Gulf heads to the Gulf
January 26 - February 1, 2010
THE underground trucks that made their mark at a Tennessee zinc mine more than a decade ago, and then in Western Australia, are expected to provide Citadel Resources with the mine material movement economies it needs for its large-scale copper-gold mine in Saudi Arabia.
So last century
December 21 - 27, 2009
DECEMBER 14: ONE OF the keynote speakers at a worldwide gathering of caving experts planned for April next year is trying to engage the industry’s biggest companies in collaborative thinking about a “new paradigm” for large-scale underground mining. He says there is already acceptance that we “can’t cut and paste current methods” into future mine planning scenarios.
Rio confirms machine developers
February 23 - March 1, 2010
RIO TINTO has confirmed Aker Wirth, Atlas Copco and Herrenknecht as development partners for machinery for its underground ‘Mine of the Future’ (HighGrade, November 9, 2009).
Vertical conveyor is no turkey
February 23 - March 1, 2010
A FIRST-HAND look at one of the material movement options frequently put up as an alternative to shaft hoist systems, and trucks, has convinced a Perth-based mining engineer vertical conveying units have a place in some Australian mines.
Change in the wind
December 21 - 27, 2009
FOR MANY mine sites ventilation power consumption and related expenditure is seen as a mostly hidden, inevitable cost of underground mining. Questions about why ventilation is not more actively targeted for cost reduction elicit a range of responses. But if these reasons had any real weight before it was due to a way of thinking that won’t stand too much scrutiny in future.
Tuning into wireless monitoring
December 21 - 27, 2009
BEACONSFIELD in Tasmania is the current banner Australian site for remote, real-time underground geotechnical monitoring. However, an industry wide shift is set to occur.
A digital underground "mine of the future"
December 21 - 27, 2009
THE ‘mine of future’ is much talked about and set as a lofty goal by mine operators. The classic picture of someone sitting back in a nice air conditioned office, overlooking a park, monitoring the automated mining processes occurring 3000km away sounds farfetched, but that truly is the end game.
Consultants vie for Ernest Henry contract
December 7 - 13, 2009
THE big underground mine engineering consulting specialists in the running for project management duties at Xstrata Copper’s $US542 million ($A584 million) Ernest Henry underground copper-gold-magnetite project could know this week who has been successful.
Python will grow legs
November 16 - 22, 2009
A KEY player in the mining industry’s move to high-capacity underground mine trucks, Dale Elphinstone, is backing a shift in future to an energy and cost saving alternative. Technical director and founder of the Ballarat-based manufacturer Gekko Systems, Sandy Gray, says the company’s Python underground processing plant is ready to take off.
‘Mine of the future’ heads underground
November 9 - 15, 2009
NOVEMBER 13: RAPID underground mine development is the core concept behind Rio Tinto and Codelco’s new technology development alliance, with new machines targeted for deployment by 2012 potentially shaving tens of millions of dollars off mine construction costs but most critically lopping months off development timetables.
