, feeding through to enhanced bottom line value for the whole operation: much reduced environmental impact, and improved control over fragmentation, muckpile shape and overbreak. In Africa, a number of operations have been employing the technology for sufficient time to see enduring improvements in throughput, control and cost structure, and these improvements have fed through to the planning process: both the cost and the benefits are part of the plan. This has essentially rendered very unattractive the option of reverting to pyrotechnic systems and incurring the penalties previously unseen but now understood to be avoidable. Examples given are of improved throughput at opencast and underground mines, and greatly extended life at an urban quarry. The general experience of management in implementing the technology is that it over-delivers: adopted to solve one particular problem, significant other issues are also addressed. These extra benefits were quite logical, but not at all obvious prior to implementation. Exploring this reality is essential for harvesting the benefits of the technology sooner rather than later.

Jan 1, 2004

Until 1937, the mining of ore was carried out by conventional methods, using pneumatic drills and standard drill steel. The adoption of the diamond drill, formerly used for exploration work, for blast hole drilling in stopes, was first developed by Noranda Mines Limited, Noranda, Quebec, although it had been used previously in Northern Ontario and Western United States, to remove weak pillars and ore remnants left by conventional methods. Previous to the adoption of the diamond drill method at Noranda, a sub-level benching system of stoping was used. Sub-levels were driven at 35 ft. intervals and the benches drilled off by pneumatic drills using sectional steel. Results were very satisfactory, in sulphide ore, where the drilling was comparatively easy, but in the harder rhyolitestopes the footage drilled per machine-shift was only half of that obtained in the sulphide stopes, and owing to the high gauge loss, there was often difficulty in drilling holes to the required depth. This led to trials with the diamond drill for this type of work. While the cost per foot was more than with sectional steel, an appreciable saving in development work could be made by increasing the sublevel interval from 35 ft. to 60 ft., and stope widths from 60 to 100 ft. This saving, together with the increase in blasting efficiency, resulted in a substantial reduction in overall costs.CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL APPLICATIONWhile long diamond drill blast-hole mining has widespread application, there are certain conditions which appear to be desirable, if not absolutely necessary, for its successful use.

Jan 1, 1946

Coal mining in the Illawarra commenced in 1848. By the early twentieth century mining operations were spread over quite a distance along the coast centred on Wollongong. By this time there were already numerous tunnel mines and one shaft mine. Coal was first reported in Illawarra by Lieutenant Flinders on a voyage of exploration, southerly along the coast from Sydney in 1796. Because of the topography, particularly the escarpment and the narrowness of the coastal plain, access from Sydney was not easy by land and the normal access was by sea. It was not until some coastal areas had been developed for agricultural purposes that the mining of the seams on the South Coast commenced for the supp- ly of fuel. The most important mines in the early nineteenth century were Bulli and Osborne Wallsend. In general, coal was won from the tunnel mines and was transported directly, usually by tramway, to the nearest shipping point. Considerable hardship attended the earliest attempts at mining coal in regard to materials for mining and the way of life of the miners in the vicinity of the mines. With the growth of production and the installation of coke ovens at some mines the area, hitherto virgin bush- land, began to take on a more industrialised appearance. The mines were necessarily small,

Jan 1, 1976

Accident prevention in industry is a task as important to the ultimate result of an undertaking as efficient machines, good tools or trained operatives. In fact, like many qther phases of industry today, "Accident Prevention" or "Safety Organisation" has developed in this century, to a degree that is now acknowledged as an integral part of industrial thought and planning. This has not always been the case, as the following snap-shot picture of the past illustrates.The Broken Hill Proprietary Company recently celebrated at Whyalla the Jubilee of the opening of the Iron Knob Tramway. On that occasion a dinner was tendered to the pioneers, and in talking to the Writer of the early days one of the old gentlemen present could not refrain from recounting some of the accidents he had seen or experienced.Several such incidents were recounted at length, after each, the old fellow would say, "An' there weren't no safety officers or compensation in them days".The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited was a pioneer of safety in Australian industry and considerable success has followed its activity in this connection; the accident rate of the steel industry now compares satisfactorily with that of any other industrial undertaking. A measure of 'the success of the safety organisation, is, that in recent years, despite extensive construction programmes at various centres, and despite a heavy labour turnover, a decreasing accident rate has been maintained. This success, in the Writer's opinion, arises from the fact that by its early attention to plant protection, the introduction of safety standards and further through the interest and energy of departmental superintendents and foremen, the...

Jan 1, 1951

By J N. Moncrieff

The resource estimation process for the underground Mount Isa Copper Mine has undergone significant change. Block models are now created using a commercial software package as opposed to the in-house software that was previously used. With mineralisation occurring over a strike length of more than 4 km, Mineral Resources for all categories totalled 190 Mt at 2.7 per cent Cu at 31 December 2002. Estimation is by ordinary kriging with two separate models generated to cover the X41 and Enterprise orebodies respectively. The underlying Upper Basement Contact and the silica-dolomite alteration envelope are both used as hard boundaries to constrain the modelling. From a validated block model, grade shells are generated at the appropriate cut-off grade for a given area. The grade shells are depleted for mined voids and subdivided into 30 metre strike length blocks. Application of a SMU criteria and crown and pillar constraints results in failed blocks being culled from the resource inventory. Mineral Resource blocks are further subdivided into resource categories (Measured, Indicated, Inferred) by the Competent Person on the basis of geological confidence, taking account of geological and grade continuity, drillhole spacing and structural complexity (JORC, 1999). A geostatistical æconfidenceÆ category is incorporated into the block model as an additional tool for the categorisation process. The shapes are assessed in concert with a mining engineer to determine whether a reasonable expectation of mining potential exists and if not they are removed from the resource. The final categorised blocks constitute the Mineral Resource inventory and form the basis for conversion to Ore Reserves. The resultant Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves are reported on an æinclusive ofÆ basis.

Jan 1, 2003

By J Tuma

Technical measurements are an integral part of research and development of new technical devices. Now they are also an integral part of production too, especially as a part of quality control systems. More new problems started with they applications up, like storing and following preservation of big data files. Many problems are also with processing of the measurement results, especially to be up to standards of ISO 9000 normative. It includes basic data about the measurement (structured data) and measurement outputs (huge data streams). Using database systems looks as good idea, because of structured measurement data and they processing. They were developed more concepts of database measurement system support during the research project MSM 272300012. It was decided to develop specialised measurement systems, on the base of experiments and experiences with they use in operating conditions. It proved to be wrong to develop general system, because of compound operating and long response of the system. And it is not possible to use these systems for mass production systems. The problem of data storing is not as easy to be answered, because of dependence on used technical devices. During realisation the measurement system for gearbox noise measurement are data stored to the database, because used analyser system PULSE (Brnel and Kjµr Co) is open structure and can cooperate with other software systems. Anyhow the data streams are not longer (after compression) than the Memo data type, in practical use increases the data file too fast (about hundreds MB daily). Therefore we must include a special supervisory system for administration and creating data files to the system. Nevertheless the used system MS-Access supports data files up to 1 GB, for practical application is better if the file size do not exceed the capacity of CD-ROM disc.

Jan 1, 2003

At the outset I want to thank you for inviting a representative of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa to address you on the subject of mining and its future at this, the 13th Congress of the Council of Mining and Metallurgical Institutions. It is indeed a pleasure and an honour to be here. As many of you will recall, four years ago I, as the then President of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, had the privilege of hosting and welcoming you to the 12th Congress, the third such congress hosted by South Africa. The late Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, President of the 1930 Congress - the first to be held in South Africa - in his opening address foresaw the mining industry as "the most potent factor in spreading the benefits of civilisation over the sub-continent." We have come a long way since those halcyon days but, as I noted four years ago, it still remains true that mines have been, and will continue to be, the missionaries of development in many, if not most, of the Third World countries. I have been asked to address you on the subject of "mining" and to let my imagination roam widely so that delegates can leave the congress with a broader vision than they brought on arrival. It is a tall order and in my attempt to fulfil it I ask you to cast your minds back 120 years to a sultry, rustic day when the first diamond was discovered in South Africa at the now famous town of Kimberley. At that time the South African economy, predominantly pastoral, was still at subsistence level. Almost overnight the ensuing diamond rush turned the then British- owned northern Cape Colony's semi-desert scene into a hive of mining activity, every prospector bent on making his instant fortune. It was very little different, I am sure, to the gold rushes that hit California in 18+8, Australia in 1851, New Zealand in the 1860s. and the Yukon in the 1890s.

Jan 1, 1986

Thank you for the invitation to this forum today. I have a hectic schedule in the Mabo legislation process but it is important not to lose sight of the bigger picture and to attend today to talk to you about the Government's role in the development of our country.More importantly, I hope over the next couple of hours to get some feedback on developments in this area from people very much involved on a day to day basis.

Jan 1, 1993

By Canterford JH

Current and future methods of data acquisition in hydrometallurgy are reviewed. Hydrometallurgical operations involve a wide range of chemical and physical processes for the recovery of metals and other products from ores and concentrates. Control of such operations requires information on the different liquid/solid and liquid/liquid mixtures being processed. Continuous. data acqui-sition for the liquid phases uses procedures already commercially exploited in other types of chemical plant. The major problem is the lack of robustness of measuring probes. Continuous analysis of the solid phases is much more difficult to-achieve because of the sampling and analytical techniques involved.

Jan 1, 1985

By J Vann, S Jackson, O Bertoli

Ordinary kriging and non-linear geostatistical estimators are now well accepted methods in mining grade control and mine resource estimation. Kriging is also a necessary step in the most commonly used methods of conditional simulation used in the mining industry. In both kriging and conditional simulation, the search volume or ækriging neighbourhoodÆ is defined by the user. The definition of this search can have a very significant impact on the outcome of the kriging estimate or the quality of the conditioning of a simulation. In particular, a neighbourhood that is too restrictive can result in serious conditional biases. The methodology for quantitatively assessing the suitability of a kriging neighbourhood involves some simple tests (which we call æQuantified Kriging Neighbourhood AnalysisÆ or QKNA) that are well established in the geostatistical literature. The authors argue that QKNA is a mandatory step in setting up any kriging estimate, including one used for conditioning a simulation. Kriging is commonly described as a æminimum variance estimatorÆ but this is only true when the neighbourhood is properly defined. Arbitrary decisions about searches are highly risky, because the kriging weights are directly related to the variogram model, data geometry and block/sample support involved in the kriging. The criteria to look at when evaluating a particular kriging neighbourhood are the following: the slope of the regression of the ætrueÆ block grade on the æestimatedÆ block grade; the weight of the mean for a simple kriging; the distribution of kriging weights themselves (including the proportion of negative weights); and the kriging variance. Outside of the technical geostatistical literature, there is little in the published domain to describe the nature of QKNA and no practical presentation of case examples. In this paper we attempt to redress this by setting out the calculations required for QKNA and defining some approaches to interpreting the results. Several practical worked mining case examples are also given. Finally some comments are made on using the results of QKNA to assist with block size selection, choice of discretisation and mineral resource classification decisions.

Jan 1, 2003

By Shiels O. J

The paper reviews developments in general galvanising in Australia, including a brief history of the industry and its technology. The changes in galvanising process technology are covered, as well as developments in galvanising bath design, materials handling and pre-treatment. Developments in zinc management through the use of aluminium and nickel alloys are discussed. The paper addresses the cost components of general galvanising and relates this to the competitive position of general galvanising against other coatings used for protecting steel. The environmental aspects of the general galvanising industry in Australia are outlined with respect to the utilisation of process chemicals, problems associated with their disposal and developments in filtering and regeneration of process solutions. The current status of the industry is assessed in terms of zinc usage and usage trends. Likely changes in technology which may impact on the general galvanising industry in the future are reviewed.

Jan 1, 1993

This work provides a comparison between the most commonly used classification equipment in the treatment of minerals - hydrocyclones and spiral classifiers - considering their applications and costs. Although in use for decades in the mining industry, spiral classifiers have lost a lot of their importance due to the development of cyclones. This trend, however, is now being reversed, and in the last few years there has been an increasing interest in spiral classifiers, in view of their advantages over cyclones, such as: ò possibility of obtaining more thickened solids; ò less by-pass; ò great durability; ò lower operating cost. This work approaches the different aspects related to the installation, operation and costs of maintenance of these machines, giving a critical comparison of the involved costs.

Jan 1, 1993

In the time since the first trials in the mid-1980s, the Rare-Earth Magnetic Separators (REMS) are presently (year 2001) found in many heavy mineral sands plants around the world. Both the roll and the drum type are used from ilmenite concentration to cleaning high-purity zircon products. Chromium-bearing materials are removed from ilmenite more selectively than with electromagnetic separators. Greater flexibility and higher grades in ilmenite circuits are achieved. Cleaner rutile and zircon products, even with respect to levels of radioactive materials, are the result of superior magnetic force optimisation. Tailings from roaster plants can be reprocessed effectively, which is encouraging some operators to look at replacing old equipment in order to process roasted material plant feed or implement use of the new generation drum separators in new plants. Wet separation of ilmenite by using powerful wet REMS drum separators is now a possibility. This may be an alternative to at least a portion of the Wet High-Intensity Magnetic Separators (WHIMS) process for ilmenite preconcentration. A dry plant process flowsheet can often be modified by displacing a portion of high-tension separators with new high-temperature tolerant REMS.

Jan 1, 2001

The Joint' Venture Method is a procedure for assessing the value of exploration properties, particularly those for which resources have yet to be delineated. It aims to convert the terms of an actual or synthetic joint venture into the equivalence of an arms- lengths cash transaction between a willing seller and a willing buyer. This paper sets out one approach to achieving that conversion. It discusses both simple and complex cases and gives some examples from both public and private documents. It also includes some case studies in which the Joint Venture Method of valuation can be compared with values derived for the same project using other methodologies including actual cash deals. The Method has failings in both mathematics and logic. However because it does reflect or simulate an arms-length deal which takes into account past exploration effort and expenditure and an assessment of prospectivity at a particular point in time, it is felt that it can provide a reasonable approximation of trade value or asset value of a prospect, particularly if used in conjunction with other methods.

Jan 1, 1994

To carry out its responsibilities the SECV needs to manage the visual environment effectively. Every land oriented decision effects what we see and the value in pursuing visual excellence is supported by informed opinion, widespread community interest and evidence of cost- effectiveness.By knowing how we perceive the landscape and then changing or conserving it we can assist in fostering a positive mental image of a countyside which is welcomed by the local and regional community.It is useful to examine key design elements and the value we place on visual impressions in relation to three significant SECV rehabilitation projects, at Loy Yang, Newport and Morwell Open Cut.

Jan 1, 1992

By Pandey A. K, Srivastava A, Das A

Drilling and blasting constitute important activity in mining operations and account for around 20% of the total excavation cost. The utilization coefficient of energy for explosions of the fragmentation type is hardly 15 to 2035 and an enhancement in this is possible only through optimization of blast design. Designing a 'blast is a complex planning task, which for optimum results calls for matching the energy level of the explosive, rock properties and bench geometry. Optimum blast design needs a comprehensive study and an objective analysis of the intersecting elements. A cost optimised approach is often adopted with due consideration for all the cost sectors viz., drilling, blasting, loading, hauling dumping, and primary crushing, contributing to the overall miring cost. The present study deals with a performance prediction model which predicts the optimum burden for an explosive system in a given rock type to produce a certain desired fragment size. The model is framed on the inputs : shovel size, drill size, unit cost of drilling, bench dimensions, rock density, bond index, unit cost of explosive, maximum work potential. The model has been extended to compute the drilling and blasting costs for an assumed size of the bench to be blasted per round, so as to arrive at the overall cost optimization from a number of explosive systems. A comparative cost calculation with different explosive systems has been presented for a typical iron ore mine in India.

Jan 1, 1990

Today, more and more tunnel ventilation systems are based on NO2 (or NO) and visibility measurements. Due to the significant decrease of CO emissions in countries with EU emission standards, which were adopted by Australia in 2004, CO is no longer a key factor for tunnel air quality monitoring and is often only measured for plausibility reasons (eg according to the German guideline RABT2006). Nitrogen dioxide, which is a good indicator for the overall air pollution along roads, is now taking over the leading role not only for ventilation control but also for air quality monitoring and in future probably for checking the function of air filtration plants in tunnels. Due to the lack of equipment for reliable and long-term NO2 measurements in road tunnels in the past, there are only very few standards giving limit values for NO2 in road tunnels. Furthermore there are not many records of NO2 readings over longer periods in different types of tunnels. SICK MAIHAK, a major supplier of measurement devices for controlling tunnel ventilation, has introduced the first monitor in 2006, specifically designed for measuring NO2, NO and visibility simultaneously in road tunnels. There are now experiences and results from the first tunnels equipped with this kind of system. This paper will present and discuss the results and experiences from these tunnels and explain the different levels of NO2 in different tunnel types. Furthermore, the status of air quality standards for road tunnels regarding NO2 limit values and the current status of discussion in various countries about NO2 limits will be presented.

Jan 1, 2008