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By R. J. Sweigard

Stabilization of slopes on abandoned mine land (AML) invariably involves some channelization to control surface drainage. Typically, these channels are lined with riprap or gabions, depending on gradient and expected flow rate. The conventional treatments pose a problem since they require frequent maintenance and replacement at times. Soil bioengineering presents an alternative to the conventional measures. In soil bioengineering, living woody plant material forms the main structural component in systems designed to prevent shallow mass slope failures, surface erosion, and channel bank erosion. An experimental application of soil bioengineering techniques was designed and implemented at an AML site in eastern Kentucky. The design consisted of live fascines and live stakes using willow branches installed with coir geotextile. Channel gradient, length, and cross-section were considered in the design.

Jan 1, 1998

Alluvial diamond deposits covered with a thick overburden cannot be explored effectively and mined profitably with the available conventional techniques. A novel directional drilling technique has been developed and site trials have been conducted at the De Beers Namaqualand Mines situated at the western coast of South Africa. This paper describes the technique developed as well as the results of the site trials. The main task of the project is to develop a tool and a supporting system to achieve a remote exploration and ore extraction method for inaccessible alluvial diamond deposits. The project involves the acquisition of a system, commissioning on-site and evaluating the information obtained during assessment. The project consists of the design -of certain tools and instrumentation for the system, investigations and desktop studies as well as development of the system's logistics. The operating philosophy of the system is based on the keyhole surgery principle. In this study a pilot hole was drilled first, starting from the surface with an inclination to reach deeply seated diamondiferous gravel layers, followed by drilling into a more or less horizontal gravel layer for a certain length and finally pointing-upwards reaching ground surface at a predetermined exit point. The pilot drill bit was then replaced with a larger diameter reamer/mining tool and an HDPE tail pipe was attached behind the reamer. The drill string was retracted back to enlarge the guide hole and flush the excavated ore to the surface through the tail pipe. The material flow in between the sections of the system was' carefully measured to assess and record the gravel recovery rates. Several horizontal holes were drilled at preplanned drill paths to reach and follow the ore layer and the Ore extraction was achieved by means of a reamer/mining tool. Principles of the concept have been proven viable in this investigation.

Jan 1, 2010

By Robert L. Virta

This U.S. Bureau of Mines paper discusses the structure of the talc industry, talc production, processing of talc ore, applications and demand for talc, and the outlook for the talc industry.

Jan 1, 1989

By Paulo Eduardo Melo da Cunha

Com um cenário de constante mudança na área e logística, uma demanda cada vez maior por transporte rápido, eficiente e a baixo custo, muito se tem exigido dos gestores de logística na solução, otimização e implementação de soluções criativas para desatar o nó logístico existente hoje no país. A falta de infra-estrutura tanto interna, quanto externa tem dificultado o trabalho e comprometido os resultados globais das empresas. Muitos trabalhos já foram realizados, mas as constantes mudanças, aumento dos volumes transportados em cada modal, a falta de planejamento governamental, tem exigido novas formas de trabalhar. Um relacionamento mais próximo dos fornecedores de transporte, com grande envolvimento dos clientes e áreas comerciais é fundamental para os bons resultados e é desta forma que buscamos otimizar o fluxo ferroviário para a região da grande BH.

Jul 29, 2018

By Douglas Batista Mazzinghy

O Projeto Minas-Rio possui o maior circuito de remoagem do mundo com o uso de moinho Vertimill. O circuito foi comissionado no final de 2014 e vem apresentando desempenho conforme projetado. São duas linhas de remoagem sendo que cada linha possui oito moinhos Vertimill modelo Metso VTM-1500 e quatro baterias de ciclones, totalizando dezesseis moinhos e oito baterias de ciclones. O circuito é do tipo reverso e são utilizadas bolas de alto cromo de 12,5 mm de diâmetro como carga moedora. O moinho Vertimill é bem robusto e não apresentou problemas maiores durante os primeiros seis meses de operação. O presente trabalho faz uma avalição da operação destes equipamentos e compara os dados de projeto com os resultados industriais obtidos através de campanhas de amostragens.

Aug 16, 2017

By Fernanda de Melo Fernandes

A deposição de filmes finos por plasma melhora várias propriedades físicas, químicas e biológicas de superfícies que contribuem para o enobrecimento dos materiais. O objetivo desse trabalho é estudar a cinética de deposição de filmes finos de cobre, utilizando a técnica da gaiola catódica, alterando a espessura da tampa da gaiola, e sua relação com a variação da potência do tratamento. Filmes de cobre caracteriza-se como bom condutor elétrico e térmico, o que justifica seu uso em microeletrônica, segundo a U.S. Environmental Agency (EPA) existem 282 tipos de ligas de cobre bactericidas, habilitando sua utilização em ambientes estéril. Assim, realizou-se deposições de filmes finos de cobre sobre substrato de vidro, variando a corrente do processo e a espessura da tampa da gaiola. Avaliou-se a variação de peso da amostra depositada, definindo o peso resultante das deposições. Realizou-se também a caracterização por difração de raio-X, microscopia eletrônica de varredura e análise tribológica (calotest). Os resultados mostraram que, o tratamento com espessura de tampa de 12 mm promoveu o filme mais espesso e mais contínuo dentre todos os tratamentos, com uma grande quantidade de cobre depositado, o que induz que a razão ideal diâmetro de furo/espessura da tampa é 0,67.

Oct 30, 2017

By G. J. Biefer

"Fatigue and corrosion fatigue measurements were carried out on five commercially available metals -four steels and an aluminum alloy -which are used as structural materials in mine shaft conveyances. In the corrosion fatigue measurements, drain waters collected in the shafts of three different Canadian mines were used as corrodents. The mine waters had been selected on the basis of their relatively large differences in acidity and/ or composition.It was found that the corrosion fatigue strengths of the four steels were similar, despite their differences in tensile properties, and that the type of water used in the tests had little effect on the results. Mild steel showed the highest and most consistent values of the damage ratio (ratio between the corrosion fatigue and the plain fatigue strengths at 107 cycles). The corrosion fatigue behaviour of the aluminum alloy (ASTM Type 6061-T6) was found to differ markedly in the three mine waters. A high damage ratio (i.e., superior performance) was shown in a mine water in which the corrosion attack was uniform; much lower damage ratios were shown in waters which produced localized corrosion attack. Corrosion rates were too low to be deter-mined conveniently by conventional weight-loss methods, but calculations from polarization curves provided a rapid demonstration that corrosion rates were distinctly lower in the mine water which produced high damage ratios."

Jan 1, 1967

By Caruline de Souza Carvalho Machado

Tensões residuais podem ser muito prejudiciais ao desempenho de um componente, tornando sua quantificação e avaliação extremamente uteis. A difração de raios-X é um método de análise não destrutivo que permite avaliar as tensões sem comprometer o material. Neste trabalho, tiras de aço duplex UNS S32304 com 1,8mm de espessura foram cortadas nas dimensões 36x72mm e soldadas de modo autógeno através do processo TIG. Produziram-se dois tipos de amostras variando-se o gás de proteção a saber: mistura de argônio 98% e nitrogênio 2% e argônio 99.995%. Utilizou-se um difratômetro com geometria Bragg-Brentano, fonte de radiação CuKa ( = 1,5419Å). A técnica sen2 ? foi empregada para determinar a tensão residual da fase austenita no ângulo 2?=146.22°. Os resultados mostram um estado de tensões residuais trativo nas proximidades da zona fundida, chegando a um estado compressivo em regiões distantes. A análise comparativa dos perfis de tensão residual revela que a amostra soldada apenas com argônio apresenta menor tensão residual trativa na zona fundida.

Aug 8, 2018

The Manto Verde mine is found in the coastal ranges of the Atacama desert, 1000 km north of Santiago, Chile . The deposit is a fault-breccia specularite-oxide copper mineralisation hosted by the Jurassic andesites of La Negra Formation. It is located in a tensional fault that joins twoparallel arms of the Atacama Fault. The mine is in feasibility study: reserves are of the order of 60 Mt at 0.9 wt per cent soluble copper; mining will be undertaken at a rate of 11 000 tpd utilising an open pit and the ore will be heap-leached with acidified sea water, with copper recovery and by SX/EW.

Jan 1, 1992

By Gibbs R

The objective of this paper is to provide a broad qualitative perspective of the needs and costs of infrastructure associated with typical mining projects. Infrastructure may be defined as anything necessary for the development and operation of a project, which is peripheral to the basic extraction, handling and processing of material. As depicted in Figure 1, infrastructure acts as the link between the technological heart of a project and the outside world.

Jan 1, 1990

By Sergio N. Monteiro

Natural lignocellulosic fibers are successfully replacing synthetic fibers in many engineering applications. In addition to well-known conventional lignocellulosic fibers, others with promising properties are now being considered. The present work investigated the mechanical and structural characteristics of a relatively high strength fiber, curaua (Ananas erectifolius) from the Amazon region of Brazil. The results obtained from tensile tests confirmed the superior strength while scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis displayed features that justify the possibility of using the curaua fiber as an effective reinforcement for polymeric composites.

Jan 1, 2006

By J. R. Ruark

Because of the importance of oil-shale reserves the Bureau or Mines resumed research investigations in this field beginning in 1944. The Bureau early decided to build a Large-scale demonstration plant to accomplish the dual purpose of obtaining design data and to produce crude shale oil for refining studies. Two 40-ton-Capacity batch N-T-U (Nevada-Texas-Utah) retorts were completed for this purpose in 1947. After a preliminary operation, the plant was used to investigate process variables of air rate, recycle gas rate, and shale particle size and crude. Correlations obtained from these variables are presented in this report. Researchers concluded that recycle gas was not necessary for efficient operation of the process. Short comings of the batch method of processing the oil shale are pointed out in the report. Several periods of prolonged production operations were carried out. During these periods, the retorts were operated to produce as much crude oil per day as possible. The lifetime operation of the N-T-U retorts was divides into three periods, namely, preliminary operation, process variable study, and production operation. During the preliminary operation, 187 runs were made with a total of 7,596 tons of raw shale used to produce 3,688 barrels of crude shale oil. During the process variable study, 179 runs were made with a consumption of 7,494 tons of raw shale and a production of 4,218 barrels of crude shale oil. The production operation consisted of 554 runs in which 22,457 tons of raw shale was used to produce 12,359 barrels of crude shale ail. The overall total for the lifetime operation of the retorts consisted of 920 runs with a total consumption of 37,547 tons of raw shale and a production if 20,265 barrels of crude shale oil.

Jan 1, 1956

This paper highlights the agricultural sector's primary concerns with mining in New Zealand: the information gap, land rehabilitation and compensation. It suggests how these issues can be resolved between the competing land uses in the interests of New Zealand.

Jan 1, 1981

By Rodolfo Lagos, Nicos Pfeiffer, Ben Harding, Clayton V. Deutsch

This paper documents a probabilistic resource modeling workflow for the Round Mountain epithermal gold deposit. The set of categorical and continuous variable simulated realizations provides a model of variability and uncertainty given the current orebody knowledge. These realizations can be used to quantify and understand expected deviations in reconciliation during mining and provide a more accurate measure of expected gold than an estimated model. Gold mineralization at Round Mountain is primarily contained within tertiary tuff units, which dip gently to the west and thicken towards the southern part of the orebody. Domain boundaries are modeled as combinations of lithology and alteration; alteration domains are constrained to be within the tuffs. Large-scale geologic uncertainty is strongly influenced by parameter uncertainty, particularly the input histogram. The spatial bootstrap characterizes prior global uncertainty in the input histogram for categorical and continuous variables. Categorical models are generated using hierarchical truncated pluri-Gaussian (HTPG) simulation. Continuous variable simulation is carried out within the simulated domain boundaries using trend models to account for non-stationarity.

Aug 19, 2023

By Georgene Renner, William R. Yernberg, Steve Kral

Allmand exhibited its LSC 100Light Sequence Commander, the mining industry’s first automatic lighting and command control system. The system is available with all of Allmand’s portable light towers. The LSC100 uses a preset photocell sensor that allows the light tower to be automatically turned on or off. At dusk, the sensor engages the power unit and then activates the light. At dawn, the sensor automatically shuts off the light. The unit also features an eight-event digital timer that allows eight separate sequences daily. The LSC100’s sequenced light control ensures that the engine is started before the lights are turned on or off. This prevents possible generator damage that can occur if the unit is powered down under load. Also, a low-fuel shutdown sequence helps protect the generator from damage by automatically shutting down the unit when the fuel level reaches 10 percent. And the LSC100’s smart circuitry senses engine water temperature during startup, determines the glow-plug time requirement and schedules repeat intervals, if necessary, to start the diesel engine.

Jan 1, 2004

By T C. Westerfield, G, M J. Mankosa

An innovative separator known as the HydroFloat cell has been developed specifically for the upgrading of coarse particles that are difficult to recover using conventional flotation cells. The novel characteristic of this separator is the formation of a hindered teeter-bed of fluidised solids into which small air bubbles are injected. The air bubbles selectively attach to hydrophobic particles and form particle/bubble agglomerates that segregate atop the teeter-bed due to their lower apparent specific gravity. The low-density agglomerates are eventually carried into the product overflow launder by the rising current of teeter water. Hydrophilic particles remain in the teeter-bed and are discharged to underflow as a high solids content tailing. Benefits of this hybrid flotation-density separator include enhanced bubble-particle contacting, increased particle residence time, and very low air demand. Test data indicate that significant improvements in the recovery of coarse particles can be achieved using this innovative technology. This article describes the theoretical basis for the development of the HydroFloat cell and provides an overview of recent pilot-scale tests conducted for the phosphate industry.

Jan 1, 2005

By N Cusworth

The development of a resource project inevitably requires the investigation of a vast range of issues across most engineering disciplines û mining, metallurgical, chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical and environmental û as well as the geosciences. It is also a characteristic feature of the resource industry that no two orebodies û and hence no two development projects û are the same. So these technical issues have to be addressed to a greater or lesser extent in evaluating any resource projectÆs development potential. Not surprisingly then, technical issues tend to predominate when assessing the development potential of a project in the process typically referred to as ædoing a feasibility studyÆ. But the principal purpose of a æfeasibility studyÆ is to determine whether a development opportunity makes good business sense, not just whether it is technically possible. Resolution of technical issues is often seen as the primary focus of a feasibility study, whereas in reality, these technical issues are the basis upon which an asset delivery and business plan is built. This is not to say that technical issues are unimportant û they are a prerequisite to the demonstration of a projectÆs viability. The feasibility study process must therefore demonstrate that not only have the technical issues been satisfactorily addressed, but also that the broader commercial, economic and social issues have been considered in the development of a comprehensive business plan, which includes an assessment of the risk-reward profile of the proposed development. This paper will present a framework for the conduct of æfeasibility studiesÆ and provide guidance to minimum standards and best practice.

Jan 1, 2007

By G. L. Oldright

In the previous study that has been made by the authors on smelting in the lead blast furnace, the furnace examined was one that operated under conditions that have been considered as more or less normal up to the present time. That is although the furnace had in its charge a large portion of sinter, it also handled considerable quantities of naturally oxidized direct-smelting ore. Other ingredients, such as the limestone, were also added as fairly coarse material. The charges contained only about 24 per cent of lead. Until the changes incident to modern flotation began to take effect, many lead plants doing semicustom smelting in districts where competition was keen and much of the bonanza ore was exhausted were faced with the difficulty of obtaining enough lead to get a sufficient "lead fall" in the blast furnaces to clean the slag thoroughly and to separate it from the lead. A charge containing 24 per cent of lead would have been considered a very rich one by such smelters.

Jan 1, 1931

Jan 1, 1968

By Sihua Lei, Hong Zhong, Shuai Wang, Yu Gan, Zhanfang Cao

High purity MgO is widely used in various fields as an important magnesiumcompound. The separation of Mg and Ca is of great importance for the preparation of high purity MgO from dolomite. In this study, the key effects of carbonization temperature and nano-calcium carbonate agglomeration on the separation mechanism of calcium and magnesium have been investigated. The results indicated that the reaction in the carbonization process was stepwise. Precise control of the carbonization temperature was essential for the formation of Mg(HCO3)2 due to its low reaction efficiency at lower temperatures or decomposition markedly at higher temperatures. Meanwhile, there was a common-ion effect in solutions containing Mg2+ and Ca2+. Nano-CaCO3 particles were formed during carbonization and agglomerated with the prolongation of static time. A product with a purity of 99.56% MgO and 0.16% CaO was obtained under the optimized conditions: ratio of liquid–solid 30 L/g, carbonization temperature 22–25 °C, carbonization time 1 h, and refining time 4 h. This work has important guiding significance for the preparation of high purity magnesium oxide from dolomite.

Apr 21, 2020