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By Arístides Sotomayor

El presente texto señala la importancia del oro a nivel financiero y minero ya que los inversionistas suelen utilizar este metal para obtener ganancias debido al mínimo riesgo existente en la pérdida de su valor comparado con otras divisas. Así, se estima que en el Perú, existen 480 unidades mineras de oro, de las cuales 28 concentran cerca del 90% de la producción nacional, como la Minera Yanacocha, Minera Barrick, Compañía de Minas Buenaventura, Consorcio Minero Horizonte, Aruntani y Aurífera Retamas. Entre las dos regiones que producen mayor cantidad de oro está: Cajamarca y La Libertad ( 38%) y la tercera región es Arequipa, seguida por Madre de Dios (9%).

May 1, 2016

By Bill Tucker, Mike Black

"PROJECT OVERVIEW Crossrail, Europe’s largest construction project, will increase London’s transportation capacity by 10% when it opens in 2018. The Crossrail scheme is a combination of surface and underground railway that stretches 118km east-west through central London from Reading, Berkshire and Heathrow airport in the west to Shenfield, Essex and Abbey Wood in the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Bexley in the east. Crossrail will serve 40 stations, ten of which are new, and bring 1.5 million people within 45 minutes commuting distance of London’s key central business districts. 21km of the Crossrail route comprises twin-tunnels beneath the heart of central London. It is the central section of the route, and the challenges that had to be overcome to construct its tunnels under the historic capital that forms the subject of this paper. The route of the Crossrail tunnels can be seen in Figure 1. These tunnels weave their way through the city’s underground landscape, linking eight new underground stations which connect to the existing London Underground network, providing interchanges with nine existing lines as well as the National Rail and Docklands Light Railway networks.Crossrail began construction of enabling works in May 2009 and launched the first of eight tunnel boring machines (TBMs) in May 2012. 42km of major tunneling work was completed in May 2015, and included 11km of sprayed concrete lined tunnels at the five mined stations (Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street and Whitechapel) in addition to the bored tunnel sections. The remaining three sub-surface stations at Paddington, Canary Wharf and Woolwich were constructed as large open boxes prior to the TBMs passing through. Crossrail, Ltd. is a special purpose company formed by the project’s joint sponsors, Transport for London and the Department for Transport, to manage design, construction and commissioning of the project. In 2009, Crossrail engaged Bechtel Ltd. as its delivery partner and a joint venture, Transcend (comprised of CH2M, AECOM and the Nichols Group), as its programme partner. The project is being managed by an integrated programme management team which is staffed by Crossrail and its partners. The railway, when opened, will be operated by Rail for London. With tunneling completed in accordance with the project’s master control schedule, the new railway is scheduled to commence dynamic testing in late 2017, with a phased opening of the tunneled sections and stations through Central London in 2018."

Jan 1, 2016

By C. McAllister, D. Preece, J. Berendzen

The Multiple Blasthole Fragmentation (MBF) model was developed recently and has been reported in previous papers. The MBF model accepts inputs from the blast design, such as: location and orientation of each blast hole, stemming length, blast hole diameter, multiple decking, bench height, initiation sequence, etc. It models the effect on fragmentation of delay timing with its associated scatter for each blast hole. MBF has a statistical modeling capability for geological random variation of the attenuation of particle velocities. Also simulated is wave reinforcement due to the interaction of simultaneously arriving waves or diminishing cooperative contribution from long delay intervals between charges.

Jan 1, 2016

By George P. Demopoulos, Nima Parsi Benehkohal, Marianna Uceda

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) find wide range of applications from portable electronics to electric cars and stationary storage or renewable energy. LIB electrode fabrication is done through mixing the active material (Li-ion host) with carbon (conductive component) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), which acts as a binder. These components are dissolved in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) to form a paste which is then doctor bladed onto the aluminum current collector. NMP is a toxic chemical and the overall fabrication process remains costly. Efforts are made of eliminating NMP by (1) replacing the binder and (2) using a new fabrication method. Of particular interest among these new methods is electrophoretic deposition (EPD). Via the application of DC potential, particles in suspension can be electrophoretically deposited on different conductive substrates in a relatively fast rate rendering EPD feasible for industrial application. A key aspect for successful application of EPD is the formulation of a stable suspension. Within the McGill HydroMET group, we explore the potential of EPD in fabricating LIB electrodes having demonstrated its effectiveness in the case of P25 nanotitania/carbon anodes. The performance of EPD fabricated TiO2/C electrodes is compared to standard PVDF-based electrodes and shown to have comparable charge capacity. This method is now being extended to other electrode materials. In this paper an introduction to the EPD method will be made and subsequently its use in fabricating LIB electrodes will be described. The performance of the fabricated batteries is evaluated via galvanostatic charging/discharging and cycling tests.

Jan 1, 2016

By S. F. Burks

"This paper develops themes explained at two SAIMM platinum conferences. Optimization techniques can be used to significantly increase the value of mining businesses by enabling better long-term planning decisions. Open pit and underground mine design, mine scheduling, cut-off grade and blending, stockpiling, and the linking of these to flexible elements of the metallurgical recovery processes are all evaluated together. Transport or sale of intermediate products and the requirements of the product metal markets can also be considered. Experience shows that net present value (NPV) can be increased significantly, usually even before the expenditure of significant amounts of project capital. Recent studies of NPV have aimed to simultaneously evaluate the impact of the optimized financial solution on the non-financial features of a project or operation.The case study presented comprised a commercially orientated review of the prefeasibility study designs and cost estimates of a platinum group metal (PGM) project in South Africa, followed by value chain optimization and sustainability studies of the project carried out simultaneously to identify potential value uplifts to be gained and guide the owners’ team going forward into the feasibility study phase. Some of the major aspects of the project that were found to have significant potential to add value included enhancement of the business model by the application of activitybased costing and theory of constraints, focus on the highest net value portions of the orebody in the early years of production, enhanced and optimized scheduling of the underground mining operation, application of dynamic grind and percentage mass recovery from ore to flotation concentrate (also known as percentage mass pull) to optimize revenue, application of elevated cut-off grades early in the life of mine, matching of the mining and processing capacity, expansion of the operation subject to capital availability, and installation of downstream processing facilities subject to regional third-party capacities.The investigation of non-financial project features focused on demonstrating that a financially optimized solution could also have a number of other benefits. These are mentioned briefly in the paper, which aims to present the status of the project at an early stage of its development."

Jan 1, 2016

By J. O. Claassen

"A study conducted at 22 operating mines in the southern African region indicated that each mine employs about five management and improvement methods with roots in the manufacturing industry. All respondents reported the implementation of cost-saving initiatives, whereas 80% of the mines are affected by restructuring. TQM, Six Sigma, BPM, and TOC were found to be the most prevalent manufacturing management and improvement methods used. A mechanistic vs systemic evaluation of the suitability of these methods to bring about positive change in the industry suggested that complex, ever-changing mining systems are better served by a systemic flow-based approach, which is embedded in methods such as TOC, JIT, TPS, and Lean Production. These methods, however, lack industry presence, possibly because they do not effectively deal with the unique challenges associated with the mining environment. It is argued that successful mining business management and improvement depends on management’s ability to deal effectively with mining industry-specific requirements, the integration of the geologymining- plant system, and the implementation of systemic flow-based principles in all aspects of mining. IntroductionThe study aims to explore the use of manufacturing management and improvement methodologies in the southern African mining industry. Considering the unique challenges associated with mining operations, attention is given to the applicability of the most commonly used manufacturing methodologies in the tactical, operational, and strategic environments. The article endeavours to stimulate more research and debate in an unexplored field of study."

Jan 1, 2016

By H. Ehnes

"“Industry 4.0” – “Mining 4.0” - perhaps you have already heard of these terms? These keywords signify the next stage of industrial production. The internet and production technologies are growing closer together. Machines can communicate with one another, wherever they may happen to be located. The “Internet of Things” is the appropriate term. But what does SAFETY 7.0 mean? It is both brand new and traditional at the same time. It also has to do with the success of companies, with efficient production. And yet there is a great deal more at stake. It has to do with our lives and our safety – the supreme commodity in this world. What exactly SAFETY 7.0 means, what the number 0 stands for and the meaning of the number 7, and what this all has to do with mining will be explained in the following article. Mining is a fascinating undertaking. Mining is indispensable for a country’s economic development, whatever that may concern: infrastructure, energy supplies or raw materials for industrial production. Mining has brought forth many technological developments and innovations that can currently be found in our daily lives. Mining is impressive, grandiose and repeatedly fascinates mankind with its immense dimensions. Miners throughout the world still work hard and, for this reason, are bound to one another in a special way. In mining, every man looks out for the other; you have to be able to rely on each other. That creates a strong bond. The other side of the coin is that mining and disasters belong to normality in the media and thus also in our perception. Accidents at work and even catastrophes occur in mining, quarries, or raw material operations almost on a daily basis somewhere in the world. They are often associated with extremely serious injuries, or even a fatal outcome, for the miners affected and, in turn, dramatic consequences for the families of those involved. It could be in China, India, Russia, or somewhere in Africa, Asia or America – it mostly does not happen in front of our door or in our neighbour- hood. Perhaps because of this in the daily concert of negative headlines, we do not register these catastrophes any more in our minds. We write them off under the heading “Nothing special”, since there are, day in day out, more terrible news items about wars, civil wars, famines, or ecological disasters. Things only really change if there is a dramatic number of deaths or when we are personally affected, close by in the vicinity, or can witness the rescue action live. In Europe, these three mining disasters in particular have recently generated media resonance:"

Jan 1, 2016

By J. W. van der Merwe, A. S. Bolokang, M. J. Phasha, V. J. Matjeke, C. Moopanar

"Excessive wear rates on railway wheels can result in rolling-stock derailments. If wear is detected early the possible derailments can be prevented by prematurely replacing wheelsets, although the inventory cost and maintenance downtime remain a challenge. In the current study, wheels were introduced and monitored in-service for two years to investigate the cause of excessive wear rates. The wear rates and stresses were calculated for the wheels suitable for a maximum load of 26 t per axle. Microstructural and mechanical properties were analysed. As expected, the general microstructure of all the wheels tested was pearlitic. Although all the wheels complied with the tensile strength requirements, stress calculations confirmed material distortion on excessively worn wheels whereas trial wheels revealed yield strength exceeding the yield criterion. High wear rates observed on the wheels were a result of low yield strength relative to the load per axle. The typical wear mechanism found was due to a combination of rolling contact fatigue and abrasive brake wear. Despite compliance of the wheels with existing requirements regarding material and mechanical properties (hardness, ultimate tensile strength), it is recommended that the yield strength must also be taken into consideration as a critical parameter.IntroductionRailway wheels are used to support the wagon mass and guide the wagon along the tracks (Park, 1974). The wheels and rails must be able to tolerate the applied tangential forces in order to effect wagon dynamic performance and reduce material deformation (Ghidini et al., 1994; RSE_TE_SPC_0045, 2011; AAR M107/M 208 Specification, 2011. Over the past ten years, the South African coal wagon maintenance depot has experienced excessive hollow wheel wear rates on the heavy haul line wheels. The maximum load of Jumbo wagons on the coal line is 104 t, or 26 t per axle. Although the maintenance intervention cycle for wheelsets was two years, between February 2011 and August 2012 some wheels experienced excessive hollow wear. Hollow wear is regarded as wear exceeding 2 mm on the central portion of the wheel tread (RSE_TE_SPC_0045, 2011). This happened despite the fact that these wheels were manufactured and certified according to the requirements of AAR M107/208 standard for carbon steel wheels (AAR M107/M 208 Specification,. 2011) and the local wheel RS/ME/SP 021 standard specification (RS / ME / SP / 021 REV 5 (2013). The AAR standard only specifies a minimum hardness as a required mechanical property and the local standard specifies hardness and minimum tensile strength only. In general, an increase in hardness will improve the rolling/sliding wear resistance of steel. This relationship of hardness and wear resistance was found to be true only in a situation where solid and similar alloys are in contact (Singh, Khatirkar and Sapate, 2015). The sliding wear resistance of a material is usually estimated using Archard’s equation (Liu and Li, 2001)."

Jan 1, 2016

"Guideline Augered Cast-In-Place (ACIP) Pile Specification and Commentary11.0 GENERAL1.1 SCOPEThe Pile Contractor shall furnish all labor, materials, tools and equipment necessary for furnishing, installing and testing Augered Cast-in-Place (ACIP) piles as shown on the Contract Drawings and as specified herein.ACIP piles are commonly referred to by several other names. Some of them are trademarks or service marks owned by Foundation Contractors and some are names that try to describe the installation process. The term “cast-inplace” is sometimes replaced with “cast-in-situ,” especially in Europe. Some common names are Auger Cast Piles, Intruded Mortar Piles, Augerpress Piles, Augered Pressure Grouted Piles, AugerPile Foundations, Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) Piles, Grouted Bored Piles, Augered Grout-Injected Piles, Drilled or Augered Uncased Piles, and Uncased Cast-in-Place Concrete Piles. To avoid confusion, ACIP pile will be used exclusively herein.1.2 PILE CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONSThe ACIP piles shall be installed by an experienced Pile Contractor who upon request of the Engineer shall submit evidence of successful ACIP pile installation under similar job and subsurface conditions, including a job supervisor who shall have a minimum of five years of method specific experience.The proper installation of the ACIP piles is dependent upon the procedures used by the Pile Contractor’s field representatives and equipment provided. The Pile Contractor’s personnel responsible for the installation should have relevant experience with the auguring and pumping equipment, experience placing piles under similar site conditions (including restricted headroom if appropriate), in similar subsurface conditions, as well as experience handling the special grout mixes, admixtures, etc."

Jan 1, 2016

By Dimitrios Litsas, Michael Kavvadas, Panagiotis Sitarenios

"The paper discusses the results of 3D finite element analyses to investigate the effect of face support pressure and soil permeability on face stability conditions in EPB tunnelling. Two main types of face behavior are identified: Undrained conditions ahead of the tunnel face, typically occurring in soils with permeability less than about k=5·10-7m/s, are shown to be favourable for face stability; analyses show that an applied face pressure comparable with the initial hydrostatic pore pressure is sufficient for adequate face stability, even for soils of relatively low strength. Drained or partially conditions, typically occurring in soils with permeability higher than about k=5·10-6m/s, show that face stability is strongly dependent on the horizontal effective stress of the muck in the excavation chamber; the presence of even a small effective stress in the muck is very beneficial for face stability conditions and can be a possible explanation of successful EPB tunnelling through relatively permeable soils. INTRODUCTION Face stability is probably the most important aspect in urban tunnelling. Usually, Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) machines are utilized, to ensure that a reasonable amount of face pressure is exerted on the advancing excavation face, reducing ground loss and preventing potential instability of the face core, thus controlling the amount of disturbance caused by tunnel excavation to surface structures. However, the ideal amount of face pressure depends on several factors (ground and groundwater conditions, tunnel size and depth, muck conditioning, etc.) which are difficult to include in analytical calculations. For many years, conventional empirical or analytical methods (e.g. Anagnostou & Kovari 1996) were the only available tools for quantifying face stability and selecting the required face pressure. In the last few years, however, numerical analyses have gained power over conventional methods, allowing more accurate designs and providing useful information about the anticipated ground deformations due to tunnelling. Numerical analyses have also been used in assessing safety against face instability using face extrusion (horizontal face displacement) calculations (e.g. Prountzopoulos 2012)."

Jan 1, 2016

By T. Tholana, P. N. Neingo

"Mining companies globally are currently facing severe economic and financial challenges. In addition to global challenges, the South African mining industry has to face other operational challenges that are unique to the country and which threaten the survival and competitiveness of the industry. Profit margins are being squeezed by rising costs and decreasing commodity prices, while labour productivity is greatly affected by intermittent labour unrest. This paper analyses how the South African gold mining industry has performed pre-, during, and post the global financial crisis of 2008. The competitiveness of the industry in terms of labour productivity and industry cost curve position is analysed for the period 2006–2013 to assess the impacts of both the global financial crisis and labour unrest. An analysis of the South African gold mining industry is presented at company as well as mine level. Productivity measure in this paper is limited to labour productivity, in line with limited reporting on productivity. All the data analysed was obtained from the public domain. IntroductionSouth Africa dominated the world as the number one gold producer until 2009 when China took that position, and today South Africa ranks fifth after China, Australia, Russia, and the USA. According to Statistics South Africa (2009), South Africa still had about 30 years of production in the gold sector, a forecast that fluctuates based on the day’s modifying factors. Although South Africa has a comparative advantage in terms of minerals endowment, there are challenges faced by the mining industry that hinder translation of the comparative advantage into a competitive advantage. The industry continually seeks to address these challenges to remain competitive in global markets while addressing national and community needs.Neingo and Cawood (2014) argued that stakeholders in mining are continually concerned with mine management’s ability to translate use inputs effectively into quality outputs. They further suggested close monitoring of effective utilization of people, materials, and money to obtain maximum production of commodities under given conditions. Productivity is measured in various ways, including unit cost, output per employee, and output per unit capital equipment"

Jan 1, 2016

By Jochen Petersen, Diane Taggart

"At an average of 90.3% (for the period of 1 January 2009 to 30 September 2011), Zincor’s zinc recovery was well below the industry standard of 96%. The losses through the residues, in particular the iron residue, were the biggest contributors to the overall zinc loss. It was believed that this loss could be decreased with the implementation of seed recycling. A plant trial was run to test the implementation of a seed recycle. The rate of seed addition through recycle was increased over a 4-week period. The presence of seed decreased the insoluble zinc loss by providing additional surface area for iron to precipitate onto, and reducing coating of unleached neutralising agent. The soluble zinc loss was also decreased at low and moderate seed recycle volumes. The improvement was attributed to agglomeration growth of the recycled particles, which improves the dewatering characteristics of the precipitate. In contrast, the soluble zinc loss increased at high seed recycle rates. This result was attributed to particle crowding and a low wash ratio.INTRODUCTION The Zincor refinery, which closed in December 2011, was situated just outside of Springs in the Gauteng Province of South Africa and employed the conventional Roast-Leach-Electrowin process, which accounts for 75 to 80% of the annual primary zinc production in the world. The refinery fed up to 220 000 t/a of zinc sulphide concentrate. The major portion of the raw material was sourced in Southern Africa from the Rosh Pinah and Black Mountain mines. Between 20 000 and 40 000 t/a of material was imported to make up the deficit and to improve the grade of the feed material. The iron contained in the zinc concentrates, at an average of 6.03% (for the period of 1 January 2009 to 30 September 2011), resulted in the formation of zinc ferrite during roasting, which is insoluble under atmospheric leach conditions. At Zincor, most of the zinc ferrite was dissolved in the residue treatment plant at elevated temperature and high acid strength. The leach liquor from this aggressive leach contained between 15 to 30 g/L of iron, mostly in the ferric form, and was known as the hot iron solution (HIS). The presence of iron in the liquor had an adverse effect on the zinc operation, particularly on the current efficiency in the electrowinning circuit. Therefore the iron needed complete removal."

Jan 1, 2016

By N. H. J. Freire, D. Majuste

In this paper, the effects of some organic compounds on the current efficiency, cell voltage and specific energy consumption during nickel electrowinning, and on the deposit features (morphology, crystallographic orientation and nanohardness) were described. The organics tested here (extractant, diluent, flocculant, lubricating oil and acid mist suppressant) are currently used in industrial plants. The results indicated that only the flocculant and acid mist suppressant exhibit relevant negative impacts on the current efficiency and energy consumption. The current efficiency dropped from 93.6 % (organic-free solutions) to 86.0 % and to 92.8% in electrolytes containing 100 mg.L-1 of acid mist suppressant and flocculant, respectively. At this concentration, their addition to the electrolyte led to increases of the specific energy consumption in the order of 18 % (acid mist supressant) and 2 % (flocculant). Cyclic voltammetry showed that Ni nucleation occurs at more negative potentials at 50 and 100 mg.L-1 of these organics in the electrolyte, thus indicating an inhibition of the deposition process. The deposit quality decreased at the higher concentration of all organics, when more hydrogen pitting was observed. The acid mist suppressant caused delamination of the Ni deposit at 50 and 100 mg.L-1. The addition of 100 mg.L-1 of flocculant and acid mist suppressant to the electrolyte increased the nanohardness of the deposit around 31 and 72%, respectively. The increase in Ni deposit hardness may lead to a decrease in the material ductility, thereby affecting the stripping and cutting of Ni sheets. Our findings may be helpful since strong adverse effect of some organics that may be present in the electrolyte were identified, thus the industry can control and optimize the organic´s dosage in the corresponding operations.

Jan 1, 2016

By M. Bunch

"THE SUPER CYCLE IS GONE The utopia of the rising sales volume, for mining companies from 2002-2011, was entirely due to rising production volume and prices. The Australian mining sector experienced an 18 percent annual growth rate in revenues, and 11 percent growth in prices. (1) However, EBIT remained flat during the same time period. In addition, Australian mines saw a 7 percent annual decline in both labor and capital productivity. (2) Mines in the U.S. and Canada produced similar results, whereas the world-wide mining industry has seen a productivity drop of 40% since 2001. (3) The decade “Bull Run” of rising prices was trashed by companies that chased low-quality assets while increasing debt on their balance sheet. It seemed everyone believed the “super cycle” would last forever, while completely ignoring the history of cycle downturns. Worldwide mining operations are as much as 28 percent less productive today than a decade ago, according to new McKinsey research. The results from McKinsey’s new MineLens Productivity Index (MPI), which adjusts for declining ore grades and mine cost inflation, show that the pronounced decline in productivity is evident across different commodities and is seen in most mining players and geographies. (4) McKinsey sees three important areas of focus to address the root causes of productivity decline. 1) Embed effective management operating systems at mines 2) Prioritized operational excellence and capabilities development 3) Focus on innovation Reality has now settled back in and companies are struggling to make ends meet. The basic management staple of controlling costs and improving the production/productivity that was lost in the excitement is now back in play. Traditional cost-cutting approaches, such as across-the-board spending cuts, layoffs, and hiring freezes are only short-term initiatives and will not permanently improve a company’s cost structure or improve long- term competitiveness. This can only be accomplished by engaging front-line employees and empowering them to make necessary improvements in their daily work. It is time for leaders to lead and develop cultures of continuous improvement within their organizations in order to sustain their mining project to the end of mine life. Successful operating managers require two different skill sets of Leadership and Management; knowing how to lead people in their organization and how to manage the work they do."

Jan 1, 2016

By J. Sikamo, A. Mwanza, C. Mweemba

"The Zambian copper mining industry as we know it today had its genesis in the 1920s. Consistent private sector-driven investment in the industry over a period of over 50 years in exploration, mine development and operation, development of minerals processing facilities, building of infrastructure for pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processing, with attendant support facilities, including building of whole new towns, resulted in copper production rising to a peak of 769 000 t in 1969, providingover 62 000 direct jobs. The industry was nationalized in 1973 and remained in government hands for just over 24 years. During this period, the industry experienced a serious decline in production levels, reaching the lowest level in the year 2000 when production was 250 000 t. An average of just under 2000 jobs were lost every year in the 24-year period, reaching just over 22 000 direct jobs in 2000.Following the return of Zambian politics to pluralism and liberalized economic policies, the government decided to privatize the mining industry. The process started in 1996 and by the year 2000 all the mining assets had been privatized. The new investors embarked on serious investment to upgrade the assets and to develop greenfield mining projects. Fourteen years later and after more than US$12 billion investment, production levels increased year-on-year to a peak of 763 000 t in 2013 with direct jobs reaching 90 000.This paper discusses the impact of the mining industry in Zambia on the economy in areas such as employment, support for other industries, direct contribution to the national gross domestic product (GDP), foreign exchange earnings, and social amenities. The paper also focuses on the performance of the mines during these periods vis-à-vis mineral availability, mineral grades and complexity, new technologies, and human capital. This is looked at particularly in the light of current challenges the industry is facing. Suggestions are proposed on how the industry can be nurtured to continue being a major driver for the Zambian economy and a major player in the international copper mining business."

Jan 1, 2016

By Shemek Oginski, MARK C. JOHNSON

All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Information contained in this work has been obtained by SME, Inc. from sources believed to be reliable. However, neither SME nor its authors guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein, and neither SME nor its authors shall be responsible for any errors, omissions, or damages arising out of use of this information. This work is published with the understanding that SME and its authors are supplying information but are not attempting to render engineering or other professional services. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any statement or views presented here are those of individual authors and are not necessarily those of the SME. The mention of trade names for commercial products does not imply the approval or endorsement of SME.

Dec 1, 2015

By A Scott, A C. Torrance

Explosive properties are typically summarised on manufacturers’ technical data sheets. The values most commonly referred to are the density of the explosive, the energy it is expected to release and its velocity of detonation (VOD). This information is provided so that blasting engineers can make a considered selection of the most appropriate product for a particular blasting application. As an example, a lower VOD and energy product is better suited to blasting in soft, weathered material. In contrast, blasting hard, competent material generally requires a higher energy product which is usually characterised by higher VOD and energy.A review of the technical information supplied by manufacturers shows a wide range of methods of reporting both VOD and energy. A meaningful comparison between products from different suppliers is almost impossible to achieve based on these data. For a similar product, one supplier may have a VOD range of 2800–5800 m/s and a relative bulk strength of 1.34 while a corresponding product from another supplier is quoted with a VOD range of 3100–6300 m/s and a relative bulk strength of 192. In the end, the user has to rely on the level of confidence available from their experience using a certain type of explosive in the type of rock to be blasted at that mine.This paper reviews some of the technical and supporting information that is freely available in the literature and attempts to provide some clarity as to what the numbers that are reported actually mean for the end user. An alternative approach to the evaluation of the suitability of a given explosive to blast a given rock mass is proposed.CITATION:Torrance, A C and Scott, A, 2015. What is relative about energy?, in Proceedings 11th International Symposium on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting, pp 447–454 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 24, 2015

By T N. Little

The grade control process undertaken at mines aims to maximise the value of the ore (valuable product) mined and fed downstream for processing or sale. The full range of grade control activities includes: reserve estimating, drilling/sampling, assaying, modelling, ore block design, blasting, ore mark out, excavating, stockpiling, processing and reconciling. Over the last 25 years, the grade control process has undergone significant improvements and this is in part due to the developments in grade control blasting. This paper discusses the development and classification of grade control blasting applications in surface mining. A review by the author in 1988 (Little and van Rooyen, 1988) is used as a benchmark for discussing the very significant progress that has been made.Two major technology initiatives have enabled this development. The first was the development of a method for the measurement and analysis of total displacement during the blasting process. Currently, the Blast Movement Monitor (BMM®) is a practical tool that has been used around the world to improve the industry’s understanding of three-dimensional blast movement dynamics. The second technological enabler was the development of electronic detonator systems. The unique aspects of electronic detonating systems are their higher accuracy and that all detonators are activated at time zero (initiation). From a grade control blasting perspective these features and other improvements allow experimentation and, ultimately, more complex, multiobjective blasts to be designed and implemented.This paper reports on a classification and review study undertaken by the author. In all, five selective blasting methods and nine bulk blasting methods are classified and reviewed. Five important observations are made: there is value in classifying the range of grade control blasting strategies, and the blasting objective framework presented is helpful in this regard the range of strategies available to designers is increasing as enabling technology develops, so too do the ambitions of blast designers and the expectations of downstream customersgrade control blasting and Mine to Mill concepts are merging, and this paper caters for this trend using multiple blasting objectiveshaving a technical primary blasting objectives framework, combined with the classification system presented here, should assist practitioners and stakeholders with lateral thinking in regards to future technological innovations, grade control blasting and Mine to Mill initiatives.CITATION:Little, T N, 2015. Classification and development in grade control blasting for surface mines, in Proceedings 11th International Symposium on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting, pp 343–354 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 24, 2015

By A. Ploszajski

This item examines the history and uses of tungsten, from discovery to superalloys via the lightbulb and electron beam instruments.

Apr 1, 2015

By K J. F Logan, P W. Leaman, B A. Tucker

"An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation. The Nam San copper-gold deposit was discovered in 2011 and is a likely blind extension of the Permian age Phu Kham structurally deformed porphyry/skarn copper-gold deposit.The Nam San mineralisation is hosted within a dominantly sericite altered schist unit located to the north of the current Phu Kham open pit operation and is overthrust by an allochthonous barren cover sequence of limestone, granite and sandstone. Reinterpretation of the Phu Kham geology developed the concept of a possible telescoped porphyry copper-gold system at depth. Initial drilling intersected remobilised copper mineralisation in a basal conglomerate, confirming the concept. A reconnaissance vector array induced polarisation (IP) survey identified a deep chargeability anomaly from which a drilling target was developed from 3D inversion modelling of a detailed follow up dipole-pole-dipole anomaly. Drilling of the chargeability anomaly intersected the blind Nam San copper-gold mineralisation beneath the thrusted cover sequence.The key discovery parameters are the result of an integrated exploration program that included reinterpretation of the local stratigraphy, which developed the concept of a deep blind orebody, IP surveys capable of penetrating through the barren cover and a commitment to a deep directional drilling program to test these concepts and targets. The inferred resource remains open at depth, and further assessment will most likely be through underground development.CITATION:Leaman, P W, Tucker, B A and Logan, K J F, 2015. The discovery of the Nam San copper-gold deposit, Phu Kham, Laos, in Proceedings PACRIM 2015 Congress, pp 515–520 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 18, 2015