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And it takes more than good organisation. You may read or heard this poignant reflection: We tried hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up in teams we would be reorganised. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by re-organising, and a wonderful method this is for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralisation This was written by the Roman Gaius Petronius in AD65. How much have things changed in nearly 2,000 years? What then does it take besides the fundamentals and good organisation to build a successful career in a successful organisation? I'm prepared to venture a list of what I'll'call Tips for Young Professionals. If you've got what it takes, and apply these, I think that you'll gain a great deal of satisfaction from your career, even if you don't reach the distant target each of you should have in mind now. So settle back in an advice-receiving mode, and please forgive me if I come across as a master of the bleedin' obvious, as Basil once accused his wife Sybil of being in the unforgettable Fawlty Towers.

Jan 1, 1990

By Basillo CI

The adsorption mechanisms of various thiol collectors can be subdivided into four classes: chemisorption, EC-mechanism, catalytic oxidation and metathetical substitution. The chemisorption mechanism occurs at potentials below the thermodynamic potentials for the metal-thiol compound formation and is reversible. The EC-mechanism occurs when the mineral is sufficiently oxidised to liberate metal ions to form metal-xanthates; therefore, it is observed with more easily oxidisable minerals and/or with collectors having large pK values. Thionocarbamates adsorb on sulphide minerals via the EC-mechanism due to their large pK values. Although the adsorption occurs at very low potentials as compared to xanthates, it is irreversible with large overpotentials. On the other hand, the adsorption of modified thiophosphates and thiophosphinates occurs near the thermodynamic potentials because of the low pK values. The metathetical substitution is believed to occur only when a mineral is highly oxidised. These classifications are useful for studying the effects of electrochemical potentials and the molecular structure on the collector adsorption Mechanisms.

Jan 1, 1993

The New Zealand Mines Rescue Brigade was established as a result of the Dobson mine disaster on 3rd December 1926, when 9 men lost their lives. Prior to this, there had been four major disasters in New Zealand coalmines, with a total of 145 fatalities. Only large-scale events such as explosions or major fires were considered reportable. Until and including the Dobson disaster, no mine emergency response facilities or organisation was in place.   Unfortunately, over the next five decades the establishment of a Mines Rescue Service did not mean that disasters involving multiple fatalities ceased. The coal mining industry continued to suffer the consequences of poor mining practice, inadequate or inappropriate monitoring and management, and sometimes complete disregard for the regulatory requirements current at the time.   The role of Mines Rescue has been defined in statute, and regulated by Coal Mines (Mine Management and Safety) Regulations. Currently, the statutory obligations have been under the Mines Rescue Trust Act 1992.   The Mines Rescue Brigade historically, has primarily been a reactive service, with stations and facilities established to train brigadesmen in emergency response procedures, specifically to mobilise in the event of a call-out at any one of the many coalmines operating within each stationÆs area of jurisdiction.   Over the last ten years, this role has changed. The service has adopted a proactive approach to emergency response, and has established a close liaison with all mining and tunnelling operations throughout industry, both underground and surface. The objectives have become emergency prevention focussed, and the service has incorporated a range of theoretical and practical training, simulated exercises, more sophisticated equipment and techniques, and a desire to ensure that emergency response capabilities are not needed, whilst maintaining the traditional and statutory obligation to respond if they are needed.

Jan 1, 2004

The prime requirement is market, which for NZ inevitably means overseas markets. In order to be internationally competitive, the economies of scale and mechanical handling are essential. Since significant markets have not been sought, the full extent of our industrial mineral potential is not known. In general the technology exists to impart the desired quality, but at a price. Price is the main constraint, which may confine truly competitive operations to coastal situations to avoid high internal freight charges. Some commercial deposits of construction materials are being sterilised by zoning, making the costs to the consumer and country unnecessarily high. Unless management is enlightened and marketing is forceful, it can restrict growth. There is a good case to mount a search for phosphate minerals. The main growth areas are likely to be direct shipping ores like limestone, silica sand, and olivine, but in particular pumice.

Jan 1, 1978

Nuclear power stations to be installed in Australia will be fuelled from Australian resources of raw materials.This will require the establishment of new manufacturing industries and the eventual expansion of established activities, especially in uranium mining and the preparation of precision metal products.This paper presents some predictions of the possible growth of nuclear power installations in Australia.These might amount to 4000 MWE by 1985 and 11,500 MWE by 1990 and towards the end of the century, about 50 per cent of new generating plant might be nuclear.Predictions are given of the demands for materials (uranium and zirconium) and fuel manufacturing services for four reactor systems which might be considered in the programme.The availability of raw materials and technical capability place Australia in a particularly good position to undertake the manufacture of nuclear fuel; in addition to satisfying the domestic demand we should actively seek export markets for these products.

Jan 1, 1971

The Musselwhite mine, located in northwestern Ontario, Canada, has been an underground narrow-vein gold producer since the spring of 1997. As an exploration project at the feasibility stage, much effort was undertaken to generate a geostatistical resource model that would integrate the orebodyÆs geological features, as well as the controls on mineralisation. Today as an operating mine producing over 200 000 ounces of gold per year, reconciliation studies of the tonnes and grades treated at the mill, with the feasibility model, for longer time periods, and with the grade control models, for shorter time periods, show results that are in good agreement. It was clearly demonstrated with the reconciliation to production, that the key to good reconciliation remains in the proper selection and application of the geological resource estimation method. The application of a grade interpolation technique capable of capturing threedimensionally pertinent geological features, as well as accounting for spatial grade continuity, proved to be successful in the predictability of tonnage and grade at the Musselwhite mine. Along with good mine practices, this approach, which was carried through to the operation, has produced excellent reconciliation results. The ongoing reconciliation studies at Musselwhite allow for a constant revision of the grade estimation strategy. In return, this optimisation process adds value by raising the accuracy level of production expectations. As this is an evolving practice at the mine site, further implementation developments are recommended to integrate these reconciliation procedures on a more regular basis.

Jan 1, 2002

The products required by customers today have become far more complex and consequently more demanding to handle. And thereÆs the dilemma. Nowadays, people tend to stick to a trade for just a few years instead of for a lifetime, and this means that the customerÆs employees cannot be expected to get more than general knowledge of how to handle modern mining and construction equipment. To meet this challenge, major steps are being taken by suppliers to make their æmusclesÆ more user-friendly. Also the supplier is assuming a larger share of responsibility for the product including operators training, supply maintenance services and, in many cases, performance guarantees. In other words, the supplier is today supplying a function or an activity rather than just muscles. Some of the new generation drill rigs have been on the market for a few years and reliable experience has been collected and is addressed in this paper. Some of the information is well supported by figures while others are just statements from users of the rigs.

Jan 1, 2005

Various aspects of the history of mining at The Zinc Corporation, Limited (ZC) and New Broken Hill Consolidated Limited (NHHC) are examined. There are some discussions about the various methods used to mine the pillars left after the primary mining operations, with an enphasis being placed on the more modern pillar mining methods. Some new pillar mining proposals are presented. INTRODUCTION In the past, pillar reserves at ZC/NBHC have been scheduled for mining by labour intensive and high unit cost mining methods. These methods include both undercut and fill and overhand square set timber stoping. Recent technological advances in large diameter longhole drilling and high charge density explosives have culminated in the mechanised Vertical Crater Retreat (VCR) mining method and this method has been successfully used for the extraction of two pillars at NBHC and more stopes are planned. However the use of VCR methods for mining pillars at ZC/NBHC is restricted to approximately 50 per cent of the total pillar reserves and it appears that high cost methods will be needed to mine the remaining Pillars.

Jan 1, 1983

In planning and operating mining projects, managers must take into account economic conditions in foreign markets in addition to Australian conditions. As the manager has little influence over the price or the demand for the product, it is particularly important that close attention is paid to the control of costs to ensure that the mining operation remains competitive with foreign producers. This is not necessarily true for some sectors of the domestic manufacturing industry where foreign competition is restricted and costs can be passed on to consumers because of the protection afforded by tariffs. The effects of protection on the cost structure of Australian industry are more pervasive than is commonly understood. The issue of protection is particularly important to the Australian mining industry management because the cost burdens imposed by local protection must be absorbed within profit margins. Furthermore, because protected industries are effectively subsidised to use scarce resources such as skilled labour, the development of more efficient industries such as mining is inhibited. The mining industry has much to gain from any relaxation in protection policy, and hence the issue is of considerable importance to all managers in the mining industry concerned with costs.

Jan 1, 1980

The comparatively low winter rainfall, exposure to heavy salt laden coastal winds, and the consequent high evaporation rate, are important considerations in the rehabilitation of the Maslins Beach Sand Pit. The deficit of rainfall over evaporation is assessed at 1085 mm per annum. Such a coastal environment complicates the establishment of plants. The endemic flora found on the Sand Pit environs is mainly low wind-planed shrubs and mat plants. The dunes near the coast support an association dominated by Atriplex cinerea, Spinifex hirsutus, Scirpus nodosus, and Olearia axillaris. The coastal cliffs carry a more diverse vegetation dominated by Beyeria lechenaultii and Eutaxia microphylla. Overburden is used to develop a new landscape to screen operations, batter final faces, and cover rubbish at the nearby Council dump. The early overburden dumps were built with little regard for stability, but the more recent practice of using scrapers has resulted in more stable dumps. The erosion problems created by poor compaction have been controlled by contour banks, diversion drains, bitumen lined run-off drains, and hay mulching.

Jan 1, 1976

Methods of measuring the frictional properties of rock surfaces, both by direct sliding and in triaxial apparatus, are described. It was found that for some rocks the coefficient of friction remains reasonably constant as sliding is continued but for others it increases considerably.The effect of fluid pressure in the surface of sliding was found in all cases to be adequately represented by the effective stress criterion. Some observations on sliding on two conjugate planes showed that the motion on the two planes may be very different, depending on small differences in the constraints.The coefficients of friction of natural open joints in bore core were found to lie in the comparatively narrow range 0.32 to O.68 although surface coatings were very diverse.A set of diagrams on the equal area projection is given which enables a rapid determination to be made of those planes on which sliding is possible in a given three-dimensional stress field. The influence of the intermediate principal stress on this is of considerable importance.

Jan 1, 1969

By H W. Scriba

The development and improvement of computer-based process simulation packages over the past 20 years has provided process engineers with a powerful tool to use in the design of complex metallurgical plants. The use of such modelling tools has enabled the design of process plants that minimise operating and capital costs whilst optimising plant efficiency and recovery. Almost every new project developed in the current market is underpinned by a simulation of the process. In line with engineering best practice this simulation should be based on laboratory/pilot plant test work results and sound assumptions. Any errors that are not identified in the development of the process simulation may have significant effects on the final design and operation of the processing plant. Developing a simulation of the process in a comprehensive, logical and auditable manner is thus essential in ensuring the simulation accurately represents the expected process plant behaviour. A methodology that ensures these requirements are met has been developed by SNC-Lavalin Australia and is described in this paper. The methodology includes the major review stages of data collection, model planning, model building and optimisation, model review, scenario testing and options development, and model reporting. All of these stages should incorporate comprehensive client interaction and review by a suitably qualified representative. In applying these methodologies SNC-Lavalin Australia ensures that the process simulation model developed can be confidently utilised in the design of the process plant, and in the estimation of operating and capital costs, whilst ensuring that engineering best practices are met.

Jan 1, 2008

Exploring for deep shallow dipping orebodies can be very expensive and very difficult. Surface exploration is often not an option and obtaining the best location for underground drilling can cause production delays if drilling is carried out from development headings. The Otter/Juan mine has been in production for approximately 34 years. All of the production is now sourced from more than 1000 metres below the surface from an area known as the Edwards Lode. The orebody is shallow dipping and open at depth. Exploration drilling has been performed from decline stockpiles and from hangingwall drill drives. Drilling from footwall positions (eg decline stockpiles) into shallow dipping orebodies can often produce intersections which are unusually thick thus leading to optimistic resource figures. The decision to develop a dedicated hangingwall drilling position can vastly improve the quality of the data used to generate an orebody model. In 1997 a new extension to the Edwards Lode was discovered and named the æFÆ surface. In 1999 a resource calculation was performed using data obtained from drilling that was carried out from decline stockpiles. In 2002 a dedicated drill drive was developed into the hangingwall of the æFÆ surface to obtain better data to verify the previous resource calculation. For this case study obtaining more representative data reduced the resource estimate by 66 per cent. This information was obtained early enough to allow for alteration to the mine plan and without loss of capital.

Jan 1, 2003

Suppression of the explosion of the world population and the surprising increase of waste and emissions are major targets confronting mankind in this century. Recycling and waste minimisation are key words for sustainable development in a highly industrial society. The argument is really whether or not recycling done well is the solution to the environment problem for the following generation. If energy is not necessary in the recycling, all materials have to be recycled. The greatest interest among the environmental issues is the regulation of CO2 gas emission. It must be recognised that it is not possible to completely renew expended energy. Some of the recycling systems currently used are thought to increase the load on the environment rather than to be beneficial. Although metal industries have consumed tremendous amount of energy and discharged a large quantity of CO2 and solid waste, the metals have supported a high quality of life. The metal production industries such as the iron and steel industry and the non-ferrous metals industry can work well recycling of not only metals but also other materials without consuming more energy. Waste plastics, for example, are use as a reductant in a blast furnace. The role of metallurgical industry in the recycling-based society is introduced in the present paper to recognise how the metal industries can contribute recycling and waste minimisation.

Jan 1, 2002

By D Williams

Recent advances in global positioning systems (GPS), machine guidance technology and telemetry allow an unprecedented level of control of surface mining operations. GPS technology can now locate the bucket of a shovel or the blade of a dozer within 50 mm. Some of the outcomes possible are: precise selective mining û even when the ore is visually indistinguishable from waste; tracking grade and tonnage of every ore parcel through the mine; real time productivity monitoring; detailed post accident safety analysis; and tracking the movements of every piece of equipment. This paper will consider the contribution that GPS based machine control systems can make to ensuring that surface mining projects deliver the outcomes promised in the feasibility studies. Case studies of installations are presented.

Jan 1, 2003

There are significant Mineral Resource and Reserve reporting challenges facing a mining company operating in the global arena. This paper specifically examines the Mineral Resource and Reserve reporting challenge facing BHP Billiton. The changing regulatory environment creates a significant challenge for global mining companies when reporting Mineral Resources and Reserves. The development and implementation of internal policies and standards for collecting and collating resource and reserve information is required for corporate governance, however the challenge is then to report this information publicly in such a way as to comply with the various codes and requirements in the many jurisdictions in which the company is required to report. The move to an International Code is not only desirable but is an essential requirement in todayÆs global market. The agreement to report using a single code internationally is however only the first step. A truly practical international reporting system must have common definitions and guidelines for interpretation as well as an international approach to the definition of a Competent Person, and even more importantly a common acceptance of that code by the relevant investment regulatory bodies. Without the universal acceptance of the concept of an international reporting code by the major regulatory bodies, implementation of such a code will be limited. With the major global mining companies seeking to raise capital in the USA, the worldÆs largest capital market, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its approach to reserve reporting is becoming increasingly important. The development and implementation of an International Code must gain the support and acceptance of the SEC if it is to be successful.

Jan 1, 2002

This paper provides a brief fundamental insight regarding the fabric media concept for liquor filtration. The subject matter will be of interest to metallurgists and engineers with professional responsibility for world class design of solid liquid separation processes and efficient lowest cost operation of existing mineral process plant. Avocet Mining commissioned the worldÆs first mineral liquor clarification process incorporating a fabric media liquor filter at their Lanut gold mine in Sulawesi, in 2004 with design consulting provided by the Australian company SLS Technology Pty Ltd. Development of the technology continues with applied research focused on selecting textile parameters to apply filtration to a wider range of particle and contaminant types, higher solids concentrations, and different process liquors. Liquor filtration with the Fabric Media technology offers an array of attractive benefits. For Avocet Mining, filtration of pregnant liquor directly from the heap leach pad has enabled removal of the sediment pond and sand filters from the traditional process flow sheet, thus providing significant cost and installation time savings. Avocet Mining has recently expressed confidence in the technology indicating selection preference of the technology for the expansion at Lanut and for a new project. The application design window for the Fabric Media concept is extremely flexible with the technology now successfully applied to many different liquor chemistries and application objectives around the world. Potential cost savings for solid liquid separation process plant, such as counter current decantation circuits, clarifier vessels and thickener tanks can be calculated from laboratory measurements or pilot plant demonstrations.

Jan 1, 2008

By J Galvin

This paper addresses the actions of the Australian mining industry, its regulators and educational providers towards ensuring that a pool of competent mine managers is maintained in Australia and that mine management remains a desirable career path for future mining professionals. The Australian and global mining industries are experiencing an acute skills shortage. Mine managers, traditionally drawn from the ranks of mining engineers, are at the sharp end of this shortage. Exacerbating the shortage is a perception that a professional mine manager is not an attractive career option. This perception is influenced by the following forces which combine to make the role of a modern mine manager very demanding:legislative requirements for owners and managers to ensure (guarantee) the safety and health of employees; an increasing trend towards prosecution over exposure to risks to health and safety a need to be more aware and responsive to community and environment; financial, technical and æpeopleÆ pressures traditionally associated with the job of managing a mine; and mine management roles being filled by younger and less experienced professionals. Universities and other educational providers have the challenge of both ensuring that undergraduates are exposed to these issues during their study and continuing to promote mine management as a desirable career option. Anecdotal and statistical evidence indicates that young graduates are choosing and remaining in technical roles rather than taking on the challenge of mine management. Furthermore, it is suspected that the issues referred to above are contributing to the low retention rate of young professionals at mine sites. The challenges are not insurmountable, however. This paper reviews the initiatives of industry, the regulators and educational institutions in addressing these challenges. It includes a focus on:prosecution policies and their impacts, tertiary education program content and delivery modes, CPD initiatives of the Mine Managers Association of Australia, and alternative pathways for obtaining mine management qualifications.

Jan 1, 2006

By L M. van Niekerk

The mining of iron ore is a high volume low margin business because the value of this commodity is significantly lower than that of base metals. The main metallurgical challenges in most of the iron ore projects proposed for treatment nowadays have been in finding the optimum flowsheet for the treatment of magnetite ores, mixed magnetite-hematite ores and even ores that have banded ironstone formations (BIF). The associated plant designs incorporate very high capacity milling systems to grind the ore down prior to magnetic separation and in being highly capital intensive requires substantial investment in mega processing plants with associated infrastructure to mill down the run-of-mine ore to the desired treatment size for upgrading.To minimise the cost of infrastructure, better beneficiation techniques and technologies are being sought to assist in reducing upfront ROM feed to allow for reduction in overall treatment plant footprint necessary in extracting the desired downstream product. This paper discusses such beneficiation techniques and advancement in technologies for the upgrading of coarse and fine iron ore utilising dense media separation (DMS), jigging, wet magnetic separation, dry magnetic separation, flotation and x-ray processing.Another group of iron ore projects involve the mining of hematite ore below the water table. Often the mined ore is wet and sticky. This combination requires high capacity processing of feed material utilising large scrubbers or attritioning units to effectively remove the slimes component present in the feedstock. The fines removed, usually below 1 mm, are then discarded in large tailings storage facilities. Approaches to recovering the saleable material contained within these fines will also be investigated in this paper. This not only implies possible reduction in slimes discard footprint, but also holds potential benefit in augmenting overall yield and recovery of hematite product.CITATION:van Niekerk, L M, 2013. Fine and coarse iron ore beneficiation - An evaluation into global technologies and techniques, in Proceedings MetPlant 2013 , pp 584-598 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 15, 2013

Magnetic Separators have a wide application in dry separation processes, frequently in conjunction with High Tension Separation. Dry processes can frequently be superior to established processes in more commonplace mineral associations. A system of dynamics is postulated and the forces operating ar'e examined, together with a method of evaluating the effect of operating variables. Practical applications of these theories to obtain optimum results on an individual separator, and various separations using a laboratoryroll type separator are described.Practical Flowsheets are of two main types, the first consisting of a series of scalping operations, the second for rougher, cleaner, and scavenger operations with middling recirculation. Some common separation problems with certain mineral associations illustrate the need for different approaches for different mineral associations. A table of mineral separation characteristics is appended, from which amenability may be tentatively estimated.INTRODUCTIONMagnetic separators are widely used, either alone or in conjunction with other wet and dry concentration devices, for the upgrading of a variety of minerals. The high standards of efficiency attainable in dry mills, together with reduced operating and labour costs, are slowly becoming apparent in a wide variety of plants. The combination of wet and dry concentration plant familiar in beach sand mining is finding application for such processes as upgrading a crushed chromite product, and production of clean scheelite,cassiterite, and other concentrates. Other dry beneficiation processes (such as the high tension beneficiation of iron ore, and the benefiGiation of asbestos) avoid the use of wet processes completely.Dry separation processes are likely to be applied more widely as their possibilities become more generally known.

Jan 1, 1958