Slurry Pipelines: Past, Present and Future

The world’s first long-distance mineral slurry pipeline was built in Australia in 1967for the Savage River magnetite concentrate mine in Tasmania. Since then, in the Australasian region, the following slurry pipelines have been built: the 24 km Gladstone limestone pipeline; the 18 km NZ steel ironsand pipeline; the 304 km Century zinc/lead concentrate pipeline; and most recently the 62 km OneSteel Whyalla magnetite pipeline commissioned in 2007. The current paper reviews the development of long-distance pipeline technology, describes the existing pipelines in the Australian region, and considers the engineering, construction, operation and current status and future of long-distance slurry pipelines in Australia.