This assessment relates to learning outcome four, present and defend a complex design and decision-making process. There are three fields of knowledge that impact on the viability of a mining...

This assessment relates to learning outcome four, present and defend a complex design and decision-making process.
There are three fields of knowledge that impact on the viability of a mining operation. They are geology, mining and mineral processing. The extent and nature of the orebody are determined my exploration drilling and geological interpretation of the structure and nature of a mineral deposit. Questions geologists need to answer include,

• How much mineralisation is present in the region?
• What grade is the mineralisation?
• What is the likelihood of the mineralisation being continuous between drill holes and existing data?

Please read the information provided via the links given in this assignment. Then, provide short answers to the following questions.
Ballarat Goldfields
Go to the Castlemaine Goldfields Tenement website, http://www.liongoldcorp.com/operations/castlemaine-goldfields/
Read the information on the website and answer the following questions. Write your answers as short sentences or statements that make sense without having read the question.
For example:
Question
Name the five significant tenements under the control of Castlemaine Goldfields?
Good Answer
Castlemaine Goldfields has five significant tenements. They include Ballarat, Castlemaine, Berringa, Tarnagulla, and the Sebastian/Raydara tenements. (5 marks)
Bad Answer
Ballarat, Castlemaine, Berringa, Tarnagulla, and Sebastian/Raydara. (1 Mark)
Castlemaine Goldfields
When did underground mining and mineral processing re-commence at the Ballarat tenement?
If the price of gold is $1600.00/oz. how much revenue is the Ballarat gold mine currently producing?
How many ounces of gold has the Bendigo area produced since the 1850’s?
If that gold was produced at an average grade of 9 grams/tonne how many tonnes of ore have been mined in the Bendigo area since the 1850’s?
How many tonnes per annum can the processing plant at the Ballarat mine process?
Does Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 run from July 2015 to June 2016 or from July 2016 to June 2017?
How many ounces of Gold did the Ballarat mine produce in FY2016?
Assuming the average price of gold for FY 2016 was $1650/oz., what revenue did the Ballarat gold mine produce?
History
How much did Castlemaine Gold pay Lihir Gold for the Ballarat mine in 2010?
How much had Lihir Gold spent on the mine (including plant), development and administration?
How much gold did Lihir expect to produce per annum?
What are the differences between the gold ore body at Ballarat and the gold orebody on Lihir Island?
You can find some information about Lihir at the link below.
http://www.newcrest.com.au/media/our_business/4365_Newcrest_FS_Lihir_October2015_LR.pdf
How much royalty did Castlemaine Gold pay to Newcrest (Lihir) in FY2016?
Geology
Is the gold in the Castlemaine Gold tenements found in the slate or in the quartz?
Is the gold evenly distributed in the mineralised area or does it occur in concentrated nuggets?
Does this require more diamond drilling or less diamond drilling to increase the confidence of the geologists to predict how much gold is in the ore body?
Sustainability
The following link is the Sustainability report for the Castlemaine Gold operations.
http://www.liongoldcorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DEDJTR-SD-1516-March-17.pdf
What is the direct economic benefit of Castlemaine Goldfields Pty Ltd (CGT) to the Ballarat economy?
What are the key areas addressed by CGT’s Environmental Management Plan (EMP)?
What was the pre-mining land use of the Ballarat mine site?
What is the maximum limit for vibration results due to firing in the underground mine?
Gekko Systems
Hope Bay
Read the following article.
http://www.gekkos.com/news/gekko’s-modular-gold-plant-benefits-hope-bay
Answer these questions.
When did TMAC resources pour their first gold at the Hope Bay project in the Artic circle?
When did Gekko pack the complete processing plant into 200 containers for shipping?
Why was it critical to meet the delivery deadline of August 2016?
How long did it take to unpack and install the Gekko Python processing plant?
How many tonnes per day is the stage 1 Gekko Python processing plant designed for?
Ballarat Gold Fields
Read the following article.
http://www.gekkos.com/sites/default/files/documents/CaseStudy-BallaratGoldfields.pdf
Answer these questions.
What size and rate can the conventional two stage crushing circuit achieve?
How much can the above ground bin hold?
Read the following article on How VSI crushers work.
http://www.stedman-machine.com/vsi-primer-article.html
What do you think the main advantage of a VSI crusher is?
What does IPJ stand for?
What does CGR stand for?
What are the major components in the processing plant at Ballarat?
Does the processing plant at Ballarat use Cyanide?

1. 
   Adani says India still needs coal imported from Australia.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/ XXXXXXXXXX/adani-says-india-still-needs-australian-coal-imports/8854838
How much coal will Adani be looking to export to India?
Why would India say they do not wish to import coal from anywhere in the world?
2

Michael Welsh death: Workplace safety charge dropped over Mount Lyell copper mine fatality

• Date of Entry
• Title: Workplace Safety Charge Dropped at Mount Lyell
• One sentence summary of the news article

http://www.abc.net.au/news/ XXXXXXXXXX/michael-welsh-mt-lyell-death-cmt-safety-charge-dismissed/8848342

• One sentence answers to these questions

How did Michael Welsh die?
Was a formal risk assessment undertaken before Mr Welsh commenced work in the area?
Other than Mr Welsh's death, what other consequences occurred due to this incident?
Is there anything unusual or that you do not understand concerning the court's decision?

• Explain how this article relates to the unit learning outcomes?
• Proof read and check your journal entry
• Check your answer with Grammarly

3
Granites gold mine increases production to more than 12 tonnes per year.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/ XXXXXXXXXX/granites-gold-mine-expands-and-investigates-pipeline/8872442
In which state or territory is the Granites Gold Mine Located?
How did heavy rain cutting the roads stop production at the mine?
Why will a gas pipeline overcome this problem?
4 Newmont's Tanami gold mine completes 3.2-kilometre Decline. http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/ XXXXXXXXXX/granites-gold-mine-newmont-underground-tunnel-expansion/7387920
What was the purpose of mining an additional decline?
How much does it cost to produce an ounce of gold at the mine?
How many meters of exploration drilling is the mine expecting to complete over the next three years?
5 The world's largest alluvial garnet mine. http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/ XXXXXXXXXX/harts-range-garnet-mine-goes-into-production-in-the-red-centre/7887932
Where is Hart's Range Garnet Mine located?
For what is garnet used?
Australia has two of the worlds five major Garnetmines, in what country are the other three mines located? 6 Coal mine dust monitoring 'too relaxed'
http://www.abc.net.au/news/ XXXXXXXXXX/coal-dust-monitoring-too-relaxed-queensland-expert-says/8800432
How many underground coal mines in Queensland have failed to meet their obligations to monitor coal dust?
Who does Dr James Whelan work for?
What is Dr Whelan asking the Queensland government to do about the coal dust situation in Queensland?
7
Production halts at Red Centre garnet mine. http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/ XXXXXXXXXX/harts-range-garnet-mine-halts-production/8881988
Where is the mine located?
Where is the mineral separation plant located?
The processing plant was unable to achieve nameplate capacity. How would this effect theviability of the mining operation? 8) Failure to meet dust-monitoring obligations may close four Queensland coal mines
http://www.abc.net.au/news/ XXXXXXXXXX/failure-meet-dust-monitoring-may-close-4-qld-coal-mines-minister/8795234
Which four Queensland mines could be closed for not monitoring coal dust levels?
When did the mines fail to monitor coal dust levels?
How many coal miners in Queensland have been diagnosed with black lung disease?
9) Gold miners re-thinking jobs
http://www.abc.net.au/news/ XXXXXXXXXX/wa-budget-gold-miners-rethink-investment-over-gold-royalties/8885644
How many gold mines in Western Australia will be impacted by the 3.75% royalty rate?
Mr Peter Cook is managing director of which company?
At what gold price will the royalty rate increase from 2.5% to 3.75%?
What is the current price of gold, according to this article?
10) First female general manager at Kalgoorlie Super Pit http://www.abc.net.au/news/ XXXXXXXXXX/first-female-boss-at-kalgoorlie-super-pit/8878832
What year is the open pit mine life due to end?
When is the Mount Charlotte underground mine due to run out of viable gold?
Where are they undertaking further exploration drilling to find more gold?