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By W. M. Luff

The Brunswick No. 12 Deposit is a large polymetallic massive sulphide deposit, occurring in Ordovician age rocks of the Tetagouche Group. Silver is contained within the sulphide zones and economically it is the second most important commodity produced. Brunswick is one of the largest silver producers in Canada. The distribution of silver within the mine is presented, with examples from various levels. The concentration of silver can be shown to be related to both stratigraphy and structure. The mineralogy of silver in mill products is also presented.

Jan 1, 1986

By N-h. Mao

We applied kriging (geostatistics) to interpret the structure of basement rock in Yucca Flat, NTS from borehole data. The estimation error for 118 data is 81 m comparable with those based on both gravity and borehole data. Using digitized topographic data, we tested the kriging results and found that the model validation process (Thomas option) on data gave a fair representation of the overall uncertainty of the kriged values.

Jan 1, 1985

By Edward C. Dowling

Froth flotation has been used industrially for many years to separate valuable minerals from their associated gangue constituents. Notwithstanding the significance of this process to the mineral industry, many of the engineering tools needed for the evaluation of the flotation process are still in a developmental stage. Traditionally, the evaluation of a flotation test on both the laboratory and industrial scale has been based largely on a rougher recovery value achieved at a sufficiently long time to give a "final" or "equilibrium" recovery value. The assumption of a time equivalency for a given recovery value between various flotation tests or between laboratory tests and industrial operation underlies this method of evaluation. Such an assumption implies that flotation is an "equilibrium engineering process" and that the time-rate recovery of material from the flotation cell is not affected by changes in the flotation system. It has been shown by Bushell (1) and by Klimpel (2) that the assumption of time equivalency between various flotation tests is unjustified. Consequently, better tools are needed for evaluating flotation test results, Because mathematical flotation models which incorporate both a recovery and a rate function can completely describe flotation time-recovery profiles, they can provide an excellent tool to evaluate flotation tests.

Jan 1, 1984

By Ernest Y. Baafi

The technique of linear kriging as a grade estimation method of mining blocks is reasonably established in the mining industry. Because of the nonbias condition imposed in kriging which requires that the kriging weights (?i) add up to one, negative weights are sometimes used in kriging. The use of negative weights is not justifiable from the practical standpoint. Also, negative block grades can be obtained in some extreme situations which makes no practical sense. To guarantee non-negative weights an additional constraint is required in the kriging system of equations. Unfortunately, the nonnegative weight constraint results in a set of non- linear system of equations. In this paper, a derivation of the resulting set of nonlinear equations is presented and a numerical algorithm is developed for the solution of the equations. Because the algorithm developed does not remove negative weights arbitrarily, optimal nonnegative weights are always guaranteed. Results obtained using the developed algorithm were compared with those using the standard linear kriging, in terms of computer time and the estimation results. Both the computer time and the kriging variance were found to be higher with nonnegative constraint, as expected. However, some systematic pattern was observed in the kriged values (i.e., over or under estimation) with or without the nonnegative constraint. The study also demonstrated when one should generally expect negative kriging weights in practice, and what practical impact the negative weights can have on the kriging estimates.

Jan 1, 1984

By R. R. Johnson

The Hama Mining Company owns and operates The Groveland Mine near Iron Mountain, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The orebody is part of the Menominee Range of the Lake Superior District. The ore (generally known as Jasper taconite) contains an average of 35% iron ranging from 28% to 39% with an overall split of 60% magnetite and 40% hematite. The variations encountered throughout the orebody require a certain amount of blending to reduce feed changes to the mill. One of the variables which affects the crushers, as well as the mill, is the range of hardness which has a low of 7.9 and a high of 24.6 as measured by the Bond Twin pendulum impact and crushing technique. Reference is made to hardness only to point out its effect on crushing and wear rate variations. Over a period of time, these variables do, of course, average out. Mining of the low grade ore started in 1959 and has operated continuously to date. Preparation of the feed for conventional rod and ball mill grinding is accomplished by three stages of crushing. Reduction of crude ore is first passed through a 54 inch gyratory crusher; then through a secondary crusher; followed by two or three tertiary crushers in closed circuit with screens as production quotas require (Figure 1). Current demand to the crushers is about 5,200,000 tons of crude ore per year.

Jan 1, 1976

By C. Sunderman, G. Feagan, C. Stazick

Galvanic corrosion between dissimilar materials, such as steel and graphite, leads to safety concerns for many industries, including mining. In this study, researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) analyzed rock samples from two mines in the United States that exhibit electrochemical properties similar to graphite through laboratory measurements to investigate their observed in-situ influence on underground metal support. Uniform corrosion rates of mild steel coupons, inflatable bolt coupons, and friction bolt coupons galvanically coupled to rock samples were obtained using both potentiodynamic polarization and zero resistance ammetry. Increased uniform corrosion rates were witnessed between the coupled rock and steel system, over those of just the steel alone. Surface analysis of the metal samples showed the presence of pitting corrosion, reflective of bolt samples removed from partner mines. Corrosion pitting of ground support structures in contact with graphitic rock in underground mines poses safety concerns for mine workers by increasing the rate of corrosion and decreasing bolt strength over time and will be further investigated for intervention strategies.

Feb 1, 2023

By David Mast, Irwan Halim, Brian Hagan, Kaveh Talebi, Jason Edberg, Amanda Foote

On June 14, 2023 Jay Dee Contractors’ Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) “Phoenix” holed through and completed mining the second drive of the I-75 Segment 3 Storage and Drainage Tunnel. Completion of the tunnel came only after overcoming several challenges, including a groundwater intrusion event which deposited thousands of cubic yards of wet ground material into the tunnel. This paper will discuss the events which delayed completion of the tunnel by over nine months, the risk management and construction approaches assumed by the Design-Build team during bid, several challenges faced by Design-Build teams when building stormwater resilience tunnels using traditional Department of Transportation standards, and recommendations for improving risk allocation and proposal documents for future similar Design-Build tunnel projects.

Jun 23, 2024

By A. G. Moon

Kennecott Copper Corporation's Chino Mines Division concentrator is located in Hurley, New Mexico. Construction of the concentrator was started in 1910 and its capacity was progressively increased over the years to the present nominal 20, 425 t/d of ore (22, 500 stpd). The principal copper minerals present in the ore are chalcopyrite and chalcocite with much of the chalcotite intimately associated with pyrite. Lime is used to depress pyrite, and flotation at a high pH or alkalinity is required for optimum recovery of chalcocite with good rejection of the pyrite. Regrinding is also required to liberate chalcocite-pyrite middling grains. Accurate control of the lime addition is necessary to obtain both optimum metallurgy and minimum lime usage. At low pH levels, flotation cell control is difficult due to excess froth, but excessively high pH levels can go unnoticed because froth characteristics do not change from those experienced at the deisred pH. With manual control of the lime addition, the desired pH can be exceeded for periods of up to two hours. In 1972 a major renovation of the flotation and regrinding circuits was com¬pleted and at that time a new lime distribution and control system was placed in operation. Limestone is obtained from a nearby quarry west of Hurley. The limestone is crushed, sized and fed to a rotary kiln and the quicklime product is stored prior to slaking. The lime is slaked, as required, in a mixing tank-classifier type slaker and the lime slurry is pumped to a concentrator storage tank from which it is distributed through a conventional closed loop system. The current average lime usage rate is approximately 6 kg/t of ore (12 lb per st).

Jan 1, 1976

By Aidan Giblett

"It is important to make a clear distinction on the scope of work of the Global Mining Standards and Guidelines (GMSG) guideline for sampling grinding circuits. Many mineral processing practitioners are familiar with the sampling and surveying of comminution circuits, in particular grinding circuits, for performance diagnosis and the identification of optimization potential. These surveys often provide information for population balance modelling of individual comminution and classification unit processes, and consequently require a large amount of information to calibrate and validate the unit models. As a result, these surveys are labour intensive, somewhat expensive, depending on internal capabilities of the mine site or company and have a long time span from initial planning to final reporting. They also require a high level of expertise to process the survey data, simulate the circuit and make sensible recommendations on follow up actions.As a result of these factors, full grinding circuit surveys are not a common occurrence at a large number of processing facilities, and several years may pass before follow up surveys are conducted. In the ensuing gap between surveys, the efficiency of the grinding circuit must often be taken on faith, and this is considered an unacceptable lapse in an environment of strained natural resources and low commodity prices.To support the rapid and productive energy efficiency analysis being promoted by the ICE working group, a much simplified survey and analysis process is required. The process reflected in the GMSG guideline is indeed more conducive to frequent analysis, at a skill level that is well within the capabilities of the average plant metallurgist. As a result, it becomes feasible to conduct mini-surveys of plant performance, which can be used to quickly and precisely diagnose the high level impact of process changes. These methods can also be manipulated by an experienced practitioner to provide sufficient information for modelling of the circuit to estimate the impact of process changes, allowing an initial rate and rank exercise to focus plant optimization efforts."

Jan 1, 2015

By C. Roos

"Mining companies have included quantifying uncertainty, or at least risk, as a requirement of project justification for many years. However, many times this process lags behind the traditional mine planning process and the results are rarely used to improve the plan. Nearly every parameter used in a mine plan is an estimate and the mine planning engineer should recognize, and even embrace, the inherent uncertainty in those parameters and its effect on their forecast results. While many of the uncertainties are beyond the scope of the traditional mine plan (e.g. global market uncertainty, socio-political uncertainty, environmental uncertainty), some uncertainties can, and should, be included in the mine planning process.Many mining engineers have incorporated techniques such as Monte Carlo Simulation or Discrete Element Simulation to understand the range of productivity that can be expected for an operation, but most still rely upon one estimated model for what is likely the critical component of technical uncertainty, the geologic resource. Modern geostatistical methods can provide multiple orebody realizations to provide a thorough unbiased picture of the geologic uncertainty. However, most traditional mine planning techniques are not formulated to allow for multiple (100-200) realizations of each material quality/grade parameter.Commercial software companies and research groups are progressing with development of tools that can incorporate geologic uncertainty, and even optimize extraction plans in the uncertain environment. Unfortunately, this author believes that a significant number of mining operations will not be able to adopt these techniques due to the computational requirements of the advanced techniques and the costs associated with implementing proprietary software. In an attempt to encourage mining engineers to embrace the inherent uncertainty in their mine plans, this article presents a cost-effective alternative that can be developed in-house, at any mine, to schedule mid- to long-term mine plans while continuously monitoring the uncertainty in the results. The aim of this article is that by demonstrating the usefulness of such a system, mining companies will encourage engineers, geologists and geostatisticians to find ways to incorporate this powerful data into their processes and procedures."

Jan 8, 2017

By N. K. Bohidar

Evaluation of the stability of a structure under given boundary conditions requires accurate knowledge of the state of stress as well as the mechanism of failure at the critical state of stress. This paper represents a part of the research done by N. K. Bohidar during 1965-1968 for his Ph. D. research in Mining Engineering at the University of Utah. It summarizes the determination of internal stress and failure phenomena around cylindrical openings in viscoelastic media subjected to lateral restraint and vertical uniaxial load. The conditions of lateral restraint and viscoelastic nature of the media represent conditions associated with subsurface openings in rocks. The financial assistance provided to the project from the University of Utah Research (Uniform School Fund), W. C. Browning Scholarship Fund, Earth Science Research Fund, and D. C. Jackling Loan and Scholarship Fund is gratefully acknowledged. The authors also acknowledge the assistance of S. Siugh, W. Jones, and K. McCarter during the project.

Jan 1, 1970

By G. Barbery

In Mineral Processing, the objective of most processes is the separation of mixtures of minerals, which are originally associated in composite particles. Feed preparation processes grinding for instance, which take place before beneficiation or separation processes do not usually break particles at the boundary between mineral phases. They produce composite ("middlings") as well as liberated particle. It is therefore necessary, in a particulate system, to determine the proportion of particles which are liberated as well as, ideally, the size distribution of minerals which remain associated in composite particles. Up to now, there has been a lack of experimental techniques to characterize completely composite particulate systems. Heavy liquid separation which is commonly used to obtain information of this type can only be applied to simple binary cases for which one mineral has a low density (lower than e.g 2.8 ). The technique which is proposed in this paper involves the measurement of parameters on polished sections of particles mounted in a matrix, and the use of mathematical transformations to reconstruct in three-dimensions the information obtained from these measurements .

Jan 1, 1977

By G. Deschênes

In an earlier study (Deschênes et al., 2009), gold and silver were shown to be efficiently extracted from samples taken from the Kupol Mine in Russia using lead nitrate in a cyanide leach system. In the current study, a com-parison of the technical and economic merits of a new technology called CANMET enhanced leaching process (CELP) was made with the cyanidation/acidification-volatilization-recycling (AVR) process using eight metal-lurgical variability samples, as well as a large composite sample, which was to represent the initial two years of Kupol mill feed. The composite sample leach feed assayed 33.4 g/t Au and 289 g/t Ag. The metallurgical results from the large composite sample demonstrated that CELP produced very similar gold and slightly higher silver leach extractions compared to the conventional cyanidation/AVR leach conditions at 1/2 the cyanide concentra-tion (1,000 ppm NaCN in CELP vs. 2,000 ppm for cyanidation/AVR leach conditions). It was estimated that the total cost per ton was approximately the same for the two technologies (total cost of CELP with the use of Merrill-Crowe at $46.48/t, with cyanidation/AVR at $46.13/t). However, the implementation of CELP would eliminate a capital expenditure of approximately $5 million for an AVR system based on a 2005 feasibility level cost estimate. Eight variability samples used to confirm the composite sample results showed that, on average, the gold leach extractions with CELP and the conventional leach conditions were very similar, but the average silver leach extraction was 2.1% higher for CELP. Furthermore, CELP silver leach extraction was 4.6% higher on average compared to conventional cyanidation for the four mid-grade variability samples evaluated. The decision was made to remove AVR cyanide recovery from the flowsheet and implement CELP at Kupol. The ability to use the conventional leach equipment with CELP and simplify the flowsheet was also a factor, given the remote location of the Kupol Mine.

Jan 1, 2010

By Daniel McNamee, Wern-ping N. Chen

The Amtrak East River Tunnels include four tunnels, Line 1 to Line 4, which extend from New York Penn Station in Manhattan, under the East River to Sunnyside Yard in Long Island City. Since fall 2015, Amtrak has initiated a program to repair and reconstruct the century-old tunnels, including structural repairs of all the tunnels and reconstruction of the Line 1 and Line 2 tunnels. The reconstruction includes bench wall demolition and replacing and installing the following elements in the tunnels: direct fixation track, traction power, signal, communication, and tunnel fire/life/safety components. This paper provides design and site investigation challenges and knowledge gained from this program.

Dec 1, 2022

By M. D. Scott

Lornex Mining Corporation operates an open pit porphyry copper mine in the Highland Valley southwest of Kamloops with a rated capacity of 43 500 TPD (48,000 TPD). It went into production in April 1972. Its concentrator consists of two grinding and flotation circuits in parallel each composed of a 6 000 KW (8,000 HP) 9,75 m (32 foot) diameter by 4,724 m (15'-6") semi-autogenous primary mill feeding two 3 000 KW (4,000 HP) 5,029 m (16.5 foot) diameter by 7,01 m (23 foot) secondary ball mills each feeding a bank of flotation cells. ,The original tailings system picked up the tailings from the flota¬tion circuits in a concrete collection box in the mill and carried the 36% solids density by weight slurry 488 m (1,600LF) through a 1100 mm (42 inch) diameter wood stave pipeline on a .46 percent slope to three 99,06 m (325 foot) diameter center drive thickeners. From the collection box under the thickeners the tailings line con¬sisted of three sections, carrying 50% solids density slurry. The first section consisted of 1460 m (4,800 LF) of 910 mm (36 inch) asbestos cement pipe for gravity flow from the thickener under flow elevation of 1252,4 m (4,109 feet) to the first pump station at elevation 1207,6 m (3,962 feet). Eight concrete drop boxes were used to limit the maximum slope on the pipeline to 0.5 percent.

Jan 1, 1976

By Takeo Oki

A new suspension electrolysis method has been developed, which enables without any gas or dust pollutants a direct anodic extraction of zinc from zinc sulfide concentrates, while simultaneously oxidizing sulfide sulfur to elemental sulfur. The investigations were performed in a laboratory scale electrolytic cell with suspended zinc sulfide concentrate particles with or without graphite powder additions in dilute sulfuric acid electrolyte. By regulating the redox potential of the electrolysis system in combination with some additions, for example [Fe3+/Fe2+, MnO 4/MnO2, MnO 2/Mn2+ or MnO 4/Mn2+], the anodic dissolution reaction of zinc sulfide has been accomplished effectively without evolution of hydrogen sulfide. Under optimum conditions the anodic current efficiency of zinc dissolution ammounted up to 95 %, while sulfide sulfur was converted nearly completly to the elemental form. Purification by removal of sulfur and other impurities gives a zinc sulfate solution suitable for electrolysis to cathode zinc.

Jan 1, 1975

By D. Naden

Sulphuric acid leaching is the most common method of recovering uranium from its ores and in the following discussion various alternative low cost routes are investigated for recovering uranium from milled ore acid leach liquors. Historically uranium has been recovered from dilute impure leach liquors by packed bed ion exchange (IX), solvent extraction (SX) or a combination of both. All three process routes as commonly practised require complete separation of leached solids and liquids, as well as extensive solids washing in order to reduce soluble uranium losses to a minimum. Separation and washing are costly and often require equipment covering large areas of land. The size and capital cost of the post leach solids washing operation is controlled by the ease of washing the slimes fraction of the ore and the key to the problem of cost reduction, as many others have realised, lies in the ability to separate the slimes fraction of the ore from the more easily washed sands, to wash the sands in low cost equipment and to recover uranium from the slimes stream. Sands and slimes are usually defined in this context as the material larger than, and smaller than, 325 mesh (44 microns). The proposed flowsheets which minimise solid-liquid separation and washing have usually incorporated ion exchange (Refs 1,2,3), and resin in pulp is in fact practised in several mills in the USA (Ref 1). The resins used in these flowsheets and [cranium] recovery throughout the world have been strong base resins which load rapidly and are moderately selective for the uranyl sulphate complex anion over the range of pH which is conveniently achieved in an acid leach operation. Strong base resins are, however, not as selective as weak base resins and weak base liquid reagents owing to the adsorption of competing anions, some of which find their way into the product while others act as resins poisons. Ion exchange using strong base resins must therefore be followed by a more selective weak base SX purification step if pure yellow cake is required.

Jan 1, 1976

By R. Pixler

Arch Mineral Corporation and Rocky Mountain Energy's Medicine Bow Mine in Wyoming presented an interesting challenge to the concept of mining a multiple-seam, dipping coal in the Hanna Basin. The 3362 and 2962 pits at MBCC were designed in a multiple seam coal consisting of 4 (and in some areas 5) bands of coal; these coal beds are all in the Ferris formation. The area was subject to some localized faulting and a major fault caused a physical restraint that we mined up against in our final cut. Using a 1570 dragline as the principal stripping machine, the concept of developing a bench for stripping the lower seams from the low-wall side of the pit was initiated. The results of this method of stripping were very satisfying for this pit through the completion of pit life and prompted us to use it in other areas at MBCC and at our other operations. Mining a dipping coal presents a small twist to conventional "flat" coal stripping. The spoil has a tendency to continually try to slide into the pit and the increased overburden on each cut as you mine down the dip creates spoil problems unless adequate design provisions are made prior to stripping.

Jan 1, 1986

By Immo H. Redeker

Introduction In October of 1961 Texas Gulf Sulphur Company contacted the Asheville Minerals Research Laboratory, of the North Carolina State University, and requested assistance in the development of a phosphate ore body in Beaufort County. The main: objectives of the work at Asheville were defined as follows. The Laboratory should try to determine on the basis of drill core samples, submitted by Texas Gulf Sulphur Company, the highest grade of phosphate concentrate that could be obtained with high recoveries from North Carolina ore, the thickness of the ore body that could be treated economically in one section, and the quantity of concentrate that could be obtained per acre. The results should be compared with data obtained from the treatment of Florida ores. It was important to use mineral preparation methods during the initial laboratory work that could be verified later by continuous pilot plant operation and could be scaled-up for a commercial plant. The writer was in charge of the project at the Asheville Minerals Research Laboratory and participated in the development of one of North Carolina's greatest mineral resources from the first drill core examination to the production of the first poundage and tonnage quantities of flotation concentrates. The Lee Creek phosphate mine and mill was put in operation in early 1966 and can produce three million tons of phosphate concentrate a year. Sulfuric- acid, and phosphoric acid plant, diamonium phosphate plant and triple super phosphate plants came on stream in 1967; at that time they were the world's largest. Now that a phosphate industry has been established in the State, it]

Jan 1, 1971

By Kasimcan Koruk, Julian M. Ortiz

Building a geological model is important in resource estimation, as it defines the extent of domains for estimation. Geological models are built by assigning a domain to the samples, based on logging of different features related to lithology, alteration, and mineralization. Then, the extent of these domains is determined using geometric or geostatistical tools. However, these models should account for uncertainty, since the actual extent of these domains is not known and must be extrapolated from the labelled samples. With the availability of geochemical datasets and machine learning techniques, employing multiple variables to build resource models should be considered. This article proposes a two-step machine learning approach with an ensemble implementation to define geological domains and their uncertainties. First, an unsupervised binary clustering method labels the geochemical samples into two domains. These labelled samples are used to inform a geological domain model built by support vector classification. This application is repeated with subsets of variables and subsets of samples, leading to an ensemble learning method. Weak models are produced with each subset of samples and variables, and combined to devise a stronger learner. The final model accounts for uncertainties thanks to the ensemble implementation. The proposed workflow is demonstrated on a dataset from a porphyry copper deposit, applied hierarchically to define four domains. Performance is comparable with traditional methods, but provides the advantage of allowing domain knowledge in the selection of the variables, and generates domain boundaries that can be controlled in terms of their continuity and smoothness.

Oct 11, 2023