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Jan 1, 1969

By Russell J. Gartrell

This report describes the engineering feasibility and economic advantages of using a steep angle conveyance (SAC) system in conjunction with medium and large draglines to transport spoil in a typical Western Coal Mine. The SAC system, including a receiving hopper, a steep angle conveyor and a sticker/spreader, is capable of processing overburden material at the rate of 7,000 tons/hr. The unique feature of this system is the steep angle conveyor which transports the overburden material from the pit bottom to the top of the spoil at angles to 45 degrees. Compared to other means of cross-pit conveyance considered during this study, the SAC system offers the advantage of easier operation, lower conveyance cost and greater mobility. The results of this study have shown that integration of the SAC system into both established and planned new mines would improve the overall mining operation, expand the operating capability of existing equipment and reduce mining end reclamation cost.

Jan 1, 1977

By P. Kim Carroll, D. Nick Tiffany, Doyl M. Fritz

Thunder Basin Coal Company received the 1987 Wyoming Excellence in Surface Mining Award for construction of the State's first major sediment control reservoir to be designed using the new settleable sol ids standard. Use of this standard resulted in construction cost savings of more than $250,000; reduced water quality monitoring; enhanced downstream channel stability because of more natural sediment loading; allowed simultaneous establishment of permanent waterfowl and fisheries habitat; and provided a quality recreational site. This article will address factors associated with the design and construction of that sediment reservoir and the benefits that were realized. (Note: This paper was originally published in the proceedings for the 1988 National Symposium on Mining, Hydro1ogy, Sedimentology and Reclamation held in Reno, Nevada, December 5-9, 1988.)

Jan 1, 1989

By A. A. Schipaanboord, S. J. Dasselaar

"With the growing global demand for strategic metals, commodity prices are rising and the scarcity of some metals is increasing. Europe’s technology sector is also affected by this growing shortage of metals. Securing the supply of critical metals is now a major element in Europe’s economic strategy. The Blue Mining and Blue Nodules projects have been initiated to principally advance deep sea mining technology beyond current TRL-levels.These critical metals are found inside so-called “polymetallic nodules”, lying on the seafloor in deep-sea environment. These nodules have a typical abundance of 10-25 kg/m2 and a size range of 10-125 mm.Harvesting the polymetallic nodules is challenging. Two main methods of harvesting or collector equipment are distinguished: hydraulic and mechanical. Over the last year, Royal IHC has designed, build and tested a full-scale hydraulic collector. Meanwhile, a mechanical collector is being developed.First, a scaled version of the hydraulic collector was developed and tested in order to have a proof of principle. The development as well as optimization were aided by multiphase CFD simulations."

Jan 1, 2017

By B. R. Conard

Copper refining at Vale Canada (previously known as Inco) has been associated with Ni production. Because Cu and Ni carry risks for adverse health endpoints through inhalation exposure, it is critical that their aerosol levels, and the metallurgical processes through which they enter the air, are understood. Because certain Ni substances have been linked to respiratory cancers, it is also important to characterize the amounts and types of Ni compounds in occupational settings. This paper describes electrorefining and electrowinning operations near Sudbury, Ontario (1930–present), and gives aerosol measurements (1978–present).

Jan 1, 2014

By L. A. Morely

The overall objective of the subject contract was to investigate the application, economic, and safety considerations of electrical-shock prevention techniques applied to surface and underground mines. Volume I of the four-volume final report starts by summarizing all research performed, and synopses of the three other report volumes are included. The balance of this volume concerns one major task of the contract, the protection of maintenance personnel. After specifying the scope of work for the task, electrical is defined, and needed ground-fault relay characteristics to prevent ventricular fibrillation are established. This is followed by an analysis of alternating-current systems, a comparison of these systems with respect to body currents, and the advantages and disadvantages of the various ground-fault protection techniques. An analysis of direct-current systems for off-track vehicles is then covered. These analyses form the basis for the research recommendations which along with suggestions for future research, conclude the report volume.

Jan 1, 1982

By Frédéric Flament, Luc Lachance

"The important task of metallurgical accounting that used to be done manually is being more and more automated. Currently available solutions can generate accounting reports without human intervention or almost. However, the practical conditions for fully delivering the promised benefits of those solutions are sometimes overlooked either by end-users or by integrators. The mere fact of filling reports with values satisfying several constraints such as mass conservation constraints does not, by itself, ensure a high quality metallurgical balance. Since managers make decisions based on these reports, it is logical that the metallurgical balance performance be monitored and retrofits be made if necessary. Such retrofits may involve modifications to the measurement strategy or the reduction of the spatial resolution of the material balance model. This requires an estimability and redundancy analysis (ERA) tool to assess the feasibility of the modified model. Since determining by hand the estimability and redundancy of a set of non measured and measured variables is not trivial, even for a medium-sized mineral processing plant, a dedicated ERA tool brings valuable assistance to the metallurgist in charge. The present paper aims first at explaining how a state of the art metallurgical balance is a key enabler for the adoption of a smart process plants paradigm (SPPP) in mineral processing. Then, the fundamentals behind the building of an ERA algorithm are introduced and illustrated by two examples. Finally, the role of an ERA tool in achieving state of the art metallurgical accounting and how it contributes to delivering additional value are discussed.INTRODUCTIONThe Smart Process Plants Paradigm (SPPP)Mineral processors have seen an increase lately in external pressures toward operating performance improvements. Indeed, the globalization of the mining business is a key driver to becoming more productive, more responsive to market changes, to improving corporate governance and reporting standards. Furthermore, mineral processors are also expected by their neighbouring communities to continuously improve their sustainability score. These current pressures differ somewhat from the past ones in leading to a larger than ever number of conflicting constraints that plant managers must concurrently satisfy while maximizing plant profitability. It is in turn not surprising that this context requires actions involving more real-time collaborative actions between more people in more places than ever before."

Jan 1, 2011

By Walter S. White

The Michigan native-copper district has produced about 5,400,000 tons of copper since mining began in 1845. The copper occurs primarily as open-space fillings and replacements in amygdaloidal flow tops and conglomerate beds of the Portage Lake Lava Series, of middle Keweenawan age. Secondary minerals with which the copper is associated include microcline, chlorite, epidote, pumpellyite, prehnite, quartz, and calcite; zeolites, other than laumontite, are not abundant. A zonal pattern of the secondary minerals transects bedding and suggests regional metamorphism mainly to the grade of the prehnite-pumpellyite graywacke facies of Coombs. Most of the major copper deposits are near the upper limit of abundant quartz in this zonal pattern. The distribution of copper in both amygdaloid and conglomerate deposits is controlled partly by primary permeability of the rocks and partly by later tectonic fracturing that was concentrated in the mechanically weak flow tops and sedimentary beds. Ore shoots and deposits are therefore controlled partly by primary structural features, such as areas of thick and thin fragmental amygdaloid or the boundaries of conglomerate lenses, and partly by regional structure: a number of ore deposits are in synclinal downwarps. The copper-bearing solutions that formed the deposits were ascending. They may have come from a large concealed intrusive, or may have been driven out of the porous tops of lava flows when the rocks were compacted and metamorphosed at great depth in the central part of the Lake Superior syncline. The second hypothesis seems more consistent with the widespread distribution of the copper, its relation to mineral zoning that represents truly regional metamorphism, its native state, and the likelihood that copper deposition was later than most or all of Keweenawan volcanism.

Jan 1, 1968

By T. Bertke

This document assesses the environmental aspects of a preliminary design for processing kaolin clay as the domestic resource for recovery of alumina by a hydrochloric acid leach-HCl gas induced crystallization process. The report covers waste sources, control measures, and potential environmental and health effects applicable to the process technology.

Jan 1, 1980

By L. J. Blatnica

Throughout the 1980's the tem Mine-Wide Monitoring System has had various meanings for manufacturers of these systems and underground mine operators alike. System suppliers had visions of grandeur in the early 80's as they envisioned each mine, that has more than a single section, installing a computer based monitoring system to provide surveillance, control and documentation of the entire mining operation, including everything from a single heat detector to the weekly payroll. In a few cases this may have become reality but the truth is these systems have quietly become a steady but unspectacular workbase for the modern mining industry of the 1990's. As it exists today the total market for underground monitoring systems may not exceed $10 million annually. Suppliers have lowered their expectations of the dollar value of this particular market. Some were entering a new market because of experience with computer based data acquisition systems. Others had been active in the mining industry for years with more traditional equipment (communication systems, methane monitors, safety equipment, etc.) and decided to become involved with Mine-Wide Monitoring Systems.

Jan 1, 1990

By G. K. Jorgenson, S. H. Chung

"IntroductionThe SABREX Blast Modelling Program was developed jointly by the companies of the ICI Explosives Group, of which C-I-L Inc. is a member. SABREX (Scientific Approach to Breaking Rock with Explosives) is a modular computer program which incorporates new technology with a number of tested programs that have been in use world wide.SABREX predicts the performance of blasts in terms of (I) fragment size and distribution; (2) muckpile profile and face velocity; (3) grade fracture; (4) collar breakage; (5) a rupture envelope which depicts crack penetration behind and beneath blastholes; and (6) a complete cost analysis including explosives, drilling and accessory costs. The predicted blast results are displayed as dynamic colour graphics and in tabular form.SABREX uses data on the detailed geometry of the drilled and loaded pattern, detonation characteristics of the explosives and the dynamic properties of the rock to generate blast predictions. SABREX blasting calculations take into account the effects that shock and quasi-static pressures exert on the rock around the blastholes. While physical effects occur very rapidly in rock blasting, it is possible to view and model the sequence of events as discrete sections.The program can be run on a microcomputer and is currently operated by C-I-L technical service staff in Canada for the use of drilling and blasting operators.Figure I is a diagram representing the modules of the program and associated technology that is used to complement the program.Any, or all, of the modules may be used in a particular study or blast optimization. Because the BOBCAT module of the SABREX program has been described in previous papers(7.8.9), this discussion will concentrate on the newer modules: CRACK, HEAVE, RUPTURE ENVELOPE and to a limited extent, KUZ-RAM, which present a more detailed picture of the blasting process.Each of these modules is discussed in terms of the information they offer the operator in analyzing the blast. Specific examples of recent usage in Canadian mining situations are included to illustrate the ability of the model to produce practical results that can assist in optimizing actual blasting operations or solving problems that do exist."

Jan 1, 1987

By A J. H Newell

The background and the basis for conducting a Technical Due Diligence are discussed as well as the source information, typical studies and potential limitations. Typical short comings including ‘show-stoppers’ are presented for the metallurgical area, with examples. Issues found in other areas such as geology, mining, infrastructure and financial evaluations are briefly reviewed, highlighting the input and interaction required by metallurgists with these disciplines. A checklist is provided as a guide to maximise the success of a Due Diligence as well as a check on the quality of a Feasibility Study.CITATION:Newell, A J H, 2015. Fatal flaws in technical due diligences, in Proceedings MetPlant 2015, pp 61–77 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 7, 2015

By Fabiana da Silva Santos

O presente estudo fez uso de uma liga de NiTi, rica em Ni, elaborada em um forno de fusão por indução a vácuo - VIM e posteriormente refundida em fornos de arco elétrico com eletrodo não consumível de tungstênio – VAR. Com base nos resultados de Calorimetria Diferencial de Varredura (DSC), Difração de Raios-X (DRX) e Microscopia Eletrônica de Varredura (MEV) / Espectroscopia de Energia Dispersiva de Raios-X (EDS), foi possível observar a heterogeneidade composicional/ típica de fundido por processo convencionais, as inclusões de TiC e Ti4Ni2O provenientes da fusão no forno VIM, e o refinamento microestrutural e manutenção da sua composição original com uso de cadinho de cobre e câmara/atmosfera dos fornos VAR.

Oct 30, 2017

By James W. Hendrix

A survey of endomycorrhizal fungi occurring on orphan coalmine lands in Western and Eastern Kentucky revealed a great diversity of species present. Thus a large number of fungi are available for isolation and evalution for enhancing revegetation of mined land. Endomycorrhizal fungi isolated from orphan mines stimulated growth of sweetgum seedlings on mine soil at low fertilisation but inhibited growth at high fertilization; this growth inhibition at high fertilization did not occur with plants growing on peat-perlite. Banding of endomycorrbizal inoculum was not advantageous, compared with incorporation of inoculum throughout the growth medium, for production of mycorrhizal sweetgum seedlings. Newly reclaimed mine spoils were nearly nonmycorrhizal, compared with land reclaimed four or eight years earlier. A procedure for isolation of single-spore cultures of endomycorrhizal fungi was developed; this procedure is necessary for studies of ecotypic variability. A practical procedure using container-grown Pisolithus tinctorius-infected shortleaf pine seedlings for production of large numbers of bareroot pine seedlings infected with P. tinctorius for mined land reclamation was demonstrated.

Jan 1, 1982

By B. J. Timmons

An initial point that I would like to make very emphatically?and as our title might erroneously suggest for those of you old enough to remember . . . Peter Harben and myself do not intend to shoot ourselves in the foot. We derive our livelihood from a number of aggregate, industrial and other minerals producers, both here in the United States and outside. This paper, therefore, is a fence-straddler or for information purposes (we hope) only, rather than any "fur or agin" stances. In essence, some of you may consider it a U.S.G.S. publication! In fact, we hope that it serves to inspire aggregates producers to do some radical thinking, to promote introspection, and to that end it would benefit both domestic and foreign producers. The title could be shortened into a brief question of "Aggregates Travel?" with an emphatic no for the answer. In the past, the success of a construction materials venture depended upon your ability, through siting, to provide the customer f.o.b. the job site, a product at the lowest possible cost.

Jan 1, 1987

By Oliver Bowles

Granites are classed as igneous rocks ; they have been formed by the solidification of rock magmas or solutions from deep within the earth . It is an almost invariable law of nature that magmas which cool quickly form fine- grained or glassy rocks , while those that cool slowly are completely crystallized and are coarser- grained . Granites , being of the latter class , are regarded as having attained their solid form at considerable depth below the surface under conditions of high temperature and pressure . The constituent minerals crystallized out slowly , the crystals interlocking with one another . The great depth of overlying rocks that must have been present when crystallization took place has been removed by erosion over large areas on the surface of the earth , in consequence of which granites appear at or near the surface in many localities . The chief minerals of which granites are formed are feldspars , quartz , and either mica or hornblende . All the essential constituents except mica are as hard as , or harder than steel , therefore granites are difficult rocks to cut and dress . Granites are usually red , pink , or gray , depending on the color of the feldspars . If hornblende or black mica is abundant the rock may be dark green or almost black . Granites are characterized by massive homogeneous texture . They are classified as fine- grained , medium- grained , or coarse - grained . Medium- grained granites are those in which the feldspar crystals average about one- fourth inch in diameter . If relatively coarsegrained crystals appear in a fine -grained ground mass the rock is designated a porphyritic granite . Uniformity in texture and grain size are desirable in building and ornamental stone , although occasionally rocks of variable texture , such as the porphyritic granites , are used . A rock may have the mineral constituents of a granite but show a banded or platy structure due to recrystallization , folding , or other changes while the rock was in a plastic or semimolten condition . Such metamorphic rocks are called granite gneisses . They are used occasionally for building purposes but not as commonly as the uniformly textured granites . - Granites are named from the most abundant mineral other than quartz and feldspar that they contain , being called , for example , biotite granite or hornblende granite . - Commercially other igneous rocks granitoid in texture but more properly classified as syenites , diorites , or gabbros may be classed as granites . Thus the " black granite " of Little Falls , Minn . , is a diorite , and the " black granite " of Eastern Pennsylvania consists of diabase or gabbro . The question is sometimes raised as to the depth to which a granite occurrence may extend . In this respect granites differ notably from limestones , sandstones , or other sedimentary rocks . The sediments were originally laid down in relatively thin beds , and individual formations providing rock of economic value may be quite limited in thickness . Usually the usable beds range between 40 and 200 feet in thickness . On the other hand , granite comes up from below . Its depth is unknown , but in general is very great . It may even be measurable in miles . The reserves of material at depth are to be measured , therefore , by the economic depth of working rather than by the vertical extent of the rock mass . Exceptionally , granites of commercial quality may occur in sills or sheets of limited thickness flanked on either side by rocks of different character , as , for example , at Westerly , R. I.

May 1, 1930

By Joseph A. Holmes

The public is already familiar with the general fact that the scope and the financial resources of the approaching St. Louis World's Fair are much larger than those of any of the preceding great expositions; and both the visitor and the exhibitor, when he comes to St. Louis in 1904, will find it to be a real World's Pair, with exhibits and visitors from every known country. Passing over the subject, as to the general Exposition, with this brief statement, I ask Sour attention to the consideration of a few important facts connected with the proposed mining exhibits at this Exposition. First of all, I may say that. reading- and writing-rooms and library facilities will be furnished in the Mines Building for miners and mining engineers, and it is expected that when they visit the Exposition they will make these rooms their headquarters, and give the Chief of the Department and his assistants an opportunity to extend to them such courtesies as may be possible. One of the exhibits in the Mines Department will consist of models and maps arranged to show the nature and extent of the mining operations in the United States at the time of the purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803, the event which

Jan 1, 1903

By Oliver Bowles

THE most important non-metallic mineral industries from a tonnage standpoint are those that are allied with the construction industries and are engaged in handling sand and gravel, crushed stone, building stone, cement, lime and gypsum. The greatest problem facing a number of these industries at this time is over-production. They have experienced un- usual, and in some instances phenomenal, growth during recent years, stinlulated by extensive highway and building construction, but in some localities expansion of producing plants has far outstripped industrial needs. The cement industry is operating at about two- thirds capacity. Over-production tends toward price- cutting and unprofitable and interrupted operation, involving maintenance expenses for idle plants and disorganization of working forces. This condition has encouraged active efforts toward reducing production costs by the introduction of labor-saving equipment. Also, there is a tendency toward the location of manufacturing plants, wherever possible, near the centers of consumption rather than at points of production of raw materials. In order to reduce overhead expense, or for other reasons, many consolidations of companies into larger units have taken place. An economic study of conditions in these industries is highly desirable. The U. S. Bureau of Mines has taken one step forward in this direction in the issuance of Economic Paper 7, entitled "Economics of New Sand and Gravel Developments." Briefly, this report emphasizes the importance of making a thorough study of all the economic factors involved before undertaking new .enterprises.

Jan 1, 1930

By Shail J. Butani

In 1986 the Bureau of Mines conducted a probability sample survey, Mining Industry Population Survey, to measure such employee characteristics as occupation; principal equipment operated; work location at the mine; present job, present company, and total mining experience; job-related training during the last 2 years; age; sex; race; and education. The population estimates are necessary to properly analyze the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) injury (includes illness and fatality data) statistics; that is, to compare and contrast injury rates for various subpopulations in order to identify those groups that are exhibiting higher than average injury rates. This report uses the survey's results to characterize the U.S. nonmetallic mining workforce from March through September 1986. Similar reports have been prepared for the metallic, stone, and sand and gravel mining industries, as well as for the entire metal and nonmetal mining (includes metallic, stone, sand and gravel, and nonmetallic industries) sector and the cool mining sector.

Jan 1, 1988

By V. M. Shick

For practical purposes of the use of information resources in the field of geomechanics and mine surveying with accepted mining technology in mines, the authors have developed the packaged software programs of the survey-geomechanical information system with database objects of mine field. This system enables to execute the graphical representation of workings layout in preset scale, axonometric projection, the zones of higher ground pressure: program packages for calculations of rock pressure manifestations and for selection of suitable support facilities for the permanent, development and active workings and vertical shafts based on the information resources of the State Research Institute of Mining Geomechanics & Mine Surveying (VNIMI). The program packages are applied at coal mines in Russia and in Kazakhstan. The profitable operation of coal mines can be reached only by the combined optimal engineering decisions in mine working's laying-out and their reliability and safety at the stages of their designing and exploitation, and with minimal harm of the environment as well. This problem is being complicated by the fact that today the mining-practicing engineers and designers are ordinarily facing the problem " of an information barrier", when the complexity of controlling systems exceeds the potentialities of traditional management of production practice. Coal mine is a typical representative of complicated systems, because the information about geological structure, physicomechanical properties and stress-strain state of rock mass are of fragmentary character and insufficiently reliable. A mine has a developed network of interrelated workings, by the way, some of them are productive ones being subjected to control to a certain extent, and some of them are abandoned ones being noncontrollable and hazardous in rushes of water, gas, pulp and fire. The ground pressure forces cause the disintegration of rock mass growing with depth. The progress of mining operations constantly changes the geomechanical situation forming the zones of bearing pressure, stress relieving, coal falling, as well as it leads to the pulp movement on the earth surface, breaks the ground water flow, causes deformations and changes in stability of buildings, constructions and natural objects on the earth surface. One should take into account the existence of hazardous zones within the mine field, i.e. the zones of elevated ground pressure, geological dislocations and those ones under natural water reservoirs, ponds, etc. Major coal seams are prone to rock bursts, sudden outbursts, bleeding, endogenic fire. It is obvious, that in practice it is extremely difficult to account for the mentioned above factors in their interrelation.

Jan 1, 1996