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By R. Tamir

This paper will describe the benefits of utilizing the decision support system, DSS to support the methodology of structured decision-making in the mining environment. It will outline the layers of the mining related decision making – 1. Creation of “one truth” situational awareness utilizing 2. existing planning, ERP, operational and monitoring agents, a. Expressing plan verse performance across mining phases and functions compared with the actual and trends to evaluate performance. b. Creating alternate courses of action and the implications up and downstream. 3. It will review the current condition were although a multitude of technologies resolve multi variable issues they do not interact in a way that assists decision makers throughout the organization in making high-quality decisions that will push the overall performance envelope. 4. The paper will show the benefits of integrating military methodologies to resolve multi variable complexed issues (operational, financial and other), operating in changing environments in order to meet time sensitive objectives with restricted resources. This is achieved by creating a shared situational awareness thru incorporating information from a multitude of data generating agents, creating COA, selecting the appropriate and turning it into a plan. The paper will discuss the implementation and suggest a path.

Feb 1, 2023

By Paul H. Earl

This paper discusses the evolution of a modeling methodology for explaining price behavior in the aluminum industry. Three generations are described, each utilizing as a foundation a microeconomic stages-of-processing approach. The second generation represents an improvement over the initial version, by incorporating more rigorous specifications of energy cost, and market strength (demand-supply balance) as well as endogenous treatment of market strength. International linkages across prices, costs, and markets, are the major extensions in the third generation. The discussion covers theoretical considerations, data problems and limitations, and model specifications. Simulation and forecasting properties of the models are also addressed.

Jan 1, 1979

PolyMet Mining is developing the NorthMet property near Duluth, MN. Laboratory investigations have led to the development of the Platsol process to dissolve in one step the base metals (copper and nickel) as well as the gold and platinum group metals (PGM). To complete the prefeasibility study, a fully integrated, 10-day pilot plant trial was undertaken. The trial consisted of high-temperature (>220ºC or >428ºF) pressure oxidation in the presence of 5 to 10 g/L chloride (the Platsol process). This was followed by solid/liquid separation, gold plus PGM recovery from solution, conventional copper solvent extractions/electrowinning (SX/EW) and recycling of the copper raffinate to the autoclave. The concentrate tested during the trial period was a NorthMet bulk flotation concentrate. It assayed 14.7% Cu, 3.05% Ni, 0.14% Co, 26.7% S, 1.4 g/t (0.041 oz/st) Au, 2.2 g/t (0.064 oz/st) Pt and 9.9 g/t (0.289 oz/st) Pd Laboratory results were confirmed and, with minor adjustments of the laboratory Platsol conditions, the following leach extractions were obtained during the pilot plant trial: 99.6% Cu, 98.9% Ni, 96% Co, 94.6% Pd, 96 % Pt and 89.4 % Au.

Jan 1, 2003

By M. SIDDARAJU, Rameshwar Sah, T. Umadevi, K. S. SRIDHARA, B. D. Ganesh Shetty, M. RAJU

The production of high strength iron ore sinter for blast furnace iron making unit was developed by optimizing the granulometry of less than − 0.150 mm fines in sinter base mix which consists of iron ore fines (− 10 mm size with 0.150 mm: 41%), beneficiation plant jig concentrate, i.e., washed ore (− 3 + 0.150 mm size with − 0.150 mm 3 to 9%), beneficiation plant concentrate (− 0.150 mm size 97%), limestone, dolomite, coke breeze, lime, sinter return fines, direct reduced iron (DRI plant) fines, and micropellets produced from steel plant waste. The sintering process consists of preparation of base mix, mixing, and production of nodules using mixing and nodulizing drum by maintaining the optimum moisture, transferring of nodules to the sintering machine, and firing of sinter by applying optimum suction pressure. To optimize the < 0.150 mm fines in sinter base mix, the − 10-mm size iron ore fines was replaced with washed ore. The size analysis, granulation index (G index), and optimization of moisture w.r.t. sinter bed permeability were carried out by varying the washed ore addition from 0 to 55% in sinter base mix to vary the − 0.150 mm fine size. With decrease in washed ore addition from 55 to 0% in sinter base mix the finer fraction, i.e., − 0.150 mm in sinter base mix increased from 9.4 to 26.7%. Granulation (G) index increased from 1.46 to 3.10, sinter bed permeability increased from 33 to 53 Japanese Permeability Unit (JPU), and balling index increased from 1.4 to 3.0. With increase in − 0.150 mm fines in the sinter base mix from 9.4 to 26.7%, the sinter tumbler index (T.I) increased and sinter reduction degradation index (RDI) decreased. Increase in sinter strength and decrease in sinter RDI was due to increase in formation of Silico ferrite of calcium and aluminium (SFCA) phase and decrease in pore phase. The SFCA is the main bonding phase in iron ore sinter, and it provides strength to sinter. Sinter base mix with − 0.150 mm fines 18.9% (washed ore addition 25%) achieved desired sinter properties with moisture 8.0%, G index 2.44, balling index 2.3, and sinter bed permeability > 45JPU. Decreased the sinter properties with washed ore addition in sinter base mix beyond 25% due to decrease in − 0.150 mm fines in sinter base mix. Further, to improve the sinter properties with washed ore 30 to 45%, 3 to 10% beneficiation plant concentrate, i.e., − 0.150 mm fines was added to maintain the 18.9% of − 0.150 mm fines in sinter base mix. From the laboratory sintering studies, it was found that minimum 18.9% (range from 18.9 to 26.7%) − 0.150 mm fines should be maintained in the sinter base mix to achieve desired sinter properties.

Oct 16, 2021

By Mirko Martini, Marcelo Benaglia, Andrea Codalli

Riachuelo Lot 3 forms part of a sanitation programme being implemented in Argentina to relieve the Riachuelo river basin from its current contamination. The programme, by far the most important in its kind in the country during the last decades, will expand the sewage capacity of Buenos Aires and will benefit an area of 4.3 millions inhabitants by intercepting a number of waste water discharges and conveying them to a new treatment plant prior to final discharge into the Rio de la Plata. The project foresees amongst other works the construction of an onshore 48 m deep shaft at the outlet of the treatment plant plus a 4,3 m inner diameter outfall tunnel of 12 km length. The last 1.5 km of the alignment is fitted with 34 vertical risers jacked from inside the tunnel to allow the discharge and dilution of the treated effluent into the Rio de la Plata. This paper describes the peculiarities and challenges, both in terms of design and in terms of construction, of the outfall tunnel, which was entirely bored under the Rio de la Plata using a 5.2 m cut diameter Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). On one hand, the tunnel segmental lining was designed to work in tension during the system flow rate peaks while on the other the tunnel excavation faced a variety of complex conditions, such as crossing water bearing permeable soft ground formations and advancing at face pressures in excess of 3,5 bars for the entire route.

Jun 13, 2021

By J. David Gunn, Richard W. Lawrence

Gold and silver often occur finely disseminated in sulphide minerals such as pyrite. The use of biological leaching to dissolve pyrite and liberate gold has been extensively studied for a concentrate from the Porgera deposit, Papua New Guinea. The successful operation of a continuous bioleach circuit has been demonstrated. Bioleach residues were cyanide leached to extract gold and silver, and unreacted pyrite recovered for recycle to the bioleach. A 26 day steady state continuous bioleach test on a concentrate assaying 14.3 g/tonne Au and 87.0 g/tonne Ag produced residues with an average 73.5% weight loss and a pyrite oxidation of 88%. Cyanidation and recovery of pyrite from the cyanide residues for recycle gave overall recoveries of 92.1% gold and 74.6% silver. A proportion of the remaining precious metals was found in the bioleach solutions and may be recoverable. Losses to tails were 3.0% gold and 8.1% silver. Final tails represented 14.3% of the feed weight and averaged 1.84 g/tonne Au. A description of the continuous bioleach circuit and bioleach residue handling procedures, and the results of the study are presented. The features and advantages of biological oxidation as a pretreatment for refractory precious metal ores and concentrates are discussed.

Jan 1, 1985

By D. J. Bryden, J. W. Oberholzer

In response to the need for enhanced precautionary measures to safeguard mine workers in collieries from the consequences of methane ignitions in a heading, the coal mining industry has ex- pressed the desire for the development and testing of active on board suppression systems. As overseas systems cannot be used directly in the bord and pillar geometry it is necessary to adapt overseas and local technology to suit local mining conditions, as well as to test such developed systems for their compliance with the expressed needs. As the systems have to be tested in a specific roadway configuration, a facility was developed to enable the testing in South Africa. A surface test facility has been established which can be used to develop and test suppression systems on continuous miners and roadheaders. This facility consists of a tunnel wherein compliance tests can be conducted in simulated underground conditions. A number of methane explosion tests have been conducted in the test facility. The explosions conducted varied in CH,/air concentration (7,5 to 9 percent) and volume (26 to 88 m3). At lower concentrations there was a marked reduction in explosion strength and flame speed. Tests carried out with the Explostop system successfully suppressed the propagation of methane ignitions in both scenarios tested.

Jan 1, 1997

By C. Brown, N. Rayyan, T. H. Dubaniewicz

Lithium-Ion batteries (LIBs) have the potential to go into thermal runaway which introduces a new ignition source in hazardous environments such as gassy underground mines that may contain methane in the surrounding air. Researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) used an accelerating rate calorimeter (ARC) to induce thermal runaway in individual lithium-titanium-oxide (LTO) and lithium-nickel-cobalt-aluminum-oxide (NCA) LIB cells within a sealed enclosure with either no methane, a lean, a stoichiometric, or a rich methane-air mixture in the surrounding canister to determine if these LIB types would ignite the methane, causing an additive effect on overpressures. Canister pressures and maximum temperatures reached by the cells, surrounding air, and exhausted gases were measured in this study and remained consistent with varying methane concentrations.

Feb 1, 2023

An important problem in mine operations is the classification of material as waste, low-grade stockpile, and ore. This classification must often be made with blasthole data that are widely spaced and that have sampling errors. Geo-statistical simulation techniques combined with basic economic principles allows a procedure for classification that maximizes expected profit. Geostatistical simulation methods (Gaussian, indicator, or annealing-based) allow the integration of hard and soft data in the creation of alternative, equally-probable, realizations of the mineral grade(s). At each location, for each realization, we calculate the "profit" if the block were to be classified as ore or waste The optimal classification is the one that maximizes expected profit (a Maximum Profit Se-lection (MPS) procedure). We discuss the theoretical justification of the method and implementation details. The use of blasthole data from different types of mineral deposits, that is, different levels of continuity, is considered. We also show the efficacy of the procedure with different levels of sampling error. The increased revenue due to the MPS procedure and improved sampling is shown. We show the geostatistical simulation procedure and the uncertainty in block grades that result from incomplete and imperfect sampling. The optimal classification is presented. Optimal block classifications are transferred to realizable dig-limits by hand-drawing polygonal boundaries. We compare the results of the proposed method to classification based on kriging. Limitations and areas of future work are identified.

Jan 1, 1999

By B. C. Paul, R. Q. Honaker, K. Ho

Recent research has shown that froth flotation is not effective at treating fine coals (-28 mesh) containing a large portion of middling particles. Due to their relatively large density differences, middling particles can be separated more efficiently using gravity-based processes. The ability of gravity separators to treat fine particles has been limited by the lack of particle inertia relative to the surface drag forces. However, particle inertia can be enhanced by the application of a centrifugal field. A commercial-scale centrifugal Falcon concentrator capable of treating a mass flow rate of greater than 1 tph continuously has been used to evaluate its feasibility for treating fine coal as an alternative to froth flotation. Tests conducted on a -28 mesh fine coal circuit feed have found the Falcon concentrator to be very effective at cleaning the 28 x 325 mesh size fraction. For an Illinois No. 5 coal sample, the ash content was reduced in the 100 x 325 mesh size fraction from about 18% to 8% while achieving a high combustible recovery value of nearly 97%. In addition, the total sulfur content was substantially decreased from 2.6% to 1.7%. The effects of the critical operating parameters on separation performance have been studied and their values optimized.

Jan 1, 1995

By James W. Echerd

Anthracite preparation developments, particularly in the early days of the anthracite industry, formed the basis for the modern coal preparation plants that have become so essential to the coal industry today. The anthracite industry, from early in the 19th century until relatively recently, was a leader in mining, preparation and marketing of coal, and played a leading role in the development of the industrial America we know today. Anthracite was discovered in America in about 1760--the story of Necho Allen is well known--but the rediscoveries leading to mining operations took place about 50 years later. The Wurtz brothers in 1815 at Scranton, the Smith brothers at Wilkes-Barre in 1807, Beach in Hazleton in about 1814, and Boyd in 1816 at Shamokin were all instrumental in promoting early mining and marketing of anthracite (J3. The early canals and railroads were built for the specific purpose of moving anthracite to the market areas. Eventually, the industry grew until, in 1917, it reached a production zenith of a little over 100,000,000 tons, representing about 20 percent of the total coal output in the United States. Almost half of the anthracite produced that year was consumed for domestic heating, a utilization that had dominated the industry for almost 100 years. Initially, anthracite had to be used by gunsmiths and blacksmiths, after which had followed the consumption of extensive quantities for railroads, blast furnaces and foundries, and electric power generation. Most of the markets have been lost to coke, oil, and natural gas. Near the anthracite regions, however, significant quantities are still used for domestic heating, power generation, carbon black manufacture, blending with bituminous coal to make metallurgical coke and fuel, and for other industrial purposes. Thus, anthracite production has not been entirely committed to history, but remains an active industry that follows modern practices in the mining, preparation, shipping, and utilization of a fuel that is still a valuable adjunct to the national economy. In fact, its inherent low sulfur content may make it an important fuel of the future. Estimates indicate there are reserves of anthracite to last for 300 years at a consumption rate of 50,000,000 tons/year. Anthracite Preparation Yesterday A 170-year history of the anthracite industry obviously is not the purpose of this discussion. A complete history of anthracite preparation, the rather unglamorous step in the processing of "mine run" hard coal to make it suitable for the user, is also not practical. Hence, the purpose of this report is to trace the development of some of the most important processes used through the years to meet a part of the demand for energy developed by our modern society. Anthracite preparation in the early days of the industry consisted solely of separating slate from the coal, by hand, underground (Z). This method prevailed for almost 20 years until wrought iron hand rakes were introduced to separate the large and small sizes. Shortly thereafter, the first attempts were made to size and clean the coal aboveground. The coal was dumped on a perforated cast iron plate, and men used sledge hammers to break the larger pieces into smaller sizes suitable for the market. The smallest sizes--that is, the material that went through the plate--were thrown away because they had no value at that time--a concept that existed for many years and actually was the basis for the subsequent "river" coal production and the many silt banks which are landmarks in the anthracite region. The larger sizes, at that time, sold for 50 cents per ton. The Batten breaker, or roll crusher, was invented in 1844, followed soon thereafter by the Snell-Diehm breaker (A). The latter had disadvantages, including excessive waste and fixed product size, but it later was improved in these respects. A breaker was also developed at Minersville, Pa., at about the same time that processed 200 tons of coal per day, using roll crushers and circular screens (1). Handpicking, from the beginning of anthracite preparation, was an important part of the cleaning process and was still being practiced as late as 1950. It was this process that involved the "breaker" boys of coal region lore. How much good handpicking accomplished depended on how much impurity was present in the coal--the more the impurities, the greater the reduction in ash. Thus, high-impurity streams were significantly improved, whereas picking of relatively clean coal was mainly to show an effort to make a quality product. As indicated, picking is largely a visual operation. It was and is wasteful of coal in the larger sizes since some good coal is always associated with the bad. However, it was probably much more effective&apos; in the larger than the smaller sizes.

Jan 1, 1971

By M. Gomilanovic

The Republic of Monte Negro (a member of the Serbia and Monte Negro federation) has 26 different mineral raw materials, 4 of which are recoverable and 22 unrecoverable. At present, 12 types of mineral raw materials are exploited. Based on these resources more than 80 facilities were built for the production and processing of mineral raw materials. The most significant of them are coal, bauxite and decorative and technical stone. Bearing in mind that all the mentioned mining facilities have significant impact on the living environment, and that Monte Negro was declared the ecological state, the objective of this paper is to present the experience acquired from this field of science.

Jan 1, 2003

By W. R. Reed, Y. Zheng

A recent study conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) evaluated the roof bolter canopy air curtain (CAC) systemin a blowing face ventilation system, demonstrating its effectiveness and illustrating the CAC protection zones. This study evaluates the roof bolter machine CAC while operating in an exhausting face ventilation system. This study considers two similar locations to allow comparison with the previous blowing face ventilation (Zheng et al., Min Metal Explor 36(6):1115–1126, (2019)) study: (1) a roof bolter machine bolting the roof at 20 ft (6.1 m) from the face and (2) a roof bolting machine bolting at 4 ft (1.2 m) from the face. The environment introduces 6.0 mg/m3 of respirable dust to represent the roof boltingmachine operating downstreamof the continuous miner. However, the exhausting face ventilation uses an exhaust curtain with 9000 cfm (4.25 m3/s) of air. Two roof bolter machine working positions are simulated with the use of dual drill heads in the inward position for two inside bolts and in the outward position for two outside bolts. The influence of the CAC on airflows and dust dispersion is evaluated with the CAC operating at 250 cfm (0.12 m3/s) with dust reductions ranging from 39.5 to 82.8%. When the roof bolter machine operated close to the face, increasing CAC airflow was required for adequate protection since the dust reductions can be as low as 39.5%. Additional CAC airflows of 350 cfm(0.17 m3/s) and 450 cfm(0.21 m3/s) were evaluated and demonstrated that dust reductions increased to 59.7% (350 cfm) and 72.0% (450 cfm) for the worst location where the roof bolter operators located.

Aug 26, 2020

By J. D. Miller

"It is now possible to use 3D X-ray tomography analysis for plant-site characterization of coarse particles at a sampling rate of about 3 kg/min for particles which range in size from 150 mm to 1 mm at a voxel resolution of about 150 microns. This is quite a significant advance in X-ray tomography technology and should be useful for plant-site coarse particle characterization (size, shape, composition, density, texture, grain exposure, mineral liberation) with a response time of minutes after receiving the sample. Applications in the mineral industries are discussed including the coal industry, aggregate industry, metal mining and the processing of industrial minerals. INTRODUCTION Plant-site characterization of coarse particles at coal preparation plants, crushed stone/aggregate plants, and mineral processing plants is needed to improve plant capacity, product quality, and/or process efficiency. Not much on-line coarse particle characterization is done at these plants. Some limited information regarding particle size is obtained on-line from reflected light images using systems such as the OPSA, Split, and WipFrag analyzers. Even laboratory analysis of coarse particles has been difficult because of the large amount of sample required to insure statistical significance of the results. During the past decades laboratory 3D characterization of particles from energy and mineral resources by X-ray tomography has been demonstrated and used to good advantage [1, 2]. 3D X-ray tomographic analysis had its origin in the medical services industry; it is used to provide internal images of the human body and now has also been developed for non-medical applications [3]. Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram for the cone-beam geometry micro-CT system. In our case X-rays from a microfocus X-ray generator are partially attenuated by the sample (a packed bed of particles) that is made to rotate in equal steps in a full circle about a single axis of the particle sample. At each rotational position, the surviving X-ray photons are detected by a planar two-dimensional array (image intensifier) large enough to contain the shadow of the specimen. These two dimensional projection images are collected using conventional video technology. The video signal for each projection is then converted to a two-dimensional digital array by an image processing system. Finally, a three-dimensional image is reconstructed from the collected set of projection images. With the availability of automated high speed X-ray tomography [4] it now seems possible to do plant-site particle characterization at a sampling rate of about 3 kg/min for particles which range in size from 150 mm to 1 mm at a voxel resolution of about 150 microns. This is quite a significant advance in X-ray tomography technology and should be useful for plant-site particle characterization (size, shape, composition, density, texture, grain exposure, mineral liberation) with a response time of minutes after receiving the sample. Applications in the mineral industries are discussed including the coal industry, aggregate industry, metal mining, and the processing of industrial minerals"

Jan 1, 2016

By S. C. Sethi

The WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) Project near Carlsbad, New Mexico, is a research and development project sponsored by U.S. Department of Energy, designed to demonstrate the safe containment for disposal of radioactive waste. A mine (repository) is currently being developed 2150 feet below the surface, in a thick salt bed which will serve as the disposal medium. Provision of a proper ventilation system at the WIPP Project is a major priority of those responsible for its design, management, and operations. As an ongoing effort towards this goal, it was decided to simulate the mine&apos;s ventilation system using Dravo&apos;s MINEVENT computer program. Specifically, the work included the development of the following simulation models: 1. Simulation of the current ventilation system 2. Simulation of the designed ventilation system for the following modes: o Mine Construction mode/shift o Waste storage mode/shift o Fire or exhaust filtration mode These computer models are useful in solving complex ventilation problems likely to be encountered in an R&D project, like WIPP. They are particularly helpful for the development of contingency plans to incorporate during emergency situations, such as fires, fan stop- pages, radiation leaks, etc. Also, they can be utilized when considering expanding certain underground areas to ensure the availability of adequate ventilation.

Jan 1, 1986

The paper describes a practical methodology based on numerical modelling for the prediction of progressive failure of underground mine stopes with cable bolt support. A case study of the 40-761 stope at Kidd Creek Mine, Timmins, Ontario is presented. The stope was mined by blasthole open stoping in 1986 as a lead stope within a mining block between 36-1 and 38-2 levels. Initially designed to peak at 38-2 level, the stope back caved upwards approximately 40m towards 36-1 level. Cable bolts were installed above the stope from 36-1 level after caving had begun. The stope eventually stopped to cave when the falling rock mass encountered a sufficiently high cable density. The paper provides details of the geomechanical data and modelling results of the case study. Numerical modelling is carried out using a finite element package known as e-z tools which has, among other things, a special cable/rockbolt simulation capability.

Jan 1, 1994

"A carefully planned laboratory test program is the foundation for the successful development of a sulfide flotation process. In this paper, the development of a copper-molybdenum flotation process is described. However, the concepts discussed can be applied to most sulfide flotation systems and to many industrial minerals projects as well. Each step is examined, beginning with sample procurement and covering sample preparation, flotation test preparation grinding, scoping flotation tests for reagent scheme selection, rougher flotation parameter evaluation and cleaner circuit evaluation, through to locked-cycle testing and pilot plant design and operation. Ore variability and modeling to determine the response of various ore types to the optimum conditions established is also examined.IntroductionA carefully planned laboratory test program is essential for the successful development of any sulfide flotation process. These programs usually begin with a series of batch tests on several ore type composites to evaluate appropriate reagent schemes and delineate optimum rougher flotation conditions, such as primary grind size, flotation pulp density, flotation pulp pH and retention time. Cleaner parameters such as regrind size requirements, cleaner pH, pulp density and number of stages are then defined. Semicontinuous locked-cycle tests are performed using the parameters established in the batch tests to determine the effect of middling streams recirculation on flotation performance. The data generated and the experience gained in the locked-cycle tests may be used to design and operate a continuous pilot plant if relatively large amounts of concentrate are required for further process development, such as optimization of byproduct molybdenum production from bulk copper-molybdenum concentrate.A comprehensive ore variability program is undertaken to determine the response of various ore types to the optimum conditions established. These ore variability programs often test hundreds of samples in standardized batch rougher and cleaner tests to ensure that the orebody is well understood.This article describes the development of a copper-molybdenum flotation process, but the concepts discussed can be applied to most sulfide flotation systems and many industrial minerals projects. The block flow diagram in Fig. 1 provides an overview of the development process."

Jan 1, 2016

By H. Marshall Farrier

In the past few years the world petroleum industry has increasingly felt the weight of changes in the principal economic factors affecting pro¬fits. As a result of, these changes, it has been necessary for many oil companies to acquire certain new facilities in order to strengthen their competitive positions and thereby protect their tremendous investments in crude oil reserves, pipe line facilities, refining operations, and marketing outlets. Principally these needs have been met by new capital outlays. A supplementary, method of acquiring needed facilities, however, has been to obtain existing facilities through complete or partial acquisition of other companies.&apos; properties. It is this method of meeting competitive pressures with which this paper is concerned. This paper presents a statistical breakdown of the mergers and acquisitions which occurred in the oil industry between January 1, 1954, and October 1, 1959, showing the frequency&apos; with which certain types of properties were acquired in each of the years studied. In addition, it discusses the principal economic conditions which stimulated many of these property trans¬fers, comments on the effects of these mergers on the consuming public, and indicates the types of, mergers and the rate at which they may be expected during the next three or four years. The basic data upon which the statistical analysis presented in this paper is based were taken from several published sources. Obviously they are somewhat incomplete because not all mergers and acquisitions were reported However;, a careful search was conducted through, The Wall Street, Journal, The Oil and Gas Journal, Potroleum Week, and The Oil Daily with the result that the data should be reasonably complete and comparable for each of the years studied, It is believed, therefore, that the statistical analysis which&apos; follows provides a reasonably accurate indication of the general trend in mergers and acquisitions during the period studied.

Jan 1, 1960

By Manuel Gomez

This report presents prediction equations for eleven factors indicative of metallurgical coal quality which have been developed from data obtainable during exploration. Five coke strength parameters and six carbonization product yields have been predicted for coking coals having volatile matter contents in the range 16.3 to 42.1 percent, dry basis. The prediction models developed contain information from the proximate and ultimate analyses, the size consist, and the petrographic composition of coking coals carbonized in BM-AGA retorts at 800°, 900°, and 1,000°C. The equations reported have been evaluated with independent data derived from the 900°C carbonization of 33 binary blends. Present results show that metallurgical coal quality can be predicted ahead of mining. Capability to forecast coal quality is useful in mine planning and should provide basic information for optimization of blending and crushing techniques, leading to the production of uniform coke.

Jan 1, 1968

By M. Ziegler

The article deals with the use of a digital twin in the assessment and optimization of a conveyor system in the Chilean copper mine. This example shows that a digital twin is initially just a new (albeit powerful) tool with which the system behavior can be examined. The benefits for the customer arise through the system identification and automatic detection of critical deviations from the target state. This knowledge allows mine management to react and coordinate operational and/or maintenance counter measures to insure optimal performance of their conveyor system. The information derived from the BeltGenius digital twin also allows mine management to gain a clear perspective of the overall efficiency of their conveyors, which will be invaluable for future conveyor component selections.

Mar 2, 2022