The Thiess Sedgman Joint Venture (TSJV) has been awarded a A$85 million contract to design, procure, construct and commission a Coal Handling and Preparation Plant (CHPP) at the Codrilla coal mine on behalf of Macarthur Coal (C&M Management), the manager of the Coppabella Moorvale Joint Venture (CMJV). The mine is located in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, about 185 km southwest of Mackay near the townships of Nebo and Moranbah and is being developed by the CMJV, in which Macarthur Coal is the majority joint venture participant. Mining operations are expected to commence in calendar year 2012, subject to the receipt of final regulatory approvals.

The CHPP capacity will be 600 t/h. The TSJV’s works have commenced, and practical completion is due in the fourth quarter of FY2013. The TSJV contract is not contingent on any outcomes of the current PEAMCoal takeover offer for Macarthur Coal.

Sedgman Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Nick Jukes said Sedgman was extremely pleased to further strengthen its relationship with Macarthur Coal. “Sedgman has had a long association with Macarthur Coal, having designed and built CHPPs at the Coppabella mine in 1999, at Moorvale mine in 2003, and at Middlemount mine in 2007. Sedgman continues to operate these CHPPs, including stockpile management and train loading functions.

“One of Sedgman’s major strengths is the close working relationship the Company fosters and develops over time with its clients and this is yet another example of those relationships delivering mutual benefits.”

Mincom, a leading global provider of software solutions and services for asset-intensive industries, has upgraded its industry-leading supply chain solution for minerals and metals mining organisations. Mincom MineMarket 4.4 optimises the tracking and logistics of products - such as coal, iron ore, base and precious metals - from initial extraction, stockpiling, production, shipping and transportation to their eventual delivery to the customer, and simplifies the complex sales and invoicing of these products.
With new advanced functionality in port and stockyard management as well as partner trading, Mincom MineMarket 4.4 is one of the mining industry’s most comprehensive solutions for the efficient management of integrated sales, marketing and supply chain processes.

“Meeting the demands of complex contracts, and managing sophisticated logistics is a daily challenge faced by every mining organization,” said John Jessop, President of Global Mining Solutions, Mincom. “Consolidating supply chain data from across the organisation is essential for maximising commercial outcomes. However, the proliferation of disparate systems and spreadsheets can often result in silos of conflicting information, leading to time-consuming error corrections, reactive plan changes, product-quality penalty costs, and missed opportunities to maximize sales.”

Jessop added, “Given its ability to seamlessly integrate with other key business systems, thereby creating a standardised process for collecting data throughout the supply chain, Mincom MineMarket helps mining organizations ensure timely and correct information is visible across the organisation. By combining supply data from mine planning, processing and logistics with demand data from marketing and sales into one system, MineMarket helps ensure that supply and demand are balanced, contracted sales will be delivered, and capital tied up in excess product inventory is minimised.”

Mincom MineMarket version 4.4 includes the following new capabilities:

•Enhanced 3D Stockpile Modelling. While material is stacked in a stockpile, it is often difficult to track its quality and product characteristics. This valuable new feature allows miners to create 3D models of their stockpiles (e.g., coal and iron ore) at bulk terminals or stockyards. With 3D Stockpile Modeling, organisations can now track each batch of product as it is delivered to the stockpile and as it moves through the stockpile during reclaim operations. The 3D model allows the user to efficiently reach into any part of the stockpile and track the product back to the individual producer, mine source and mine area. Not only does this improve ongoing monitoring and planning of stacking and reclaiming, it also ensures the product is accurately blended to meet individual customer requirements for quality and product specifications.

•Updated Demurrage Calculations. This feature is designed for port operators and ore suppliers to help facilitate the movement of large amounts of material through capacity-constrained ports. Demurrage is the charge paid to a ship owner if a container is not loaded and unloaded within the specified time. Demurrage conditions can therefore have a significant impact on a mining company’s cashflow. Mincom MineMarket 4.4 helps capture data surrounding the increasingly complex agreements between suppliers, ship owners, customers and port operators, improving the management of both operations and cash flow.

•Updated Linked Trading. This new capability simplifies data-entry processes, and automates calculations and processes between trading companies. From groups with simple umbrella agreements to those with back-to-back intercompany invoices, Mincom MineMarket provides the flexibility to accommodate any Linked Trading scenario and automate the required functions.

“For 13 years, Mincom MineMarket has helped provide full supply chain visibility to leading mining organisations around the world,” said Jessop. “With the newest release of MineMarket, we’ve broadened the product’s feature set to help our customers achieve even greater productivity and efficiency gains. We can do this by enabling decision-making based on fact, and not on guesswork.”

Mincom MineMarket version 4.4 is available now.

The ACCOLADE wireless mesh mine system, from L-3 Communications, offers a robust, reliable and survivable communications network designed to enhance safety in underground mine environments, according to the manufacturer. The system was generated under a competitively-awarded research and development contract from the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to meet the new safety requirements of the 2006 MINER Act. The tailorable ACCOLADE system provides a voice and data network, with underground (miner-to-miner) and surface-to-sub-surface communications, and a real-time tracking capability for all personnel.

The ACCOLADE system is more than just a safety system however, it also has the ability to enhance operational efficiencies and increase daily production levels of the mines in which it is installed, L3 claims. Approved for use by the US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and several leading mining states, L-3 has installed ACCOLADE in mines throughout the USA and is looking to expand internationally in the near future.

Minerals Down Under is working closely with mining companies, SMEs and mining technology service providers to develop technology-based solutions to address the challenges of increasing production costs, declining ore grades, complex ores with higher levels of impurities and increasing pressure from regulators to improve environmental performance. It is seeking expressions of interest in improving tailings management.

With increasing production rates and declining ore grades the volume of tailings is rapidly increasing, making their management one of the big challenges facing the minerals industry.

Recent developments in the understanding of flocculation, gravity thickening, slurry pipeline transport, conveying and tailings stack design, present an opportunity to significantly improve the design and operation of tailings storage facilities (TSF).

CSIRO, ATC Williams and the University of Western Australia (UWA), through AMIRA International, propose a multidisciplinary research initiative to improve the economic and environmental performance of TSFs. Through the P1087 Integrated Tailings Management project researchers intend to:

Develop a reliable and integrated suite of measurement and modelling tools to assess and design tailings preparation systems for both brownfield and greenfield sites
Develop tools to assess the stability and seepage behaviour of deposited paste and thickened tailings
Build and share a comprehensive knowledge base of ‘best practice in design and operation’ across the minerals industry
Identify opportunities for new configurations of dewatering, tailings transport and storage with the intention of facilitating a step change improvement in tailings management
Assist sponsors to apply the project outcomes for their specific needs
Make key tools developed available to sponsors using proven technology transfer processes.

NMA’s MINExpo INTERNATIONAL® begins September 24, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The world’s largest mining exhibition is less than a year away - and it will be the largest ever. A multi-year boom in global mining is fueling record exhibitor participation in MINExpo 2012, the premier exhibition of mining equipment, technology and services sponsored every four years by the National Mining Association (NMA). Powerful global demand for metals and coal has prompted equipment manufacturers and service companies to exceed the exhibitor space of the prior show in 2008. With current sales exceeding 710,000 square feet, MINExpo 2012 is already 18% larger than the 2008 exposition. It is expected to attract more than 1,400 exhibitors and thousands of visitors from the US and around the world, making it the largest show of its kind.

“This is a must-attend event for mining professionals from around the world as mining is riding the crest of strong demand for minerals, metals, and coal and for the latest in equipment needed to mine them,” said Hal Quinn, NMA President and CEO.

Michael W. Sutherlin, President and CEO of Joy Global, and MINExpo Chairman, says “MINExpo gives us the opportunity every four years to bring together all aspects of the mining industry - people, products and services - in one huge demonstration of safety, technology and efficiency.”

Registration and housing for MINExpo 2012 will open in January 2012.

Steel company SSAB says it is experiencing “rapidly growing interest in the business concept ‘Hardox In My Body’. In addition to delivery of high strength steel, the concept includes providing customers with technology and marketing support. In return, customers must complete SSAB’s certification process.” When SSAB launched the program, customers gave it a warm reception. The Hardox name was well established as one of the strongest and most sought-after abrasion-resistant steels.Now, ten years later, the concept is meeting rapidly growing interest all over the world and adding new markets. “Customers have recognised the benefits of being able to use the Hardox brand in their marketing while also gaining access to our knowledge of materials,” says Mats Sjöström, Project Manager and responsible for Marketing Communications for Hardox in markets such as Turkey, where truck body manufacturer Özdesan is the latest to benefit from the business concept in its operations.

“It’s important because we give customers the right to use Hardox In My Body in their own marketing and it becomes something of a seal of quality for the end product,” says Sjöström. “That’s why everyone must complete the certification process to gain access to the concept.”

Underlying the strong interest is an abrasion-resistant steel that opens the door to stronger and lighter designs. “Usually, the weight can be cut by at least 1.5 t in this type of structure if you make it in Hardox,” says Robert Lind, Area Technical Manager for Turkey at SSAB. “The Hardox properties quite simply open a number of opportunities to optimise design. And the end result is a stronger and more durable product with better operating economy.

“For buyers of truck bodies and other parts where wear is high, Hardox is a quality guarantee for which they are prepared to pay extra,” says Lind. “Our concept contributes to the business success of our customers in many ways, through better and more efficient products, and through access to a strong brand.”