Buxton Innicon is able to provide all round metalliferous open pit and underground mining operational and technical advice for small to mid-sized companies covering a broad range of areas through its +30 years experienced Principal Mining Engineer – Sean Buxton.
Gold and base metal mining and processing
- CIL process including crushing and grinding, leach, cyanide detox, intense cyanide leach, gold room, laboratory and sample preparation, ORICA CN Sparge process (solid)
- International Cyanide Code Compliance (basic)
- Base metal flotation, fine grind (basic)
- Tails dam design, operation and remediation (solid)
- Dump Heap Leach design, construct and operate full circuit including pads, drains, irrigation, ponds and leach circuit (solid)
- Single or multi-pit operations incl. Ernest Henry pit +500m deep
- Mining fleet from 110 – 650 tonne (Hitachi EX1200 / Liebherr 996) excavators paired with 90 – 180 tonne (CAT 777 / 785 / 789) trucks; D6 to D11 track dozers; watercarts; graders; scrapers etc
- Topsoil and grub and pre-strip cycles using dozer – scraper or digger – truck combinations
- Mining quartz vein style shallow and steeply dipping orebodies
- Geotechnical (Strong)
- Manage and monitor various types of large and small potential wall failures – pre and post failure
- Manage and design remediation methods for wall slips
- Performance optimisation of mining fleet and process
- Full site design layout including waste dumps, ROM, laydown areas, amenities and closure bunds, diversion drains, sedimentation ponds, explosives storage etc
- Pit wall groundwater depressurisation programmes
- Multi-stage pumping and water transfer between pits and ponds
- Multiple mining methods including Longhole Open Stoping (LHOS), Benching, AVOCA, Room and Pillar, Sub Level Open Stoping (SLOS), Hand-held rising and stoping, Underhand and Mechanised cut and fill (UCAF / MECAF)
- Narrow vein and porphyry
- Shallow and steeply dipping orebodies
- Multiple void backfill methods including paste, sand, sand / cement, CRF, crushed aggregate, cemented aggregate using bogger + mix and pipeline delivery from surface
- Geotechnical (Solid)
Scoping, Pre-feasibility and Feasibility Studies
- Kulthor – underground mid sized longhole open stope method, copper, ex Osborne Mines, Ivanhoe – Scoping through to Feasibility Study Management and Final Report
- Wyoming and Caloma Resources – underground small to mid sized longhole open stope method, gold, Alkane Resources’ Tomingley Gold Mine – Scoping through to Feasibility Study Management and Final Report Review
- Caloma – open pit cutback using small to mid-sized mining fleet, multi-switchback, gold, Alkane Resources’ Tomingley Gold Mine – Scoping Study
- In-pit Tailings Disposal Study from Scoping through to Feasibility and submission for assessment as a Project Approval Modification NSW
- Started mines in NT, NSW and SA
- Managed all phases of Tomingley Gold Project from Feasibility Study through to steady state operations
- Pre-operations readiness planning
- Business Model “Pillars of success” policy development including Core Values / Expected behaviours, safety and training, quality and people
- Recruitment + HR process and site team setup including Advertisements, Salary setting, Position Descriptions, Owner-operator + contractor models, Integrated business unit strategy,
- Performance Management processes
- Site security and shipments (including gold)
- Roster risk assessment and selection
- Government regulators, community and stakeholder engagement
Mine Safety Management System Setup
- Mine Safety Management Plans and associated procedures
- Bowtie Risk Assessment
- Principal Control Plans / Principal Hazard Management Plans
- Human Psychology of Risk including concepts of Workspace, Headspace and Groupspace
- Mine induction development
- TARPs
- Incident investigation including TAPROOT / ICAM
Contractor Selection and Management
- Tender preparation and award
- Project Management
- Budget and forecasting processes
- Short, medium long term planning processes including integration and practical use of MineSched, EPS software etc
- Geotechnical support process for operations
- Optimisation of existing mine design and processes, mining fleet, shift handover, hotseating, roster changeover
- Cutoff grades studies
- Good understanding of NSW / SA government agencies and processes
- Site general regulatory requirements including NSW Resources Regulator, Dept of Planning, Dept of Water, EPA etc
- Mine Project Development assessment and approval processes
- Project Approval modification (MOD) preparation and amendments processes
- Mine Operations Plans (MOP / PEPR) preparation and amendments processes
- NSW Mine Industry Safety Advisory Council (MISAC) meetings
Environment and Community
- Community and stakeholder engagement
- CCC meetings
- VPA and grant assessments
- Surface water management planning and processes
- Water Management Plan including water balance, shedding, purification, diversion, discharge criteria, analysis, storage options
- Pollution remediation, incident investigation
- Rehabilitation including sodic conditions on waste dumps
- AusIMM presenter for Lachlan and Parkes Branches
