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Commercialisation of outcomes from research projects is a process often poorly understood and managed, but has the potential to achieve significant benefits for the industry and community as a whole. JKTech Pty Ltd was established in 1986 to transfer viable research outcomes from the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC) at The University of Queensland, Australia. This paper describes successful and unsuccessful examples of commercialisation by JKTech over the years, and draws some conclusions as to the factors that contribute to success and failure in technology transfer.

Jan 1, 2012

Minerals are vital to any industrialized civilization. Annually, the United States uses more than 4 billion tons of new mineral materials, or about 40,000 pounds per person-about half being mineral fuels and the other half being metals and nonmetallics. Stable and economic domestic mining, mineral, metal, and mineral reclamation industries are essential to the economy. The value of United States energy and processed materials of mineral origin exceds $200 billion annually. Although a number of minerals are imported, especially some designated as "strategic and critical," most U.S. mineral supplies are derived from the domestic mines and processing facilities that you will be seeing, reading about, and visiting as you use this visitor guide. We hope you enjoy your experiences. This pamphlet, a guide to mining and mineral operations that may be observed or visited and some other points of interest relating to minerals, is intended to aid tourists and students who are interested in mining. Some may wish to study our Nation's romantic past; others may plan to enter the minerals industry as a career; still others may have a primary interest in conservation practices. The pamphlet is also intended to aid State and local officials, Chambers of Commerce, and mining firms in answering some of the many questions of tourists and students.

Jan 1, 1976

By D. A. Karvonen

In 1970, the Government of Saskatchewan instituted a program aimed at resolving the dilemma of excess productive capacity over the market demand which existed for potash produced in Saskatchewan. The two primary elements of the program were prorationing of potash production to market demand and a minimum selling price. The paper reviews the factors, both local and international in nature that led to the introduction of the program. The licensing mechanics and the operation of the program, along with the changes that have been introduced in two and one-half years of operation, are discussed. Attention is given to the results of the controls as they affect the industry and the province. Also discussed is the outlook for Saskatchewan potash in world markets.

Jan 1, 1973

"Option pricing is used in finance for valuing options to buy (or sell) shares at some future date because it provides a convenient framework for quantifying values subject to uncertainty. As one of the main sources of uncertainty in mining is the price (sales) of the metal, this approach can also be used for valuing mining projects.The first part of this paper reviews options and option pricing; the second part presents the approach developed by Brennan and Schwartz (1985) for using option pricing to value natural resources. Several applications of this methodology have been published; these are described. From a mining point of view, the assumptions made by Brennan and Schwartz are too simplistic. The weaknesses are discussed with a view to improving an apparently promising new way of assessing the value of projects. IntroductionThe collapse of the British merchant banking group, Barings, has highlighted the risks that can be incurred by speculators and arbitragers in the futures and options markets. But this negative attention on futures and options should not make us forget their positive aspects. They can provide producers and consumers of metals with more predictable sales prices. The introduction of the new traded average price options, TAPOS, by the London Metal Exchange in January 1997 is a response to this need. Equally important, the theory that the finance industry has developed for valuing options provides an interesting framework for valuing mineral projects as well. While this paper was being revised, the South African gold mining house, JCI, announced that it was using a methodology based on option pricing for valuing the mineral rights to deeplevel gold resources (see Box 1)."

Jan 1, 1997

By L. Shevenell, L. Stillings

The Acid Drainage Technology Initiative-Metal Mining Sector (ADTI-MMS) has established a Pit Lake Committee to enhance the science and understanding for the long-term management of pit lakes. Participation in this new committee is from members of federal and state agencies, industry, and academia, including numerous individuals representing 10 states. Work has begun on a pit lake literature search and review, database, classification, and sampling and monitoring procedures document. Coordination with the International Network for Acid Prevention (INAP) has been established. Future work will include preparing a prediction and assumption verification document, a report identifying variables upon which water quality is dependent, and an applied remediation technologies document, including an evaluation of the effects of backfilling.

Jan 1, 2002

By R. W. Huber

A consumable-electrode arc-melting furnace was constructed at the Bureau of Mines Physical Metallurgy Laboratory, College Park, Md., for the production of uncontaminated titanium and titanium-alloy ingots. The furnace was designed to allow for evacuating to very low pressures and back filling with helium and argon mixtures for melting at or near atmospheric pressure. Vacuum melting at a few millimeters pressure was also used with a mixture of helium and argon gas sweeping the crucible. For research purposes a 25- to 30-pound ingot, 4 inches in diameter by 15 inches in length, was selected to provide, enough 1/2-inch plate for extensive tensile and impact testing of standard size specimens. Enough plate was also provided for testing by other Government laboratories. The homogeneity of several alloy ingots was determined, and excellent results were obtained. By using a large electrode-to-ingot-area ratio and high currents or power inputs to the arc furnace rather uniform ingots were routinely prepared.

Jan 1, 1957

By J. Muralha

The paper presents the limit equilibrium equations for the analysis of toppling blocks on a rock slope. The safety conditions are assessed by a numeric procedure implemented in an Excel worksheet. The UDEC numerical program was exploited to validate the procedure. A probabilistic model considering the spacing variability of the discontinuities was developed to define the most relevant parameters in this kind of problems. La communication presente les equations d’équilibre limite pour l’analyse de blocs rocheux sur une pente. Les conditions de securité sont évaluées par une procédure numérique en Excel. Le logiciel UDEC a été exploité pour valider cette procedure. Un modèle probabilistique a été developpé pour définir les plus importants paramètres dans ces problèmes. Das Referat stellt die Grenzgleichgewichtsgleichungen für die Analyse von umstrürzenden Blök-ken auf eines Felshang vor. Die Sicherheitsbedingungen werden durch ein numerisches Verfahren mit Excel beurteilt. Um die Gültigkeit des Verfahrens festzustellen, wurde das Programm UDEC benutzt. Ein die Klufabstandsvariabilität berücksichtigendes probabilistisches Modell wurde entwickelt, um die wichtigsten Parameter dieser Probleme zu bestimmen.

Jan 1, 2003

Volume 2 presents the results of studies of Phelps Dodge Corporation's tailings embankments numbers 1West and 2 West, at Morenci, Ariz. The work involved compilation and description of pertinent factors relating to the physical features and operational characteristics of the facility, including information on embankment construction practices; investigation and research of the general geologic and seismicity characteristics of the site and vicinity; limited field exploration and materials sampling and testing at the site; installation and limited monitoring of piezometers, surface movement markers, and slope indicator casing; limited laboratory testing of materials to evaluate the basic index and engineering properties of the embankment and tailings materials; selected engineering analyses of the embankment for various types of potential "failure" conditions; and includes appendices.

Jan 1, 1974

ENGINEERS AVAILABLE (Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons introduced by members.) Member, technical graduate, aged 36. Experienced copper metallurgist and mining geologist. Familiar also, through 15 years' broad practical experience, with mining, cyanidation, concentration (including oil flotation), metallurgical accounting, and mine and plant management. Best references. No. 237. Member, graduate engineer with 10 years' experience in malleable, gray -Iron, and steel, as chemist., metallographist, and metallurgist. Researches and investigations by laboratory methods and under works conditions. No objection to some routine. No. 243. Member, technical graduate, broad experience in coal, oil, and clay. Will go anywhere as mining geologist after Sept. 1, 1915. No. 244. Member, technical graduate, aged 30, married, with over 10 years' experience as chemist, engineer on construction, superintendent and general superintendent of bituminous coal and coke plants. SpeaksSpanish. References. No. 245. Member, open for engagement as mine safety inspector or as superintendent of bituminous coal mine. No. 246. Member, graduate mining engineer, with five years' experience in coal mining as mining engineer, construction engineer, pit boss, and superintendent, open for engagement. Best references. No. 247.

Jan 9, 1915

By I D. Gregson, A S. Garcia, K M. MacAndrew

The design work undertaken by Rock Mechanics Technology (now part of Golder Associates (Golder)) has played a major part in successfully establishing mechanised room and pillar working in Indian coalmines, both for the development of new districts and for the re-establishment of old districts prior to pillar extraction on panel retreat.Golder has used appropriate design of pillars, extraction sequences and final snook sizes to minimise ground control risks during pillar extraction. Where the strata will not cave reliably, partial extraction systems leaving either a crush pillar or a substantial yield pillar have been adopted.Remote monitoring of selected pillars during the extraction process using stress cells, extensometry and convergence measurements provides confirmation of pillar behaviour and verification of designs.A new telltale device, giving a visible warning of impending caving, is now installed at all Indian pillar extraction sites and is proving very successful.CITATION:MacAndrew, K M, Garcia, A S and Gregson, I D, 2014. Coalmine pillar design and performance during mechanised pillar extraction in India, in Proceedings AusRock 2014: Third Australasian Ground Control in Mining Conference , pp 347–358 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 5, 2014

By Gerhard Nel, Huziel Masiiwa, Marthie Kotze, René du Preez, Simon Donegan

Tati Nickel is currently operating a hydrometallurgical demonstration plant in Botswana, using the Activox® process developed by LionOre Technology, to produce nickel cathode and a cobalt salt from a sulphide concentrate. Cobalt is extracted using Cyanex 272. This reagent also extracts all the iron, aluminium, copper, zinc, and manganese from the nickel stream. Versatic 10 carboxylic acid is then used as extractant to recover nickel from the stream, separating it from calcium and magnesium, and upgrading it to provide a suitable advance electrolyte for nickel electrowinning. However, the selectivity of Versatic 10 for nickel over calcium is limited, and gypsum formation in the extraction circuit is a problem when it is attempted to maximise the recovery of nickel. Mintek has developed a synergistic system with Versatic 10 for improved separation of nickel from calcium and magnesium. Laboratory test work was conducted on the raffinate of the cobalt solvent extraction circuit to optimise the Versatic 10/Nicksyn? (Mintek synergist) system to be employed. Extraction and stripping parameters suitable for this stream were optimised in the laboratory and then applied on the demonstration plant. A commercial batch (0.5 tons) of Nicksyn? reagent was produced for the demonstration plant. The laboratory test work results and the demonstration plant performance are discussed in detail in this paper.

Jan 1, 2007

By J. S. Gardner, J. J. Zaluski

I. INTRODUCTION West Virginia has a long history of coal production.1 The state at one time led the nation in total coal production, while at the same time coal from West Virginia constituted one quarter of total U.S. coal production.2 In more recent years, however, West Virginia’s level of coal production has been reduced in comparison to that of other states due to the high relative cost of producing coal in the state.3 Another blow to the producers of coal in West Virginia is the action known as Bragg v. Robertson.4 In 1998 various individual plaintiffs, as well as a conservation group known as the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, filed a civil action under a provision of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, Pub. L. No. 95-87, §522, 91 Stat. 445 (codified at 30 U.S.C. §§1201-1328) ("SMCRA" or the "Act") that allows declaratory and injunctive relief against state and federal officials for non-compliance with the Act.5 The plaintiffs generally claimed that the Director of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection ("WVDEP") had exhibited a pattern of violating mandatory non-discretionary duties under SMCRA and the West Virginia state regulatory program.6 These non-discretionary duties involved many areas of regulation, including water quality standards, disturbance of wetlands, hydrologic reclamation plans, Approximate Original Contour ("AOC") requirements and AOC variances, post-mining land uses, contemporaneous reclamation, and as explained later, the "buffer zone rule."7 In addition to these claims against WVDEP, the plaintiffs also alleged that certain individual members of the Army Corps of Engineers (the "Corps") had failed to carry out statutory duties under the Clean Water Act (the "CWA") and the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA").8 Generally, the complaint stated that the Corps did not have statutory authority under the CWA to regulate valley fills created for the purpose of the disposal of waste material, i.e., the overburden associated with mountain top mining.9 Alternatively, the plaintiffs claimed that even if the Corps could regulate valley fills, the Corps violated NEPA by issuing nationwide permits without required analysis. Finally, the plaintiffs asserted that the issuance of a nationwide permit for surface mining valley fills is unlawful.10

Jan 1, 2001

In this paper the system of an operative expert estimation of innovative policy of mining enterprise technological development on sustainable development principles, created in the laboratory of economic analysis, planning and management of Mining Institute after D A Kunayev is represented. It is based on application of technology of satellite navigation and global positioning system (GPS). It allows to estimate the geotechnological complex functioning efficiency in the automated mode and on the basis of the obtained results to develop a complex of management measures on the competitiveness increase, realised by means of the automated corporative management system of geotechnological complex. The estimation of complex competitiveness is carried out on such basic aspects, as: technical, technological, organisational, ecological and economic as all of it give certain expenses and influence on complex overall performance. The major difference of the given approach is its realisation within the limits of the automated corporative management system of geotechnological complexes. It is based the fact that data of monitoring of complex's work will provide a sustainable development of geotechnological complex of mining enterprise.

Dec 6, 2010

By G. S. Farnham

Abstract This paper lists the interests of the Physical Metallurgy and Chemical Research laboratories of the Metallgesellschaft, which were visited by the authors, members of a group of Canadian investigators sent to Germany by the Department of Reconstruction in 1945. The Physical Metallurgy Research Laboratory The following information was obtained from Professor E. Schmid, Chief of the laboratories. It is understood that Dr. Schmid is a former Nazi and was to be removed from his post in November (1945). Aluminium Research The laboratories investigated the corrosion resistance of the high-strength aluminium-magnesium-zinc alloys. The same test procedure as used by V.L.W. was followed and Dr. Schmid co-operated closely with Dr. Brenner on this project. Intercrystalline corrosion was combatted by additions of chromium, titanium, or vanadium, and the work in this field parallels that of Dr. Brenner of V.L.W. * Dr. Schmid reports that Bollenrath and Siebert believe that corrosion difficulties with these alloys can be overcome to some extent by heat treatment. He himself was of opinion that the correct answer lay not only in correct alloying but also in correct heat treatment. The heat treatment involved either interrupted quenching or a change in quenching rate from a solution temperature of 500°C. The procedure is either a slower cooling from solution temperature or an interrupted cooling with a holding period at l50°C. Work had been done on piston alloys, the 11-13% Si, 1% Ni, 1% Cu, and 1% Mg being the favoured material. This is called Lo-Ex and is similar to Mahle 124 or KS1275.

Jan 1, 1946

By T. H. Janes

THE POSSIBILITY of producing pig iron from iron ores of British Columbia for a west coast primary iron and steel industry has been investigated by the provincial government and by commercial interests on sever.al -occasions. The latest study is that currently under way by The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada, Limited. The Company is studying the possibility of making pig iron from the oxide calcine resulting from the roasting of pyrrhotite. tailings used in making sulphuric acid for fertilizer production at Kimberley. A comprehensive report on the subject .of establishing a primary iron and steel works in the Province, based on local iron ores, was prepared by Arthur G. Mc-Kee and Company of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1942 for the B.C. Minister of Mines and is available to interested parties. A detailed survey on the subject was also pre-pared in 1954 by Dr. G. P. Con-tractor, then .of the British Columbia Research Council. Considerable information is there-fore available on most aspects of an integrated primary iron and steel industry in British Columbia to supply the needs of the western provinces. To date, however, no basic iron industry has been established despite the .occurrence of high-grade iron ore deposits on the offshore islands and the high freight charges on iron and steel products brought into the area from Eastern Canada and overseas producers. The chief deterrent has always been the relatively small and highly diversified market available to a local steel producer. Other major fact-ors have been the lack of sufficient proven reserves of iron ore, and the difficulty of making pig iron, suit-able for steel manufacture, economically on a small scale. Technical and economic conditions have changed considerably since World War II and the establishment of a primary industry based on electric furnace production of pig iron or on one of the direct reduction processes, coupled with electric furnace steel production, may now be economically feasible.

Jan 1, 1958

By R. Liu

As Building Information Modeling (BIM) becomes widely adopted by the construction industry, it holds undeveloped possibilities for supporting Facility Management (FM). Some FM information systems on the market claim to address the needs for FM requirement. However, the question of whether the functionalities provided by the current BIM-based FM software companies are those actually required by the FM Professionals still need to be answered. The data is required by FM professionals in the operation and maintenance phases of facilities and type of maintainability problems that frequently occur, which can be solved early in design phase, have not yet been addressed. The aim of this paper is to clarify the frequently occurring maintainability problems and to investigate the potential areas that can use BIM technology to solve the maintenance problems in early the design phase. A survey was conducted to collect perspectives from the industry practitioners for the maintenance problems and their frequency. The survey results indicated that maintainability considerations should be taken into consideration during the facility design phase. The results also address the perceived areas by practitioners that need maintainability consideration in design phase

Aug 1, 2013

By X. Zhu, R. Du Plessis, J. D. Miller, D. G. Kotylar

Research on the low-potential hydrophobic state of pyrite with potassium amyl xanthate (PAX) as collector, is reported to help explain and understand the fundamental aspects of the N2TEC flotation process, which was originally developed for the improved recovery of gold from refractory auriferous sulfide ores. Typically in the N2TEC process, air is replaced by nitrogen as the flotation gas, and potassium amyl xanthate is used as collector for the reactive auriferous pyrite particles. The first N2TEC flotation process was commissioned at Lone Tree in Nevada in March 1997 and has been in operation ever since. On the basis of electrochemically controlled contact angle measurements, the low-potential, low-pH hydrophobic state of pyrite has been examined as a function of flotation variables such as pH, gas-phase composition, collector concentration and pyrite potential.

Jan 1, 2000

By Oliver C. Ralston

[This paper is an expmded revision of a report entitled "Froth Flota- tion and Agglomerate Tabling of Honmetdlic Idinerds, " published in Trans- actions of the Canadian Ir-stitute of Iriining and !,letdlurgy (vol. 40, November 1937, pp- 6? 1-726) and al'enared a year pr~viousl:~. Revisions en'oodied herein brinc the &ta I:T to Jn?uac"g 1, 193;. References have also been added to make the earlier paper more complete for the period it covered. This paper is an expmded revision of a report entitled "Froth Flota- tion and Agglomerate Tabling of Honmetdlic Idinerds, " published in Trans- actions of the Canadian Ir-stitute of Iriining and !,letdlurgy (vol. 40, November 1937, pp- 6? 1-726) and al'enared a year pr~viousl:~. Revisions en'oodied herein brinc the &ta I:T to Jn?uac"g 1, 193;. References have also been added to make the earlier paper more complete for the period it covered.]

Jan 1, 1938

By Robert K. Guthrie, James W. Amyx, D. B. Taliaferro

"INTRODUCTION Secondary recovery of oil by water-flooding is practiced more extensively in North Texas than in any other section of the State, and the progress and experience of the operations in that area are of continuing interest to all branches of the oil industry. The first Bureau of Mines report on water flooding in North Texas 7/ chronicled the activities from December 7, 193f', when the Railroad Commission of Texas granted The Texas Co. the first permit to inject water into an oil-bearing sand, through 1944. This second report has been prepared as a supplement to Report of Investigations 3906 to show the progress and expansion of water-flooding. The format of this report is almost identical with what of report of Investigations 3906, except for a few miner changes. For the sake of brevity, certain basic information contained on the first report has not been repealed, and the reader is urged to consider the two reports as corporation writings.The North Texas area, as encompassed by the two reports, corresponds Railroad Commission of Texas Districts 7P and 9. Oil-development operations in the two districts, since oil was discovered in 1904, have resulted in the recovery of approximately 1,400,000,000 barrels of oil from a proved area that has been estimated to exceed 413,000 acres. During October barrels of oil was produces by primary and secondary-recovery methods from 1,746 flowing wells and 25,211 pumping wells, a daily average 6.6 barrels per well. Of this total volume of oil recovered in October 1947, 47,965 barrels (0.87 percent) was recovered from leases on which water-flooding operations were in progresses."

Feb 1, 1948

By J. Paraszczak

For mining companies facing strong international competition and unfavourable commodities’ prices, automation of underground operations has the potential to increase productivity and help cut costs. However, despite considerable technological progress in this field, there still remain many problems to overcome. Furthermore, successful implementation of automation depends also on numerous operational, organizational, and even human factors. In this context, this paper briefly reviews technological progress with regard to different underground operations. Following that, several issues related to implementation of automated equipment and systems are presented and discussed. Particular emphasis is put on the factors whose importance is often underestimated. Some recommendations in this respect are also given. It is stated that the success of an automation project is a function of many “winning conditions,” which may be created through very thorough planning and preparation. It is also underlined that despite achievements made, a vision of a man-less underground mine is not yet as much a matter of near future as it may seem.

Jan 1, 2004