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FUTURE OF MINING

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TRAINING REHABILITATION VOLUME 111/3 | APRIL 2019

FUTURE OF MINING

MINERALS PROCESSING RAISING STANDARDS IN THE SECTOR

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COMMENT

LIFTING AUSTRALIA’S COMPETITIVENESS TO ANOTHER LEVEL BEN CREAGH

Ben.Creagh@primecreative.com.au

AUSTRALIA IS A GLOBAL LEADER ACROSS THE MINING INDUSTRY. HOW WILL THE COUNTRY MAINTAIN THIS COMPETITIVE EDGE?

I

t’s encouraging to see how focused the Australian mining industry is becoming to remain a competitive force. Mining companies, governments and services organisations are all part of this effort to keep the country at the top.

The Fraser Institute’s latest annual survey, that ranks which countries and jurisdictions are the most attractive for investment, has again showed that Australia is a global leader, with it finishing second overall behind Canada.

But the survey also revealed there is slippage in some parts of the country. While Western Australia improved to be the second most attractive jurisdiction in the world, South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales all fell.

Victoria, albeit from a lower baseline, was an Australian state that showed considerable improvement. The recent work by its government to promote the sector has seemingly paid off from the survey’s participants’ perspective already.

As this issue of Australian Mining shows, the federal government is on the front foot to capitalise on Australia’s strong standing by cementing this place for decades to come through the National Resources Statement.

The initiative has generally been well received for its focus on remaining competitive, the ideas for development, the environmental guidance it offers and the need to introduce new technologies.

Australian mining’s competitiveness also

MANAGING DIRECTOR JOHN MURPHY MANAGING EDITOR BEN CREAGH Tel: (03) 9690 8766 Email: ben.creagh@primecreative.com.au JOURNALISTS EWEN HOSIE Tel: (03) 9690 8766 Email: ewen.hosie@primecreative.com.au VANESSA ZHOU Tel: (03) 9690 8766 Email: vanessa.zhou@primecreative.com.au CLIENT SUCCESS MANAGER JANINE CLEMENTS Tel: (02) 9439 7227 Email: janine.clements@primecreative.com.au

depends on how it fares against other industries that also need to attract skills to be sustainable.

The number of apprentices (p17-18) that companies and contractors are taking on is again surging, a sign that mining is moving in a positive direction to develop the next generation of workers.

From a technology perspective, Australia is a leader in mining and the government is committed to ensuring we extract even more value from the industry through the developers and suppliers of these innovations.

Promisingly, the Australian industry is also breaking down the path it must take towards creating a digital future.

As our latest Deloitte trends feature describes, a ‘think big, start small, scale fast’ approach is being adopted to introduce digital projects across the industry, with these initiatives no longer limited to the majors.

Each of these endeavours delivers a theme that they will not be successful without the right culture, something that every stakeholder involved is aiming to get right, both now and for the future.

DESIGN PRODUCTION MANAGER Michelle Weston michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au ART DIRECTOR Blake Storey blake.storey@primecreative.com.au GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Kerry Pert, Madeline McCarty SUBSCRIPTION RATES Australia (surface mail) $140.00 (incl GST) New Zealand A$148.00 Overseas A$156.00

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APRIL 2019

In this edition of Australian Mining, we review the Western Australian minerals sands sector, including the projects that are increasing activity.

This issue looks at the growing training opportunities being offered to apprentices as mining and METS companies develop the industry’s workers of the future.

We analyse the Australian Government’s National Resources Statement, with feedback from key industry bodies.

This edition puts the microscope on the minerals processing sector by profiling a number of key players that focus on this area.

And as usual, we review the latest mining equipment and technology in our regular products section.

Cover image: McLanahan.

Ben Creagh Editor

SALES MANAGER JONATHAN DUCKETT Tel: (02) 9439 7227 Mob: 0498 091 027 Email: jonathan.duckett@primecreative.com.au

FRONT COVER

For subscriptions enquiries please contact 03 9690 8766 subscriptions@primecreative.com.au PRIME CREATIVE MEDIA Suite 303, 1-9 Chandos Street Saint Leonards NSW 2065, Australia www.primecreative.com.au © Copyright Prime Creative Media, 2016 All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means without the written permission of the ­publisher.

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CONTENTS

REHABILITATION

COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT MIGHTY MINERAL SANDS Australian growth for a highly useful commodity sector

A HELLYER OF A TIME IN TASMANIA Waking up a historic mining operation on the island state

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14-15

MAJOR PROJECTS

TRAINING AND EDUCATION

34-36 APPRENTICE NUMBERS SURGE Mining and METS companies increase their training commitment

AUSTRALIA’S KEY PROSPECTS The committed projects and mine expansions across the country

17-18 SAFETY

FUTURE OF MINING

37 FIRE THREAT RISES AT MINE SITES FM Global’s advice to avoid the growing risk of fires

A NATIONAL FOCUS EMERGES The industry applauds a federal government resources initiative

20-22 INDUSTRY COMMENT

TRACKING THE TRENDS

24-25

39-43 METS IGNITED, AUSIMM AND AUSTMINE The latest from the leading industry bodies representing mining

THE DIGITAL MATURITY CURVE Key steps to guide companies through the important process

PROSPECT AWARDS

INTERNATIONAL

45 BUILDING A PATH LESS TRAVELLED Columbus Groups adds to an award-winning streak of innovation

PERFECT TIMING IN EUROPE Euro Manganese makes an environmental impact at Chvaletice

28-29 MINERALS PROCESSING

WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT

32 METS COMPANIES ENHANCE THE SECTOR Profiles of companies and services in this critical area

FLYING HIGH ON OPTIMISM Even in transit, mining has become a more cautious environment

46-55

REGULARS

NEWS 8-12

PRODUCTS 56-57

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NEWS

THE LATEST MINING AND SAFETY NEWS AUSTRALIAN MINING AND SAFE TO WORK PRESENT THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE BOARDROOM TO THE MINE AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN. VISIT WWW.AUSTRALIANMINING.COM.AU AND WWW.SAFETOWORK.COM.AU TO KEEP UP TO DATE WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING. AUSTRALIA ACHIEVES RECORD ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION

AUSTRALIAN MINING GETS THE LATEST NEWS EVERY DAY, PROVIDING MINING PROFESSIONALS WITH UP TO THE MINUTE INFORMATION ON SAFETY, NEWS AND TECHNOLOGY FOR THE AUSTRALIAN MINING AND RESOURCES INDUSTRY.

GOLD PRODUCTION IS ON THE RISE IN AUSTRALIA.

Australia’s gold producers have capitalised on a surging price for the precious metal by delivering an alltime production record in 2018.

With 317 tonnes of gold last year, the miners broke the previous record of 314.5 tonnes that stood for 21 years.

Australian gold production reached 81 tonnes in the December 2018 quarter, the third consecutive quarter where output exceeded 80 tonnes.

The gold price, meanwhile, averaged $1711 an ounce in the December quarter.

Surbiton Associates director Sandra Close said the record output in 2018 was worth $17.3 billion at the average spot price.

“It took 21 years to break the old calendar year record and the outlook for the near term looks positive, but of course there can always be surprises,” Close said.

“Following a fall to just 220 tonnes in calendar 2008, the industry has bounced back, helped in part by the weakening of the Australian dollar against the US dollar, as it has fallen from around parity to near US70 cents

in the last decade.”

Australia’s gold sector is well positioned to continue this recordbreaking form. The Australian gold price hit an all-time record of $1876 per ounce on February 20.

Gold averaged around $1820 per ounce in the first two months of 2019, with the Australian dollar fetching just US71 cents.

The sector will also see positive developments production wise on both sides of the country.

“On the production front, Gold Fields and Gold Road’s Gruyere joint venture,

some 200 kilometres north-east of Laverton (in Western Australia) will start up mid-year,” Close said.

“Production is scheduled to ramp up to around 300,000 ounces (or some 10 tonnes) annually at full capacity.

“Fosterville (in Victoria) will become a significant producer in 2019, as Kirkland Lake has just announced its output should rise from around 350,000 ounces in 2018 to some 600,000 ounces in 2019.

“Its average grade was an extraordinary 40 grams per tonne in the December 2018 quarter.”

Newcrest’s Cadia operation in New South Wales was the largest producer in 2018 at just over 750,000 ounces, followed by Boddington, Western Australia at around 710,000 ounces.

BHP DIVERSIFIES LEADERSHIP WITH LATEST APPOINTMENTS BHP has bolstered its executive leadership team with four appointments, including the addition of three women.

The mining major set an ambitious target of making half of its workforce female by 2025 more than two years ago.

It is now closing in on this target, at least in terms of its leadership team, which will feature six men and five women with the latest appointments.

Geraldine Slattery (president operations petroleum), Vandita Pant (chief commercial officer) and Laura

Tyler (chief geoscientist) join Jonathan Price (chief transformation officer) as the new members of the team.

Slattery will lead BHP’s petroleum business, which includes oil and gas interests, and development and exploration programs in the United States, Australia, Mexico and Canada.

Pant, who brings global financial market and business development experience to her new role, will start as chief commercial officer on July 1.

Tyler will continue in her role as Olympic Dam asset president. She also re-joins the executive leadership

AUSTRALIANMINING

team as chief geoscientist to bring a focus on geoscience and resource engineering risk management.

Price will assume the role of chief transformation officer and join the executive leadership team with these appointments.

The new appointees complement a leadership team that includes chief executive Andrew Mackenzie, Peter Beaven, Geoff Healy, Mike Henry, Diane Jurgens, Danny Malchuk and Athalie Williams.

Mackenzie said the management changes were an important step as

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the company planned for the future.

“The elevation of geoscience and transformation to the executive leadership team demonstrates the determination we have to advance the best science, technology and people to make our operations safer and more productive,” Mackenzie said.

Arnoud Balhuizen is finishing as the company’s chief commercial officer and has returned to the Netherlands after 25 years with Billiton and BHP. Following the divestment of BHP’s US Onshore assets, Steve Pastor, decided to leave the company.

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NEWS

WESTERN AUSTRALIA UP TO SECOND IN RANKINGS AS A PLACE TO INVEST WESTERN AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL PERTH.

Western Australia is the only Australian state or territory to feature in the top 10 of the Fraser Institute’s annual survey of mining companies rankings for the second straight year.

The survey, which ranked the most attractive jurisdictions in the world for mining investment in 2018, rated Western Australia second overall, an improvement on the fifth spot it received in the Canadian think-tank’s previous report.

Nevada (United States) topped the latest list, with Saskatchewan (Canada), Quebec (Canada) and Alaska (United States) rounding out the top five.

Australia was again the second most attractive region behind Canada. The United States, Europe and Oceania completed the top five regions.

Western Australia consistently ranks in the top five jurisdictions,

including a first place finish in 2015.

The state’s score increased in this report after survey participants saw an improvement in taxation regime, political stability and uncertainty around environmental regulations.

“Western Australia’s environmental policies and permitting requirements are streamlined and easy to understand. In addition, welldocumented environmental, economic, and social requirements create a positive experience for investors,” an exploration company told Fraser Institute.

Australia’s remaining states and territories were relatively steady against the previous year’s results, apart from Victoria and South Australia, which were the big improver and faller, respectively.

Victoria improved to 54th spot from

71st last year, while South Australia dropped from 14th to 24th.

According to Fraser Institute, respondents expressed decreased concern over Victoria’s political stability, uncertainty regarding the administration, interpretation or enforcement of existing regulations, and the taxation regime.

The Victorian Government released a mineral resources strategy for 2018– 2023 in August last year that identified the key challenges and opportunities in the state’s mining sector.

Queensland (13th) was Australia’s second best performing state, followed by the Northern Territory (23rd), South Australia, New South Wales (42nd), Victoria and Tasmania (55th).

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) raised alarms at the state’s drop from 12th spot in the previous

year’s report.

“It means Queensland is becoming less attractive for mining companies when they decide to invest. The world is watching,” QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said.

“For Queenslanders, the less attractive we are for new investment is the less potential to create jobs, grow exports and earn royalties to pay for services and infrastructure.”

Fraser Institute senior policy analyst Ashley Stedman said the latest rankings showed that the evidence was clear that mineral deposits alone were not enough to attract precious commodity investment dollars.

“A sound regulatory regime coupled with competitive fiscal policies is key to making a jurisdiction attractive in the eyes of mining investors,” Stedman said.

mineralisation associated with gold and silver,” Rio Tinto reported.

“Vein style copper, gold and silver mineralisation beneath relatively shallow cover which ranges from 50 to 100 metres. The mineralisation remains open at depth and to the east, north and south.”

Rio Tinto believes the results are encouraging, but reinforced that exploration at the site is still at an early stage.

“Drilling to date does not allow sufficient understanding of the

mineralised body to assess the potential size or quality of the mineralisation nor to enable estimation of a mineral resource,” the company added.

“The assessment and interpretation of existing data is ongoing and will be used to help guide the drilling in 2019.”

Rio Tinto restarted its exploration of the Winu project in mid-January.

The company had completed four holes (for 1409 metres) by the start of March.

RIO TINTO REVEALS PATERSON PROVINCE DISCOVERY Rio Tinto has released long-awaited details of a promising copper-gold discovery at the Winu project in the Yeneena Basin of the Paterson Province in Western Australia.

The company has been generating targets at the Winu project since 2016. Last year, it established an exploration camp at the site, sparking speculation that it had made a significant discovery in the area.

Rio Tinto has revealed it drilled 13,286 metres on exploration licence E45/4833, 350 kilometres

southeast of Port Hedland, between December 2017 and the end of 2018.

The exploration program over this period involved eight reverse circulation (RC) and 20 diamond holes (1473 metres RC and 11,813 metres diamond).

Rio Tinto has reported significant mineralised drill hole intercepts above 0.4 per cent copper and 0.4 grams a tonne of gold from this campaign.

“Assay results to date indicate relatively wide intersections of copper

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NEWS

HASTINGS DEERING DELIVERS HAUL TRUCK CONTRACT FOR NEW HOPE

HISTORIC GOLD MINES MOVE BACK INTO PRODUCTION

New Hope Group has completed a $10 million refit of its large haul trucks at the New Acland coal mine in Queensland.

Five Caterpillar 793F haul trucks needed a full component change out, a project that took six months to complete.

It was one of the biggest ever jobs won by the local Hastings Deering service centre in Toowoomba.

“The guys and Hastings Deering have done work for us before, but this was by far the biggest job they have done for us,” New Acland maintenance supervisor Rob Trapp said.

“It was a huge job, replacing basically every component on the truck.

The fleet is only six years old but each had done about 24,000 hours of work at the New Acland site.”

At $2.2 million per truck it sounds like an expensive exercise, but with each truck costing almost $5.5 million new, it was worth it for New Hope.

The 170-tonne trucks were transported from Acland to Toowoomba with the cab, the tray and the wheels taken off and loaded onto another big truck.

Hastings Deering service manager at Toowoomba Justin Butcher said it was a great win for the team. With around 100 workers at the Toowoomba service centre, about 12 worked on the project around the clock.

“Each truck took three weeks and we had a week break in between each truck,” Butcher said. “We did what is known as a certified power train rebuild, which means we effectively stripped the trucks bare and replaced all the drive train components including the engine.”

Victorian gold mining has received another boost with AuStar Gold pushing the historic Morning Star and Rose of Denmark mines back into production.

AuStar rapidly moved through a number of exploration, development, mining and processing initiatives at the sites in 2018, including first gold concentrate from the Rose of Denmark underground mine last August.

The company expected production from the eastern goldfields mines to start modestly, but planned to continue an exploration program aimed at increasing output from the sites.

Since announcing in December 2018 that it planned to start mining in the March 2019 quarter, the company has established enough confidence in its minerals inventory estimation and mine planning to make the move to production.

AuStar, which acquired the operations in 2015, is mining both operations with ore that will be processed at the Morning Star gravity processing plant.

Chief executive officer Tom de Vries said further exploration success would enable increased production over time after modest initial throughput rates.

“We have repeatedly witnessed diamond drill core with visible gold and accompanying outstanding high-grade assay results, which gives us confidence that mining could be undertaken successfully,” de Vries said.

“Our process plant is proven, the infrastructure is all well tested, and our exploration work gives us confidence that we have high-grade material for mining.”

AuStar has conducted extensive work internally to assess potential production rates and costs, de Vries added.

“The board and management are confident the decision to commence production will generate positive results,” he said.

AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES WORLD’S TOP INSTITUTIONS FOR MINING Four out of the world’s top six universities for mineral and mining engineering are in Australia, according to the 2019 QS World University Rankings.

Curtin University (2), the University of Western Australia (4), the University of Queensland (5) and the University of New South Wales (6) topped the chart by subject, which considered over 1200 universities across 78 countries worldwide.

The world’s second-best institution for mineral and mining engineering, Curtin University, has held its position for three years in a row. It is only superseded by the Colorado School of Mines in the United States.

Curtin University vice-chancellor Deborah Terry said the results continued to highlight the Western Australian-based university’s strengths.

“The QS World University Rankings by subject offer the world’s most popular source of comparative data about university performance, and I am delighted that Curtin continues to rank second in the world for mineral and mining engineering,” Terry said.

“These results are a reflection of the university’s dedication to highquality research and teaching, and we remain committed to further developing Curtin’s standing as an international leader across more fields of study.”

Australian universities continue to be amongst the world’s best despite the popularity of mining, metallurgical, chemical and petroleum engineering, and mineral economics disciplines dropping in recent years.

HASTINGS DEERING SERVICE MANAGER JUSTIN BUTCHER HANDS OVER THE LAST OF THE TRUCKS TO NEW ACLAND MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR ROB TRAPP.

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COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

ILUKA RESOURCES’ JACINTH-AMBROSIA MINE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

THE SHIFTING OF THE SANDS AUSTRALIA IS PROVING THAT THE HEAVY MINERAL SANDS INDUSTRY IS ANYTHING BUT DRIED UP WITH A SERIES OF EXCITING PROSPECTS. EWEN HOSIE REPORTS.

M

ineral sands is probably not the first image the general public will conjure when asked about mining, but it is an important source for several materials found in daily life.

It is also a sector in Australia that is on the verge of an uptick in activity, which combined with improving prices will lift its profile in 2019.

Iluka Resources, the owneroperator of the world’s largest zircon mine, Jacinth-Ambrosia in Western Australia, is a prime example of a mineral sands miner experiencing these changing market fundamentals.

The company’s weighted average zircon price increased by 41 per cent in 2018, while rutile was up by 21 per cent.

Iluka is winding down production at the Jacinth deposit as it moves activity further towards the Ambrosia deposit to stimulate zircon supply.

At the same time, the company is preparing to launch the $275 million Cataby project 170 kilometres north of Perth.

Cataby is expected to produce 200,000 tonnes of synthetic rutile, 50,000 tonnes of zircon and 30,000

SHEFFIELD RESOURCES MD BRUCE MCFADZEAN PANNING AT THE THUNDERBIRD SITE.

tonnes of natural rutile a year over an initial 8.5-year mine life.

The project will provide synthetic rutile continuity for existing customers, while also delivering benefits to the local regions of Dandaragan and Capel.

Australia also has other mineral sands companies developing promising projects, including Sheffield Resources, Melior Resources, Image Resources, Strandline Resources, Diatreme Resources and Kalbar Resources.

As Iluka slows down at the Jacinth deposit, Sheffield looks set to fill AUSTRALIANMINING

a possible market opening with its highly prospective Thunderbird site in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

With a potential mine life of 42 years and a mineral resource of 3.2 billion tonnes at 6.9 per cent heavy minerals, the shovel-ready development is one of the most promising heavy mineral sands projects in the world, with 100 per cent of its stage one offtake agreements already secured.

Sheffield has pencilled in production for 2020 and plans to employ 280 people in full-time

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positions, opening up regional work opportunities (the company is not using FIFO workers at Thunderbird).

In January, the company signed an energy supply deal with Woodside Energy and Energy Developments for delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the site.

Over the last year, zircon and rutile prices have been ascending due to a tightening global supply and Australian sites like Thunderbird look set to meet a growing need in the market.

Sheffield managing director Bruce McFadzean says the zircon supply deficit is even attracting interest for stage two offtake of its premium product.

“In stage one we have about 50,000 tonnes a year of premium and 50,000 tonnes of zircon concentrate, and when we go into stage two that pretty well doubles,” says McFadzean.

“The important part to understand about zircon is that it’s not driven by spikes in demand out of China or anywhere else — it’s driven by the fact that the supply is declining so fast.

“It’s hard to see where the developers will come from as there’s been a lack of success in investment and exploration, and I think with

COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

SHEFFIELD RESOURCES MD BRUCE MCFADZEAN WITH THUNDERBIRD RANGER TERRY MARSHALL.

Thunderbird it’s not just the size of the bubble around [the project], it’s actually the fact that it’s a new mineral sands province.”

For zircon to be classified as premium, it needs to have a zirconia content of over 66 per cent. Zircon concentrate is the remaining concentrate that does not fall into this category, which is sold for around half the price of premium zircon.

Grade decline has also been cited as an issue in the mineral sands industry, not just for Australia, but globally as heavy mineral content in operating mines decreases.

Iluka chief financial officer Adele Stratton says this leaves producers with a choice between producing technically challenging deposits in familiar jurisdictions, or seeking out new deposits in unfamiliar regions.

“Looking ahead, grade decline is a key issue that challenges the industry globally,” Stratton tells Australian Mining. “Australia is not immune from this, with ore bodies that are maturing and the valuable heavy mineral content in operating mines decreasing.”

The company acquired the Sierra Rutile operation in Sierra Leone in 2016 and is progressing plans to expand its production there.

In Australia, the company has developments like the Fine Minerals project in Victoria and the Balranald project in New South Wales.

Stratton says these newer Australian deposits are “technically challenging”, but they could provide potentially significant evolutions for the industry.

“Iluka is experiencing tight market conditions and we observe a structural deficit emerging between supply and demand for both zircon and high-grade titanium feedstocks,” says Stratton.

“The company’s purpose is to deliver sustainable value and we will

continue to take actions that support this and our position as a responsible industry leader.”

Products developed from heavy mineral sands provide the building blocks for many items.

The primary materials recovered from heavy mineral sands (HMS) are ilmenite, zircon, and rutile.

HMS is also a source for garnet and rare earth minerals such as monazite and xenotime, though these have less commercial value.

Geoscience Australia senior commodity specialist Adrian Hitchman says Australia is a world leader when it comes to HMS production.

“Australia’s economic demonstrated resources of rutile and zircon are the world’s largest, and

AS A PRODUCER, AUSTRALIA RANKS NUMBER ONE FOR RUTILE AND NUMBER TWO FOR ILMENITE AND ZIRCON, AFTER SOUTH AFRICA. AUSTRALIA IS A RELIABLE SOURCE OF HEAVY MINERAL SANDS AND A WORLD LEADER IN ETHICAL MINERAL SUPPLY.” Australia’s ilmenite resources are the world’s second largest after China,” he explains.

“As a producer, Australia ranks number one for rutile and number two for ilmenite and zircon, after South Africa. Australia is a reliable source of heavy mineral sands and a world leader in ethical mineral supply.”

Ilmenite hosts titanium ore, which is highly sought after due to its low weight and high strength. It can also be chemically modified to produce synthetic rutile by drastically reducing the iron oxide content within the ilmenite to around 10 per cent.

Rutile is primarily composed of titanium dioxide and titanium metal and is usually less abundant than ilmenite in HMS deposits.

Titanium dioxide is used as a whitening pigment and opacifier in myriad materials, including paint, inks, paper, plastic, toothpaste and certain foods, particularly sweets. Its ability to effectively absorb ultraviolet (UV) radiation also makes it useful for sunscreen lotions.

Titanium that is extracted for pigments usually goes through one of two processes: a sulphate process

A VIEW OF SHEFFIELD’S THUNDERBIRD SITE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

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that uses sulphuric acid or a chloride process that uses chlorine, with more modern plants tending towards the latter method.

Titanium metal is, meanwhile, employed as an alloy due to its strength and heat resistance, making it useful in aircraft construction. It is also a popular metal in the medical industry for joint replacements, such as knee and hip implants.

Zircon ore, like rutile, is sought as an opacifier and white pigment and is most commonly used in pottery and ceramics, such as tiles, sanitaryware and kitchenware, which represent around 50 per cent of the industry.

Zircon prices previously spiked in the days following the 2008 global financial crisis, which prompted an increase in production that led to eventual oversupply. This oversupply eventually caused zircon prices to bottom out by 2016.

Since that time, Asian demand (particularly from China), as well as Europe and the Middle East has driven zircon prices upwards again, especially as mines have matured and grades have continued to decrease over the past few years. AM

TRAINING AND EDUCATION

AUSTRALIANMINING

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TRAINING AND EDUCATION

BMA’S 2019 APPRENTICE COHORT TAKING A GROUP SHOT AT THE COALFIELDS TRAINING EXCELLENCE CENTRE.

COMBATTING SKILLS SHORTAGES HEAD ON MINING COMPANIES ARE SOLIDIFYING A RECORD YEAR IN 2018 BY ADDING MORE TALENT INTO THE FIELD. VANESSA ZHOU SPEAKS WITH THE LEADING MINERS, METS COMPANIES AND UNIVERSITIES IN AUSTRALIA.

A

ustralia is coming off a record-breaking year in the resources industry.

In 2018, Australia’s gold production reached a record 317 tonnes, breaking the previous 21-yearold mark of 314.5 tonnes.

Coal also took the top spot as the highest-earning export commodity last year, increasing the previous export record by two million tonnes to 223 million tonnes.

This guided Australia to a record export value of $248 billion in 2018, 72 per cent of which was solely accounted for by the resources sector, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA).

Encouragingly, these successes are being met with an increasing uptake of apprentices across mining and mining services companies.

For BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), its growing number of apprentices in recent years reflects the rising demand for mining skills across the Bowen Basin, Queensland.

“The apprenticeship program is a critical part of our operations in Central Queensland, and provides a pipeline of enthusiastic and talented young people that enables us to address the skill needs across our business,” a BMA spokesperson says.

Echoing BHP’s diversification of its executive leadership – with the

NICK WATSON, GLENCORE’S ELECTRICAL APPRENTICE, AT THE HUNTER VALLEY SKILLS CENTRE

promotion of three women in February this year – women make up 40 per cent of the BMA apprentice intake in 2019.

These female apprentices have been put through their paces in Moranbah so far this year to prepare them for their new careers.

BMA asset president James Palmer, aligned with BHP’s ambitious target to make half of its workforce female by 2025, points out that this year’s apprentice intake is a diverse cohort.

“We have a great mix in this intake of apprentices from school leavers through to experienced workers, AUSTRALIANMINING

Indigenous people, men and women,” Palmer says.

The apprentices became part of the teams at BMA’s Goonyella Riverside, Peak Downs, Saraji, Broadmeadow and Blackwater mines, as well as the Hay Point coal terminal, following the completion of the Coalfield Training Excellence Centre program.

Anglo American also continues to invest in new apprenticeship and trainee programs across its business.

In celebrating the 10th anniversary of its school-based apprenticeship program at Moranbah North,

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Anglo American has renewed its commitment to the programs.

In fact, Metallurgical Coal business chief executive Tyler Mitchelson has seen a ramp up in recruitment activities and the number of available apprenticeships and traineeships since 2017.

“We’re developing new entry level programs targeted at people without a traditional mining backgrounds such as our Indigenous Trainee Program and our landmark female Trainee Underground Miner Program at Moranbah North Mine, which received more than 1300 applications,” Mitchelson says.

“We want to make a real difference to local employment, and our apprenticeships and trainee programs are just one way we’re achieving that.”

Glencore, another major natural resource employer in Australia, is also inclusive of local talent from regional communities.

With operations stretching from Singleton in New South Wales to Mount Isa and Cloncurry in Queensland, to Borroloola in the Northern Territory, Glencore is growing its number of apprentices from regional communities – with 74 in Queensland alone and 112 people throughout Australia kick-starting their careers this year.

“More than earning and learning, we’re arming them with the knowledge to innovate, grow and

TRAINING AND EDUCATION

lead in a wide range of fields,” Glencore Australia human resources lead Jodie Hope says. “Developing tomorrow’s talent is a crucial part of our business.”

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane, also recognises the significant increase in Glencore’s apprenticeship numbers.

“This cohort of young women and men are embarking on a long and rewarding career in the resources sector,” Macfarlane says.

“When resources are doing well, Queensland is doing well. Over 12 months, the resources sector has created a job every 40 minutes, which is helping drive down the state’s stubbornly high unemployment rate [of] above 6 per cent.”

Industry equipped with training Some apprenticeship programs are also designed to meet the digitalisation of mine sites in Australia, which opens the path for young people to develop their technology skills.

For example, Northern Star Resources apprentice, Ben Ashby, received RCT’s mentorship in the area of remote interface repairs and diagnoses in February this year.

Concurrently, Gold Fields apprentice/auto electrician Michael Schoeppner is also trained in the repair and maintenance of remotelyoperated mining equipment. His new skills are expected to benefit Gold Fields’ projects in Western Australia,

where remote technologies are used at an increasing rate to improve mine safety and productivity.

However, there can be challenges for younger apprentices associated with the transition from home and school into a full-time working role.

The longer hours of work and time away from family takes some adjustment, requiring the ongoing support of mentors and site leaders, according to Barminco safety and people general manager Patrick Bourke.

To help overcome the problem, Barminco supports its apprenticeship program with a dedicated coordinator and partners with senior maintenance leaders for the program.

The contractor maintains effective ratios of qualified tradespeople to apprentices to ensure the workplace training, support and mentoring model operates beneficially for each participant. It ensures each apprentice is connected with an advisor or mentor in the business to support them along their apprenticeship journey.

The company’s dedication has proven fruitful – its retention rate of apprentices who complete trade qualifications with Barminco is “excellent, with almost all having gone on to enjoy very successful longterm careers” with the company.

“We are heavily invested in and very proud of the program,” Bourke says.

“Participation in the Barminco apprenticeship program outlines a

THIRD-YEAR APPRENTICE ASHLEE WALLING AT BARMINCO’S HAZELMERE YARD IN PERTH.

career pathway for each apprentice in their chosen trade, and provides longer term exposure to broader career pathways from entry-level through to supervisory or senior leadership roles.”

Pleasingly, the company continues to see high application rates (800 candidates for the 2019 intake) and high retention rates for its apprentices – both throughout the program and subsequent to completion of the program for its qualified tradespeople within Barminco.

This will surely contribute to the mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector, which was responsible for $84 billion of Australia’s GDP in 2018, according to data from the University of Queensland (UQ) School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering professor Peter Knights.

Universities build next gen students

As apprentice numbers grow across Australia, universities are addressing the challenge of attracting students to mining-focused courses despite being amongst the world’s leading institutions in this area.

UQ, ranked fifth in the 2019 QS World University Rankings for mineral and mining engineering, is playing an instrumental role in sustaining the growth of the mining and METS sectors in the long-term.

The institution works closely with member companies of the QRC to secure vacation work opportunities during the first year of engineering studies.

BARMINCO CHIEF EXECUTIVE PAUL MULLER WITH APPRENTICES FROM CLONTARF FOUNDATION, ROHAN HOLINER (L) AND LIAM LAWRENCE (R).

AUSTRALIANMINING

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“By enabling students to observe and experience mining and metallurgical engineers on-site as they work, we’re able to show them what a career in this sector really looks like, and we’ve found this has had a positive impact on the number of students who elect to study mining engineering and pursue it as a career,” Knights says.

Curtin University, the world’s second-ranked university for mineral and mining engineering, on the other hand, has been working with its Western Australian School of Mines alumni, such as Saracen Mineral Holdings managing director Raleigh Finlayson, to promote the profile of the industry and lift enrolments.

Amid record-low enrolments in mining engineering, Curtin University has introduced several initiatives to improve the number of female students pursuing a career in the mining sector, vice-chancellor Deborah Terry says.

Curtin University has engaged an expert panel chaired by Rio Tinto’s former head of innovation, John McGagh, which has also produced some recommendations for the school’s curriculum.

The revised curriculum is expected to be progressively rolled out from 2020 to attract more students.

“I look forward to the Western Australian School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering continuing to expand its proud history of providing essential support to the mining and resources sectors,” Terry concludes. AM

TRAINING AND EDUCATION

BMA’S 2019 APPRENTICE COHORT TAKING A GROUP SHOT AT THE COALFIELDS TRAINING EXCELLENCE CENTRE.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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FUTURE OF MINING

DELIVERING ON MINING’S FUTURE POTENTIAL THE LAUNCH OF A NEW STATEMENT ON HOW TO HARNESS AUSTRALIA’S POTENTIAL IN THE RESOURCES INDUSTRY COULD MARK AN IMPORTANT SHIFT FOR MINING. EWEN HOSIE WRITES.

T

he Australian Government delivered a Valentine’s gift to mining this year with the publication of legislation that promises to shake up the sector.

The National Resources Statement (NRS), introduced by Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan at the Minerals Week seminar in Canberra on February 14, is the first statement of its type to be launched in more than 20 years.

The statement plans to lay out a forward-thinking vision for mining that compounds the nation’s strengths in the sector, while also delivering prosperity and social development that benefits all Australians.

“Our resources sector, and the people that rely on it, have an almost boundless future if we get this right,” Canavan says in the publication’s foreword.

The statement, the result of over a year of consultation, outlines five key policy areas in which Australia can successfully build on its resources expertise. These include

delivering a globally attractive and competitive investment destination; developing new resources, industries and markets; investment in new technologies with an eye to improving environmental outcomes; creating secure, well-paid jobs; and making sure communities reap the benefits of Australia’s resources sector.

The statement notes that all five goals are of equal importance, building on recommendations made in last year’s Resources 2030 Taskforce, chaired by the former Queensland Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Andrew Cripps.

Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) chief executive officer Warren Pearce identifies the overlap between the policy areas in the government’s statement and the recommendations made in AMEC’s Federal Policy Platform released in January 2019.

Pearce says the resources sector needs to do more to remove red tape by cutting “complexity and cost”.

“AMEC strongly supported the 2030 Taskforce’s recommendations,

and have highlighted the importance of implementation and bipartisan support,” Pearce says. “We now need to see these measures turned into action.”

The Resources 2030 Taskforce was introduced in September 2018 by Canavan as something of a precursor to the NRS. The taskforce delivered 29 recommendations to ensure future prosperity for the Australian resources sector, including a spotlight on the economic potential for export growth in the Indo-Pacific region to serve an “aspirant middle class” in developing economies.

China, India and Japan will be the world’s second, third and fourth largest economies by 2030 in terms of nominal gross domestic product (GDP), according to research from the United States Department of Agriculture. This would mark the biggest shift for India, as China and Japan are already in second and third place, respectively.

A less conservative prediction from Standard Chartered suggests that China and India will overtake the

United States’ pole position by 2030, with Indonesia and Turkey rounding out the top five and Japan dropping to ninth, driven in part by an aging population.

“Australia is a world leader in minerals and energy exports and is well placed to supply growing markets in China, India and South-East Asia,” Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable tells Australian Mining.

“However, these global opportunities are not guaranteed.

“As well as promoting our resources to overseas customers, the government needs to ensure consistent policies that encourage investment and productivity in the resources sector, ensuring mining continues to deliver highly paid, highly skilled jobs in regional and remote Australia.”

To fulfil the government’s aims to promote Australia as a top investment destination, the statement says, collaboration with industry is required to develop a “national resources brand” that highlights Australia’s

THE GOVERNMENT’S NATIONAL RESOURCES STATEMENT IS THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN MORE THAN 20 YEARS.

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FUTURE OF MINING

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FUTURE OF MINING

THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT IS LOOKING TO BUILD ON THE POTENTIAL OF THE COUNTRY’S MINES.

skilled workforce and environmental standards.

In particular, the statement suggests that a global offshore resources strategy be developed to promote Australia’s offshore capability.

“Australia has a hard-won reputation as a leading country for resources investment, yet, we have typically not invested in the specific promotion of our nation as a destination for resources investment,” the statement reads.

“In contrast, Australia has marketed its strengths as a land of agricultural opportunity and as a tourist destination.”

Development of the battery and critical metals industries is another priority. The federal government launched a new funding round in February targeting critical mineral development through the Cooperative Research Centre project (CRC-P).

The funding is designed to capitalise on growing demand for metals used in renewable battery production, such as lithium and cobalt.

These grants provide shortterm matched funding of between $100,000 and $3 million (for projects of “exceptional merit”), with the seventh and latest round of funding

including $20 million in funding allocation for projects with a focus on critical minerals.

Constable approves of the CRC, calling it a “positive step” for the Australian regional communities and the economy. The MCA chief also points out the strategic reform agenda for resources agreed to in December 2018 by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Energy Council as a “further opportunity to prosecute overdue structural reforms and to stimulate further development of the nation’s minerals for the benefit of all”.

“But with Australia facing strong competition from emerging mining regions to attract investment, our reputation as a stable, low-cost place to do business must be restored if we are to become a reliable supplier of critical commodities to the world,” she adds.

Constable also says the government’s statement provides welcome support for the next wave of new mining projects in Australia.

“Data analytics, robotics and artificial intelligence and the increasing need for mining engineers are transforming the mining sector,” says Constable.

“The future education and training of the minerals sector requires a mix of the latest scientific, AUSTRALIANMINING

technical and trade skills, along with soft skills including collaboration, team building, communication and creativity so we can build and operate the mines of the future.”

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane also welcomes the government’s CRC funding, as well as its $100 million exploration program, Exploring for the Future (EFTF), and expressed overall approval for the NRS. He says the Australian resources sector, while rich in potential, needs a plan to capitalise on its opportunities.

“The Morrison Government’s National Resources Statement is a blueprint for the long term future of the sector, and more jobs and important signal about the ongoing value of the resources sector for all Australians,” he says.

“To make the most of our resources diversity and opportunities, all levels of government must work together to ensure stable and consistent regulation, as well as support for new investments from the North West Minerals Province, to the Bowen and Surat basins and the Galilee Basin.”

The statement is also underpinned by a series of policy principles, such as having resources development contribute to revenues and provide

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jobs for regional communities (“remote Australia”) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and embracing data innovation to align “government and industry with the longer-term national interests needed for sustainable greenfield exploration programs”.

The increased emphasis on data analytics, automation technologies and robotics in the mining industry over the past few years has resulted in a sea change to the priorities of mining education as a need for newly minted engineers rises across the industry.

Australia is already in a good place to meet these needs, with four of the top six universities for mineral and mining engineering courses in the world located in the country, according to 2019 QS World University Rankings.

However, applications are falling and the government plans to deliver a skills map to ensure educational curricula meets the needs of the resources sector in the longer term.

As Constable says, “Investing in our people, skills and innovation is critical in delivering a more globally competitive minerals sector that delivers fulfilling careers in highly paid, high-skilled jobs.” AM

SAVE THE DATE

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TRACKING THE TRENDS

DATA AND ANALYTICS ARE MOVING MINING INTO THE FUTURE.

MINING MOVES UP THE DIGITAL MATURITY CURVE AN ERA OF ANALYTICS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS EMERGING IN MINING, BUT HOW DO COMPANIES MAKE THE MOST OF THE OPPORTUNITIES? BEN CREAGH TALKS TO DELOITTE CONSULTING PARTNER PAUL KLEIN ABOUT THE TREND.

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ustralian mining companies have started to take advantage of Industry 4.0 opportunities and the increased connectivity between the physical and digital worlds.

They are exploring and investing in analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) in a bid to leverage the data they generate, and use it to improve planning and decision-making across the mining value chain.

In the increasingly digitised environment, Deloitte defines three horizons of AI in its 2019 Tracking the Trends report – assisted intelligence, augmented intelligence, and autonomous intelligence.

The maturity along this digital path varies, often considerably, between mining companies and in comparison with other industries.

In a 2018 global Deloitte survey,

energy and resources organisations rated themselves on average between three and four on the maturity scale, compared to an average of between five and six in other industries.

Many companies are already working in the realm of assisted intelligence, which includes robotic process automation, typically targeted at repetitive back-office processes.

It has been the global mining companies, such as those with Pilbara iron ore operations, that have been more likely to venture into augmented intelligence or autonomous intelligence, however.

Augmented intelligence is when machine learning augments human decisions, while autonomous intelligence is when AI decides and executes autonomously.

The urgency for other organisations to make moves into AUSTRALIANMINING

AI and analytics has risen as market conditions have improved off the back of rising commodity prices.

There has also been increased visibility of the potential of new digital capabilities being applied in other industries.

Deloitte Consulting partner Paul Klein identifies two key themes that have emerged as this digital frontier has started to unfold.

The first focuses on where mining companies should start and which investments will deliver the best returns.

“Is it targeting operations first or the back office processes? Is it targeting particular parts of the value chain where there are current problems? There is discussion and debate about where the biggest return is, and this varies between organisations.” Klein tells Australian Mining.

The second theme, and perhaps

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the one the industry grapples with most, centres on the impact increasing automation and a reliance on machine intelligence will have on workforces.

Klein says the simplistic view is that automation and other technologies will replace jobs, but this is often not the case.

“Yes it does replace some jobs and for good reasons because we are taking people out of dangerous situations, or we are taking people away from repetitive back office tasks that are better done by machine intelligence,” Klein says.

“In the majority of cases, machine intelligence is augmenting human intelligence.

“People and machines are working together to solve problems, and analytic algorithms are suggesting, prompting and improving human decisions.

“They are not replacing

TRACKING THE TRENDS

the human altogether, which is something that is often misunderstood in this space.”

Klein expects future examples of horizon two and three will have an important human involvement that will instead require companies to upskill workers.

Deloitte works with companies making this shift, including upskilling and sourcing workers to manage and analyse information from across the value chain.

“Using analytic algorithms to improve and augment human decisions requires skills around data management and data science,” Klein says.

“Skills around the analysis, interpretation and visualisation of information are relatively scarce and in high demand.

“A number of mining companies are making investments in hiring people with those skills and then creating a mix of those people alongside others with more traditional mining backgrounds to make the most of that capability.”

Deloitte suggests companies take a three-stage approach to implementing analytics and AI solutions – think big, start small, scale fast.

To ‘think big’ miners should “establish a clear vision and strategy, driven by desired business outcomes.”

This point relates to the earlier point about deciding where to focus investment for the greatest return.

With a vision and strategy in place, miners are recommended to “design and deliver in rapid agile sprints, starting with a minimum viable

IN THE MAJORITY OF CASES, MACHINE INTELLIGENCE IS AUGMENTING HUMAN INTELLIGENCE. PEOPLE AND MACHINES ARE WORKING TOGETHER TO SOLVE PROBLEMS.” product or solution.”

The aim is to quickly get to the point where an initial version of a technology solution can prove it delivers value, rather than taking months to design and build a more complete solution.

Finally, Deloitte suggests companies “rapidly scale up successful projects that have demonstrated value (and killoff those that don’t), and focus on embedding the change operationally.”

Klein says to succeed with this approach it will require a change of culture at some companies.

“The traditional mindset at mining companies around the risk of new investments and how new capital projects are approached often drives the thinking that makes it hard to accept that a project might fail after an initial investment,” Klein says.

“There is often a reluctance to proceed with a project unless it has been through multiple feasibility steps. There is a bit of natural resistance in most organisations to trialling something and being willing to accept that it might fail.

“That’s a culture shift that I think organisations are only just getting into – the willingness to try new things and accept they are not all going to work, and then to focus further investment on rapidly scaling

up those that have proven their value.”

Deloitte’s experience with successful projects that move companies along the maturity curve is that they deliver a range of outcomes across organisational structures and operational portfolios – improving safety, increasing productivity, reducing cost, or enhancing the daily experience for employees who have increased expectations due to the capabilities of consumer technologies.

Klein says the use of AI and analytics in mining to date has typically been limited to targeted point solutions that deliver value in one part of the chain, or at one operation.

For example, using machine learning to optimise blasting operations, using prescriptive modelling to optimise process plants, using real-time monitoring for maintenance planning, or using advanced analytics to identify patterns in safety data and gain insights (source: Tracking the Trends).

“Increasing analytics maturity requires greater integration of data from multiple sources and delivery of end-to-end planning and decisionmaking solutions that span multiple processes and operations, and deliver more significant benefits,” Klein concludes.

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Deloitte’s leading strategies: Integrate and evolve

Increasing maturity requires greater integration of data from multiple sources, and delivery of end-to-end planning and decisionmaking solutions that span multiple processes. This requires a platform with the ability to capture consistently sourced and reliable data, the responsiveness to support a complex network of data flows and the scalability to enable analytics across large data sets, while still evolving with business needs.

Leverage next-gen ERP systems The big picture outlook should take into account the current state and future migration path of back-office systems, including the move towards cloud-based ERP solutions and inmemory computing.

Embed the change

The successful adoption of more mature analytics capabilities requires top-down leadership support if changes are to be embedded in operational processes. Equally important is buy-in from operational and functional people whose roles will be affected.

Create a virtuous circle

To build analytics maturity, it makes sense to roll out analytics in a way that develops capabilities within an organisation. Use cases can be selected to leverage and enhance internal skillsets so companies gain the capacity to execute wider ranging and more complex initiatives. AM

PDAC

AUSSIE GOLD PLAYERS RIDE HIGH INTO PDAC AUSTRALIA AND CANADA SHARE A LOT OF SIMILARITIES AS TWO OF THE WORLD’S LEADING MINING NATIONS. PETER DIEKMEYER TELLS AUSTRALIAN MINING OF THE LINKS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES AT THIS YEAR’S PDAC CONVENTION IN TORONTO.

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ustralian gold miners currently rank among the world’s top performers. However, that success extends far beyond obvious

data metrics.

So said a variety of stakeholders at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s (PDAC) annual trade show which took place in March.

“The Australians are good at turning rocks into cash,” says Rick Rule, president of Sprott U.S. Holdings.

“The Fosterville play for example is generating consistent upside surprises. But so are a slew of promising ore bodies. The shares are

performing well too. It’s hard to see how things could be better.”

Organisers bill PDAC, which attracted almost 26,000 people from 130 countries to Toronto in 2019, as “the world’s premier international minerals and mining industry event.” Judging from the substantial Australian presence, many local stakeholders agree.

“This is the place to be – in the world – if you want to raise capital,” says Richard Blewett, a geo-sciences expert attached to Australian Minerals, a federal, state and territorial teaming that supports mineral explorers. “Our presence here is stronger than ever.”

Andrew Heap, chief of the resources division, at Geoscience

Australia, agrees. “Developers like to do business in Australia because they can ramp up investments fast,” Heap says.

“It took only eight years for Australia to move from very minor production of lithium to become the world’s top producer. However, we have massive undeveloped bodies in almost all categories. Australia’s mineral potential spans the periodic table.”

Judging from their visibility at PDAC, Australian Minerals clearly put their money where their mouth is.

The team’s large booth was one of the most heavily-trafficked locales on the entire PDAC site. A half-day series of seminars by Australian

RICHARD BLEWETT FROM AUSTRALIAN MINERALS AT PDAC.

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geologists and government officials, including Andrew Bailey, CEO of MinRex CRC, was also wellattended.

Australia continues to attract exploration interest

Indeed, judging from recent data, those efforts coupled with similar initiatives by sector promoters, developers and equipment marketers appear to be bearing fruit.

Led by producers such as Newcrest Mining and AngloGold Ashanti gold production hit an alltime high of 317 tonnes in 2018.

Furthermore, according to World Exploration Trends, a report released

by S&P Global Market Intelligence at PDAC, Australia attracted 14 per cent of the world’s exploration budgets last year, fourth overall, with gold the top target.

Exploration budgets for their part spiked by an impressive 58 per cent during the year in Australia. Overall world exploration budgets rose by 20 per cent during 2018 to $US10.1 billion ($14.3 billion), according to the report. Half of that amount went in to the gold sector, 22 per cent into copper and 7 per cent into lead/zinc.

Positive momentum from a variety of geopolitical developments means that gold demand should continue to grow, says Rule.

These include multi-decade record central bank gold purchases, implementation of Basel III regulation changes that will allow banks to count the yellow metal at market value in their reserve holdings and significant price increases to near all-time highs in numerous global currencies – including the Aussie dollar.

“With gold traditionally in an inverse relationship with the US dollar its macro outlook is decidedly appealing,” says Rule.

“The American government is currently running a $US22 trillion deficit. That does not include the more than $US120 trillion in unfunded liabilities which are kept off the books.”

Australia could be a big winner

PDAC

THE 2019 EVENT ATTRACTED ALMOST 26,000 PEOPLE FROM 130 COUNTRIES.

AUSTRALIA’S MINERAL POTENTIAL SPANS THE PERIODIC TABLE.” from such a trend. For example, Heap notes that while the country is the world’s second-largest gold producer, it has the world’s largest resources. This suggests further room on the upside.

However, gold is far from the only sector that Australian mining officials are promoting. According to Australian Trade and Investment Commission mining equipment, technology and services (METS) providers contributes more than $90 billion to the economy each year (or about 8 per cent of GDP).

This figure includes $27 billion in exports. However, officials are trying to boost those totals. Not surprisingly many of the country’s mining equipment, technology and services providers, of which more than two thirds are exporters, also made the trek to PDAC.

particular fruit in the mining sector.

For example, the Canadian Institute of Mining collaborates closely with its Australian counterpart and Kirkland Lake Gold, which operates the Fosterville mine, is Canadianbased.

The company recently announced its output should rise from around 350,000 ounces in 2018 to 600,000 ounces in 2019.

That mutual respect extends to the think-tank level. For example, the week before PDAC began, Canada’s Fraser Institute ranked Western Australia second in its global Investment Attractiveness Index, just behind Nevada. This represented a jump from fifth place last year.

TORONTO AGAIN HOSTED PDAC IN 2019.

Commonalities between Canada and Australia

According to Angela Hamlyn, president of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Australian participation at PDAC is also driven by the numerous similarities between the two countries, which spark synergies from information exchanges and partnerships.

Both countries are large, resourcebased former British colonies. They have similar legal systems, as well as governance and military priorities.

These collaborations bear AUSTRALIANMINING

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Catching up with key innovations

PDAC also provides mining players a chance to keep abreast of how the latest industry innovations are affecting demand.

One of the most intriguing presentations was by Roy Sebag, president of GoldMoney and Mene, a start-up online retailer, which is trying to change the way jewellery is sold.

Unlike traditional retailers, which invest huge sums in marketing their products, Mene provides the public the opportunity to get exposure to gold, by investing in jewellery as wearable wealth.

“When you buy jewellery from a traditional retailer, the gold itself represents less than 20 per cent of the purchase price,” says Sebag.

“We reverse that. When you buy our jewellery, 80 per cent of what pay is for the gold itself.”

Rule, for his part regards the recent spate of mega-mergers as a bullish trend. “When companies become larger, they also become increasingly liquid and can thus attract capital more easily,” says Rule.

“The new combinations will also spark divestitures of lowerpriority assets, which larger players may not be interested in pursuing, but which smaller or mid-sized companies can develop more effectively. In short, everybody wins.” AM

PROSPECT AWARDS

COLUMBUS GROUP HAS MOVED FURTHER INTO 3D PRINTING AS IT DEVELOPS MORE INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS.

COLUMBUS GROUP BUILDS THE PATH LESS TRAVELLED THE COMPANY IS NOTED FOR THE IMAGINATION OF ITS MINING SOLUTIONS AND IT SHOWS NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN. NEXT ON THE AGENDA? 3D PRINTING. EWEN HOSIE WRITES.

C

olumbus Group in not a company known to rest on its laurels.

The engineering firm has won three Australian Mining Prospect Awards in five years — one for Innovative Mining Solution in 2014, another for Minerals Processing of the Year in 2015 and a third for Excellence in Environmental Management in 2017.

Columbus Group’s initial win came for its 3-D ‘down-the-hole’ (DTH) high-pressure water drilling system. Although this was not the first water drill on the market, it was regarded as innovative due to its digitally-controlled manoeuvrable cutting head, which gave the enduser more freedom in terms of directional control. The system in turn delivers an increase in efficiency and dust suppression.

It also separated itself from similar fracking equipment. Instead of pumping high-pressure water down to the cutting head, it pumped medium-pressure water to an ultrahigh-pressure pump onboard the

SO WHAT YOU CAN DO ON YOUR MINE SITE IS 3D PRINT A SPARE PART THAT YOU NEED, LIKE A CUTTING JAW OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT; YOU PACK IT UP WITH CASTING SAND, MELT IT SO THE PLA FALLS OUT THEN YOU CAN FILL IT UP WITH YOUR CASTING MATERIAL.” cutting system, providing improved distribution and alleviating the potential of sediment damage.

Installed with the subtractive drilling system is a very flexible additive 3D printer. While drilling and cutting large cross section fissures, it can produce its own solid bore casing, conduits for underground services, and even a cotton wool-like 3D printed fill material to allow more water, oil and gas infusions.

The 2014 win was backed up the following year with the company’s Water Wall system, which cuts solid rock into tetra- and octahedral shapes for direct feed into processing mills without requiring primary crushing or explosives.

Columbus made it a hat trick in AUSTRALIANMINING

2017 with a Prospect Award for its methanolic conversion of sugar-like carob tree pods using a bioethanolproducing bacterium.

The company has built on each of these technologies since the 2017 win, while also introducing other new innovations.

Columbus Group’s chief executive officer Donald Yates says the company has moved more strongly into additive 3D printing and subtractive manufacturing in the same machine.

Initial research and development on carob pods focused on their conversion into methanol fuel cells for transport electricity.

However, the carob’s lactic acid can also be used for conversion

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into polylactic acid (PLA), which is then utilised for filament for 3D printing. By using carob pods in this way, mine sites could be granted a useful material source for additive manufacture of spare parts.

This even indirectly extends to the creation of metal parts through a process called lost PLA casting. Using this process, a metal part requiring replacement is 3D printed using PLA. The PLA copy is then covered in plaster or casting sand, with the PLA melted away and recovered to make a mould that is used to shape a new metal part. This, therefore, avoids the downtime and cost issues associated with having to wait for the shipment of new parts.

“The carob pod is a sugar-rich legume and it’s an all-year tree; it’s as tough as old boots,” Yates tells Australian Mining.

“What we’re working on at the moment is something about the size of a refrigerator where the carob goes in one side and you get PLA filament out of the other.

“So what you can do on your mine site is 3D print a spare part that you

PROSPECT AWARDS

need, like a cutting jaw or something like that; you pack it up with casting sand, melt it so the PLA falls out then you can fill it up with your casting material.”

Yates says the process has ancillary benefits outside of machine part reproduction. For example, if a mining company has a catering department, it can specify if the plates, cups and wrapping consist of PLA plastic.

The products can then be chopped up and stuck in the same machine to make filament. They can also make plates, cups and other items out of the PLA. Columbus has likewise taken the step to modify its Water Wall system with additive technology as well. The design’s original purpose was to cut solid surfaces, such as rock walls, in small shapes so the resulting slurry is pumped straight to a semi-autonomous grinding (SAG) mill, bypassing the need for conveyor belts, trucks, loaders, explosives and production drilling. It is a technology that is reductive by design.

However, Columbus has recently modified the Water Wall system with additive technology that allows the machine to both cut away and print material with “virtually the same cutting head” using mixtures of PLA, fibre, and ultraviolet, fastsetting smart resins.

The construction and reinforcement of tailings dams is a practical example of a situation where this technology will be used.

The company’s DTH high-pressure cutting system that won the 2014 Prospect Award has more potential 3D printing applications as well.

The printing of earth movementcompensating concertina piping for increased flexibility, and Columbus’s Squeezable Sponge Piping, which captures and then harnesses stormwater for distribution into the soil, are two opportunities the company is targeting.

The water would be extracted from the piping by twisting, using shape memory alloy (SMA) or compressed air from the surface.

When used on tailings dam applications the cutting system even weaves fibre-reinforced 3D printed netting inside the facility’s walls for added reinforcement.

“If the cutting heads are heated then you can squeeze the adhesives in the mix through them without any grief, but once they get into tailings dams for example, it’s usually not running at 200–300 degrees Celsius; it’s out in the sun at a maximum of maybe 50 degrees Celsius,” Yates says.

“The Water Wall technology that won us the Prospect Award in 2015 has seen us basically change the cutting material to a 3D additive material that is temperature sensitive and that gives it the fluidity at a high temperature so it can be placed where required.”

Columbus Group has also been using the Water Wall system to cut through disused electronics such as old televisions buried in rubbish tips from the changeover from black and white to colour, or more recently, CRT to flatscreens. These older televisions are rich in copper, which can be extracted and reused.

“Because tetrahedral and octahedral shapes are solid by their very nature, when you mix them

A 3D MODEL OF COLUMBUS GROUP’S ON-DEMAND SECURE AND ROBUST MANUFACTURING SYSTEM

together and put them back into whatever you’re making, they form a solid shape again with virtually no airspace,” Yates explains. “Normally we just use garnet and ultra-highpressure water to facilitate this.”

This technology extends to mining infrastructure applications, such as rail track extensions and the development and repair of new and existing underground and open-cut haul roads with built-in guidance and power transfer points.

“You can basically print the road as you go, including rumble strip. The 3D software determines the road mix so you can just rebuild the road as you go,” Yates says.

“You can even add paint to it so the dotted lines and magnetic guidance inserts are put down as part of the single pass process as well – it’s all done in one efficient operation.”

It seems oddly fitting that Columbus Group would elect to build on its mining technology for road building in this fashion. It is, after all, a company that has long been comfortable with forging its own path. AM AUSTRALIAN MINING PROSPECT AWARDS

Nominations are now open.

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WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT

FLYING HIGH ON TOP OF CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM CWT ENERGY, RESOURCES AND MARINE SENIOR DIRECTOR MARTY LONERGAN SPEAKS TO VANESSA ZHOU ABOUT THE FOCUS ON MINING TRAVEL AS THE MARKET CONTINUES TO RECOVER.

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ining travel is a big line item in the balance sheets of many large mining companies.

Hundreds of million of dollars can be spent every year to keep existing mines running, or to start a new exploration project thousands of kilometres away.

Smaller mining companies, though only spending a fraction of their larger counterparts, also feel the impact on their operating profit if they don’t maximise every dollar spent, according to travel management company CWT Energy, Resources and Marine.

From a budget point of view, it is then natural for clever management of travel budgets to be a big focus, if not one of the key trends observed among mining companies this year as activity picks up.

“We’re hearing from our clients that there’s cautious optimism as far as what’s happening in the future,” CWT senior director, global program management Marty Lonergan says.

Though prices for most commodities have recently ascended and are expected to remain strong, there’s nervousness about the possibility of a United States–China trade war, the risks of Brexit and the Chinese import ban on Australian coal.

This contrasts with the appetite for air travel during the construction phase of the mining boom when companies would get workers to a site to build their mines and infrastructure at almost any cost.

Today, companies are looking to strike the right balance between maximising every dollar spent and looking after their workers’ wellbeing.

Some have taken a more drastic approach in managing their travel budget and choosing the lowest airfare regardless of the airlines, given that 80 per cent of companies’ travel cost is associated with getting people on-site.

“The key thing about managing the travel budget is to make sure companies are also managing workers’ fatigue. They want to ensure that when the worker does get to the

FROM A BUDGET POINT OF VIEW, IT IS THEN NATURAL FOR CLEVER MANAGEMENT OF TRAVEL BUDGETS TO BE A BIG FOCUS, IF NOT ONE OF THE BIG TRENDS OBSERVED AMONG MINING COMPANIES THIS YEAR AS THE SECTOR STARTS PICKING UP. location, they’re able to do their job effectively,” Lonergan says.

“A lot of our clients now travel to locations where they may be making assessments around whether they should invest in different parts in Australia, or to operate a mine elsewhere around the world, like Africa and South America.

“Companies don’t want their workers flying via two different transit points to save $100 while spending 10 hours travelling – when they could go direct for six hours. That fatigue element is very important as well.”

Depending on the destinations, companies also have different arrangements set up for their team members, for example, safety around ground transfers and secure accommodation. Politically, the environment is something that all organisations also monitor.

“They want to make sure they know the latest development going on in that area and have the right safety and security around their travellers,” Lonergan says.

“That’s where having [past] data enables them and us to make the right decision and implement some strategies to keep people safe. When there’s a major geopolitical event, we can step in and help the companies get their travellers out as quickly as possible.”

According to Lonergan, being able to capture historic data is a key point in ensuring companies don’t fall back to mining boom “bad habits” of AUSTRALIANMINING

MARTY LONERGAN FROM CWT ENERGY RESOURCES AND MARINE.

unwise travel budget management, supply negotiations and workforce management.

This process doesn’t necessarily have to be a manual, inefficient Excel spreadsheet-driven activity, Lonergan says.

There are different ways in which companies can streamline their processes and make use of their data.

And once the industry continues to see an uplift in the sector, they’re able

MINE WORKERS DEPARTING NEWMAN AIRPORT IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

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to benefit from the decisions they’ve made at present.

“There’s been an uplift in travel activity in Australia and beyond in 2019 – cautious optimism is certainly the trend we’re seeing particularly in the last 12 months,” Lonergan says.

“We are certainly waiting for the next round of investments considering we are experiencing an interesting time [with] the number of mergers and acquisitions in Australia.” AM

REHABILITATION

A HELLYER OF A TIME ARRIVES IN TASMANIA PREVIOUS OWNERS, PRESENT MANAGEMENT AND THE TASMANIAN GOVERNMENT HAVE ALL PLAYED A ROLE IN WAKING UP THE HELLYER GOLD OPERATIONS. VANESSA ZHOU WRITES.

I

t’s not often the market hears of an “exceptionally smooth” mine restart and a refurbishment program that takes only seven months to complete on schedule and budget.

But such was the case for the Hellyer gold-silver-lead mine in Tasmania.

Hellyer has refurbished the dredge and installed new pipelines to recover the tailings at the site, all of which were included in its $60 million refurbishment and remediation budget over its life of mine.

It helps that Hellyer was well-built and maintained in the first place and had multiple contractors that had previously worked on the mill. In fact, many of them now work on Hellyer’s day-to-day operations.

But this isn’t the only evidence that Hellyer was built on the forward-looking vision of its previous owners.

“When the mine ceased its operation, its state-of-the-art processing plant was placed under care and maintenance in preparation for ongoing use should other ore bodies in the area become economically feasible to mine in the future,” Hellyer Gold Mines director Steve White tells Australian Mining.

The Hellyer mine, which began production in 1989, stopped operating in 2012 when all of the economically available ore at the site became exhausted.

The mine produced 15 million tonnes of ore and yielded 601,000 tonnes of bulk concentrate, 2.7 million tonnes of zinc and 728,000 tonnes of lead over this operating period.

In 2017, Hellyer Gold Mines breathed new life into the site under the ownership of London-based NQ Minerals, almost six years after it was placed under care and maintenance.

Production resumed in September 2018, and shortly after, the first 5000 tonnes of lead from the Hellyer mine left the port of Burnie to Korea Zinc for processing in February 2019. The shipment comprises the first of what will be a total annual shipment of over 36,000 tonnes of silver-lead-gold concentrate for 10 years.

This mineral resource is uniquely

(L-R) TASMANIAN MINISTER FOR PRIMARY INDUSTRIES AND WATER GUY BARNETT WITH HELLYER GOLD MINES DIRECTORS STEVE WHITE AND ROGER JACKSON STANDING IN FRONT OF THE TAILINGS DAM.

sourced from the Hellyer mine’s existing tailings dam, which contains roughly 9.5 million tonnes of material containing high-grade gold, silver, lead, zinc and pyrite.

The re-processing of tailings recovers as much value as possible with improved technology and processes, rather than breaking new ground at the north-west Tasmania operation, according to White.

Once the tailings are reprocessed, the residue will be stored in a new dam on site, and the existing facility, once emptied and repaired, will process nearby ore bodies without the need for large mine footprints elsewhere.

“This is a very important project because it demonstrates that legacy

mine sites in many cases still have economic resources that can be easily extracted, and the environment rehabilitated,” White says.

“Hellyer offers the possibility for a new paradigm in mining, whereby ore can be shipped to a centrally-located fully permitted mill and provide a compelling alternative for explorers in the north west.”

Importantly, the successes of Hellyer took ground as Tasmania’s mineral resources sector started gaining its momentum.

In February this year, the Hodgman Government launched the second round of its mining exploration grants program, which provided grants for successful applicants exploring for

greenfield mineral targets.

The industry employed 6000 people state-wide as of early this year and accounted for 55 per cent – or more than $1.5 billion – of Tasmania’s exports in 2016–2017. And by 2050, the government plans to grow its state’s exports to $15 billion every year.

“It’s a win-win for all parties,” White says. “[Hellyer] is commercially viable.

The state receives royalties. The local economy is invigorated. And the environment is improved far beyond the existing situation.”

Tasmania’s business community and government at all levels have been nothing short of excellent in both support and assistance, White adds.

The Office of the Co-ordinator General was instrumental in developing the project, and the officers worked tirelessly to back the company in navigating all levels of government.

State-owned enterprises TasRail and TasNetworks assisted greatly in transport and electricity solutions respectively, while the support from government is evidenced in the visits to the Hellyer Gold Mine in February this year, White says.

As for Hellyer’s future plans, it is looking into optimising mine infrastructure to support the mine’s surrounding deposits. It is also eyeing for other prospective projects in Tasmania.

As White says, Tasmania is booming at the moment. AM

THE HELLYER MINE IS A WIN-WIN SITUATION, BOTH ENVIRONMENTALLY AND COMMERCIALLY.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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MAJOR PROJECTS

AUSTRALIA’S KEY PROJECTS AND MINE EXPANSIONS WITH AUSTRALIAN MINING POISED FOR GROWTH, WHAT ARE THE MAJOR OPERATIONS ON THE HORIZON FOR THE INDUSTRY? AUSTRALIAN MINING FINDS OUT.

I

n the wake of the mining downturn, the industry has recovered to re-affirm its place as a major driver of the Australian economy.

The coming years will reinforce this position as dozens of projects or expansions develop into Australia’s next generation of mines.

In an Australian Government December 2018 quarter report, more than 25 mining projects had reached the committed status, with dozens more in the feasibility stage.

Australia’s leading commodity exports – iron ore, coal and gold – continue to provide the next phase of development.

However, battery minerals, such as lithium, have started to show their value in the future of the industry.

Geographically, Western Australia leads the way with the most projects at the committed and feasibility stage. Queensland is also set for expansion with upcoming developments in a diverse range of commodities, including coal, gold and copper.

Here, Australian Mining summarises the major projects that are set to make an impact on the mining landscape in the coming years, with primary focus on those that the Australian Government rates with the committed status (as of the fourth quarter 2018).

Western Australia Gold Road Resources / Gold Fields, Gruyere, Western Australia, gold

The Gruyere joint venture is set to pour first gold at the Gruyere project in Western Australia during the June 2019 quarter. Gold Road reported that first ore had been mined at the $621 million project in January 2019. The Gruyere site, Western Australia’s newest greenfields gold discovery to be developed, is currently expected to produce 300,000 ounces a year over a 12-year mine life. Downer EDI has been appointed as Gruyere’s mining contractor.

St Barbara, Gwalia extension, Western Australia, gold

St Barbara approved the project to extend the historic Gwalia gold mine to at least 2000 metres below surface in March 2017. The $100 million project, which remained on track after the December 2018 quarter, is expected to take up to three years to complete. It consists of two main components, a ventilation upgrade and paste aggregate fill. St Barbara has forecast Gwalia to produce 290,000 ounces of gold a year by the 2022 financial year.

Blackham Resources, WilunaMatilda expansion, Western Australia, gold

Blackham hopes to expand its Matilda-Wiluna gold operation into a mine that produces 200,000 ounces a year with this project. The company is, however, already producing at the site at a rate of almost 20,000 ounces each quarter. In August 2017, Blackham released an expansion preliminary feasibility study that confirmed a capital efficient growth project that would cost $114 million.

Blackham restarted open pit mining for the first time in 10 years at Wiluna in October 2017.

Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines, Superpit expansion Western Australia, gold

KCGM, the joint venture between Newmont Mining and Barrick Gold, is expanding the Super Pit gold mine in Kalgoorlie-Boulder for the first time in a decade. The JV started mining the Morrison layback in November 2018 with the first production blast in the area.

The layback, the first at the mine since Golden Pike in 2009, is at the southern end of the Fimiston open pit. It has been called the Morrison starter pit.

Fortescue Metals Group, Eliwana, Western Australia, iron ore

Fortescue approved the development of the Eliwana mine and rail project in the Pilbara during May 2018.

AUSTRALIANMINING

The $1.7 billion project involves 143 kilometres of rail, a new 30 million tonnes per annum dry ore processing facility and infrastructure. Fortescue expects production to begin at Eliwana in December 2020. The project underpins the company’s introduction of a 60 per cent iron ore product in late 2018. Eliwana is located west of Fortescue’s Solomon Hub operations.

Mount Gibson Iron, Koolan Island restart, Western Australia, iron ore Mount Gibson Iron was on track to complete the Koolan Island restart project off the Kimberley coast in the March 2019 quarter. Operations at Koolan Island were suspended in November 2014 following a seawall failure that resulted in the flooding of the Main Pit. Mount Gibson approved the restart project in April 2017 after two years of evaluation work. The high-grade Main Pit has ore reserves of 21 million tonnes at 65.5 per cent iron.

Rio Tinto, Robe Valley / West Angeles expansion, Western Australia, iron ore

Rio Tinto and its joint venture partners approved a $1.55 billion investment to sustain production capacity at two projects that form part of Robe River in October 2018.

The investment includes developing Mesa B, C and H deposits at Robe Valley, and the Deposits C and D at West Angeles. Rio Tinto will sustain production of the Pilbara Blend and Robe Valley lump and fine iron ore products through the project. First ore is expected in 2021.

BHP, South Flank, Western Australia, iron ore

BHP approved the $US3.4 billion investment in the South Flank project in the Pilbara in June 2018.

The project is being developed to replace production from the 80 million tonnes a year Yandi mine as it heads towards the end of its economic life. BHP will expand the existing infrastructure at Mining

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Area C, including construction of an 80 million tonne per annum crushing and screening plant, an overland conveyor system, stockyard and train loading facilities, and more. First ore is expected in 2021.

MAJOR PROJECTS

Iluka Resources, Cataby, Western Australia, mineral sands

Iluka approved development of the Cataby minerals sands project 150 kilometres north of Perth in December 2017 after securing offtake agreements for 85 per cent of production from the site. Cataby is a large chloride ilmentite deposit, which will also underpin the continued production of 200,000 tonnes per year of synthetic rutile from the company’s Synthetic Rutile kiln 2 site at Capel in the state’s

South West region. The project is costing Iluka up to $275 million to develop.

of concentrate from the Bunbury Port in January. Image will ramp up production to a steady state of around 500 tonnes per hour at the site over the first half of 2019.

Image Resources, Boonanarring, Western Australia, mineral sands

Talison Lithium, Greenbushes expansion, Western Australia, lithium

Image Resources launched production of heavy mineral concentrate at the Boonanarring site in the North Perth Basin in November 2018. The company, which started construction on the $235 million project in March 2018, reported the first bulk shipment

Talison, a JV between Tianqi Lithium and Albemarle Corp, has committed to multiple expansions at Greenbushes in recent years. The latest expansion, announced in the first half of 2018, will double the THREE MAJOR IRON ORE PROJECTS HAVE BEEN APPROVED IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

production capacity at Greenbushes to 2.3 million tonnes of lithium concentrate a year from 2021. It will add output to feed hydroxide plants being built in the state by the JV partners. Greenbushes is already the world’s largest lithium mine.

Tianqi Lithium Australia, Kwinana lithium plant, Western Australia, lithium

Tianqi is spending more than $700 million at Kwinana near Perth on a two-stage lithium hydroxide plant.

The first stage of the project had entered a commission phase by the start of 2019. The second stage is progressing throughout 2019 before an expected finish before the end of the year. The Kwinana plant is expected to become a world leading producer of battery-grade lithium hydroxide at 48,000 tonnes a year.

Kidman Resources, Mount Holland mine, Western Australia, lithium

Kidman, with joint venture partner Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM), is developing the $849 million lithium project in the Goldfields region of WA. In a prefeasibility study released December 2018, Kidman forecast Mt Holland to be a long-life, low-cost operation with projected annual production of 45,254 tonnes of LiOH and a 47-year mine life. Kidman also has plans to develop a refinery at Kwinana near Perth to produce battery-grade refined lithium.

Mineral Resources, Wodgina processing plant, Western Australia, lithium

MinRes plans to fund, design, build and operate a lithium hydroxide plant at Wodgina in the Pilbara with Albemarle after the companies formed a joint venture in November 2018. The JV partners have proposed to develop the plant over two stages, with the first stage expected to produce at least 50,000 tonnes per annum of lithium hydroxide.

The second stage is expected to increase production from the plant to 100,000 tonnes per annum of lithium hydroxide.

Queensland Rio Tinto, Amrun expansion, Queensland, bauxite

Rio Tinto achieved first shipment of bauxite from Amrun in Far North AUSTRALIANMINING

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MAJOR PROJECTS

AUSTRALIA’S COAL INDUSTRY CONTINUES TO SHOW GROWTH.

Queensland six weeks ahead of schedule in December 2018. The $2.6 billion project is replacing production from Rio Tinto’s soon-to-be-depleted East Weipa mine, expanding the company’s presence on the Western Cape.

Rio Tinto will ramp up operations to a full production rate of 22.8 million tonnes a year during 2019.

The Amrun project was originally approved by Rio Tinto in November 2015.

QCoal Group, Byerwen, Queensland, coal

QCoal is developing the Byerwen open cut project in the Bowen Basin to eventually produce 10 million tonnes of metallurgical coal a year.

The company started construction and mining operations at the site in 2017 after securing the mining leases it needed in May of that year. QCoal has appointed Macmahon Holdings as the Byerwen mining contractor, while Sedgman is developing the minerals processing operations.

Copper Mountain Mining, Cloncurry, Queensland, copper Copper Mountain Mining Corp (CMMC) added the Cloncurry project to its portfolio after acquiring Altona Mining for $93 million in 2018. The Canadian company has

since also added a listing on the ASX as it edges towards developing the site. CMMC released a feasibility study for the Cloncurry project in October 2018 that estimated a $350 million capital cost to develop the site. It has not, however, made a decision to start construction.

Citigold Corp, Charter Towers expansion, Queensland, gold

Citigold plans to expand its Charter Towers project into an operation that produces 218,000 ounces a year.

The underground operations at the Central and Imperial mining areas remained on care and maintenance during the December 2018 quarter, with no gold production. The Central mine will be opened first by Citigold, which continues to refine its designs and strategies for the site.

Evolution Mining, Mt Carlton, Queensland, gold

Evolution Mining approved a $60 million investment for three projects at the Mt Carlton mine in October 2018. The projects include an underground development, a stage four pit cut back and plant modifications. Evolution will bring forward production from Mt Carlton’s high-grade zone with the projects. It expects to deliver first ore from the underground operation during the AUSTRALIANMINING

2021 financial year.

South Australia BHP, Olympic Dam expansion, South Australia, copper

BHP has committed to a series of expansion projects at Olympic Dam in recent years, including a $350 million investment to upgrade the surface operations. The project, the largest planned shutdown undertaken at the asset, ran for over 100 days from August 2017. BHP also used the opportunity to carry out major upgrade works on Olympic Dam’s refinery, concentrator, other key infrastructure and site technology.

OZ Minerals, Carrapateena, South Australia, copper-gold

OZ Minerals’ next major copper project, Carrapateena, is expected to reach production in the December quarter of 2019. The Adelaide-based company approved development of the $916 million project in August 2017 and has created over 1000 jobs at the site. It expects the operation to annually produce 65,000 tonnes of copper and 67,000 ounces of gold over a 20-year mine life once it is developed. Downer EDI is the underground contractor at Carrapateena.

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Quantum Graphite, Uley, South Australia, graphite

Formerly Valence Industries, Quantum Graphite is resurrecting the Uley mine, where operations have been suspended since December 2015.

The project, 23 kilometres southwest of Port Lincoln, involves the recommissioning of existing graphite mining and processing operations.

The company will use existing plant, utilities, community engagement and associated infrastructure. South Australian approvals for the restart were granted in mid 2017.

New South Wales Diversified Minerals, Dargues Reef (Majors Creek), New South Wales, gold

Diversified Minerals expected to start construction of the Dargues gold project during February 2019.

The company was set to reach this milestone after awarding the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for Dargues to DRA Global. Dargues has been designed to produce an average of 50,000 ounces of gold a year in the first six years of production. DRA is developing a 355,000 tonne per annum gold processing facility and backfill plant.

First ore is expected in early 2020. AM

SAFETY

FIRE THREAT ON THE RISE AT MINE SITES

REPORTS OF FIRES HAVE INCREASED AT AUSTRALIAN MINES.

FM GLOBAL GROUP MANAGER, ACCOUNT ENGINEERING MIKE BEAUMONT TELLS AUSTRALIAN MINING ABOUT HOW COMPANIES CAN MANAGE RISKS CAUSED BY FIRES AT MINE SITES.

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ining is under fire. Quite literally. And I’m not talking about politics. A recent report from the New South Wales Resources Regulator reveals that mobile plant fires in the state have risen in the past decade.

More than 200 fires were reported between September 2014 and May 2017. That’s about six per month.

This is double the incidents that occurred between 2001 and 2008, according to the regulator.

As the insurer for over 300 mining sites worldwide, we’ve analysed our loss history across the industry and noticed a broader trend. Our global data, including over 50 mining sites in Australia, shows that the challenge of rising fire losses is not limited to NSW or mobile plant.

In fact, our data shows that fire on mobile plant has remained high yet relatively stable worldwide. It is on fixed plant – rubber belt conveyors, vibratory screens, hydrocyclones, piping and rubber lined equipment – where we have seen a significant rise in fire incidents, both in frequency and severity.

During the past five years, fire has accounted for 27 per cent of all losses on mine sites. If the use of

autonomous vehicles continues to rise as widely expected, the risk of fire could increase further unless managed appropriately. But as with most other risks, fire losses may be preventable if mine operators take a few simple steps.

A combustible combination

First, it’s worth placing this alarming trend in context. Fire was already a major threat on mining sites even before the latest spike. In a sample of 600 losses among FM Global clients over a 20-year period, it was the cause of one in five incidents.

Electrical arcing or shorting is the largest cause of fire on mine sites.

Hot work and hot surfaces have caused over 50 per cent of fire losses.

It’s also worth remembering that the number of fires is likely much higher than gets recorded in our data.

Some losses are below the deductible threshold while others occur on sites that companies self-insure or the data isn’t publicly available.

So, what’s behind the worrying upward trend? A rise in the use of plastic equipment is undoubtedly a contributing factor. The issue isn’t with the choice of material, it’s that combustibility awareness hasn’t risen at the same rate. Two recent fires on client sites in Australia and Canada involved plastic filtering screens AUSTRALIANMINING

– employees were doing hot work above the screens and they caught alight.

A change of approach

What’s practical from a production outcome perspective requires more consideration of risk management.

There are two issues that we encounter frequently – inadequate levels of fire protection and fire protection equipment that isn’t installed properly.

FM Global is in the process of updating how our standards address protection for plastic equipment.

This standard should be available to the public later in 2019.

The good news is that there is no need to wait to act. There are some quick fixes that risk management partners can help with.

We recommend that mine operators consider the following: •D o a proper hazard analysis prior to doing hot work – Consider things like flanging off pipes so that fires in one vessel will not spread so easily. Smart decisions around when to do hot work will go a long way in reducing fire risk.

• Limit the concentration of flammable materials – In many cases, if combustible equipment was laid out slightly differently, the risk of fire spreading would fall

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significantly.

•C onsider the human element – When updating equipment, operators need to ensure consideration is given to updating safety-related processes and ensuring employees are aware of the changes. This is a change management issue. Having welltrained firefighting staff and equipment on hand is critical.

•E quipment maintenance is key – Many fires are caused by equipment failures, like seizedup bearings. Ensure equipment isn’t running for long periods without being assessed for faults, as the result is often much more expensive than equipment downtime. There’s a lot of new predictive analytic technology coming onto the market that’s able to identify potential failures before they occur. FM Global is assessing this in order to make informed recommendations.

The evidence is in and fire prevention and mitigation must be prioritised on mining sites. Modern equipment has not been accompanied by a renewed approach to fire protection and the costs are growing.

As one of the largest contributors to the Australian economy, we can ill afford for this worrying trend of fire losses to continue. AM

INDUSTRY COMMENT

2019

AUSTRALIAN MINING PROSPECT AWARDS

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INDUSTRY COMMENT

AUSIMM INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY SERIES SHINES LIGHT ON DIVERSITY IN MINING THE INDUSTRY BODY IS BUILDING AWARENESS OF THE GROWING CONTRIBUTION WOMEN ARE MAKING IN THE AUSTRALIAN MINING INDUSTRY.

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cross three key Australian capital cities during March, the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) brought together industry professionals, leaders and supporters to acknowledge the contribution that women have made to the sector and push for greater female participation in the future.

An inaugural event and the only national series of its kind in Australia, the International Women’s Day luncheons in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth encouraged ongoing discussion about the experiences of women and how individual professionals can participate in achieving gender equality in their own workplaces and the sector at large.

Femeconomy co-founder Jade Collins was the keynote speaker at each location, promoting the power of the individual in creating better gender equality and providing insight in to how every day actions of resources professionals can push for a better balance in the industry.

AusIMM chief executive officer Stephen Durkin says the industry body is providing leadership in an essential area of the workforce.

“If we are to harness the very best talent that Australia has to offer in our industry, we need to ensure that we are constantly working towards a professional environment where women feel respected, valued and safe,” Durkin says.

With over 700 participants, the event series had strong support from mining companies, mining supply companies, universities, and other relevant organisations wanting to be part of the push for change with AusIMM, as the peak leadership body for professionals.

The event also included a panel discussion moderated by AusIMM board director Sara Prendergast, which included diverse views of technical and management professionals, discussing some of the key themes around women in the

AUSIMM’S INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY LUNCHEONS ENCOURAGED ONGOING DISCUSSION ABOUT WOMEN’S EXPERIENCES.

industry, while contemplating the genuine problems and solutions that will implement meaningful change.

In the lead up to the International Women’s Day Series, AusIMM conducted research through a Women in Mining Survey, the results of which were launched at the luncheons.

By answering a few short questions, over 600 survey participants helped provide a leading analysis of women’s participation in the industry’s workforce, exploring what’s working well and what needs to change, helping AusIMM service the needs of a greater number of women.

The results found that although the gender pay gap in the mining sector was lower than that in other industries, and that over 97 per cent of participants held a bachelor’s degree or higher, female perceptions based AUSTRALIANMINING

on experience in the sector required significant attention.

Fifty-seven per cent of respondents indicated that they do not believe the industry is diverse, while 40 per cent feel that the industry is not inclusive.

In addition to this, seven times as many women believe that diversity and inclusion is a top policy priority for the industry, compared to a survey of their male counterparts.

To combat this perception, participants indicated that the three key areas the industry needs to prioritise going forward include equal employment opportunities, flexible working arrangements and industry leadership.

Having launched the Council for Diversity and Inclusion in 2018, the data garnered through the survey gives an important base and direction for future initiatives from

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the council and AusIMM. The attraction and retention of women in the mining industry has traditionally been a problem for the sector, although women’s participation is statistically improving steadily and the number of women in leadership roles is increasing in line with this.

AusIMM, however, intends to keep this front of mind and on the agenda, outside of just International Women’s Day. With this in mind, AusIMM will be assessing through an annual Women in Mining Survey the progress of the sector each year going forward, ensuring that the industry is accountable, transparent and female progress is a key focus at every event.

AusIMM International Women’s Day Series is due to be held again in 2020 across Australia’s capital cities. AM

INDUSTRY COMMENT

INDUSTRY FUNDS FOSTER METS COLLABORATION SEVEN ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES HAVE BEEN GRANTED SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL AWARDS TOTALLING $4.1 MILLION THROUGH METS IGNITED’S PROJECT FUNDING PROGRAM. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS.

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ndustry growth centre METS Ignited celebrated the awarding of its third round of collaborative in early March.

The primary aim of the funding was to offer several mining equipment, technology and services (METS) companies the opportunity to drive collaboration and commercialisation of their various projects. Seven promising recipient companies were awarded a collective $4.1 million in all to this end.

The funding was delivered as part of a four-year, $15.6 million initiative introduced by the Australian Government to support the growth of the METS sector in Australia.

This latest round’s recipients ran the gamut from continuous haulage projects for underground mines and tracking sensors for collision avoidance through to internship programs, comminution technology and minerals processing optimisation.

The awards were announced on the Gold Coast, Queensland on March 1 by Karen Andrews, the Federal Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, a politician instrumental in the launch of METS Ignited in 2016.

Melbourne-based Australian Marine and Offshore Group (AMOG) received two awards: $150,000 for an automated sensor for detecting rocks too big to process through the use of ordinary crushing and grinding equipment, THE FUNDING AWARD IS DESIGNED TO FOSTER COLLABORATION BETWEEN METS COMPANIES AND THE MINING INDUSTRY.

FEDERAL MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY KAREN ANDREWS AT THE LAUNCH OF THE AWARDS IN GOLD COAST.

and $220,000 for a predictive analytics tool related to descaling at copper and nickel mines.

In addition, two companies received $1 million each. Premron was awarded for its continuous haulage system, which is designed to eliminate the need for shuttle cars in underground coal mining. Mineral Technologies won for its automation work on the Roy Hill iron ore beneficiation plant and also hosted the launch of the event.

“The project funding, along with Roy Hill’s contribution is a significant investment and will ensure that Mineral Technologies can resource the automation project,” Jess Maddren, Downer general manager process and engineering, says. “It was a privilege to host the METS Ignited announcement event and meeting with Minister Andrews at Mineral Technologies provided a wonderful opportunity to showcase our world class metallurgical testing and production facility.”

“More than 50 per cent of specialised METS companies are exporters. If a METS company’s innovation can benefit an Australian mining project it is virtually guaranteed global interest.”

The other recipients included Roobuck for its collision avoidance sensor OVERwatch, ProcessIQ for its grinding optimisation tech, Austmine for its internship program (Austmine METS Pathway) and Magotteaux, for its pulp chemistry monitor for grinding mills.

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METS Ignited general manager Peter Clarke says the funding allows METS companies with specialist knowledge and skills to collaborate with other METS and mining companies to deliver a larger and better-commercialised product with a fully formed feature set.

“Mining companies are looking for bigger, more complete solutions to their problems,” he tells Australian Mining.

“Single METS companies are not going to be able to deliver that larger solution and so we see collaboration as a very important process in enabling the METS sector in Australia to grow, develop and produce a globally competitive and globally attractive product.

“We’re really seeking to give the applicant the opportunity to explain their project and argue its value to us, and to also check on whether the people involved have really thought through the project and its implementation into the industry.”

The project funding is structured in a way that stipulates applicants list at least one other METS company that is collaborating in developing and getting the product to market.

Applicants are also required to show alternative sources of industry funding that can match METS Ignited’s award by at least a 1:1 basis. This rule is put in place to ensure that the projects have already established a degree of commercialisation potential.

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The recipients have to establish a strong business case and good engagement with mining customers on their projects.

“We require that they are in the market to the point that they can get the interest from a mining company to put up the other half of the money,” Clarke explains.

“That tells us that the company has a product that is of interest to the industry and also tells us that they’ve got the capacity to actually sell it to industry as well.

While the funding recipients came from a diverse set of backgrounds, one key trend carried through to the third round that was previously demonstrated in the second round in 2017 was the prevalence of data analytics and automation technologies on display, reflecting a move towards these technologies across the wider mining sector.

Clarke predicts that as the integration of these technologies continues to evolve in mining, they will be incorporated into existing systems rather than being sold as a separate component.

Data analytics, Clarke predicts, will be incorporated into virtually every product that is developed and goes out into the market.

“We really see this collaboration as being critical in terms of being able to develop products that will be attractive in the global marketplace. Mining is no different,” Clarke concludes. AM

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INDUSTRY COMMENT

MINING’S DIGITAL WAVE AUSTMINE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER CHRISTINE GIBBS STEWART DISCUSSES HOW THE INTRODUCTION OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY HAS CAPTIVATED THE MINING INDUSTRY AND THE ROLE BEING PLAYED BY THE METS SECTOR.

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he digital wave is currently sweeping mining and changing the way we do business.

While this wave might seem to be breaking late, it is not to say that mining isn’t innovative.

In fact, mining is one of the most innovative industries in the world.

You can’t build a business at 4000 metres in the middle of the Andes without a high level of ingenuity.

Mining has deployed more autonomous vehicles than any other industry with over 200 CAT and Komatsu trucks driving around in the Pilbara, Western Australia.

Exciting things are happening, but the general public’s perception is that mining is a low-tech and labourintensive practice.

In its very basic form, mining is simple. A shovel, pick, bucket and a bunch of rocks and you can mine, as millions of artisanal miners do every day to eke out a living, in sometimes very dangerous conditions.

Take the mining business to scale and it is one of the most complex industries in the world. Mines are massive, they are extremely capital intensive and what is being mined, the orebody, changes every day, if not every hour.

While we have very sophisticated technologies to tell us where the rich veins of minerals lie, we do not have a clear line of site in extracting them.

These rich veins are also getting hard and harder to find.

The scale of a mining operation cannot be underestimated. The footprint of the Roy Hill mine in Western Australia would cover greater metropolitan Brisbane (a city of two million people), and the Chuquicamata mine in Chile swallowed, with permission, a town of 20,000.

Mines too are often in very remote locations. In the middle of the Atacama Desert, high in the Andes, deep in the jungles of Laos and even in the Arctic Circle, miners go to where no man has gone before.

They bring with them equipment, roads, and even cities that are needed to run a thriving mining operation.

AUSTMINE CEO CHRISTINE GIBBS STEWART.

This scale, capital intensity and remoteness has perhaps made the adoption of digital technologies slower than in other industries. On average, it takes 15 years to adopt a new technology into the mining value chain, and miners have always been first to be second.

But there is now a real imperative to change how we do things, and mining is being swept up in the digital transformation we are all experiencing. Along with the big macro trends, what is driving the digital imperative for mining is three-fold.

First, mining is facing more challenges than ever before. The minerals are getting harder to find, we need to dig deeper and ore grade is declining. This is layered with more complex regulation, environmental pressures and communities who are demanding more accountability.

Next, miners have spent the last few years taking costs out of their operations, and no longer can head count be slashed. Mining operations today are lean and to be more productive miners must do things differently, and technology has to be the answer.

Finally, as the miners have changed, so has the supply sector.

Mining suppliers or the mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector is highly sophisticated and is breaking new ground with world leading technologies in areas such as sensors,

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drones, real time monitoring, remote operations, simulation, digital twinning, robotics, automation and AI. Traditional truck and shovel companies are re-defining themselves as data analysts and we have seen the rise of a vibrant mining start-up community driven by hackathons and accelerators, which is delivering very sophisticated solutions to some of biggest miners’ most pressing challenges.

In fact, in Australia, the METS sector generates over $90 billion annually in revenue, and employs more than 400,000 people, which is double the traditional mining workforce.

Combined with mining, METS make up about 12 per cent of the Australian GDP, and when all the minerals are exhausted, will be the sustainable legacy of mining itself.

Companies in the METS sector are doing some amazing things and are an important catalyst for the digital transformation which the mining industry is undergoing.

PETRA Data Science is transforming mining as we know it. Through PETRA’s team of data scientists and engineers, they have enabled resources companies to turn their data into actionable insights and operational improvements.

For example, their digital twin (digital replica of physical assets) simulation at PanAust’s Ban Houayxai gold-silver operation was able to identify areas for problematic gold recovery, optimise drill and blast of certain rock types, find ideal mill settings and provide analysis of ‘what if’ situations for the end-user.

Brisbane-based Insitu Pacific are also making waves in the mining space. A subsidiary of Boeing, they have leveraged expertise from defence and aviation in remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) and unattended ground sensors (UGS) to bring value to mining customers.

Through embracing the next level of mining automation, high quality data can be safely and efficiently collected and utilised to drive productivity. Insitu’s RPAS photogrammetric and LiDAR

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survey have been able to generate high-resolution imagery utilised for mapping and design, remote monitoring and asset inspection.

Traditional METS companies have also quickened the tide of industry change. Davies Wear Plates have been a long-term fixture in

INDUSTRY COMMENT

the Australian mining industry for providing safe wear plate installation and change out systems.

The business has undergone a transformation over the last decade, to provide additional information and monitoring for clients, and the innovative WearSense product was released in 2018.

WearSense is a completely wireless plug and play wear liner monitoring system, that enables real-time, condition-based wear management and intelligence, improving productivity, safety

AS THE DIGITAL WAVE CONTINUES TO ADVANCE, AUSTRALIAN METS AND MINERS MUST STRIVE TO COORDINATE TECHNOLOGY EFFORTS TO ENSURE THEY ARE SOLVING FUNDAMENTAL OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES.” and profitability. Customers of WearSense have seen up to 80 per cent less downtime and 60 per cent less labour used.

Control Systems Technology (CST) has long led the way in

reliable belt weighing equipment required by bulk handling industries, especially mining. Founded in 1984, CST has developed a competitive advantage through the development of technology, and this is highlighted

DRONES HAVE EMERGED IN RECENT YEARS AS A TECHNOLOGY REGULARLY FOUND AT MINE SITES.

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with the release of their IntelliRoll system.

This is a wireless ‘weigher in a roller’ that can be placed directly into an idler frame. It looks like a standard roller, but is actually a ‘microbot,’ containing all the usual belt weigher electronics, load cells, a highly efficient energy harvesting generator and a battery so it can still work when the belt is not running.

The IntelliRoll calculates flow rates and tonnes, stores the data and provides it to clients in an easy to digest mobile application, available in the app store.

With changes also come a raft of challenges. Issues around interoperability, or lack of, abound and like other industries mining is facing a severe skills shortage of the talent which is needed for the mines of tomorrow.

The rapid changes and challenges faced call for an industry-wide response. Australia is making a concerted effort to overcome these challenges and leverage the best of what we have to offer through a number of government and industry development programs, technology projects and collaboration initiatives.

As the digital wave continues to advance, Australian METS and miners must strive to coordinate technology efforts to ensure they are solving fundamental operational challenges.

While there has been progress in this space recently and new avenues for dialogue have opened through industry workshops and problem-solving challenges, mining has traditionally been averse to communicating operational issues to provide greater understanding of their needs to suppliers.

Austmine is actively advocating for greater transparency within the industry, as without it, mining will continue to find point solutions, rather than transformative digital changes brought on through collaborative solution development.

While the focus remains on how mining companies can drive shareholder value while achieving safety, environmental and community outcomes, Australian METS are the silent sector in the background truly changing the face of the industry. AM To find out more about mining’s digital transformation register for the Austmine 2019: Mining’s Next Horizon Conference & Exhibition in Brisbane, May 21 – 23.

INTERNATIONAL

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INTERNATIONAL

GOING GREEN WITH EURO MANGANESE THE TIMING COULD NOT BE BETTER FOR EURO MANGANESE’S PLANS AT THE CHVALETICE PROJECT IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC. BEN CREAGH EXPLAINS.

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uro Manganese is on track to develop a standout example of a socially responsible operation for the resources industry at its Chvaletice manganese project in the Czech Republic.

The ASX-listed, Vancouver-based company is targeting production of environmentally-superior, ultrahigh-purity manganese products by reprocessing waste from the historic European site.

While manganese is mostly used to produce steel and cast iron, the mineral is also set to become a prominent material in the growth in battery production. Manganese oxide is used to make alkaline, disposable lithium and rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

Euro Manganese is sitting on Europe’s largest manganese deposit, with a measured and indicated resource of 26.96 million tonnes at a 7.33 per cent manganese grading.

Pilot tests at Chvaletice have confirmed the project also has the ability to meet the highest customer specifications of battery production for electric vehicles (EV).

The company proposes to develop an operation with a 25-year mine life with average production of 48,000 tonnes a year of manganese equivalent.

It expects to use a low-cost extraction method that involves the recycling of manganese-rich tailings

through a combination of proven commercial technologies.

These plans for Chvaltece’s future are exciting enough, but it is the project’s extensive green credentials that make it really stand out.

Euro Manganese chief executive officer Marco Romero says the project is ideally placed in Central Europe to capitalise on the growing demand for the manganese products it could be producing by 2022.

“There is major demand emerging for highly specialised products, not just manganese the commodity, but the really processed product we are targeting,” Romero tells Australian Mining.

“There is the manganese industry, which is a large business, but that’s not our business. We will be the processor of manganese, producing extremely refined products. “(But) what makes our project even more unique is we will do this by recycling waste so our environmental credentials and footprint are extraordinary. I don’t believe there is a comparison to this project anywhere in the world.”

Chvaletice’s green credentials are matched by the project’s proximity to Europe’s abundance of EV manufacturers, which plan to ramp up production in the coming years.

The Czech Republic is surrounded by battery factories in Germany, Poland and Hungary. Germany,

France, Austria and the United Kingdom also host electric car factories that will potentially require manganese products.

Euro Manganese also has an opportunity to bolster its environmental footprint in the local community it is operating.

By recycling the waste to develop its product, the company would effectively be remediating a polluted site, a plan that delights the Czech Government and near-by residents.

“This is an old mining operation that dates back to between 1951 and 1975 when the environmental standards were completely different to what we have today,” Romero says.

“In order for us to operate today we need to comply with the incredibly strict standards and regulations of the Czech Republic and the European Union. We need to comply on every count, the operations, waste management and importantly with the restoration of the site.

“This is effectively turning into a self-funded remediation of the site. If we didn’t do this the metals that are contained would continue leeching for thousands of years and continue to contaminate.”

Euro Manganese listed on the ASX in late 2018, raising $6.2 million from Australian investors. The company also listed on the TSWVenture Exchange in Canada at the

THE CHVALETICE SITE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC.

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same time, giving it more than $9 million in funds overall and access to a pair of sophisticated mining equity markets.

The initial public offering (IPO) kickstarted Euro Manganese’s plans at Chvaletice and the company has continued to gather momentum in 2019 despite last year’s rocky finish on the equity markets.

Euro Manganese’s near-term focus for Chvaletice includes to develop a demonstration plant to produce product samples for customer testing and ongoing studies to execute the project feasibility study.

With these important steps under way, Romero reflects on a project that has been almost three decades in the making for him.

“I have been working in and out of the Czech Republic for 28 years,” he says. “In 2004, we were presented with this opportunity – it took a while to really understand and appreciate its merits.

“The more we dug into it, the more we understood and the more excited we became. Now, effectively four years of work into the project we find ourselves with a project that has compelling economics and genuine strategic value.”

And Chvaletice’s value not only ticks the financial box, but the environmental one as well, something certain to be welcomed by the resources industry. AM

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A CRUSHING VICTORY THYSSENKRUPP IS ENGAGING ITS ENGINEERING PROWESS TO MAKE MINERALS PROCESSING MORE WATER, ENERGY AND SPACE EFFICIENT. AUSTRALIAN MINING LOOKS AT HOW THE COMPANY ACHIEVES THIS.

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omminution is an essential stage of minerals processing.

Whether wet grinding or dry grinding is involved, upstream or downstream, mines need to be able to break down materials to a manageable level.

German industrial company Thyssenkrupp manufactures a series of grinding products for the mining and minerals processing industries, including the autogenous mill (AG) / semi-autogenous mill (SAG), Polycom high-pressure grinding roll (HPGR), ball mill (BM), Velix (vertical stirred media mill), and vertical roller mills (VRM).

Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions Australia head of sales Ben Suda says the company has maintained longevity as a minerals processing provider because it is innovative.

With ore grades in decline and energy and water use a constant concern for mine sites, the company is set to provide forward-looking alternatives.

“At Thyssenkrupp, we constantly strive to address our customers’ challenges through thoughtful design,” he tells Australian Mining.

“Perhaps most importantly, Thyssenkrupp are the only supplier that is technology agnostic in the comminution space as we supply all types of equipment and can recommend the best machine for the job.”

Thyssenkrupp is also responsible for the world’s most powerful gyratory crusher, the KB 63-130. Unveiled at the Bauma event in Germany in April 2016, then later that year at Minexpo International in Las Vegas, the KB 63-130 has a drive rating of up to 1500 kilowatts and weighs 495 tonnes.

Despite possessing a larger mantle diameter (130 inches, or about 3.3 metres) than its predecessor model the KB 63-114, it actually weighs less and maintains the same height as other KB 63 models.

Thyssenkrupp’s gyratory crusher range offers customised spider designs, including ring spiders, split ring spiders, bone-type spiders and even jaw-type spiders for extra-large feed openings.

“Despite its massive throughput and installed power of up to 1500 kilowatt, the KB 63-130 is barely taller than traditional 60-89 designs from our competitors,” Suda adds.

Outside of gyratory crushing, Thyssenkrupp makes its mark with the Polycom HPGR, designed to save energy when compared to traditional AG and SAG mills.

Thyssenkrupp’s Polycom HGPR can achieve throughput rates of over 5000 tonnes per hour using around 40 to 50 per cent of the energy required by AG/SAG mills.

A fixture of the cement industry dating back to the 1980s, HPGRs are now an increasingly popular milling solution for hard rock mine sites as well, particularly as a tertiary or quaternary comminution solution.

The system uses two counterrotating rolls, one of which is in a fixed position while the other is hydraulically pushed to compress the gap between the two rolls during crushing. This compression adds pressure to the system to improve comminution as feed travels through the rolls. While an effective system, HPGRs used in hard rock mining at first suffered from

wear issues due to the highly abrasive qualities of the materials involved.

Thyssenkrupp was an early purveyor of the use of HPGRs in hard rock mining, having first introduced four Polycom 24/17 models to the Cerro Verde copper mine in Peru in 2006. This was followed by a Polycom 22/16 at Anglo American’s Mogalakwena platinum mine in South Africa in 2008 and four more Polycom 24/17 models at Newmont’s Boddington gold mine in Western Australia in 2009.

The company’s early endeavours helped springboard the technology’s viability in hard rock grinding, according to Suda.

“Thyssenkrupp, through thousands of hours of testing and working closely with our customers, was able to modify the HPGR concept to deal with harder and more abrasive materials (life time increased from 4000 hours to more than 10,000 hours), as well as improving the serviceability,” he explains.

“The reason that HPGRs are so widely accepted in mining applications now is largely attributable to the success of the Polycom.

THE KB 63-130 POSSESSES A LARGER MANTLE DIAMETER THAN ITS PREDECESSOR MODEL, WHILE ALSO WEIGHING LESS.

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“Our HPGR is also an excellent choice in many applications to achieve a dry grind in processes that in the past may have needed wet grinding to achieve similar results.”

Another option for consumers seeking an energy-saving solution is Thyssenkrupp’s Velix unit, a vertical helix stirred media mill developed in cooperation with Eirich.

The Velix is designed to provide a downstream complement to the Polycom HPGR to provide a watersaving wet grinding solution that produces comparable and even finer product than conventional ball mill setups. The vertical setup also means that the Velix has a smaller footprint than traditional horizontally aligned cylindrical mills.

“We optimise the speed of the screw to maximise performance whilst reducing wear, which increases the life of the liners,” explains Suda.

“Perhaps the key benefit of the Velix is the option of significantly larger and higher powered installations than previously available while minimising energy requirements.” AM

A CUTAWAY VIEW SHOWING THE INTERNAL WORKINGS OF THYSSENKRUPP’S KB 63-130 GYRATORY CRUSHER.

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MINERALS PROCESSING XXX

MCLANAHAN BREAKS THE CYCLE FOR SCRUBBING AND SCREENING MCLANAHAN’S INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO SCRUBBER AND TROMMEL OPTIMISATION IS RESULTING IN PRODUCTIVITY GAINS FOR MINERS. AUSTRALIAN MINING WRITES.

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otary scrubbers and trommels are a common sight at Australia’s mines.

They can be an important part of ore processing as they help to effectively separate and wash feed materials prior to downstream processing.

Rotary scrubbers can be beneficial for operations that require large feed sizes and high tonnage, with large diameter scrubbers and trommels able to handle feeds of up to 300 millimetres and throughput up to 3000 tonnes an hour.

This makes them ideal as primary washers, separating particles of loam, clay, soft rock and other deleterious elements from the ore particles prior to further screening and crushing.

Rotary trommels, meanwhile, drain and screen the material discharged from the scrubber – typically producing a clean oversize product ready for further crushing and screening. The trommel underflow, comprised of water, clays

in suspension and ore particles up to the trommel screen cut size, is typically screened again to separate the water and fines for further wet separation processes.

Scrubbers and trommels serve as a hardy alternative to vibrating screens, which tend to be more expensive, louder and more prone to wear and fatigue failure than rotary trommels. For ore feeds containing a high component of clays, scrubbers are the only alternative for breaking down and separating clay particles at high tonnage rates.

Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) McLanahan offers a machine that combines both rotary scrubbing and screening functions into a single unit. By combining these two essential functions, the plant saves on footprint and elevation, improves productivity and reduces maintenance times.

The initial screening process can be a highly abrasive activity, causing high wear rates and impact loads. If using a vibrating screen for this duty

THE INTERIOR OF ONE OF MCLANAHAN’S SCREENERS.

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THE PANEL SCREENS CAN BE SEEN THROUGH THE FRAME OF THE TROMMEL.

it can lead to significant replacement costs for screen decks, side panels and exciter beams. In a rotary trommel there are no vibrating parts with the ore subjected to a relatively low impact tumbling action, which prevents stratification and ensures all particles are presented to the screen apertures for removal of the undersize fraction. Even so, with large feed particles and high SG ores, this can be an arduous duty for trommel screen panels.

McLanahan regional manager Richard Williams and his colleagues were tasked by an Australian iron ore producer to improve its existing rubber trommel panels, which had an average life of six weeks, with superior options that could provide a reliable wear life in excess of 26 weeks. This resulted in extensive research and development to find materials and designs to attain the target wear life.

“The first stage of screening, be it flat vibrating screens or rotary trommels, is an arduous duty,” Williams tells Australian Mining.

“Some operations opt to use a combined scrubber-trommel taking advantage of having washing and screening on the same level. This provides an opportunity to eliminate

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a floor level to discharge onto your screen — this can save a lot of money on structure. But however you choose to do this first stage of screening, it’s an area of high wear and high abrasion,” Williams explains.

“The standard supply is thick rubber panels, but you’ve got big lumps of heavy iron ore rolling around in the trommel, so those panels don’t last very long.”

Williams and the team carried out several tiers of wear testing and impact testing on eight different trommel panel designs, with two eventually selected as the most suitable for full-scale trials in the scrubber-screen unit.

The trommel panel materials and designs were selected for testing on the basis of their potential to improve wear life, screening capacity, washing capabilities, maintenance costs and operating time between shuts.

“We set up an impact test jig to simulate the in service environment within an accelerated time frame delivering a lifetime of impacts in a few hours. All materials were separately tested for abrasion and wear, as well as also impact load — we needed a material and a panel

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that would survive the impact and the abrasion.

The two panel options selected for full-scale trials were a composite white iron HIcast panel and a dual layer steel CCO panel. The HIcast panel consists of a hot vulcanised rubber sandwiched between a cast white iron wearing surface and a steel backing plate. The dual layer CCO panel is an ultra-high wearing fused chromium carbide overlay (UHW CCO) panel which is installed on a semi-permanent quenched and tempered (Q&T) steel backplate for increased impact resistance. Both panel types were able to satisfy the required trommel panel service life.

The HIcast panels lasted longer during trials, but were also heavier than the CCO panels which made them more difficult to install. While the CCO panels had a shorter service life they easily met the customer’s requirements and the use of the backing panel in conjunction with the lower weight made installation faster and safer than the HIcast panels.

Regardless of the circumstances, both panels offer similar benefits for miners overall, says Williams.

The big advantage for operators is that they can schedule longer times between maintenance periods.”

“The HIcast is a bit more

expensive but it lasts longer so in terms of cost over time there’s not much difference, except perhaps for the advantages a site might get by extending their time between shutdowns” he explains.

The drive type used on this customer’s scubber-screen was also a factor in choosing the lighter CCO screens. Hydraulic end drives, while offering advantages of smooth start-up and easily adjustable speeds, have a disadvantage of more limited access to the inside of the machine. This increases manual handling requirements and resulted in a preference for the lighter CCO panels. Girth gear drives allow and open ended trommel design to provide easier access to the machine, making the heavier HIcast panels more manageable with the aid of machine handling.

McLanahan’s engineering approach encouraged such flexibility, being willing to customise equipment “in ways that make sense”, according to Williams.

This keeps with the company’s mantra of ‘Safer Simpler Smarter’, which stresses collaboration with plant operators across every facet of machine performance.

“Adjustability is critical. When you design a new plant you might sample a few tonnes of ore and do

AUSTRALIANMINING

A SET OF MCLANAHAN ROTARY SCRUBBERS AT AN IRON ORE SITE.

some testwork, but you don’t really know the full range of operating parameters you need to run because of the inherent variability in the ore,” says Williams.

“Customers like to have a machine that has a degree of adjustability so that if there is such variability over the life of the machine it’s not too big a deal to make those changes.

“The bigger the equipment,

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the more value you get out of customisation. It’s not ‘one size fits all’ because each site has its own peculiar set of realities.”

The company also offers postinstallation service and support options, and condition monitoring implementation to allow for predictive maintenance that ensures machines run to their optimum capacity, driving plant performance. AM

MINERALS PROCESSING XXX

RETAINING HUMAN ASSETS KEY TO STAYING AHEAD OF THE GAME MINPROVISE’S 100 PER CENT GROWTH IN SITE SERVICE CAPABILITY DURING THE PAST YEAR IS MATCHED BY ITS STRONG EMPLOYEE RETENTION RATE. GENERAL MANAGER TONY SUTTON TELLS VANESSA ZHOU HOW THE COMPANY CONTINUALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

W

hen various industries are caught in the debate of who’s responsible for staff upskilling, mining services provider Minprovise has gone further to solve the dilemma.

In fact, upskilling was how the company survived the mining downturn in 2013.

Minprovise’s business was initially built on mineral processing advice (hence the name ‘Minprovise’), playing to its founder Graham Townton’s expertise in reducing the risk associated with operating and maintenance of crushing equipment.

“There was a pretty big need for advisory in the height of the [mining] boom, but then the iron ore price dropped in 2013 to 2014,” Minprovise general manager Tony Sutton tells Australian Mining.

“As companies’ need for maintenance dropped, we then had to change the way we operated.”

But the secret to Minprovise’s downturn-defying growth is its penchant to constantly challenge its people – with or without a mining downturn.

Between the financial years of 2014 and 2019, Minprovise grew from a 40-strong workforce working in full time capacity, to a 55-, 60-, 80-, 90and 105-employee company this year.

While Minprovise’s ratio of labour to sales stayed pretty much the same, its casual workforce went from 250 to around 500 during the same period.

During the downturn, Minprovise

brought in additional subject-matter experts in different areas, such as pumps, stackers and reclaimers, belt filters, apron feeders and vibrating screens.

Its subject-matter experts then trained those who merely focused on crushers to also master these other areas, expanding Minprovise’s area of expertise into project and capital works, fabrication and offsite repairs and bulk materials handling equipment, among others.

During the past 18 months, Sutton has sat in two tender meetings where he was asked to differentiate Minprovise, a company he’s spent six years with, from the next company vying for the opportunity.

“My answer to that was, if I’m not here for the next six months, it won’t matter, because we have a strong depth,” Sutton says.

“If our site services director is away for two months, it won’t matter, because someone else will step up and fill that role.

“When you look at crusher servicing as an example, there would be over 15 people [in a team] that you could go to when you’re having an issue with your crusher. And those same people are capable of training another individual in the finer experts of doing that work.”

At Minprovise, employees are part of succession planning to grow from being an apprentice, a tradesman, to a supervisor. Every member’s training advice is being looked after – there is always somebody to turn to.

Today, Minprovise has 11

MINPROVISE HAS A VISION TO SEE ITS MEMBERS GROW FROM BEING A TEAM LEADER, A SUPERVISOR, TO A SUPERINTENDENT.

AUSTRALIANMINING

RECENT APPRENTICE SIGN-UP, JORDAN MERCOVICHBRAZELL, WITH RESOURCE MANAGER, SAM STEVENSON, OUTSIDE MINPROVISE’S WELSHPOOL HQ.

apprentices whom people in leadership are committed to train.

This fulfils the company’s goal of making four apprentice positions available each year “because that’s the next generation coming through.”

“We are not run by an individual,” Sutton says. “We’re not one dimensional. And this runs a long way down the organisation.”

It’s not hard to prove that Minprovise’s greatest assets are its people. The company’s steady retention rate stands in stark contrast to the industry-shared struggle for talent.

Eighty-two per cent of Minprovise’s increase in supervisory roles this year (from 14 to 39) came from internal hiring. Ninety per cent of company apprentices end up securing fulltime positions upon finishing. And 22 personnel – including supervisors and team leaders – are undertaking certificate four or diploma in leadership and management to move into senior level positions.

“If you want people to grow, they need to see that there’s room for growth,” Sutton says. “You don’t want them to become a number.

“It’s a two-way street, isn’t it? We can make the positions available

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and we can encourage people, but they have to do the work as well. We provide them feedback and those who want to make it will put the effort in.

“So I tell our clients – I tell everybody – we wouldn’t continue to grow like we are if we were a transactional company.”

Starting from day one, every team member is encouraged by team leaders to make a difference in the way things are done – that’s the strong Minprovise culture to do things in a better, and not safer, way.

This led to one of Minprovise’s crusher teams being recognised by a global mining group’s High Five team, which commended them for their safety innovation and practices in the elimination of working on live equipment and personnel out of line of fire while driving bowl into the crusher.

“We are not putting people out there so that they get paid an hourly rate,” Sutton says. “Our culture is about partnering with our teams and our clients to make a difference.

“And that is it for me. It’s about keeping people here, so you can actually build a culture and continue to grow as a provider of choice in the mining industry.” AM

MINERALS PROCESSING XXX

FORWARD THI NKING PARTNERS

•

• • •

SYSTEMS

• &

•

WE ARE CURRENTLY HIRING

If you're a Boilermaker, Fitter, Rigger, Mechanical, Engineering or Fabrication Trade - Minprovise want you to join our team.

Join one of the fastest growing Mining site services and Specialist Maintenance providers in Australia - A privately owned, Australian made and run company that is forward thinking and invests in your career growth Visit our website careers page for available roles or give us a call.

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MINERALS PROCESSING XXX

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR MINE SITES COULD BE MISSING OUT BY IGNORING OXYGEN MANAGEMENT DURING THE GOLD LEACHING PROCESS. AUSTRALIAN MINING TALKS TO AIR LIQUIDE MINING SPECIALIST RICK EDWARDS TO FIND OUT WHY.

A

ir Liquide is a company that would rather not be pigeon holed when it comes to metallurgy.

Established in France in 1902, the company has grown into one of the world’s largest industrial gas suppliers over the past century, earning a spot on the coveted Fortune Global 500 list.

Air Liquide is a major supplier to the Australian mining industry, notably for its minerals processing solutions in areas such as flotation and pH control, oxide roasting, gold and in-situ uranium leaching, process water treatment and nitrogen inerting systems for longwall underground mines.

The company is known for its gold leaching services, providing a customisable leaching solution to mine sites by determining the oxygen needs of gold ores and concentrates during the hydrometallurgical process. This process helps the company provide

WHAT WE’RE PUSHING TOWARDS IS ACTUALLY PROVIDING THE INJECTION TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT AS PART OF OUR PACKAGE AS A FULL TURNKEY SOLUTION. WE’RE STEPPING AWAY FROM THE YEARS OF JUST SELLING GAS MOLECULES AND ARE NOW SELLING A GAS SOLUTION.” a customisable solution that leads to significant production gains.

Air Liquide engineers evaluate the mass transfer coefficient and reagent consumption levels to help pinpoint required oxygen levels in the pulp. Formerly, Air Liquide served solely in the capacity as a gas supplier for this process, but it has in recent years made the move towards equipment supply and postinstallation support to cement its status as a turnkey provider of gold leaching services.

“What we’re pushing towards is actually providing the injection technology equipment as part of our package as a full turnkey solution.

We’re stepping away from the years of just selling gas molecules and are now selling a gas solution,” Air Liquide Australia’s mining specialist Rick Edwards says.

“We’re also in a beautiful position where we can stay neutral, so we can look at many different types of injection technology and decide what is best for that particular site based on their mineralogy, geography, or a number of other factors.”

Edwards argues that it is easy for onsite maintenance staff in charge of leaching operations to overlook the potential detrimental effect of improper oxygen system management in the leaching process.

AIR LIQUIDE HELPS GOLD SITES MAXIMISE RECOVERY

BY OPTIMISING GAS LEVELS AND EQUIPMENT.

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“Any issues with the oxygen system can be difficult to identify as it has no direct effect on the ongoing running of the plant,” he says.

Despite this, injection is essential for the oxidation of labile iron sulphides in the leaching solution, and correct oxygen management can help workers achieve maximum gold recovery while also increasing passivation of cyanide consumers, which has the added bonus of reducing total cyanide consumption.

Air Liquide also reduces water discharge in the process by eliminating cyanide compounds with ozone or restoring pH levels with carbon dioxide, which allows plants to recycle water and thus reduce water discharge.

The company’s solution also eschews chlorine and, in turn, the ore roasting process that precedes it, which can result in the emission of large quantities of sulphur dioxide.

This combination of factors results in a leaching process that maximises returns while also being better for

MINERALS PROCESSING XXX

the environment.

Edwards notes that there is not only a trend towards more environmentally benign leaching solutions in the gold sector, but also towards fresh ore treatments as mines go ever deeper.

“As people continue to dig deeper and do feasibility studies that aren’t just for a five-year mine run — with our clients we’re often looking at 10 years at least — that means that we’ve got to go deeper and treat more combinations of ore,” Edwards explains.

“There’s definitely a trend that gold mines across Australia are starting to treat a lot more fresh ore than before and as such that definitely puts a bigger emphasis on proper oxygen requirements when compared with the past.”

That means sites could be able to treat larger batches of ore in difficult areas while still meeting their margins, as well as sites looking to extend their mine life.

Air Liquide encourages sites to approach them early on in the procurement process to facilitate the best approach. Due to the company’s neutral approach to technology, it doesn’t favour one

brand over another, instead looking at equipment combinations that will provide the optimum solution.

This combination of tech neutrality and lab testing — including gas chromatography services — makes the company more than just a gas supplier, according to Edwards.

“If our rivals are people who are just selling one piece of equipment, they are going to claim that it is the best for a particular mine site, whereas we would look at their piece of equipment amongst others and then conduct tests to work out which is better,” Edwards explains.

“In that regard, we’re always going to have a much better case study and be able to research a multitude of options.”

In keeping with this appeal to current demands for technologydriven solutions, Air Liquide has rolled out a wireless condition monitoring solution for dissolved oxygen and pH levels.

The Air Liquide wireless monitoring system is designed primarily for gold and copper leaching monitoring. Using this system, up to 255 monitors can be connected wirelessly to a main

@Ai_r Liquide creative oxygen

AUSTRALIA IS THE WORLD LEADER FOR GOLD RESOURCES AND THE SECONDLARGEST GOLD PRODUCER AFTER CHINA.

controller at a safe distance of up to four kilometres away.

It is part of the company’s recently established umbrella brand Nexelia, which combines Air Liquide’s processing solutions into a cohesive whole. It is the latest example of the company’s tailored approach to technology.

“This is really new. The first

package has just been ordered for Australia following development in South Africa. We’re very excited about how it could help mine sites maximise their potential during leaching,” Edwards concludes. AM Air Liquide will be exhibiting and presenting its last innovations at the ALTA 2019 Conference in Perth on May 23-24.

I SOLUTIONS FOR MINING & MINERAL PROCESSING

Air Liquide has been supporting the mining industry all over the world for more than 20 years, providing solutions to increase efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of mining and mineral processing activities.

GOLD PROCESSING I LITHIUM PURIFICATION I WATER TREATMENT

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DISCOVER MORE

www.airliquide.com.au/mining

MINERALS PROCESSING MINERALS PROCESSING

ERIEZ DRY VIBRATING MAGNET FILTER REMOVES FINE IRON-BEARING CONTAMINANTS HIGH-INTENSITY DRY VIBRATING MAGNET FILTERS FROM ERIEZ HAVE PROVEN TO SUCCESSFULLY REMOVE FINE IRON-BEARING CONTAMINANTS SUCH AS LITHIUM AND OTHER HARD-TO-FLOW POWDERS.

E

riez high-intensity dry vibrating magnet filters (DVMFs) are specifically designed to remove very fine iron-bearing contaminants from hard-to-flow fine powders such as lithium.

Typical applications include fine sand, glass power, talc, clays and various other finely divided industrial minerals, as well as chemical products.

The standard design consists of a solenoid electromagnet which generates a magnetic field into the bore of the separation zone. A filter element of expanded metal placed in the separation zone concentrates the magnetic flux of the magnetic field.

This produces scores of highgradient collection zones which capture magnetic contaminants as feed material filters through the element.

The DVMF is perfect for both lithium producers and users.

Producers pulverize lithium before it goes to the user as a very fine powder. DVMF units are placed prior to and after mill processing.

As an additional check, many users apply the DVMF when they receive lithium purchased from the producer.

DVMFs reduce contamination in lithium dramatically by utilising a high-intensity electromagnet and revolutionary flux converging matrix.

The DVMF is fed vertically via gravity flow.

As the feed material filters through the matrix and exits out the bottom, the matrix captures and holds the magnetic material as the nonmagnetic material passes through.

The magnetic collection of fine particles requires a high-intensity, high-gradient magnetic field. This type of separator utilises a highintensity electromagnet and flux

converging matrix. The matrix amplifies the magnetic field and provides high-gradient collection sites for the magnetic material as the feed materials filter through.

The canister is attached to dual high-frequency, low-amplitude vibratory drives. These drives deliver a strong vibratory action to the canister assembly which enhances the fluidity of very fine powders, resulting in a smooth and even flow of product through the matrix grid. This has proven to be the most effective separation process.

Eriez DVMFs are available in two strengths: 2000 and 5000 gauss. In some cases, the 5000 gauss units reduce contamination to parts per billion, rather than parts per million, which was expected previously.

Eriez state-of-the-art DVMFs are fully automated and feature a simplified cooling system. Other highlights include programmable controllers and the ability to handle four to 12-inch diameter sizes.

The standard filters’ background magnetic field capacities are based on fine powder flow range up to 100 pounds per square inch of cross sectional area of matrix. A six-inch diameter is capable of treating up to 2800 pounds per hour of material weighing 400 pounds a cubic foot.

Design characteristics

The magnetic filters consist of a solenoid electromagnetic coil enclosed in a steel housing.

Schematics one and two illustrate the 2000 gauss and 5000 gauss Eriez SCHEMATIC 1: 2000 AND 5000 GAUSS DRY VIBRATING MAGNETIC FILTER

COOKING OIL STEEL CIRCUIT

RESISTIVE COILS

SCHEMATIC 2: THE DVMF CONSISTS OF A THICK STEEL BOX WITH A CANISTER IN THE BORE. ALUMINUM OR COPPER COILS ARE POSITIONED AROUND THE CANISTER. DIRECT CURRENT POWER ENERGIZES THE COIL AND ALLOWS THE MATRIX TO COLLECT MAGNETIC PARTICLES.

DVMFs. The coil generates a uniform magnetic field throughout the bore of the coil, which represents background magnetic field. A stack of expanded metal discs is packed in the bore and induced by the magnetic field.

These expanded metal discs, termed the matrix, provide the vehicle for separation. The matrix amplifies the background magnetic field, produces local regions of extremely high gradient and provides the collection sites for magnetic particle capture.

The magnetic force acting to capture a magnetic particle is proportional to the product of the magnetic field intensity and the magnetic field gradient. In equation form: Where Fm is the magnetic force acting on a particle, H is the

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MATRIX

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background magnetic field, and dH/dx is the magnetic field gradient (convergence of flux) generated on the matrix.

Utilising a relatively high background magnetic field coupled with an extremely high magnetic field gradient results in a highintensity high-gradient separator.

A matrix type separator substantially improves the capture of fine particles. In a matrix, the material must filter through several layers of highly induced magnetic grids, increasing the probability of capturing more contamination over conventional plate, grate, trap or drum type separators.

Even with relatively large matrix spacing, the material is subject to this filtering effect, resulting in the capture of magnetic material.

The dry filters are rated by the magnetic field strength generated in the bore of the solenoid coil with the matrix removed. The background

MINERALS PROCESSING MINERALS PROCESSING

DVMF REDUCE CONTAMINATION IN LITHIUM DRAMATICALLY BY UTILISING A HIGH-INTENSITY ELECTROMAGNET AND REVOLUTIONARY FLUX CONVERGING MATRIX. magnetic field, often termed the open bore field, represents the driving force that produces the amplified high magnetic gradient throughout the matrix.

Depending on the matrix configuration, it is typically the case that a 5000 gauss background field will result in an excess of 10,000 gauss in localised regions of the matrix.

The electromagnet is a solenoid coil completely sealed in a steel housing. Standard model filters generate background magnetic field strengths of either 2000 or 5000 gauss.

The solenoid coils are wound from copper to dissipate heat and operate at relatively cool temperatures.

The 2000 gauss models operate with static oil cooling. The 5000 gauss models are oiled-cooled and utilise a heat exchanger where it is cooled with a 10 GPM water flow.

Operating characteristics

The background magnetic field is typically determined through an identification of the magnetic material or by quantitative testing.

Eriez’ experience has established some general guidelines for selection of the proper magnetic field selection.

For example, the 2000 Gauss unit is used to handle fine to relatively coarse (50 micron and larger)

ferromagnetic iron of abrasion or scale contaminants.

The 5000 Gauss unit is perfect for very fine (minus 50 micron to sub-micron) ferromagnetic iron of abrasion, scale or paramagnetic contaminants such as ilmenite or chromite.

It is specified when a high-purity product is required and where product specifications call for parts per million (ppm) contaminants levels. Again the DVMF achieves parts per billion removed performance.

Duty cycles (operating time of the magnet between cleaning cycles) are typically determined by identifying the amount of magnetic material contained in the feed product.

Materials containing up to 2 per cent contaminant may require very frequent cleaning.

In these applications, the duty cycle may approximate 10 to 20 minutes. In this scenario, an automated feeding valve and reject gate are recommended.

Treating relatively pure materials which may have only average ppm levels of contamination allow relatively long duty cycles, sometimes over an hour. AM Eriez, a recognised world authority in separation technologies, will be exhibiting at Austmine in Brisbane from May 22-23 on stand 27.

DRY VIBRATING MAGNETIC FILTERS ARE DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR DRY APPLICATIONS – THE TREATMENT OF POWDERS. ITS PURPOSE IS TO REMOVE FINE FERROUS CONTAMINANTS FROM DRY POWDER. THERE ARE TWO AVAILABLE STRENGTHS – 2000 AND 5000 GAUSS. THE DVMF IS PERFECT FOR GLASSMAKING FEEDSTOCKS, TALC, INDUSTRIAL CERAMICS AND ABRASIVES.

Maximum Separation Efficiency

ERIEZ LEADING-EDGE EQUIPMENT FOR MINERALS PROCESSING Whether it’s processing high volumes of iron ore, or removing micron-sized ferrous or paramagnetic contaminants from valuable minerals, Eriez offers a full range of continuous and batch magnetic solutions for wet processing.

Innovative technology, advanced designs and durable construction.

Complete in-house capability to test and recommend separation options, and our experts can provide you with the best advice.

Eriez will be exhibiting at Austmine 2019 in Brisbane from 22-23 May. Eriez is recognised as World Authority in Separation Technologies

613 8401 7400

sales.au@eriez.com

Eriez.com.au

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Visit us at

AUSTMINE

#27

PRODUCTS

LIEBHERR UNVEILS UPDATED EXCAVATORS

SANDVIK COMMISSIONS PORTER AS MOBILE CRUSHERS DEALER

Liebherr has launched its B versions of the R 9100 and R 9150 excavators. Both machines have proven to be reliable and productive partners in the mining industry over the years. The R 9100 B and R 9150 B are equipped with the long-lasting and proven Liebherr V12 diesel engine, specifically designed to withstand harsh conditions such as Australia’s. The Liebherr D9512 diesel engine is the latest generation of the OEM’s engines. The updated versions also come with the exclusive EVO Bucket Solution with patented Liebherr design to maximise the loading capacity and ensure optimal penetration efficiency. The new buckets make both excavators perfect working partners in terms of shovel match for the Liebherr T 236 truck and other articulated and rigid trucks in the 50–100 tonne class. The R 9150 B is also available in electric drive.

• liebherr.com

Sandvik has appointed Porter Group as the agent for its range of mobile crushers and screens for the whole of Australia. The move is an extension of Sandvik’s appointment of Porter as its crushing and screening equipment agent in Western Australia in March 2018. Porter imports heavy equipment through sales and hire, providing after-sales support in servicing and parts, as well as construction equipment financing options. The relationship between the two companies dates back to 2009, when Porter became the go-to provider for Sandvik mobile crushing and screening hardware in New Zealand. Porter owns more than 50 retail locations across New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea and in the United States. Sandvik Mobile Crushers and Screens manufacture tracked, wheeled and portable plant, ranging from jaw, impact and cone crushers, three-way split screens, double screens, triple deck screens and scalpers.

• rocktechnology.sandvik/en/

CUMMINS INTRODUCES POWER TECHNOLOGY Cummins has debuted the HSK78G natural gas generator series. The OEM has developed the series to offer a total package of gas generator capabilities and innovative gas technology for prime and peaking power applications.

With a power density of up to 2.0 megawatts from a 78-litre engine, the HSK78G generator series is designed to provide reliable power, regardless of the natural gas source or the climate, including extreme heat up to 55 degrees Celsius and extreme altitudes. This new technology represents a bold step into the gas arena for Cummins that pushes new levels of efficiency, transient performance and gas variation well beyond former natural gas generators. The HSK78G models are suitable for a diverse set of industries from mining and manufacturing to shopping malls and hospitals.

• cummins.com.au

MOVUS LAUNCHES WIRELESS CONDITION MONITORING TOOL Movus has launched its most advanced and cost-effective intrinsically safe, certified condition monitoring technology in a bid to reduce maintenance costs. FitMachine EX has been built for explosive environments where monitoring and maintaining the equipment is extremely hazardous, so safety is critical to engineering and maintenance processes. Movus designed FitMachine EX in partnership with major oil and gas companies following its win of the KPMG Energise 2.0 Accelerator Program. Movus also undertook an extensive certification process, including internal systems and processes, manufacturing auditing processes and material management control to ensure compliance with ISO/IEC 80079-34:2018, the quality system for manufacturing devices for explosive atmospheres. Movis has chosen ALS as its main go-to-market partner for FitMachine EX.

• movus.com.au

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PRODUCTS

EMERSON ENHANCES MANAGEMENT OF ASSETS Emerson has launched a new version of the AMS Device Manager that helps improve plant reliability with better organised data for more informed and proactive management of field services. New embedded tools allow project and operations teams to customise plant device hierarchies, project tracking, and device alerts, delivering improved decision support. With AMS Device Manager, Emerson aims to help teams effectively use device data to deliver more reliable operations and shorten project engineering timelines. Many plants struggle to manage thousands of devices in complex and often out of date plant device structures, often using long, disorganised lists that make it hard to find and identify critical devices. AMS Device Manager’s enhanced bulk transfer functionality changes this paradigm, providing the tools to configure whole systems automatically, including setup of device alert monitoring and plant hierarchies.

• emerson.com/en-au/

BOART LONGYEAR PROVIDES VALUABLE OREBODY KNOWLEDGE Boart Longyear has introduced several geological data services and instrumentation over the last few years to complement its drilling services and products divisions. TruShot digital downhole survey technology, introduced in mid-2018, is used to capture high-quality, threedimensional hole path data and to precisely determine the azimuth and dip measurement of boreholes. Part of the company’s robust instrumentation line-up is the TruCore core orientation tool. Oriented core is increasingly playing an important role in deposit definition and structural analysis.

TruCore offers the best way to determine the true direction of the mineralisation of a geological feature, deposit and the associated structure.

An innovation that has quickly caught the attention of the exploration industry is the TruScan onsite core and chip scanning technology. TruScan provides geologists with non-destructive, accurate, high-density elemental concentration data for same-day continuous analysis of drill core.

CONTINENTAL SMART AIR SPRING SYSTEM ENHANCES EFFICIENCY Continental has developed an air spring system with integral sensor technology that provides continuous operational status information in real time. Everyday operations in the construction and mining sectors will gain in efficiency as a result of the smart air spring. The continuous condition monitoring offers operators of construction machinery valuable assistance in ensuring trouble-free and efficient operations. Continental’s system represents a fundamental contribution to the digitalisation of air spring applications. The air spring can now supply precise and reliable information on its status, e.g. pressure, temperature and height. The air spring’s operating height can also be displayed accurately and dependably. Continental aims to usher in the next phase of digitisation with the system.

• continental-corporation.com

ROTOCLEAR VISION PROVIDE REMOTE VIEW INTO PRODUCTION The latest Rotoclear model, the S3, features the world’s lowest installation height of just 34 millimetres, allowing simpler installation compared to the previous models. With this latest model the device is always mounted on the inside of the inspection window with safety being maintained. There are different options for installation of different machining centre windows with bolt-on or adhesive-mounted versions available. As with previous models, the device works by a rotating disc flinging off striking coolants and cuttings, whether water-soluble or water-insoluble. The spinning window keeps the inspection window clean and thus ensures continuous control of workflow.

The maximum field of view is achieved via a revolutionary and patented drive concept, while high torque guarantees a clear view of the production process even under the toughest milling conditions.

• rotoclear.com

• boartlongyear.com

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EVENTS

CONFERENCES, SEMINARS & WORKSHOPS EVENT SUBMISSIONS CAN BE EMAILED TO EDITOR@AUSTRALIANMINING.COM.AU MINES AND MONEY ASIA, HONG KONG, APRIL 2-4 Now in its 12th year, Asia’s largest mining investment forum has helped to generate billions of dollars in new business deals and opportunities. This year will see over 1000 key global decision makers, mining executives, investors, commodity buyers and policy makers from over 40 countries converge in Hong Kong for three days of learning, deal making and unparalleled networking. The conference program will feature over 150 global thought leaders discussing the global mining investment landscape, with an in depth look at political and macroeconomic impacts on the price of commodities, supply and demand dynamics, and China’s role as a key consumer of commodities.

• asia.minesandmoney.com DEEP SEA MINING SUMMIT 2019, LONDON, APRIL 29–30 Labelled as the international forum for deep sea mining professionals, this summit serves as an opportunity for scientists and deep sea mining companies to come together for a still-emerging (or perhaps submerging) industry. Now in its ninth year, topics include the economic potential of deepsea mining, achieving sustainability, establishing regulatory frameworks, technological advances, and more. The summit will also be looking into regional opportunities for harvesting of seafloor sulphides and manganese nodules.

Speakers from Nautilus Minerals, Lockheed Martin, the US Geological Survey, and the China Ocean Mineral Resource R&D Association (COMRA) will be in attendance, among others.

• deepsea-mining-summit.com 2019 NSW MINERALS COUNCIL EXPLORATION FORUM, MAY 6 This exploration forum focuses on regulatory framework, policy framework and exploration case studies across the New South Wales mining and minerals sectors. Chief executives and mining majors join juniors and aspirants in an event that unites the entire industry across the state. The winner of the NSW Mining Explorer of the Year Award will also be revealed at the event. In 2018, Regis Resources beat out tough competition from Heron Resources and South32 to take home the award.

• nswmining.com.au AUSTMINE 2019: MINING INNOVATION, BRISBANE, MAY 21–23 Austmine returns in 2019 with its focus on mining innovation. The biennial event, to be held in Brisbane this year, includes workshops, presentations, case studies, networking and Austmine’s mining industry awards across three packed days. The latest mining technology and services will be on display and a cohort of Australian and international speakers are scheduled to attend.

• austmineconference.com.au

AUSTRALIANMINING

COMMINUTION 2019, LIMA, PERU, MAY 30–31

MINING THE TERRITORY, DARWIN, SEPTEMBER 4–5

Comminution 2019, II International Congress on Minerals Comminution (to give it its full title) is up there with the biggest events around the world that are dedicated to breaking rocks.

Taking in a conference, trade show exposition and several courses, this year’s event features Glencore as a platinum sponsor and will take place in the Sol de Oro hotel in the Peruvian capital of Lima. The event covers all comminution-related activities, including blasting, milling, screening, grinding, plant processing and much more. Alban Lynch, an engineer with decades of experience and several awards, joins the University of Queensland’s Malcolm Powell on this year’s consulting committee.

• www.encuentrometalurgia.com

Part of the prestigious NT Resources Week, the Mining the Territory conference focuses on exploration, resources and development and logistics in the mining industry of the Northern Territory. It is recognised as one of the Top End’s leading mining conferences. The conference’s format was revised last year with the addition of a Regional Spotlight segment, which will continue into 2019. Speakers this year include Matt Canavan, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia; Michael Gunner, Chief Minister for the Northern Territory; and a bevy of industry figures from companies such as Glencore, Newcrest and Rio Tinto.

• ntresourcesweek.com.au/miningthe-territory-conference

DIGGERS & DEALERS MINING FORUM, KALGOORLIE, AUGUST 5–7

2019 AUSTRALIAN MINING PROSPECT AWARDS, BRISBANE, OCTOBER 10

Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum is back with its unique combination of mining presentations and large exhibition area, with a delegation made up of mining and exploration companies, mining services companies, investors, bankers and financiers, among others. Highly respected experts will be in attendance to provide insightful commentary to delegates. A world-class entertainment program also ensures that delegates experience the best of the style and hospitality of Kalgoorlie.

• diggersndealers.com.au

The Australian mining industry’s biggest awards celebration is heading to the Sunshine State for the first time this year. With coal becoming the nation’s biggest mining export this year, the timing couldn’t be better to celebrate the industry’s contribution in Queensland. The 2019 Australian Mining Prospect Awards will take place at Moda Events in Brisbane on October 10, honouring the best and brightest of an industry that prides itself as a cultural and economic cornerstone.

• prospectawards.com.au

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, D E E N U .

O T Y E R R E ER N. V E F O T N A O H IS H W D IT RC A N I E F ES TH

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SHINING A LIGHT ON EXPLOSION PROTECTION

INTRINSICALLY SAFE

WITH ADVANCED FOCUS SYSTEM

For those working in potentially explosive environments, only the safest and most reliable equipment will do. Specially designed for contact with explosive gases, vapours and dust, the new Ledlenser EX and iL series fulfil both Ex and IECEx standards in every respect. The EX and iL series are not only safe for use - they also deliver excellent performance, with high brightness levels, long battery life and Ledlenser‘s patented Advanced Focus System for simple adjustment of the light beam’s illumination area and throw distance.

ledlenser.com.au