Search Documents

By R. M. Geisenheyner

We are in the midst of a transportation revolution. From the Wright Brothers to the SST. From the Toonerville Trolly to the 120-mile-an-hour Northeast Corridor train. From Christopher Columbus to Neil Armstrong. There is another side to this revolution and it is going on every day at our mines and factories. We call it bulk distribution. Perhaps ordinary sounding, but every bit as exciting as those other transportation innovations. Basically, we have gone from bag to bulk, and in the process reached that Last Frontier in manufacturing cost savings. By revitalization of our distribution system, we have made it possible for our mines and factories to realize fully the vast economies of spage-age manufacturing techniques and accomplishments. The pacesetters in this distribution revolution have been you gentlemen, the producers and shippers of dry mineral products. In this area bulk distribution grew up. And here most of the current innovations are being introduced. Management of your industry was early to realize the economic advantages of bulk distribution. Distribution costs of your products comprises a sizeable, portion of the selling price and management is sensitive of any developments which may even slightly reduce the cost of transportation, marketing or the exploration of new frontiers.

Jan 1, 1969

By Dick Lewis

The Misima deposit is on Misima Island in the Lousaide Archipelago, 240 km east-southeast of the Papua New Guinea mainland, and 600 km east of Port Morseby. Misima is a narrow mountainous island 40 km long and up to 10 km wide. The highest point is 1035 m above sea level. Gold mineralization is restricted to the eastern and less rugged third of the island. The Melanesian population lives in coastal villages. Subsistence agriculture is the main activity, although copra and cocoa are grown in plantations on the eastern and southern coasts. Prior to 1950, mining was important in the economy of the island. Climate is tropical, with little seasonal variation in temperature or rainfall. Tropical cyclones occur about every 10 years (Fig. 1).

Jan 1, 1990

By D. K. Grubbs

Red bauxites from Breadnut Valley, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, are very homogeneous in texture. Bauxite minerals are uniformly distributed in a groundmass, the predominant grain size being smaller than l um (Figure 1 Although the deposits have a massive, non-stratified structure, they all seem to have been affected by postformational faulting which is evidenced by shear zones running subvertically through the deposits. These shear zones stand out very clearly because of a yellow staining along their faces. Often yellow zones, ranging from a few m to several cm in thickness, have developed. When the shear zones are cut at an angle, they appear as yellow veins. Near the surface of the deposits, yellow material forms shallow irregular lenses (Figure 2). In most cases, tree roots (hair roots), or their imprints, are associated with the shear zones or stained areas. In fact, the yellowish color is especially pronounced along these roots and often disappears where the roots end (Figure 3). The mineral composition and texture of red groundmass and yellow zones are markedly different. Secondary phosphate minerals and a higher goethite to hematite ratio characterize the mineral composition of the yellow zones. It should also be noted that Al-substitution in goethite from these areas is significantly higher than in goethite occurring in the groundmass (Figure 4).

Jan 1, 1980

By J. Pang

The mechanisms of chalcopyrite oxidation in alkaline solutions have been studied using cyclic voltammetry and AC impedance spectroscopy techniques. Analysis of the impedance spectra using equivalent circuit models has made it possible to suggest layerwise growth of surface films. From the value of equivalent circuit parameters, properties of the surface layers are inferred. These properties change substantially with the change in oxygen and/or collector concentration in solution and give rise to changes In contact angle and flotation response. In agreement with prior investigations, the present study shows that flotation recoveries alone cannot be used to determine the effect of collector on flotation of chalcopyrite. The rate of flotation is a more sensitive parameter to determine the role of collector on floatability of chalcopyrite.

Jan 1, 1989

By Katherine Hynard, Colin Eustace

Development quarterly mine plans is generally time-consuming and requires consideration for many operational constraints and competing objectives. With lengthy turnaround times, there is often limited opportunity to adjust the quarterly plan details to account for differences between actual state of the mine operation at the time of execution and expected state at the time that the plan was developed. Actual mining task completion times can vary significantly from the expected task completion times, due to many factors. In the absence of revision to account for differences between the planned and actual state, resource allocations and mining sequences, embodied in the quarterly mine plan may no longer be the best approach at the time of execution to achieve an efficient mining operation. Simulation and optimisation tools can be used to support rapid refinements for development and execution of weekly mine plans. When initialized with an operations data feed to establish the actual state of the mine operation, optimisation models can be used to facilitate both automation and revision of the quarterly plan to produce a weekly or daily plan for execution. This approach can remove much of the manual burden of revision if the existing quarterly plan no longer represents the best approach to meeting production objectives. Following initialisation with mining actuals, simulation models can provide a representation of the range of likely mine operations outcomes. The models can be used to accelerate the planning process by providing visibility of future performance and identifying likely operational issues. They can also be used to test the robustness of the plan with respect to performance variability and response to disturbances. Following identification of issues, simulation models can also be used for evaluating mitigation measures, through automated testing of alternative plans. Integration of mine data feeds with simulation and optimisation tools enables automated optimal responses to variations between the quarterly mine plan and actuals to be tested prior to release of and execution plan and implementation. The use of simulation and optimisation in weekly mine planning will be discussed in this paper with reference to surface mining examples.

Jun 25, 2023

By P. Jacquin

Many a deposit estimation has been carried out since geostatistical methods were first implemented. To date however few mining programs have totally been completed and even fewer comparisons can be drawn between estimated reserves and extracted ore tonnages. Aluminium Pechiney work a number of bauxite mines in Southern France. As from 1969 they modified their deposit estimation methods, giving up traditional approaches and opting for geostatistics. At that time, the authors of this paper were entrusted with the first geostatistical estimations and in particular, those concerning the deposits mentioned herein. Over the past decade a number of deposits have been worked out and we thought it interesting to report about comparative results. French bauxite deposits are of the karstic, as opposed to the lateritic, type. The bauxite, formed at some distance of the present-day deposit, was brought to and trapped in limestone karst pits. Subsequent physical and chemical alterations may have taken place : silica and carbonate drifts, recent karst slips. The morphology of these deposits is often rather complicated. The deposits are small from a few hundred thousand to a few million tons at the most. The overburden thickness usually precludes open mining. Mining investments and financial risks are often high, making it necessary to obtain optimal information on the deposit considered for mining. For the three cases brought up in this paper, deposit sizes, exploration methods and conclusions differ. They are brought up mainly to show the advantages inherent to a quality geostatistical study and the lessons drawn by Aluminium Pechiney.

Jan 1, 1982

By R. Brough, T. K. Moller

There are differences in design aspects between steel and rubber linings in grinding mills. This paper describes the basic design rules for rubber liners for different grinding applications. When converting a mill from steel to rubber liners, the design must be changed from such familiar steel liner shapes as wedge bars and plates, wave liners, and ship-lap, to take advantage of the characteristics of rubber. Very little of the knowledge of the wear properties of steel can be used for the design of rubber mill liners.

Jan 1, 1990

By T. S. Mackey

The industrial types, sources, and quantities of US tin residues are identified and the methods of treatment reviewed. The effect of a lower tin price, due to a current major world surplus of tin metal, is mentioned and covered in some detail. The names and locations of over 100 US firms recovering tin residues are listed. Current smelting and refining charges are included to convert the residues into tin metal and alloy. The impact of the complete with-drawal of the LME daily tin price since Oct. 24, 1985, and the collapse of the International Tin Council, which at one time supported the Buffer Stock Manager, are reported with comments.

Jan 1, 1987

By H. Sis, S. Chander

The pressure filtration behaviors of dispersed and flocculated alumnae slurries at high percent solids were investigated with the objective of determining the effect of surfactant type and concentration on slurry properties. A high-purity alumina powder was used as a model solid. Dispersion of the alumina was controlled by pH and by surfactants that are known to act as electric and steric stabilizers. The effects of both ionic and nonionic sutfactants were investigated. Surface charge measurements of the slurries were carried out by an electrokinetic sonic amplitude (ESA) method to better understand the mechanisms. The effect of surfactant type and concentration on the kinetics of pressure filtration and cake properties are discussed.

Jan 1, 2000

By R. J. Sweigard, T. Beckman, C. T. Justice, E. D. Thompson, T. C. Hopkins

As a means of permanent disposal, fine coal refuse is often pumped as a slurry into surface impoundments. As the available volume is filled, the embankment heights are frequently increased. The additional embankment material is often placed upon consolidated fine coal refuse. There has been concern about the long-term effect of consolidation of this material at or above the liquid limit on its shear strength. A laboratory investigation was performed using three different types of fine coal slurry taken from central Appalachian coal-preparation plants. The refuse was consolidated in 3-m (10 ft) Plexiglas columns under incremental amounts of surcharge loading. The incremental loads were designed to simulate the effect of increasing the height of a refuse embankment on top of the consolidating coal slurry. After the refuse in the columns had consolidated for several months, the columns were cut apart, and triaxial tests were performed on both the consolidated and unconsolidated material for comparison of their shear-strength parameters.

Jan 1, 1998

By P. Venkatasubramanian

The selection of a mining method for a mineral deposit is a complex decision problem. Human judgment, based on experience with mineral deposits and geologic conditions, remains the single most important input of the decision-making technique. If the use of artificial intelligence, in particular the developments in expert systems, is taken to its logical conclusion, the experience of the domain experts could be incorporated into a decision-support expert system. A knowledge-based decision support system for mining method selection for ore deposits has been designed whereby the domain knowledge is represented as production rules and organized in a semantic tree representation. This model is written in the PROLOG language. While the verification difficulties of expert systems models are recognized, an example of the model's decision on the mining method for a given ore body is presented and shown to be consistent with the decision made by human experts. In addition, plans, for further verification of the model are delineated.

Jan 1, 1992

Aqueous pressure oxidation at low temperature, although desirable from a process engineering and operating point of view, presents unique problems when temperatures approach 160°C (320°F). In developing the pressure oxidation process for the Lone Tree Mine, elemental sulfur formation and agglomeration with pyrite proved to be a problem. This paper discusses some of the unique features of the Lone Tree sulfide deposit and its amenability to low-temperature oxidation. Problems encountered during pilot plant operation and their solutions are discussed.

Jan 1, 1995

By P. K. Berger, G. T. Lineberry, H. P. Cole, J. V. Haley

Sixty-five simulation exercises were developed for teaching and testing problem solving and decision making skills to miners and mining engineers. The exercises focused on judgment and decision making for preventing and controlling mine emergencies. The structure and field testing of the exercises are described, and sample frames of individual exercises are presented. Empirical data are summarized about the effectiveness of these simulations based on the performance scores of a national sample of miners and mining engineers.

Jan 1, 1994

By J. C. Stankus, S. S. Peng

Many coal seams are associated with soft floor strata. During mine development, if coal pillars are not properly designed, floor heave occurs and causes interruption of coal production. In the severe cases, the section or mine is abandoned. One method for controlling floor heave is floor bolting. This paper describes the demonstration of flour bolting methods in a West Virginia, info coal mine. Three methods were used: vertical full resin bolting, floor truss bolting and floor truss bolting pins a floor slot at the center of the entry. The design of each method and the experimental results are discussed.

Jan 1, 1995

By J. W. Jang

The wear behaviors of grinding media with different chemical compositions and microstructures in wet grinding of a quartz-pyrrhotite mixture was investigated under various environments. The marked ball wear tests showed that the wear rate could be minimized by a suitable combination of martensite and ferrite within the same ball. A ball composed solely of hard martensite exhibited increased wear under an oxygen environment, while balls composed of both soft ferrite together with hard martensite exhibited decreased wear due presumably to the difference in their passivation? behaviors. The galvanic interactions between the two phases as well as among these phases and an electroactive mineral were investigated through electrochemical measurements under abrasive conditions in a slurry. The rates of formation of passive films controlled the corrosion currents of the high chromium steel media. Corrosive wear and its effect on flotation are discussed using the passivation kinetics model thereby developed.

Jan 1, 1989

By Thomas P. Meloy

A brittle solid broken by crushing or impact, results in a mass size distribution curve having a straight line segment when plotted on log-log paper. Depending on the mineral, the slope of this straight line segment ranges from a maximum of one for materials like glass and quartz to values of one half or less. Theoretical derivations of the size distribution, such as the Gaudin-Meloy model, yield a slope of one and only one. When the Gaudin-Meloy model is modified to assume that not all cracks terminate on a preexisting surface, the new model predicts that size distribution slopes, depending on the type of brittle solid, will be less than one. There is a measurable physical parameter that will predict the slope. In addition the model predicts that particles from such a size distributions will have negative corners and peaks - indentations. Moreover the model predicts that particle shape will systematically change with decreasing particle size. Finally, this new physical model of comminution may be experimentally tested.

Jan 1, 1995

By Dilip K. Sinha

In the paper some interesting cases of applications of Operations Research and Computer Methods as worked out by the author and accepted by the management of some of the newly formed Indian mining organisation for implementation are highlighted. The main emphasis on the application cases was to use simple techniques and methods which yield the result in shorter time period, The case problems mainly deals with the production system optimisation in unit mines, areas/divisions and at the corporate levels. Also the management decisions regarding reorganisation of transport and distribution system of material and mineral are attempted to be optimised. Further, the case of management system development with computer aided decision making worked out for single large Iron Ore Project captive to a steel plant is outlined. Finally, the case of a large mining company having decentralised units and divisions geographically dispersed throughout the country, computerised management decision-information system designed on the basis of inputs and outputs of decision models relevant for different levels of management in the organisation is depicted.

Jan 1, 1986

By Robert A. Hains, William P. Balaz, K. Payne

Ceramics are usually used to line chutes, pipes, dust collectors, separators, cyclones or bins where abrasive or corrosive material is moving. Improvements in ceramic manufacturing methods and quality, use of other abrasion resistant materials in combination with Alumina ceramic, improved adhesives and installation methods allow the use of Alumina ceramic tile in applications with impact. This paper discusses the criteria to determine if ceramics can provide a cost effective alternative to other liners for abrasive material handling applications, design parameters for liner systems, system costs, and case histories. The goal will be to provide a practical guide for improving the performance of existing ceramic lined systems or determining if ceramics is a cost effective solution for your abrasive material handling applications.

Jan 1, 1996

By A. K. Bakshi

In cold regions, rinsing of spent cyanide from leach heaps is stopped during winter and is resumed again after the snow melts. The effect of this idle time on the overall removal process was studied in this experiment. Samples were collected for rinsing tests from one heap at a gold mine near Fairbanks, Alaska. Continuous and interrupted rinsing of this sample were carried out in test columns. The rinse solution was analyzed at regular intervals to determine the rate of cyanide removal from the solids. It was found that total cyanide concentration per rinse cycle for interrupted rinsing test was higher than for the corresponding continuous rinsing test. As a result, interrupted rinsing required less rinsing cycles than continuous rinsing.

Jan 1, 1995

By Donald S. Skufca

This chapter focuses attention on major factors pertaining to plant design and general arrangement of equipment. Considered are efficiency of operations, coordination of maintenance and repairs, plant testing of reagents and possible future plant expansions. The design and general arrangement of equipment considers accessibility for maintenance and isolation for repairs, minimum personnel for operations and cleanup, safe working conditions with minimum interruptions to operations. The constant introduction of new reagents requires eventual plant testing and the manner of isolating a “line” or part of the facilities to allow comparisons in the testing of new reagents is discussed. As technology improves and process changes occur, additional equipment or plant expansions are inevitable. Space for these eventualities must be considered while the general arrangement drawings are in the development stages.

Jan 1, 1986