ABSTRACT
Newmont Goldcorp Australia’s Tanami Operations consists of the Dead Bullock Soak underground mine (DBS) and the Granites Processing Plant. The Backfill Group at DBS has recently introduced a number of improvements to benefit the UG reticulation system. These improvements focused on three areas: reduction of major blockage downtime, continuous monitoring of tight filling operations, and paste plant automation. The first part of the paper will cover the installation of dump/diversion valves throughout the DBS reticulation system. This paper will present why these valves were installed, the design behind determining where they were placed, and several case studies showing how their installation has benefited DBS. The second part of the paper will detail the changes that allow for continuous monitoring of tight filling and present case studies on how this has benefited DBS. The third part of the paper present the results of a trial paste plant automation project which was run in conjunction with NGA’s Process Control Group. This section will detail how this automation works and present case studies on how this automation has benefited DBS.
