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By T. C. Campbell

This Bureau of Mines publication presents an analysis of information related to the transportation of bituminous coal by unit trains and slurry pipelines. Even for short hauls from mines to markets, transport costs frequently account for between one-third and one-half of the delivered price of coal. Minimizing these costs has become an even more critical objective for hauls from the western mines than for hauls from farther east. Factors related to minimizing costs and transporting the western coal receive special attention. Although no general rule of preference is likely to be developed that can be applied to all shipments, both rail and pipeline service will be needed on an increasing scale. The study should provide useful background information and analysis for government and industry in approaching investment decisions in the mining and transportation industries.

Jan 1, 1975

By M. J. Howes

The high degree of mechanisation, which is mainly diesel-powered, has a significant effect on heat loads; heat output from this source often exceeds the heat flow from the surrounding rock. The extensive use of diesel-powered equipment also influences ventilation rates and minimum values are necessary to ensure that emissions of diesel exhaust are adequately diluted. Many Australian mines are in subtropical or tropical areas with high ambient wet- and dry-bulb temperatures on surface. This, coupled with the large amount of heat from mechanisation, usually means that refrigeration is required at much shallower depths. A secondary problem is associated with the definition of acceptable thermal environment conditions, which are sometimes based on the assumption of no air movement. This gives rise to very stringent thermal environment acceptance criteria, which, in some areas, would prohibit work on surface, let alone underground

Jun 12, 1905

By Peter A. Anderson

Innovative solution management is being used at Coeur-Rochester Inc. to increase bullion production and decrease overall costs. New operating programs call for reduced solution application rates to the heap that increase pregnant stream values at a lower and less costly plant flow rate. Silver and gold extractions are equal regardless of leach solution application rate. Solar heating is used in the summer months to increase the core temperature of the heap for use in the winter months to enhance the silver extraction rate. The Coeur-Rochester silver and gold mine, located in central Nevada, is an open pit, heap leach operation that has been in production since late summer of 1986. The facility produces about 15.4 kt/d (17,000 stpd) of -13 mm (-0.5 in.) ore to a leach area consisting of more than 37 hm2 (4 million sq ft) of 80 ml HDPE liner. Crushing is accomplished with a 1220x 1520-mm (48- x 60-in.) jaw crusher. This is followed by a single 2.1-m (7-ft) standard cone crusher and is completed with four 2.1 m (7 ft) short-head cone crushers. Agglomeration is not required for the crushed ore, which contains less than 10% -75. µm (-200 mesh) material. The ore contains 53 g/t (1. 55 oz per st) silver and 0.377 g/t (0.011 oz per st) gold. It is end dumped over previously leached material, leveled, and then ripped with a bulldozer. Drip emitters at 810 mm (32 in.) spacings on 910 mm (36 in.) centers are used to apply barren solution to the heap. A portion of the emitter lines are buried I m (3 ft) deep during the winter months and are placed on the surface the remainder of the year. The leach solution contains 0.75 g/L (750 ppm) sodium cyanide solution at a pH of 10.5 - 11. Dissolved oxygen averages 8 ppm in the pregnant solution. Cyanide consumption for the ore to date is just under 0.2 kg/t (0.4 lb per st). The pH control is accomplished by adding I kg/t (2.0 lb per st) 0-10 mm (-0.4 in.) pebble lime to the ore at the tertiary crusher. The pregnant solution is processed by a conventional closed circuit Merrill-Crowe system. The pregnant solution is clarified through three 158 L/sec (2500 gpm) US Filter Auto-jet clarifiers. This is followed by deareation through a

Jan 1, 1989

By J. C. Borland, J. H. Rogerson

Jan 1, 1963

By Bruce Vandenberg, R. Frank Chiappetta, John Foley

Recent advances in solid-state, field portable, fast framing compact video camera systems and PC based frame capture hardware now allow blast imaging up to 1000 frames per second. Up to 4.1 seconds of data can be captured directly into the unit, downloaded to a PC or archived to a standard VCR without data compression. Since no film processing is involved, motion analysis can be performed instantly and on-site within a few minutes. This paper will describe the design features and applications of the MotionMeter system and compare these with the analogous aspects of film-based cameras and other systems. Of all blast monitoring systems and techniques available today, high-speed motion picture photography and videography still remain as the most valuable, stand alone, diagnostic techniques for troubleshooting and evaluating full scale blasts in the mining and explosives industries. High-speed image data, coupled with information obtained from other instrumentation systems, such as continuous velocity of detonation recorders, laser surveying systems, refraction and ground vibration recording seismographs, etc., can eliminate many assumptions about what actually took place in a blast. Thus, diagnostic confidence in evaluating both excellent and poorly designed blasts is increased, and optimum blast results, (which are application dependent), are achieved considerably faster when compared to the trial and error approach of relying on strictly the experience factor. Applications include developing site-specific blast designs, decay equations relating burden, burden velocity and explosive energy, determining ground response times, reducing coal damage, quantifying backbreak, evaluating the effectiveness of sternming, checking delay detonator firing times, evaluating air decks and for studying general dynamics. Motion analysis is performed with a 2D and 3D software package developed specifically for video analysis, but is also directly applicable to film analysis when using a digitizer. Dimensional controls, lens aberration, field set-ups and camera orientation are all automatically corrected for with matrix analysis.

Jan 1, 2000

By Magnus Troilius

The method of using the bromine process of determining sulphur in steel, described below, is in successful use at the Midvale Steel Works. Ten grams of drillings are weighed out and put into the 1/2-liter flask A, with long neck. The flask is connected with a wide glass tube C', which, in its turn, is connected with the absorption bulbs B, containing HCI, 1.12 specific gravity, and ahout 5 C.C. of bromine. The wide tnbe C causes the vapor to condense and flow back into the flask A during boiling. The bulbs B connect with a long glass tnbe, which may be made to carry off the bromine fumes through a hole in a window, or, better still, through a flue with powerful draught. The connections being made, 100 C.C. of boiling water are run in through the thistle tube T. The air is thus completely driven out of the flask. 100 C.C. of HC1 (about 1.19 specific gravity) are then run in. When the gas begins to run rattler slowly through B, heat is applied until boiling gradually ensues. The steel being completely dissolved, the apparatus is disconnected, and the contents of B rinsed out into a beaker of 100 C.C. capacity, into which a few C.C. of a concentrated solution of BaCI, have been previously introduced. Heat is then applied (best by means of the hot iron plate) until the bromine is completely driven off and the BaSO, has settled nicely to the bottom. The BaSO4, is then filtered off on a small

Jan 1, 1884

By R. S. Dean

In an earlier paper Dean and Hersberger5/ gave preliminary results a d discussed briefly the use in flotation of organic reagents of the type known in the textile industry as "wetting agents.? These reagents are those with a molecular structure comprising a long hydrocarbon chain attached to a. highly molar or hydrophile group in such manner that ionization is nearly complete in dilute solution and the resultant ionic grouping has a very considerable hydrophile-lipophile unbalance in the structure. As a result of this characteristic structure these reagents are more or less powerful frothers and emulsifiers. Ten the degree of bydrophile-lipaphile unbalance is sufficiently great and specific chemical factors are absent these compounds behave in flotation as noncollecting frothers insensitive to reasonable changes of pH.

Jan 1, 1937

By R. S. Dean

In an earlier paper Dean and Hersberger5/ gave preliminary results a d discussed briefly the use in flotation of organic reagents of the type known in the textile industry as "wetting agents.? These reagents are those with a molecular structure comprising a long hydrocarbon chain attached to a. highly molar or hydrorhile group in such manner that ionization is nearly complete in dilute solution and the resultant ionic grouping has a very considerable hydrophile-lipophile unbalance in the structure. As a result of this characteristic structure these reagents are more or less powerful frothers and emulsifiers. Ten the degree of hydrophile-lipaphile unbalance is sufficiently great and specific chemical factors are absent these compounds behave in flotation as noncollecting frothers insensitive to reason¬able changes of pH.

Jan 1, 1937

By J. Hurdley, J. A. Plant, H. Robotham, P. R. Simpson, G. C. Lalor

Paper presented at the 28th International Geological Congress held in Washington DC, July 1989 (International geochemical mapping sessions). The results of orientation studies for a regional geochemical survey of Jamaica and the CARICOM countries of the Caribbean region are described. The survey is designed to provide systematic geochemical information for a wide variety of applications and, especially, to form a basis for agricultural development in the region

Jul 1, 1991

By L. K. Weaver

Bureau of Mines investigated the progressive impact that petroleum (crude oil and condensate) operations in the Gulf of Mexico have had on onshore operations and the expected effect of increasing activities in this area on future petroleum supplies from domestic sources. The data analyzed include capital expenditures, number of wells drilled, success ratio for exploratory wells, daily production per completion, annual producing rates, and oil reserves. The report compares offshore and onshore data and ascertains trends in petroleum industry operations. Observed data and trends indicate that in the near future Gulf of Mexico development and production will continue to increase relative to total U.S. petroleum activity. By 1975 annual oil and condensate production from the Gulf of Mexico is expected to be in the range of 750 million bbl to 1,150 million bbl, and account for approximately 20 to 30 pct of the estimated total domestic production.

Jan 1, 1969

By Matthew E. Meyer

Renovation, rehabilitation, restoration and expansion of existing residential, retail, commercial, hospital facilities and historic structures requires assessment and evaluation of foundation systems of various ages. The concept of demolition and reconstruction in urban areas is often more challenging, costly, and even prohibitive in some cases due to historic regulations. The authors have been involved with numerous projects related to existing foundation assessment and retrofit, including: hotel and hospital expansions, historic Art-Deco hotel renovations and expansions, garage structure expansions, additions to prominent auction houses, casinos, printing facilities; high-rise structure foundation retrofitting; forensic evaluations of existing building and highway structure foundation systems, and marine bulkhead sheeting systems. The use of non-destructive testing techniques, high-strain dynamic load testing, full scale pile cap load testing and 3-D laser scanning technology has proved to be vital in the assessment and evaluation process, as well as design of foundation retrofit alternatives. This paper presents various methods and techniques to facilitate a phased approach for optimization of existing foundations and subsequent re-use of foundation systems. These methods and techniques are illustrated through the author?s experience and selected case histories from projects with varied foundation and geologic conditions.

Jan 1, 2011

By Patrick Frenette

The Goldex Mine is an underground gold mine using a unique mining method where a single very large stope is being created. In order to maintain stability of the walls and roof of the stope which is 450m, 250m high and up to 120m thick, ore is left in the stope as long as possible and acts as backfill would do. At many occasions during the mining sequence, the walls will be exposed on height ranging from 30 meters up to 250 meters. A monitoring system comprising in-stope laser surveys, a seismic system and an array of extensometers and sloughmeters all remotely connected to surface is used to observe the shape and evolution of the stope. This paper will focus on the results obtained following some of the large blasts and on the long term monitoring of the stope.

May 1, 2011

Performance of Dry Separation Processes in Cenospheres Recovery from Coal Fly Ash

Sep 13, 2010

By J. M. Cummings

The importance of controlled sand properties to the production of quality castings has been recognized by foundry men for many years, but the maintenance of requisite standards results in a relatively high sand consumption, which in steel foundries, for instance, may range from half a ton to over one ton of sand per ton of finished casting. During the war, obtaining and maintaining adequate sand supplies became a serious problem in many foundries, owing to increased wartime production and serious 'bottlenecks' in transportation. As a result, considerable interest was aroused in the possibilities of various sand reclamation systems by which up to 85 or 90 percent of discarded sand may be returned to a usable condition. During the past five years or so, a number of sand recovery installations have been made by both ferrous and non-ferrous foundries in Canada and the United States, and have resulted in substantial reductions in sand costs in every case. The possible benefits of sand reclamation are particularly apparent in British Columbia where no suitable sands for steel and heavy iron foundries occur naturally, and where freight costs on imported sands are considerably higher than initial selling prices. This is well illustrated by the fact that silica sand, which sells for about $2.00 per ton at pits in Illinois, is laid clown in British Columbia for around $11.00 or $12.00 per ton. The operating costs quoted for certain of the reclamation schemes, i.e. $0.25 to $1.50 per ton, may actually be no higher than the cost of waste sand disposal in city-located foundries. In view of the foregoing considerations, the British Columbia Research Council has undertaken a study of the possibilities for sand reclamation, with particular attention directed to its application in local steel foundries. No commercial occurrences of silica sand are known in the Province, and, with this in view, the Council previously investigated the possibility of recovering silica sand from local impure sands. Results were definitely encouraging, but it was felt that the present market is too small to permit economical production by the method developed.

Jan 1, 1947

By D FitzGerald, S Jakica, R Paterson, J Silic

A new 2.5D airborne electromagnetic (AEM) algorithm has been developed by Intrepid Geophysics and Jovan Silic & Associates. The advantage of 2.5D (2D geology, 3D source) AEM inversion in 3D geological mapping applications and identification of conductive drilling targets, compared to the more commonly used conductivity-depth imaging (CDI) transforms or 1D inversions, are demonstrated using examples from banded iron formations (BIFs) and other geological settings. We show emerging AEM systems are capable of providing estimates of economic rock unit thicknesses, dips and fault definition at an accuracy that mitigates the need for pattern drilling.The 2.5D inversion application used in this work and described in Silic et al (2015) is a substantially changed version of ArjunAir (Wilson, Raiche and Sugeng, 2006), a product of CSIRO/AMIRA project P223F. The changes include a new forward model algorithm and a new inversion solver. The application enables the accurate simulation of 3D source excitation for full domain models inclusive of topography, non-conforming boundaries and very high resistivity contrasts. Solution is accurate for a geoelectrical cross-section, which is relatively constant along a strike length that exceeds the AEM system footprint.The major innovation includes a new inversion solver with adaptive regularisation, which allows the incorporation of a misfit to the reference model and the model smoothness function.Memory usage has been dramatically reduced and is estimated prior to execution. For speed the software has been parallelised using Intel message passing interface (MPI) and can be used on standard computing hardware or computing clusters. Data from survey lines with lengths exceeding 100 km can be inverted on high end laptop computers.We allow flexibility in the selection of components and in the estimation of noise.AEM inversion examples are shown for surveys from BIFs, base metals (volcanogenic massive sulfides) and geological mapping projects and the results are compared with known geology and drilling. We demonstrate the much improved mapping and target definition delivered by this inversion method when compared with the other more common transforms or inversion methods used on these projects.CITATION:Paterson, R, Silic, J, FitzGerald, D and Jakica, S, 2017. High accuracy .D airborne electromagnetic inversion method for banded iron formation and other geological settings, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2017, pp 319–330 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 24, 2017

By P González, E Córdova, E Faundez

An integrated mine system must be capable of displaying and reporting valuable information that can be used to easily understand, manage and take action on the key parameters being reported.One of the key aspects of integration is the standardisation of the mine information up to a level capable of adapting the main characteristics of past projects at the mine and enforcing the same or higher standards for newer projects being developed.At the El Teniente mine, photogrammetry is used to map the advance of horizontal developments, and the constructed 3D representation of each face is then used by the geologists to obtain structural information about the areas being photographed.The mine realised that valuable mining information could also be extracted from the photogrammetry being applied, with three possible areas of development envisioned.The first area was creating a link between the developments being planned on a yearly and monthly basis and matching them with plan sections of the 3D developments of the system to account for any deviations.The second area was to use vertical sections of the 3D developments to estimate the overbreak of the excavations in different areas of the mine.The third area was the provision of a more detailed analysis of the sections so that they could provide information on the thickness of the shotcrete being applied.This paper presents the different alternatives being used and examines how the project is currently being developed and managed at the mine. It also looks at the challenges associated with implementing the reporting platform and the results being obtained.CITATION:Córdova, E, Benado, D, González, P and Faundez, E, 2016. Mine planning information from photogrammetry sources at the El Teniente Mine, in Proceedings Seventh International Conference and Exhibition on Mass Mining (MassMin 2016), pp 653–658 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

May 9, 2016

By H. Cay, J. Zachwieja, T. Esplin, R. Ravenelle, T. Olsen-Tank

Barrick Goldstrike mine utilizes a carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuit to simultaneously leach gold into solution with cyanide and adsorb the gold-cyanide complex onto activated carbon for further refinement. If the gold bearing ore contains a significant amount of native carbonaceous material, gold cyanide can be adsorbed at these sites instead of onto the desired activated carbon and the gold is effectively lost to tailings in a detrimental process known as "preg-robbing." The preg-rob effect is considerably reduced by treating the ore with a surfactant, which is hypothesized to adsorb to and passivate the native carbon surfaces. Past laboratory and pilot studies have consistently demonstrated significant gains in gold recovery after treating carbonaceous ore with surfactant. With success in bench and pilot scale testing, a plant trial was conducted at Barrick Goldstrike to evaluate the feasibility of using an alkoxylated fatty amine surfactant (Ethomeen T/12) to aid in the leaching of high preg-robbing ores. This paper analyzes the performance of the surfactant during the plant trial in addition to the problems that occurred during the trial period. Suggestions for improvement are also discussed.

Jan 1, 2014

By Cristhian C. Mendoza, Renato da Cunha, Bernardo Caicedo, Max Barbosa

"Abstract This paper shows that a raft alone is not sufficiently appropriate to address the uncertainty of underlying soil variability; therefore, a piled raft system is a better option for mitigating such uncertainty. To study the variability of soil, the behavior of the Piled-Raft Foundation was analyzed with a type of self-drilling micropiles: the ""Alluvial Anker"" (common name for this pile type in Brasilia city). These micropiles have been used in the city and have the advantage that the drill pipe also serves as reinforcement. The studied parameters belong to an elastoplastic constitutive model for strain-stress analysis of soil; variability of these parameters can be intrinsic and/or epistemic. Simulations were performed for a hypothetical Piled-Raft Foundation subjected to vertical loading using the random finite element method. The average parameters of the constitutive model were obtained through laboratory tests. The simulations of the load test were compared with results of a real scale experimental test conducted exclusively for this work in the field. It is analyzed the relative importance of the variability of some geomechanical parameters and their variation with depth is considered. In addition, it is discussed a comparison between the uncertainty of the geomechanical parameters and the uncertainty of the results of the vertical loading test. Finally, this paper shows that a decrease of the safety factor may occur when taking into account the variability of the parameters.IntroductionBrasilia is located in a highly weathered residual tropical soil (lateritic & latossol on pedogenetic concepts). This soil presents high content of alumina and iron due to the lixiviation process of the upper layers. As a consequence, the cemented structure is highly unstable and it can generate strong changes of volume (i.e. collapse) due to changes in both moisture and state of stresses. Therefore, a greater understanding of the construction of Piled-Raft Foundation systems on this particular soil conditions is needed – especially because it covers more than 80% of the surface area of the Brazilian Federal District.Thereafter, this work investigates the influence of the variability of the soil parameters over the uncertainty of the Piled-Raft Foundation design. The studied parameters belong to an elastoplastic constitutive model for strain-stress analysis of soils. The simulations were performed for two hypothetical Piled-Raft Foundations subjected to vertical loading by using the stochastic finite element method. The results were compared to real load tests in Piled-Rafts with “Alluvial Anker” pile types."

Jan 1, 2014

By L Spencer, H Zwingmann, I Graham, D Cendon, B Kelly, D Burkett, F Lau, P Lennox

"An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation. The Kulumadau deposit represents an intermediate-sulfidation epithermal gold deposit (3.8 Mt at 2.3 g/t, Ag:Au = 1). Mineralisation is primarily confined to hydrothermal breccias within pre-existing fault zones, where it is disseminated throughout a hydrothermal matrix comprising chlorite-quartz-adularia-illite-I/S clays-calcite-pyrite. The host sequence represents numerous mid-Miocene pyroclastic flow eruptions within a tectonically active emergent shallow marine to subaerial depositional setting. Subsequent growth faulting was responsible for debris avalanches, which were subsequently cut by reverse faults. Faults were exploited by hydrothermal fluids, with the heightened porosity at the juncture between faults and debris material facilitating boiling of the ore constituents. Fluid inclusion studies suggest that fluid mixing between meteoric fluids and magmatic fluids, accompanied by boiling, were the primary mechanisms for gold deposition. The occurrence of anhydrite/gypsum as late-stage veins and their sulfur and oxygen isotopic values indicate post-mineralisation mixing of sea water with hydrothermal fluids.CITATION:Burkett, D, Graham, I, Spencer, L, Lennox, P, Cohen, D, Zwingmann, H, Lau, F, Kelly, B and Cendon, D, 2015. The Kulumadau epithermal breccia-hosted gold deposit, Woodlark Island, Papua New Guinea, in Proceedings PACRIM 2015 Congress, pp 205–212 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 18, 2015

By Ann G. Kim

Fires that occur in abandoned coal mines, waste banks, and in coal outcrops constitute a serious health, safety, and environmental hazard. Toxic fumes, the deterioration of air quality, and subsidence constitute the greatest hazards from these fires. Although tires on abandoned mined land (AML) occur in every coal-producing state, the severity of the problem varies. Methods to extinguish or control AML fires, including excavation, fire barriers, and sealing, are generally expensive and have a relatively low probability of success This U.S. Bureau of Mines report includes information from a variety of sources, i.e., agencies of the Federal Government, State agencies, research reports, conference proceedings, product information, and technical literature. This information has been collated into a comprehensive discussion of AML fire problems. Data on past fire control projects and on the estimated extent of the current problem have been compiled. Factors affecting the occurrence, propagation, and extinguishment of AML fires are discussed. Conventional fire control methods are described, and their probable effectiveness is evaluated. Information on the hazards of AML fires and safety considerations is included. The status of current technology, recent improvements in fire control methods, and areas of current research are discussed.

Jan 1, 1993