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By R Ballantyne, M Adams

Time Usage Models, used as a basis for calculating performance indicators for mobile mining equipment, have developed from very simple to very sophisticated models. This development has paralleled the increased collection and analysis of production data that itself has been enabled by the evolution of underground voice and data communications along with the relevant information systems. A Time Usage Model divides the hours that equipment is (or is not) used into standard components, by a hierarchical breakdown, so that measures of productivity can be used to compare performance of both people and equipment. The calculation of equipment availability, and thus the underlying Time Usage Model, has always been an extremely emotive topic as different groups use time usage information for different purposes. The direct link between measuring performance Key Performance Indicators (KPI) calculated from these models and employee rewards impacts upon the workforce. This paper discusses the conflict in use by various stakeholders and proposes ways to address some of the more contentious issues each supported by case studies. The simple status code functionality used by early systems has proven inadequate, leading to the evolution of “work-arounds”. These workarounds have become the norm and unfortunately have become embedded in the next generation of models and the information systems that incorporate them. This paper contends that the industry should stop building Time Usage Models to accommodate shortcomings in proprietary systems, but rather collaborate with suppliers to develop innovative methods to deal with the fundamental requirements. There are many points of differentiation that are not clear-cut. Pitfalls are discussed as well as threats to success. A framework of rules is developed as guidelines for how a Time Usage Model should be developed and applied. This will hopefully stimulate the on-going discussion as to how Equipment Availability and other components of the model should be calculated.

Mar 15, 2021

By Douglas Bunting

(Wilkes-Barre Meeting, June, 1911.) WITH the gradual exhaustion of the upper veins in the anthracite coal-fields, the problem of mining at greater depths acquires increasing importance and demands the consideration of a number of important factors, one of which is the greater earth-pressure and the consequent necessity of stronger support o for the roof. Under the pillar-and-chamber system, almost exclusively followed in the Northern anthracite-field, the highest economy in mining is generally secured by leaving, on first mining, pillars only sufficient to support safely the overlying strata. As to the necessary size of such pillars, the opinions of mining experts are widely divergent. In establishing the width of chambers and pillars, the thickness of vein and its depth below the surface have received little consideration. For. instance, it has been quite usual to work both overlying and underlying veins with the same width of chambers and pillars, when the lower vein was two and one-half times as thick, and twice as fits below the surface, as the upper. In view of the generally-accepted theory that the crushing-strength of coal-pillars of the same base-area becomes less with increased height, it is probable, in this instance at least, that the most economical mining has not been secured. This question of adequate pillar-support is economically less important down to about 800 ft. than at greater depths; and it is with reference to mining at these greater depths that the study of the subject here presented has been prompted. The necessity of leaving larger pillars, involving greater mining-costs per ton and also smaller yields per acre, is one of the troubles of deep working. To mine without leaving adequate pillar-supports will result, sooner or later, in a squeeze. Limited areas, it is true, have been mined at certain widths of

Sep 1, 1911

By J. Jeffrey Wagner, Michael J. Bailey, Peter M. Douglass

The Chambers Creek Interceptor Sewer Tunnel project consisted of 2-1/2 miles (4 kilometres) of nominal 9-foot (2.7-metre) O.D. tunnel driven through predominantly glacially overridden soils. Mole-Collucio Construction Company initially elected to drive the entire tunnel with a Lovat TBM. However, this machine could not control the fast raveling ground conditions which developed when the TBM encountered sands overlying very dense, hard glacial till or boulders. As a result, a shield and digger machine was brought in for a 1700-foot (518-metre) long segment. Pumped wells spaced roughly 50 to 125 feet (15 to 38 metres) apart were utilized to dewater about two-thirds of the alignment during construction. Initial support consisted of steel ribs and wood lagging, with a final lining comprised of pre-cast concrete pipe segments grouted in place.

Jan 1, 1985

By Robert B. Parsons

"For the fourth time in five years, residents of northern Canada have seen a change in the tax treatment of housing and travel costs. The latest changes announced in December 1990 by the Minister of Finance are to become effective in 1991. When will the tinkering stop?IntroductionFor man y years prior to 1987, certain travel and housing allowances received by employees in remote areas were generally considered by Revenue Canada to be tax-free, even though some observers suspected that such generous treatment was contrary to the provisions of the tax legislation. In the mid-eighties, Revenue Canada decided to reconsider the tax treatment of the mining industry's long standing practice of providing housing and travel assistance to these employees. The tax- free treatment was continued by virtue of annual remission orders, but only pending the enactment of legislation which would tackle the issue head-on and layout the rules in black and white to be seen by all. The sequence of events since then may be chronicled as follows:February 26, 1986-Finance Minister Wilson's budget present s the framework for the future tax treatment of travel and housing benefits provided to residents in remote regions of Canada.December 22, 1986-The Minister of Finance announces detailed rules to fill in the earlier announced framework.January 1, 1987-The new tax rules come into effect.April 29, 1988-The Minister of Finance announces the establishment of a Task Force to examine the existing criteria for determining the eligibility of residents of northern and isolated areas for tax benefits.October 27, 1989-The Task Force presents its report.December 7, 1990-Finance Minister Wilson announces a new system of tax benefits for residents of Canada's northern and isolatedregions.January 1, 1991-The new rules become effective."

Jan 1, 1991

By G Capes

A novel open stope design approach is presented that delivered improved performance in a mining area with poor ground conditions at the Olympic Dam mine. During 2019, a large open stope had an unplanned caving event resulting in the inability to extract the planned tonnes and subsequent sterilisation of nearby stopes. A design limitation was the lack of data and understanding around the alteration domain extents, the rock mass strength controls and limits, the failure modes controlling stope stability in the local area, and the use of conventional stope shapes. From the available data and failure observations, it was inferred that the dominant caving failure mode resulted from a blocky rock mass impacted by structure and alteration causing an unravelling failure mechanism. Numerical and empirical analyses were conducted to test this hypothesis and establish strength limits for design. The strength limits for the design were then used to provide a range of outcomes from which future stope design shapes such as chamfered backs could be selected. Three alternate chamfered geometries were selected to trial the innovative designs. The application of this methodology in 2020 resulted in overbreak reduction from >100 per cent in the initial caved stope to

Mar 29, 2023

By F. W. Warnaars

Chanarcillo is a historically well-known silver deposit which produced over 100 million ounces. High grade vein-type mineralization is confined to a prominent set of nearly vertical, NNW to NE fractures that intersected limestones, andesites and tuffs of Early Cretaceous age. A significant amount of disseminated silver mineralization extends laterally outward from the fractures for considerable distances in pyritic carbonaceous limestones, whereas more competent volcanic beds rarely contain lateral mineralization. Local exposures of skarns are mostly barren. Silver and minor base metal mineralization was probably formed peripheral to a granodioritic intrusion inferred to exist at shallow depth. Part of this intrusion is exposed nearby where it contains significant hydrothermal mineralization and alteration. This intrusion was dated at 83.8 m.y.

Jan 1, 1987

By R Durchholz, A-J Heiertz, R Schmitz

Mining of lignite is the largest bulk materials handling activity in Europe. In order to mine this lignite, with an average calorific value of only a third of bituminous coal in an economical way, highly efficient opencast mining technology is mandatory. The total continuous mining of overburden and lignite was introduced more than 60 years ago and was subsequently developed stepwise into the largest mass transport system of the world. In 2011, the Inden Mine, one of three RWE Power mines, stripped 90 Mbcm of overburden to produce 22 Mt of lignite. In total, nearly 100 Mt of Lignite was produced from the three mines of RWE Power in Germany. Beside bucket wheel excavators (BWE), several high-performance in-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) systems, which allow the adoption of continuous mining systems, even for typical shovel and truck (S&T) operations, are available today. RWE Power assists operators considering a change from the S&T to IPCC technology, both in the planning process involving large-scale belt conveyor systems and later with operational know how transfer. In a number of cases, the challenges associated with this system change have been addressed and solved successfully. One key challenge is managing the development of skills for operating the belt conveyor systems efficiently. This paper compares the effectiveness of S&T to different configurations of continuous mining operation for an up to 170 m deep mine with a total annual output of 117 Mbcm. From the mine operatorÆs point-of-view, the quantity and skill level of staffing required for operation and maintenance are discussed in detail. The main conclusion of this paper is the larger the operation becomes and the longer the mine life is, the earlier fully continuous mining systems should be planned and implemented.CITATION:Schmitz, R, Durchholz, R and Heiertz, A-J, 2012. Change challenges for large open pit mines, in Proceedings Eighth Open Pit OperatorsÆ Conference , pp 103-110 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 18, 2012

By Maurice Lacasse, Pierre Legast

GENERAL OUTLINE For more than one hundred years, asbestos ore has been mined on Les Mines d’Amiante Bell's property at Thetford-Mines , Quebec, Canada. In 1878, the first tons of fibre were produced. The mine operated as an open pit until 1951 at a yearly production of about 330 000 mt of ore. Since 1951, the mine has operated underground using a block caving method. The mine produced 725 000 mt per year until 1978, when the rate of production was increased to 1 100 000 mt. The ore was produced entirely fm the first lift on 650 level until 1976. Then, a second lift on 950 level was put into operation to replace production facilities fm the first lift which is now exhausted. Annual fibre production is 72 500 mt with grades £ran 3 to 7. The total work force is 600 people. The host rock is a peridotite partially serpentinized. The asbestos fibre seams occur as stockwork deposit structurally controlled by talcose shear zone. The geological rock formations are heavily jointed and have a wide range of competence. Asbestos ore bodies have an heterogeneous nature which des difficult geological interpretation. THE GRIZZLY METHODS A full gravity method was used on the first level where the caved ore was drawn from finger raises onto grizzly bars spaced at 480 mn. Oversize blocks were reduced by secondary blasting. The ore fell by gravity in- to the ore pass below the grizzly chamber and was loaded into 5.7 mt haulage cars through a 1.2 m wide chute. Access to the undercut drift was fm the grizzly drift through finger raises. The undercut trough was drilled and blasted in a 1.2 m interval ring sequence into a slot situated at the end of each panel. The undercut stope was emptied through the finger raises. The undercut retreated from South to North at blast interval determined by the finger raises spacing. Fig. 1 represents the various steps involved with the grizzly method. Extraction drift dimensions were opened 1.8 m wide x 2.4 m high with anchor rock bolts and wire mesh where safety required them during excavation. Grizzly chambers were excavated at 2.4 x 2.4 x 4.6 m long on a 7.6 x 7.6 m grid spacing. Ore passes with dimensions of 1.5 x 1.5 m were developed from the haulage drift. On the extraction level, headings were drilled with jacklegs and cleaned by slusher into ore passes to the haulage chutes. The support used in the grizzly chambers was square concrete structure with 150 mn H beam reinforcement. The H beam was partially buried in the concrete and had one free face to allow for difference frequency of blast vibration between concrete and steel. The supported brow of the chamber had an opening 1.5 x 2.1 m. Ore passes were ring concreted 150 mn thick without any reinforcement. A 24 MPa compressive strength concrete was pumped and poured in pre-assembled forms. Based on the success of this method on the first level, the same layout was repeated on the second level. With the start of undercutting on the second lift, signs of deterioration were noticed in extraction drifts. At first, there was great concern as the operators were confident that standard repair techniques could cope with such a situation. An intensive program of support repair and a reduction of draw resulted. The following method of repairs were used: 1) Steel square sets of 150 mn H beam at 0.6 m intervals were installed. 2) This was reduced later to 0.3 m interval and eventually to a skin to skin steel structure. 3) Yieldable arches were introduced spaced at 0.9 m intervals, linked laterally with 150 m. H beam. 4) The yieldable arches spacing was then reduced to 0.46 m and eventually installed skin to skin. However, this support was not successful.

Jan 1, 1981

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Jan 1, 1938

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Jan 1, 1938

By Tomio Tsuchiya

A construction method of bored steel H piles enclosed in soil-cement columns was developed by modifying steel H piles from the driven pile method and soil-cement walls from the earth retaining wall method, the latter of which produces cut-off walls and reduces noise and vibration during construction. In this method, as shown in Figure 1, rich mix cement paste is injected into the bottom of a borehole which is pre-excavated by a casing auger, then a steel H beam is inserted before it hardens. Since the high vertical resistance of piles created with this method has already been confirmed by loading tests, we have been investigating the applicability of this method for piles used to temporarily support building loads for top-down construction on raft foundations until the raft foundation is completed. However, in the loading tests, the bearing capacity at the lower end of the pile was measured by loading from ground surface on test piles which had friction cut to eliminate the shaft friction resistance. In other words, the loading tests neglected the effect of overburden pressure of soil above the lower end of the pile. To investigate the effect of the overburden pressure on the bearing capacity at the lower end of the pile, loading tests were carried out on a bored steel H pile of lm diameter (test pile) bored in a compacted sandy soil layer with N-value of 100 to 250 at each stage of a three-step excavation. The results show no significant change in the bearing capacity at the lower end of the pile when the depth ratio of the pile is in the range of 5.7 to 22.7.

Jan 1, 1996

By B. A. Rogers

THE etching effect which is produced on a piece of polished iron or steel when it is heated in hydrogen or in a vacuum seems to have been observed first by Osmond,1 who believed that he could distinguish four systems of grain boundaries on a piece of steel which had been heated in hydrogen. In a number of other investigations, samples of pure iron were found, after heating, to have complex networks in which two or three systems of grain boundaries could be detected. It was further noticed that samples that had been polished plane before being placed in the furnace were, after treatment, roughened and undulating over their entire surfaces. From a comparison of the temperature of heat treatment with that of the A 3 transformation, it was concluded that the changed appearance of the samples was definitely related to the latter phenomenon. Certain other deductions were made but these are not of importance here and only observations on the appearance of the samples will be reviewed. Ewen2 heated a strip of polished iron in a vacuum in such a way that one end was maintained at a temperature of 1000° C. and the other at 580° C. On the cooler end there was outlined a simple polyhedral network, and at the hotter there appeared the complex system of lines and the undulating surface characteristic of iron which has passed through the A3 transformation. He found that in going from the cooler toward the hotter end the sample maintained much the same character of surface up to the beginning of the transformed area, but that near this region double grain boundaries were of frequent occurrence. Rawdon and Scott' concluded that the simple type of network brought out by heating a sample of pure iron in a vacuum was of the same type as that developed by ordinary etching methods. They also confirmed the observations of

Jan 1, 1929

By Michael J. Peacock

The Powhatan No. 4 Mine is located in southeastern Ohio along the Ohio River in Monroe County. The mine produces approximately 3.2 million tons of steam coal annually from the Pittsburgh No. 8 seam. The Pittsburgh No. 8 seam in this area dips to the southeast in varying amounts from 10-feet to 40-feet per mile. The seam is made up of a main bench coal (4' to 5f' ) containing several thin and variable partings and a rider ("roof") coal (0" to 18") which is separated from the main bench by a parting (0" to 18") that is reasonably consistent in occurrence and position. Strata overlying the seam varies from a bedded to nonbedded calcareous mudstone-claystone (6' to 12') in the north and east regions of the mine to a sandstone (Pittsburgh Sandstone C10' to 40'1 in the south and west regions. The Redstone Limestone (10' to 18' ) overlying the mudstone-claystone in the north and east thins and rises toward the area of sandstone deposition in the south and west. From its opening in April of 1971 until late 1981, primary roof support in the long-1 ived entries at Quarto Mining Company's Powhatan No. 4 Mine had been achieved with 8-foot and 10-foot. 518-inch mechanical roof bolts using a Single expansion shell. These bolts were installed so that the expansion shell achieved a competent anchorage in the limestone. However, as the mine developed westward, the limestone began to trend upward becoming inaccessible as an anchorage medium at the 8-foot and 10-foot horizons. Anchorage achieved in the underlying mudstone-claystone strata was failure-prone due to weathering (after exposure to air and moisture) and inconsistencies in the anchorage horizon, leading to an increase in the incidence of reportable roof falls at the mine. Responding to the threat to safety and productivity posed by the increase in roof falls. Mine Management through its Safety and Engineering Departments, sought solutions to the problem. In seeking a solution to the problem, the safest and en engineering groups examined the reportable roof falls to determine the cause of those failures. Their examination pinpointed two items which were found to be a common link in the majority of those falls; namely, anchor integrity and geologic trends. Analysis of the roof falls indicated that due to effects of air and moisture on the anchoraae zones in the mudstones and clay- itones, the integrity of the anchorage over time could not be maintained. Geologic trends noted included the upward trend of the -main limestone as mining progressed westward, inconsistencies in the amount of roof coal and draw slate in the immediate mine roof and increasing evidence of heavily slickensided immediate mine roof. In the absence of the protective barrier provided by the roof coal, the immediate strata and particularly the draw slate, is susceptible to deterioration due to the weathering effects of air and moisture and thus is prone to "eat out" around the roof bolts and cause roof falls. The presence of heavily slickensided roof creates a need for increased contact surface such as that provided by plank and header blocks to aid in holding up the roof and tends to make the behavior of such roof very unpredictable. Having determined the causes of the roof falls. Mine Management began to identify the kind of roof support which would best solve these problems, while at the same time providing the mine with a safe, cost effective and efficient roof support system. This paper will provide an analysis of how this decision was reached, the background that was researched to aid in forming the decision, the considerations that played key roles in the formulation of the plan, the mechanics of following through and implementing the new roof support system, and an assessment of the resultant gains in safety, productivity and improved costs derived from the implementation of the new roof support system.

Jan 1, 1986

By M McLean

This paper deals with change strategies on brownfield and greenfield sites in extractive industries. It draws upon contemporary experiences across Australian, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (PNG). Change strategies can be used when owners of an extractive industry operation want to optimise their resource. This paper draws upon many tried and proven theories and practices, including the findings of the Tavistock Institute (Trist, Emmery, Bamford, Jaques), as well as the concepts of Adult Learning espoused by Malcolm Knowles and is supported by learnings of Australian based management consultants. This paper reviews a range of approaches that have succeeded in the integration of systems, machines and people, with the key corporate objectives of: increasing productivity; decreasing cost; improving on-time delivery performance and achieving long-term survival. Such integration needs to be measured to show the outcomes from the change strategies and the authors have worked within many measurement regimes and metrics but for the most part, found that JaquesÆ set of metrics being æquality, quantity, resources and timeÆ has gained currency across many Australian operations. This paper contends that investing money in machines alone without a commensurate investment into the people side is counter-productive. Further, if there is not an understanding of processes, ie stable and capable, core and support processes, then all that new technologies will do, is to make what is done badly, only quicker. Recent interventions for the most part, have been cognisant of this balanced approach towards change management. The change strategies described are across extractive industry implementations, using a number of tools and techniques drawn from Continuous Improvement and Six SigmaÖ (registered trade and service mark of Motorola Corporation, USA).

Jan 1, 2006

To ensure the receipt of the Bulletin, all changes of address must be received before the 20th of the preceding month when the mailing lists must be closed.

Jan 2, 1919

By AIME AIME

The following changes of address of members have been received at the Secretary's office during the period of March 15 to May 1, 1907. This list, together with the list of changes of address published in Bi-Monthly Bulletin, No. 14, March, 1907, supplements the annual list of members corrected to Jan. 1, 1907, and brings it up to the date of May 1, 1907. The names of members who have accepted election during March and April, 1907 (new members), are printed in italics. The large number of changes of address since Jan. 1, 1907; shows the importance of publishing these changes as frequently as possible, and the Bi-Monthly Bulletin has. been selected as the means to present this information to the members of the Institute. By the simple method of cutting out these names and addresses and pasting them directly over the corresponding names in the annual list of members, the record can be kept practically up to date, and the value of the list correspondingly increased. For this purpose the changes of address have been printed only on one side of the page. The names of new members, being in italics, are readily distinguished from the others, and can be pasted in approximate alphabetical order on the margins of the pages.

May 1, 1907

By Mokka Rao, Arturo Valles, Jose Rodríguez

"This paper shows a mathematical model based on finite elements, applied to bottom poured shell ingots of C.V.G. Sidor Plant. The model was used as a strategy to determine the thermal effects that are produced when solidification conditions are modified without interfering with the production process. The modification consisted of placing a thermal insulator on top of mould.The results obtained by the model indicated that the solidification time increases with insulator on base of the mould. With these results a significant number of casts were run with and without insulator. Latter by means of a metallurgical analysis it was determinated that the ingots cast with insulator reduce the level of non-metallic inclusions and the presence of internal blistering in seamless pipes.IntroductionThe process of fabrication of seamless pipes in SIDOR involves various steps of processing, such as heating the ingots, fabrication of the prelaminated, fabrication of the bored pipe, lamination of the pipe by passing through the pellegrine mill, heating the pipe in a walking bean furnace and final calibration through a calibrator mill. The material utilized for producing these pipes is provided entirely from a electrical arc furnace and casted ingots, especifically, from the superintendence of bottom pouring.The process of bottom pouring consists of positioning twelve moulds of diameters 415, 480 or 505 mm over a plate of grey cast iron in which exists a system of communicating vessels. The ingots are distributed around a central duct from which the steel flows down and filling gradually, each one of the moulds (Fig. 1)."

Jan 1, 1997

In the estimation of recoverable resources, geostatistical techniques such as Multiple Indicator Kriging require a change of support correction to derive theoretical recoveries based on an assumed level of mining selectivity. The change of support models most widely used in practice entail model based generalized corrections either on a global or local basis. Examples include the affine and indirect lognormal methods. Change of support corrections derived empirically through short-scale conditional simulation realizations often show notable differences compared with theoretical corrections determined using model variogram parameters. The existing changes of support models are reviewed and an alternative method is proposed.

Jan 1, 1999

By D. T. Van Zandt

IN the late 1920's rotary drills began to replace the churn drills in the petroleum industry, but until the middle 1940's the churn drill was the only widely accepted means of drilling large-diameter blastholes for quarry operations. The Calcite plant of the Michigan Limestone Div., U. S. Steel Corp., was one of the first to experiment with rotary drills for quarry blasthole drilling, and the first to employ compressed air on a fully rotary rig to cool the bit and raise the cuttings to the collar of the blasthole.

Jan 8, 1954

"The cleanliness and system evidenced in the accompanying photographs of the West Steward change-house will appeal to all mine operators. This design is the most efficient in use at Butte. It is the standard which will probably be used in Butte in all future construction and is the result of a long period of investigation and experimenting. It is important that such a structure be as nearly fire-proof as possible, because of the frequent fires originating within the lockers from matches, etc., in the men's clothes. The concrete floors permit the thorough washing of the building whenever necessary.The lockers are roomy and well ventilated. They are constructed of sheet steel and are warmed from below by steam pipes."

Jan 1, 1913