Tag Archives: Oz Minerals

OZ Minerals Explorer Challenge winners crowned

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OZ Minerals has awarded multiple prizes as part of the online crowdsourcing Explorer Challenge, organised in partnership with energy and resources open innovation platform Unearthed.

The submissions for the crowdsourcing competition to find new exploration targets at the Mount Woods tenements of the Prominent Hill copper-gold mine (pictured), in South Australia, ranged from cutting edge machine learning to advanced physical modelling, with OZ Minerals making more than six terabytes of public and private exploration data available to competitors.

The three month long competition concluded on May 31, 2019, having seen over 1,000 global participants from 62 countries register for the chance to not only win a A$1 million ($701,156) prize pool, but also have its concepts tested in real life, with the top targets scheduled to be drilled by the end of 2019.

First prize (A$500,000) went to Team Guru, a team made up of Michael Rodda (data scientist), Jesse Ober (environmental scientist) and Glen Willis (process engineering) for an approach that included interpretable machine learning models for mineral exploration using geochemistry, geophysics and surface geology.

Second prize (A$200,000) went to DeepSightX, a team made up of Dong Gong, Javen Qinfeng Shi, Zifeng Wu, Hao Zhang, Ehsan Abbasnejad, Lingqiao Liu, Anton van den Hengel, Karl Hornlund, and John Alexander Anderson. This team exploited multi-disciplinary skills at the intersection of artificial intelligence and geoscience, leveraging this to generate an artificial intelligence model to provide promising exploration targets in the Prominent Hill Region (PHR) supported by best practice geoscience.

Third prize (A$100,000) went to Hugh Sanderson, Derek Carter and Chris Green from team Cyency. Cyency has a strong data science and geoscience background, with Sanderson practising “deep learning” for several years, Carter being involved with the technical and software side of mining for over 10 years, and Green being an experienced geologist. The team said: “With so much data, it was difficult to know where to start, so we started with what we knew – the results from the Data Science Stream. We had a set of models that we knew were pretty good at predicting mineralisation across Australia, so we ran them over the tenement…we applied several data science techniques to estimate a set of candidate points, and then selected the 10 best of these.”

The Student Team prize of A$50,000 went to deCODES’ Christopher Leslie, Matthew Cracknell, Angela Escolme, Shawn Hood, and Ayesha Ahmed. A team of early career researchers from CODES, University of Tasmania, its approach was driven by considering an iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) metallogenic model, and then “striving to produce digital proxies for all aspects of that model. Our prospectivity layers were created using a mix of manual and traditional data handling methods as well as basic machine learning approaches”.

The Genius prize (A$25,000) went to Team OreFox’s Warwick Anderson, Sheree Burdinat, Kudzai Dube, Amy Leask, Alan Ryou Pearse, Ashleigh Smyth, and Nick Josephs. The brainchild of two exploration geologists, Anderson and Burdinat, OreFox has built up a team of experts with backgrounds in geophysics, data science, statistics, geology and prospecting to tackle the Explorer Challenge, using its proprietary artificial intelligence systems to analyse the data supplied by OZ Minerals as well as open source data obtained through Geoscience Australia and the SARIG database.

The Insights prize (A$25,000) was awarded to Avant Data Solutions, a multidisciplinary team consisting of data science and programming, and geological domain expertise. The team took a heavily data driven approach with verification and interpretation using geology, with the challenge tackled, first, by analysing and exploring the data in detail and finding what data might be overlooked.

The Data Hound and Fusion Prizes (both A$25,000) went to Team Phar Lap and SRK Consulting, respectively.
Team Phar Lap consists of a mathematician, a physicist, a German trained geologist and ecologist, a pilot, and a US trained geologist, offering a latticework of geosciences and data science. The consortium used a mixed approach between geological interpretation and data crunching with a strong focus on controlled learning.

SRK’s team was made up qualified structural geologists across offices in Perth, Melbourne, Toronto and Vancouver, with “the approach including the re-interpretation and/or value-add of the provided and available datasets followed by a multi-pronged and integrated targeting approach applying data-driven machine learning (based on a balanced random forest algorithm) and weights of evidence to guide a set of knowledge-driven mineral systems informed fuzzy inference solutions”, Unearthed said.

OZ Minerals Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Cole, said: “The innovators who participated in the Explorer Challenge have provided approaches to mineral exploration that we never would have imagined internally, including ways to fuse datasets together, combining multiple layers of information, and making predictions based on the extensive datasets.

“Reviewing the diverse range of solutions that have come back from this process has been truly remarkable.”
Unearthed Industry Lead – Crowdsourcing, Holly Bridgwater, previously worked for a decade as a geologist in resource exploration and definition. She believes that crowdsourcing will transform the lengthy and intensive exploration process.

“We are extremely excited by the incredible range of solutions submitted by these pioneers that can generate high quality exploration targets in an efficient way,” Bridgwater said.

“Many industry professionals and mining companies are beginning to realise that their true competitive advantage in exploration is speed, not necessarily data or technological intellectual property. I think that the ability that the crowd gives you to generate new ideas, develop solutions, and automate processes, is something that can make a big difference and provide that competitive advantage.”

OZ Minerals to trial hybrid energy solution at Carapateena as part of renewables project

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OZ Minerals says it has launched the Energy and Mining Collaboration (EMC) in an initial collaboration with six other organisations to investigate renewable energy and demand management related activities on a mine site.

The six other organisations are Adelaide University, CSIRO, the Department of Energy and Mining, the Rocky Mountain Institute, SunSHIFT and the Tonsley Innovation Precinct.

The first project as part of this program will be a trial installation of a circa-250 kW hybrid energy solution facility including solar, wind and a battery in the first half of 2020, located at OZ Minerals’ Carrapateena mine site in an area demarcated for piloting and prototyping. Carrapateena, in South Australia, is on track for first concentrate production in the December quarter, after which the project will ramp up to full production over the following 18 months. Carapateena is expected to produce an average of 65,000 t/y of copper and 67,000 oz/y of gold over a 20-year mine life.

The trial installation will have approximately 250 kW hybrid energy solution consisting of solar, wind, battery storage, connected to existing diesel generators, and have a Smart Grid controller for data access and tracking.

The EMC brings these organisations together into a collaboration platform with a view to developing and identifying renewable energy opportunities for an international showcase that optimises electrical and fuel demand and the integration of renewable energy systems, OZ said.

“This will be done via the creation of true partnerships around the testing of energy and technology hypotheses to unlock transformational value in mining,” the company added.

“Over the next six months, the parties, as the founding collaborators, are committed to formalising the partnerships from this collaboration, inviting in other first partnership collaborators and creating a broad and global membership of all those who would like to participate.”

CEEC’s latest workshop to examine new gen energy options for miners

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With more and more mining sector interest in energy efficiency and uptake of renewables, the global not-for-profit communication hub for energy efficient mineral processing, CEEC, says it is running a series of workshops to share the latest developments in this field.

The next one-day Mineral Processing and Innovation Workshop on Energy Curves, Productivity and New Gen Energy, will be held at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide on June 19.

This event is due to kick off with a keynote address from OZ Minerals CEO and MD, Andrew Cole, who will share his vision for steering smart energy and productivity for sustainable mining, processing and communities.

Marc Allen, CEEC Director and Technical Director at engeco, said there was a worldwide trend towards new-generation energy options such as solar, battery-electric power and hydrogen – not only in the sector but for global power generation to combat climate change.

“The paradox is that these low carbon technologies are minerals intensive, and metals such as copper, nickel, lithium and cobalt will be required in greater volumes to make this transition possible,” Allen said.

“The shift towards a decarbonised energy future has significant ramifications for the global mining industry, particularly given the energy intensive nature of comminution and mining, coupled with the remoteness of most mineral deposits.”

Allen said renewable energy sources with low carbon energy backup options and/or energy storage were becoming more and more common in mines, with one leading example being the solar project at Degrussa Copper-Gold Mine in Western Australia.

Sandfire Resources’ Degrussa Solar project, commissioned in 2016, is reported to be the world’s largest integrated off-grid solar and battery storage facility. It supplies about 20% of the mine’s annual power requirements and has reduced emissions by close to 12,000 t/y of carbon dioxide, according to CEEC.

“South Australia is also leading the way with adopting new-gen energy. BHP is trialling zero-emission light electric vehicles at its Olympic Dam mine and has plans to progressively replace diesel fuel with lithium-ion batteries,” Allen said.

Canada’s first all-electric mine (Borden) is also on the cards, being constructed by CEEC sponsors Newmont-Goldcorp, Sandvik and MacLean Engineering.

Allen said: “Newmont-Goldcorp’s target is to increase energy efficiency by 15% over five years and source 5% of its energy from renewables. It’s pleasing to see that other major mining companies are fast following suit, introducing bold targets to shrink their carbon and energy footprint.”

Another standout country is Chile, with reports of nine companies, including copper miners Codelco and Antofagasta Minerals, introducing renewable energy such as wind and solar power.

In addition to transitioning to clean energy technologies, mining operations are striving to improve the energy efficiency of comminution. In Australia, alone, copper and gold mines’ comminution processes consume 1.3% of national electricity production, as well as being key constraints to site productivity, value and mining footprint.

Speakers and panellists at the CEEC Mineral Processing and Innovation Workshop in Adelaide on June 19 will share the latest technologies and methodologies being employed to boost energy efficiency, value and productivity in processing plants and mine sites, according to CEEC.

Keynote speaker Cole will be joined by leading mining, METS and research experts from across Australia, including Energy Curve researcher Dr Cathy Evans, Senior Research Fellow, University of Queensland Sustainable Minerals Institute; Professor Stephen Grano, Executive Director, Institute for Mineral and Energy Resources, University of Adelaide; and Professor Bill Skinner, Research Leader, Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia.

With data science and AI also being key drivers for improving operational efficiency and dispatch of electrical energy, workshop participants will hear from PETRA Data Science’s Managing Director, Dr Penny Stewart, and Technical Director, Dr Zeljka Pokrajcic.

Innovative METS leaders, including Greg Lane, Ausenco; Sandy Gray, Gekko Systems; and Bear Rock Solutions’ Dr Ted Bearman and Adjunct Professor Rob Dunne, will present practical advances in comminution technology.

Insights into South Australia mining and mineral processing innovations will be provided by Joe Seppelt, OZ Minerals Processing Manager at the Carrapateena copper-gold project, north of Port Augusta, and Enzo Artone, BHP Area Manager, Mill and Process Minerals, BFX Project, Olympic Dam.

To register or find out more about the workshop, which will be held at the National Wine Centre, click here.

Outotec to deliver ‘unique’ paste backfill plant to OZ Minerals’ Prominent Hill mine

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Outotec says it has been awarded a contract to design and deliver a mine paste backfill system to OZ Minerals’ Prominent Hill copper-gold mine, in South Australia.

The contract price is €15 million ($16.5 million) and it has been booked into Outotec’s 2019 June quarter order intake, the mineral processing company said.

Outotec’s supply includes the design and delivery of a complete paste backfill system, as well as detailed design of the underground distribution network and fill management systems, it said.

The new paste backfill plant will be based on a unique process design, which allows flexibility to use continuously produced fresh tailings or store filter cake to meet the future backfill needs of the underground mining operation, Outotec said. The new facility is expected to have a capacity of 215 m³/h.

“A reliable paste backfill system is critical to the whole mine and its operations. We are pleased to support our customer to improve their tailings management in a sustainable way,” Kimmo Kontola, Head of Outotec Minerals Processing Business, said.

Prominent Hill is a copper-gold mining operation made up of the Malu open-pit mine – which concluded operations last year – the Ankata and Malu underground deposits and a conventional crushing, grinding and flotation processing plant.

Outotec has previously delivered an EPC backfill system, plus build own operate backfill plant for ongoing operation at Prominent Hill.

 

Adelaide Brighton cements contract extension with OZ Minerals at Prominent Hill

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ASX-listed Adelaide Brighton has announced the signing of a contract with OZ Minerals for the continuation of cement supply to the Prominent Hill copper-gold operation in South Australia.

The contract period is for a five-year term with options to extend, Adelaide Brighton said.

In addition to the supply of cement, Adelaide Brighton will also supply aggregate and sand from the company’s Sellicks Hill Quarry and Price sand operation as well as auxiliary logistics services, it said.

Adelaide Brighton CEO, Nick Miller, said: “The contract, which now also includes aggregate and sand supply for the Prominent Hill operation, reflects the company’s competitive offering of a broad range of products in the South Australian market.”

Prominent Hill is a copper-gold mining operation in northern South Australia, which is made up of the Malu open-pit mine – which concluded operations last year – the Ankata and Malu underground deposits and a conventional crushing, grinding and flotation processing plant.

Major miners join Mining3 and SMI for Cave Mining 2040

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Mining3 and the University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) have joined forces with Newcrest Mining, Vale, OZ Minerals, BHP and PT Merdeka Copper Gold to develop the Cave Mining 2040 initiative.

Cave Mining 2040 was originally proposed by Professor Gideon Chitombo (SMI) whose clear understanding of caving needs and his strong engagement with the mining industry was key to its successful formation, according to Mining3.

The international consortium will collaborate on projects aimed at developing new and improved cave mining methods that could help meet future demand for minerals, the company added.

Mining3’s CEO Paul Lever said: “Involving researchers, industry and government will accelerate the required innovations and information to transform cave mining, ensuring its longevity through viable and sustainable methods.”

Cave Mining 2040 aims to develop solutions to reduce lead times and capital investment while also improving viability, safety, cost, production, and societal and environmental acceptance, according to Mining 3.

SMI Director, Professor Neville Plint, said the agreement was important because it brings together two Queensland-based, world-class research organisations. “We are working collaboratively with industry to unlock complex orebodies that occur at depth and require advancements in cave mining technologies,” he said.

“We look forward to developing further partnerships to enhance Queensland’s and Australia’s reputation as a leader in research, technology and innovation.”

After initial consultation with established and future mine owners, mining equipment and technology services, original equipment manufacturers, and a range of other organisations a number of cave mining challenges have been identified.

The first phase of Cave Mining 2040, Horizon 1, is now underway comprising eight research areas – total deposit knowledge, cave engineering, cave establishment, mine design for new and emerging technologies, high stresses and major seismicity, macro-block design and sequencing optimisation, sublevel caving and open automation platform.

Cave Mining 2040 is a cornerstone activity within the Transforming Cave Mining initiative – a partnership between Mining3 and the SMI.

OZ Minerals outlines block cave potential at Carapateena copper-gold project

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OZ Minerals’ scoping study on an expansion at the Carrapateena copper-gold project, in South Australia, has shown that converting the lower portion of the sublevel cave to a block cave from 2026 could yield up to 60,000 t/y more copper output at the same time as reducing operating costs.

The Carrapateena sublevel cave is still in the development phase and is expected to hit first production in the December quarter of this year. This project is expected to produce an average of 65,000 t/y of copper and 67,000 oz/y of gold over a 20-year mine life.

The study outlined a more than doubling of mine throughput from 4.25 Mt/y to 10-12 Mt/y from 2026 through the development of the block cave and expanded surface infrastructure. This was expected to cost A$1-$1.3 billion ($704-$916 million) in upfront capital and lead to all-in sustaining costs going from $1.05/Ib ($2,315/t) in the sublevel cave operation to $0.90-$0.95/Ib during block cave operation.

The plan would see OZ Minerals access the higher-grade bornite mineralisation first, via the top-down sublevel cave, followed by a bottom-up block cave, OZ said.

Mine expansion and transition to a block cave would require adjustment to the location of future underground infrastructure below crusher station two, including a change in orientation of the decline, conveyor and ventilation, OZ said. In the current operation plan, this is not due for installation until after 2021.

The materials handling system and crushing infrastructure would require additional drive motors and a faster conveyor system to hit the new 10-12 Mt/y capacity, while there would need to be upgrades to the primary and secondary ventilation systems; electricity and communications infrastructure; and water supply, dewatering and underground facilities.

In terms of the process plant, there would need to be either a new parallel processing plant installed or an upgrade of the current sublevel cave processing plant.

OZ Minerals CEO, Andrew Cole, said: “The Carrapateena Block Cave Expansion work showed the conversion to a block cave to be the most value accretive next step for the Carrapateena resource and conceptually for the entire province, as it potentially enables a series of future add-on block caves, which themselves will now be the subject of a Carrapateena Life of Province Plan scoping study.”

He said the sublevel cave construction project remained on schedule for first production later this year, with ramp up to full production of 4.25 Mt/y taking place over the following 18 months.

The company will now move onto a prefeasibility study for the block cave expansion plan, which is expected to be completed by mid-2020.

Factoring in the scoping study results increases life of mine tonnes from 84 Mt at 1.8% Cu and 0.7 g/t Au, to around 145 Mt at 1.2% Cu and 0.5 g/t Au over a 20-year period.

OZ Minerals and Unearthed Explorer Challenge goes live

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The Explorer Challenge has officially kicked off, with more than 2 TB of OZ Minerals project data going live and more than 1,000 global innovators on a wait list to test the limits of data science and geology by developing groundbreaking approaches to mineral exploration, Unearthed says.

OZ Minerals and Unearthed, an energy and resources open innovation platform, partnered to deliver this online crowdsourcing competition to find new exploration targets at the Mount Woods tenements of the Prominent Hill copper-gold mine (pictured), in South Australia.

Unearthed said: “Economic mineral deposits are becoming increasingly difficult to find. Geologists regularly spend years collecting and analysing disparate data, frequently testing hypotheses, from huge areas of land, often for little or no reward.

“Explorers are looking for new approaches to solve this problem and develop innovative processes and ways of working that can drive up the discovery rate and, in doing so, decrease the number of holes drilled for less environmental and economic impact, resulting in a more sustainable and efficient future for mineral exploration.”

Crowdsourcing is a process by which such a problem and the accompanying data is made available digitally to third parties from around the world, who then compete to deliver the best solution.

In addition to a A$1 million ($713,785) prize pool, the winning model on the Explorer Challenge will be tested in real life, with the top targets scheduled to be drilled by the end of 2019.

OZ Minerals’ Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Cole, said: “The iterative process of collecting different datasets, followed by geological interpretation can take a long time. The Explorer Challenge is one way we can speed up the exploration lifecycle and analyse information at a much faster rate.”

Unearthed Industry Lead – Crowdsourcing, Holly Bridgwater, said: “Geologically speaking, the key advantage of crowdsourcing is for us to be able to assess an area of ground much faster. Instead of accessing a few opinions, you have access to hundreds and potentially thousands of opinions and you can use that collective brainpower in a short period to collate many different interpretations and see where potential targets might be.

“All the different data collected has the potential to give signals and indicators and when analysed in different ways, gives the best opportunity to highlight points of difference and generate new thinking to help find the prized needles in the haystack.”

The Explorer Challenge will run until the end of May, with winners announced in June.

OZ Minerals teams up with Unearthed to set Explorer Challenge

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Mining company OZ Minerals and energy and resources open innovation platform Unearthed have partnered to launch the Explorer Challenge.

This online crowdsourcing competition calls for geologists and data scientists from across the globe to develop ground-breaking approaches to discover new exploration targets at a site near Oz Minerals’ Prominent Hill copper-gold mine in South Australia, with a A$1 million ($722,497) prize pool to be awarded to winning ideas, Unearthed said.

Prominent Hill sits within the Mount Woods exploration tenements in northern South Australia. The mine has been in operation since 2009. The site for this competition is the remaining land of the Mount Woods exploration tenements surrounding Prominent Hill.

OZ Minerals’ Chief Executive Officer Andrew Cole said: “We’ve taken an approach from outside our industry and applied it to the challenge. This gives us potential access to thousands of scientists’ ideas and data, compared to our relatively small team of in-house geologists – a different and diverse perspective to interpret our exploration data.

“The challenge presents a number of benefits and, importantly, helps us gain new insights and find new approaches to push the boundaries of our geological understanding of the area.

“The challenge is a continuation of our digital transformation journey, which we started two years ago when we migrated all our exploration data to the Amazon Web Service cloud. We want to find ways to work smarter with all the data we’ve got, not just geological data, and challenge existing concepts of how we are harnessing it.”

The Explorer Challenge seeks to test how the global mining and resources industry may leverage data science to its full potential in the future.

Unearthed Founding Director Justin Strharsky said mineral exploration is difficult and economic mineral deposits are rare: “During the exploration process, the iterative process of collecting different datasets, followed by geological interpretation, can take a very long time. Vast amounts of data are collected and processed, and very often this does not result in a discovery.

“The Explorer Challenge will speed up the exploration lifecycle and allow us to analyse information at a much faster rate than before. This competition represents a fundamental change in approach to problem-solving. Data science techniques can be used for exploration and many other challenges faced by the industry.

“This is a very real example of the future of work within the industry in general and exploration, in particular. Organisations must understand the business-as-usual approach in this industry will no longer suffice. The traditional borders of our companies must be expanded virtually to include people with different skills and perspectives from around the world. If your approach to digital skills is to hire people who happen to live near your HQ on the basis of a CV or a degree from a school you recognise, you’re doing it wrong.”

Participating innovators will put their skills to the test and develop solutions for the duration of the 10-week online competition and compete for not only A$1 million in prize money, but also the chance to have their winning model tested in real life, with the top targets scheduled to be drilled next year, Unearthed said.

OZ Minerals will announce the Explorer Challenge at the South Australian Exploration and Mining Conference held at the Adelaide Convention Centre on December 7, 2018.

Interested participants can register their interest at the Explorer Challenge site and will be notified when the competition opens in February 2019. Entries close May 2019, and winners will be announced in June 2019.

Cobham Aviation wins FIFO extension with OZ Minerals Carrapateena copper-gold mine

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Cobham Aviation Services has secured a three-year contract with OZ Minerals to provide fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) services between Adelaide, Port Augusta and its Carrapateena copper-gold project in South Australia.

Over three years, Cobham will operate 14 flights each week between the locations with a RJ 100 aircraft servicing the route. Services began last month.

This is the second OZ Minerals contract Cobham has secured in recent years. The company has operated all FIFO services to and from OZ Minerals’ Prominent Hill mine since 2017.

Cobham Aviation Services Vice President of Regional Services, Dean Brennan said the contract win reflects Cobham’s continued competitive offering within the FIFO environment.

“The Carrapateena project is significant for South Australia and its economy. Cobham is delighted to play its part in such an important development and continuing its relationship with OZ Minerals.”

Cobham has provided aviation services to the mining and resource sector in Australia for more than 25 years.

Carapateena, 160 km north of Port Augusta in South Australia’s highly prospective Gawler Craton, is one of Australia’s largest undeveloped copper deposits. The project will be a 4.25 Mt/y underground operation, with an estimated mine life of 20 years.

Construction of Carrapateena is underway and commissioning is scheduled for the December quarter of 2019 after which the project will ramp up to steady state production.