Category: Minesite Technology

In 1996 Stuart MacGregor designed what was to become central to an evolving and innovative series of anchored instrumentation. A sixth-generation gold miner – and hoping his 19-year-old son is on his way to becoming the seventh generation – Stuart, the managing director and principal geotechnical engineer of SCT Operations,  designed the first Rock-IT instrumentation with the effective and accurate measurement of ground movement in mind. "In a former role, I spent a lot of time underground, and my job was to measure the ground moving, so this is where a lot of these ideas crystalised," he said. "When I joined SCT (Strata Control Technology) the coal industry didn't have the experience in monitoring ground movement. "These instruments are all...

Automation, artificial intelligence, safety solutions and improved handling are concepts being brought together to create innovative operational realities in the mining sector. Leading the charge in this space is a team of dedicated engineers at Lewis Australia. For the past 50+ years, the company has developed an impressive worldwide client base and their success has been driven by their commitment to deliver specific solutions. Working closely with their clients, Lewis designs and builds its equipment to suit the operational and environmental requirements and always with operator safety as a priority. Importantly, these are homegrown solutions! Designed and built in Australia and delivering the highest quality. Of late, there are three main products which have delivered innovative solutions to mining companies...

In any mineral processing application, fluids are introduced to separate the coarse from fine material, the heavy from the light and the valuable material from the waste. After this, dewatering is essential to remove water or other fluids from the final solid product or waste material. Dewatering centrifuges are commonly used in various mineral processing applications. A centrifuge is a machine that uses centrifugal forces to separate the feed slurry, based on their density. When the centrifuge spins, it creates a strong centrifugal force, the solids are then dewatered by passing over a screen. Continuously operating centrifuges are the best solution for mechanical separation of solids from liquids, from a technical and economical point of view. They can dewater large...

BEARING reliability is a crucial component of productivity and uptime in expensive machinery and plant throughout industries such as mining, manufacturing, bulk handling and primary production.   If a bearing fails, production can grind to a halt.  Bearing failures can be caused by a number of factors, including:  Fatigue, which can occur naturally over time, but also occurs prematurely if the incorrect bearing is chosen for the task.  Incorrect installation or mounting, which can lead to significantly higher wear and tear and ultimately premature failure.  Examples include misalignment, incorrect fits – too loose or too tight, out-of-roundness in shafts or housings.  About 25% of bearing failures occur because of incorrect mounting.  Lubrication problems, which can occur if too little, too much or...

WA is undeniably the resource centre of Australia, contributing about 58pc of Australia's mineral and energy exports. But with 92pc of its 2.6m inhabitants living in the southwest corner, the rest of WA is a variation of the “Wild West” –– sparsely populated towns with poor infrastructure, rugged terrain and a landscape of reds, greens, coppers and browns that stretch into the horizon. In other words, when someone pictures the Australian outback, they’re picturing WA. That same rustic beauty and isolation, though, can make surveying a challenge. And it makes surveying for mining a real test of adaptability and logistics skills. It can take about 1.5 days to get to the first site, and once there, there is total isolation,...