N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 0
Met Soc News
The Year in Review
The committee has been active in several areas during the year.
Perhaps the most significant result has been a decisive step in the long process to
produce a revised edition of Australasian Mining and Metallurgy (The Mawby
Volume), with substantial funding from the industry, and the formation of a project
committee with representation from the Board, AusIMM Services and the Societies.
Rob Burns was appointed Project Leader, a Project Coordinator , Chris Wyness with
a publishing background has been appointed, and planning is well under way.
The 25th International Mineral Processing Congress (IMPC) was held in Australia in
September, at the Brisbane Convention Centre. Rod Elvish was a member of the
organising committee. The conference attracted over 1000 delegates, and the
program was run in four streams over four days. The exhibition had 70 booths and
was a popular centre for information and networking. This was the largest event
ever managed by AusIMM, and the Events Department demonstrated their
professionalism to deliver a very successful conference.
The year has also seen the publication of two significant metallurgical volumes:
Flotation Plant Optimisation, edited by Chris Greet, and Alban Lynch‘s History of
Flotation. Various committee members have provided assistance in a variety of
ways to these publications.
Peter Tilyard has added additional material to the Metallurgical Toolbox online.
The December issue of Transactions Section C will include nine papers selected from
past MetPlant conferences for their continuing relevance, plus two book reviews.
Since his appointment to the editorial board of the Transactions, Philip Stewart has
been active in raising the quality and relevance of the papers published.
On behalf of the MetSoc committee, we wish you a happy festive season and a
prosperous new year.
David Pollard
Chair Metallurgical Society
METSOC
NEWS NOVEMBER 2010
CONTENTS
MetPlant 2011,
update;
History of
Flotation
2
MetPlant 2011,
Call for papers
3
Mawby Third
Edition Project
Update;
The Mineral
Processing
Toolbox
4
International
Transactions—
Section C;
5
Vacation Work
and Graduate
Development;
The AusIMM
Bulletin
6
Contact Us 7
Calling Members working in the GeoMet field
Following on from Congress this year and further discussions the
AusIMM Metallurgy Society is seeking feedback from those members
working in the GeoMet field.
Comments are welcome and should be provided to
including expressions of interest to be involved in a possible
working group.
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MetPlant 2011 Conference
8 – 9 August 2011, Perth WA
CALL FOR PAPERS
The 2011 conference will return to a focus on world‘s best practice and we hope that
delegates will gain take-home ideas and inspiration as well as new knowledge.
The deadline for abstract submission has been extended to December 15. While we
have had a good response so far, we are looking for more papers on world‘s best
practice in engineering design, construction and commissioning of metallurgical plants,
operating strategies and management. The conference covers mineral processing,
hydro- and pyro-metallurgy, water and tailings management and energy efficiency. The
conference website is http://www.ausimm.com.au/metplant2011/.
The delegate profile at past MetPlant conferences consistently breaks down to about 1/3
operations managers and metallurgists, 1/3 engineers (plant design and construction)
and 1/3 suppliers and manufacturers of equipment, software, etc researchers and
consultants. The conference provides a very good opportunity to keep in touch with the
companies that are planning, designing and building the next generation of processing
plants as well as cross-pollination of ideas between delegates.
The exhibition is filling quickly, as are sponsorships. The 2011 conference will keep to the
two day format which past delegates have voted for, and in 2011 it will avoid parallel
sessions. This will result in fewer papers, but a higher quality program.
History of Flotation
At IMPC 2010, The AusIMM officially launched its latest addition to the
Spectrum Series, History of Flotation, written by Alban Lynch, Greg
Harbort and Mike Nelson.
The volume was launched by AusIMM President Greg Chalmers during
the Plenary Session on Day 2. Following the launch, the authors made
themselves available to meet and greet interested delegates at The
AusIMM Booth and were kept very busy signing
copies of the book and CD Rom.
History of Flotation is available for sale now via The
AusIMM Online Shop: http://www.ausimm.com.au/
shop and reviews of the volume will be included in
both the Mineral Processing and Extractive
Metallurgy Transactions journal and The AusIMM
Bulletin.
Alban Lynch, Mike Nelson and Greg Harbort
(Photo supplied by Barry Wills)
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Mawby Third Edition Project Update
As flagged in the last MetSoc News a plan is now in place to produce
the 3rd edition of the Mawby Volumes over the next two years. A Project
Team under the chairmanship of Peter McCarthy has been selected to
oversee the preparation and publication of the third edition. Each of
the AusIMM technical societies will be represented on the Project
Committee as well as Project sponsors. Peter Tilyard has accepted the
role of MetSoc representative. A Project Team is also currently being
established to undertake the Project, under the leadership of Rob Burns. So far a project
proposal comprising a draft scope, budget, plan and schedule have been prepared.
This proposal is to be reviewed by the Project Committee over the next few weeks and
once approved work will commence in earnest. The Project Team will be relying heavily
on Members to be sub-editors and reviewers as well as helping produce the detailed
scope document and guidelines.
A full description of the Project will appear in the AusIMM Bulletin.
The Mineral Processing Toolbox
Over the past few years I have written numerous articles on the Toolbox for the
Metsoc News. These have mainly been of the cajoling and begging variety as I
looked for suggestions for improving and/or expanding the content. I have never
been overwhelmed by the response to these requests. The question I ask is how
relevant and useful is the Toolbox, given that much of the content (including some
of the handbooks) can be found on the internet.
From time to time it occurs to me that the presentation could be streamlined and
the content rearranged.
Possibly the main justification for maintaining the Toolbox is that it is handy to have all
of the handbooks (in particular) in the one location. Talking of which Metso have
kindly agreed to provide a copy of the Metso Slurry Pumping Handbook to add to
the collection. I did not realise that this existed until I stumbled upon the reference
while checking to see if I could find some of the more obscure handbook offerings
on the internet. There is already some useful information on slurry pump design and
selection in the Toolbox. The Slurrytech Curve Engine is also available on the internet
but Tony Griffith‘s guide isn‘t.
Send your comments or contributions to [email protected]
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Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy
December Issue
The December issue of ―Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy‖ comprises a
considered selection of papers from the 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008 MetPlant
conferences. These papers were judged to be of sufficient significance to merit to
exposure to a wider, international audience. They all refer to Australian practice or to
plants either in Australia or operated by Australian companies.
Several of these papers reflect the close and productive working relationships between
industry, those involved in design and construction, universities and research
establishments that have existed in Australia for a long time and all papers relate in some
way to full-scale plant. In addressing real industrial problems these papers show the
particular challenges that exist in plant work compared to laboratory studies. In the
laboratory, experimental conditions can be closely controlled and it should be possible
with careful work to replicate an experiment from one day to the next. In an operating
plant many variables such as head grade, mineralogy, breakage resistance and pulp
temperatures are subject to uncontrolled variation and this creates additional
challenges. The various papers have approached this difficulty in different ways.
The papers cover a wide range of plant activity – selecting treatment rate, the stages of
development of a new facility, design of flotation circuits, selective flotation of fines,
meaningful recoveries in CIL/CIP plants, the influence of grinding media and collector
addition point on metallurgical results in a Pb/Zn concentrator, identifying the reason for
gold losses.
This issue is essentially practical in emphasis and should therefore be a significant
resource for many metallurgists engaged in operations. It is hoped that all involved in
mineral processing research will find something of value in terms of becoming aware of
the ultimate context for their studies and the challenges that have to be addressed
and the investigation required to make significant advances in practice.
Philip Stewart
Co-Editor
Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy
(Transactions Part C)
Online Access
To access AES and the Transactions journals free of charge, please
log in to the AusIMM website members only area at: http://
www.ausimm.com.au/content/default.aspx?ID=81
If you have misplaced your member login details, click on the ‗forgot
password ID/password?‘ link on the login page or email:
[email protected] for assistance.
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Vacation Work and Graduate Development
The early experience of students and graduates in the industry is important for both
employees and employers. A variety of vacation work experiences helps students to
decide which aspects of the industry most interest them, and it gives potential
employers an opportunity to assess the students working for them, while contributing
to their development.
Once a graduate starts work with a company, the range and quality of the graduate
development program will help to shape preferences, while also familiarising
graduates with the technical, management and cultural aspects of the company.
The MetSoc is interested to explore how we can assist students, graduates and
employers in these areas. We invite suggestions from members about the elements
that produce good programs. This will help us to focus our attention in those aspects
where we can assist with suggestions for both vac work and graduate development
schemes.
Please email your comments and ideas to Donna Edwards
[email protected] with the subject line MetSoc Vac Work & Grad
Development.
The AusIMM Bulletin Update
The December 2010 edition of the Bulletin has been published! Features include:
Africa
Drilling and Blasting
Base Metals
Victoria
Indigenous and Community Relations
The February 201 edition of the Bulletin is currently in
production, with features to include:
China
New South Wales
Coal
Water in Mining
Underground Mining
If you are interested in submitting to future editions of the Bulletin, please send an
outline of your proposed article to the Editor via [email protected]
The AusIMM Bulletin is also available online! Members Only section: http://
www.ausimm.com.au/content/default.aspx?ID=43 (please ensure you are logged in).
CONTACT US
If you have any feedback, would like to make a suggestion or contribute to the MetSoc
Newsletter, please email the Secretariat via [email protected] or any of the
Met Soc Committee members list below:
David Pollard (Chair): [email protected]
Peter Tilyard (Vice Chair): [email protected]
Donna Edwards (Secretariat): [email protected]
Rod Grant: [email protected]
Andrew Newell: [email protected]
Rod Elvish: [email protected]
Philip Stewart: [email protected]
Dean David: [email protected]
Greg Martin: [email protected]
Roger Jackman: [email protected]
Michael Catchpole: [email protected]
Or you can find out more about the Metallurgical Society by visiting our
website! : http://www.ausimm.com.au/content/default.aspx?ID=232
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