Search Documents

By Åke Krukka, Heribert F. Broicher

"The iron ores of the Kiruna Mine in Sweden are of exceptional quality but for the phosphorus content in certain zones of the orebody. The prevention of mixing ores high in phosphorus with those low in phosphorus has always been of significant economic importance. The ongoing introduction of tele-mining and automatic haulage by LHDs requires new means in the field of quality control underground, as the experienced miner as well as the underground laboratory assistant no longer are involved in the process. As of 1998 LKAB has been testing prototypes of LIF Analysers for non-contact and real-time measurement of the phosphorus content of ore being transported by LHDs from the stopes to the respective ore pass assigned to a certain ore quality. The principles of the analysis of laser-induced fluorescence, the different test phases and results are described and conclusions made. With bulk sorting of ore underground the mining engineer supports the efforts of the metallurgist in the processing plant.INTRODUCTIONThe Kiruna Mine of LKAB, Sweden is the largest underground iron ore mine in the world. In the early nineties LKAB decided to develop the Kiruna orebody further down from the 775m main level to a new main level at 1045m. This development programme was realised while in the mineral processing section and in the pellet plant further capacity was added (Wyllie 1996).In addition to deepening of the mine, which opened up 330 million tonnes of ore, the exploitation of the so-called lake ore was included in the future planning, adding another 1 15 million tonnes of mineable ore. At an annual production of approximately 20 million tonnes of ore the Kiruna Mine today looks at a developed ore reserve sufficient for the next 20 years.All of the competitors’ ores traded in the world market are from open pit operations. LKAB compensates for the obvious disadvantages by continuous efforts to make the best possible use of her high quality magnetite ore deposit. This objective is realised by combined efforts in the pellet plant, the mineral processing plant and the mine. Propriety processes, latest big scale equipment and high tech solutions for automation lead to high quality sales products at a reasonable cost."

Jan 1, 2002

Development on the North Kalgurli mine has established a major penetration of ore into calc schist. This is controlled by a system of east-dipping strike faults. Previously, most calc schist ore bodies were regarded as being confined to the quartz dolerite greenstonecak schist contact environment.INTRODUCTIONOne of the most interesting and economically important developments which has taken place in the Kalgoorlie Field over the past 20 years is the proved penetration of ore into calc schist on the North Kalgurli Mine. This is quite extensive, both laterally and in depth, and has occasioned some modification of geological thought in the search for additional ore sources.Ore has been mined in calc schist almost since the first major gold discoveries were made and the principal features of the various types of deposit are well covered in the literature of the field. However, occurrences in calc schist have not been characterised by the same degree of continuity or frequency as the innumerable lode formations in the more favourable quartz dolerite, and there has been a tendency to regard them as isolated and discontinuous ore bearing structures, occurring only under very special conditions.It is not intended to describe the whole range of calc schist ore occurrences but only major controlling structures, whose penetration therein has been definitely established and in which an appreciable amount of ore has been and is still being found. It is considered that similar structures may present a major objective for future exploratory work in other parts of the field.

Jan 1, 1964

By Walker G. S

A study of the crystalline materials on or near the surface of freshly made or "green" superphosphate granules and mature, "set" superphosphate granules was undertaken using X-ray diffraction, X-ray mapping, scanning electron microscopy and electron probe micro analysis techniques. Calcium sulphate (CaSO4), calcium sulphate hemihydrate (CaSO4 1/2H20), and mono calcium phosphate monohydrate (Ca(H2PO4)2H2O), were the only crystalline species present in the "green" superphosphate.In the set superphosphate however, additional compounds were present, namely complex iron and aluminium phosphates Ca(Fe,AI) H(HPO4hF2)2H2O, (Fe)3(H3O)H8 (PO4)6H2O and calcium sulphate dihydrate (CaSO4.2H2O).The complex phosphates tied up the major part of the Fe and Al in the system and were concentrated on or near the surface of the granule. An intimate mixture of CaSO4.2H2O, and CaSO4, along with the above mentioned complex Fe-AI compounds, crystallize close to the surface of the granule and cause the setting of superphosphate that takes place during storage.

Jan 1, 1980

By Roy Woodall

Successful mineral exploration is the lifeblood of the mining industry. Contrary to what the environmental lobby would have the world believe, the industry is replacing the metals it is extracting. The reserve base has not changed significantly in 20 years (Fig. 1.) Mineral exploration is a research activity. First there is the idea, the vision or the intuitive thought. The experiments follow. These involve repeated phases of data gathering, data interpretation and concept testing through drilling. For many companies, exploration is the main investment in scientific research. Each mineral exploration experiment may involve years of costly work. Despite the improving tools of science and technology, the investment remains high-risk. Only the promise of high rewards, or desire to survive as a mining company, will stimulate the necessary commitment and level of investment. Confidence that an economic return can be achieved, confidence in the science and technology being applied and confidence in the people involved are the foundations upon which successful mineral exploration is built (Woodall, 1984). The challenges facing the explorationist in the 1990s fall into two categories: - the challenge to make the activity economic; and - the challenge to make the activity socially and, therefore, politically acceptable.

Jan 1, 1992

Study of Bauxite Separation by Using Flotation Column

Sep 13, 2010

By Antonio Raschillà

On the 2nd of June 2007 SELI S.p.A. started the excavation of Beles Tailrace Tunnel (Ethiopia). The new 8,07 m diameter DS Universal TBM utilized for the tunnel excavation was manufactured by SELI S.p.A. and allowed the installation of 30 cm thick concrete lining, contemporaneously with the excavation of 7,200 m of tunnel. The greatest part of the tunnel alignment was excavated in hard and sound basal-tic rocks. The paper describes the main steps of the tunnelling operations which led to a remarkably rapid excavation, with a peak production of 36 m / day and a final break-through achieved 46 days ahead of the contractual deadline. Furthermore the paper describes the work and logistic organization that was set up to efficiently perform the mechanized excavation in the very remote area of the project.

The Northparkes E26 Mine is AustraliaÆs first block cave mine. This paper presents an outline of the design and construction philosophies that drove the project development and details the excavation, ground support and construction methods used. Features of the block caving method at Northparkes include:high production rates from multiple drawpoints;hard blocky ore fractured along gypsum veins; andloading/unloading of openings due to mining induced stresses.The drawpoints are subjected to high abrasion from the flow of ore, as well as impact from both secondary blasting and from the production LHDs. In order to withstand these harsh conditions and to ensure a low maintenance environment, a conservative approach to ground support was taken. The experiences gained during construction are discussed and whether the design expectations have been achieved. By installing a high level of ground support during excavation of the openings subject to mining stresses, a low maintenance environment has been constructed. Operating costs are therefore minimised and Northparkes E26 Mine continues to produce at the lowest cost per tonne of all Australian underground mines.

Jan 1, 1999

By Robert B. Bittner

Large diameter piles (2 to 3 m diameter, both driven and drilled) are being used more frequently by designers of bridge foundations. The use of these large piles allows the pile cap to be positioned off the bottom but usually still below water. Conventional cofferdams as shown in Figure 1 below are not suited to this type of pile cap. However, float-in cofferdams offer a viable alternative. This paper describes the float-in cofferdam system, its initial development for use on the Bath-Woolwich Bridge in Maine and its most recent application on the new Carquinez Bridge in California.

Jan 1, 2013

By William A. Beck

This report describes the loading and transportation practices employed at the zinc-lead mines of The Eagle-Picher Co., Jo Daviess County, Ill., and Lafayette County, Wis. The report also gives a brief history of the Illinois-Wisconsin zinc-lead district and the operations of the company in the area. The diesel-powered, rubber-tired loading and haulage equipment is described and illustrated from the operational point of view only, and an analysis is made of the materials-handling system without going into health and safety factors. The costs per ton of the various components of mechanical loading, underground haulage, underground crushing, and hoisting for fiscal year 1960 are tabulated.

Jan 1, 1964

By Shane Baker

Cementation Foundations Skanska Ltd encountered many significant challenges in designing and constructing the foundations for the LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) tanks and associated structures at the Isle of Grain, Kent, UK. With LNG cargo ship levels fixed by the adjacent English Channel, the platform could not exceed critical thickness in order to achieve final grade level, so a safe and efficient working platform for construction equipment on extremely poor alluvial soils was designed and installed. The detailed pile design also required particular analysis of the pile group behaviour and considered seismic load cases not usually associated with UK pile design. Continuous flight auger (CFA) piles were the chosen foundation solution and design was verified through preliminary and working pile tests both axially and horizontally. Contaminated land and existing foundations from a previous oil terminal meant that removal of spoil was extremely costly so specific measures were taken to minimise the off-site disposal. The management of a package of general Civil Engineering in addition to the piling scope, coupled with an unrelenting production program has forced a raising of the bar for this foundation technique.

Jan 1, 2006

By A. J. MOORE

When the writer first saw the square-set timbering, he was at once impressed with the fact that the frames made by the sets, along the lode and across it, were composed of panels with rectangular openings, and it was puzzling to understand howsuch a collapsible construction could resist pressure that came unevenly on it. Later he learnt that the sets did not satisfactorily resist such pressure, but mullock filling had, to a great extent, to undertake this duty for them. So it appeared that the setswere practically an expensive scaffolding, enabling the miners to work in the face and carry the stope forward, till the filling was put in behind them to take the pressure of the roof and sides of the excavation. Of course some of the pressure is takenby the sets, but this is because "the set timbers prevent the filling being done perfectly; if it were practicable to remove the sets before filling, the filling by itself would more effectively support the back and wall, than do the combined sets andmullock. On the whole, therefore, the sets can hardly be said to be of much benefit where pressure has to be resisted. Despite this, the system has been of immense service in mining wide lodes, but for all that, it can only be pronounced a makeshift.This is no reflection on Deidesheimer, the famous originator of the square set, for, as will be shown later on, this way of...

Jan 1, 1912

Antimony ore samples (mean assay 18·7 per cent antimony) from Endeavour Inlet, Marlborough Sounds New Zealand, were tested for upgrading by flotation to a saleable product (60 per cent antimony).The effects of activating agents, collectors, frothers, pH, conditioning time, and particle size on the recovery and grade of a stibnite flotation concentrate were determined using HaIlimond tube and laboratory flotationcell test apparatus. Optimum flotation conditions for the ore were thereby established. A stibnite concentrate grading 63 per cent antimony and an overall recovery of 90 per cent is obtainable in a two-stage process.

Jan 1, 1977

By William D. Hissem

While much technology has been developed and brought to bear in the area of blasting applications, the foundation work required for success in the muck pile begins with the drilling program.

Jan 1, 1997

By C Li, D O’Dea, R Moreno-Atanasio, T Honeyands

The behaviour of iron ore granules in the feeding process of sintering is significantly influenced by the material properties of the granulated mix. Therefore, the measurement of key material properties of the iron ore granulated mix is indispensable prior to the simulation of the sintering process based on the discrete element method (DEM). In this paper, three key property parameters of the iron ore granulated mix, apparent density, elastic modulus and rolling friction coefficient, were measured in laboratory-scale experiments. For different sintering processes, the moisture content of the granulated mix normally varies according to the specific requirements for granule size distribution and operating conditions. Therefore, understanding the effect of moisture content on the property parameters of iron ore granules is very helpful in accurately determining the property parameters for DEM simulation work. In this paper, six groups of iron ore granule samples with six levels of moisture contents were prepared through granulation and the trends in apparent density, elastic modulus and rolling friction coefficient with the increase of moisture content were plotted and analysed based on the measurement results. The results show that as moisture increases from 6.9 per cent to 9.1 per cent, the apparent density decreases from about 3000 to 2800 kg/m3. With moisture increasing within the same range, the elastic modulus first decreases from over 200 MPa to below 100 MPa and then reaches a relative constant value of about 40 MPa at higher moisture contents. Rolling friction coefficients are measured using two methods with both indicating a similar trend, with the rolling friction coefficient first decreasing and then rising as moisture increases from 6.9 per cent to 9.1 per cent. The relationship between µr and µ’r is assumed to be similar to that between static and dynamic friction coefficients.CITATION:Li, C, Moreno-Atanasio, R, O’Dea, D and Honeyands, T, 2017. Variation in property parameters of iron ore granulated mix with moisture content, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2017, pp 79–84 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 24, 2017

By C M. Wawryk, S L. Garwin, J D. Foden

"An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation. The Batu Hijau porphyry Cu-Au deposit in south-western Sumbawa, Indonesia is an ideal natural laboratory to study the fractionation of iron isotopes in magmatic rocks that range in composition from basaltic andesite to tonalite. Intrusive rocks are associated with a porphyry system that contains well-preserved early hypogene copper mineralisation. We analysed pre-, syn- and post-mineralisation igneous intrusive rocks. We also separated magnetite, chalcopyrite and bornite from hypogene porphyry-style quartz veins, and measured the Fe-isotope ratios of samples by solution multi-collector ICP-MS. Iron isotopic composition of samples from the magmatic suite show an increasing d57Fe with increasing SiO2, supporting geochemical and textural evidence that the Batu Hijau Tonalites underwent closed system fractionation. Equilibrium and co-existing mineral textures allow the calculation of the following preliminary empirical mineral-mineral fractionation factors at 500°C for certain mineral pairs.Iron isotopes have the potential to provide geothermometric data to complement fluid inclusion data, especially where heating stages have operational limitations and where fluid boiling results in a wide variety of inclusion types that may make analysis difficult.CITATION:Wawryk, C M, Foden, J D and Garwin, S L, 2015. Iron isotope fractionation in magmatic-hydrothermal minerals – a porphyry copper case study from the Batu Hijau deposit, Sumbawa, Indonesia, in Proceedings PACRIM 2015 Congress, pp 389–396 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 18, 2015

The Leuna Factory of the I. G. Farbenindustrie A. G., situated near Merseburg, is the biggest heavy-chemical plant in Germany and produces a very wide range of products, mainly based on hydrogen or hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Its principal products are ammonia, synthetic petrol derived from the hydrogenation of brown coal, and synthetic alcohols made from hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The plant was first, visited on April 21, 1945, by a team including E. Cotton, V. Haensel, E. B. Peck, P. K. Kuhne, H. M. Weir, L. L. Hirst, W. W. Odell, G. U. Hopton, H. Hollings, J. F. Ellis, and H. G. Simpson. It was again visited on May 8-24, 1945, by a combined British and American team consisting of R, Holroyd, M. A. G, Banks, D. A. Howes, A. J. V. Underwood, R. A. Taylor, W. F. Faragher, H. Schindler, and J. G. Allen. This team was later joined by J. F. Ellis and R. J. Morley. A third visit with particular reference to catalyst manufacture was made by W. F. Faragher and W. A. Horne, and the notes of these latest investigators have been taken into account in preparing the report. This report was edited by Dr. R. Holroyd.

Jan 1, 1946

The No. 2 Ore-shaft, at Mount Isa Mines Limited, involving the use of boreholes as ropeways for the upper portion thereof, constitutes, we believe, a unique feature in hoisting installations. The boreholes were sunk from the surface to a depth of 390 ft., thus eliminating the necessity of erecting the hoist at an underground location or construction of the shaft for this distance. Fig. 1, a diagrammatic cross-section through the shaft, shows the complete installation from the surface down to the first loading station below No. 7 haulage level.During the latter part of 1936, conditions encountered in sinking the Main Ore shaft made it impracticable and uneconomical to continue deepening it to serve haulage levels below the present No. 5-level. Plans were therefore made for an interior shaft, to serve new lower levels, that terminated above No. 5-level so that ore hoisted could be drawn off on this level and transported to the Main Ore shaft for final conveyance to the mill crude ore bin.Referring again to Fig. 1, it is apparent that the section above No. 4-level, if opened out to full shaft size, would be inoperative and would serve no useful purpose except, possibly, as a ventilation duct. Original plans therefore did not include continuation of the shaft above No. 4-level. Excavation of a hoist room upon No. 5-level; erection of sheave wheels just below No. 4-level, and a long inclined ropeway leading from the hoist to the sheaves, were incorporated in the general layout. Work on the lower sectionof the shaft had started when the idea of locating the hoist...

Jan 1, 1939

By William J. Campbell

The purpose of this investigation was to extend the analytical services which are required for Bureau of Mines programs in developing and evaluating high-purity materials. Determination of trace elements in minerals and ores as an aid in geochemical evaluation and prospecting was considered. Serious consideration should be given to the merits of using the avail- able fluorescent X-ray spectrographic instrumentation and techniques for determining trace elements. Limits of detectability for trace elements in metal, oxide, solution or mineral samples range from 0.1 to 100 p.p.m, depending on the element being determined, overall sample composition, and the complexity of the X-ray spectra; limits of detectability range from 0.01 to 1 microgram for elements that have been preconcentrated by a chemical or physical process, for example, by ion-exchange membrane.

Jan 1, 1962

By Taylor G. H

The Triassic Ipswich (SE. Queensland) coals are of bituminous rank. The more exact rank of individual samples was determined by measuring the reflectance of the vitrinite. While in general the rank of the coals increases with stratigraphic depth, minor reversals, probably related to igneous intrusions, occur.The Ipswich coals form a coherent group so far as petrographic type is concerned. All are comparatively rich in vitrite and clarite, cutinite being the common maceral of the exinite group. The mineral contents of all the coals are comparatively high, clay and quartz being most abundant. The coals appear to be of essentially autochthonous origin, and to have been formed under conditions of fairly rapid subsidence.While the use of the coals is at present restricted to combustion, most have pronounced coking properties, as would be predicted from their petrographic composition and reflectance. However, the high mineral content of the coals would be a limiting factor in their use for coke-making.INTRODUCTIONDuring the last ten years, the Division of Coal Research, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization has carried out an extensive investigation of Australian coals, providing a wide range of analyses of most of the important of them. Special attention has been given in recent years to Queensland coals.Most seams were sampled as a number of subsections, enabling the internal variations, as well as the overall properties, to be assessed. The lenticularity of many of the mineralrich layers may tend to limit the significance of the samples, particularly in respect of ash yield, but although the vertical distribution of mineral matter may vary considerably from one sampling position to another, the lateral variation of the total mineral matter in the whole seam may not be great.Apart from extensive chemical analyses and utilization...

Jan 1, 1963

By Edmund Newton

This paper is one of a series comprising the Mineral Industries Survey of the United States, which was begun in 1935. It describes the simple methods of mining and beneficiating manganese ore, in eastern Tennessee and compares these methods with those used elsewhere in the Appalachian region. The report contains general information on manganese to give a clearer understanding of the methods and costs of mining and. beneficiating manganese ore foam a widespread deposit, an in addition presents zone difficulties normally fond in these operations. The marketing, uses, and value of manganese ore are discussed as well as the amount of capital necessary for effective operation on given scale of production, and requirements are outlines for successful operation of manganese, property in this region.

Jan 1, 1941