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By S. Carter

this paper describes an innovation in computer software that permits mining professionals to collaborate on exploration and mining projects regardless of geographic location. Growth of mining companies through merger and acquisition has created a greater need for mining professionals to collaborate, especially as projects and project participants are becoming geographically remote. Surpac NetVision, the name given to this new collaboration technology, satisfies this need by deploying interactive 3D graphics sessions across computer networks. It achieves this by using common web browser technology as the deployment medium. A plug-in architecture that supports diverse file formats permits transparent read and write of foreign data to further enhance the collaboration process. Surpac NetVision supports any number of connections from web browsers on remote computers using existing networks. Software components required to enable the collaboration session are deployed to the remote computer as required and cached for future sessions. The collaboration session at each computer is characterized by a fully functional replica of the user interface for Surpac NetVision from which any function can be executed by any client, at the owners discretion. All geometry and display attributes deployed to remote clients to render 3Dgraphics are highly compressed to reduce bandwidth requirements. The key benefits of this collaboration technology is improved communication in regard to exploration and mining projects leading to: •More informed decision making •Improved deployment of project objectives and plans beyond the technical planning group to project management and operations staff •Improved technical support for software users. Keywords: 3D graphics, project collaboration, interactive graphics, internet 3D graphics, mining software

Jan 1, 2003

By A. N. Brown

The importance of the minerals industry in the economy of the country is discussed, and the tremendous changes that have taken place over the past two decades, including the widespread application of computers and the use of mechanization, are outlined. A discussion of the future of the minerals industry points out that, with the rise in the price of gold, the life of the gold-mining industry can be expected to extend beyond that previously predicted, and that the demand for uranium, which has been depressed, is uncertain. As a result of the oil crisis, the demand for coal has increased and large expansion programmes are planned. These involve coal exports and the use of coal for the generation of electric power, for the production of liquid fuels, and for the smelting of metals. Technical challenges face engineers in every avenue of the minerals industry: in deep gold mines, underground coal mines, strip coal mines, and open-pit mines. Studies indicate that only one-third of the demand for trained mining and metallurgical engineers is being met and that the position is worsening. However, there are indications that the industry is succeeding in attracting more engineering students, and the supply is expected to improve. These efforts should be co-ordinated, expanded, and intensified. There is a need to ensure that sufficient teaching staff of the right calibre and experience are attracted to universities and technikons. The first degree course is comprehensive and basic, and specialization through post-graduate study should be encouraged. The influence of national service on the education and training of engineers is discussed.

Jan 1, 1982

By N. B. Strydom

The data on heat stroke cases reported during the past five years were examined to determine the influence of age on the incidence of heat stroke. Relating the age distribution of these cases to that of the total number of Bantu mine workers showed clearly that the older men run a significantly higher risk of developing heat stroke than the younger men. Although the number of Bantu over 40 years of age in the industry is less than 10 per cent of the total they nevertheless accounted for 50 per cent of the fatal heat stroke and 25 per cent of the nonfatal heat stroke cases during the period under review. Age must, therefore, be recognised as a causal factor in heat stroke and the worker over 40 years of age should be allocated to work on surface, or in cool areas or to non-strenuous and supervisory tasks in hot areas.

By D. G. Krige

The scope and salient features of a general risk-analysis model for the main types of new mining ventures are covered in brief outline. The following special features and their effects on the investment criteria are discussed: - various criteria for viability, - the maximum shortfall of funds, - correlations between the grades of up to five ore constituents and between the corresponding product prices. differential inflation and escalation rates for costs and prices, - the estimation, if relevant, of a pay limit based either on the major product only, or on the two major products jointly, - the likely recovery grades of all the products to be obtained when the ore-body is mined to any such pay limit. - an option to take account of the effect on the pay limit of any negative taxation on marginal ore, - investment analyses in current and real terms for individual groups of investors subscribing for equity and any loan capital on differential terms.

Jan 1, 1979

By F. S. A. de Frey, F. C. Kruger

Personnel management has undergone a remarkable change over the course of the past ten years. Personnel departments have played an increasingly important role, which today requires highly trained people and cannot be adequately served by the lesser qualified officials of yesteryear. Changes in the mining industry that stem from the demand for skilled labour to keep pace with technological developments and the mechanization of mines today demand that emphasis should be placed on the maximum utilization of manpower. Maximum utilization of manpower calls for more scientific and effective methods of recruiting, selecting, training, and placing workers so as to offer them the best opportunities for development and promotion, which naturally ensure a minimum labour turnover and eliminate labour unrest. This can be achieved only if well-qualified and properly trained personnel administrators are prepared to accept the challenge and apply themselves purposefully by assisting line mangement with the attainment of the company's corporate objectives.

Jan 1, 1982

By S. Selmer-Olsen

New trends and developments in the production of ferro-silicon, ferro-manganese and ferro-chrome alloys are discussed, with emphasis on the general trend to the adoption of large production units. Problems which arise, both of a metallurgical and an electrical nature, due to the use of large electric furnaces, are outlined with specific reference to the limitations imposed by the power carrying capacity of Soderberg electrodes, the furnace resistance and the furnace reactance. The implications of combining high resistance within the furnace with good metallurgical operating conditions are illustrated by considering the production of ferro-silicon and ferro-manganese. The possibility of replacing electric furnaces used for ferro-manganese production, by large low shaft blast furnaces using oxygen enriched blast, is mentioned. The continued use of small electric arc furnaces for ferro-chrome production is also mentioned, and is ascribed to lack of ore suitable for treatment in large furnaces. Agglomeration of chromite ores appears to be a possible answer to this problem.

By Dr Peter Laxen

Dr Peter Laxen, the Mintek Consultant on gold and uranium, has won the 1982 award of the Percy Fox Foundation. The presentation was made by the Minster of Finance, Mr Owen Horwood, at a banquet on 6 March.

Jan 1, 1982

By C. S. Erasmus, L. C. Woollacott

The distribution of gold loaded onto carbon particles from a carbon-in-pulp operation was measured by neutron activation analysis. The nature of the distribution is examined, and the implications for operating plants and CIP simulators are discussed.

Jan 1, 1992

By A. P. L. Kotzé

This paper gives a brief description of the control measures used in the establishment of the Grootegeluk Coal Mine, near Ellisras in the Transvaal. Specific reference is made to the planning offunds, cost and financial control, and economic evaluation.

Jan 1, 1982

By M. G. Spengler

A new type of pack has been developed primarily for the support of narrow stopes. It was shown in the laboratory that it has characteristics that very closely approximate the optimum required by underground support to achieve hangingwall stability.

Jan 1, 1978

By A. G. R. Coreejes, G. Ferreira

The paper sets out briefly the methods used for the planning and control of the construction work at Grootegeluk Coal Mine near EIIisras, Transvaal. It includes a discussion of the programming, the updating of programmes, and the progress reporting.

Jan 1, 1982

By O. Steffen

Two Schools on 'Rock Mechanics in Mine Management' were held at the University of the Witwatersrand from 23rd January to 3rd February, 1984. The School was originally perceived as a repetition of the Rock Mechanics School held in 1978.

Jan 1, 1984

By G. Y. Nisbet

The contribution made to the economy of South Africa by the-minerals industry is discussed according to four of its aspects. Firstly, the industry supports both students and lecturers in technical and academic institutions. This support covers virtually the whole range of courses available at the universities and technikons, although most is obviously devoted to the engineering and science faculties. Secondly, the industry makes a direct financial contribution to the State in that it contributes about40 per cent of the State's receipts from direct tax paid on incomes and 30 per cent of the contributions to the total State revenue. It provides employment for 28 per cent of the total active labour force, and contributes 24 per cent directly to the gross domestic product. Thirdly, the industry is responsible for over 65 per cent of the country's foreign earnings in spite of the significant rise in exports from the manufacturing sector. South African minerals are of crucial importance to the word, since the country has the world's largest reserves of seven minerals and features very prominently in many others. Finally, the industry makes an indirect contribution, referred to as the multiplier effect. This is the ripple effect on the economy made by a large injection of momey by which that money acquires an added effective value. A study made of the total production of the mining industry in 1978, for instance, showed this multiplier to havea value of 1,5. Thus, if this effect is included, the industry's contribution to the gross domestic product is 44,S per cent. Similarly, the industry is responsible for the creation of jobs both within itself and in other industries, which could amount to 100000 for the period 1981 to 1935.

Jan 1, 1981

By C. J. Badenhorst

Occupational illnesses and diseases tend to be chronic and are generally characterized by temporary or permanent physical dysfunction. With the exception of some symptoms, they are not generally visible. Therefore, safety overrides health in mining because occupational ailments take years to develop and management observes less physical trauma, if they witness anything at all. Occupational health issues need to be addressed systematically, encompassing all aspects of the interaction of employees within the work environment. Risk assessment is central to the management of occupational health. This should not be seen as a complex process and may involve little more than simply considering the consequences of one?s actions before starting work. Competent risk assessment provides the starting point and defines the scope of further action. The objectives and final use of an occupational health risk assessment determine the process and the method by which it is carried out. The occupational health risk assessment is therefore a systematic procedure to identify potential health hazards, evaluate the extent of exposure subjectively and/or objectively, and to establish the need for, and effectiveness of existing control measures. Furthermore, it facilitates the drafting of occupational exposure monitoring, medical surveillance and occupational health education programmes. Various models for conducting occupational health risk assessment provide step-by-step guidance for the identification and assessment of significant occupational health hazards and assist in producing suitable and significant occupational health risk assessments. The paper gives an overview of an occupational health risk assessment model based on the basic principles of occupational health and the legislative requirements, which will simplify the occupational health risk assessment process and ensure a sound base for the development of all other occupational health systems.

Jan 1, 2004

By H. J. N. Winhoff

The tailings dam at Consolidated Murchison Limited by H. J. N. WINHOFF, Ing. Grad. (Visitor) The history of tailings dam operations at Consolidated Murchison Limited is briefly recounted, and a mechanical method of dam-wall construction is described and illustrated in some detail.

Jan 12, 1973

The winners of the Delfos and Atlas Copco Travel Grant for Mining Engineers were announced at a cocktail party hosted by Mr Mario Pellegrino, Managing Director of Delfos and Atlas Copco, at the Sandton Sun Hotel on Friday evening, 18th May, 1984.

Jan 1, 1984

By P. E. Hand

SYNOPSIS This paper describes some of the markets for South African coal and their particular coal requirements. It describes how reserves are being used and suggests new strategies to make possible a synergistic ap¬proach that would benefit coal producers and end-users.

Jan 1, 1991

By R. J. MacAulay, R. C. More O’Ferrall

Preliminary tests on cement-consolidated gold-plant slime are outlined, together with preliminary underground tests on the behaviour of two paddocks of the material. Further large-scale testing of the same material pumped to the underground workings from a batching plant on surface is described.

Jan 1, 1978

By V. C. Robinson

INTRODUCTION Most presidential addresses are in the nature of a review of some specific topic and this will be no different. In thinking about the subjects which might be suitable for this address I decided that as next month will see my retirement from the gold mining industry I might review the four decades since I started in the industry in 1929. These four decades have been more than usually in',~resting and exciting. They have covered a period when the price of gold increased from the old figure of 84/- an ounce to the price of $35 an ounce today, taking in on the way at least two periods of premium sales from which the producer benefitted. The industry in these four decades has survived the most totally destructive war in history and has seen fundamental changes in the political, economic and governmental life of South Africa. There have been great technological changes and improvements, some of which I shall refer to later, and in addition there have been profound changes in the relations between employer and employee in the industry which have affected not only the economy of the industry but the traditional thinking of both management and labour. I believe that the address presented to this Institute on the occasion of its 75th Anniversary by Mr Goode covered more than adequately the history of the Institute and the part it has played in the mining industry of South Africa. It would be merely repetitive, therefore, to discuss the affairs of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Having said this, however, it is also necessary to point out that the history of the Institute is, and always will be, an important record of the history of mining in South Africa. There are many facets, however, on which we ought to look back and to re-examine. One of the most rewarding, but at the same time one of the dullest, places to look for historical facts is in the annual reports of the Chamber of Mines. I suppose that some of the dullest of these have been the reports for which paragraphs have been prepared by me personally. The notes which follow do not claim to be anything like a full record of this exciting period. RISE AND FALL OF THE GOLD MINING INDUSTRY In talking about the mining industry of South Africa it is inevitable that one talks, particularly in the historical sense, about the gold mining industry - an industry of fundamental importance which has made South Africa what it is and which has been dying since the early part of this century. In Table I is shown the progress of the gold mining industry measured by its output of ounces of fine gold from the beginning of operations until the end of 1969, and if you are interested in the productivity of the men who work this industry the table, composed entirely from figures set out in the Chamber's annual reports, also shows the production of gold expressed as fine ounces per European and fine ounces per Bantu worker over a long period. If you are still minded to think of this industry as dying then the last column in the table shows how uranium has played such a vital part in the prosperity of the country.

By R. Venter

Uranium in the tetravalent state has very low solubility in acid and alkaline solutions and needs to be oxidized to the hexavalent state to become soluble. In acid leaching of uranium the uranium is oxidized by ferric iron, which in turn is reduced to ferrous iron. The reduced iron needs to be oxidized to the ferric form to allow the uranium dissolution reaction to proceed. This paper considers the known and proven oxidants used in acid leaching of uranium. These include manganese dioxide, sodium chlorate, hydrogen peroxide, ferric iron, oxygen and sulphur dioxide/air (oxygen). The reaction chemistry of each oxidant as well as the practical applications are considered and discussed. All the oxidants discussed work adequately in acid leaching of uranium and it is possible to engineer solutions for the use of the oxidants in acid leaching on plant scale. The availability and supply of the oxidant as well as the cost and environmental impact of the oxidant plays a major role in the selection of a suitable oxidant. The location of the plant will also have an impact on these issues.

Jan 1, 2009