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By M. Javier

Mining, waste is growing problem both physical accumulation and increasing toxic uncertainties it presents in the long run. Its value ?zero? is strictly calculated by economy. This mining model begs the question: What is the value of waste & what does it represent to the mining industry? Waste is widely accepted as a ?by product? generated as a consequences of the mining process. The abundant waste accumulation affects society, as receptor, in many ways and the waste piles of materials has no use and no destiny. In reality, this waste is monument of imperfection of the extractive industries worldwide. Our planet is finite and has strict limitations, which mining has traditionally ignored. It is time to design a new system, in which clearly, waste design must be integrated in whole mining process; it has no room to postpone. This paper presents a concept in waste design by which toxic mining waste not only can be rendered inert but also act as nutrient to help balance the ecosystems. This concept calls for extractive industries to pursue EQUILIBRIUM with nature (Geomimic). Also, this concept offers countless gains and opportunities fro the industry and by converting liabilities into assets; mining engineers become the managers and stewards of nature. Also, waste design offers new solutions for proper and sustainable waste management of the mining industry.

Jan 1, 2011

By C. Ottergren

A process does not have higher capacity than what can pass through its bottleneck. Acknowledging this, and with the goal to optimize production at a minimum investment, one can use existing equipment, modify the process flow and make a few strategic capital investments. Automatic setting regulation is a technology that allows balanced crusher performance matching minute changes in feed material characteristics. The system makes it possible to utilize the crushers fully at all times. It also continuously and completely compensates for manganese liner wear.

Jan 1, 1999

By P. J. Cook

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

Jan 1, 1999

By K. T. Lee, M. U. Ozbay, M. D. G. Salamon

Design of yielding chain pillars in deep coal longwall mines is not as well established due mainly to the lack of knowledge in the behavior of coal pillars in the post-peak regime. This study shows that two of the existing strain-softening models have the potential to provide an improved understanding of yielding and, therefore, could form a rational basis for yielding coal pillar design. Analytic and numerical modelings of a row of chain pillars in a two-entry development at a depth of nearly 700 m suggests that yielding pillars are feasible, but the design is very sensitive to the coal’s post-peak behavior.

Jan 1, 2001

By R. Oler

The need for yieldable ground support, particularly in high stress or deep mining conditions, has grown in recent years. This paper highlights some of the current industry limitations and provides selection criteria for a new yielding ground support system, DSI?s Dynatork Bolt. This bolt distinguishes itself by withstanding 16 ? 30 kJ of energy deflecting loads anywhere from 7 ? 20 tons (depending on the energy). A summary of the laboratory test results and case studies will also be presented as a measure of the performance of this dynamic product.

Jan 1, 2012

By A. B. Cecala

Over the past decade, a substantial effort has been made to improve the air quality inside enclosed cabs of both underground and surface mobile mining equipment to reduce respirable dust exposures to the equipment operators. As part of this effort, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, (NIOSH) completed a comprehensive laboratory study which determined the significant factors for cab filtration and pressurization systems. From this information, a major underground mining equipment manufacturer designed a filtration and pressurization system which was incorporated into the enclosed cabs of its equipment. A long-term evaluation was performed on the effectiveness of this filtration and pressurization system to improve the air quality in the enclosed cabs of two different pieces of equipment, being a face drill and a roof-bolter machine, at an underground limestone mine. This long-term evaluation demonstrated a significant reduction in dust levels comparing outside to inside cab respirable dust concentrations. During this evaluation, a modification to remove one of the filters on the roof-bolter machine simplified the design without sacrificing the system?s efficiency. Testing using particle count instruments performed during non-production time periods on both pieces of equipment indicated Protection Factors greater than 100 when comparing respirable-sized dust particles inside the enclosed cab relative to outside.

Jan 1, 2012

By S. Addie

In the early 1990’s the British Columbia (Canada) mineral industry frequently discussed the need to participate in, and compromise with, public environmental interests in order to ascertain long-term stability. However, as the decade progressed the mineral industry withdrew from almost all meaningful public participation. As government protected areas policy in the past year has illuminated, there is a continued need for long-term land access stability. This paper historically analyses the public engagement policies of the British Columbian mineral industry while it participated in long-term consensus-based multi-stakeholder land-use planning processes. From this analysis the paper recommends that the mineral industry reengage the public and institute a new working relationship with environmental advocacy groups so as to ensure British Columbia becomes the most sustainable mineral producing jurisdiction in the world.

Jan 1, 2011

By H. Mitri

A new monitoring device called SAFEBOLT (Stress And Force Evaluator in BOLTs) has been recently developed at McGill University. The device is essentially an alternative to the load cell, it permits the monitoring of bolt axial load in the field. The SAFEBOLT system consists of a portable readout unit, a connecting cable and the SAFEBOLT device, which is installed in the bolt head. The new device can be installed on any industry standard rockbolt or rebar. The device is completely encapsulated in the bolt head, which makes it resistant to corrosion, rugged, and free of any electric wires. Pilot tests at two underground Quebec mines were carried out and helped improve the initial design of the device head.

Jan 1, 2002

By M. Grun, A. C. Marlowe, I. Littleford

SYNOPSIS A Wirth tunnel borer owned by Anglo American Corporation completed a 1150m long tunnel some years ago and was subsequently extensively modified by Technical Development Services. In 1982 this borer provided new and particularly interesting information In the field of hard rock boring. The abrasive quartzltes traversed proved to be a challenge to the cutter manufacturer and the project team. This paper examines the problems faced, the solutions found and the lessons learnt.

Jan 1, 1983

Steven F. Leer, president and chief executive officer of Arch Coal Inc. will be the master of ceremonies for the 12th Annual National Mining Hall of Fame Induction Banquet. The black-tie (optional) affair will be held at the Adam’s Mark Hotel on Sunday, Oct. 10 in St. Louis, MO. Six legendary leaders will be inducted at the ceremony. They will join 145 mining greats previously honored in the annual ceremonies. R. Joe Wagner, vice president for exploration and chief geologist of The Doe Run Co., St. Louis, will be the evening’s keynote speaker. His father, Richard Edwin Wagner (1898-1979), was inducted into the National Mining Hall of Fame in 1998 at the banquet in Phoenix, AZ.

Jan 1, 1999

By I. G. Gonçalves

For most industrial minerals, the color is directly associated with economic value. In terms of physics, the principal property that defines the term ?color? is the intensity of light reflected (or transmitted) by an object over the visible band, comprehended between 400 and 700 nm. This reflectance spectrum serves as the starting point for a variety of color-describing factors, the most common in the mineral industry being the brightness (TAPPI, 1977 and 1986) and the L*a*b* system (HunterLab, 2008). Quality specifications for mineral products are usually based on these colorimetric parameters. This market is becoming increasingly more selective and demanding over the quality of raw materials and alongside the traditionally controlled characteristics, such as particle size distribution and chemical composition, a trend exists towards the establishment of increasingly more strict specifications for the optical properties of these materials. This is due to the fact that most plants consuming these industrial minerals incorporate them into products in which the visual appearance is controlled. For these plants, most of them being the manufacturers of plastics, paper, paints, and ceramics, variations in the color of mineral materials result in difficulties to achieve the right color in the final product. Therefore, these plants set strict specifications for colorimetric parameters such as whiteness and yellowness, as well as colorimetric coordinates like L*, a*, and b*. For the manufacturer of industrial minerals, this translates into difficulties simply because many of these parameters are usually alien to the tradition of the mining industry. The main quality parameter in the kaolin industry is brightness, which is a weighted average of reflectance values over the range of 400-510 nm (TAPPI, 1977). Due to the lack of a better property, producers tend to use brightness to also assess the quality of the in situ ore and along the processing operations. However, the unprocessed kaolin is often accompanied by ?contaminant? minerals. For Brazilian kaolins, which are the object of this study, the most important contaminants are hematite (Fe2O3), goethite (FeOOH), and anatase (TiO2). Each of these contaminant minerals has a distinct color and behaves differently during the processing of the kaolin ore. Hematite and goethite in particular are particularly strong pigmenting agents and at concentrations as low as 100 ppm they can make the difference between a high-quality white pigment product for paper coating and waste material. As each Fe-bearing contaminant has a different color and responds differently to processing operations (for example, magnetic separation, chemical bleaching, selective flocculation, and/or flotation in the case of kaolin), the in situ brightness tends to show a poor correlation with the brightness of the final product. Brightness measurements are sometimes complemented with X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis of Fe and Ti, but the total oxide content provided by XRF is also poorly correlated with product quality because Fe may be in the form of goethite, hematite, or inside the crystalline structure of kaolinite. Thus, a more robust technique capable of distinguishing each mineral phase is desirable. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy has been used to analyze iron oxide/hydroxide content both qualitatively (Torrent and Barrón, 2003; Liu et al., 2011) and quantitatively (Jiet al., 2002 and 2006). These authors correlate slopes and inflection points at characteristic absorption bands with oxide/hydroxide content in natural soils. The approach presented here involves the extensive use of the Kubelka-Munk (K-M) theory, which has been used for color matching (Schabbachet al., 2009 and 2011) and particle size determination (Otsuka, 2004) in a simplified version. Unfortunately, the scattering constant S is very difficult to measure for dry powders, because the equations require a thin layer of material. Attempts have been made (Gonçalves and Petter, 2007, and Gonçalves, 2009) but the experimental errors tend to be high. Thus, this paper aims to develop a tool for the quantification of contaminant minerals in kaolin based on the K-M theory without resorting to measurements over thin layers. This tool is based on a new two-constant approach, which takes into account differences in scattering between materials over the whole measured spectrum. The experimental dataset consists of the reflectance spectra of mixtures between a bleached kaolin and synthetic Fe pigments.

Feb 27, 2013

By L. Tercero Espinoza, F. Marscheider-Weidemann, C. Gandenberger

"A reliable supply of non-energy raw materials is a precondition for the functioning of the European economy. In line with its importance, the issue of raw materials supply has become more prominent in the past years, especially owing to turbulent raw material markets. However, these turbulences are not due to depletion of the geological resources but to a missmatch of (expected) supply and (expected) demand, with several interacting factors influencing the markets both from the supply as well as from the demand side. A recent evaluation, published in June 2010 within the framework of the EU Raw Materials Initiative, sought to bring together these two sides of raw material markets and asked the question "which raw materials are critical for the EU?" Herein we present the methodology used by the Ad-hoc Working Group on Defining Critical Raw Materials and the results obtained, complemented by results from the study "Raw Materials for Emerging Technologies"."

Jan 1, 2011

By Syd S. Peng

Coal mine ground control is the science of the application of rock mechanics principles to coal mining operations. More acceptance of ground control techniques by the US coal mining industry has been seen in the 1980s. It has been demonstrated many times that a proper ground control design is key to a successful coal mining operation. However, numerous in-mine applications of various ground control techniques by the author indicate that cur¬rent techniques need improvement. The biggest problem in coal mine ground control is that miners are dealing with materials of rapidly varying properties and occurrence. And only the exposed surface can be identified positively. Thus, in attempting to solve the ground control problems, many unknown factors are assumed. Some of these problems deriving from such assumptions are discussed here. Coal pillars There are two types of coal pillars - barrier and chain pillars - depending on the purpose. Barrier pillars are those located between panels or sections or mines. Their objective is to isolate the mined-out effects of one from the other. Chain pillars are characteristic of room-and-pillar mining. They are designed to support the overburden load and protect the surrounding entries and crosscuts. Pillar design is the most popular and, frequently, the only ground control technique employed by coal operators for mine design. There are many pillar design formulae available (Bieniawski, 1983; Peng, 1986). Nearly all consider both size and width/height effects. Specifically, pillar strength decreases with increases in pillar size and increases with increase in the ratio of width to height. However, the manner of those changes varies with investigators. Consequently, the pillar size determined varies considerably from investigator to investigator. And the variation grows much more pronounced as the seam depth increases (Fig. 1). The question, then, is which one should be used? One may say each formula is developed for a particular coalfield. A particular formula may have been used to design a pillar, which has not failed. Does that mean it was over designed? Not necessarily, because no one can confirm its stated "safety factor." Recent case studies (Peng, 1986; Tang and Peng, 1988) show that all pillar formulae are too conservative for chain pillar design in room-and-pillar mines due to the following two problems: • Uncertainty about in situ pillar strength. All formulae employ uniaxial compressive strength of selected samples tested in the laboratory and scaled to that for underground pillars. The scaling factors are not well proven. In situ testings by Bieniawski (1969) suggested that 1.5 m (5 ft) pillars are representative of in situ pillars that, after being tested in various US coal mines, are not universally applicable. • Uncertainty about the actual loading on the pillar. The most frequently used tributary loading theory defines the loading as total overburden weight tributary to each pillar (from roofline to surface). This is too conservative when it applies to coal measure rocks. The overburden consists of layered strata of different stiffness. Many stiffer strata will self-support over small roof spans. Depending on the location of these strata above the coal seam, it will reduce pillar loading in various proportions. It follows that total structural analysis using, for instance, finite element method is more appropriate. It can take into account the interaction of roof and floor strata with coal. This has been demonstrated by Peng et al. (1986,1988) on several case studies. However, the validity of the finite element structural analysis depends on the accuracy of in

Jan 1, 1989

By S. M. Carpenter

In response to the FY2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 2764; Public Law 110?161), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) issued the final Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule (MRR). The rule, signed by the USEPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson, on September 22, 2009, requires reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from large sources and suppliers in the United States, and is intended to collect accurate and timely emissions data to inform future policy decisions. The MRR will go into effect on January 1, 2010, and a report of the total emissions for calendar year 2010 will be due to the USEPA by March 31, 2011. Under the final MRR, suppliers of fossil fuels or industrial greenhouse gases, manufacturers of vehicles and engines, and certain facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more per year of GHG emissions are required to submit annual reports to the USEPA. The gases covered by the rule are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons (PFC), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and other fluorinated gases as outlined in Table A-1 of Subpart A of the MRR, which is also provided in Appendix A of this report.

Jan 1, 2011

By Marvin V. Damm, Lloyd C. Venburg, Dan Sokol

Analytical and computer models are used to evaluate information obtained from existing data and investigation programs so mine water control systems can be designed and developed. These models allow the geohydrologist to predict the amount of groundwater inflow and the impact of dewatering and stream diversion on the hydrologic regime, and to determine the schedule and equipment needed for mine dewatering. This article describes uses of the model and the essential components necessary to construct an effective and practical one. Hydrologic models are constructed to determine the extent that mining activities will affect the ground water and surface water hydrologic regime. These models range from basic analytical, mathematical models to the more sophisticated finite difference and finite element groundwater models. Many factors determine the degree of sophistication, including the mining stage, the complexity of the hydrologic regime, the mining process, and regulatory requirements. Model Uses The geohydrologist and engineer construct models so the entire ground and surface water handling and supply system can be integrated and optimized. These models can provide the following data: • Information for water balance studies-the entire hydrologic regime for the area, including precipitation, transpiration, evaporation, infiltration, runoff, and the effect of geologic features. • Data on seepage rates during mining. • Information to design the depressurization and dewatering system, including water well spacing, location of sumping systems, need for grout curtains, and possible horizontal drain and underdrain locations. • Data needed to schedule dewatering and mining operations. • Prediction of initial and long-term impacts of mining and dewatering, including local and areal drawdowns, effects on existing wells, and modifications to the surface-subsurface hydrologic regime. Potentiometric surface maps and hydrographs can be prepared from these data. • Prediction of the effect of discharge from the water control system on the surface hydrology and data input to design systems for water discharge, storage, recharge, or reinjection. The results of a computer study that illustrates the effect of dewatering and reinjection into an aquifer to confine the cone of depression are shown on the accompanying figure. • Information to forecast potentiometric surface recovery after mining ceases. The accompanying figure shows the pumping and reinjection rates in a program that is adequate to dewater a mine and permit the recovery of potentiometric levels to approximate premining levels after mining ceases. • Documentation and design information for monitoring systems to be installed during all mining phases. • Water quality predictions and geochemical changes, including the possibility of brackish or saline water intrusion because of extensive dewatering or depressurization operations. • Documentation and data for acquiring permits from regulatory agencies. Model Input Program For any model to be effective, detailed hydrologic and geologic data must be gathered from a review of existing information and from an investigative program. These data should cover entire model limits. Data updating, revising, and refining should occur as new information is received from the investigation and monitoring programs, and from the mining operation as it progresses through the pre-mining, mining, post-mining, and reclamation

Jan 8, 1982

By K. S. Gritton

The implementation of advance control systems brings with it the expectation of improvements in process performance and controllability. Specifically, expectations include a shift in the mean value of the gross measure of process performance, and/or a decrease in process variability. When determining statistically-defensible measures of these benefits care must be taken to preclude process parameters from biasing the determination. Specifically, the effects of ore type, shift personnel, water availability, etc., must all be separated from the effect on performance of the advanced control system. Methods are presented for separating the effects of process control from other process parameters. Examples of the required data analyses are also presented.

Jan 1, 2001

By Aldino Campos, Frederico Carvalho Dias, Pedro Madureira, Patrícia Conceição, José Gomes-Pereira, Inês Tojeira, Andreia Afonso, António Calado, Luísa Pinto Ribeiro

Since 2008, the Portuguese Task Group for the Extension of the Continental Shelf has been operating the ROV "Luso" (rated for 6000m depth) for geological sampling of the deep North Atlantic seabed, performing surveys on, e.g., seamounts and hydrothermal vent fields. Amongst other sensors, the ROV is equipped with a full HD video camera with which still images of the deep ocean floor are recorded. Fixed on the ROV’s frame are two underwater "line" lasers, each generating a sharp green line (532nm) over the seabed. The two lasers are paralleled and calibrated at a set distance. Provided that the camera’s angle of view is known, numerical values for seabed surface area may be calculated using direct measurements taken from the pictures containing the laser lines. We present the corresponding main mathematical formulas, which are derived from simple geometrical considerations, and discuss how to generalize these results for an arbitrary camera tilt or pan. We present an example of application of our method by estimating values for percent coverage of rock substrate versus sediment. Our results are also relevant for determining seabed polymetallic nodule abundances from still images obtained during ROV surveys.

Sep 1, 2014

By H. Sevim, M. K. Mohanty, Y. P. Chugh

The economics of “Conventional” and “Advanced Fine Coal Cleaning” (AFCC) circuits for refuse pond reclamation as well as active mine/preparation plant applications have been evaluated. The benefits of innovative tailings management schemes on the profitability of mining enterprises have also been evaluated as a part of this study. Analyses have been conducted for scenarios involving generation of two different product qualities of 5.81%, a quality that was obtained during AFCC circuit operation at SIU, and a more typical 8% product ash. The inability of the conventional circuits to achieve profitability while producing the lower ash content product is revealed from this approach. The spiral-only circuit is unable to produce a 5.81% ash product. A different version of the same circuit involving spirals and column flotation produced the desired product quality but could not maintain profitability. The AFCC circuits on the other hand, achieve net present values greater than $6 million, with return on investment in excess of 50%, in the water-only as well as dense medium mode, with and without tailings management. Addition of tailings management system to any of the circuits is found to enhance the project economics. The comparison of water-only and dense-medium applications of the AFCC circuits indicate a better suitability of the dense-medium circuit for producing premium quality products. Application of AFCC circuits in active mines offer better economics compared to applications in refuse pond recovery operations. The superior project economics are a result of reduced overhead cost and use of existing material handling facilities. Sensitivity analysis reveals the significance of capacity utilization on project economics.

Jan 1, 2002

By Y. P. Chugh, J. Ma

Higher production, better safety standard, and potential for automation are some of the benefits of longwall mining. Today, longwall face advances at a faster rate exposing many diversified rock layers in a short period of time. It is now a serious challenge to cope with ground control problems such as roof falls, face and floor failure, and excessive shield loading as fast as possible to minimize production and monetary losses. In Illinois coal mines, the existence of weak floor strata blow the coal seam may pose additional problems related to floor heaving, shield base punching, and associated roof and face falls. In this study, the effects of weak floor on longwall ground control are analyzed using two-dimensional finite element models. A two-leg 635.6-ton (700-short-ton) yielding capacity shield is included in the models to evaluate the effects of different thickness and material properties of the weak floor. The study indicates that the thickness and material properties of weak floor have significant effects on shield loading, the distribution and intensity of front abutment stress, failure zones in the surrounding strata, roof-to-floor convergence, and floor punching by the shield base.

Jan 1, 2000

By Simon D. Strauss

This article is part of a presentation Strauss made Dec. 3, 1988 at the sixth annual American Mining Hall of Fame (AMHofF) banquet in Tucson, AZ. At the banquet, the Mining Club of the Southwest honored Strauss by naming him the 1988 recipient to the AMHofF. (Industry newswatch, page 6). Introduction In the last two decades, there have been two previous periods of sharply rising copper prices. One was in 1973-74; the other in 1979-80. In both cases, a short period of high copper prices was followed by steep and prolonged periods of low prices. In the language of the market analyst, the high prices were called spikes. Is it likely, then, that three or four years from now the present price of copper will show up as a spike in the charts? There are substantial differences between the current position and the markets of 1973-74 and 1979-80. In 1973-74, US copper prices were subject to government-imposed price ceilings of $0.60 per lb through early December, 1973. These were increased to $0.68 per lb through May, 1974. Meanwhile, mines outside the United States were free of restraint. Rising demand in London pushed the price above $1 per lb in the third quarter of 1973. In early April 1974, it reached a peak of $1.50 a lb. In May of that year, the US ceilings were removed and the domestic price began to rise. What were the causes of this price strength? While ceilings held the domestic price below the world market, domestic consumers acquired all the tonnage offered by US mines. Meanwhile, in the world market, buyers feared prolonged shortages. The Club of Rome had warned that world economic growth would be limited by impending depletion of mineral resources. There was al so concern about a copper cartel that might increase copper prices even more. In early 1974, at a special United Nations session, developing-country spokesmen warned the industrialized world to expect high commodity prices. Also adding to the concerns of copper buyers was the fear that when US wage contracts expired in mid-1974, protracted strikes might ensue. The combined effect of this atmosphere was that consumers accumulated large amounts of copper, far above their normal carry. By midsummer, the position changed radically. While some strikes did occur in the United States, they proved short-lived. The most significant development was a massive economic recession. The energy crisis was causing enormous dislocations in the world economy. Construction activities were sharply reduced and automobile sales plummeted. Public confidence was shaken. Copper sales fell precipitately as consumers decided to draw down their swollen inventories. The price came down too. In April 1974, the London price- as noted-was $1.50 per lb. By the end of the year, it was down to $0.57 per lb. In 1973-74, the copper price rise was fed by fears of shortages, cartels, and strikes. In 1979-80, the market rose on the strength of good demand plus political and military instability. The price rise was also fed by inflationary trends, exemplified by speculation in precious metals. Prior to this second spike in copper prices, the market had been depressed despite economic recovery. Despite reduced US output, copper production in the rest of the world was increasing. Though consumption was rising, surplus stocks reached unprecedented levels. At the end of 1977, the aggregate of stocks at the refineries and in the exchange warehouses was 1.5 Mt (1.67 million st). That was more than three months' shipments at then rates of consumption. In 1978, the statistical position improved. Shipments of refined copper that year were 8% greater than in 1977. The result was reduced visible stocks but -just as was to be the case in 1984-86 - the price remained depressed. In 1979, an even sharper drop in visible stocks occurred as shipments rose by another 4%. This time, though, the price responded. In December 1978, the price in current dollars had been less than $0.70 per lb. By the end of 1979, it was above $1 per lb. And in the first quarter of 1980, it averaged more than $1.20 per lb. Military and political developments were a factor. The hostage crisis in Iran was followed by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. To many, it appeared that war might result if the Soviets pushed on into Pakistan. At the same time, speculation drove gold and silver prices to incredible levels. As silver prices rose above $40 per oz), copper above $1 per lb did not seem unreasonable. Then, in March 1980, the precious metals price boom collapsed. Copper prices also retreated, though not as much. In February 1980, the copperprice averaged $1.32 per lb. By December, it had dropped to $0.85 per lb. In 1981 and 1982, the decline continued. The present copper situation Why is the current situation different from these two previous episodes of high prices? First of all, today's inventories are far lower than they were in either 1974 or 1980, when the price declines began. The stocks at refineries and in exchange warehouses are substantially less than they were then. More significantly, consumers today have very limited holdings compared with stocks they carried in 1974 and 1980. Even if faced with a downturn in their own business, copper consumers will not be able to stay out of the market. To the extent they have any business at all, they will have to buy copper. And on the supply side, there is also a significant difference. The year 1988 has been unusual. US production is up sharply, responding to higher prices. But production is little changed in the rest of the Free World. Indeed, several of the major producing countries have mined less copper this year than in 1987 despite the prices increases. Peru has had labor problems that have cut its output. Zambia and Zaire suffer from shortages of expatriate technicians, not to mention spare parts. They also suffer from the failure to maintain equipment or perform adequate development. In Chile, the two largest mines, Chuquicamata and El Teniente, have not met their production targets. Chuquicamata is struggling with high arsenic content in its ore. And, in late 1987, severe rockbursts hampered operations at El Teniente. In addition, depletion of some mines in Australia and South Africa has offset rising output at other properties. Indeed, when final mine output figures for 1988 become available, it may well be

Jan 1, 1989