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By G J. Corbett, P Magner, M McKenzie

Structures formed during ductile deformation have been reactivated during the later brittle mineralisation process. Two generations of folding are classified as: early recumbent megascopic FI folds and FI shears which transpose the hinge regions, and later upright F2 folds. S1 is folded about F2 folds which contain axial planar S2 crenulation cleavage. Vergence relationships between S1 and bedding indicate that many of the mineralised structures occupy sites of FI folds which have acted as plumbing systems for later gold mineralisation (eg Blackwater mine). The Globe-Progress gold mineralisation is localised by a major jog formed by sinistral strike-slip movement on two FI fault segments and mineralisation also occurs in smaller jogs along strike (eg Sir Francis Drake, Happy Valley-Merrijigs, Cumberland).   The lodes of ribbon quartz which exploit the FI shears and local bedding planes, are inferred to have mostly formed after the peak of metamorphism, possibly related to the emplacement of Carboniferous granites. This was followed by a sequence of vein deposition and wallrock alteration which consists of quartz-As/Fe sulphides ? carbonate - stibnite ¦ trace base metal sulphides and Bi-sulphosalts ? illitic clay/sericite-chlorite. Gold at Globe-Progress is mainly encapsulated in arsenopyrite. At Blackwater, free high fineness gold occurs in partings in lode quartz with late sericite-chlorite. The above sequence of events is comparable to that encountered in many intrusion-related gold systems throughout the Southwest Pacific region. There is a spatial relationship between gold mineralisation and dykes variably described as diabase, dolerite or lamprophyre. Alkaline rocks occur in many Pacific rim and older goldfields and may possibly be related to a magmatic source for gold mineralisation.

Jan 1, 1997

The cost of power is an important matter to mining companies generally and this thought that the members of the Australasian Institute of Engineers, as well as the engineering and mining professions generally would be interested in any proposal for the reduction of that cost has led to the presentation of this paper.The writer trusts that the description will be found clear and increase the interest in this interesting subject. In the up of the electrical arrangements touched on in this paper, the author has had the able assistance of his friend Mr. Mars, to whom he offers his hearty thanks. The selection of the best class of power plant for a mine is a very difficult and large problem and it is quite out of place to dogmatise that anyone of the many systems that offer is better than another, eg that the all electrical is better than the partly direct steam-driven and partly electrical, or that a gas plant is better than a steam plant. Such a selection is one that calls for very careful and close consideration, in each particular case, of a large number of before it is possible to arrive at a proper decision.

Jan 1, 1912

A Process for the Flotation of Chrysocolla

Sep 13, 2010

The Porgera gold deposit is an epithermal gold base-metal deposit located in the Enga Province of Papua New Guinea. Gold-silver-sphalerite-galena-pyrite mineralisation is related to stocks and dykes of dioritic composition which have intruded a series of folded marine sediments, mainly shales and siltstones, often with calcareous and carbonaceous horizons, of middle Jurassic to middle Eocene age. The most intensely mineralised zone is at Waruwari Hill, where the mineralisation occurs predominantly as massive mixed sulphide veins, and less frequently as quartz-chlorite veins and as disseminations. Mineralisation occurs in all rock types and several phases of mineralisation have been recognised.

Jan 1, 1980

Few, if any, reliable thermodynamic data are available for the activity of tin oxide in slags. In this work, the activity of the oxide in silica saturated iron silicate slags has been measured at 1573 K using the equilibrium Sn (alloy) + Y2O2-SnO (slag).Slag and a Ag-Sn alloy were sealed in a zirconium oxide crucible to prevent the escape of volatile tin oxide, and the oxygen pressure at equilibrium measured in situ using the zirconium oxide as a solid electrolyte. Activity of tin was calculated from known data for the Ag-Sn system and activity of tin oxide calculated from free energy data. The results have been extrapolated to predict the industrially important distribution of tin and iron between Fe-Sn alloy and iron silicate based slags.

Jan 1, 1983

By H Matsuno, N Oyama, T Yamamoto, K Nakajima, Y Iwami, N Saito

Recently, the quality of sinter feed ore used in sintering process has deteriorated. In particular, Fe has decreased and gangue component has increased in the sinter feed ore. Increase of gangue is not only the factor to influence sinter qualities, but also the factor to increase coke ratio in the blast furnace operation as the increase of slag ratio. Therefore, to cope with the deterioration of iron ore qualities, studies on alternative iron ore resources and development of its utilisation technology have been required.In that kind of new iron ore resources, authors focus on high-grade magnetite fine. High-grade magnetite fine decreases sinter productivity by the decrease of permeability of sintering bed. Therefore a new study for using large amount of magnetite fine is required. In the past, there are some studies about the effect of mixing ratio and size of magnetite fine on productivity and quality, but there are few studies about magnetite fine segregation in charging.In this research, the melting behaviour and interfacial reaction calcium-ferrite, which has important role as bonding agent among iron ores, melts into hematite substrate and magnetite substrate was studied. As the results, it was defined that upper segregation of high-grade magnetite fine is suitable for productivity of sintered ore. Based on this knowledge, the control method of high-grade magnetite fine segregation by magnetic force at charging was studied with DEM (discrete element method) and its verification experiments for magnetic segregation control was conducted in the laboratory.CITATION:Iwami, Y, Yamamoto, T, Oyama, N, Matsuno, H, Saito, N and Nakajima, K, 2017. Improvement of sinter productivity by control of magnetite ore segregation in sintering bed, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2017, pp 61–68 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 24, 2017

It is the purpose of this paper to produce some evidence on the accuracy to be expected from normal assay procedure using the usual first class equipment, and to examine the effect that many assaying inaccuracies have on reported metallurgical recoveries.Generally speaking, the evaluation of the gold content of a mineral ore sample by the fire assay method is a relatively simple process.A weighed quantity of finely ground ore is fused with suitable fiuxes including litharge and a reducing agent to give a button of lead and a quantity of slag. The shower of lead produced by the reduction of the added litharge collects the gold and silver present in the ore, concentrating the values into the lead button.The button of lead, after separation from the slag, is, on heating in an absorbent cupel in a current of air, reoxidised to litharge and absorbed into the cupel leaving a gold and silver bead in the cupel. This bead' is heated in a solution of nitric acid to dissolve the silver, leaving the gold undissolved to be dried and weighed. Knowing the original weight of the ore and the weight of the gold prill the value of the ore is easily calculated.Summarising1. Fusion Process.-Ore plus fiuxes give a slag plus lead button.2. Cupellation Process.-Lead button is re-oxidised to litharge leaving a gold and silver bead.

Jan 1, 1952

By A. J. MOORE

When the writer first saw the square-set timbering, he was at once impressed with the fact that the frames made by the sets, along the lode and across it, were composed of panels with rectangular openings, and it was puzzling to understand howsuch a collapsible construction could resist pressure that came unevenly on it. Later he learnt that the sets did not satisfactorily resist such pressure, but mullock filling had, to a great extent, to undertake this duty for them. So it appeared that the setswere practically an expensive scaffolding, enabling the miners to work in the face and carry the stope forward, till the filling was put in behind them to take the pressure of the roof and sides of the excavation. Of course some of the pressure is takenby the sets, but this is because "the set timbers prevent the filling being done perfectly; if it were practicable to remove the sets before filling, the filling by itself would more effectively support the back and wall, than do the combined sets andmullock. On the whole, therefore, the sets can hardly be said to be of much benefit where pressure has to be resisted. Despite this, the system has been of immense service in mining wide lodes, but for all that, it can only be pronounced a makeshift.This is no reflection on Deidesheimer, the famous originator of the square set, for, as will be shown later on, this way of...

Jan 1, 1912

Geotechnical input is interwoven into the mining process at George Fisher South Mine from the planning and design of working areas to the closure of worked out areas and maintenance of life of mine and long term excavations. The methodology used consists of a mixture of application of established theoretical principles and guidelines derived from successful historical experience. In the development stage, including long term infrastructure excavations, the process takes into account the expected life of the excavation, usage and expected stress changes during its life span. On the stoping stage, the design process takes into account the local rock mass conditions, geological structure setting and previous experience in a particular orebody. Due to the high variation in age of currently used excavations, a rolling monitoring and risk assessment process for long term and life of mine excavations and infrastructure is maintained. This paper has as an output the process that must be followed to ensure an excavation on the highly dynamic mining environment at George Fisher South Mine is blasted and maintained in compliance with applicably commonly accepted safety and industry requirements.

Nov 25, 2010

Possibilities for Flotation Acoustics Monitoring - A Review

Sep 13, 2010

Coal cleat and faulting influence failure, gas release, and choice of preferred mining directions, locations, and sequences. Unfortunately soil and younger rock cover restrict direct mapping of these structures ahead of mining operations. Aerial photographs of cover contain indirect indications of concealed structures in arrays of linear photostructures. These arrays are commonly too complex for interpretation by simple visual inspection.Analytical techniques applicable to complex arrays are illustrated for a covered part of the Galilee Coal Basin, Queensland. These techniques are: optical determination of sets in arrays of photostructures; correlation of these sets with sub-surface structures; filtering of m-rays for particular sets; detection of anomalies associated with concealed structures in the density distributions of particular sets; fitting filtered arrays to trajectories; correlation of trajectories with the regional directional variations of concealed structures; contouring of ratios of sets to discriminate anomalies associated with concealed fractures and variations in the total and bed thicknesses of cover; kinematic and dynamic inference on the basis of fracture-trace angular and spatial relationships.

Jan 1, 1979

A unique sluicing process for recovering tailing impounded in a valley was developed by Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australasia Ltd., West Coast Mines, Rosebery, Tasmania.Earthmoving equipment could not be used as most of the material to be recovered was semi-fluid. A conventional sluking method was also impracticable as there was no suitable working face from which the process could be commenced.Operations started from a flat surface, using special techniques for sinking through the tailing and establishing producing working faces as the sinking process continued.After about 2 years the bottom of the dam was reached and conventional sluicing methods could be used.

Jan 1, 1973

Preliminary work being undertaken on the optimisation of decision strategies for an open-pit metalliferous deposit is presented. The Optimal Control method has been selected rather than the easier to implement Dynamic Programming method of optimisation since a fundamental criteria of Dynamic Programming is violated. Essentially a system of state equations and decision variables is developed for the operation under consideration.

Jan 1, 1984

Digital Simulation of Particulate Processes The inherent complexity of mineral particulates (shape, size and mineralogical texture) has challenged conventional simulation model approaches for decades. Much effort was expedited in using mathematical assumptions to accommodate stereological effect. With the advance of instrumental methods such as x-ray microtomography 3D structure can, in many cases, be measured directly. The information derived from such measurements provides direct input to building the structural digital model. In addition digital simulation methods that enable creation of process realistic particulate properties in an efficient digital computer space have demonstrated their effectiveness to model a variety of realistic packing, sorting and multi-phase processes. The paper reviews recent advances in the use of information derived from 3D micro-tomographic imaging and laser scanning technology can be coupled with digital methods to enable simulation of tablet compaction and dissolution, filtration and permeability, column packing and leaching kinetics, packing and cementation of nuclear waste. By assigning 'properties' to a digital zone (voxel) in the computational space it is possible to mimic the realistic characteristics of quite complex particulate mineral processing systems. The system self-adapts to correct the coherent particle characteristics (shape, size, compound, porosity) with time. Such simulations are useful to elucidate the sensitivity of system performance to variations in process parameters. Dimensional scaling of the approach is also possible, as the case studies will illustrate, in deploying the method to both small (micron) and large (m) features. The use of process realistic simulations presents experimental challenges in code validation. It is in this context that other tomographic methods play a role in direct 3D measurement of system behaviour such as electrical and optical sensors.

Sep 13, 2010

By D Brooks, S Gunn, T Perkins, J Siliezar

Ernest Henry Mining (EHM) is a copper, gold and magnetite mining and processing operation located 38km north east of Cloncurry. The EHM ore body has an average grade of 0.9% copper (chalcopyrite), 0.5g/t gold and 22% magnetite.Open pit mining commenced in March 1998, but EHM transitioned to underground mining in December 2012, extending the life of operations beyond 2024. The underground mine currently produces up to 3Mt/year of ore, hauled up a decline by truck. This figure shall double in 2014 with the completion of a 1000m shaft. The EHM Concentrator has a nameplate capacity of 10Mt/year. In June 2011, Xstrata Copper acquired the Mount Margaret resource to supplement underground production and utilise the full capacity of the Concentrator. The Mount Margaret Mining (MMM) operation was established to develop the five deposits making up the resource by way of open pit mining.Copper concentrate is produced by the EHM Concentrator via grinding, flotation and dewatering circuits. The grinding circuit comprises a SAG and ball mill in a closed AB configuration. Flotation consists of a rougher train, regrind and three stages of cleaning, with the tail from the first stage reporting to the tailings thickener.The mineralogy of the MMM ores is complex, comprising fine textures of active pyrite, copper oxides, native copper, clay and secondary copper sulphides. This paper provides an overview of the metallurgical test work completed to forecast the performance of the MMM ores through the EHM Concentrator and identify flow sheet modifications for maximising copper recovery and producing a saleable concentrate. A discussion of the challenges experienced in the plant to date follows.CITATION:Gunn, S, Siliezar, J, Brooks, D and Perkins, T, 2013. Adapting the Ernest Henry Mining concentrator to process the Mount Margaret ores, in Proceedings MetPlant 2013 , pp 347-370 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 15, 2013

A pilot plant was constructed for the low temperature carbonization of Wallarah (N.S.W.) coal at the rate of 300 lb/hr. The design was based on an entrained state carbonizer developed by Parry and D.S. Bureau of Mines co-workers. Prior to delivery to the client, the plant was successfully operated over periods of several days duration.INTRODUCTIONIn September 1961, the Australian Mineral Development Laboratories (A.M.D.L.) was engaged by the Broken Hill Pty. Co. Ltd. (B.H.P.) to design, construct and test an entrained state coal carbonizer with a capacity of 300 lb/hr of Wallarah (N.S.W.) coal. Char product was required within the specification 15·5 -I- 1 per cent volatile matter. The design was to be based on a pilot plant developed by Parry and others in the D.S. Bureau of Mines Coal Research Laboratory at Denver, D.S.A. The method involved the carbonization of fine coal by entrainment with air in an externally heated reactor. The heat required for the carbonization of the coal was to be supplied to the bed both through the reactor walls, and also by internal combustion of products in the bed. Several D.S. Bureau of Mines Reports of Investigations weFe used as the main guide to the physical layout and proportions of the plant. However, the individual units required detailed designing, before engineering drawings could be prepared and fabrication begun.A 10 ton sample of crushed Wallarah coal was used for preliminary testing of the plant. The first test run on the pilot plant was carried out in February, 1962. After some modification a second test of longer duration was conducted in August, 1962. These operations aimed at running in the plant and also at determining the operating temperature to produce specification char and the maximum capacity of the...

Jan 1, 1963

Advances in Thickener Feedwell Design via Computational Fluid Dynamics Modelling

Sep 13, 2010

By T King

This paper reviews the changes in the coal industry over the past 30 years and attempts to predict the trends over the next ten years. The last 30 years have seen a steady concentration of production into fewer, larger mines, which operate on 3: more continuous basis, and a major increase in productivity per employee. Coal exports have increased from zero to almost half the country's total production. As well as major changes in exploration and mining equipment and the increasing use of computer tools, the industry now operates in a relatively new regulatory and commercial environment.   Safety legislation now requires the writing and enforcement of policies and procedures by the mining companies, rather than adherence to inflexible regulations enforced by an Inspector. Accident rates have decreased dramatically. The transition from coal mining licences to permits, requiring landowner consent and resource consents, is well under way. Environmental controls are now an essential aspect of the industry.   Equipment suppliers now offer maintenance services, production guarantees and flexible financing.  Contract miners offer mine design and restoration as part of the contract. In a similar approach, Solid Energy now offer an ash disposal service and assistance with resource consents to their customers as well as investment in technology to ensure a consistent product to demanding specifications. Solid Energy has proposals for energy centres which install and operate the coal burning appliances and simply sell energy to the customers. The next 10 years should see an intensification of these trends of bigger mines, more exports and greater technology and a 'package' approach to customer service.

Jan 1, 1997

Uranium exploration over a wide area of the Southern Frame Embayment, South Australia, has defined a number of Lower Tertiary fluvial palaeochannels incised in older rocks. The buried channels contain similar stratigraphicsequences of interbedded sand, silt, and clay, probably derived from the adjacent uranium-rich Olarv Provinee. Uranium mineralization is pervasive within two major palaeochannels, and four small uranium deposits have been found in the basal sands of these channel sequences, at the margins of extensive tongues of limonitic sand.One of the channels is examined in detail with respect to channel morphology, stratigraphy, and rock alteration and the geology and ore controls of the contained uranium deposits are described.A geochemical zonation reflected by variation in limonite, pyrite, carbon, and humic malleI' is defined across one of the deposits. A genetic model is proposed suggesting formation by a uraniferous geochemical cell which migrated down the stream gradient and concentrated uranium on its lateral margins adjacent to the channel bank.

Jan 1, 1978

Improving Pentlandite Selectivity Over Pyrrhotite Using Reagents

Sep 13, 2010