Adelaide Branch April 2022 Newsletter

Chair’s Report

Welcome to the first Adelaide Branch newsletter for 2022. Time has gotten away from us. It’s hard to believe it’s already April.

The year started strongly for the Branch, as usual, with the February Technical Talk presented by Kathy Ehrig. More than 80 people attended in person, and our online audience continues to grow as well. You can read about the presentation later in the newsletter. There is also a report of our March event – the ever popular student BBQ. We always have great support from a number of volunteers to run this event; from ordering the food and drinks to the cooking and food preparation, and of course the presentations by recent graduates who let the students know what life is like post-university.

Speaking of students, the annual EEF and Adelaide Branch/Playford Trust scholarship winners have been announced. Congratulations to James Browne, Jake Rowland, Kenny Cao and Lachlan Coathupe. Also to Amelia Orchard for being awarded the Book Prize, presented in the name of the former Adelaide Women’s Auxiliary.

There’s no slowing down. We have Technical Lunches planned in April (Ian Moffat), May (Nathan Ramsey) and June (Katie Hulmes) and the Annual Dinner in July. In between, there is a really exciting event for local Metallurgists. We are hosting a MetFest! on 5th May. This is a casual one-day mini conference where the local metallurgy community can come together to network and share short presentations on their work. If this is your area of interest, I really encourage you to come along. The draft program is listed later in the newsletter.

Finally, please take note of the new venue for our monthly Technical Lunches. These are moving to the Majestic Roof Garden Hotel on Frome Street.

See you there!

Stuart Emery FAusIMM
Adelaide Branch Chair

February Technical Lunch

We were fortunate to hear once again from Kathy Ehrig, sharing some key lessons and learnings over the past 30 years she has spent at Olympic Dam.

As always there was a lot of technical content packed into the presentation.
To summarise the presentation, there were 3 key themes & reflections:

1. Mineralogy matters, always. You need to understand it at a quantitative level to make the right decisions to optimise your process, and to avoid significant processing problems. Some examples include clay minerals (which are highly variable in some deposits) can impact bulk material handling, solid-liquid separation, and flotation. Variable clay minerals have impacted other operations (notably laterites and bauxites) particularly on start-up because they didn’t understand the concentrations and how to process them. At OD silica minerals (chlorite) cause gelling, which can halt the operation.

2. Build on others’ learnings/insights. There are a lot of free lessons from what has happened elsewhere. We advance together by sharing openly. At Olympic Dam they were able to draw upon mistakes elsewhere in industry, but also leverage previous work done by WMC to manage processing risks.

3. Future performance does not equal past performance. Ore deposits are mineralogically zoned 3-dimensional entities and change over time. Ore characteristics will change as a deposit is progressively mined. The change in uranium recovery at Olympic Dam is primarily driven by mineralogy not by the mine or processing plant.

Kathy also spoke about:

- Every mine needs to understand the Geometallurgy of their deposit, the extent will depend on your operation

- How understanding minerals has improved with modern techniques to be able to quantify it at a nanoscale level

- Mineralogy today can be measured quantitatively and this data can be used in an integrated approach to optimise your entire flowsheet and make planning decisions

- Geometallurgy has strategic value but also has tactical value in day-to-day running of the operation

- If you don’t have a full quantitative geometallurgical understanding of your deposit it can impact your expected return/recovery over the life of the asset and its valuation

- How copper, uranium grade, and their associated recoveries at Olympic Dam has changed over time, and how this relates to the change in minerals, texture, and metallurgical conditions

- The 4 key uranium minerals at Olympic Dam, how differently they behave to acid, and the impact of hematite on uranium recovery

- Changes to the understanding of radionuclides in OD minerals over time with the advent of electron microscopy. The radionuclides don’t follow where the uranium minerals are at OD and this has implications in how concentrate quality is managed.

- Ore characteristics that are important to a concentrator, hydromet, smelter or refinery (in the context of OD) are different, and you have to optimise for the entire flowsheet

- Being open to revisiting work as technology changes with time changing our ability to resolve issues

Coco Jian presented the vote of thanks and acknowledged the importance of understanding Geometallurgy based on her recent experiences as a intern Plant Metallurgist at Olympic Dam.

Jake Gallina
Adelaide Branch Treasurer

AusIMM/AIG Student BBQ

The highly anticipated AusIMM & AIG student BBQ was held on Adelaide University’s Mawson Lawns on the 17th March.

The night kicked off with presentations from John Anderson representing the AIG and Viv Naidu representing the AusIMM Adelaide Branch. John and Viv spoke of the many benefits that students have access to through these professional associations and encouraged students to sign up.

Students then heard presentations from Tristram Fyfe (OZ Minerals), Louise Faint (OZ Minerals) and Melissa Stinear (FMG) who shared their experiences of transitioning from university to full-time work in the mining industry. Tristram, Louise and Melissa all highlighted that the learning does not stop upon graduation; it extends well into your professional career.

At the conclusion of the formalities, everyone headed out to the Mawson Lawns for a gourmet BBQ and drinks. This presented a great networking opportunity for students and industry professionals alike and was a great chance for members of the Adelaide Student Chapter to welcome our new student members.

A big thank you goes out to the Adelaide Branch, AIG, Adelaide Student Chapter Committee, former Women’s Auxiliary, Haggis and Kirsty for making the night successful and enjoyed by all.

We look forward to the Student Meets Industry night in May.

Amelia Johnson
AusIMM Adelaide Student Chapter President

MetFest! Adelaide

Adelaide Branch are combining forces with the Metallurgical Society to present MetFest! Adelaide on 5th May.

What is MetFest!? It’s an informal one-day gathering of local Metallurgists to network and share short presentations on their work. The preliminary program is as follows:

The event will conclude with the Annual Delprat Distinguished Lecture, presented by Peter Munro.

More information and registration here.

Stuart Emery FAusIMM
Adelaide Branch Chair

Careers Roadshow

There will be an upcoming Careers Roadshow held at both the University of Adelaide (11 May, 5-6 pm, Horace Lamb Lecture Theatre) and the University of SA (12 May, 5-6pm, Mawson Lakes Campus MM1-05). 

The roadshow is an opportunity for students to engage with recent graduates who have started challenging and fun careers in the minerals industry, including how they got there and how they are making a difference. 

Students can expect to get a range of benefits from the roadshow, including:

Meet graduates shaping exciting careers
Meet young professionals who have been working in the minerals industry for 2-3 years and they will share their real-world experiences, unscripted, warts and all. 

Get connected to people in the industry
Establish new networks of like-minded people who are addressing big, complex problems and solving them with creativity and diverse thinking.

Learn how you can make a difference
See how graduates from a wide range of disciplines are building a greener future, with genuine care for their environement and communities, and creating solutions with wide-reaching benefits. 

See how to develop your own career path
Huge development opportunities exist within the industry and supportive team cultures help get you where you want to be. Every day is different and interesting. 

More details will be announced soon. 

Getting to know your Committee

Jane Welsh – MAusIMM

What Position do you hold on the Committee?
I am the Vice-Chair of the Committee.

Can you tell us a bit about your educational background?
I have a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in which I majored in geology, a Bachelor of Laws and a Graduate Certificate of Legal Practice.

Can you tell us a bit more about your career background?
I graduated with a Science Degree in 2004 and worked as a geologist for approximately 5 years before I retrained as a lawyer, completing my legal qualifications in 2012. I have been working as a commercial lawyer since, predominantly in the areas of resources and native title, which complement my geological background.

What do you enjoy most about your profession?
I enjoy assisting proponents with realising their various exploration, mining and energy projects.

When did you join the AusIMM?
I joined the AusIMM initially as a student in the early 2000s, but my membership lapsed, which I took up again in 2010.

What do you enjoy most about being on the Committee?
I enjoy the collaborative spirit of the Committee, which has many members of differing backgrounds, all working together to benefit the AusIMM membership.

What are you hoping the Committee can achieve this year?
To continue to provide great services to our members in SA.

Adelaide Branch 2022 Photo Competition

The AusIMM Adelaide Branch Committee is running a photo competition for 2021 / 2022 and is inviting all AusIMM members to enter for your chance to win a $200 voucher to spend at the AusIMM online store or conference!

The Branch wants to update its Facebook & Community of Interest website cover photo with your best mineral industry photo. The due date has been extended until 30 April 2022 and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter. The best entries will be posted on our Facebook page and in our regular newsletter. Entry is free, however only one photo per person. We look forward to seeing your photos. Happy snapping!

To enter: Send your mineral related photos with your name and a description of your photo to adelaide@ausimm.com.au.

Upcoming Events

AusIMM Adelaide Branch April Technical Lunch – New Approaches to Cultural Heritage Management using innovative Archealogical Survey Techniques.

Presented by Dr Ian Moffat, Associate Professor College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Flinders University.

Effective cultural heritage management is an essential part of the mining industry.

New archaeological survey technologies, including the use of landscape scale geophysics, detailed drone-based mapping of archaeological sites and machine learning, have exciting potential to add value to commercial archaeological surveys but have not yet been widely embraced.

This presentation explores case studies of the use of these technologies and discusses how they can be better integrated into commercial heritage surveys.

Date: Thursday 21 April 2022
Time: 12:00pm – 14:00pm
Venue: The Majestic Roof Garden Hotel, 55 Frome St Adelaide (Note New Venue!)

Register Here

AusIMM Adelaide Branch May Technical Lunch – OZ Minerals West Musgrave Project Update

Presented by Nathan Ramsey, Lead Mining Engineer (Execution)

Look out for more information soon

Date: Thursday 19 May 2022
Time: 12:00pm – 14:00pm
Venue: The Majestic Roof Garden Hotel, 55 Frome St Adelaide (Note New Venue!)

Technical & Social Calendar

***Please note due to the current COVID-19 restrictions events could be subject to change.

Adelaide Branch Technical & Social Calendar 2022 (as of Apr 2022)

Adelaide Student Chapter Events 2022

AusIMM Conferences and Functions 2021/22

*** Please see links to the AusIMM website for official details relating to conferences

Social Media, Sponsorship & Advertising, Contributions

Remember to follow the Adelaide Branch on Facebook for all the latest local events.

The Adelaide Branch is looking to partner with the industry in 2022 to sponsor our Technical & Social events. We have a range of various sponsorship packages available to suit your needs, including our Monthly Technical Lunches, AGM and sponsoring the Adelaide Student Chapter.

For a sponsorship pack with further details please contact us at adelaide@ausimm.com.au.

Contribute to the Adelaide Branch Online Newsletter!

If you have any feedback, would like to make a suggestion or contribute with an article or comment piece, please email the Branch via: adelaide@ausimm.com.au.

Please submit articles as unformatted text files, and photographs as separate images. If photographs are of individuals, please supply names for figure captions.