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By Michael J. Mujadin

Since the late 60's, planners at American Natural have known that natural gas supplies from traditional sources will be insufficient to maintain a consistently high level of service in the near future. This dwindling of traditional gas reserves will force American Natural and other gas companies to seek new and more exotic sources of supply. In recent years a number of alternative supply sources were considered, including arctic gas, LNG, and SNG based on naptha, LPG and coal feedstocks. Several combinations, all of which included SNG from coal were selected as the most suitable alternative sources of gas supply for American Natural, and thus our company embarked on the formation of a coal gasification project in the early 70's. Work began with the evaluation of available coal supplies in the United States in late 1970. Western North Dakota was selected for several reasons: large contiguous reserves of lignite were available near the surface, similar to German brown coal for which the Lurgi gasification process was originally developed; the conditions for land reclamation in the area are favorable; and the people in the area have a positive attitude toward well ordered development.

Jan 1, 1977

By Ted H. Eyde

Improving the mineral industry's tarnished image describes in a nut- shell the reason why the Speakers Bureau of the Tucson Subsection of the AIME was formed. Let's go back in time about 3 years to the fall of 1971. Literally thousands of bills detrimental to the mineral industry were being introduced into Congress and State Legislatures. Unfortunately, many were being passed and signed into law. Clean air and water, zero pollution, preserve the environment, ecology, biodegradeable, wilderness were the words that the self- styled ecologists and environmentalists were preaching. The mineral industry either sat mute or in place of acting, reacted in a way certain to attract a maximum amount of bad publicity with a minimum amount of rhetoric. A mining company president, for example, commenting on the primary air standards in Arizona was reported by the press as having said, "we'll shut all the smelters down and put thousands of Arizonans out of work if we have to meet the Arizona standards." Or another defending a poorly planned highly visible open pit nonmetallics operation, "we'll take the whole mountain down if we want to, and nobody can stop us" and still another manager of Operations, "the bottom line is all that counts, to hell with all of this environmental nonsense."

Jan 1, 1975

By R. D. Coursen

Tin has been one of the very few commodities which has been covered by an international commodity agreement. It is the only metal so covered. The reason behind tin's prediliction for an agreement has been the inconsistency of the price pattern for tin during the entire 20th century. It is not surprising in view - of the wide and wild fluctuations in its price that tin has been called the Cinderella metal. An examination, for example, of prices in 1977 alone attests to the erratic behavior of the tin markets. The high was recorded on October 27 at M$1,895 per picul and the low on January 3 at M$l,314 3/8, on the Penang market, a spread in Malaysian dollars of $581 for a picul weighing 133 1/3 pounds. The first steps in international cooperation on tin were taken after the price bonanza of the First World War. Despite a lack of increased consumption, and in spite of the fact there was no shortage of mining production during the war, prices boomed. Shipping shortages and thinning stocks brought about a situation where in the U.S., industrial stocks were only 1/6 of what they had been in 1914. The boom busted early. In 1921 the tinplate industry of the world had cut its output in half and total world consumption of tin fell by 1/3. Tin producers became so concerned that they created what was called the Bandoeng Pool. It accumulated stocks held by countries now known as Indonesia and Malaysia, amounting to 28 percent of the combined production of the two countries and about 15 percent of the total world for 1921. The pool holdings were shortly exhausted and thereafter in the years 1924 to 1928, general boom conditions existed for tin.

Jan 1, 1978

By Nord L. Gale

Lead, zinc, copper, silver, cadmium and many other heavy metals which are potentially hazardous if released into the environment in wastewater discharges have been of considerable concern to governmental agencies, industry and the general public. In response to this concern, an interdisciplinary research team at the University of Missouri has been funded by the National Science Foundation-RANN program to study trace contaminants associated with the production of lead for the past eight years. Seven modern mines in close proximity to two lead smelters in the forested Ozarks of Southeast Missouri are the largest source of lead in the world and in 1976 alone produced 504,095 short tons of lead, 82% of the United States total production. This new and rapid industrial development in a sparsely populated. rural forest region has offered a unique opportunity for studying the impact of trace metals and for developing improved techniques to control detrimental effects. Research on the wastewater discharges and two methods of biological and recycle control are discussed in this paper. Although the two mine-mill complexes investigated in this study have many similarities, the differences between the two are substantive and warrant separate examination.

Jan 1, 1977

By F. Maciosek, D. Denton, J. Johnson

Researchers from the Spokane Research Laboratory of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and personnel from Coeur Silver Valley, Wallace, ID, conducted tests using rock strain strips and Split-Set rock bolts instrumented with strain gauges to monitor wall rock strain at the Galena Mine, Osburn, ID. The objective of the test was to identify whether strain on the rock bolts increased prior to a rock burst. Although results were inconclusive, researchers learned that the Split-Set rock bolts yielded in stick-slip fashion in the highly jointed walls of the stope. The bolts were also bent as stress was redistributed following blasting and subsequent movement along joints in the wall rocks.

Jan 1, 2004

By D. W. Tuckwiller

Electroplating is a widely utilized but little understood process. The fact that the average person is in contact with dozens of plated items daily without even being aware that they are electroplated is evidence of the success of the process. Although a complete explanation of electrodeposition involves thermodynamics and modern theories of bonding and catalytic reactions, in its simplest form the process conforms to the following description. A metal salt dissolved in water partially dissociates into negatively charged and positively charged ions. In the case of nickel sulfate dissolved in water, for example, a portion of the salt dissociates into positively charged nickel ions and negatively charged sulfate ions. If an electrical potential is applied between two electrodes in this solution, the nickel ions migrate toward the cathode and the sulfate ions toward the anode. The negatively charged cathode has a high concentration of electrons, which combine with the positively charged metal ions to form neutral metal atoms with a stable electron configuration. These insoluble atoms thus form a deposit on the cathode.

Jan 1, 1970

By L. H. McGuire

Many coal beds in the State of Washington, pitching as much as 90°, offer unusual mining conditions. This paper describes methods and safe practices of mechanized mining in pitching bituminous-coal beds that have attracted the attention of mining people from most of the coal-producing countries of the world. The development and use of continuous miners as part of the mechanized program apply particularly to the Roslyn-Cle Elum coalfield, Kittitas County, Wash. All three mines now operating in the field use continuous miners and during 1957 furnished 72 percent of the State's total coal production. Mining operations are now conducted in three coal beds of the Roslyn-Cle Elum field. The coal measures range from 3-1/2 to 20 feet in thickness and vary in dip from 5° to 45° in the localities where the coal is mined. Some safety measures adopted by-the principal operating company in the field during the past 30 years of mechanized mining follow: Use of only permissible electrical or compressed-air-operated equipment on other than intake air; providing and using an explosion gallery to test repaired permissible electrical equipment before taking it underground; use of only compressed-air-operated drill augers in preference to permissible

Jan 1, 1959

By U. Schoepf

Economic and at the same time environmentally acceptable mining of small vertical ore bodies and veins to great depths has always been a challenge for miners. The Bauer cutter system, widely used in civil engineering, has been further developed for applications in exploration and mining, to a sustainable system for selective mining with a focus on small vertical ore bodies and veins, as well as residual ore in open pit operations. Current situation of conventional mining of small ore bodies and vertical veins Small ore bodies and vertical or near-vertical ore veins often pose a challenge to the mining industry. The relatively small size of the ore deposit over great depths or lengths, with only limited exposure to the surface makes economical mining difficult. Open pit mining of such ore bodies must either be terminated early because of the high stripping ratio and the enormous environmental impact or is unprofitable from the very beginning. The required massive stripping of waste rock leads to high material hauling times and costs, intensive roadway and bench construction and maintenance, possible safety hazards due to heavy vehicle movement, pit wall stability risks, intensive surface water management and massive waste dump requirements. In addition, it can be assumed that increasingly extensive rehabilitation measures will be required in the future after mine closure. Particularly in vertically oriented magmatic and hydrothermal deposits the technical, economic and environmental limits for further pushbacks, to extend the open pit depth, can lead to an early end of mine life even if a significant quantity of residual ore is left behind. Going underground is only a viable option in a limited number of mines with very high ore values and volumes. The high development cost of an underground mine, as well as the higher underground mining costs, often prevent further mining to greater depths.

Feb 1, 2023

By Peter N. Blakey

The Kidd Creek orebody is a massive, base metal deposit with widths up to 600 feet and a strike length of 2,200 feet. The orebody dips eastwards at 70° to 80° and is amenable to sub-level open stoping. Five distinct zones (Fig.1) based on structural wall rocks and ore type parameters occur within the orebody. These zones are: Zone 1 - Mainly copper stringer ore Zone 2 - Massive pyrite ore Zone 3 - Massive sphalerite and chalcopyrite Zones 4 and 5 - Are banded and variable in nature Compressive strengths vary from zone to zone with an average of 22,000 p.s.i. and highs of 40,000 p.s.i. The mine is developed from a ramp extending from surface to the 1600 foot level and a 24 foot diameter, 3050 foot vertical shaft with main levels at 400 foot intervals. Sub-levels at 100 foot vertical intervals are driven from the ramp. transverse and longitudinal pillars to support the crown pillar left under the open pit. The layout allows an opportunity to enlarge or reduce pillar sizes and also to introduce fill on any horizon should conditions warrant. It also offers a large number of operating stopes spread through the various ore zones giving good ore blending characteristics. All ore from the stopes is handled through drawpoints using Wagner ST8 scooptrams with an average one way haul length of 650 feet.

Jan 1, 1976

By P. J. Cook

Comminution is one of the fundamentals of mineral processing, requiring large expenditures to be made on capital equipment, installation, power and maintenance. The trend toward lower grades and higher operating costs, mean mining operations are becoming increasingly marginal. The challenge is to improve and more importantly, utilize crushing and milling technologies that provide for reduced capital and operating costs whilst providing increased unit efficiencies. The Svedala Barmac Autogenous Crushing Mill presents such an opportunity by providing many of the cost savings and production increases required by its ability to produce a finer mill feed size and realize reduced energy consumption. This paper briefly describes the operation of the Svedala Barmac Autogenous Crushing Mill and reviews its benefits towards improving the efficiency of crushing and milling operations.

Jan 1, 1999

By B. Cavender

Investments in new technology are often intended to improve the production or cost performance of existing operations. The economics used to justify these projects can be flawed, however, if they do not adequately consider the potential benefits of the alterative: the fully optimized use of the facility's present equipment and personnel. While new technology can be effective, dramatic improvements in production performance can also be achieved through the rigorous application of standard industrial engineering and operations management practices. An intermediate approach may also be effective: many basic improvements In the mine or plant necessary to support new technology will be equally effective when implemented for the facility's present operators. Firms who optimize their present operations are able to save the capital and avoid the risk associated with new technology. These firms will also be able to capitalize more quickly on new technology when it is implemented.

Jan 1, 1999

By M. Moagabo

CO2 emissions from carbonate laden reclaimed mine spoil has been shown to pose a hazard to residents in homes built on or adjacent to such land. The objective of this project was to develop a soil CO2 flux survey protocol for assessing reclaimed mine land. The research involved CO2 chamber accumulation flux surveys; stable carbon isotope ratio analysis; statistical hypothesis testing to examine correlation between CO2 flux and soil temperature and moisture as well as spatial dependence; and geostatistics to map CO2 and delineate high flux zones. Soil temperature was observed to have a positive correlation with fluxes while soil moisture was observed to be negatively correlated. Spatial dependence of CO2 fluxes on reclaimed mine land was observed on one of the two study sites. The research suggests that macro-porosity and gas permeability may be important factors that explain CO2 migration in mine spoil. A flux survey protocol has been developed, based on these results, for reclaimed mine lands. The work demonstrates the capability of geostatistical methods to delineate high flux fields. Further research will be required to determine suitable thresholds for such analysis.

Jan 1, 2012

By N. S. Tanious

The need to provide better mine roof support and control in longwall tailgate entries prompted the Bureau of mines to search for a replacement product for wood cribs. Their search isolated steel-fiber-reinforced concrete (SFC) as the most effective replacement. Through successful laboratory and underground mine tests, handmade SFC cribs proved to be a viable and more effective roof support system. However, to ensure wider usage, U. S. Steel Mining Co. initiated a joint development and evaluation program with Burrell Construction Company in order to mass produce SFC blocks of reasonable dimension, weight, and cost. Small specimens and full-size cribs were evaluated during this program to determine their compressive strength and post failure characteristics. After considerable testing and adjusting of various concrete mixtures, a final formulation for the SFC crib blocks was selected. That formulation permitted the construction of SFC cribs possessing a nominal crib strength of 3200 psi (22.1 x 106 Pa) and a nominal modulus of elasticity of 1.0 x 106 psi (6894.76 x 106 Pa). These SFC cribs can support from 3.5 to 14.5 times as much load as a wood crib, depending on the size of the wood crib being replaced. Both laboratory and limited mine tests, conducted by U. S. Steel Mining Co. have shown the SFC crib to be an economical and effective means of roof control.

Jan 1, 1984

By M. S. Klima

This paper will detail the work that has been done in 1990 and 1991 at the Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center (PETC) on the development of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) patented Micro-Mag Process. This process entails the use of a micronized-magnetite (minus-10 microns) and water mixture for cleaning fine coal (minus-600 microns) in a cyclone, along with the production and recovery of the magnetite. Emphasis will be on the results from micronized-magnetite recovery testing using both conventional wet-drum and high-gradient magnetic separators in which several key operating conditions were varied including feed percent solids, magnetite-to-coal ratio, magnetite grade, and feed rate. Also presented will be selected results from testing done on a 76-mm diameter cyclone at a relative density of 1.50 showing the effects of operating pressure, magnetite grade, and medium-to-coal ratio on separation efficiency. In addition, two methods for producing micronized magnetite, along with the corresponding size distributions, will also be discussed.

Jan 1, 1992

By Fangyu Liu

In the grand tapestry of scientific inquiry, there are individuals whose contributions resonate far beyond the confines of laboratories and lecture halls. It is with profound admiration and respect that we present this special collection of Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration, dedicated to celebrating the remarkable career of Dr. Patrick Taylor. Dr. Taylor, recently retired from the Colorado School of Mines as the Emeritus Ansell Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, possesses over 45 years of expertise in mineral processing and extractive metallurgy. His remarkable journey has seen him traversing the globe, from Canada to Egypt, contributing to pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, and mineral processing. Dr. Taylor’s portfolio encompasses lab work, pilot-plant projects, research, and process development across various metals, with an impressive array of authored papers, presentations, and nine patents to his name. A soughtafter consultant for over 20 companies and an esteemed expert witness, Dr. Taylor also led the Kroll Institute for Extractive Metallurgy at Colorado School of Mines. Under his guidance, more than 100 graduate students and post-docs have undertaken transformative research, while Dr. Taylor’s 45-year tenure as a university lecturer and the creation of 10 industryfocused short courses underscore his dedication to knowledge dissemination. His contributions extend to crafting professional engineering exam questions for a quarter-century and active participation in esteemed organizations like SME, TMS, ASM, and MMSA.

Sep 16, 2023

By A. Halim, J. Gustafsson, A. van Wageningen, J. Johansson, · J. Lööw, K. Kocsis

A major part of the European Union’s (EU) project Sustainable Intelligent Mining System (SIMS) is investigating the development of diesel-free/carbon–neutral underground mines in order to ensure sustainable underground mining in the future. Replacing diesel machines with electric vehicles in underground hard rock mines has been widely acknowledged by the mining industry worldwide as a critical step to improve working conditions by reducing diesel exhaust–related contaminants, to reduce mine ventilation electrical power cost by reducing mine airflow quantity, and to reduce mine greenhouse gas emissions. All of these are major requirements to achieve sustainable future underground mining practices. A field trial of Epiroc’s 2nd generation of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) at Agnico Eagle Finland’s Kittilä mine was conducted during 2019–2020. Vehicles tested were MT42 mine truck, ST14 Load-Haul-Dump (LHD), and Boomer E2 jumbo drill rig. This paper outlines the improvement of the working conditions observed in the field trial, and the opinions of the mine personnel at Kittilä mine on using BEVs instead of diesel machines. Measurements of atmospheric contaminants and air temperatures taken during the field trial clearly demonstrated a significant improvement of working conditions when BEVs were operating as opposed to diesel machines. This field observation was supported by the opinion of the majority of the Kittilä mine workers. However, some remaining concerns must be addressed before BEVs can replace diesel machines.

Oct 25, 2021

By Arash Nikvar-Hassani, Lianyang Zhang

To address the drawbacks of the conventional portland cement/fly ash (PC/FA)–based cementitious material currently used in practice to construct pumpable roof supports (PRSs), a novel cementitious material has been developed based on geopolymerization technology. The novel cementitious material is comprised of two pumpable grout streams: Stream 1 is a slurry composed of pozzolanic material and high-calcium additive and stream 2 is an alkaline solution comprised of a gelling agent. Biopolymer has been added to the second stream to provide ductility to the geopolymer cementitious material. In the laboratory scale, systematic experiments have been carried out to investigate the viscosity, setting time, and uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of the new cementitious material and develop the right recipe for field applications. By collaborating with industry and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), full-scale PRSs have been constructed and tested. The results show that (1) the novel cementitious material based PRSs has much higher peak UCS and similar or higher residual strength than the conventional PC/FA-based PRSs; and (2) unlike the PC/FAbased cementitious material, the novel cementitious material shows good long-term durability with nocracking/disintegration when exposed to air.

Jul 1, 2023

By J. A. Holtkamp

Environmental regulation in Mexico has matured dramatically and effectively in the last decade. The gap between environmental regulation in the United States and Mexico is rapidly narrowing, so much so that it is no longer necessarily less burdensome to operate in Mexico from a regulatory perspective. This paper is intended to give a general overview of the system of environmental regulation in Mexico. The actual application of Mexican laws and regulations governing the environment to a specific operation will require a much more detailed review of the applicable environmental standards.

Jan 1, 1994

By Z. D. Hora, W. N. Hamilton

Introduction Some unique opportunities exist for industrial minerals in British Columbia and Alberta. The region's diversified geology, particularly in British Columbia, offers favorable environments for a rich variety of mineral resources. Many minerals have been produced for years. For some, however, the level of production is far less than the potential. Others have had production in the past, but are not currently produced. Still others are known to exist and may have been actively prospected. But they are not yet developed. In addition, a number of speculative possibilities have recently come to light. The potential significance is not fully confirmed, but is suggested in showings in favorable geologic settings. Location and geography British Columbia and Alberta are the westernmost provinces in Canada (Fig. 1). The region overlaps two major physiographic divisions of the country, the Cordillera and the Interior Plains. It also takes in a small segment of the Canadian Shield on the east. The entire territory is greater than 1.6 Mkm2 (618,000 sq miles). Most of British Columbia lies within the Cordillera, a mountainous belt some 800 km (500 miles) wide. The belt is made up of three main physiographic components, the Eastern, Interior, and Western subdivisions. The Eastern subdivision embraces the rugged, linear ranges of the Rocky Mountains, elevations between 2600 and 3300 m (8530 and 10,800 ft). They form a 100-km (62-mile) wide band straddling the BC-Alberta border and extending northwest across northern British Columbia. The Interior subdivision includes several ancient mountain ranges but is dominated by an intermountane plateau area of low relief (average elevation 1200 m or 3900 ft). The Western subdivision is dominated by the Coast Mountains (elevations between 1800 and 4000 m or 5900 and 13,123 ft). These form a band about 175 km (110 miles) wide into which are sculptured the spectacular fiords of the BC coastline. Alberta lies largely within the Interior Plains, a prairie region of low to moderate relief (elevations between 200 and 1200 m or 650 and 3940 ft) formed of nearly horizontal bedrock strata. The Plains surface rises gradually to the southwest toward the deformed belt of the Rocky Mountains, where the bedrock strata are upturned, folded, and faulted. To the east, the Plains merge with the Canadian Shield, which exposes the Precambrian crystalline basement of western Canada. The total population of the BC-Alberta region is about five million people. Minerals, forestry, and agriculture are the primary industries here. It has well developed infrastructures to service these industries. British Columbia is third among the Canadian provinces in metal mining - $1.1 billion in 1985 - and first in forest products. It is also second in hydro-electric power development. Alberta leads all provinces in total mineral production, largely due to its extensively developed petroleum and natural gas resources - $26.2 billion in 1985.

Jan 12, 1987

By Rudrajit Mitra, Erik Hulthen, AARTI SORENSEN, TOBIAS HARTMANN, ELISABETH CLAUSEN

There has been an ongoing debate on how to transform engineering education to better prepare students for today’s professional world that is characterized by increasingly complex problems and challenges that engineers are tasked with upon entering the industry. While numerous publications have addressed possibilities of how experiential, problem-based, project-based and active learning can be integrated into the engineering curriculum, there has been little attention on mining engineering with respect to adopting this approach. This paper addresses the possibilities of integrating entrepreneurship education into mining engineering programs in order to foster discussion among academics from mining engineering on how to infuse value-creation experiences across the curriculum on a course, program and departmental level.

Sep 1, 2022