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By A. W. Fahrenwald

"About two years ago the Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior, and the University of Idaho undertook an investigation of classification in its relation to table concentration of Idaho ores. The cooperation of the management of the Bunker Hill & Sullivan Co. in placing at our disposal their West Mill and facilities as desired, offered an unusual opportunity for studying the field of hindered classification in its practical and economic relation to table concentration.It has been shorn theoretically, and demonstrated experimentally, that ore products are more easily and economically concentrated on tables if the natural feed, consisting of various minerals and of all sizes of particles of each mineral, be classified or grouped into a series of products in which the mineral particles of greatest density are small in diameter relative to the diameter of the mineral particles of lesser density. Products in which the maximum difference in diameter of light and heavy minerals occurs are to be obtained only by true hindered settling classification. To our knowledge there has never been a really good hindered settling classifier used in practice and the present tendency seems to be to by-pass any attempt at such classification.After a careful study of the nature of hindered classification and of the requirements for hindered settling in practice, a classifier has been developed that takes fullest practical advantage of the widely known, but generally only meagerly understood, condition of hindered settling so well analyzed a number of years ago by Dr. Richards.The present paper presents briefly some of the more important practical results accruing through the investigation."

Jun 1, 1924

By Guy Archambault, Réal Daigneault

"Un trait marquant du cadre tectorwstratigraphique de la Sous-province de l'Abitibi est la présence de nombreux couloirs de déformation d’extension régionale et sub-concordants au grain stratigraphique. La présence de grandes masses granitoïdes qui perturbent l'allure du grain tectonique est typique de la partie nord de la Sous-province de l'Abitibi. Des rides E-W constituées de complexes plutoniques précoces forment des reliefs structuraux agissant comme des moles résistants qui interfèrent avec la déformation régionale.Deux types de couloirs de déformation sont distingués, les couloirs de bordure et les discontinuités structurales. Les couloirs de bordure représentent des auréoles de déformation élevée qui s’accompagnent généralement d’un métamorphisme au faciès amphibolite. lls suivent /'interface entre les roches granitoïdes et les assemblages supracrustaux. Ces couloirs sont de puissance kilométrique et sont confines, surtout au sein des roches vertes, a l’interface des complexes granitoïdes d’importance. La limite entre la Sous-province de l'Opatica et les roches supra crustales de l'Abitibi est caractérisée par un important couloir de bordure issu possiblement d'un chargement tectonique irrégulier et concentre lors du raccourcissement horizontal.Les discontinuités structurales sont des failles ductiles qui se propagent surtout en direction E-W mais avec des variantes de directions SE et NE. Les discontinuités E-W se caractérisent par la présence d'une linéation d'étirement à fort angle de chute. Les discontinuités SE sont caractérisées par des linéations d'étirement horizontales et directionnelles et les mouvements observes sont system attiquement dextres. Les discontinuités NE sont des failles à comportement beaucoup plus fragile et se distinguent par des composantes de mouvement senestre. Elles sont tar dives par rapport aux discontinuités E-W et SE et ne représentent pas la symétrique du système SE.La combinaison des systèmes E-W et SE décrit un motif anastomose a l' échelle régionale. Les failles ductiles se rejoignent defaçon asymptotique, isolant des blocs peu ou pas affectes par la déformation. L'anastomose est un phénomène qui se produit a toute échelle et est reliée principalement aux Mt érogénéités et aux anisotropies 1) des forces agissantes (champs de contraintes régionale et locale) et 2) de la réponse del' empilement supra crustal (compositions différentes, fabrique initiate, propriétés mécaniques variées, niveaux d'altération).Dans le but de respecter un raccourcissement horizontal N-S, différents modelés sont proposés; ils mettent en cause soit une transpression dextre, soit des failles inverses réactivées en failles décrochèrent dextres soit des failles de chevauchement redressées."

Jan 1, 1990

By George P. Demopoulos, Yan Zeng, Zhibao Li

Precipitated silica is marketed with a rising demand as reinforcing filler in the rubber industry and as a potential raw material for the synthesis of lithium-ion battery electrodes. Due to an awareness of the environmental impact of the existing processes for the production of precipitated silica, a green and sustainable process was proposed by using sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) as an alternative to sulfuric or hydrochloric acid in the precipitation reaction with sodium silicates. The use of NaHCO3 allows for better control of the supersaturation and pH to form silica with desired quality. Additionally, Na2CO3 solution as the process by-product is recyclable because it could be recovered to produce NaHCO3 by absorbing CO2. The solubility of sodium metasilicate nonahydrate (Na2SiO3·9H2O) in the Na-CO3-HCO3-OH-H2O system was measured using a dynamic method in the temperature range from 288.15 to 308.15 K. It is found that the solubility of Na2SiO3·9H2O decreases with increasing concentration of either Na2CO3 or NaOH over the investigated concentration range. With the aid of the OLI platform, a chemical model for the Na2SiO3-Na-CO3-HCO3-OH system was established with newly obtained interaction parameters of the Bromley-Zemaitis model by regression of experimental solubility data. The new model predicted the solubility of Na2SiO3·9H2O in multi-component systems with good agreement and was used to conduct a preliminary feasibility study of the new process.

Jan 1, 2015

By G. S. Scott

[In the course of the investigation the Bureau of Mines is carrying on to determine the causes, behavior, and control of mine fires, the detection of incipient heating underground in the mines and above ground in refuse banks has received consideration. A report has been published5/ describing apparatus and tests made on anthracite to determine the amount and composition of the a oxidation products when normal dry air was passed through it at temperatures varrying from 100° to 350° C. These tests showed that the amount of evolved gases and their relative proportions varied with the temperature. From these results, graphs were prepared by which the temperature at which the coal was oxidized could be estimated thus giving a possible means of detecting incipient heating.]

Jan 1, 1938

By G. S. Scott

[In the course of the investigation the Bureau of Mines is carrying on to determine the causes, behavior, and control of mine fires, the detection of incipient heating underground in the mines and above ground in refuse banks has received consideration. A report has been puplished5/ describing apparatus and tests made on anthracite to determining the amount and composition of the oxidation products when normal dry air was passed through it at temperatures varying from 100° to 350° C. These tests showed that the amount of evolved gases and their relative prorortions varied with the temperature. From: these results, graphs were prepared by which `he temperature at which the coal was oxidized could 'be estimated, thus giving a possible means of detecting incipient heating.]

Jan 1, 1938

By A. Roy MacLean

"In the Maritimes, there are twelve coal areas. From east to west, these include the Sydney coal field, the St. Rose - Chimney Corner, Inverness, Mabou, Port Hood, Pictou, Colchester - Debert, Springhill, Joggins - Chignecto, Beersville, Lake Stream, and Minto. The first eight are in Nova Scotia while the remaining four are in New Brunswick.In all these areas, the coal was formed during the Carboniferous period, which existed some 300 million years ago. However, within this period not all coal formation took place during the same time. There were three main intervals, which occurred at the time that the Riversdale, Cumberland and Pictou groups were laid down (Hacquebard, 1970). The oldest coals are those of the Riversdale Group. These coals were of rather limited extent, and only a few mineable seams are present, particularly at St. Rose -Chimney Corner and Port Hood. From these two areas only 2 M tons have been extracted, and 'measured' resources of 7 and 9 M tons respectively remain. The Cumberland Group coals are confined to Cumberland County and include the coals of Springhill and Joggins River Herbert -Chignecto. Some 43 M tons have been removed and only 7 M tons of 'measured' coal remain, with an addit10nal 39 M tons of 'inferred' resources. However, there are additional resources at Springhill, which will be discussed in more detail in a later section. The coals of the Pictou Group are the youngest and the most abundant, both in actual number of seams and in regional distnbution. These coals were formed during the Westphalian C and D, a time during which the main coal deposition in Europe also took place. Here belong the coals of the Sydney, Inverness, Mabou, Pictou, Debert, Beersville, Lake Stream and Minto fields. Their total production amounted to 469 M tons or 91 % of the Maritime total of 514 M tons. The remaining resources of all Pictou Group coals have been calculated at 254 M tons of 'measured' coal and 949 M tons of 'inferred' coal. As can readily be seen, the bulk of both past production and remaining resources occur in the Sydney coal field. The Sydney figures represent 73% of total production, and 87% of total 'demonstrated' resources in the Maritime Provinces. Next to Sydney, the Pictou coal field has been the greatest producer, with 59 M tons; it also has the second largest 'measured' resources, amounting to 25 M tons. However in terms of 'inferred' coal resources, the Mabou coal field, ~ith 140 M tons, ranks second to Sydney."

Jan 1, 1985

By Mona M. Fawzy, Ahmed A. Eliwa, Ebrahim A. Gawad, Ahmed H. Orabi, Amal E. Mubark

The growing demand for rare earth elements (REEs) has led to numerous recent studies to recover these elements from various bearing ores and wastes. Therefore, the recovery of REEs from Ras Baroud polymetallic concentrate has been investigated in the current study. Physical beneficiation for the Ras Baroud pegmatite sample was carried out, yielding a concentrate for euxenite (Y), fergusonite (Y), xenotime (Y), monazite (Ce), allanite, thorite, uranothorite and Hf-zircon, which resulted in raising the concentrations of REEs, Th, Zr, U and Ti in the sample. Fusion digestion processes with sodium hydroxide were studied using the conceived predictive diagonal (CPD) technique. The three experimental digestion groups proved the dissolution of 99.9, 95.6, 99.9, 52.5 and 0.47 percent for REEs, Th, U, Ti and Zr, respectively, under fusion conditions of 723 K, 120 min, 1/1.5 ore-to-alkali ratio, and smaller than 100-μm particle sizes. Fusion kinetics, isotherms and thermodynamics were investigated using several suggested models, namely, pseudo reversible first order, uptake general model and shrinking core model, which matched well with the experimental digestion results. Selective recovery of actinide content from the REE content of the digested concentrate chloride solutions was accomplished using solvent extraction with di-2-ethyl hexyl phosphoric acid. About 99.9, 99.9 and 4.2 percent extraction efficiencies for Th, U and REEs were realized, respectively, using 0.3 mol/L solvent concentration in kerosene as a diluent, 1/2 organic-to-aqueous ratio, aqueous pH of 0.2 and contact time of 15 min. Thorium and uranium ions were stripped with 2.5 mol/L sulfuric acid solution with 94 and 98 percent stripping efficiency, respectively. A highly purified REE precipitate was obtained from the raffinate solutions. Zircon mineralization tailings were obtained as a byproduct through the alkaline digestion process.

Oct 1, 2024

By H. Brodie Hicks

"THE REVIVAL of the Mayo mining camp, with particular reference to the activities of United Keno Hill Mines, Limited, has been one •of the more spectacular and also one of the most important of the post-war developments in the Canadian mining field. The geological location of the camp, coupled with other natural disadvantages, have in the past limited the mining area to small-scale, highgrading operations, but the post-war improvement in metal prices has now broadened the possibilities and has led to the considerable success achieved by United Keno Hill Mines, Limited, and the present boom-type development by a whole host of newcomers to the field.LocationYukon which has an area of 207,000 square miles, is showing ever increasing possibilities as a mineral source of great value and more and more attention is being focussed on the Territory. The accompanying generalized map (Figure 1) shows the main transportation routes and mining districts.The Mayo Mining District comprises roughly the eastern two thirds of Yukon Territory lying north of McMillan river and south of the Peel. The district was one of the first in the Territory in which placer gold was discovered, but the occurrences proved of minor importance. Other minerals reported include ores of tungsten, tin, antimony, and several other metals, but of primary importance have been the ores containing silver-lead-zinc-cadmium now being developed and mined in the Keno area. Similar ores have been found over a very considerable area, extending some 50 miles north, 15 miles east, 30 miles west, and 10 miles south of the townsite of Keno Hills, Keno City, a total area of 2,700 square miles."

Jan 1, 1952

By J. Qiu

By means of natural sedimentation, two different bentonite samples from Shandong province were purified, this paper studies the Hydro-properties of the two purified montmorillonite samples. Firstly, the layer charge of two purified montmorillonite samples were calculated by crystal structure formula reckon method and general hydro-properties were also measured. The research results showed that the layer charge of montmorillonite correlated well with its hydro-properties: mont-morillonite with lower layer charge had better hydro-properties, such as Mont-1, which had higher swelling volume and gelling value with lower CEC; while, montmorillonite with higher layer charge had worse hydro-properties, such as Mont-2, which had lower swell volume and gelling value with higher CEC; it proves that the hydro-properties of montmorillonite depends on its layer charge characteristics, layer charge characteristic is the inherent factors deciding the hydro-properties of montmorillonite, montmorillonite with lower layer charge has better hydro-properties than the one with higher layer charge. In this paper, the relation between the medium condition and colloid performance of Mont-1 are also studied. The results show that the hydro-properties of Mont-1 could be changed by changing slurry concentration (w/w) and shear rate or adding certain amounts of inorganic cation electrolytes, dispersants and surfactants. The viscosity of montmorillonite slurry could be enhanced by increasing slurry concentration,adding univalentcation electrolytes (less than 4% w/w) or proper amounts of dispersants and surfactants (less than critical micelle concentration); The slurry viscosity could be reduced by decreasing slurry concentration, increasing shear rate, adding proper bivalent (more than 4% w/w) cation electrolytes or proper quantities of dispersants and surfactants (more than critical micelle concentration).

Jan 1, 2014

By Thales Lima Da Silva

As cerâmicas avançadas estão em diversas aplicações técnicas devido à possibilidade de melhoria na tenacidade, ao desgaste e corrosão em altas temperaturas. Neste trabalho avaliou-se o aditivo de sinterização Nb2O5 em teores de 0,2%, 0,4% e 0,6%vol. no compósito 98,5% Al2O3 com dispersão de 1,5% de ZrO2 nanométrica. Os pós foram misturados em moinhos de bola e as amostras foram conformadas por prensagem uniaxial. Utilizou-se a sinterização convencional a 1450ºC, 1500ºC e 1550ºC por 1 hora, caracterizando-se a densidade aparente pelo método de Arquimedes e a microestrutura final por microscopia eletrônica de varredura, procurando-se avaliar o efeito inibidor de crescimento de grão da zircônia frente a possibilidade de formação de fase líquida pela adição de nióbia.

Oct 30, 2017

By Frederic Benard

Recovery of selenium and tellurium at Copper Cliff by the Ontario Refining Co. has been previously described by the writer.l During 1935 a new building was erected to house this operation and description of the new plant and process form the subject of this paper. The building, of modern steel and tile construction, covers an area of 5900 sq. ft. with a volume of approximately 166,000 cu. ft. The large monitored center bay is flanked by two smaller outside bays, one of which is devoted to the tellurium section. All equipment, ceilings and upper walls, are treated with aluminum paint, giving good illumination and facilitating good housekeeping, essential from a health standpoint in handling material of this nature. Equipment Layout and type of equipment conforms to the requirements of the process as described below. In the selenium section, storage tanks, neutralizing tanks and precipitators are of steel construction, lead-lined and arranged for gravity flow (Fig. 1). The neutralizing tanks are equipped with water-cooled lead coils for controlling solution temperature, agitation being accomplished with compressed air. The precipitators are provided with mechanical agitators, and sulphur dioxide is introduced into the solution through 1/2-in. lead pipes leading from a manifold attached to the cover of the precipitator. Each precipitator has internal cooling coils and an air-jet exhauster to carry off fumes. Neutralized solutions are filtered in a 29-plate wooden filter press using heavy cotton duck as a filter medium, forced feed being maintained by a Welmet centrifugal pump. Dilute solutions are concentrated by evaporation in a vacuum evaporator, constructed of cast hard lead. Heat is supplied by an outside steam chest operating under 15 Ib. steam pressure. The solution is circulated through the steam chest by a pump of antimonial lead at a rate approximating 400 cu. ft. per min. The evaporator is evacuated by a water-jet condenser that creates a vacuum of 26 in. of mercury under normal operating conditions. The capacity of the vessel is 60 cu. ft. and the rate of evaporation 25 cu. ft. per hour.

Jan 1, 1943

By Frederic Benard

Recovery of selenium and tellurium at Copper Cliff by the Ontario Refining Co. has been previously described by the writer.l During 1935 a new building was erected to house this operation and description of the new plant and process form the subject of this paper. The building, of modern steel and tile construction, covers an area of 5900 sq. ft. with a volume of approximately 166,000 cu. ft. The large monitored center bay is flanked by two smaller outside bays, one of which is devoted to the tellurium section. All equipment, ceilings and upper walls, are treated with aluminum paint, giving good illumination and facilitating good housekeeping, essential from a health standpoint in handling material of this nature. Equipment Layout and type of equipment conforms to the requirements of the process as described below. In the selenium section, storage tanks, neutralizing tanks and precipitators are of steel construction, lead-lined and arranged for gravity flow (Fig. 1). The neutralizing tanks are equipped with water-cooled lead coils for controlling solution temperature, agitation being accomplished with compressed air. The precipitators are provided with mechanical agitators, and sulphur dioxide is introduced into the solution through 1/2-in. lead pipes leading from a manifold attached to the cover of the precipitator. Each precipitator has internal cooling coils and an air-jet exhauster to carry off fumes. Neutralized solutions are filtered in a 29-plate wooden filter press using heavy cotton duck as a filter medium, forced feed being maintained by a Welmet centrifugal pump. Dilute solutions are concentrated by evaporation in a vacuum evaporator, constructed of cast hard lead. Heat is supplied by an outside steam chest operating under 15 Ib. steam pressure. The solution is circulated through the steam chest by a pump of antimonial lead at a rate approximating 400 cu. ft. per min. The evaporator is evacuated by a water-jet condenser that creates a vacuum of 26 in. of mercury under normal operating conditions. The capacity of the vessel is 60 cu. ft. and the rate of evaporation 25 cu. ft. per hour.

Jan 1, 1943

By Y Zhu, D J. Williams, M O’Neill, C Zhang, X Lei

A cover of inert material overlain by topsoil is required over compacted, seawater-neutralised red mud, a waste product from the refining of bauxite to produce alumina. The cover is to be revegetated, and it is necessary to demonstrate that the potential evapotranspirative-driven uptake of salts from the seawater-neutralised red mud will not impact the revegetation. An instrumented column was designed and constructed to test the evaporation-driven uptake of salts from compacted red mud into an overlying cover material with a thickness limited to 600 mm. The PVC column is 1.2 m high, with a 200 mm internal diameter. The column is instrumented with up to ten of each of moisture, suction, salinity and temperature sensors, together with a data logger, designed and manufactured at The University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane, Australia. The sensors were installed through the wall of the column at various depth intervals, with each set of sensors located at quarter points around the circumference of the column. Two pressure transducers were installed in the column to monitor the change of water level due to rainfall and evaporation. The column was filled with compacted red mud to a depth of 600 mm overlain by 600 mm of cover material, both sourced from the Queensland Alumina Limited (QAL) site in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia. The column is installed on a building roof at UQ, alongside a weather station, and will be subjected to the prevailing weather conditions for up to 1 year in the first instance, during which time the weather conditions and sensor responses will be continuously monitored. This paper reports on the instrumented column set-up and the early results obtained from the test.CITATION:Zhang, C, Williams, D J, Lei, X, Zhu, Y and O’Neill, M, 2018. Instrumented column testing of salt uptake from compacted red mud into a cover, in Proceedings Mine Waste and Tailings Stewardship Conference 2018, pp 220–226 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 23, 2018

By A. V. Castelli

Since the record year of 1981 through 1985 the tonnage of weighting materials (barite and other heavy minerals) used in drilling fluids has decreased an estimated 49%. As in the past, barite still makes up over 90% of the minerals used for weighting materials in drilling fluid. Domestic production of barite has decreased 69% since 1981 and imported barite has made up over 50% of the total barite consumed since 1982. See Figure 1 for usage of barite. The number of operating grinding plants has decreased from 69 in 1982 to 39 at the end of 1985. With the decrease in demand of weighting materials for drilling fluids and an over capacity of grinding existing, prices for weighting materials have decreased dramatically. Although the American Petroleum Institute has not changed any of the specifications for barite, some users have initiated their own new specifications and have proposed to have them included in the API specifications. The exploration for and development of oil and gas dictates the level of weighting material used in the drilling fluids industry. Most forecasters do not foresee (or predict) increases in the level of drilling until the 90's. The primary or unground barite produced in the U.S. mines has a difficult time competing with imported barite due to the location of the mines. These mines are located in North Central Nevada, with small tonnages being produced in California, Missouri, Illinois, Montana and Washington. The major reason, is the difference in transportation costs from the mines versus ocean freight rates from the foreign ports to the major area of use, the U.S. Gulf. Since 1981, the production of primary barite has decreased from 2,849,000/ST (2,584,596/MT) in 1981 to an estimated 890,000/ ST (807,403/MT) in 1985(1). If it were not for the use of unit trains by some producers the production of primary barite in the U.S. would have probably declined another 20% in 1985. During the same period, of the total amount of barite consumed in the U.S., imported barite ore increased from 417, in 1981 to 65% in 1985. The major exporting countries to the U.S. during this period were China 46.27, Morocco 15.27., Chile 10%, Peru 8.4%, India 7.9%, Mexico 5.4%, Thailand 3.9% and Ireland 2.3%.

Jan 1, 1986

By Greg J. Hasenfus, Allison M. Haines, Joshua M. Silvis

The floodable volume of longwall gob can be of great importance in developing accurate coal mine operation plans, particularly for mine water management and environmental control strategies. Given the inaccessibility and difficulty in direct measurement of gob characteristics following gob recompression, hydrologic, geomechanical, and spatial data and principles were used to solve for the porosity and height of the residual gob using a mathematical model framework and bulking-based techniques. Based on this approach, gob porosity of Appalachian longwalls appears to be tighter than previously reported, ranging between 4.99 and 14.31%. Residual gob height, as normalized with respect to mine extraction height, ranges between 1.90 and 2.45. A novel, bedding-based bulking approach is ampliative with respect to existing roof caving and bulking fundamentals, as it has greater explanatory value compared with the traditional, lithologic-based bulking application. The efficacy of using the residual gob characteristics determined by the mathematical model and bedding-based bulking is examined using a causal comparative method, whereby time series prediction of historical groundwater rebound is compared with observed mine pool elevation data. Prediction accuracy is significantly improved using a prototype model to calculate void volume of longwall gob, specifically, the dependence of porosity of the gob material upon the longwall width to overburden depth ratio for movement basins of subcritical and critical panel widths. The potential implication of these findings toward hydrologic, geomechanical, and ventilation studies of longwall gob could be significant.

Aug 13, 2021

By L. G. Billington

"The Agnew nickel deposit occurs in a major linear greenstone belt in the Archaean Eastern Goldfields Province of Western Australia, and has been subjected to mid-amphibolite facies nietamorphism of dynamic style. The largest dunitic ultramafic body in the Perseverance Block is host to the bulk of the nickel mineralization. The Perseverance Ultramafic is mineralogically zoned and has an embayed western margin against a mixed metasedimentarv-metavolcanic wallrock sequence.Three categories of nickel sulphide mineralization are concentrated on this western margin at the thickest part of the ultramafic exposure. Massive sulphides characteristically occur as contact mineralization, internal mineralization and as remobilized concentrations in vein form structures. Disseminated ore constitutes the largest volume of mineralized materials in the deposit and occurs in three separate shoots in en-echelon relation. Weakly mineralized 'cloud sulphide' zones surround and envelop the shoots and persist much further along strike. In the upper mine levels the shoots are truncated by a shear or crush zone, which inhibits geological knowledge to the south but marks a major fundamental structural break.Most of the ore types have suffered supergene alteration and there is a complex variable distribution of the mineralogical facies. The ore types have been metamorphically retextured, but the oreshoots can be characterized by their Ni tenor and some chemical ratios. S/Se values, PGF. and precious metal values are distinctly different from those of other nickel sulphide ores extracted.Despite intense structural and metamorphic modification of the mineralizations, some features support an original magmatic derivation for the sulphides. These include the localization of massive sulphide ore types on one marginal contact within an emhayment structure, the general distribution of disseminated mineralizations located immediately above the massive sulphides and the Ni/Cu, Ni/Co, Fe/Ni ratios of the oreshoots being similar to those of deposits that typify the intrusive dunite- associated class of nickel sulphide deposit. Varying S/Ni ratios between different shoots suggest a revision of the single magmatic intrusion model in favour of a changing composition between successive magmatic episodes."

Jan 1, 1984

By J. Maritz, K. de Beer, S. M. Buthelezi

The economic upheaval of COVID-19 forced companies to invest in emerging technologies to aid recovery. One such technology is extended reality, which is becoming a mature and innovative tool. Early adopters are seeing significant benefits in learning, training, immersive data visualization, and remote assistance. In South Africa, the mining industry is increasingly interested in using extended reality to optimize and innovate operations. The Minerals Council of South Africa's July 2021 report highlighted the potential of extended reality's to achieve zero-harm production and modernize the industry. However, the extent of extended reality adoption in mining remains unclear due to limited information on its usage. This study addressed this gap by distributing an online survey to assess awareness, knowledge, and current uses of extended reality in South Africa’s mining sector. The results indicated that virtual and augmented reality had the highest levels of awareness and usage, primarily for learning and training. Mixed reality, however, had the lowest awareness and knowledge levels. In terms of applications, visualization and remote assistance had the least use cases. These findings highlight that the South African mining industry is deficient in its understanding and use of extended reality technologies. Without better awareness and application, the South African industry risks missing out on the full benefits of extended reality. The study underlines the need for the South African mining industry to improve its outlook on extended reality technologies to fully leverage their potential applications and benefits.

Jul 10, 2024

By R. W. Coburn

The results of field experiments on wells which required stimulation indicated that engineered well-completions will cause an increase in ultimate recovery at reduced costs. Techniques and tools have been developed which can be used to establish well conditions most conducive to successful stimulation. Cementing, perforating and treating are bound together so completely that the success of one phase is completely dependent on the .effectiveness of the preceding phase. A method of determining the efficiency or effectiveness of any given well-stimulation treatment has been derived. Pressure behaviour during a treatment can be analyzed to yield the total percentage of the formation which has been treated.

Jan 1, 1960

By FELIPE SÁNCHEZ, PHILIPP HARTLIEB

Innovation plays a critical role in the mining industry as a tool to improve the efficiency of its processes, to reduce costs, but also to meet the increasing social and environmental concerns among communities and authorities. Technological progress has also been crucial to allow the exploitation of new deposits in more complex scenarios: lower ore grades, extreme weather conditions, deeper deposits, harder rock mass, and high-stress environments. This paper discusses the importance of innovation for the mining industry and describes the mechanisms by which it is carried out. It includes a review of the drivers and actors involved and current trends. The digital transformation process that the industry is going through is analyzed, along with other relevant trends that are likely to shape the mining of the future. Additionally, a case study is presented to illustrate the technical and economic implications of developing a disruptive innovation project.

Jul 23, 2020

By J. Palarski

In the Polish coal mining industry, the use of mine waste in underground backfill has been the most common means of providing ground support to minimize surface subsidence, increasing extraction ratios, and reducing the quantity of waste for surface disposal. Over the last decade attention has been focused on the use of different waste as filling material of underground workings and grouting of roof fall rocks in caving area. In the paper, a brief history of the development of fill technology in Polish coal mining industry is presented. Next, the paper discusses various criteria that should be taken under consideration in the preparation process of a fill slurry and grout, fill distribution systems, mining geometry and placement methods. Moreover, in the paper evaluation of the potential of utilizing coarse and fine waste as a resource material in the production of a backfill slurry and grout for filling and injection in abandoned mines is presented.

May 1, 2007