Search Documents

By Keithe J. Merl, Brendan FitzPatrick, Gregg Piazza

Urban and industrial construction projects commonly involve interior work within buildings, warehouses and manufacturing facilities. Renovations of these existing structures must address both structural and geotechnical engineering challenges while also balancing the practicality of implementing solutions within site constraints including limited site access, overhead clearance restrictions, vibration tolerances and uninterrupted facility operations. This paper highlights two projects for an international shipping company where mezzanine level additions within active shipping facilities required construction of new foundations. Construction requirements included low vibration levels, as well as rapid and clean installation to limit impacts on the active shipping operations. The selected system also needed to adjust to both variable ground conditions and differing overhead clearances. This paper describes the installation, design and performance of Ductile Iron Piles used to meet the project challenges. The low vibration, driven pile system offered the ability to work within restricted overhead environments while successfully delivering working compression capacities ranging from 45 to 75 tons (41 to 68 tonnes) as well as lateral and tension resistance. The paper also presents the results of site-specific load testing (and pile capacity) for various termination criteria. INTRODUCTION Urban and industrial construction projects commonly involve interior work within buildings, warehouses and manufacturing facilities. Renovations of these existing structures must address both structural and geotechnical engineering challenges associated with the new construction. Foundation solutions must also balance the need to achieve design requirements with the practicality to be installed within the particular site constraints including limited site access, overhead clearance restrictions, vibration tolerances and uninterrupted facility operations.

Jan 1, 2019

By Alexsandro Berger

Many thickener operations continue to be constrained by their ability to process consolidated underflows with high yield stress and associated rheological characteristics. To maximise separation efficiencies within a thickener operation the use of both engineering and reagents are always considered. BASF is developing a Novel Flocculant Technology (NFT), which combines both of these aspects to enhance the performance of the thickener operation, improving the areas of pumping efficiency, underflow density and throughput. The development progression through stages of laboratory scale batch test work to pilot scale dynamic testing has demonstrated the ability of BASF NFT to maintain effective flocculation performance whilst increasing the rate of underflow consolidation, and significantly reducing the associated underflow yield stress of the treated material. This paper will present application data through full scale dynamic testing conducted on a granite washing circuit to demonstrate the performance benefits that NFT offers to a thickener operation. Compared to the conventional flocculant treatment, within the operation parameters and conditions employed during the full scale trials, the NFT produced a reduction in underflow rheology (yield stress) of around 45 % relative to a given solids and improved the underflow consolidation by providing at least 20% relative higher underflow solids loading than the upper limit of the given typical thickener operation. Keywords: flocculation, thickener operation, rheology, yield stress, underflow density, throughput, slump test

Sep 1, 2012

By T. Kerr, C. Mattich, J. Wilson

"In refractory gold concentrates, gold is occluded in sulphide minerals preventing efficient cyanide leaching. Hence, roasting is used to oxidize sulphur and organic carbon, the latter being necessary to minimize recovery loss through the preg-robbing effect. In 2009, Outotec commissioned the circulating fluidized bed roaster at Syama gold mine in Mali. Since 2013 Resolute and Outotec have been implementing improvements to the roaster performance with the capacity increasing from 8000 t/month in 2013 to above 13,000 t/month in 2016, while achieving a residual sulphide sulphur and organic carbon contents of below 0.1 wt.% and 0.4 wt.%, respectively. Thus a gold recovery in the CIL of above 90% is attained. In 2016, Outotec audited the Syama roaster. The analysis resulted in the Low Carbon Roaster (LCR) upgrade concept which (i) allows re-processing of calcine dust from the spray cooler and ESP after pelletization and (ii) allows the roasting of a further fine-organic carbon rich feed, i.e. de-slime circuit tailings. The LCR upgrade aims to reduce organic carbon to <0.2 wt.% and increase roaster-leaching gold recovery by >3%. Project development included extensive testwork. The LCR process is expected to become operational during FY 2019.INTRODUCTION Double refractory sulphide ores exhibit the characteristics of gold locked within pyrite grains, in the presence of preg-robbing natural (organic) carbon. Hence, to achieve high recovery during subsequent processing steps, i.e. cyanide leaching, oxidation of sulphide sulphur is required, producing a porous calcine by way of a roasting step. This allows for the gold contained within the pyrite grains to be accessible during cyanide leaching. Furthermore, it is necessary to oxidize the organic carbon. Oxidizing the organic carbon is essential as gold recovery loss occurs as a result of gold-cyanide complexes being adsorbed on organic carbon, this phenomenon is termed as preg-robbing (Miller et al., 2016). The gold absorbed on the organic carbon is lost, reporting to the tailings stream. Hence, the aforementioned oxidation of sulphide sulphur and organic carbon is the process goal. Nonetheless, the latter must occur at a controlled temperature which is concentrate/ ore specific, since the pores of the produced calcine should not sinter, as this makes the gold contained in the calcine less accessible during leaching, leading to gold recovery loss. The tight temperature control requirement is a decisive factor in the choice of a Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) as the roasting reactor, due to the excellent mixing characteristics of the CFB which results in temperature homogeneity of (+/-10°C). Roasting of double refractory ores, as described above, can be included in the flowsheet after comminution and grinding, a process termed as whole ore roasting, or by including a flotation circuit termed as concentrate roasting. Roasting the flotation concentrate results in less solid flow, increased sulphide sulphur grade and organic carbon content resulting in a higher heating value and higher gold content. A typical composition of the Syama ore and concentrate is given in Table 1. Ore average values presented correspond to the period 2015, while concentrate values are typical for the flotation performance throughout the period 2012–2015."

Jan 1, 2017

By J. -F. Blais, M. -O. Simonnot, J. Mocellin, G. Mercier, J. -L. Morel

Large quantities of ferromanganese sludge are generated as waste material by blast furnace during the manufacturing of ferromanganese. These slags are very rich in manganese, zinc and lead (5 to 40 %). These residues have been deposited in a pond in periphery of the steel industry. Considering the market value of the metals, these brownfield sites can now be considered as secondary resources. We have developed a hydrometallurgical process for selectively leaching Zn, Mn and Pb in order to produce compounds of Mn and Zn pure enough to be economically recoverable and a residue rich in Pb. Batch laboratory experiments were carried out to determine appropriate leaching conditions to maximize zinc extraction (100 %) and manganese extraction (90.0 %) with sulfuric acid and to generate a residue containing 15 to 30% of lead. This Pb residue is recyclable by another process.

Jan 1, 2015

By Long Han, A. V. Kalinin, Xiujian Luo, Xiaobo Wang, Xiaoou Xia

"Inertia vibration crusher is a kind of vibration equipment which crushes ore by vibration. When the inertia vibration crusher works, ore between the two moving jaws is subjected to the high frequency contact force, which is produced by the two moving jaws with high frequency synchronous reciprocating motion. The synchronous motion of the two moving jaws depends on the self-synchronous feature of the inertia vibration crusher. To study the self-synchronous feature of the equipment, the dynamic model was established, in which relative parameters were taken into consideration. The kinematic coupling relations of the assemblies are discussed, and appropriate calculation method is chosen to solve the vibrating differential equation. Whether the two vibration exciter can realize synchronous operation depends on the ability of the vibration system's capture moment. Results show that though the two rotors’ motors and damping coefficients are different, and two jaws’ damping and stiffness coefficients are also different, as angular velocities of the two unbalanced rotors reach a certain value, the vibrating system can be stable. Their angular velocities tend to be equal, and the swings of the two moving jaws can be the same. The horizontal vibration and swing of the frame are large in a few seconds after starting the machine. When the system runs stably, the horizontal vibration and swing vanish, and the vertical vibration is stable. The study and its results can provide reference for the optimization design and parameter setting of inertia vibration crusher and related vibratory equipments.INTRODUCTIONMaterials can be easily broken by using the inertia force of the vibration exciter, which can effectively realize the selective crushing, reducing excessive combinations and the energy consumption, as introduced by Zhang in 2005. The initial micro crack between crystals in the material increases and new cracks can be manufactured because of the high frequency impact and the extrusion of the vibration crusher, so vibration crushing equipment can make it possible for any high strength brittle material to be broken theoretically. Inertia cone crusher and inertia vibration crusher have been successfully used in the treatment of metallurgical slag and construction waste, and it verifies the efficiency of vibration crushing."

Jan 1, 2016

By Pablo Espinoza

En esta investigación, con criterio de circularidad se identificó la oportunidad de aplicar una variante del proceso SART, ya que en el flujo proveniente de la precipitación de plata y oro denominada solución pobre o barren la concentración de cianuro Wad es superior a 2000 mg/L. Por otro lado, en los depósitos de mineral piritoso expuesto a la intemperie se generan flujos de drenaje ácido de diferentes características, destacando dos de pH menor a 0.5 unidades y altos contenidos de metales solubles que son tratados actualmente en una planta de neutralización y precipitación de metales.

Sep 29, 2023

By Jackson de Brito Simões

As ligas com memória de forma (LMF) apresentam características funcionais de recuperação de deformações plásticas aparentes e mudança de suas propriedades mecânicas quando submetidas a variações de temperatura, proporcionando um crescente interesse para aplicações de engenharia e originando uma nova maneira de projetar sistemas mecânicos. Nesse contexto, é importante desenvolver novos métodos de fabricação de componentes e dispositivos a partir de LMF. Infelizmente essa fabricação pode ser ainda extremamente complexa e dispendiosa, principalmente para LMF do sistema Níquel-Titânio (Ni-Ti). No final do século XX, a fundição de precisão se tornou uma alternativa eficaz para a conformação de componentes de titânio e suas ligas em aplicações de alta tecnologia. Entretanto, não existem informações da utilização desse processo para fabricação de componentes mecânicos de LMF. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o processo de fundição de precisão para o desenvolvimento de novos, produtos principalmente miniatuadores ativos de LMF Ni-Ti. Para isso, foi realizada a fabricação de diferentes formatos de miniatuadores de LMF Ni-Ti (de composição nominal em peso de 54,9Ni-45,1Ti) pelo processo de fundição de precisão com molde sólido, e ainda sua caracterização térmica e por ensaios não destrutivos. Foram obtidos quatro miniatuadores distintos, nos formatos de minitubo duplo, arruela Belleville, mola e parafuso, com bom acabamento superficial. A presença da transformação de fase característica das LMF foi avaliada por técnicas de calorimetria diferencial exploratória (DSC) e resistência elétrica em função da temperatura (RET) nos quatros tipos de miniatuadores. As técnicas não destrutivas de raios X e tomografia computadorizada foram empregadas para avaliar a qualidade dos miniatuadores produzidos, sendo importantes na detecção da presença de defeitos de processo. Ficou evidente a eficiência do novo processo proposto, porém ainda se faz necessário mais investigações principalmente com relação ao comportamento termomecânico dos miniatuadores obtidos por esse processo.

Aug 16, 2017

By Elias Macedo de Oliveira

Este trabalho tem por objetivo realizar a avaliação das propriedades mecânicas da zona termicamente afetada (ZTA) de junta soldada de aço fundido de alta resistência, obtida pelo processo eletrodo revestido, analisando o efeito da variação do tempo de tratamento térmico pós-soldagem. Foram soldadas juntas multipasses para avaliação de propriedades mecânicas de um aço fundido de alta resistência mecânica, com preaquecimento de 200°C, corrente contínua, posição plana e aporte térmico médio de 1,5 kJ/mm. Após a soldagem, realizaram-se ensaios mecânicos e metalográficos em corpos-de-prova retirados da ZTA e metal base, tanto na condição de como soldado quanto após tratamentos térmicos pós-soldagem. Os tratamentos térmicos pós-soldagem foram realizados à 600°C, por 1, 2 e 3 horas, visando avaliar o efeito destes tratamentos nas propriedades da ZTA. Os resultados mostraram que as propriedades mecânicas não apresentaram diferenças significativas em relação ao metal base com os tratamentos térmicos realizados, propiciando resultados satisfatórios em relação aos requisitos da norma IACS W22 Grau R4.

Aug 7, 2018

By Gordon Lovegrove, Jeffrey Leob, Dwayne Tannant

It has long been known that the combination of aluminum (AL) powder to ammonium nitrate (AN) / fuel oil (FO) can greatly enhance fragmentation or ultimately reduce the number of blast holes in a pattern. Decades of research have meticulously provided optimal AL:AN:FO ratios showing dramatic increases in energy output levels, yet widespread use of aluminized ANFO (ALANFO) has yet to replace the use of ANFO in the blasting world today. This may be due to the perception that the upfront, increased cost of materials deters the selection of this advantageously modified explosive. Researchers have explored this question and promote ALANFO by pledge of massive reductions in day-to-day operational costs. However, in these analyses there is a complete disregard for the external costs of the material; the environmental effects and sustainability considerations of the product. A holistic social cost-benefit analysis of ALANFO shows that an admittedly high-cost explosive does indeed provide an output which contains a wealth of operational savings in typical blast patterns. However, the immediate, on-site costs and savings do not define the limitations of this analysis. A complete comparison of the externalities including the environmental and sustainability considerations of the aluminum by-product life-cycle, and the environmental impacts of both the refinement of ammonium nitrate prills and the acquisition of sufficient fuel oil are also assessed. A savings of $216,000 / year through the use of ALANFO in one particular case study was recalculated to an increase in drilling and blasting costs of $188,000 when the external costs of aluminum, ammonium nitrate, and fuel oil are included analysis. The results of this analysis are intended to improve contractors? selection of explosives by providing additional societal and environmental factors into the equation, in preparation for an exponential global shift to greener business operations, while allowing them to remain competitive.

Jan 1, 2011

By Jarvis ST

Colliery spoil is the major constituent of colliery spoil &apos;rockpaste&apos; which has been used to infill abandoned limestone mines in the West Midlands of England since the early-1980s. The other constituents of rockpasle are pulverised fuel ash, lime and water. A key property of the rockpaste is its ability to flow within the mine workings over considerable distances before setting. This paper describes the work carried out to identify suitable sites as sources of colliery spoil for making rockpaste and goes onto consider the flow properties of the material and the monitoring methods used on-site. A full-scale trial comprising mulling a 6600 nt&apos; section of an abandoned mine was conducted prior to the mulling of the Littleton Street Mine which had a volume of about 500 000 m&apos;. As well as describing the methods used for monitoring the movement of rockpaste material, a description is also given of a dip-meter developed specifically for the purpose of measuring the level of paste in the mine. This paper shows how a colliery spoil based paste has been successfully rued for infilling abandoned mine workings. The monitoring systems developed for use in the two case studies presented in this paper are now being used extensively for infilling other abandoned mine workings. To-date over I I mines with a total volume exceeding two million cubic metres have been backfilled.

Jan 1, 1998

By J. L. Fuller

Mine ventilation surveys were conducted by Technical Support engineers during June 1987 and September 1989 at the Dutch Creek Hine. The mine is located near Redstone, Colorado and is operated by Mid-Continent Resources, Inc. Following completion of the initial survey, several recommended improvements were incorporated into the ventilation system by mine personnel. The second survey permitted documentation of the effects of those changes on the ventilation system performance. This paper describes the processes involved in the implementation of the recommended changes. The substantial improvements in system efficiency and reduced operating costs are also described.

Jan 1, 1991

By R. S. James, S. P. Goff, A. E. Armitage

"Abstract - Oxide-facies banded iron formation in the Third Portage Lake area is hosted by ultramafic and calc-alkaline volcanic rocks and related sedimentary rocks of the Archean (2.8 Ga) Woodburn Lake Group, 80 km north of Baker Lake. These rocks record at least two phases of metamorphism/ metasomatism. Greenschist facies metamorphism, in the temperature range of 370°C to 520°C and at pressures above 2.3 kbar, has affected all rocks on a regional scale. Later mineralization and alteration of banded iron formation (BIF) and associated volcanic rocks resulted from metasomatic fluids which carried Mg, K, Ca, S, As, Cu and Au. These fluids were confined to ductile to brittle, cross-cutting and layer-parallel micro-shears developed in the thickened hinge region of a shallow plunging recumbent fold. Metasomatic reactions yielded cummingtonite + biotite-bearing assemblages which are associated with strongly mineralized iron formation. Pyrrhotite is the dominant sulfide phase and occurs within ductily deformed iron formation where it pervasively replaces magnetite. Minor fine-grained chalcopyrite and arsenopyrite generally occur as inclusions within pyrrhotite and recrystallized magnetite, and rarely as individual grains. Pyrite is restricted to brittlely deformed iron formation, and to the contact between iron formation and altered ultramafic rocks, where it is associated with quartz veins. Pyrite typically replaces pyrrhotite. Native gold is associated with both pyrrhotite and pyrite, but higher gold concentrations are associated with pyrite. Grunerite/Ca-amphibole + stilpnomelane and sparse pyrrhotite and pyrite characterize weakly mineralized iron formation. Within adjacent ultramafic rocks, metasomatic reactions yielded assemblages of interlayered Ca-amphibole + biotite, and talc + Ca-amphibole + carbonate + biotite. K-Ar geochronology on metasomatic biotite from mineralized BIF yielded a 1791 ± 32 Ma age.An epigenetic model is favored for the emplacement of gold. The age of the gold mineralization in the Third Portage Lake area is uncertain, but may be Proterozoic based on the preliminary isotopic age and by analogy with Proterozoic gold deposits elsewhere in this part of the Churchill Structural Province."

Jan 1, 1996

By P Christen

The Ernest Henry Copper gold mine situated in North West Queensland, Australia, is owned and operated by Xstrata Copper. Currently the open pit produces 11 Mtpa of ore. With open pit mining ceasing in mid 2011 development has begun on an underground sublevel cave mine to extend the life of the operation by another 12 years. When completed the open pit will be 530 m deep and 1.5 km in diameter. The orebody dips at approximately 45° and has been outlined a further 450 m below the base of the pit. This provides some challenges for the Ernest Henry underground mine which is designed to initially truck development and production ore from the end of the pit until a hoisting shaft is commissioned in 2013. Production will then increase to 5.0 Mtpa on its way to an ultimate rate of 6.0 Mtpa in 2016.This paper will focus on the capital development and infrastructure requirements for the underground mine. Areas covered include mine accesses, ore handling system, accommodations for the dip of the orebody, primary ventilation design, dewatering systems and selection of an underground workshop over surface only maintenance.Discussions include the complications arising due to the mine being located directly below a large open pit and the combination of first principle cost analysis and risk assessment which has been used to safely optimise the feasibility study designs.

Mar 21, 2011

By A. H. Daane, R. L. Myklebust

The yttrium-manganese system has been investigated by thermal, metallographic, and X-ray diffraction methods. There are three intermetallic compounds present: YMn2 which melts congruently, YMn4, which undergoes syntectic decomposition, and YMn,, which undergoes peritectic decomposition. The compound YMn4 is ferromagnetic at room temperature with a Curie temperature of 214°C. There are eutectics at 25.2, 60.9, and 82.0 wt pct Mn which melt at 878°, 1100°, and 1075°C, respectively. Crys-tallographic data are given for YMn4, and YMn12 . The terminal solid solubilities are low. In a general program of study of yttrium metal in this laboratory some alloy systems of this metal with elements of the first transition period have been examined. This work was originally instigated by experiences in cladding yttrium with jackets of some protective metals such as Inconel for high-temperature service in air.&apos; In some cases a low-melting phase was observed to form between the Inconel and the yttrium resulting in failure of the samples. In characterizing this reaction, a survey was made of the systems of yttrium with chromium, manganese, iron and nickel,, and it was found that a eutectic was formed between these metals and yttrium on the yttrium-rich side of the system. This present study of the Y-Mn system was carried out to examine in more detail the alloying nature of yttrium, and to correlate trends that have been observed in previous related studies. It was observed by Voge13 that in the systems of lanthanum, cerium, and praseodymium with each of the metals in the first transition series, the tendency to form compounds diminished in the order nickel, cobalt, and iron while no compounds were formed with manganese, chromium, or titanium. Beaudry and Daane4 observed a similar behavior in the systems of yttrium with some members of the first transition series except that the tendency for compound formation was greater. Both the Y-Ti5 and Y-Cra systems consist of simple eutectics, while in the Y-Fe,7 Y-CO, and Y-Ni4 systems, there are four, eight, and nine compounds, respectively. In addition to the above trends, the similar atomic radii and electronegativities of yttrium and thorium invite a comparison between their alloying behaviors with a common element such as manganese. In crys- tallographic studies, Florio et al.&apos; have identified three intermediate phases in this system which are ThMn2, Th6Mn23, and ThMn,,. Gschneidner and Waber10 have examined published information on alloy systems of the rare-earth metals and have correlated this information with current alloying theory. From their study, they predicted that the Y-Mn system would contain one intermetallic compound. On the basis of this prediction, the trend in the alloying behavior of yttrium with the elements of the first transition series and the alloying behavior of thorium with manganese, one might expect from one to three intermetallic compounds to form in the Y-Mn system. A consideration of Hume-Rothery&apos;s rules of alloying based on size-factor, electronegativity, and valency suggested a small terminal solubility and possible compound formation. The present study was undertaken to confirm these predictions of low terminal solid solubility and compound formation and to establish the general alloying behavior of yttrium with manganese. EXPERIMENTAL Materials. The manganese used in this investigation was obtained from the Foote Mineral Co. as electrolytic plates of 99.9 pct stated purity; the yttrium metal was prepared in this laboratory. Table I gives the analyses of these materials. For the solubility studies at the yttrium-rich end of the alloy system, distilled yttrium, whose major impurity was 200 ppm Ti, was used. Preparation of Alloys. The alloys were formed by comelting the two metals in an are-melting furnace under an atmosphere of argon. The buttons thus formed were inverted and remelted three to five times to promote homogeneity. Due to the high vapor pressure of manganese, it was assumed that the weight lost during are-melting was all manganese. This assumption was based on the very good agreement observed between calculated compositions and chemical analyses of several alloys. The compositions of the dilute alloys used for solid solu-

Jan 1, 1962

By Robert W. Hunt

THE memorable features of American history have been making fast during the last century, and notably so since 1860; and they are by no means confined to political or to any one branch of scientific development. Of all the industrial arts, none show a greater change or a mightier progress than the Bessemer manufacture. And this year, while we are celebrating the first centennial of our national life, we can also celebrate the first decennial of American Bessemer practice. While not forgetting or undervaluing what has been done in other countries, I have thought that a brief history of the introduction and development of the Pneumatic or Bessemer process in America would be of interest. In 1863 the Kelly Pneumatic Process Company was formed and an arrangement entered into with William Kelly, who had taken out letters-patent of the United States, Nos. 16,444 ; 17,628, re¬issued as 505; 18,910, dated January 10th, 1857 ; June 23d, 1857; November 3d, 1857; and December 22d, 1857, respectively. This association was composed of the Cambria Iron Company, E. B. Ward, Park Brothers & Co., Lyon, Shorb & Co., Z. S. Durfee, and, later, Chouteau, Harrison & Valle joined the combination. Not satisfied with possessing the control of the Kelly patent, they sent Mr. Z. S. Durfee to England, to secure for this country Mushet&apos;s patent on recarburization, No. 17,389, dated May 26th, 1857, the same having been taken out in England on September 22d, 1856. In this Mr. Durfee was successful. Previous to the application of William Kelly for a patent, Henry Bessemer, of England, had taken out patents dated February 12th, 1856, and August 25th, 1856, in this country. Kelly claimed priority in the discovery of the principles of the process, and the Patent-office allowed his claim by granting him his patents. In the autumn of 1862 Mr. Alexander L. Holley, while in England, was impressed with the importance of Mr. Bessemer&apos;s inven¬tion, and so fully foresaw its future, that, upon his return to the United States, he induced Messrs. John A. Griswold and John F. Winslow, of Troy, New York, to join him in endeavoring to possess Bessemer&apos;s American patents. Mr. Holley returned to England in

Jan 1, 1877

By Gabriel Alves Gomes

Neste trabalho, nanopartículas de ferrita mista cobre-prata foram estudas como uma opção viável de material bactericida reciclável. As nanopartículas Cu-Ag foram sintetizadas pelo método de combustão em solução e caracterizadas via difração de Raios-X. Ensaios in vitro foram estabelecidos como meio de avaliação do potencial de interação e da taxa média de inibição nas cepas S. Aureus e P. Aeruginosa, usando o método de difusão em meio ágar líquido. Análise por densidade óptica mostrou as comparações de quantidades relativas das cepas que foram eliminadas ou inibidas através dos mecanismos físicos das amostras. Resultados preliminares foram comparados com trabalhos semelhantes na literatura, indicando que a eficiência antibacteriana do material depende tanto do contato das partículas com a membrana celular das bactérias quanto do tamanho médio de cristalito das ferritas.

Oct 30, 2017

By J. Basi, D. F. Rucker

"A review of historic operating practices of the heap leach pads at the Los Filos Mine, Mexico, revealed periods of restricted cyanide addition, reduced leach time, and insufficient irrigation flow. These issues all led to the buildup of partially leached recoverable gold inventory within the leach pads. Drawing down this inventory represented an opportunity to bring value forward. This paper outlines the strategic initiatives which were implemented as efforts to accelerate the inventory drawdown, including geophysical mapping and pressure injection.INTRODUCTION Los Filos is a heap-leach operation located in the Guerrero gold belt in southern Mexico. Operational and hydraulic challenges at the Los Filos Mine have led to a buildup of gold in inventory within the leach pads. Operationally, periods of restricted reagent addition, reduced leach time, and insufficient irrigation flow have compounded over the last eight years, and resulted in significant inventory growth. Hydraulically, the leach pad has issues with low permeability and solution channeling due to the fines and clay content of the ore. The leach pad is storing high-grade pregnant leach solution (PLS) as perched aquifers above areas that are compacted and difficult to drain. These operational and hydraulic challenges made it particularly difficult to spatially predict the precise locations of the inventory build-up. Fortunately, the challenges at Los Filos are not unique to the mine, and others have taken steps elsewhere to reduce metal inventory through a program that targets areas for inventory drawdown. For example, Ghorbani et al. (2016) noted that a method of injecting barren reagent solutions, applied directly to specific areas of a leach pad to reduce inventory, was presented by Wan and Brierley (1997) and Wan (1997). Seal (2004; 2007), Seal and Jung (2005), and Seal et al. (2012) have put the injection methodology into practice in Nevada and Colorado gold mines with a technology called Hydro-Jex®. The goal of Hydro-Jex has been to supply reagents at a high pressure over a short duration, followed by periodical low pressure rinse periods to remove leached metal and resupply fresh reagent to the ore."

Jan 1, 2017

By E. Tarshizi

Research was conducted to develop a simulation and animation model for an aggregate (sand and gravel) mine operation. This model can assist the mine engineers to investigate and consider the various options of haulage systems which are critical for the mine operation productivity. Discrete-event system simulation studies can be used for the typical haulage issues that mining engineers are often faced with: using truck fleet haulage, conveyor belts, or a combination of both. The simulation has identified some strengths and weaknesses in the current loading and hauling fleet of the mine, and has resulted in some suggestions for improving the system. The simulation includes animation of the operation. Animation is needed to enhance the benefit of any mine simulation model. By combining the visual power of animation with a mine simulation, a complete picture of the mine system is obtained and displayed. The mine is modeled and animated using GPSS/H® and PROOF Professional®, both of which have shown great applicability in discrete mining simulation projects.

Feb 23, 2014

By Curt Swanson, David C. Mathy, Dru R. Nielson, Kent VonAspern

In 1997, Central Contra Costa Sanitary District undertook the design of the Martinez East Side Trunk Sewer Improvements Project. Microtunneling was specified for approximately 1,035 meters (3,400 feet) of 600-mm (24-inch)diameter pipeline to be installed through estuarine soil deposits (San Francisco Bay Mud) and alluvium beneath the congested city streets of downtown Martinez, California. Directional drilling was specified for approximately 275 meters (900feet) of 200-mm (8-inch) diameter pipeline in four separate segments to be drilled through bedrock within narrow utility easements between residential properties. This paper presents a case history for the design and construction of themicrotunneling and directional drilling aspects of the project.

Jan 1, 1999

By Clinton C. Knox

During the latter part of 1943, a magnetometric survey was conducted by the Geophysical Division of the Bureau of Mines at the Mahopac magnetite mine, Putnam County, N. Y., in an endeavor to locate a segment of the ore body that reports state was cut off by a fault. The Mahopac mine was abandoned about 1895 after producing nearly 1,000,000 tons of high-grade magnetite iron ore. The results of the investigation indicate the termination of the ore body by "pinching", or a displacement of such magnitude as to place any extension at a considerable distance from the original are body. This report describes the work done on the project and presents the data obtained.

Jan 1, 1948