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Contract Mining
Contract Mining started in South Africa, is thriving in Australia, but is avoided in north America for reasons noted by Phillip Crowson who writes:
Contracting-out involves much greater risk than its proponents are prepared to acknowledge. No matter how the terms of the contract are worded, the mining company inevitably retains the risk to its reputation if the contractors causes any unexpected environmental damage, or runs into labor disputes.
During the 1970's Fraser F. Alexander (FFA), a mine waste contractor based in South Africa, was run by Fred "Old Man" Daly. He had taken over the company from his father and grandfather who started near the turn of the century running the old mine's slimes dams for a penny a ton. This was the beginning of contract mining.
My first trip to the United States and Canada was with Fred's daughter and her husband (FFA's General Manager) - he came to explore opportunities for contract mining for FFA in North America. In South Africa most mines, gold, platinum and diamond, are within a few hours drive of Boksburg, FFA's then home town. In North America mines are spread from Quebec to California. FFA decided the distance between mines in North America was too great to make contract mining viable-your best engineers and managers would spend all their time on planes and not at mines. So we went home with momentos but no action plans.
Thirty years later I found myself in a renovated bank building in the old part of an older city plotting a new mine with a North American client. The essence of the strategy was to engage a contract miner to work the open pit for the first three years while the mining company set about developing the long-term underground workings. This plotting took me to Google and this is what I found.
Australian Contract Mining. Australian Contract Mining Pty Ltd. tells us that they are a specialist underground mining contractor and provide their experience and significant underground expertise to the Australian underground mining industry. BHP-Billiton announced the award of a large contract mining contract to Macmahon to undertake mining and ore crushing at the Newman Mine in Western Australia. Hochtief. Hochtief describes five case histories of its contract mining projects in Australia and Indonesia. This viginette tells all:
Leighton subsidiary Thiess has been responsible for the Mt Owen coal mine since its "birth" in 1996. It built and equipped the mine and set up the requisite infrastructure. Thiess has a life-of-mine contract to operate Mt Owen, expected to last until mid-2012.
Companies in the United States that note contract mining operations inclued Washington Group International who state that they have been involved in contract mining since the 1940 including over thirty-four years operating the Kemmer Coal Mine in Wyoming. Dynatec notes that they were retained in 1993 to re-open and operate the Shebandowan Mine as a contract mine activity. TRC has their Exit Strategy® program to contract mine closure.
Internationally, Kier Mining notes that since the 1950s they have evolved to become a "leading force in contract mining both in the UK and overseas". They offer a complete mining service "embracing any size or form of contract."
In Canada, one of the big players in engineering contracting including mining projects is LEDCOR, which has completed many projects throughout the country, the United States and Mexico.
If you have topics you would like to see reviewed or opinions that expand the ambit of our technology reviews please send them to jcaldwell@infomine.com
Wrapup for February 2006
It was time for companies to report financial results, and the news—as expected—was good. BHP Billiton set an Australian corporate record by posting a US$4.36 billion interim net profit. The Australian Associated Press reported that the result was almost 50 percent higher than the previous corresponding period. BHP decided to hand back US$2 billion to shareholders through a share buyback and interim dividend. Canadian Press reported that Falconbridge’s quarterly profit doubled to US$280 million. Rio Tinto also doubled its annual profit and recorded US$5.22 billion, mainly due to China’s unrelenting appetite for Rio Tinto’s iron ore. However, the party was dampened by increased prices for energy and materials. Australian Associated Press reported that Rio Tinto’s earnings were cut by US$598 million due to rising costs.
It was bad month for mining accidents. Sixty-five Mexican coal miners were trapped underground after a gas explosion. Officials say the outlook is grim. As of press time, rescuers had still not reached the trapped workers. There was rare good news from China. Xinhua news agency reported that seven miners were rescued after being trapped for four days after a cave-in. The mine is located in Kiaoning province. China’s coal mines are considered to be the world’s deadliest.
Consolidation continues apace. Inco Ltd. is trying to take over Falconbridge Ltd. Canadian Press reported that the Can$12.5 billion deal is being slowed by competition bureaus in Europe and the U.S. concerned that the merged company will control more than 90 percent of the world’s supply of high grade nickel. The bid deadline for the takeover was extended to June. Bolivar Gold Corp. and Gold Fields Ltd. are still waiting for the courts to decide whether the latter can takeover the former. Scion Capital, a major stakeholder of Bolivar, is protesting that the takeover price is too low.
Check the news section each day for the latest mining stories. You can also subscribe to our Headline News Digest,. News subscribers can sign up for our specialty publications, Diamond Digest and Gold Digest.
SX Filters: For Organic-Free and Filtered Electrolyte - by SpinTek
The SpinTek SX filters are specifically designed to provide excellent organic removal and filtered electrolyte for the solvent extraction market. The filters are ruggedly designed and built to operate in the difficult environments of solvent extraction plants.
The SpinTek SX filters are free standing, self-contained units available in a variety of standard sizes with individual unit flow rates of up to 660 gpm (150 m3/hr). Multiple units can provide for much higher flow rates. All vessels, media, piping, instruments and controls are provided for a completely automatic and operational filtration system. more...
Low profile roof bolter - by International Mining
Installing roof bolts in low hard rock applications where both difficult terrain and extreme mining conditions exist requires a safe reliable, versatile and manoeuvrable roof bolter. This is just the operating role of DBT Africa’s Fletcher ADO-D/E; a low profile, single-head arm feed roof bolter that offers the option of either a diesel or electric power. The Fletcher ADO-D/E is capable of tramming and bolting using either the diesel or electric power option, making it an extremely versatile machine. more..
The EduMine Home Page has been Re-engineered
The new EduMine home page is designed to make it as easy as possible for you to find what you are looking for, whether this is a course, a tool, enrollment, certification, a search, an author, a technical publication or a mining event. Besides the home page, other additions and enhancements to the campus include: a new Select a Course page, a new Find a Tool page, and new Login functionality. more...
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When a woman wears leather clothing, ........
A miner's heart beats quicker, his throat gets dry, he goes weak in the knees, and he begins to think irrationally. Wonder why?
It’s because she smells like a new truck!!!
Pilots and Mechanics: Problems and Solutions
Quantas Airlines has a policy whereby after every flight, pilots fill out a form that tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems and document their repairs on the form, and pilots review the sheets before the next flight. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Quantas' pilots and the solutions recorded by maintenance workers. By the way, Quantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident.
(P - Problem logged by the pilot)
(S - Solution and action taken by mechanics)
P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire
P: Something loose in cockpit
S: Something tightened in cockpit
P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear
S: Evidence removed
P: Suspected crack in windshield
S: Suspect you're right
P: Number 3 engine missing
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search
P: Aircraft handles funny
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious
P: Target radar hums
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics
P: Mouse in cockpit
S: Cat installed
P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget
If you have any humorous stories about mining or just want to inflict misery on our readers with jokes worse then mine, we would love to get your input. Please email the editor with the subject line marked "InfoMiner Jokes".
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Here's a sample of the information on "Sulphur" available on InfoMine. This is just an example of how our search provides excellent and pertinent results for any topic you wish to explore. Why not try your own favorite topic now? |
 Lihir
Lihir.infomine.com
(A MineSite Feature by InfoMine)
The Lihir Gold operations are located on Niolam Island, in the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea, about 700 km northeast of Port Moresby. As Niolam Island is the principal island of the Lihir Group, it is generally referred to as Lihir Island. Access to the island is by small planes and by boat.
 Gold was discovered in 1982 and began operation in 1997. The gold deposit consists of two orebodies, Minifie and Lienetz, located in an inactive volcanic crater known as the Luise Caldera on the east coast of Lihir Island.
The mine produces over 600,000 ounces of gold per year. It is projected to operate until 2020 followed by 28 years processing stockpiled lower grade ore.
 Lihir consists of an open pit, crusher, SAG and ball mill circuit, flotation circuit, pressure oxidation and carbon-in-leach processing facilities, and electrowinning and smelting facilities to produce gold doré.Lihir Gold Ltd. operates the mine. There are 1100 employees at the mine. Citizens of Lihir account for 37% of employees, with 52% from within Papua New Guinea.
 Visit Lihir Mine's Minesite page for more in depth information on the mine's reserves/resources, production, mining and processing methods as well as news, links and supplier information. You can also view the Minesite pages of other mines by visiting the Minesite homepage. Feel free to contact us with any comments or suggestions you may have for Minesites.
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