Student Number : 9910899R - MSc dissertation - School of Mining - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / The field of risk management has been growing in popularity over the last few years. Risk management is not a new concept but is becoming more important since the release of the Turnbull report. This research reviews all the risk management systems currently available in the mining industry. The focus of this research is from a Mining Economics as well as a Minerals Resource Management perspective. It is the Mineral Resource Managers primary task to ensure that the orebody is extracted in the most optimum method to ensure the maximum return for the shareholder. In order to do that, the Resource Manager needs a good understanding of the ore body as well as the extraction methods and the cost of mining. Recently it has become important to understand the risks around the mining process as well. It was found that the principal risk associated with mining is extracting the orebody sub economically and hence the research focus was on optimisation. Three tools have been designed to facilitate the determination of optimisation. The above three tools have been tested in practice. The first section of research focuses on how risk is defined in the industry. There is also an analysis what a Mining Economist and A Mineral Resource Manager will encounter in terms of risk. The second section covers the Basic Mining Equation (BME) and its uses. The research looks at using stochastic methods to improve optimisation and identifying risk. The @Risk software was used to analyse 5 years of historical data from an existing mine and predicting the future, using the distributions identified in the history. The third section is based on the use of the Cigarette Box Optimiser (CBO), where the cost volume curve and the orebody signature are used to determine optimality in returns. It also looks at various forms of the BME and how it can be used to identify risk. The section also covers quantification of risk from a probability perspective using systems reliability logic. The fourth section centres on the Macro Grid Optimiser (MGO), which considers the spatial differentiation of the orebody and determining the optimality through, an iterative process. The last section analyses risk from a Mining Economics perspective. It considers the use of the ‘S-curve’ to determine risk. The section also includes a high-level shaft infrastructure optimisation exercise. As an overall conclusion, it was found that the biggest risk associated with mining could be to extract the orebody sub economically. Some ore bodies could yield double the return that they intend to extract. In order for that to happen, the extraction program should undergo some form of optimisation. This will ensure that the optimal volume, cut-off, selectivity and efficiencies are met. There is no greater risk than to mine an ore body out without making an optimal profit. We are in mining to make money! Cash is king!

Nutrients for plant growth are often limited in soil systems and additions are required in the form of fertiliser. Potassium is an essential macro-nutrient for plants and demands for K are expected to increase in the future. Glaucony is an abundant marine mineral which may provide an alternative K-rich fertiliser resource. The South Island of New Zealand contains deposits of glaucony-rich rocks which were deposited in the Early- to Mid-Cenozoic during periods of low sedimentation to the seafloor. Here, the geochemistry of glaucony from the Waitaki Basin (Otago), the Waipara Greensand (North Canterbury) and the Stoney Creek Limestone (Karamea) was examined using spatially resolved geochemical analysis and dissolution experiments. Grain-by-grain analysis using Laser Ablation Induction Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrscopy (LA-ICP-MS) and Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM + EDS) revealed that glaucony from all deposits were of the mature type and were enriched in K. Glaucony derived from growth inside faecal pellets was found to contain elevated K and Fe concentrations compared to bioclast hosted glaucony. These variations can be explained by the physical properties of host grains and sea-floor redox conditions at the time of precipitation, both of which increased ionic mobility into the zone of glauconitisation. Solubility analysis showed that K^{+} was released from glaucony more rapidly than any other element. Additionally, decreasing the pH and introducing an oxidising agent (i.e, birnessite which is ubiquitous in soil environments) accelerated K^{+} release 13-fold. Trace metals including Cr, Zn, Cu and Ni were present in the solid phase analysis, however further investigation revealed that these elements were released into solution in low concentrations and may present a source of micro-nutrients, not a soil contaminant. These results suggest that glaucony may offer a source of slow releasing K fertiliser, and the South Island of New Zealand is ideally situated as a place to consider using glaucony as a locally sourced, environmentally sustainable K resource for agriculture.

Moderne Sensorik, Modellierungs- und Optimierungsmethoden im Rohstoffgewinnungsprozess liefern Daten in “Echtzeit” und bieten Entscheidungsassistenz in der Betriebssteuerung und Kurzfristplanung. In den vergangenen Jahren wurden sogenannte „Closed- Loop-Ansätze“ entwickelt, um diese Informationen in Kombination mit moderner Datenverarbeitungstechnologie für eine verbesserte Produktionssteuerung in der Rohstoffgewinnung nutzbar zu machen. Der Beitrag stellt ein Projekt vor, das sich genau dieser Entwicklung widmet, das im Europäischen Rahmenprogramm Horizon 2020 geförderte Projekt Real-Time Mining. Der Fokus des Projektes liegt auf der Gewinnung bergbaugeologisch komplexer Lagerstätten unter Anwendung hoch-selektiver Gewinnungsszenarien. Der Aufbau des Projektes, das Projektziel, die einzelnen Arbeitspakete und Schlüsseltechnologien werden kurz dargestellt. An zwei ausgewählten Beispielen wird auf zwei Hauptkomponenten von Real-Time Mining, die Aktualisierung der Lagerstättenmodelle unter Einbeziehung von Online-Sensorik und die Optimierung der Entscheidungsfindung im Produktionsprozess näher eingegangen.

Moderne Sensorik, Modellierungs- und Optimierungsmethoden im Rohstoffgewinnungsprozess liefern Daten in “Echtzeit” und bieten Entscheidungsassistenz in der Betriebssteuerung und Kurzfristplanung. In den vergangenen Jahren wurden sogenannte „Closed- Loop-Ansätze“ entwickelt, um diese Informationen in Kombination mit moderner Datenverarbeitungstechnologie für eine verbesserte Produktionssteuerung in der Rohstoffgewinnung nutzbar zu machen. Der Beitrag stellt ein Projekt vor, das sich genau dieser Entwicklung widmet, das im Europäischen Rahmenprogramm Horizon 2020 geförderte Projekt Real-Time Mining. Der Fokus des Projektes liegt auf der Gewinnung bergbaugeologisch komplexer Lagerstätten unter Anwendung hoch-selektiver Gewinnungsszenarien. Der Aufbau des Projektes, das Projektziel, die einzelnen Arbeitspakete und Schlüsseltechnologien werden kurz dargestellt. An zwei ausgewählten Beispielen wird auf zwei Hauptkomponenten von Real-Time Mining, die Aktualisierung der Lagerstättenmodelle unter Einbeziehung von Online-Sensorik und die Optimierung der Entscheidungsfindung im Produktionsprozess näher eingegangen.

Zum Wintersemester 2019/2020 wird an der TU Bergakademie Freiberg ein neuer MSc- Studiengang „Geomatics for Mineral Resource Management“ angeboten. Dieser ist Teil eines internationalen Programmes unter Beteiligung der Universitäten Técnico Lisboa in Portugal, Delft University of Technology in den Niederlanden, TU Bergakademie Freiberg in Deutschland, Montanuniversität Leoben in Österreich sowie Wroclaw University of Science and Technology in Polen. Es ist vorgesehen, ein europaweit sichtbares Programm anzubieten, dass den Studierenden ein flexibles internationales Studium an jeweils zwei der Hochschulen ermöglicht und sie auf Führungsaufgaben im Bereich der Geomatik in der Rohstoffwirtschaft vorbereitet. Der Beitrag fasst das Konzept des internationalen Programmes zusammen und stellt die Möglichkeiten an der TU Freiberg konkret dar. / For the winter term 2019/2020, a new MSc program 'Geomatics for Mineral Resource Management' will be offered at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg. This is part of an international program involving the Universities of Técnico Lisboa in Portugal, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, TU Bergakademie Freiberg in Germany, Montanuniversität Leoben in Austria and Wroclaw University of Science and Technology in Poland. The ambition is to offer a Europe-wide visible program that enables students to study internationally flexibly at two of the universities being prepared for a leader role in geomatics for Mineral Resource Management. The article summarizes the concept of the international program and presents the possibilities at the TU Freiberg.

This master thesis was performed with the main purpose of evaluating the environmental performance of a surface radar system with the means of a life cycle assessment, LCA. Saab Electronic Defence Systems, EDS, was the initiator and driver of the project, and is also owner of the radar system evaluated. Apart from the environmental performance the project was carried out with the intention of EDS wanting to gain knowledge about working with LCA, both in terms of methodology and to get an insight into whether and how well they can work with the tool in their current situation. In order to assess the radar systems environmental impact through its entire life cycle there was emphasis on the use phase since the object can be used in several different ways under various circumstances. Eight different operational profiles were thus addressed in order to compare these variations in use scenarios. In addition, studies were performed on whether there exist any guidelines on how use phase scenarios can or should be defined when conducting an LCA. The LCA was performed in accordance with the ISO 14040 family and the database Ecoinvent has been used for mapping the in- and outflows. To calculate the potential environmental impacts ReCiPé was used, where three out of 18 impact categories were chosen to focus upon in agreement with EDS, namely climate change, fossil depletion and mineral resource depletion. Apart from within some business areas, conclusion could be drawn that no general guidelines exist for the definition of the use phase in an LCA. Besides being described in order to increase transparency in the assessment, no further requirements are set by ISO. Found through the assessment is that the use phase shows a major contribution to the overall environmental impacts from the entire life cycle, by being accountable for roughly 85 %. Depending on impact category, the cause lies with either the radar operation due to its large amount of diesel consumption or with the extraction of materials needed to provide for the replacement of faulty components during maintenance. In accordance with their share of the object’s weight, aluminium, copper and iron stand for about 77 % of the materials environmental impact. Noticeable is though that gold takes place on the top ten list of contributing materials with its 0.0001 % of the total weight, meaning that not only do the large amounts of a material matter, more important is the relation between weight and environmental impact. Regarding the eight operational profiles, out of the two parameters compared the radar operation proved to have significantly larger impacts in all three impact categories than the vehicle operation. Interestingly enough, it was found that if the radar and vehicle would have the same amount of operating hours, the vehicle would have larger impacts than the radar. In conclusion, from an environmental perspective it is more important to keep the vehicle operating hours low. However, since the radar operating hours are high at this point it would make a significant difference in reducing the radar fuel consumption. Lastly, for EDS to be able to continue in working with LCA, conclusions are drawn that a more qualified information base needs to be built up within the organization to avoid as much assumptions as possible, this in order to achieve more reliable results. / Detta examensarbete utfördes med det huvudsakliga syftet att utvärdera miljöprestandan av ett markradarsystem med hjälp av en livscykelanalys, LCA. Saab Electronic Defence Systems, EDS, både tog initiativ till och drev projektet. De är även ägare av det utvärderade markradar-systemet. Utöver miljöprestandan utfördes examensarbetet även med avsikt att bistå EDS med kunskap om att arbeta med LCA, både vad gäller metodiken och för att ge en inblick i om och hur väl de kan arbeta med verktyget under nuvarande förhållanden. För att kunna bedöma radarsystemets miljöpåverkan genom hela dess livscykel lades betoning på användningsfasen då objektet kan användas på ett flertal sätt under olika omständigheter. Åtta olika driftsprofiler sattes därmed upp för att jämföra dessa varierande användnings-scenarier. Dessutom studerades om det idag finns några riktlinjer för hur användningsfasen kan eller bör definieras vid utförandet av en LCA. Analysen utfördes i enlighet med ISO 14040-familjen och databasen Ecoinvent har använts för kartläggning av in- och utflöden. För att beräkna den potentiella miljöpåverkan som uppstår användes ReCiPé, där tre utav 18 miljö-påverkanskategorier valdes att fokusera på, nämligen klimatförändring, fossil utarmning och utarmning av mineraler. Bortsett från några branscher kunde slutsatsen dras att inga generella riktlinjer finns för definitionen av användningsfasen i en LCA. Utöver att beskriva sina val i syfte att öka transparensen i analysen ställs inga ytterligare krav av ISO. Genom att bidra till omkring 85 % av den totala miljöpåverkan visade sig användningsfasen vara överlägsen i förhållande till övriga faser i livscykeln. Beroende på påverkanskategori är den bakomliggande orsaken antingen radardriften, på grund av sin stora mängd dieselförbrukning, eller utvinningen av de ämnen som behövs för utbytet av felaktiga komponenter vid underhåll. I enlighet med deras andel av hela den funktionella enhetens vikt står aluminium, koppar och järn för ungefär 77 % av de utvunna ämnenas miljöpåverkan. Noterbart är dock att guld placerar sig på topp tio-listan över bidragande ämnen med sin andel på 0.0001 % av den totala vikten, vilket innebär att det inte bara är stora mängder av ämnen som spelar roll utan också förhållandet mellan vikt och miljöpåverkan. Vad gäller de åtta driftsprofilerna och dess två ingående parametrar visade sig radardrift ha betydligt större påverkan inom alla tre miljö-påverkanskategorier än fordonsdrift. Anmärkningsvärt nog visade det sig att om radar och fordon skulle ha samma driftstider skulle fordonsdrift bidra med den större miljöpåverkan av de två. Ur miljösynpunkt skulle det därför vara viktigare att hålla fordonets driftstid nere, men eftersom driftstiden för radar i dagsläget är avsevärt högre skulle det göra större skillnad att reducera radarns dieselförbrukning. Slutligen, för att EDS ska kunna fortskrida sitt arbete med LCA, dras slutsatsen att en mer kvalificerad informationsbas måste byggas upp inom organisationen. Detta för att i så hög grad som möjligt kunna undvika antaganden, i syfte att uppnå mer tillförlitliga resultat.

Minerals are important natural resources and their development is a historically old, yet new, idea for creating economic prosperity in developing countries. Various researchers have evolved several arguments regarding the impact of mineral resources on development and growth, but they have yet to furnish a practical method of economic evaluation of mineral resources development. This thesis focuses on the economic impact of mineral resource development in a small developing country in the South Pacific Region, namely Fiji. Fiji has expectations and faces challenges in its natural resources development. The Namosi project, a large copper-gold mine development, has been proposed and is under consideration by the Fijian government, who is deliberating on whether mining resources should be developed as a means to add to its prosperity and economic growth or alternatively conserved from the standpoint of the environment and stability. In this study, four significant issues are analyzed viz.: 1) Whether the Namosi mine development project gives a positive net private return. 2) Whether the predicted amount of revenue flowing to the Fijian government from the Namosi mine development exceeds the estimated external cost (in this case, environmental cost) from its development. 3) The impacts of the project on various levels of the Fijian economy, and whether the mine development in Fiji results in an enclave industry; and whether mining has strong or weak backward and forward production linkages with the rest of the Fijian economy. 4) Whether “Dutch disease” will ensue from mining development in Fiji and its level of severity. Regarding issue 1) above, Private Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) is conducted by applying the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) method to evaluate the Namosi mining project based on financial projections. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis is conducted in order to allow for possible variations in copper and gold prices. This analysis indicates that given the anticipated metal prices, private returns from this mining development are likely to be positive. Indeed, the current high metal prices would lead to high private returns. Regarding issue 2) above, Social Cost-Benefit Analyses are attempted. Under the given circumstances, the results show that the benefits of the mine project, as a whole for its 29-year life, substantially outweigh the environmental costs of the project to Fiji. However, due to a lack of available data on the economic magnitude of environmental spillovers, only estimates of environmental costs of the Namosi mining development could be made. Regarding issue 3) above, Input-Output model analysis is performed. Fiji’s total output (without production from the Namosi mine) is found to be F$5,529.917 million. It is estimated that the Namosi project will increase the output of Fiji directly by F$465.574 million (which includes the production inducement effect) and will result in an increase of F$543.788 million in overall Fijian output (GDP). This increase will also be followed by an increased output of about F$10-30 million in related industries, such as in the commerce, transport, and insurance sectors. Based on this Input-Output analysis, it is found that Fiji’s mining sector is an export-oriented enclave industry and that the mining industry itself has very little influence on economic activity in other sectors of the economy. Regarding issue 4) above, the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model analysis is applied. Evidence of the likely occurrence of Dutch disease can be detected from output indicators of each industry, consumer prices and exports. Examples of Dutch disease are as follows: a decrease in output of agricultural industries and in export-oriented domestic industries; an increase in consumer prices (inflation); a decrease of exports both in exportable agricultural products and in manufactured products oriented to exports. However, several macro-variables improve, such as employees’ income, trade (exports and imports), tax revenue, tariff revenue, VAT revenue, government account (savings and expenditure) and GDP etc. These results suggest that there could be a major increase in national welfare. Thus, from an economics point of view, it has been found (by comparing gains in Fijian government revenue with potential Fijian environmental costs) that it is very likely that development of the Namosi mine will result in a net social gain to Fiji. These results are based on the application of principles of social cost-benefit analysis and indicate that a Kaldor-Hicks improvement (a potential Pareto improvement) is likely for Fiji as a result of the mining development. This means that from the predicted net revenue gains of the Fijian government from mining, those who suffer environmental losses would be compensated and the government would still have some extra revenue left over. An actual Paretian improvement is also possible.

Minestis software allows geological domain modeling and resource estimation through an efficient and simplified geostatistics-based workflow. It has been designed for all those, geologists, mining engineers or auditors, for whom quick production of quality models is at the heart of their concerns.

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Minestis software allows geological domain modeling and resource estimation through an efficient and simplified geostatistics-based workflow. It has been designed for all those, geologists, mining engineers or auditors, for whom quick production of quality models is at the heart of their concerns.