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By H. Lyn Bourne

This is the fifth annual tabulation of mineral royalty information. This tabulation, like the previous editions, includes all of the earlier data. There are also 60 new entries. In addition to royalty information, some entries show the cost of purchased reserves. Two articles relative to the evaluation of minerals reserves appeared in December, 1986. R.H. Paschall (In the Aggregate, ME, p 1139) wrote a good article, although it lacked specific royalty data. However, this author takes exception to two ideas in Paschall's column. Paschall contends that the royalty rate does not affect the mineral appraisal. This present author could not disagree more. Paschall also claims the location of an industrial mineral deposit is the only serious or practical caveat in comparing royalties. Comments received here from readers helped make the list of caveats that are cited each year. The readers will decide which factors influence the mineral value for their commodities of interest. Paschall's point about the relationship of the parties who are negotiating a royalty agreement is important and very well taken. The other article, written by William Vernon (Pit and Quarry, December 1986), gives a step-by-step process on how to conduct a mineral appraisal. The article cites three reasons for an appraisal: transfer rights; collateral for a loan; and taxation. A fourth reason is to establish adequate compensation for reserves lost through condemnation. This author has appeared in several court cases where compensation for loss of mineral reserves through condemnation required a mineral appraisal. Royalty rate becomes an important factor in the appraisal process, although the Pit and Quarry article refers to that part of the valuation equation as "profitability." Both articles were well written and are recommended reading for those interested in mineral valuations. The same caveats that have appeared in previous columns relative to factors that influence the value of reserves are restated. The data in the table serve as a general reference and are not intended to present an absolute scale of reserves costs. Several factors influence the value of any mineral commodity. The factors include: • location/transportation - especially significant for most industrial minerals; • market conditions both for the commodity and the company acquiring the right to mine; • quality or grade of the deposit as it reflects the amount of processing/beneficiation necessary to produce the finished product; and • legislative restrictions and conditions for mining a given material at a given site. These and other factors will significantly influence the cost of reserves. The table shows the range of royalties and the variations in the basis of computing the fees. In a few instances, it gives the cost of acquired reserves based on purchase price and quantitative estimates of the material in place. The table lists the commodity in column 1, and the subsequent columns give: • the location by state, US geographic area, or Canadian province ; • the cost - R for royalty and P for purchased cost; • the year in which the lease or purchase agreement occurred; and • comments or footnotes for more information. The cost column requires more explanation. The units may refer to cubic yards (/cu yd), cubic feet (/cu ft), short tons (/T), or acres (/A). 1 cu yd = 0.76 M2 1cuft = 0.28m3 1 st = 0.9072 t 1 acre - 0.4047 ha or m2

Jan 7, 1987

By Michael Rieber

A new mode of coal transportation based on the principles of pneumatic conveying has been recently, proposed by Soo, et al. [5]. Pneumatic transport is not a novel concept and commercial experience with pneumatic pipelines for short haul distances is plentiful. The list of applications is long and includes transporting ores, chemicals and pharmaceutical products, agricultural products, and domestic and industrial wastes. The study by Soo, et al. [5] updated an earlier one [l0] and presented the most recent economic evaluation of pneumatic transportation of coal. Their preliminary study concluded that there are immediate advantages for short-distance transport (less than 100 miles) and that it is both technologically and economically feasible. That study also concludes that pneumatic transport has a higher potential and more promising profitability in long-distance applications than rail if new track and roadbed must be built. Some of the advantages of long and short distance pneumatic pipeline transport of coal compared to rail and slurry transport are: 1) Replacement of diesel fuel consumed by unit trains, as the pipeline can be powered by coal-generated electricity; 2) Reduction of the skilled-labor costs required for upgrading and maintaining railroads; 3) Elimination of signaling, rerouting and overpass costs due to increased rail traffic on' mainline trackage;

Jan 1, 1977

By S. Ganguly

Slag samples taken from adjacent to the furnace wall of a submerged arc ferromanganese smelting furnace have been found to contain high concentrations of K2O. To characterize the phase equilibria relevant to these slags experimental studies have been carried out to determine pseudo-ternary sections of the form ?MnO?-CaO-(SiO2+Al2O3) with a fixed Al2O3/SiO2 weight ratio of 0.65 and 6.0 wt% K2O for temperatures in the range 1523-1673 K. In the pseudo-ternary section investigated the primary phase fields are found to be mullite, 3Al2O3?2SiO2; corundum, Al2O3; spinel, MnO?Al2O3; manganosite solid solution, (Mn,Ca)O; dicalcium silicate,2CaO?SiO2; gehlenite 2CaO?Al2O3?SiO2; anorthite CaO?Al2O3?2SiO2; kalsilite KAlSiO4 and leuciteKAlSi2O6. It was found that the presence of K2O in the slag decreases liquidus temperature in the anorthite and gehlenite primary phase fields. The manganosite primary phase field is expanded in the direction of increased (Al2O3+SiO2) and the liquidus temperatures in the manganosite primary phase field are increased significantly with the presence of K2O in the slag.

Jan 1, 2007

By K. Liddell

Current practice for the recovery of platinum group metals (PGM) from flotation concentrates is by energy-intensive smelting processes followed by separation and refining of the base and precious metals. Energy costs are rapidly increasing in South Africa and this trend is forecast to continue in future years. Moreover, the smelting operations are highly susceptible to deleterious constituents, particularly chromite; and the increasing tonnages of UG2 chromititic ore being mined results in an increasing chromite content of smelter feeds. Hence there is a substantial incentive to assess and implement alternative processes to smelting for the treatment of PGM concentrates. The Kell process is a patented hydrometallurgical alternative to smelting that is totally insensitive to the chromite content of the feed concentrate and comprises three commercially proven unit operations (pressure oxidation leaching of base metals and sulfur, roasting and chlorination of precious metals). The Kell process provides the opportunity for existing and new PGM producers to significantly reduce their energy consumption, and in particular their consumption of electricity, by removing the need to smelt PGM concentrates. Energy costs, greenhouse gas emissions and installed power requirements are also much reduced. Compared with smelting and refining these reductions are calculated as: ? Total energy consumption-50% reduction ? Electrical energy consumption-84% reduction ? Energy consumption costs-76% reduction ? C02 emissions-70% reduction ? Installed power requirement 92% reduction. The data obtained from simple laboratory batch amenability testing can be readily applied to the Simulus mass and energy balance simulation procedure to determine energy and reagent consumptions, equipment selection and process optimization. The applicability of Kell to treating low-grade 'dirty' concentrates with high UG2 content as well as to polymetallic concentrates containing base metals as the major payable metals with subordinate PGM means that these savings can also be expected when the process is used for treating a range of concentrate types and grades. Keywords PGM,UG2, Merensky, smelting, chromite, electricity, hydrometallurgy, Kell Process, Eskom.

Jan 1, 2011

By Avis W. Effinger

In conjunction with pilot steamflood tests in the Venango sands of Warren and Venango Counties, Pa., the Marx and Langenheim (4)3 calculations were adapted and programed for digital computer solution to predict test performance. The Monte Carlo technique was incorporated in the calculations to provide values of several variables which could not be adequately defined from available information. The computation methods are explained and the FORTRAN IV program listing is presented. Data and results of the prediction calculations for Venango oil sands are also shown.

Jan 1, 1969

By Ricardo Gaviria, Vincinte Acosta

There are major blast design and field procedures differences between conventional blasting in horizontally bedded coal seams and blasting underneath coal seams in a multi seam deposit with seam inclinations of 14 degrees or more.

Jan 1, 1995

By D. J. Fourie

During the production of pure TiO2for the pigment industry, ilmenite, containing 35?60% TiO2, is reduced to high titania slag, containing 70?95% ?TiO2? and pig iron. The high titania slag produced, consists mainly of titanium in different oxidation states and FeO in equilibrium with liquid iron. To predict the phase and chemical reaction equilibria in a furnace, a suitable solution model is required with accurately determined binary interaction parameters, as slag melts tend to behave very non-ideally. This paper investigates two popular slag models, namely, modified quasi-Chemical (MQC) model and the cell model and provides the binary interaction parameters based on recently published data of the ternary system and critically assessed published unary and binary data. Very few modelling results have been published on the ternary Ti-Fe-O system pertaining to high titanium slags. The solution models, with their regressed interaction parameters, can subsequently be implemented in commercial software of the slag-metal phase equilibria to predict how much and which type of solids will precipitate for a given bulk slag chemistry and operating temperature or, alternatively, above which temperature should a furnace be operated to avoid excessive solids precipitation.

Jan 1, 2005

By B. W. Gandrud, A. C. Richardson

"INTRODUCTION The Bankhead mine of the Cane Creek Coal Mining Co. is in the central part of Walker County, Ala., 4 miles south of Jasper. The Mary Lee bed in this part of the State yields a practically free-burning coal which is marketed as a. steam-raising and domestic fuel. As mined, the coal ordinarily contains ash-forming impurities to an extent that makes it necessary to treat the coal by some washing process before it is marketed. At present the Bank-head coal coarser than 3-1/2 inch is hand-picked and the coal finer than 3-1/2 inch is washed in two single-compartment jigsThis paper contains the result of screen-sizing and float-and-sink tests on a representative sample of the run-of-mine coal and the results of tests made to show the amount of coal liberated from impurities by crushing the coarser sizes. .This report is one of a series on the washability of Alabama coals which is being prepared by the U. S. Bureau of Mines and the University of Alabama, with the cooperation of the coal producers of Alabama.SAMPLING AT THE MINE'The Mary Lee bed at Bankhead consists of two benches separated by a rock parting which varies in thickness from place to place in the mine. The top bench has a very uniform thick-nest; throughout the workings and yields about 65.0 per cent of the output. The bottom bench varies greatly in thickness and in nary places becomes too thin to work at a. profit. The sample for the washability study was taken underground at a place which was typical of the mine as a whole. In taking the sample the working face was squared up and a representative section out from each bench. Care was taken to secure a, quantity of coal from each bench proportional to the quantity contributed to the mine output. The rock parting as gobbed in accordance with the usual mining practice. The total sample taken weighed 3 tons."

May 1, 1933

By Jürgen F. Brune, Liming Yuan, Alex C. Smith

To provide insights and assistances for the optimization of ventilation systems for U. S. under-ground coal mines facing both methane control and spontaneous combustion issues, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study is being conducted to investigate the effect of the ventilation scheme on the prevention of spontaneous combustion in longwall gob areas. This report focuses on the flow patterns within the gob under three different ventilation systems; one-entry and two-entry bleederless systems as well as a three-entry bleeder system. The gas flow in the caved gob area is simulated as a laminar flow through porous media while the gas flow in ventilation airways is simulated as a fully developed turbulent flow. The air flow patterns are visualized using flow path lines. Air velocity contours and vector data are also obtained. The possible location of critical velocity zones where the gob is most liable to spontaneous heating is discussed.

By Ycaro Jorge Maia da Costa

O desenvolvimento de estruturas com dimensionamento confiável requer o monitoramento de seus materiais, entretanto alguns processos de fabricação muitas vezes induzem modificações em seu comportamento mecânico. Isso faz com que as estruturas sejam menos confiáveis podendo causar redução da vida útil. Um dos processos onde isso acontece é a soldagem. Seu aporte térmico, modifica a microestrutura do material de tal forma a gerar três regiões mecanicamente distintas na junta soldada: Metal de Solda (MS), Zona Afetada pelo Calor (ZAC) e Metal de Base (MB), fazendo com que haja concentração de tensão na região afetada. Este trabalho se deteve em analisar o comportamento mecânico de uma junta soldada de aço inoxidável AISI 304 em comparação com o mesmo material não-soldado através da identificação dos gradientes de deformação, utilizando da Correlação Digital de Imagens (CDI) aplicada ao ensaio de tração. Os resultados provaram a capacidade da técnica de CDI em identificar campos de deformação mesmo em materiais anisotrópicos, como uma junta soldada.

Aug 17, 2017

Jan 1, 1967

By A. Bamber

Canadian leadership in a global mining context will depend not only on entrepreneurship and best practice but also on technological innovation. This paper argues for more ambition and commitment to R&D for technological innovation in Canadian mining. It focuses on underground hardrock mining, where past R&D initiatives have simply not stood the test of time, and it is important to examine why. Concerns arise because industry’s commitment to R&D has not been sustained over time. Innovation through exploration, processing, and environmental technologies has been more significant. Meanwhile, R&D capacity and synergies in government institutions and universities have not been exploited. There is a need for more commitment, coordination, and collaboration by industry, governments, and universities. This paper examines some corporate models that have achieved sustainable innovation, along with some that have not. A strategy for innovation is discussed that relates to culture, commitment, coordination, and collaboration.

Jan 1, 2005

By M. Lonoff

G. Campbell The paper by M. Lonoff looks at the importance of byproduct prices on copper production. The paper develops several interesting points on this topic, but there are some points in the theoretical discussion that could use further development. A couple of these theoretical topics will be considered here using the paper's framework of assumptions without concern about how realistic the assumptions are for the copper industry. Lonoff's theoretical model is based on a static, homogenous world where all copper/byproduct deposits are identical, and these deposits are the main source of these metals. Due to the importance of the byproducts to the production decision, the term coproducts will be substituted for the term byproducts to reflect more accurately this condition. The conclusion is drawn that a rise in coproduct prices necessitates a decrease in copper prices because copper production is increased as a consequence of increased coproduct production. The observation that real world behavior does not always follow this pattern is dismissed as "speculation." However, it can be easily shown that within this simple framework market forces might create the observed behavior. The key question to be answered is what causes coproduct prices to rise. Three possible cases will be used as illustrations. The first case is the one implicity assumed by Lonoff. Here, the demand for coproducts increases at all prices (an outward parallel shift of the demand curve) with the demand for copper remaining constant. As reported in the paper, the results are higher coproduct prices, an increase in coproduct production, and lower copper prices due to the resulting increase in copper production. The second case is when the supply of coproducts are constrained-leading to higher market prices. Copper production, as required by the simple model, is also reduced which Reply by M. Lonoff Campbell's comments give me an opportunity to clarify a few points in "Copper and Its Byproducts." That paper examined the affect of byproducts on the copper market and considered the relative riskiness of multi-metal deposits from an investment standpoint. That brief note made no attempt to be exhaustive. Nevertheless, Campbell's comments miss the point of the paper and necessitate a response. My "theoretical model" was static and I freely conceded after introducing the assumption of identical deposits that "none of the assumptions hold." These simplifying assumptions allowed me to bound the possible effects of higher byproduct prices on the copper price by assuming identical deposits and computing average price effects. I took great pains to subsequently explain that since deposits are not identical the identity of the marginal deposit might change due to byproduct price changes. In this case, average price affects will overstate the affect of byproducts on copper prices. According to Campbell, I dismiss as speculation any "real world behavior that does not always follow this pattern" (of metals prices moving in opposite directions). In the byproducts paper I noted that gold, copper, and silver price movements often parallel each other on an intra-day or day-to-day basis. Such movements are largely due to market anticipation of or reaction to changes in interest rates that affect carrying costs of metals stocks. Other movements may be due to anticipated changes in available supply or physical requirements. I loosely grouped these effects as speculative. To distinguish this statement from the main thrust of the paper, I contined "In the long run if gold and silver prices remain high the equilibrium copper price will be lower." The paper set out long run equilibrium conditions rather than attempting to explain price movements on a daily basis or on a year-to-year basis.

Jan 11, 1983

The range of environments which control the level of ground support required vary greatly in terms of rock type, rock structure and the mining method used. At the operating mines visited during this review the level of ground support was such that incidence of rock-fall- related accidents were rare. It was also found that methods existed to support most of the conditions encountered. The main problem areas were weak rock, major geological structures, areas of heavy jointing, high development density and areas affected by high mining-induced stresses and blasting. With stope support the level of success was much lower than that achieved in development; the larger spans and more rapid changes in geometry of open stopes compared with cut and fill stoping (where cables were originally used) led to significant problems. Before a useable design method for cable support of stope walls and pillars can be obtained the precise failure mode of the walls and pillars, and the interaction of the support and the rock mass must be investigated.

Jan 1, 1982

A field method combining solvent extraction and paper partition chromatography permits a simple and rapid semiquantitative estimation of gold in siliceous, argillaceous and sulphide ores. The method will facilitate the eyaluation of prospect samples in which the gold is too fine for separation by panning.Ethyl alcohol-hydrobromic acid mixtures are suitable for chromatographic development of the gold complex, and give clear reproducible definition of the gold zone. Substitution of commercial "methylated spirits" for the ethyl alcohol gives equally good definition, improving the potential of the method for field use.A batch of six samples in the range of 0·5 to 5·0 dwt/ton can be completed in two hours. The range may be extended by simple modification to higher or lower values.INTRODUCTIONIn a chromatographic method described previously (Lever 1958, Nevill and Lever 1959), gold from a standard volume of ore clamped between -plate glass was extracted by aqua regia on to the paper. After cautious drying the chromatogram was developed by an ethyl acetate-nitric acid-water mixture and gold was identified by spraying with stannous chloride solution. Sensitivity of the method in the low range was poor. The brown line obtained in the 1-3 dw/j ton range, caused by movement of gold in the reduced form, was not considered to be a satisfactory confirmation of the presence of gold. It was felt that the method would be improved by using a more elegant extraction and applying developing conditions which would produce a well defined purple line at all gold values. Iron was a limiting factor, and a method of eliminating its interference was needed.The method now developed overcomes these shortcomings, and gives a reliable result with a purple line for assay values of 0·5 dwtjton and over. Gold is dissolved from an...

Jan 1, 1964

By A. Nieto

A vehicle proximity warning–collision avoidance system is being developed using GPS and wireless local area networks to improve safety of off-highway trucks in open pit mines. After two-and a-half years of research, software development, and laboratory testing, field tests were carried out at operating limestone quarries and open pit mining operations to evaluate GPS accuracy and overall system effectiveness under rugged operating conditions. This article describes the progress made on this NIOSH-funded project and discusses the GPS accuracy tests and overall system tests that were carried out during the year 2001 at the Colorado School of Mines Survey Field and at the Morenci open pit copper mine in Arizona. Keywords: GPS, Advanced Mining, Virtual Reality, Wireless Networks, Proximity Warning

Jan 1, 2003

By D. V. Keller

Black lung disease, or paeumocomosis, is a serious health hazard for workers working in a coal mine. Though the exact cause of black lung disease is not known, it is certain that prolonged inhalation of fine coal particles, ever present in the mines, does give rise to black lung disease. For a long time, it also has been known that limestone applied to coal dust mine surfaces tends to hold down coal dust thus preventing it from refloating in the air of the coal mines. Since the humidity in the mines may be generally high, this also might be an important factor in the particular substrate system behavior. Fine solid particles stick to other particles and surfaces very indiscriminately. The term adhesion is used for the phenomenon of attachment of particles to surfaces whereas cohesion is used for the phenomenon of attachment of particles to each other. The measurement of the force of adhesion of coal particles to coal substrates presents a great problem, especially in the case of particles in the size range of a few microns. These micron sized particles are at the limit of the resolution of the optical microscope and therefore an electron microscope has to be used for this purpose. The forces of adhesion between these particles and substrate may be very strong and can exceed the weight of the particle by four to five orders of magnitude.

Jan 1, 1973

Jan 1, 1961

By R. Gallinger

In 1997, a group of Canadian mining companies met to review the Mine Environment Neutral Drainage (MEND) program and to consider future activities. They concluded that (1) that Canadian industry and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) should fund a small secretariat in Ottawa to support technology transfer in Canada and, (2) that it was important for industry to continue the momentum of MEND on an international scale. The need for the International Network for Acid Prevention (INAP) was strongly endorsed by consultants, company, university, and government experts from Australia, Canada, and the United States who convened in Vancouver in February 1998. The initial focus was the development of a solid knowledge base covering the collective experience of INAP?s members to promote the dissemination of successful practices, the identification of knowledge gaps, and the formulation of effective research proposals. The sharing of information on past successes and failures alone was viewed as sufficient justification for the formation of INAP. INAP was officially launched in October 1998, and is now an effective, industry-based initiative to globally coordinate research and development in the management of sulphide mine waste. Significant improvements in the management of sulphidic mine materials through knowledge sharing, research, and development of technology by INAP will reduce liability associated with acid drainage. This paper will explore the international efforts and activities of INAP

May 1, 2005

By A. L. D. Skury

In the synthesis of diamond, the precursor graphite must present a degree of crystallinity to assure optimum yield and quality for the transformed crystals. X-ray diffraction, SEM and TEM analyses were carried out to investigate the structural and morphologic transformations produced in natural graphite by high pressure-high temperature treatment. The present study had as its objective to characterize the morphological and structural changes suffered by a natural graphite that was subjected to high pressure and high temperature treatments in the region of diamond thermodynamic stability. The results indicate that the material that constitutes the gasket, for the deformable capsule, could act as catalyst in the graphite recrystallization process.

Jan 1, 2006