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By P. Morissette

Passive monitoring of support performance during rockbursts was conducted at three deep underground mines. A comprehensive database was constructed of 172 seismic events and the associated damage to support systems at 266 mine locations from January 2000 to September 2012. The majority of pertinent information was obtained through seismic system records and on-site field assessments. This work assesses the quality of collected information and evaluates the dynamic-load demand on support systems in seismically active mines.

Aug 1, 2013

By R. K. Rajamani

Discrete Element Method simulation of charge motion in ball, SAG and autogenous mills has become a standard for design of mill internals, power draft evaluation, etc. Both two-dimensional and three-dimensional codes are being used. The two-dimensional code dominates the user market since the code completes a simulation in one or two hours. On the other hand, three-dimensional codes have been in the domain of specialists who can handle the complexity of the code and have access to parallel computing hardware. For the first time, this barrier is overcome via computing with graphic processing units (GPU). Commodity graphics cards now allow parallel computation with hundreds of processors. It is shown that the computational time has been reduced by a factor of fifty using GPU computing. Hence, SAG charge simulation results in three dimensions are achievable in a few hours using affordable desktop machines. The GPU computing shown here enables the three dimensional simulation into a manageable daily task for mill designers and researchers. On the technical side, the simulations can be elevated to a higher level of complexity to simulate breakage and transport. First, the speedup factor of fifty is established for the Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 graphics card. Next, four simulation tasks, consisting of AG, SAG and ball mills are reported. The simulation of AG and SAG mills are completed in less than 8 hours. The ball mill simulation with 1.25 million spheres is completed in 27 hours. In the near future, as the graphic card hardware advances the compute time can be halved.

Jan 1, 2012

By J. K. Shaw

The science of low temperature engineering is well entrenched in mining. Uses for common cryogens, including liquid oxygen (LOX), liquid nitrogen (LN2), and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the gas and minerals industries are reviewed. Potential future applications are discussed within the scope of mining, particularly in refrigeration and ventilation. The second part of this paper focuses on the Linde cycle, which is at the heart of most liquefaction plants. Steady state equations describing the mass and energy flows are presented. The paper concludes by explaining the concept of a wind powered Linde- Hampson cryogenic cycle and assessing, with scoping calculations, the technological feasibility of producing cryogens with an intermittent source of (renewable) energy.

Aug 1, 2013

By George J. Simandl, Donald F. Gunning

At the beginning of the 20 century, British Columbia produced a wide variety of quality dimension stone products for both domestic and foreign markets. The industry flourished until the 1930s when most of the producing quarries closed as a result of the Depression. During the 1990s, British Columbia experienced the resurgent North American dimensional stone production trend. The industry benefited from increased prospecting activity and from substantial new investment in processing equipment, particularly in the granite sector. These activities resulted in new quarry developments, the reopening of abandoned quarries such as on Granite and Fox Islands <www.quadrastone.com>, and a renaissance in downstream value-added activities. British Columbia has reestablished itself as an important, reliable and innovative source of high-quality stone products.

Jan 1, 2001

By A. Ojaghi, A. R. Mohammadi

"The Marvast monazite deposit is located 35 kilometres south - southwest of Marvast in Yazd province of Iran. A representative sample weighing approximately 10 tons was prepared to study the amenability of the ore to physical beneficiation. The size fraction of +1000 µm was removed due to low monazite content and the –1000 µm size fraction was concentrated by the gravity-classification-magnetic methods. According to the results of sample characterization, the representative sample contains 220 ppm REO that is contained in monazite. It was concentrated to 41.5% REO by the above mentioned methods. The recovery of REO in the monazite concentrate was 41.5%.INTRODUCTIONRare earth elements are critical metals in many countries (Gupta, 2005; UK Geological Survey, 2011). Increasing application of these metals in hi-tech industries and price fluctuation caused by Chinese production policy has led other countries to focus on their local resources (UK Geological Survey, 2011). In this case, Iran is not an exception.REE mineralization in Iran is mainly located in the central zone. Regarding the exploration data, these deposits are divided into two categories. The first group is iron ore deposits in which the REE are carried by phosphate minerals. The other group is placer deposits where monazite is the major mineral of the deposit. The Marvast placer deposit is one of these types of deposit (Daliran, 1990; Mokhtari, 2008; Torab, &Lehmann, 2007; Alipour, 2014)."

Jan 1, 2016

By J. Ita, F. Malekzadeh

"Multi-scale simulation in coupled fluid flow- geomechanical systems is a computationally efficient method for numerically solving large poroelastic systems. When using multi-scale methods, care must be taken in ensuring consistency when information is exchanged between systems that have a different discretization. Here a method is presented which provides consistency between the pore pressure being calculated on a fine scale fluid flow domain and upscaled to the coarser scale geomechanical domain and the pore volume change being calculated on the coarse geomechanical domain and down-scaled to the fine fluid flow domain. Central to this process is the characterization of the mechanical properties of the poroelastic system at both scales.Another advantage of the method presented here is that it is applicable to hydraulically disconnected but laterally drained (i.e. multi-porosity) layered systems as well as hydraulically connected, layered systems. Thus it can be used in geological situations where thin shale streaks or hardpans impede flow between laterally extensive, hydraulically conductive units. This is significant as the pressure evolution of such a hydraulically disconnected, laterally drained system can be very different than a hydraulically connected one as shown here. INTRODUCTIONA multi-scale treatment of fluid flow and deformation is a key enabler when simulation of poroelastic phenomena is limited by computational resources. As the spatial domain of the geomechanics model is usually larger than the fluid flow model, it is desireable to use a coarser discretization in the geomechanical model compared to the fluid-flow model. This type of multi-scale simulation requires a consistent up-scaling of pore pressure from the fine scale fluid flow model to the coarse scale geomechanical model and down-scaling of pore volume change from the geomechanical model to the fluid flow model (see Figure 1)."

Jan 1, 2015

By Vic Briccardi

Energy Management Challenges The Holistic Standard to Energy Management Energy Management Information System (EMIS) "Best Practices?: Energy Management Maturity Curve De Beers Canada Profile & Mine Locations Significant ROI Driven by Real-Time Energy Visibility Mining Energy KPI?s Summary: What Does EMIS Deliver? Q&A Session

May 1, 2013

"A method is described for determining the viability of hard rock orebody extraction by block caving. Using a very limited amount of geotechnical data, the procedure enhances Laubscher’s empirical stability graph method by using the complex structural modelling system (ChaSM) to assess cavability and block cave tonnages.IntroductionIn considering the selection of suitable mining methods, block caving has gained popularity over other extraction systems in recent years (Butcher, 1999). This has been ascribed to the fact that block caving is the lowest cost per ton mining method, with orebodies that were in the past considered unsuitable for caving, now being successfully mined. However, even though all orebodies will cave, a problem exists in the evaluation of economic viability — it is necessary to be able to predict both when the orebody will cave and what will be the sizes of the initial ore fragments (and the associated tonnages) that report to the drawpoints. This problem is compounded by the fact that, during the scoping study phase of a project, only limited geotechnical data may exist on which to base an assessment of whether block caving is viable or not. Empirical and numerical methods of cavability assessment do not account for the full effects of geological discontinuity trace lengths, nor for the stress regime. Those require significant geotechnical data to be available. The result is that uncertainty may exist as to whether block caving is an economic option. This uncertainty is complicated by the fact that limited experience exists with the caving of more competent orebodies.This paper describes a method for assessing cavability, and for predicting the size of initial ore fragments and the tonnages reporting to block cave drawpoints, using only the level of data normally available during a scoping study. Fragment size and tonnages are assessed by identifying potentially unstable blocks and wedges in the undercut back using statistical joint data. The effects of lateral confining stresses are accounted for by comparing the in situ stress orientations with the joint orientations. To evaluate the accuracy of the method, a back analysis exercise was conducted to predict cavability and initial tonnage for a mine in which the actual behaviour is known. The method is then applied to cavability and tonnage predictions for a hard rock orebody."

Jan 1, 2002

By G. W. McDonald

"The mineralogical studies done on Hope Brook ore samples indicated that a heap leach gold recovery process may be possible. In the metallurgicalprogram that followed, column tests confirmed this interpretation. A 9300 tonne demonstration heap leach test, in the late fall of 1985, reaffirmed laboratory results while identifying operating conditions that will have to be addressed in a production heap leach plan. Operating plans, gold recoveries and cost areas will be presented.Another important factor in a successful operation is the environment approach.LocationThe Hope Brook gold deposit is located 5 km inland from Cinq Cerf Bay on the south coast of Newfoundland. Port au x Basques is 80 km west and Burgeo 40 km to the east of Hope Brook. As there are no roads in the area, access to the site is by sea or air (Fig. I). The Hope Brook orebody is near the saddle of three watersheds flowing to Cinq Cerf Brook, Boat Hole Brook and Betty&apos;s Pond. Acceptable solutions to several environmental concerns can be obtained by using the relative sensitivities of these watersheds.The terrain at the site is generally rolling to hummocky with numerous small ponds separated with rock outcrops and patches of peat covering. Tree vegetation is sparse except in the sheltered areas around Couteau Bay and Cinq Cerf Brook. GeologyThe Chetwynd deposit is hosted by the Lower to Middle Ordovician Georges Brook Formation of the La Poile Group, a thick sequence of volcanic and sedimentary rocks.The Hope Brook Zone contains the largest concentration of gold found to date at Chetwynd. The zone occurs as an intensely silicified lens 100 m to 550 m long (average 400 m) by up to 60 m in width and forms the eastern portion of a more extensive, 4 km long , alteration zone trending at 053 degrees Az and dipping 70 degrees southeast.The Hope Brook Zone contains massive finely granular quartz, scattered blue quartz eyes, 3070 to 8% pyrite, minor calcopyrite and trace molybdenite. Barren silicification envelopes the gold mineralization. The zone is flanked to the southeast by a 200 metre thick aluminosilicate alteration zone and to the northwest by a 10 metre barren pyritic siliceous fragmental rock . The original lithology may be either a thick felsic pyroclastic sequence or a quartz porphyry sill that has been altered by hydrothermal processes. Silica flooding of the permeable host was accompanied by gold deposition."

Jan 1, 1989

By Jun Xiao, Xiaodong Li, Chunming He, Daixiong Chen

"Benzohydroxamic acid with double dentate can react with copper to form cyclic hydroxyl oxime acid copper chelate, indicating a good selectivity for copper oxide minerals flotation, especially for malachite. The flotation results of the pure malachite mineral show a strong synergistic collecting effect between hydroximic acid and xanthate at a ratio of 3.5:1, achieving a malachite recovery of 95.5% when certain sodium sulphide is used as a sulphidizing agent in the optimal pH range. Thanks to the synergistic collecting effect, the flotation recovery of malachite of a real refractory ore flotation ,can reach over 92% under the optimum condition, a 12% higher than the recovery achieved with the conventional collectors. In industrial application, the flotation of the copper oxide minerals is improved , leading to a high efficiency utilization of copper oxide resources.INTRODUCTIONBeneficiation of copper oxide ore is one of the recognized challenges in mineral processing industry. Copper oxide ore is a vital component of copper resource in the world, which has abundant reserves. Majority of sulphide deposits has oxidized zone on the top, and some deposits are oxidized to become the large and medium-sized oxide deposits (Willam & Chavez, 2001). Most copper oxide ores have problems in processing such as high slime consumption, poor floatability, complex ore property and low flotation recovery, so it is of great significance in beneficiation of copper oxide ores to develop an efficient collector, especially for malachite (Fu & Gu, 1997; Wen, 2010; Riet, Kier & Elford, 1980). At present, sulphidization-xanthate flotation is the most important method for treating copper oxide ore. In recent years, due to the decreasing ore grade, the utilization of refractory copper oxide ore draws more and more attention (Zhou, 2003), except for sulphidization-xanthate method, chelating flotation method (Lu, 2009), chemical beneficiation method (Lenormed, Salman & Yoon, 1979), microwave radiation flotation method, hydrothermal sulphidization-flotation method (Mao, Wen & Fang, 2014) and ammonia leaching of sulphide precipitation-flotation method (Lekang, Stevik & Bomo, 2003) have occurred."

Jan 1, 2016

By Keith Haddock

"The Sheerness Mine, a new surface coal mine located near Hanna, Alberta, went into full production in mid-1995. The mine, which is operated by Luscar’s subsidiary Forestburg Collieries (1984) Ltd., has the design capacity to supply up to 2.1 million tonnes of sub-bituminous coal per year to the adjacent Sheerness Generating station under a 30-year contract. This paper documents the construction phase of this project and highlights the major equipment purchases as well as the construction of the mine facilities. The paper also focuses on some of the areas where cost savings have been achieved that have allowed the mine to come on stream six months ahead of schedule, and under budget. Project ReviewMine DescriptionThe Sheerness Mine is located 25 km southeast of the town of Hanna in southeastern Alberta (Fig. 1). The mining property occupies the western portion of the Sheerness CoalField and borders the Montgomery Mine, operated by Manalta Coal Ltd. in the east, and Highway 36 in the west. The Montgomery Mine and the Sheerness Mine exclusively supply the total coal requirement of the adjacent Sheerness Generating Station. The station is owned jointly by Alberta Power Limited (APL) and TransAlta Utilities Corporation (TAU). APL is the operator. Manalta’s Montgomery Mine has supplied coal to the Sheerness Station since its opening in 1986. Coal is shipped by truck from the mines over a network of haul roads to the coal receiving hoppers located on the east side of Highway 36."

Jan 1, 1997

By John Loui Porathur

Highwall Mining has been recently introduced in India. The first Continuous Highwall Mining extraction in India started operating at Ramagundem Opencast Project-II (OC-II) of Singareni Collieries Company Ltd. (SCCL) in December 2010. A new hybrid empirical and numerical modelling approach has been devised to design web pillars for the initial Highwall Mining sites in India, considering the complex geology, such as existence of thick seams and multiple seams in close proximity. This paper gives the scientific elucidation of a comprehensive design methodology adopted for the above mentioned Indian Highwall Mining sites. The design technology includes web pillar design for multiple seams using hybrid empirical and numerical methods, slope stability assessment, ground movement monitoring, and recommendations for conducting blasting operations in the vicinity of Highwall Mining extractions.

Aug 1, 2013

By L. F. Haven

"The desirable shovel speed-torque curves are described, along with the characteristics of the more important electrical components used to approximate these curves. A particular shovel regulator system combining these components is discussed in detail and some of the advantages and disadvantages of the system are given.INTRODUCTIONIN 1959, STATIC CONTROL was for the first time successfully applied, installed and operated on a mining machine in North America. Since that time, a great deal has been learned about this control by the people maintaining these machines as well as by the de-signers.In 1961, the first SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier) or thyristor control system was installed on an excavator. This control differed from the earlier static control in that thyristor excitors supplied the generator fields directly. The development of thyristors of a sufficient rating to supply amounts of phase-controlled power to the generator fields eliminated the bulky Mag. Amp. -Rectifier combination previously used."

Jan 1, 1969

By A. G. Lylie

Introduction At the Britannia Mining and Smelting Company&apos;s mill, the equivalent of 2,500 to 2,800 pounds of copper sulphate crystals per day is made from copper which is precipitated from the mine-water. This copper sulphate is used in the mill for the recovery of sphalerite by2 flotation. From 1932 until 1936 it was produced by exposing the precipitate to air for thirty days and then dissolving the oxidized copper with dilute sulphuric acid. In 1936, the flotation of sphalerite was discontinued and, when it was resumed in 1947, steps were taken to try to improve the former method. The present paper outlines the way in which this was done, and describes the plant and procedure by which copper sulphate is now being made, and by means of which an appreciable saving is being effected. Aboratory Tests The previous work had established that the precipitate, which consists mainly of metallic copper, must be oxidized before the copper would dissolve in dilute sulphuric acid. Various methods for oxidizing it were tried but in the early laboratory work the only suitable one found was to heat the precipitate to 600°C. and hold it at this temperature for two hours. When this was done, approximately 90 per cent of the copper became soluble in .acid. This percentage was considered satisfactory for practical purposes, but the cost of roasting was prohibitive because only a small amount of roasted precipitate was required each day.

Jan 1, 1951

By R. D. Westervelt

IN JULY 1954, the first iron ore from the deposits in the Knob Lake vicinity was mined and shipped to Seven Islands. The beginning of the production may well be the greatest advance in Canadian economy in the past fifty years. In 1955, the Canadian iron ore output was more than twice that of 1954, an in-crease due principally to the iron ore shipments from the Knob Lake area. Previous to this, Canada&apos;s iron production was 1.85 per cent of the world&apos;s output. Now, this percentage has risen to approximately 5.5 per cent and shows every indication of increasing further as the production rate from the area is increased. In 1955 the Iron Ore Company of Canada shipped over 7 million tons of iron ore and expects to ship over 10 million tons in 1956. Present facilities may be enlarged to handle up to 20 million tons per year. If the expected I 0 million tons per year are exported, Canada&apos;s iron exports will be second only to her wheat and newsprint exports. Before production began from the Knob Lake deposits, years of development were necessary in the area. Geologists spent several summers mapping the general area in order to unravel the complicated stratigraphy and petrology. Particular attention was paid to the mapping of the iron formation and all stages of alteration from fresh iron formation to ore were observed.

Jan 1, 1957

By J. Tuominen

Outokumpu Direct-to-Blister Flash Smelting is currently in operation in two smelters, a third one is under construction and a fourth one is in the design phase. The two smelters in operation are the Glogow 2 smelter of KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. in Poland and the Olympic Dam smelter of BHP Billiton in Australia. The Outokumpu Direct-to-Blister smelter of Konkola Copper Mines Plc. in Zambia is under construction and the new smelter of Glogow 1 is under design and waiting for final go-ahead decision. Additionally, the Garfield smelter of Kennecott Utah Copper Corp. makes blister copper out of matte in a Flash Converting furnace. A similar operation is under construction for Y anggu Xiangguang Copper Co. in China. The slag cleaning process, which is needed to clean the slag of the Direct-to-Blister Flash Smelting Furnace, has different requirements depending on the feed to the flash furnace. These differences are discussed in the paper. The differences between the processes and slag produced are discussed as well as the metallurgical requirements for slag cleaning. The Direct-to-Blister process, where the blister copper is produced directly from concentrate in one step, requires at least a partial treatment of the slag in an electric slag cleaning furnace. The existing impurities determine the specific requirements of the actual cleaning process. The different processes are discussed in the paper. The newest developments of Outokumpu Technology Oy for electric slag cleaning furnace design are presented as well as the characteristics which the furnace shape gives to the process.

Jan 1, 2007

By A. Boeing

Rock-breaker automation and remote operation improves the safety and efficiency of mining operations. This article presents an overview of the Rocklogic rock-breaker automation system architecture that provides collision avoidance, automated parking, and remote operation functionality. The system consists of a distributed computer control system that interfaces with sensors attached to the rock-breaker, the rock-breaker hydraulics, and the site infrastructure. We present results of an automated Transmin rockbreaker installed in a production environment at an underground Australian mine site. The system has been in production use for over 900 days during which there have been no reported collisions, and 100% adoption of the remote operation technology. As a result, Rocklogic has significantly improved the safety of rock-breaking operations and reduced the rock-breaking cycle time, thereby improving the sites overall throughput.

Aug 1, 2013

Traditionally within the mining industry, single models for both grade and geology of orebodies are created upon which all mine development decisions are based. These models provide a single interpretation of the extent and continuity of the mineralization envelope based on solids and sections interpreted from relatively wide spaced drilling i.e. the models infer behaviour of grade and geology at smaller/local scales based on data available at wider scales. The variable behaviour of grade and geology cannot be derived from single kriged resource models. In recognition of this, Newmont Mining Corporation typically uses Sequential Gaussian Simulation (SGS) to quantify grade variability and to determine its effect on some of these mine development decisions. In most of these studies the mineralized envelope remains fixed and grade simulations are generated within a fixed volume. To account for uncertainty in the geology/ mineralization envelope Newmont Mining Corporation has been experimenting with Multiple Point Statistics (MPS). Multiple-Point Statistics is an emerging technique, which can be used to generate multiple, geologically realistic, realizations of data that displays complex non-linear features. MPS uses a conceptual model of the geology, called a Training Image (TI), to infer these high-order spatial relationships. The multiple realizations allow for an assessment of the geologic uncertainty, which can be further combined with grade simulations to generate a more complete picture of the true uncertainty of a mineral deposit.

Jan 1, 2011

By A. Hashempour, D. Javani

"Selection of an optimal bit is a critical issue in drilling engineering. Specific energy (SE) and Cost per Foot (CPF) are the most common methods for evaluation of bit efficiency and optimal bit selection. The major shortfall of both methods is that they do not directly account for geological and geomechanical parameters of formations being drilling. In this paper, results of using the two foregoing methods are compared using Formation Drillability (FD) method, which directly accounts for geological and geomechanical parameters of a formation. This method combines various geological and geomechanical parameters and yields a dimensionless parameter indicating the formation drilling hardness (drillability). Results of this study show that the amount of energy, cost and time spent for drilling a unit volume / length of an identical formation may vary in different wells. This is due to the fact that geological and geomechanical characteristics of a formation may vary among wells and even within short intervals of a single well. Therefore, an optimal bit may not be appropriately selected, if drilling and economical parameters are the only factors considered and the formation geological and geomechanical specifications are ignored.INTRODUCTIONMany authors such as Bilgesu, Al-Rashidi, Aminian, and Ameri (2000) and Clegg (2006) conducted research in the evaluation of bit performance and optimum bit selection. Almost all of them tried to establish a good relationship based on geomechanical parameters. Primary examples are the research done by Ubaldi (1999), Macini, Magagni, Da Dalt, and Valente (2007)."

Jan 1, 2015

By J. Gordon Parr, D. A. Whitaker, G. A. Yorko

High purity alloys of zinc with 25 per cent to 50 per cent aluminum, have been prepared. Mechanical properties of the as-cast and heat-treated alloys have been related to constitution, determined by x-ray diffraction and microscopic methods. Investigations include the effects of aging and of small nickel additions on the properties of the alloys.

Jan 1, 1960