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By D. C. Rance

"The Quintette Coal Limited property is located in the northeast coal area of British Columbia.A basic agreement with the Japanese steel industry was executed on January 27, 1981 for the sale of 69.5 million tonnes of Quintette metallurgical coal over a 14.5-year period. This contract period can be extended by five years by mutual agreement. Sale agreements have also been signed for the sale of 19.4 million tonnes of oxidized coal over a 15-year period.Work started on site development in the late summer of 1981, and at present, two of the four eventual pits-the McConkey and Frame-are under development.The pits are currently in a prestripping phase. These pits are notable for the stripping volumes that have to be removed from relatively small pit areas. In order to provide for the required detailed rapid short-range planning of these pits, engineering will be computerized, as will the truck dispatch system.The mining area lies 21.1 km from the plant site by road and the transport of raw coal to the plant is by means of a high-speed conveyor system which has a total length of 13.4 km with a vertical drop of 740 m.The surface plant facility was designed on a modularized basis to facilitate maintenance, and is designed to enable the use of gravity f low of raw coal and heavy media in the plant to minimize the use of pumps.The construction of the plant and mine site facilities is ongoing, and the first coal production is scheduled for early December 1983.IntroductionQuintett e Coal Limited is a Canadian company incorporated in the province of British Columbia in 1971. Denison Mine s Limited is the manager of Quintette's activities. Equity in Quintette Coal Limited is held by several shareholders, with interests as follows: Denison Mines Limited, 50%; Charbonnages de France International S.A., 12%; and Japanese interest, 38%."

Jan 1, 1983

By Jack C. Haptonstall

Abstract-Minas de San Luis, S.A. operates the old Tayoltita mine located in the Sierra Madre Occidental in Durango, Mexico. Yearly production is 55 000 kg (1.7 million troy ox) of silver and 1000 kg (31,000 troy ox) of gold from milling 165 000 t/y (181,900 stpy) obtained from fissure veins. A 4.4 km (2.75 miles) adit, to intersect the veins below existing workings, was completed in 1974. The adit and ancillary projects facilitated extensive mechanization of the mine, ramp development of it, integration of duplicate facilities and elimination of obsolete facilities. It provided a deep-level access for exploration and development of the veins, and resulted in a 25% increase in production with the same labor force. The cost of the in-house financed project was $3.4 million.

Jan 2, 1978

By Douglas Marcel Quatiabara Sander Libardi

O optical televiewer (OPTV) é um dispositivo de perfilagem geofísica que produz uma imagem contínua e orientada da parede do furo de sondagem. Neste trabalho, foram selecionadas perfilagens realizadas em furos de sondagem executados em duas minas que fazem parte da ‘Megaestrutura Gandarela’, localizada na porção centro-norte do Quadrilátero Ferrífero, Minas Gerais. As imagens geradas pela sonda OPTV desempenham um papel auxiliar em campanhas de exploração mineral e também na aquisição de informações geotécnicas. Os dados coletados foram retirados das filmagens realizadas a partir da sonda OPTV e do geoposicionamento oferecido pela sonda. A marcação das estruturas nas imagens de OPTV, a correção da deriva magnética e as análises cinemáticas foram realizadas nos softwares WellCad e Dips. O principal objetivo deste trabalho é efetuar a análise cinemática feita a partir de estruturas marcadas em imagens de OPTV e compará-la com a análise cinemática efetuada a partir das estruturas identificadas no mapeamento geológico estrutural nas minas. O estudo mostrou que as estruturas marcadas com OPTV reproduzem satisfatoriamente as observações do mapeamento geológico estrutural.

Oct 30, 2017

By J. B. Yianatos

This paper addresses the impact on performance of column height (H), and column height to diameter (H/D) ratio by modelling the effect of HID on mixing and consequently on recovery and grade. Mineral recovery increases with increasing H/D ratio for a constant column volume and feed flowrate, while the concentrate grade decreases to a minor extent. Columns 10-15m in height with H/D-10 are well suited for feed rates 150-600 L/min. Maximum H/D is determined by the gas carrying capacity, an important consideration for pilot units where H/D?200.

Jan 1, 1987

By G. F. Raymond, W. P. Armstrong

"At the time of this study, the Valley mine was producing 23 000 tonnes of ore per day from a large, low-grade porphyry copper orebody. Sulphide mineralization, principally bornite and chalcopyrite, occurs in a stock work of quartz veins in one phase of the Guichon Creek batholith. The property was explored from 1967 to 1982, and was placed in production in 1983.Using a three-parameter lognormal approximation developed by G.F. Raymond at Similkam een and Mount Isa Mines, a geo- statistical conditional probability ore reserve was estimated prior to mining. Comparisons with blasthole kriging and milled ore for the first 17 months of production showed close agreements at all cut-offs between conditional probability estimates and mineable ore. This was not true of either kriging or polygon estimates. An important part of this work was identifying and correcting for bias in both exploration and blasthole samples.IntroductionCominco's Valley lake deposit is a large, low-grade, porphyry copper orebody in the Highland Valley of British Columbia. Total indicated plus inferred ore reserves are 700 M tonnes at ore grade of 0.47070 Cu. At the time of writing, ore milling is at a rate of 23 000 tI d through the old Bethlehem mill. Mining is in 10m horizontal benches using 9.8 m3 shovels and 90 tonne trucks. Since this paper was written, Valley and nearby Lomex have been combined into Highland Valley Copper with a combined oreproduction of about 120 000 tI d.Copper mineralization, principally bornite and chalcopyrite, is regularly distributed throughout the deposit as disseminated low-grade within a granodiorite host rock, and as higher grade veinlets within a stock work of near-vertical quartz veins generally 10 cm or less in width. It is likely that problems with sample variability and sample bias are mainly related to mineralization within quartz veining. Valley geology has been described in detail by Allen and Richardson and by Osatenko and Jones (2). The exploration sampling program and identification of diamond-drill sample bias have been discussed by Armstrong and Newman'»."

Jan 1, 1988

By A. G. Roach

Introduction The plant described in this paper is located at Coniston, Ontario, the smelting centre of the former Mond Nickel Company. Coniston is situated some eight miles east of Sudbury on the main line of the Canadian Pacific railway and on the Toronto-Capreol branch of the Canadian National-railways. The plant is now under control of the International Nickel Company, as a result of the merger of the two companies in 1929. The smelter proper includes four 50-in. by 240-in. blast furnaces and five 13 ft. by 30 ft. converters, and has a capacity of about 65,000 tons of ore charge per month. As accessories to the smelter there are a mill, where some 10,000 tons per month of low-grade ores are concentrated, and the sintering plant, which is the subject of this paper. The present 6-unit sintering plant replaces a former 4-unit installation. Here, fine ores, concentrates, and flue-dust are sintered on Dwight-Lloyd machines, the sinter produced being charged into the blast furnaces. At the time of writing (1931), only the concentrator is operating at capacity, due to present world conditions.

Jan 1, 1932

The reduced need for traditionally trained and educated personnel in the mining industry is systemic to the changing mining industry. Our universities and other training institutions are doing just fine meeting the traditional skill needs required by the industry. But are the skill needs going to be the same in the near future? The answer may be NO!! Mining is changing: increased liabilities and costs of environmental and safety issues; lower grades of minerals in traditional mining activities; the advent of new bio-chemical processes and robotic equipment as more productive and economic alternatives; and, larger more sophisticated and automatic equipment. Engineering is more specific, accurate, precise and expensive. Measurement is more thorough and timely of progress, production, costs, and productivity. And we will be engaging in more undersea mining, possibly space bases processing, less human interaction, and more remote control of events than was ever thought possible in the past. This paper presents several of the systemic changes that are presently and will continue to change the face of mining. It will identify area where education and management will have to address these changes.

Jan 1, 2011

By T Hicks

Designers of mining facilities play a significant role in defining the overall mine greenhouse gas emissions performance. This demands an appreciation of all the greenhouse gas emissions sources, including Scope 3 emissions, which will form an increasing fraction of the emissions as we transition our generation sources to renewable energy. Traditionally overland conveyors are designed to operate as fast as practical, and through this approach, achieve relative minimisation of: conveyor belt tensions; belt width; mechanical equipment masses; structural steel quantities; and concrete quantities. It is well understood that higher belt speeds reduce capital cost and improve project economics. Operating at higher speeds introduces operating costs through system energy losses and increased wear rates. This paper assesses the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions for a typical iron ore overland conveyor to demonstrate how the design criteria and engineering decisions impact greenhouse gas emissions and project economics. An analysis of the decarbonisation potential and project economics using a range of operational parameters has been completed, developing a marginal abatement cost for each system configuration, creating a basis for integration of low emission overland conveyor designs as part of the broader facility decarbonisation strategy.

Sep 1, 2024

By Robert W. Hunt

The memorable features of American history have been making fast during the last century, and notably so since 1860; and they are by no means confined to political or to any one branch of scientific development. Of all the industrial arts, none show a greater change or 'a mightier progress than the Bessemer manufacture. And this year, while we are celebrating the first centennial of our national life, we can also celebrate the first decennial of American Bessemer practice. While not forgetting or undervaluing what has been done in other countries, I have thought that a brief history of the introduction and development of the Pneumatic or Bessemer process in America would be of interest. In 1863 the Kelly Pneumatic Process Company was formed and an arrangement entered into with William Kelly, who had taken out letters-patent of the United States, Nos. 16,444; 17,628, reissued as 505; 18,910, dated January loth, 1857; June 23d, 1857; November 36, 1857; and December 22d, 1867, respectively. This association mas composed of the Cambria Iron Company, E. B. Ward, Park Brothers & Co., Lyon, Shorb & Co., Z. S. Durfee, and, later, Chouteau, Harrison & Valle joined the combination. Not satisfied with possessing the control of the Kelly patent, they sent Mr. 2. S. Durfee to England, to secure for this country Mushet's patent on recarburization, No. 17,389, dated May 26th, 1857, the same having been taken out in England on September 22d, 1856. In this Mr. Durfee was successful. Previous to the application of William Kelly for a patent, Henry Bessemer, of England, had taken out patents dated February 12th, 1856, and August 25th, 1856, in this country. Kelly claimed priority in the discovery of the principles of the process, and the Patent-office allowed his claim by granting him his patents. In the autumn of 1862 Mr. Alexander L. Holley, while in England, was impressed with the importance of Mr. Bessemer's invention, and so fully foresaw its future, that, upon his return to the United States, he induced Messrs. John A. Griswold and John F. Winslow, of Troy, New York, to join him in endeavoring to possess Bessemer's American patents. Mr. Holley returned to England in

By Valenta R. K

A technique is presented for the integrated forward modelling of the three-dimensional structure and the geophysical response of multiply deformed terrains. This technique allows information collected by field geologists and geophysicist to be reconciled by the development of a simplified kinematic structural history of the area. The structural modelling simulates the deformation history of the area in terms of a succession of structural events, such as folds, shear zones and intrusions. The interaction of these events with a starting stratigraphy results in the prediction of the geometry of the structures. By specifying geophysical rock properties for the units in the initial stratigraphy predictions are possible for the potential field anomalies for gravity and magnetics. This approach is suited to a range of applications, and its uses in the modelling of regional structures, testing of geophysical data processing, volume balancing, multiply constrained inversion and training are discussed.

Jan 1, 1995

By J. P. H. Steele, T. Vincent, C. Debrunner, M. Whitehorn

For a variety of reasons, the need for automation of underground mining equipment is growing dramatically, e.g., improved safety and health, availability of labor, deeper mines, and desire for more focused excavation. While there has been tremendous progress made in this direction, much needs to be done to reach the holy grail of an autonomous mining machine. This paper reviews a number of technological developments and presents research and development needs for future development. A report on our current project for the Western Mining Resource Center at CSM is included.

Jan 1, 2000

By J. Paraszczak

Underground metal mining involves many challenges. Economic slowdown, tough international competition and sometimes volatile metal prices put constant pressure on mine operators to increase productivity and to reduce production cost. At the same time, countries such as Canada, the United States and Australia are experiencing skilled labor shortages that might even stall development of certain mine projects. Furthermore, some stages of underground production take place in particularly hazardous environments where the safety and health of miners is at risk. Automation of some processes in underground mining is one of the promising avenues to alleviate some of these problems. Loading and haulage are among the most critical operations and areas where implementation of autonomous vehicles has been targeted. However, although health and safety issues are a primary driver to opt for automation, the latter should ensure an acceptable level of productivity and pro?tability. With this in mind, this article focuses on the factors affecting operational effectiveness of autonomous underground loading and haulage equipment and the means to maximize it.

By D. A. Hill

This volume contains a summary of the results of past analyses on U.S. Bureau of Mines Contract No. H0122061 which are relevant to electromagnetic location in mine rescue situations. The analytical results indicated that detection of a trapped miner equipped with a special transmitter is feasible in most situations. Location of the miner by surface measurements is also generally feasible within certain errors. The feasibility of miner detection and the accuracy of miner location have been examined theoretically for a wide variety of situations. Agreement with experimental results is generally good in cases where measurements are available.

One of the responsibilities of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works is to provide a sewerage system for the metropolis of Melbourne which now contains over 2.5 million people. In providing this sewerage system it was necessary for the Board to embark on a large tunnelling programme some 20 years ago. As a result of this extensive tunnel construction programme, tunnel boring machines and shaft sinking methods have been developed to cope with the soft ground and soft to medium rock found in the southern and eastern areas of Melbourne where the majority of the recent tunnelling has been carried out. While in the last few years radical changes in construction methods have not been made, development has continued and improvements have been made, which have enabled the Board to extend the limits of the ground conditions in which it can efficiently construct shafts and also tunnels with boring Machines.

Jan 1, 1976

By J. S. Rapp

This report is based on existing reports and recently gathered field data. It discusses mineral resource potential of Tertiary playas in the Fort Irwin region. An estimated 1.3 million tons of measured salt "reserves", and 20 million tons of indicated salt resources, have been identified north of the fort. Other indicated resources include 300,000 tons of celestite, 800,000 tons of gypsum, and 10 million tons of selenite. Zeolitic tuff was mined south of Fort Irwin from 1978 to 1984, and unexplored occurrences are widespread. Calcium-bentonite is mined near Barstow, and more may exist, including valuable sodium-and lithium-based bentonites.

Jan 1, 1992

By George Burrell

INTRODUCTION THE senior author of this paper, while in Colorado on other official business, made a trip to the Cripple Creek gold-mining district to get more data than are at present available regarding the composition of the gas that issues from the rock into the mines of the district. This was done at the suggestion of George S. Rice, Chief Mining Engineer of the Bureau of Mines. There are many questions of interest and importance in connection with the ventilation of the mines in the Cripple Creek district, such as the menace to life and mining of a suffocating gas entering the mines from the rock, the danger due to powder smoke (from blasting operations), and danger of continued inhalation of rock dust by the miners. This report confines itself to the first problem, the gas from the rock, and principally to one phase of this question, the composition of the gas and its effects on men and lights. A more thorough study of this and other ventilation problems is planned. That the, rock gas is a real menace is shown by the fact that miners (variously estimated from 25 to 50 by different persons interviewed) have been killed by it in the 25 years that mining has been vigorously carried on at Cripple Creek. Many men have had narrow escapes from death, some of them having been incapacitated for days. In addition, much loss of time results because at certain periods of the year or on certain days it is impossible to enter some workings. At a few mines fans force air into the workings, thus supplementing the natural ventila-

Jan 5, 1916

By Verya Nasri, Behrouz Esmaeilkhanian, Mohammad Motallebi

Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM) is the new Light Rail Transit (LRT) network of Montreal, Canada. This new LRT network uses a century-old Mont Royal Tunnel (MRT) to connect Downtown Montreal to the north side of the Island of Montreal by passing through Mount Royal Mountain. This railway double track horseshoe tunnel is approximately 5 km (3.1 mi.) long, 8.8 m (29 ft.) wide and 5.5 m (18 ft.) high, with a constant 0.6% grade. Due to different geological characteristics of the surrounding ground, varied from hard rock to soft soil, different cross sections and excavation methods were adopted for construction of this tunnel. In order to use MRT in the modern transit system, the tunnel needed to be inspected, rehabilitated and be compliant to the recent safety standards. This paper presents a summary of history and characteristics of the existing tunnel plus the implemented steps to upgrade the tunnel. It includes the details of the structural inspection and rehabilitation methods of the tunnel. Further, this paper summarizes the procedures for the space proong, construction of the separation center wall, and the tunnel enlargement. It also describes parts of complications encountered during the construction and solutions implemented to tackle these issues.

Jun 23, 2024

By Paulo Rogério Minatto

A corrosão provocada pelo CO2 associada ao tipo de escoamento é uma das mais agressivas ao aço de baixo carbono o API X65. O petróleo extraído do pré-sal de baixa profundidade apresenta maior concentração de CO2 podendo aumentar os pontos de corrosão nos equipamento e nas tubulações. O dióxido de carbono sendo um óxido ácido em contato com a água forma o ácido carbônico que reage com o metal formando camadas protetoras de óxidos ou de carbonatos. Essas camadas que ficam entre o metal e o fluído tendem em alguns casos atuarem como protetoras, mas à medida que aumenta a intensidade do fluxo essas camadas podem ser rompidas formando novos pontos de corrosão. As indústrias petroquímicas estão investindo em novos processos de perfuração e no desenvolvimento de novas ligas metálicas que possam conter a corrosão provocada pelo CO2 nos equipamento e nas tubulações que transportam o petróleo e seus derivados. Este trabalho tem por objetivo caracterizar a taxa de corrosão por CO2 em condições de fluxo do aço API X65, nas condições normais de temperatura e pressão, utilizando uma bancada de ensaio dinâmico (loop). Mantendo a concentração constante de CO2 em solução aquosa de NaCl 1% foi monitorado o pH, a temperatura e a concentração de íons ferrosos na solução. A taxa de corrosão foi determinada pela perda de massa, estabelecida após os ensaios. Como conclusão observou-se que CO2 provocou uma maior perda de massa para as amostra com maior rugosidade.

Aug 16, 2017

By Riggin P. R.

"IntroductionIndustrial Relations combines two very important relationships - employee relations and union relations.Employee relations always come into play when people are hired to perform tasks. Because mineral processing plants cannot be operated successfully without people, at least not yet, if they ever will be, employee relations must exist in an operatingplant.If the employees choose to be represented by a union, then a relationship with the union as an institution also comes into play. It is very important to note that unionization does not mean that the employee relationship is replaced by a relationship with the union. The latter is superimposed on the former, but it does not replace it. Similarities and overlaps in the two relationships will be present, some of which are of fundamental importance. Nevertheless, they are two different relationships and the reader should bear this in mind when reviewing those parts of this chapter which discuss unionization, collective bargaining, collective agreements, and work stoppages.These two important relationships, which we have chosen to combine and call industrial relations, have crucial roles to play in the social system which interrelates people performing the necessary tasks involved in the operation and maintenance of a plant. The technological organization - equipment, process layout and so forth - and this social system are interdependent and complementary. This chapter attempts to show that the potential level of effectiveness of both the technological organization and the social system depends on the recognition and nurturing of this nexus between them.Occupational health and safety and training are subjects for another chapter. But, both of these have been critical and longstanding employee relations topics . They are destined to take on added importance in the future. As issues in collective bargaining, they are also attracting increasing attention in all union relations. It is hoped that the reader will not isolate from industrial relations those topics which are being dealt with in another chapter. They are very much a part of it and we cannot refrain from making some reference to them."

Jan 1, 1989

By H. P. Greenwald

For some years past the Safety in Mines Research Board of Great Britain has been making an intensive search for. materials that would be more efficient than rock dust and that could replace it wholly or in part as a moans of preventing the prorogation of coal-dust explosions in mines5/ In the course of this work several rock ducts and numerous inorganic compounds were tested. The results place incombustible substances in two main groups; (1) Those whose effect in suppressing the combustion of coal dust is proportional to their capacity for absorbing heat, and (2) those that shoo much higher effectiveness than would be expected from their heat capacity. The first group includes several inorganic compounds and materials commonly ground for use as rock dust, such as shale, gypsum, and limestone. Outstanding examples of the second group are compounds of the halogens6/ with the alkali metals,7/ especially potasium and sodium8/. British investigators term those salts "inhibitors" because it is assumed that their presence has a hindering or inhibiting effect on one or more of the chemical reactions that together constitute combustion. In other words, the action of an inhibitor is postulated as chemical rather than physical; theoretically, the effect is to prevent liberation of energy instead of to absorb energy already liberated.

Jan 1, 1940