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By P. Seppanen

Cemented fill was first introduced at the Keretti mine in 1952, but entailed high cement costs, the need for stope preparation, slimes handling, clean-up and maintenance, increased mine dewatering, segregation of fill and long setting times. In the 1970s research began into the use of iron blast-furnace slag as a binding agent and by 1989 Pyhasalmi, Vihanti, Keretti, Vammala and Enonkoski had saved US $11 000 000 by using slag binders instead of cement. Viscaria in Sweden and Tara in Ireland also use slag as 90-100% of total binder, although their backfilling methods vary. The main area of interest in slag research is determining the activation methods for initiating the binding reactions; it is also important to achieve other characteristics such as resistance to corrosion by sulphuric ion. New backfilling techniques developed during the 1980s included the use of high-density cemented tailings fill at Vammala and porous cemented rockfill at Enonkoski and Viscaria. Future developments focus on concepts such as integration of mining and milling with backfilling and the achievement of total underground disposal of wastes

Dec 1, 1995

By L. D. Smith

Paper presented at the conference: Risk assessment in the extractive industries, held in Exeter, UK, 23-24 March 1994, and first published London: IMM, 1994, preprint volume. 22pp., 15 refs. The concept of risk is well established in the mining industry but it is difficult to provide a quantitative assessment of risk. A discussion is presented of the significant sources of risk in a mineral project and how they are addressed. The discount rate is examined as a fundamental means of reflecting risk in discounted cash flow evaluations. Current industry practice is discussed and a methodology for the analysis of risk levels is proposed which assesses the constituent components of the discount rate (real interest, mineral project risks and country risk)

Dec 1, 1994

Paper presented at the conference Risk assessment in the extractive industries, held in Exeter, 23-24 March 1994. Sensitivity analyses based on financial variables are now routinely applied to the forecast financial results of mining projects especially during the feasibility stage. Risk analysis is gaining acceptance but is still almost universally confined to the effects of variations in financial variables. The single most sensitive factor in almost all mining projects is the ore reserve, but it is either ignored or improperly used in sensitivity and risk analyses. Unlike financial variables, the components of the ore reserve (grades and tonnages of mining blocks) are a function of location within the orebody. Physical (mining) access to these components is therefore a function of time which has a crucial effect on forecast cash flows. It is critical that these fundamental concepts are included in risk analyses of mining projects. The effects are considered of the uncertainty of the ore reserve on feasibility studies and open-pit mine design for a small gold mining venture. Geostatistical simulation is used as a method of quantifying the risk in using grades and tonnages estimated from sparse data

Jun 16, 1905

Jan 1, 1984

By T. D. Jones

Describes the facilities in South Wales for routine control and research work on all the various aspects of the dust problem. Considers mining and medical research, inspection and control, education, and plans for the future.

Jan 1, 1947

By Asfa-Wossen L.

Davy saw science to be the ultimate truth. He loved the utility and permanence of it and the feeling of progression. He was a bold chemist and an inventor, but he thought like a writer

Feb 1, 2015

By M. J. Matos, W. Patruk

The correct version of Equation 1 is represented and Tables 3 and 6 are revised to consider all size fractions, including those coarser than 300 micrometres, in calculating the total liberation from King's fractional liberation

Jun 18, 1905

By V. Distler, E. F. Stumpfl

Paper presented at the IAGOD international symposium on mineralisation related to mafic and ultramafic rocks held in Orleans, France, 1-3 September 1993. The massif contains large chromite bodies of "Alpine-type", ophiolitic affinity. Orebodies reach thicknesses of 150 m and sizes of more than 150 000 000 t chromite ore with average grades of 55-60 wt% Cr2O3. Chromites in the Main ore field are low-Al, high-Cr spinels which exhibit some variation in their Mg-Fe distribution. This differs markedly from high-Al spinels in peridotite host rocks and in narrow chromite pods which occur in the western and northern parts of the massif. Chromites carry silicate inclusions, often hydrous silicates such as amphibole. Chromites in massive chromitites contain micron size inclusions of platinum group minerals (PGM). Composite grains containing two PGM and, occasionally, a hydrous silicate are common. Os-Ir alloys rimmed by PGM sulpharsenides occur in narrow serpentine veinlets that cut chromite and are evidence for the reconcentration of PGE concomitant with introduction of As, probably during serpentinisation. Whole-rock PGE contents are highest in massive chromitites of Diamond Pearl mine (totals of 500 ppb). Chondrite-normalised PGE patterns of chromitites show negative slopes which are typical for ophiolitic, podiform chromitites in mantle sequences. The PGE patterns of host rocks are flat and rather depleted compared with those of chondrites and chromitites. Petrological data from unaltered host peridotites suggest a high temperature overprint leading to sub-solidus re-equilibration of olivine and spinel and to the growth of pargasitic and edenitic amphiboles

Jun 16, 1905

By C. R. Neary, R. A. Lord, H. M. Prichard

experimental results are compared and classifying

Aug 1, 1994

By F. G. Bell, S. E. T. Bullock

The investigation was undertaken as part of the environmental management programme that must be implemented on mine closure. It involved sampling and analysis of water from boreholes, the tin mine workings, trenches and pits as well as soil and dumps. Both ground- and surface water in the immediate vicinity of the mine was found to have been affected to varying degrees, mainly due to acid drainage from the pyrite dumps. Metal ions and toxic salts are taken into solution with increased acidity and precipitated in the soil when the pH rises again; there are concentrations of metal ions in the soils around the main dumps, but these do not seem to pose a major threat in a regional context. The low groundwater gradients, together with the dyke system in the vicinity of the main dumps and the impermeable nature of the Boschoffsberg rocks, make it unlikely that affected groundwater will migrate further than 1 000 m to the north and north-east. Nonetheless, it has been decided to remove the pyrite dumps

Dec 1, 1995

By D. H. Watkinson

Paper presented at the IAGOD international symposium on mineralisation related to mafic and ultramafic rocks held in Orleans, France, 1-3 September 1993. Part of the contact of the 4b orebody with the enclosing Murray granite is characterised by the presence of recrystallised and biotitic Sudbury Breccia; in places the contact is faulted and sheared. In other areas of the contact partly silicified granite contains disseminated chalcopyrite and quartz-chalcopyrite veins with other minor minerals. Both ore and veins contain platinum group minerals (PGM); predominant PGM are michenerite, kotulskite, merenskyite and sperrylite with Au, galena and Bi-tellurides. At some silicified-granite contacts Mn-rich garnets, some containing inclusions of PGM and quartz, are associated with biotite + epidote + stilpnomelane + quartz. PGM and Au also occur within Cl-rich biotite and ferropyrosmalite in massive sulphide and in siliceous ore. Quartz, chalcopyrite and feldspar in the contact rocks and in veins contain abundant, highly saline fluid inclusions. Studies showed that the fluids were trapped at intermediate temperatures. The 4b orebody is surrounded by a sheath of brecciated granite but is close to the Contact Sublayer. During and after emplacement of sulphide magma, saline formational fluid that was resident in the breccia interacted with hot massive sulphides in and near the Sublayer and remobilised Cu, Au and PGE. This fluid reacted with cooler rocks and ore in footwall fractures, enriching the 4b protore and producing the adjacent Cu- and PGE-enriched quartz veins. Exploration for Cu and PGE enrichment in footwall rocks of the Sudbury South Range is warranted not only in zones of magmatic ore in the Contact Sublayer but also in fractures and permeable units within Sudbury Breccia

Jun 16, 1905

By P Shead, M A. Tuck

Both climate and methane control have been a prime concern in the development of the workings within the Deep Soft seam at Harworth Colliery. This paper describes the numerous methods employed over the past 15 years to effect control over these two major environmental pollutants at Harworth and describes a future method of working which will enable the output levels required to be achieved, whilst effecting the required level of both climatic and methane control. Firstly, the paper gives a broad historical overview of the steps taken since 1981, when production started in the Deep Soft seam at Harworth Colliery, to effect control over the main environmental pollutants in the seam. Secondly, the paper details the results of planning exercises undertaken to assess the various options with respect to panel layout, to achieve environmental control in future production districts. Finally, the recommended method of panel design to achieve the levels of production required is detailed.

Jan 7, 1997

By G. E. Pearse, comp.

Questions from the conference delegates and replies by the papers' authors are summarised for sessions on hydropower, metro/rail and water/waste tunnels, tunnel-boring machines, environmental issues, research and case histories, design, and tunnel machinery, with reference to papers on tunnels in Lesotho, Nova Scotia, Italy, UK, Sweden, Kenya, Massachusetts, Germany, Norway, Taiwan, Switzerland, Greece, Malaysia, Australia and Texas.

Dec 1, 1994

By D. J. Wall, T. D. Johnson, M. T. Parry, G. R. Heath

In coal-fired power stations coal is ground to a fine powder and then transported pneumatically at 25-30 m/s velocity to remote burners. Wear of the conveying pipework is a well recognised problem and traditional lining materials are Nihard and basalt. In many cases these are being replaced by alumina tiles in order to improve life and reduce the frequency of replacement. A programme of laboratory testing of candidate aluminas with AIO, contents between 85% and 99-5% has been undertaken and the results compared with field experience. This gives confidence in the erosion tests, which were designed to replicate most of the field conditions. However, it has not proved possible to draw correlations between the laboratory erosion rates and any of the materials’ bulk properties. SEM, TEM and microanalysis studies have therefore been made in order to look for microstructural aspects that could be influencing erosion rates and it has been shown that intercrystalline cohesion, the matrix phase and porosity appear to have most influence on wear performance. It is necessary to quantify these microstructural parameters if reliable erosion performance is to be obtained. This paper was read at the Institute of Ceramics Annual Convention at the University of Durham, April 1988.

Jun 12, 1905

By G. R. Doughty

It is shown that sodium can be removed very readily from molten aluminium by the use of a beta"-alumina, the more highly conducting form of beta-alumina, provided that the surface of the tube is wetted by a layer of salt. From current/time plots the theoretical amount of sodium removed has been calculated and excellent agreement obtained. The beta"-alumina tubes can be immersed directly in the Al without fracturing if they are pre-heated for a few minutes prior to immersion. According to its stability beta"-alumina should be attacked by molten Al at low Na contents, but in these experiments the salt acted as a protective layer. Magnesium chloride is a relatively cheap salt, whose Mg product can be used within a foundry. The only other product is NaCl, which can be used in-house as a flux or sent for disposal. No polluting gases are used or produced and no drosses created. The time for removal of sodium was quite short, comparable to that for chlorination

Jun 21, 1905

Jan 1, 1947

Jan 1, 1947

"A film entitled ""It Can Be Done! "" was shown depicting conditions of work in an anthracite mine in South Wales. Shots of the research laboratory and the taking of dust samples were shown."

Jan 1, 1947

By B. H. Smith

"Most of the discoveries of nickel sulphide deposits in Western Australia have followed the search for gossans. The chances of further discoveries depend on improving our understanding of the cover of strongly leached and transported materials that obscure approximately 85% of the area of the Yilgarn Block that has nickel sulphide mineralization potential. The lateritic profiles that are observed on the Yilgarn Block today were formed over a period of more than 100 m.y. of warm and humid climates. This lateritized land surface has been preserved by induration during subsequent arid climates as well as by the structural stability of the Yilgarn Block.In geochemical surveys of lateritied terrain samples have to be taken from at least the saprolite zone usually by drilling so that confident predictions can be made of the significance of analytical data. Account must be taken of the mineralogy of samples, as well as the nature of the horizon of a laterite profile that is being sampled, owing to the concentrating effects on trace elements of Fe and Mn oxides.Multivariate techniques have been applied successfully to analytical data in gossan recognition when textural evidence is ambiguous. Pathfinder geochemistry has also been used in gossan recognition and the most significant recent advance has come from studies of platinum group metals in nickel sulphides and their dispersion during weathering."

Jan 1, 1984

Jan 1, 1947