Search Documents

By Charles H. Greene

This paper will describe briefly the steps taken in the development of a Central Florida phosphate ore deposit from acquisition to mining. Further, the design and early operation of the mining and beneficiation facilities will be depicted. During the 1950's, with confidence in the continually increasing requirement for phosphate fertilizer materials essential for producing food, I'. R. Grace & Cc acquired the Hookers Prairie tract containing approximately 45 million metric tons o. (50 million short ton~ of potential phosphate rock product. In 1973, at a point when the Grace captive need for rock was being greatly enlarged by a planned doubling of its Bartow phosphate chemicals plant capacity, the decision was made to expand existing phosphate rock production by building a new mine and plant. The initial annual capacity was to be 2.3 million tons (2.5 million st); however, subsequent investigation pointed to a higher than estimated dragline operating factor 'and the forecast of annual capacity was set at 2.5 million tons (2.8 million st).

Jan 1, 1977

By Alvin Kaufman

Malthus, an eighteenth century economist, predicted a rather dismal future for the world. It was his contention food supplies would not be sufficient for the population of the world because the economy of a nation grew arithmetically while population increased geometrically. As a consequence, within a relatively few years mass famine would spread throughout the world. This prophecy, based on an agrarian economic situation, did not come true at least insofar as the Western World was concerned. In largo measure, the salvation of our part of the earth resulted from the growth engendered by the Industrial Revolution. Throughout much of today's world, however, the Malthusian theory seems to be coming true. The advantages and benefits of the Industrial Revolution have net reached all nations. Further, the situation has been compounded by the benefits of modern medicine. This has reduced child mortality and extended life expectancy, but placed no limitations on births in the developed countries, child mortality has declined to 2 percent and adult life expectancy has doubled, but education and general prosperity have resulted in voluntary limitations on pregnancies thus partly offsetting the increased chance of survivals Even so, the present rate of population increase in Europe is approximately 6 percent per decade, and somewhat higher in the U.S., Japan, and other developed countries. The world as a whole, however, is expected to double its population by the year 2000, This would imply a rate of increase in the less developed countries approximately four times that in Europe.

Jan 1, 1966

By William H. Dresher

A recent report to President Reagan from the Business-Higher Education Forum, entitled, "America's Competitive Challenge: Need for a National Response," (1) observes that in the recent past, ". . . much of that research, which is necessary for major breakthroughs and sustained productivity improvements, was redirected to short-term objectives ... At the same time, American universities, which conduct more than half of the nation's basic research, have suffered from an accumulated under-investment in facilities and equipment amounting to an estimated $1-4 billion." Also contributing to the decline in America's productivity, the report said, are "...weak technology transfers between government and industry and between universities and industry..." This report as well as other recent reports and articles have, reopened a subject which has long been debated but rarely resolved-- the interaction between the academic community and industry in the sponsorship and conduct of research. The subject is unfortunately, too often treated as a controversial issue involving ethics and the profit motive when, in fact, the two branches of society -- industry and academia -- are necessarily part of the same system. I would like to speak to you today on the subject of university-industry interactions and to some extent discuss the role of government in such interactions. Finally, I will make some remarks as to how this subject applies to the mining industry.

Jan 1, 1984

By Naohiro Kurokawa

Isa Limestone Quarry with an annual production capacity of 18 million metric tons is known as the largest limestone deposit in Japan located in the mountainous region about 20 mile northwest of Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan adjacent to Isa Cement Factory to which it belongs, and which constitutes a mainstay of Ube Industries? cement operating division. Isa Cement Factory is equipped with a N.S.P. kiln of capacity of 3 million metric tons per year, which is the largest of its type in the world. Geographically, it is situated in the south- western tip of the Mainland of Japan (Mid City, Yamaguchi Prefecture) and is bordered by the scenic Akiyoshi Karstic Plateau which is world famous for its huge stalactite grotto.

Jan 1, 1982

By Henry Rumfelt

Strip mining in the domestic coal industry is contributing a greater proportion of overall production than at any time in the past. U. S. Bureau of Mimes statistics show that the percentage of total production mined in 1958 by stripping methods in- creased to more than 30 pct, up from 22 pct in 1951. The tendency to favor strip and open pit mining exists in other mining activities, but such trends are not as clearly outlined as in the coal industry. Significantly, the depth of overburden in coal properties considered suitable for stripping is also increasing. A depth of 50 to 60 ft of overburden was once considered to be about the maximum amount that could be handled economically, Today, a depth of 80 to 100 ft is frequently taken into consideration for simple overcasting operations (i.e., excavating over- burden and dumping it in the spoil position where it remains indefinitely). Significantly, the depth of overburden in coal properties considered suitable for stripping is also increasing. A depth of 50 to 60 ft of overburden was once considered to be about the maximum amount that could be handled economically, Today, a depth of 80 to 100 ft is frequently taken into consideration for simple overcasting operations (i.e., excavating overburden and dumping it in the spoil position where it remains indefinitely).

Jan 1, 1960

By Dominick Mandalari, David Mast, Heather Ullinger, Juan Granja, Amanda Foote

The City of Akron will construct the Northside Interceptor Tunnel (NSIT) project to control and reduce combined sewer overflows. One component of the project a large diameter tunnel diversion / flow control structure that will facilitate tunnel storage, divert dry weather flow to the treatment plant, and divert large wet weather events that are greater than the tunnel capacity to the Cuyahoga River. The structure is designed to pass up to 1.2 billion gallons per day of flow and includes floatables screening. This paper will discuss project background, factors that influenced shaft location, and options evaluated to manage the large design flows.

Jun 23, 2024

By C. J. Lewis

Considerable amounts of the world's known reserves of elemental sulfur are found near the surface in areas of volcanic activity both active and inactive. Because such deposits cannot in general-be mined by the well-known Frasch process, and because other methods of recovery have not proven to be economically competitive except in isolated instances, at present these reserves remain relatively undeveloped. However, projections of world sulfur demand indicate that new sources of marketable sulfur will be needed in future years 2/, 19/. For this reason, recovery of elemental sulfur from these near-surface deposits is of continuing interest. Solvent extraction as an approach to recovery of elemental sulfur from open pit-mined ores of these non-Frasch deposits has received considerable attention particularly at the research and development level 3 /, 7/, l l /, 16/, 21/,23/, 29/ This method has been and continues to be attractive because it presents the potential of high sulfur recovery and purity of product coupled with a relatively simple process flowsheet in which low energy requirements and reasonable operating costs are thought to be possible. However, the physical and chemical characteristics of the native-sulfur ores, of elemental sulfur, and of the known solvents, have presented difficulties in the development of solvent extraction processes. Up to the present time, viable processes have not been realized within the framework of sulfur marketing conditions.

Jan 1, 1970

By D. M. Hausen

A quantitative x-ray diffraction method has been developed for the analysis of alteration minerals in wallrock. Alteration data are plotted and contoured (analogous to geochemical data). Alteration trends outlined by this technique correlate closely with geochemical anomalies, and in some cases attend well beyond the perimeter of anomalous base metal values. "Monomineralic contouring," applied originally to porphyry-type mineralization, has been extended to other types of mineralization, including volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits. Equipment and techniques used in the quantitative measurement of alteration mineralogy are discussed.

Jan 1, 1978

By R. H. Mullennex

Application of depositional analysis concepts is becoming an ever-increasingly more important and more useable tool in exploration and development of coals in the Appalachian basin. Over the past decade, a rather large number of studies, papers, and publications have addressed various aspects of depositional environments of coals and, to some extent, applications to development. As would be expected as regards a subject so complex as Pennsylvanian sedimentation in the Appalachian basin, certain academic studies have produced conclusions at variance in some aspects to those of other studies. Overall, however, there has been a building- block progression and general refinement with time of understanding of the depositional settings and other factors controlling Appalachian coal distribution, quality, and other minability parameters. Most attempts to explain coal seam characteristics have revolved around a basic deltaic model. Some have attributed certain seam attributes to upper delta plain deposition, other attributes to transitional-lower delta plain settings, and yet others to lower delta plain environments, and so on. While these approaches have provided valuable insight into some general coal characteristics, they are somewhat incomplete and are, in a sense, too broad for specific mine-scale applications. Further, it is apparent that in order for widespread peat accumulation to occur, there must be a drastic decrease in the energy of the depositional system and amount of sediment being brought in, compared to the active deltaic and coastal processes responsible for deposition of the large volume of clastic sediments that dominate the Pennsylvanian system of the Appalachians. Consideration of this fact implies that peats (coals) may not necessarily reflect depositional settings that are directly coincident with those associated with adjacent rocks. Cecil and Englund (1985) address this point, and quite correctly state that "the primary controls on major stages of peat formation are allocyclic processes involving paleoclimate, eustatic changes in sea level, and tectonics." While this statement is inarguable, it does not negate the importance and usefulness of depositional analysis in predicting reserve characteristics that may impact mining and marketability.

Jan 1, 1986

"Foreword by Ren BryceSenior engineer, Freeport-McMoRan, Oro Valley, AZ, USAThe eighth annual Mineral & Metallurgical Processing Division (MPD) student poster contest was held in February at the national SME Annual Conference & Expo in Denver, CO. A total of 33 students presented their work at the poster competition. The competition started in January when the students submitted a one-page abstract for judging. In February, they prepared and presented a poster that explained their research. A panel of judges went to each student and listened as the students explained their research in five minutes.The students worked hard at their research and then set aside time to complete all the necessary steps to enter the competition. The MPD recognizes the effort required to enter and as a result, provides monetary rewards to all participants. The first-place winner receives $1,000; the second, $500; the third, $250; and the fourth through seventh, $200. All remaining students receive $100. All of the students also receive a complimentary ticket to the MPD Luncheon. As in past years, there are separate levels of competition for undergraduates and graduates.Graduate winnersKaustubh Shrimali won first place for researching “The influence of starch in amine adsorption by quartz in the reverse flotation of iron ore.” Venkata Atluri received second for studying “The effect of polysaccharides on bubble attachment at talc surfaces.” Jennifer Galvin placed third for investigating “A novel approach to alkali pug bake for the extraction of rare earth elements from monazite concentrate.” In the fourth through seventh places were Amy Richins, Sumedh Gostu, Brett Carlson and Chris Vass.Undergraduate winnersNestor Santa earned first place for exploring “Copper recovery from waste printed circuit boards.” Cassidy O’Connell received second place for conducting “Performance analysis of CMC in high talc copper sulfide flotation systems.” Catalina Vanegas won third place for examining “Cyanidation tests and pretreatments to recover gold from a refractory ore in Colombia.” Kylie Boyce, Michael Archambo and Pritam Sinha were in the fourth through sixth places.Everyone benefits from attending the student poster competition. The students are able to display their work to future employers, and industry professionals can talk to up-and-coming engineers. Next year, there will be another competition for more posters and networking. Come and enjoy the event and the posters."

Jan 1, 2017

By Ben W. Burdett

Since the late 19701s, the use of microcomputers in the minerals industry has grown to the point where today they can be found in virtually every plant within the industry. Their use in every aspect of instrumentation and control has increased the ease of operation and control of every phase of mineral processing. Their incorporation in sensors, transmitters, indicators, and controllers in addition to their use in distributed control and computer systems has provided operators with more timely accurate information than they have ever had before. This has led to an increase in the operator's effectiveness and an improvement in overall productivity. The ultimate aim of plant control is to maximize recovery in the mineral processing operation, and the microcomputer has spawned many tools that are now making this goal attainable. This paper discusses individual use of microcomputers in the areas previously mentioned as well as their collective use in overall control systems. The incorporation of local control systems in total plant control including the communication of information throughout all levels of plant management is also discussed. Finally the role the microcomputer is playing in today's plants is illustrated with numerous references to current examples.

Jan 1, 1985

By B. A. Barnum

The Chino mine is an open pit copper mine located in southwestern New Mexico, at an elevation of 1890 m (6200 feet) above sea level, approximately 117 km (70 miles) north of the Mexican border. It is owned by Chino Mines Co., a Phelps Dodge Corporation-Mitsubishi Minerals partnership, and is operated by Phelps Dodge Corporation. As part of an effort to maximize production and minimize costs, a computerized truck dispatching system was approved for purchase and installation at the Chino mine in March. 1984. Modular Mining Systems, Inc. was commissioned to install their system, trade named DISPATCH. The system installation was completed and operation began in July, 1985. Installation and operation of the system has presented some interesting challenges and problems, which have been overcome, resulting in increased productivity for the haulage truck and shovel fleets.

Jan 1, 1987

By Anna Sieminska-Lewandowska, Monika Mitew-Czajewska

"The construction of 6.3 km long central part of 2nd metro line in Warsaw was completed in September 2014 (7 stations - out of which three 25m deep stations - built using cut and cover method; two single-track tunnels constructed using four EPB TBMs as well as a short NATM section with soil freezing below the existing road tunnel). Central section of the 2nd metro line was opened to public after verification and testing in March 2015. Design and build tender for the extension of this line in East (three stations) and West direction (three stations) was announced with total length of running tunnels – approx. 5 km. Detailed description of a very complex geotechnical context, different construction methods, challenges encountered and solved during construction and finally lessons learnt on this interesting project are presented in the paper. DESCRITPTION OF THE PROJECT Introduction The very first concept plan of the metro system in Warsaw was designed several years after regaining independence by Poland in 1918. In 1929, following the geotechnical survey, design works begun, but the economic crisis of the 1930s stopped it. After a few years of break, in 1938 a coherent concept of the metro network was proposed to be implemented in phases over the next 35 years. In total, construction of 46 kilometers of metro, including 31 km of tunnels and 15 km on surface, was planned. Unfortunately, World War 2 made the implementation of those plans impossible. In the post-war period several metro designs were elaborated, but none except one was scheduled for implementation. Construction of the 1st, 23.1 km long, North-South line commenced in 1983 and finished in 2008 (Sieminska-Lewandowska et all. 2009). Nowadays, Warsaw covers the area of 517 km2 and, according to year 2014 statistical data, the city has much more than 1.7 million inhabitants. Only one operating metro line is not sufficient for such a populated city. Up-to-date metro plan, shown on Figure 1, includes also 30.5 km long 2nd metro line. It’s route is divided into four sections: Western Section with the length of approx. 9.2 km and 9 stations, Central Section with the length of 6.3 km and 7 stations, North-East Section with the length of 7.7 km and 6 stations, South-East Section with the length of 7.1 km and 6 stations. The construction of the central part of the 2nd metro line in Warsaw was completed in September 2014 and its operation started in March 2015. The paper focuses on challenges encountered and solved and lessons learnt during construction of the central part of the 2nd metro line in Warsaw."

Jan 1, 2016

By Carlos Kovacs-Figueroa

Because of air pollution control regulations in the early 701s it became necessary to clean effluent gases from the Morenci Reduction Works Smelter. Feasibility studies indicated that this could be accomplished most efficiently by using the smelter gaseous effluent to feed a sulfuric acid plant. Complying with air pollution control regulations thus created the need to dispose of relatively large amounts of concentrated sulfuric acid. Typical Morenci ores contain substantial amounts of oxidized copper minerals which are not recoverable by flotation. In addition, there is low sulfide, high oxide material which can be leached, but is not suitable for flotation concentration. Early in 1971 sufficent data had been accumulated to show that a leaching plant for the Morenci tailings could use a large portion of the sulfuric acid produced by the Smelter. It was determined that for all practical purposes leaching of the available copper was complete in two hours or less. Capital expenditures could not be justified for more than two stages of counter current decantation for recovery of the leached copper, and the plant was designed with these criteria in mind.

Jan 1, 1976

"INTRODUCTION Twin Metals Minnesota (TMM) (operating as a joint venture between Duluth Metals and Antofagasta PLC) assumed control of the property in 2010. Amec became involved with the project in 2011 and in 2012 incorporated additional drilling in order to update historic resource estimates. The Maturi geological model and resource estimate was updated in 2014 to incorporate additional information obtained during 2013 and 2014 drill campaigns. In 2017, Amec was purchased by the Wood Group and is now known as Wood. Geology The Twin Metals Minnesota (TMM) Maturi, Maturi Southwest, Birch Lake, and Spruce Road properties are located in northeastern Minnesota (Figure 1). This talk discussed the Maturi deposit only, although all four deposits share similarities. The following geology is summarized from Peterson and Severson (2002).Maturi lies within the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield which is exposed in central and northeastern Minnesota and extends northward into Ontario. In eastern Minnesota, the Midcontinent Rift System developed during crustal scale extension in the Mesoproterozoic Era. The rift system is traceable, as exposures of mantle-derived tholeiitic to subalkaline mafic lava flows, intrusives, and rift-filling fluvial sedimentary rocks, and in the subsurface as a gravity anomaly (high), from the eastern end of Lake Superior, arcing west across the lake basin, and extending south-southwest to northeastern Kansas. Intrusion of the Duluth Complex, circa 1,108 - 1,099 Ma, was related to rifting and is co-genetic with the North Shore Volcanic Group mafic volcanic rocks that form the hanging wall of the Duluth Complex to the east. Cu-Ni-precious metals (PM) mineralization including Pt, Pd, Au and Ag within the Duluth Complex is hosted by mafic to ultramafic intrusive rocks that are part of the overall intrusive complex. The Duluth Complex is defined as a more or less continuous mass of mafic to felsic plutonic rocks that extends northeastward for more than 170 miles (275 km) in an arcuate fashion from Duluth nearly to Grand Portage in Minnesota. It is bounded by a footwall of Paleoproterozoic sedimentary rocks and Archean granite-greenstone terranes (Peterson and Severson, 2002), and a hanging wall largely of comagmatic anorthosite, rift related flood basalts, and hypabyssal intrusions of the Beaver Bay Complex. Mineralization is hosted in the basal mineralized zone (BMZ) of the South Kawishiwi Intrusion (SKI). The SKI magmas intruded sub-horizontally between hangingwall Anorthositic Series (AN) rocks and footwall granitic rocks of the Neoarchean Giants Range batholith (GRB). The Maturi local geology and the deposit footprint (shaded orange) is shown in Figure 2."

Jan 1, 2018

By Adam Bezuijen, Tiago Gerheim Souza Dias

"The construction of mechanized tunnels in soft ground has evolved significantly over the last 20 years, especially in the control of the face pressure and the closure of the soil-lining void to reduce the induced settlements. On the other hand, several mechanisms of the TBM excavation cycle are still not taken into account for routine design calculations, such as the increment of water pressures in front of the tunnel face, the flow of excavation fluids around the shield, the dynamic equilibrium between the grout pressures and the excavation convergence, among others. This paper discusses specifically the issue of face pressures and how several mechanisms, which are routinely not considered, can be easily verified and incorporated into the state-of-practice of design. INTRODUCTION The stability of underground excavations is traditionally assessed through analytical solutions based on the lower bound theorem of plasticity (Atkinson and Potts 1977; Mühlhaus 1985) or the limit equilibrium method (Anagnostou and Kovári 1994; Messerli et al. 2010). These methodologies depend on the tunnel geometry, certain ground parameters and the support pressure. When conventional construction methods are used, the internal support pressure is an abstract representation of the combined effects of partial excavation, ground reinforcement, and the different support elements. The use of closed-face tunnel boring machines (TBM) changed this perspective, as the magnitude of pressures acting on the excavation boundary could be controlled in a more direct way. In front of the TBM the ground is excavated as the cutterhead rotates and the cutting tools scrape the ground from the tunnel face while additives are injected to condition the material. Water, polymers, bentonite, and foam can be used as additives under different conditions (Thewes et al. 2012). The loosened ground with additives, herein referred to as the mixture, flows through the openings at the cutterhead and into the excavation chamber. This mixture is kept pressurized to support the face."

Jan 1, 2016

By Amri Priambodo, Ian Leslie, Valérie Laflèche, Agustina Ratnaningrum, Robin Paine, Andrianus Sinaga, Willem de Beer

Freeport Indonesia consists of surface, civil and underground mining areas exposed to numerous geotechnical risks and hazards. PTFI uses various monitoring systems (Micro-Seismic, Firefly Light System, Mira Geoscience machine learning, etc.) to effectively manage these risks. The significant volumes of data from these sensors must be integrated into actionable information to provide the expected risk management. This occurs at the GeoEngineering Integrated Monitoring Centre (GIMC), a centralized department within the GeoEngineering Division, tasked with the responsibility to manage all geotechnical monitoring systems. The main hazard the GIMC is responsible for managing in real time is mine seismicity within the underground mining areas and the potential impacts on safe operations. Seismic system engineers achieve this objective through 24 hours a day and seven days a week operations of the GIMC, providing a centralized point of communication, alerts, evacuations and control during seismic events and emergencies. This paper will describe how the GIMC achieves its goal using reliable procedures and strategies based on detailed Triggered Action Response Plan (TARP), concise communications, novel technologies (FireFly Lighting System), and proven seismic re-entry programs to manage risk within the underground mining operations. The integration of geotechnical monitoring and reporting into a centralized group has improved the effectiveness and management of seismic risks and hazards at PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) mining operations.

Apr 26, 2022

By Kaixi Jiang, Chaozhen Zheng, Shuchen Qin, Hao Ma, Yufang Wang

The study investigates the behaviors of zinc and iron in neutralized residue during pressure and hot acid leaching. It examines the effects of temperature, acidity, leaching time, and oxygen partial pressure on zinc extraction. The results indicate that the acid to zinc mole ratio is crucial for the extraction process, with a zinc extraction rate reaching 98.0% under optimal conditions.

Feb 14, 2022

By Jed H. (Original by) Mosgrove

Good mine ventilation starts at the drawing board. A coal mine will either be adequately ventilated or not, depending upon how good a job was done in the planning. Poor planning will not only result in inadequate ventilation, but may also lead to low productivity. A mine foreman cannot achieve high productivity while trying to maintain 4.2 ma/s (9000 cfm) of air at his last open crosscut.

Jan 1, 1981

By Clement K. Chase

Since the dam of cyanidation leaching techniques for precious metals, certain manganese-bearing silver ores have been a problem due to low silver extractions. Since simultaneous occurrence of silver and manganese is common in nature, this situation has made many otherwise attractive silver deposits uneconomic in the past. Several older techniques have been useful but at $1.29 per ounce of silver, the economics were unfavorable. With the new look in silver prices and some improvements in processing technology, neglected silver districts offer new promise.

Jan 1, 1981