The largest Au deposits in the St Ives Goldfield (Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia) may be located in a major Neoarchean volcano-sedimentary depo-centre

The largest Neoarchean gold deposits in the world-class St Ives Goldfield, Western Australia, occur in an area known as the Argo-Junction region (e.g. Junction, Argo and Athena). Why this region is so well endowed with large deposits compared with other parts of the St Ives Goldfield is currently unclear, because gold deposits at St Ives are hosted by a variety of lithologic units and were formed during at least three different deformational events. This paper presents an investigation into the stratigraphic architecture and evolution of the Argo-Junction region to assess its implications for gold metallogenesis. The results show that the region's stratigraphy may be subdivided into five regionally correlatable packages: mafic lavas of the Paringa Basalt; contemporaneously resedimented feldspar-rich pyroclastic debris of the Early Black Flag Group; coarse polymictic volcanic debris of the Late Black Flag Group; thick piles of mafic lavas and sub-volcanic sills of the Athena Basalt and Condenser Dolerite; and the voluminous quartz-rich sedimentary successions of the Early Merougil Group. In the Argo-Junction region, these units have an interpreted maximum thickness of at least 7,130 m, and thus represent an unusually thick accumulation of the Neoarchean volcano-sedimentary successions. It is postulated that major basin-forming structures that were active during deposition and emplacement of the voluminous successions later acted as important conduits during mineralisation. Therefore, a correlation exists between the location of the largest gold deposits in the St Ives Goldfield and the thickest parts of the stratigraphy. Recognition of this association has important implications for camp-scale exploration.

The long drive home: Control beliefs and commuting intentions of mine workers

Purpose: It is relatively common for many mine workers in Australia to drive an average of 250 kilometers to and from work following long shifts and shift blocks. Despite the long distances travelled following long shifts of 12- to 14-hours, there is evidence to suggest that these workers are not engaging in a break following their shift prior to driving home. This naturally raises issues of fatigue and sleepiness when driving. There is limited research in respect to commuting behaviours of mine workers and little is known about the factors that influence these workers to leave site immediately following their shift. Using the theory of planned behaviour, this paper examines individual control beliefs that encourage or prevent workers from leaving the site immediately following their shift block. Method: Data was collected using a cross-sectional survey. The survey instrument was developed following a series of in-depth interviews with workers from a Queensland coal mine (n=37). The quantitative written survey sample (n=461) was drawn from the same coal mine and consisted of workers from all levels of the organisation. Results: The results examine workers intentions to leave the work site and drive home immediately following a shift block. The results show differences in control beliefs between workers finishing night shifts compared with those finishing day shifts. Implications: An understanding of these control beliefs may potentially inform more targeted intervention strategies in the attempt to encourage a safer approach to driving home following shift blocks.

Mining in Northern British Columbia

The history of the settlement of the province is tied to patterns of exploration and min development. In Northern British Columbia the Cariboo goldfields provided the impetus for settlement of the region and the beginning for mining to extend into the watern and northern regions in a series of minor gold rushes. The northern half of the province has a geological diverse mineral base that supports a wide variety of mining, and a gradual improvement of exploration and mining methods due to scientific knowledge and technology provided opportunities for lode gold and base metal mines to be developed. The success of mining is based on world ore prices and competitive markets that impact the economic viability of developing a mine. Mining faces increasing pressures in the northern half of the province due to other resource values, such as tourism or protected areas, that claim and compete for a similar land base.

An indexing model for stormwater quality in the Gold Coast

In the era of climate change sustainable urban development and in particular provision of sustainable urban infrastructure has become a key concept in dealing with environmental challenges. This paper discusses issues affecting stormwater quality and introduces a new indexing model that is to be used in evaluation of the stormwater quality in urban areas. The model has recently been developed and will be tested in a number of pilot projects in the Gold Coast, one of the fastest growing and environmentally challenged cities of Australia.

Alcohol and other drugs in the Australian construction industry : A national evaluation and the best way forward

Anecdotal evidence highlights issues of alcohol and other drugs (AODs) and its association with safety risk on construction sites. Information is limited however regarding the prevalence of AODs in the workplace and there is limited evidential guidance regarding how to effectively address it. This research aimed to scientifically evaluate the use of AODs within the Australian construction industry in order to reduce the potential resulting safety and performance impacts and engender a cultural change in the workforce. A national qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the use of AODs was conducted with approximately 500 employees. Results indicate that as in the general population, a proportion of those sampled in the construction sector may be at risk of hazardous alcohol consumption and support the need for evidence-based, tailored responses. This is the first known study to scientifically evaluate the use of AODs and potential workplace safety impacts in the construction sector.

Members abroad - Australia - Brisbane and the Gold Coast

Brisbane's sub-tropical climate, vegetation and urban history as a British settlement, endow the region with many characteristics that are familiar in KwaZulu-Natal. Brisbane settlement, firstly as a penal conlony to accommodate the hardiest criminals dispatched from Sydney, was established in 1825 on a wide river, several kilometers upstream from Moreton Bay with the Pacific Ocean beyond. The penal colony was short lived and was soon opened up to free settlement in 1842. The growth of the fledgling town was characterized by brick warehouse and service buildings to the port that was established on its riverbanks, resembling those of the old Point Road area in Durban. Government and administration buildings heralded Brisbane as the captial city of the State of Queensland, annexed from New South Wales in 1859. Morphological studies reveal that Brisbane had reached its first zenith around 1930 as a commerical city of four and five storey buildings. The urban form remained stagnant until the post-1960's building boom and the developments from this period on, consolidated land amalgamations largely ignoring the urban characteristics of the established city. Public space was poorly observed, resulting in a city that had turned its back on the river. It is only in recent times that the currency of good urban design, under the custodial direction of the City Council, has fostered a re-engagemed urban realm that, enabled by the recent building boom, has delivered high quality urban environments

An indexing model for sustainable urban environmental management : the case of Gold Coast, Australia

Improving urban ecosystems and the quality of life of citizens have become a central issue in the global effort of creating sustainable built environments. As human beings our lives completely depend on the sustainability of the nature and we need to protect and manage natural resources in a more sustainable way in order to sustain our existence. As a result of population growth and rapid urbanisation, increasing demand of productivity depletes and degrades natural resources. However, the increasing activities and rapid development require more resources, and therefore, ecological planning becomes an essential vehicle in preserving scarce natural resources. This paper aims to indentify the interation between urban ecosystems and human activities in the context of urban sustainability and explores the degrading environmental impacts of this interaction and the necessity and benefits of using sustainability indicators as a tool in sustainable urban evnironmental management. Additionally, the paper also introduces an environmental sustainability indexing model (ASSURE) as an innovative approach to evaluate the environmental conditions of built environment.

An indexing model for stormwater quality assessment : stormwater management in the Gold Coast

In the age of climate change and rapid urbanisation, stormwater management and water sensitive urban design have become important issues for urban policy makers. This paper reports the initial findings of a research study that develops an indexing model for assessing stormwater quality in the Gold Coast.

Interactions of phenyldithioesters with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs): Implications for AuNP functionalization and molecular barcoding of AuNP assemblies

The interactions of phenyldithioesters with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been studied by monitoring changes in the surface plasmon resonance (SPR), depolarised light scattering, and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Changes in the SPR indicated that an AuNP-phenyldithioester charge transfer complex forms in equilibrium with free AuNPs and phenyldithioester. Analysis of the Langmuir binding isotherms indicated that the equilibrium adsorption constant, Kads, was 2.3 ± 0.1 × 106 M−1, which corresponded to a free energy of adsorption of 36 ± 1 kJ mol−1. These values are comparable to those reported for interactions of aryl thiols with gold and are of a similar order of magnitude to moderate hydrogen bonding interactions. This has significant implications in the application of phenyldithioesters for the functionalization of AuNPs. The SERS results indicated that the phenyldithioesters interact with AuNPs through the C═S bond, and the molecules do not disassociate upon adsorption to the AuNPs. The SERS spectra are dominated by the portions of the molecule that dominate the charge transfer complex with the AuNPs. The significance of this in relation to the use of phenyldithioesters for molecular barcoding of nanoparticle assemblies is discussed.