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Dangerous silica dust can be formed on site from concrete cutting, grinding or polishing and using power tools on stone. Breathing the silica dust can result in irreversible, untreatable diseases, including silicosis and lung cancer. Some dust particles can be so small that they are not visible: these are referred to as respirable particles. Respirable silica dust particles are those that are small enough to breathe in and penetrate deep into the lungs causing permanent damage that can lead to serious illness or death. Dust-related diseases caused by respirable crystalline silica, such as silicosis, is on the rise. There is no known treatment to stop the progression. Silicosis is permanent and untreatable. In Australia, there are more than 350 cases...

The Australian Government has identified a “pinch point” for the global supply chain of critical minerals, with an opportunity to develop the nation’s processing and early manufacturing stages. The Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Processing National Manufacturing Priority road map has recognised the gap in capturing additional value from critical raw minerals, such as lithium in which the primary growth has been in rechargeable batteries. One such operation in the process of ramping up spodumene concentrate production to nameplate capacity is the Mt Cattlin operation, 2km out of Ravensthorpe in WA and 100% owned by Galaxy Resources. Today, while on target to reach full capacity in Q2 this calendar year, it has commissioned ore sorter circuits to extract further value...

The modern minesite employs increasing amounts of smart technology, relying more-and-more heavily on uninterrupted internet connectivity for core operations. Mining by its very nature tends to involve working in some of the most inhospitable, unforgiving terrain on earth, meaning site teams must have consistent internet access on-site and on-the-go both for safety and operational reasons. Workers and contractors living in nearby camps also find themselves in communications blackspots, without local mobile infrastructure (3G/4G mobile towers) or fixed-line internet services.  Being entirely disconnected from their families and the outside world can have a detrimental impact on staff morale and increase the difficulty of employee attraction and retention. Australian Private Networks (APN) provides a range of on-site solutions that solve all these...

If Doctor Copper is anything to go by, then the prognosis for global economic health and our nation’s copper mining industry is extremely positive. After the global economy plummeted in March last year due to the impact of COVID-19, including the price of copper, the mineral has completely rebounded from the depths of its plunge, soaring almost 100% in less than 12 months to more than US$9000/t. Experts predict the price rise to continue in 2021 due to increasing global demand brought on by the widespread transition to smart, connected cities as well as copper’s properties of being recyclable and antimicrobial. An average house contains 180kg of copper and an electric car contains about five times more copper than the...

When it comes to safety around tailings storage facilities (TSF), it is imperative to have an effective monitoring program in place. According to Klohn Crippen Berger (KCB) associate and senior geotechnical engineer James Penman, the starting point for dam safety monitoring and management is understanding the critical failure modes for the structure. “Dam safety failure modes are ways in which the dam fails, to the point that containment is lost and tailings and/or water flow out,” he said. Catastrophic dam failures typically happen through the three major failure modes of overtopping, instability and internal erosion (or piping). “Slope instability has been the most prominent failure mode in recent times, namely the Samarco and Brumadinho dam failures in Brazil. “Overtopping is less prominent in tailings...