ENER20002: Fosterville Gold Mine Report - Mining Engineering Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Fosterville Gold Mine, encompassing risk assessments, geological overviews, and mining operations. It begins with an evaluation of potential hazards, including noise, vibration, and thermal stresses, and proposes control measures to mitigate these risks. The report then delves into the regional geology of the Lachlan Fold Belt, the history of gold discovery at Fosterville, and the exploration efforts undertaken. It details the lithographies associated with ore-bearing rocks and explores the style, age, and genesis of gold mineralization. Furthermore, the report examines areas of future exploration potential, focusing on underground mining methods, and addresses environmental measures related to noise and air quality. A glossary of mining terms and a brief history of the Fosterville deposits are also included, offering a complete overview of the mine's operations and significance.

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Introduction
Australia is one of the few regions of the world which is endowed with mineral resources.
Fosterville is treated as one of such potential gold mines which put Australia is such a rare
category of regions. This particular paper seeks to evaluate various aspects of mining activities in
Australia particularly Fosterville.
Question 1
Part a
Most Dangerous Activities to be encountered by the officers beginning from the Mine Lease
Area.
 Jumping over mining pits
 Accessing ores
 Being exposed to the rolling debris
 Assessing dusty places
 Accessing vibrating mining machines
Part b
Noise: It is common with the mining site that noise levels usually go beyond the recommended.
The visiting team should, therefore, expect exposure to the extreme noise level. Although it is
easy for one to become mentally used to noise, this should not mean that the damage will not be
done. Research work has indicated that overexposure to much noise can lead to the ringing
ear(Jensen 2019). This condition is commonly known as tinnitus.

Control Measure
 In order to ensure that workers are effectively protected from the excess noise that is
generated from the mining sites, the company should plan on how the risk assessments
can be carried out on the site. Reduction, as well as avoidance of the exposure to the
noise, can be achieved through the application of the engineering control which may
include the use of the vibration dampers or application of the absorptive panels.
Rating: 4
Currently, the company is participating in regular maintenance as an essential mechanism if the
noise reduction. Other option being the provision of personal protection for the workers at the
mine.
Rating :3
The vibration of the whole body
Whole Body Vibration is commonly referred to as WBV is basically a slow forming physical
hazard which occurs in the workers at the mining site as well as other occupational that buses the
heavy machinery. The visiting team is expected to take considering amount of time at the site
while even sitting on some of the machine components hence this is likely to be one of the
problems to be experienced.
Control Measures
 Also, the first step by the mining company will be to effectively reduce the health risks
and this should be included as the first step to be taken by the mining company. This

might include having the potholes present at the mining sites properly filled especially on
the paths and highways to be used by those accessing the mining sites
Rating: 3
Thermal Stresses
The mining site is experiencing a thermal or heat stress.
Control measures
 Use of the personal protective Equipment’s
 Reduction of the level of exposure to the thermal stress sources
Rating: 3
Dust Particles
Dust Particles that are produced in volumes during the excavation of the gold mines is likely to
be one of the sites to be handled.
Control measures
 Mineworkers should be trained on the dangers of being overexposed to too much dust
particles. Respiratory protection should be used when accessing the site. The visiting
team should, therefore, be provided with some of these PPEs.
Rate: 4
Part C

Each and every state in entire Australia has proper responsibility for the management of the
WHS. The Work, Health and Safety in the mining are actually covered by a range of legislation.
Other than Queensland and Western Australia, the other states including Victoria use general
legislation on WHS which applies to the mining sector. These general mining regulations are
supplemented by additional regulations. The best example is in the case of the Work Health
Safety (Mines) Act of 2013.
Victoria states apply the WHS for the case of the safety requirements in Australia. There has
been a very important process of harmonization of the WHS laws of Australia in the recent years
and despite the laxity by the Victoria state to have the progress made in the amendments, the
general mining regulations have been put into practice.
Question 2
Regional geology Overview of Lachlan Fold Belt
The Lachlan Fold Belt is considered to be an enigmatic part of the north-south trending
composite Paleozoic Tasman Orogenic Belt which is found along the margin of the Australian
Zones. Part of the system of phanerozozoic organic was formed along the margin of the eastern
belt of Gondwanaland Paleozoic. Large tracks of deep-marine sedimentary rocks are found in
Lachlan Fold Belt. The characteristics of this particular belt are very distinct and are actually

different from other belts which are orogenic in nature like the Alps. Its characteristics include
the following:
 It has the same assemblage of lithotectonic with the general exposure being along 1000
Km length.
 Comparable dimensions to Cordillera of North America
 Lithotectonic assemblage is dominant on Ordovician Quartz-rich fan of turbidite which
has palinspastic dimensions.
Early geological discovery of the Fosterville deposit/s
The discovery of gold in Forsterville was first done in the area in 1894. This kind of activity
continued up to the year 1903 before the production was started. The mining in this particular
process was carried near the material oxide surface. Other than minor tailings of the retreatment
of the year 1930, the area was just dominant until the year 1988 when gold production at the
Fosterville was started the Bendigo Gold Associates. By the year 1989, the project came to an
end followed by the start of the exploration. This is what led to the acquisition of the leases by
Brunswick that started exploration(Miller, Wan and Diaz 2016).
Geological Work that has been taken in the exploration
The regional exploration has been very successful as far as programs of drilling are concerned.
This has actually led to the increase of the lengthy strike which is commonly known as a
mineralized system from a distance of 11 km to 15km. Also, the program of the exploration has
confirmed the presence of the sulfide bearing gold, especially at May Reef and Lyell. This has
subsequently led to at least two previously undiscovered lines of mineralization to the west of
Russell’s reef and to the east of Goornong.

Lithographies associated with ore-bearing rocks
Figure 1: Lithographies zones(Nguyen and Niedbalski 2016)
Style, age and genesis of gold mineralization at Fosterville
The gold deposits of Fosterville are actually located around 20km to the ENE of Bendigo.This is
basically to the north central of Victoria. There have been two broad periods of gold
mineralization that have been delineated across western Lachlan Fold Belt. This has been
through radiogenic dating. The very first option is usually associated with a vein of quartz that
hosted mineralization from 425 to 400Ma. This took place in Silurian to the early Devonian. By

so doing it extended across Victoria beginning from Stawell which is found in the West through
Bendigo to the east side where there is Wattle Gully. There are two granitic suites that have
intruded into the zone of Bendigo during the late as well as the early Devonian. This kind of
intrusion appears to be connected to the second phase of the mineralization found between 380
as well as 365Ma. This extended to Woods point- Walhalla belt in the east from Ballarat in the
west. It is this estimated that mineralization at Fosterville appeared to have been formed during
this particular phase. There were various styles of occurrence ranging from a quartz-carbonate
vein which is hosted free gold that is through the one hosted by sulfide which is hosted
refractory. The refractory one is associated with arsenopyrite gold, stibnite, and pyrite. Deep
weathering, as well as erosion that took place in the late Tertiary, led to the production of
regional laterite profile. This kind of weathering was locally located and produced a depth of
50m in depth(Nguyen and Niedbalski 2016).
Areas of future exploration potential
The activities of mining in the area are targeting areas such as the central parts, Harrier and
finally Phoenix which are all underground ore zone. All these areas will be extracted by the use
of the technique of the open stoping. This will extend to the application of the cemented Rock
Fill in the cases considered to be practically applicable. The selection or the choice of the
particular method of mining within the regime of stoping will be based on the previous
experience that has been applicable in the case of the Fosterville mine as well as the geometry
and other conditions of the geotechnical which is the true ore zone(Kaksonen et al 2018).
The underground method will be conducted by the use of the conventional fleet which includes
production drill, trucks, loaders, jumbos and finally ancillary. The open cut method of mining

will be conducted by the use of the conventional fleet by the use of excavators as well as trucks
with the mining within the workforce
Environmental measures
The major issues that have been associated with the pollution of the area include the following:
Noise pollution
This is generated from the sources including the movement of the vehicles, operators of the
processing, Ancillary infrastructure and finally surface and underground blasting.
Effects
 It leads to the disturbance of the Fauna
 Potential impacts on health
 Reduced sensitivity of receptors of the amenity
Control measures
Maintenance programs to minimize noise from the moving machine components.
Application of the legislative requirement involving development as well as planning act of
2007. This is responsible for Australian Capital Territory. Also Mineral Titles Act of 2010 which
applies to the Northern Territory(Banerjee et al 2017).
Quality of air
 The primary crushing of the rocks produces a lot of specks of dust
 Wind erosion that picks up dust

 Surface leading to intense production of smoke and clouds of dust
Impacts
 The company has been employing the use of water carts on the exposed surface grounds.
 Minimizing the vegetation clearance so as to reduce the land exposed to wind erosion
 Reduction of the speed of the vehicle at the dusty surfaces
Some of these measures with the legislation stipulated by the Mineral Resource Act of 1995 as
well as Sustainable Development Act of 1990 of Victoria.
Glossary
Question 3
Term Definition
Grade It refers to the percentage of the metal in the
recovered ore.
Ore A rock bearing mineral which may be rich
enough for mining
Mill Recovery Rate .Percentage of the mineral the machine can
refine at a particular time.
Mine Recovery Rate Percentage of the valuable mineral which is
expected to available for market sale after the
process of refining.
Ore Reserve Highest confidence category of the estimate of

the reserve
Ore Resource Valuable as well as economically, legally and
technically feasible to extract.
Indicated Resource Sampled economic mineral occurrences to the
extent of making an estimate at a particular
confidence level.
Measure Resource These are indicated resources that have been
sampled further and have been declared
acceptable by a competent person
Exploration Drilling A technique which is used in the industry of
mining to assist in probing the content of the
ore deposits which is known in any site
considered to be potential.
Underground exploration development Extraction of mineral from the underground
which involves several structural constructions.
Brief History
Fosterville deposits of gold are found 20 km away from Bendigo in the north-central part of
Victoria. Fosterville composition includes the controlled fault fragments formed lengthways and
adjacent to a sequence of structures of minerals which takes the form of the shoot on
development at interludes to an extent of 8km. The first location where gold was encountered
through mining was Fosterville which had an equivalent 0.87 t of gold produced from the year

1894 to 1903. It was up to 1991 when the gold mining process was recommended following the
program of systematic reverse circulation drilling alongside Fosterville gold trend and O’Dwyers
gold trend which was located at some meters apart to signalize accumulated ore of leach oxide
resources(Andrews 2019). This initiated the operations on the accumulated leaching from the
open pits of shallow oxide. The production of gold was at a peak between 1998 and 2001 when
the oxide mining cessation was employed. The tons of gold which were produced was 7.46. The
tasting and recognition of the underlying sulfide resource were just before the oxide mining came
to an end. In 2003, a feasibility study in the operation of mining sulfide was brought to
completion by perseverance while in 2004, the open pit method of mining and its construction
was commenced (Li and Zhang 2018).
Calculation of Tonnage
Mining Methods
Previous
The area had been using the open pit method of the extraction from the year 2005 to around the
year 2007. This method was being used for extracting gold that is very close to the surface of the

earth. It involves digging a quarry or just big holes.The roads are then built leading to and from
the mine. These roads are meant to facilitate operation and maneuvering of heavy equipment for
mining like screens and crushers
Current method
In the current extraction activities, the preferred method is predominantly underground. It has
been considered since the method of underground does not allow access to the resources desired.
Also, it might have been considered after the depletion of the surface mineral. This particular
method involves the building of the horizontal or vertical ramps, shafts, and tunnels that leads to
the deposits of gold which are deeply located in the earth. This method of mining is actually very
complex, labor intensive as well as technical. The process involves the drilling of holes for the
explosives, explosive setting and machine applications in the clearance of the debris. The cost
that is associated with the open pit method of gold extraction in Fosterville is the same as that
underground apart from the extra requirement of electricity in the site.
Method of ore extraction as well as the processing

Figure 2: Treatment/Processing method of gold(Nguyen and Niedbalski 2016)
Amalgamation
This is the oldest method of gold treatment. The method involves alloying the particles of gold
with the metallic mercury which leads to the formation of amalgam(Asamoah et al 2016). This is
then followed by the separation of the gold from the mercury which is achieved by heating in
retorts up to the point that mercury distills off. This kind of process is used in the coarser gold
treatment which may be 30 microns diameter or even greater than that. Currently, this particular
method is not being used at Fosterville due to the extremely toxic nature of mercury.
Gravity concentration
The process of gravity concentration works on one basic principle that gold which is contained
with the ore has higher specific gravity than the rock considered to be the host. In fact, the
elemental go lhs a specific gravity of 19.3 whole the typical gold is around 2.6. The

concentration devices that are used usually create a movement between the host rock and the
gold itself in a manner that separates the heavy pieces from the lighter pieces of the material.
Floatation
This process involves the production of a mineral concentrate through the application of agents
of chemicals. This is then followed by intense agitation. The agitated ore is then taken through
air sparging so as to produce a concentrated form rich in minerals(Andrews 2018).
Table
Category Gold Ounces Grade
Mineral Reserve 1004500 13.56
Measured/Indicated Resources 1655000 18.56
Inferred Resource 2500000 29.85
Taking assumption of the gold price of A$ 1600 per ounce, the projected value will indicate very
slight variation from the actual figure. This will be possible if and only if the other factors of
production remain constant.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Fosterville composition includes the controlled fault fragments formed
lengthways and adjacent to a sequence of structures of minerals which takes the form of the
shoot on development at interludes to an extent of 8km.The program of the exploration has

confirmed the presence of the sulfide bearing gold, especially at May Reef and Lyell. This has
subsequently led to at least two previously undiscovered lines of mineralization to the west of
Russell’s reef and to the east of Goornong. (Walker 2018).The study has also discovered the
potential of Fosterville to effectively continue being a potential mining area.

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