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By H. R. Butler

"The Ontario Division of Inca Metals Company, a Unit of Inca Limited, operates eleven mines, four mills, three refineries, one smelter and one iron ore recovery plant. All but one mine, mill and refinery are located within a fifty kilometer radius of Sudbury, Ontario. A mine-mill complex is located some 100 kilometers west of Thunder Bay on the shore of Lake Shebandowan and a nickel refinery at Port Colborne.During the past 10 years the use of recycled water in our milling operations has increased to more than 95% at each mill. This high degree of water reuse has reduced the (a) need for fresh water and (b) the contaminant level of the downstream aquatic environment. The aggregating of effluents in a common receptor provides a process water having a consistent quality thereby minimizing upsets in mill metallurgy while concurrently improving the operating economies and the downstream aquatic environment."

Jan 1, 1980

By H. Simpson

Middelburg mine is an opencast export mine operating in the Eastern Transvaal Coalfields of the Republic of South Africa (Figure 1). The mine was commissioned in 1983, to its original design capacity of 4.25 million sales tonnes which was subsequently raised to 5.5 million sales tonnes in 1989. This increase in export tonnage was brought about through an increase in the mines export allocation and the revision of management strategies. The maintenance of this increased tonnage with minimal additional capital has been achieved through improved operational efficiencies and the upgrading of planning operations through the purchase of an Enhanced Mine Scheduling Software Package (EMSSP/MINESTAR). Simultaneously with this requirement were additional factors that contributed to the implementation of the EMSSP. The mine was owned by a joint venture of two partners and is operated by Middelburg Mine services (Rand Mines Pty. Ltd) (Figure 2). This structure of ownership required the evaluation of numerous planning options to be under-taken concurrently and hence the need for an efficient streamlined scheduling pack-age that could fulfill this requirement. Compounding the EMSSP needs further, were the problems experienced in the export market, these being the external pressure from current and new suppliers in the market place which obliged management to provide solutions to rapidly changing market conditions. These fluctuating market conditions have had a direct effect upon the mine's planning strategies because of the large percentage of the mine?s sales sold on the international spot market. The sanction factor for all South African exporters has had a negative effect upon price and this was compounded further through internal competition in 1987 via suppliers attempting to maintain the market position.

Jan 1, 1991

By Ronald Utley

El presente texto señala el desarrollo en el diseño y fabricación del equipo de trituración y molienda. Para ello, se revisa el tipo de requisito para engranaje, la producción mejorada y reducción de paralización del trabajo, los molinos de zapata corrediza, chancadoras giratorias móviles en fosa, las características de diseño para bancadoras móviles de tipo primaria y giratoria en pozo y el sistema diseñado para el uso de machacadoras giratorias móviles en fosa.

Mar 1, 1980

By John Nagy

A study was made in the Bureau of Mines experimental coal mine of factors affecting gas ignition by a cutoff explosive charge. Experiments showed that, although gas could be ignited under some circumstances, the probability under normal mining conditions would be low. The use of permissible explosives, relatively short-delay intervals in firing adjacent holes, blasting to a 6-inch kerf, and reasonable care in the placement of the holes favor safe blasting and are current practice in mining. The experiments also showed that the weight of the charge is not a primary factor in the ignition of gas by a cutoff charge. The quenching action of a first charge on the igniting action of a second was verified in a supplementary study. Related experiments have shown that gas at the face may be ignited by a single charge of explosive when fired with a light coal burden. Permissible explosives were less hazardous under these conditions than nonpermissible explosives. The frequency of gas ignition in cutoff and single-charge experiments increased as the linear distance between the sheared face and the opposing mine rib increased.

Jan 1, 1960

By Daniel Lakovic

"Mining operations can create a negative environmental impact, especially when considering the tailings that are produced through the processing of ores. Tailings are finely grained residues that form sludges. The tailings are deposited into giant basins, or sludge ponds, where they create a burden on the environmentby limiting the use of processed water.Tailings are one of the most important environmental liabilities for mining operations because of their large proportion in relation to the ore mined — generally 90 to 98 percent. To get to the valuable minerals, mining companies must move large amounts of rock. The rock is ground and then treated, usually with the addition of chemical solutions and large amounts of water. The lower the concentration of the valuable resources, the greater the proportion of accumulated excavated material sludge.Sustainable tailings management requires responsible handling, making it one of the mining industry’s greatest challenges. The proper technology should include consistent control of the environmental risks and impacts, as well as a proper relationship with the communities that surround the mining operations.The tailings, which can remain partly contaminated with chemicals, are pumped into the large sludge basins, which are secured by earthworks. During the mining operations, the basins must be stable enough to withstand the pressure of the stored excavated material. The storage option is still used, but it has failed on occasion. And when it does, it increases the risks to the environment and binds the unused process water. The more complex the availability of fresh water required for industrial use and for human consumption and their economic activities — for example, farming and agriculture — the more complex the conflicts that have the potential to shut down mining operations. With modern separation technology solutions, it’s possible to process the sludge and recover the processed water. However, the responsible use of the water is critical. Therefore, mining companies must rely on technologies that allow for proper reclamation of the water, whether re-using in their own processes or treating it to return it to the environment."

Dec 1, 2018

By T. G. Sitharam, P. B. Choudhury

Prediction of ground vibration (peak particle velocity, PPV) and frequency is an important task in geoscience. Till date, many empirical equations are derived from conducting trial blasts in the mines, to arrive at attenuation predictors. These predictors are usually site dependant and hold good for one particular type of rock/strata. These predictors cannot be used for geologically different rocks/strata. This paper presents the application of support vector machine (SVM) model, for predicting blast induced ground vibration and frequency, using a one comprehensive model for three different types of rock. Inputs to the SVM model formulation involve twenty one parameters consisting of geotechnical properties of the rock mass, blast design geometry and explosive properties, and the output of the formulated model is peak particle velocity and its associated frequency. The data has been acquired from eight limestone mine, five coal mine and two manganese mines. The comprehensive SVM model is formulated using 400 datasets and tested with 143 datasets. The performance indicators to the model not only justify its formulation but also the advantages it has over site specific predictor models. The SVM model not only predicts PPV, with higher correlation coefficients as compared to predictor equations, but also the associated frequency.

Jan 1, 2010

By Rosario Lunar, Jesús Martínez-Frías, Egidio Marino, Trinidad Torres, Jose E. Ortiz, Juan A. Martín-Rubí, Luis Somoza, Ricardo León, Teresa Medialdea, Javier González

Seamounts, submarine banks, volcanoes and undercurrent channels are prominent geomorphic features that have become an important target for minerals research and exploration with the goal of future exploitation. Polymetallic ferromanganese deposits are common types of mineralization on these settings. Co-rich ferromanganese crusts are important as potential resources of Mn and Co, but also Ti, Ni, Tl, REEs, PGEs, and other metals. Many seamounts and channels along the Atlantic Spanish continental margin are known to hold mineral deposits but are poorly studied. This work presents and briefly describes the most recent activities of the Spanish Geological Survey (IGME) on exploration and investigation of ferromanganese deposits along the Atlantic Spanish continental margin. Different submarine areas from the northwestern margin of the Iberian Peninsula to the west off Canary Islands have been surveyed by geophysical, sampling and underwater observations from 89 to 4000 m water depth. The mineral deposits cover a large diversity of submarine geological and geomorphical features: mud volcanoes and diapirs related to hydrocarbon seeps, seamounts associated with hot spot volcanism, hydrothermal vents in active magmatic volcanoes, structural basement highs and banks or contourite channels. Considering the collected dataset, we present the preliminary results of the study of these mineral deposits, including ferromanganese nodules and crusts and phosphate pavements and nodules, which can be considered as potential sources of raw materials.

Sep 1, 2014

By L. C. IlsLey

In January, 1922, a conference relative to trailing cables for use with permissible mining machines was held at the Pittsburgh Experiment Station of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. At this conference it was recommended that the bureau take steps to investigate the rubber-sheathed type of cables and to bring about the establishment of a list of approved cables. Effective until such time as a complete investigation could be made, the bureau asked the several manufacturers holding approvals for mining machines to recommend cables for use with their machines. In general the cables recommended were tentatively approved. Due to the lack of available personnel, no actual tests of cables were made until mid-1927. Meanwhile a field investigation of trailing cables was made at 20 mines of three coal companies in western Pennsylvania, and samples of cables were obtained from the manufacturers for laboratory tests. Twenty-five samples of the concentric-type cable, representing the product of five manufacturers, were obtained for the tests. These cables were of four sizes, as follows: 3 cables of No. 2 B & S gage, 17 cables of No. 3 B & S gage, 3 cables of No. 4 B & S gage, and 2 cables of No. 6 B & S gage.

Jan 1, 1929

By Albert W. Deurbrouck

This report describes the preparation characteristics of 23 coal samples collected from nine of the more significant coalbeds of Fayette County, W. Va. In 1963 almost 5.4 million tons of medium to high volatile B coals of excellent quality for metallurgical and steam markets were produced in Fayette County. Of the 23 coal samples collected 11 would require some upgrading to pro-vide metallurgical quality products, 11 were acceptable as received, and 1 was a noncaking coal. Cleaning these coals to metallurgical standards would require only the removal of the sink 1.58 specific gravity material which would be quite easy as very little near-separating-gravity material was present at this gravity.

Jan 1, 1965

By E. Isokangas

The production of minerals for economic use is a two-stage process, involving mining to extract the mineral from the ground, and processing to convert the mineral into a marketable product. Generally, mining and processing have been viewed as self-contained entities. Both have separate objectives, separate cost centres and key performance indicators (KPIs) that do not reflect the customer/supplier relationships that inherently exist. However, mining and processing operations are inter-connected and therefore intimately inter-related with the performance of one operation affecting the performance of another. Optimizing each stage separately without considering the whole system often misses potential economic benefits and energy savings. During the past fifteen years, the authors have been involved in implementing a holistic methodology ?Mine to Mill Process Integration and Optimisation (Mine to Mill PIO)? to maximize the overall profitability of the operation rather than just optimizing any individual process in a mining operation. Metso Process Technology and Innovation (PTI), along with their project partners, have conducted several projects to significantly increase their production- generating typically 5% to 20% higher throughput and improve the overall mine and concentrator performance through PIO methodology. This proven methodology has applications ranging from greenfield projects to long-standing operations with AG/SAG, HPGR or conventional grinding circuits. This paper explains the Mine to Mill PIO methodology and discusses the benefits of such an approach on the energy consumption, the overall costs and benefits of mining operations. The paper also summarizes several case studies illustrating the use of PTI methodology in a variety of applications. Keywords: integration, optimization, simulation, modeling, mine-to-mill, comminution, blast, drill, crushing, grinding

Sep 1, 2012

By S. Fazluddin, K. C. Sole, M. R. Serwale, T. Coetsee

The CSIR-Ti process employs lithiothermic reduction of titanium tetrachloride feedstock to produce titanium sponge. The product is therefore contaminated by a range of lithium and chloride species. In this study we examine the effects of particle size, temperature, and HCl concentration as input leaching variables on the removal of chlorides from the crude titanium sponge. A review of the aqueous chloride chemistry of Li and Ti provided initial conditions for leaching of impurity species from the sponge. Experimental results confirm that the effectiveness of leaching and removal of dissolved impurities from the sponge are dependent on leaching kinetics, which are influenced by temperature, particle size, and morphology. Of the variables tested, reaction temperature had the strongest influence on the oxygen content of the leached product. The HCl lixiviant concentration had a negligible effect under the conditions tested. Leaching of crude titanium sponge (−10 mm size fraction after crushing) at 14°C in either 1 M or 0.032 M HCl yielded a titanium sponge product that met the ASTM standard specification for commercially pure Grade 1 titanium, i.e., oxygen content < 0.18 mass% and chloride content < 0.15 mass%.

Dec 13, 2022

By S McEachern, J Lowe

An important issue currently facing the mining industry in Australia is the management and cost to the industry and other stakeholders of entry into and exit from towns and their communities. These costs can be environmental, social, economic, political or reputational. The ability of companies to engage the trust of stakeholders, including: communities, governments and investors, is critical, and corporate reputation plays a significant role in this. For the industry to secure a long-term and sustainable future, it must have the technical, business and reputation assets to proceed in a cost-effective, environmentally acceptable and socially supportive way. This research assesses reputation as a critical competitive issue for mining companies, as technology and information make mining more predictable; the physical and human assets of mining companies are less likely to be the critical resource in a Resource Based View model of competitive advantage. The proposition is that in mining today, reputation as it facilitates day-to-day operations, regulatory zeal and access to new mine sites will become the rare, inimitable and valuable resource for mining companies. This paper reports on an ongoing research program to evaluate the impact a mining companyÆs reputation(s), with its various stakeholder groups, has on a companyÆs ability to sustain competitive advantage. Integral to this study is to develop an understanding of the relationships between mining companies and their stakeholders, and the importance of corporate citizenship polices to reputation and hence to corporate sustainability. Through the identification of the drivers of reputation for the various stakeholder groups, a model of reputation formation will be developed and also reputation measures for the mining industry in Australia. The preliminary findings of this research, the results of an industry focus group conducted with representatives from regional mining operations, are reported. The industry focus group was designed to enable a better understanding of who are the main stakeholder groups and how they regard mining companies and to inform the second stage of the research project a Delphi Study of the drivers of reputation by stakeholder groups. The aim of this research is to further the understanding of the relationship between corporate citizenship, reputation and performance in the mining industry, thus assisting companies to strategically manage their corporate citizenship investments.

Jan 1, 2006

By E. J. Kloos, R. H. Schutz, B. I. Ferber

To protective devices, the Bureau of Mines has established five schedules of minimum performance requirements for the approval of respirators. The current revisions of these schedules include 13D for self-contained breathing apparatus, 14F for gas masks, 19B and the amendments to 19B for supplied- air respirators, 21B for dust, fume, and mist respirators, and 23B for chemical cartridge respirators. Copies of these schedules may be obtained from the Bureau of Mines, Publications Distribution Section, 4800 Forbes Avenue, Pitts- burgh, Pa., 15213. Approval tests on respirators are performed only at the request of the manufacturer of the respirator and at his expense. If the device meets the approval requirements, a certificate of approval is granted on the complete respirator. This certificate states that as long as the respirator is manufactured as originally approved, or in accordance with any changes covered by an exten- sion of the original approval, the manufacturer may advertise and sell his respirator as being approved by the Bureau of Mines. Many industries and regulatory agencies require that respirators approved by the Bureau of Mines be used where respiratory protection is needed. The Bureau of Mines, how- ever, has no regulatory power over the use of the respirators that it approves. It acts as an impartial testing agency to insure the availability of suitable and safe respirators. At frequent intervals, the Bureau of Mines purchases approved respirators and replacement parts on the open market. These are examined for conformity to the approved status, and are checked to insure that the manufacturer's pro- duction facilities are maintaining a satisfactory quality control.

Oct 1, 1965

The simulation study on the process of iron ore beneficiation plant of Essar Steel, Kirandul was carried out. The iron ore fines and slimes generated nearby Bailadila mines of NMDC are used as raw materials for this beneficiation plant. The capacity of the plant is 1400 TPH operating in parallel in two streams. The capacity of the plant was utilized about 60% of throughput capacity. To improve the plant capacity as well as quality performance, the simulation study was conducted to detect the bottleneck of the process. The process samples were collected from input and output of each processing unit operation to generate the data base for simulation study at the feed rate of 400 and 500 TPH of iron ore fines in a single stream. The characteristics data i.e., breakage and selection functions were generated using MILLSOFT package for simulation of ball mills. Then MODSIM package was used to evaluate the performance of each unit operation to identify the bottleneck. It was established by a simulation study that the intermediate thickener draws high current when the feed rate is more than 400 TPH due to high torque drawn by rotating rake because of presence of coarse particles in the input stream to thickener. The problem was sorted out by classification of input stream of thickener to remove the coarse particles. Then the process was simulated at its rated capacity, and experimental validation studies at the plant were also conducted at the feed capacity of 600 and 700 TPH by modification of process flowsheet. The experimental data was almost matching with simulated data. Finally, the processing plant is running with full rated capacity without any bottleneck. Keywords: simulation of ball mill, breakage function, selection function, iron ore

Sep 1, 2012

By A. Y. Smith, R. J. Allan, E. H. W. Hornbrook, R. W. Boyle, W. Dyck

"HYDROGEOCHEMICAL METHODS in the Canadian Shield can be based on analyses of the following :(1) spring waters and their precipitates;(2) stream and river waters;(3) lake and muskeg waters;( 4) ground waters from drill holes, wells, faults, etc.;(5) waters issuing from diamond drill holes, faults, shear zones, etc. into mine workings and open pits; also analyses of precipitates associated With these waters.The first four can be utilized in both reconnaissance and detailed surveys. The last is suitable only for detailed work.For hydrogeochemical methods of prospecting to be effective, the following conditions must be present. 1. Natural waters must come into contact with mineral deposits and remain in contact with them long enough for the solution of detectible amounts of ore, gangue or indicator elements. 2. Dispersion patterns must be present in the hydrologic systems in order to trace the elements back to their source. These patterns may take the form of trains (e.g., increasing amounts of elements upstream toward t he source (s), Figure 1 ) or halos (e.g., increasing amounts of elements in bodies of water toward the source (s), F igures 2 and 3)."

Jan 1, 1971

By S. H. Ash

THE MAGNITUDE of the drainage problem of the anthracite industry in Pennsylvania&apos;s Western Middle field is realized when it is known that in 1951 nine pumping plants in this field pumped nearly 36 billion gallons of water to the surface. This is almost 68,000 gallons per minute pumped against an average hydrostatic head of 350 feet for that year alone. In 1948 over 20,000 gallons per minute was pumped by relay pumps against an average hydrostatic head of 265 feet. In addition to the water pumped to the surface, it is estimated that 15,000 gallons per minute overflows to the surface from underground pools in idle mines. The volume (second-feet) of water pumped and overflow water is almost 1;z times the, average mean flow of the Schuylkill River at Pottsville for the 8-year period 1944--51 (7, 13).4 Mahanov and Shamokin Creeks drain an area of 99 square miles in the Western Middle field, and all surface drainage in this area must traverse some part, of the coal measures before entering these streams. On the basis of 46.03 inches of rainfall (the weighted average of 6 recording stations for 1948), the runoff from the drainage area during that period was 51 billion gallons, approximately 1 times the volume of water pumped by all mine-pumping plants in the Western Middle field. In other words, because of the pervious strata overlying the mine workings, approximately two-thirds of the total runoff in the drainage, area becomes mine water tributary to the pumping plants.

Jan 1, 1953

By Albert L. Toenges, Louis A. Turnbull, EDWARD L. FISH, JOSEPH J. SHIELDS, James J. Dowd

The stripping of coal with mechanical. equipment has progressed since the introduction of the first steam-powered shovel for the retóval of overburden at a mine in Pittsburg, Kans., in 1877...From the smart steam-powered shovels with dippers of less than a cubic yard capacity, small digging radius, and shovels that required manual moving, the trend has been toward large-capacity machines. Steam as power has been replaced largely by electricity, gasoline, and Diesel fuel, and dipper capacity as great as 35 cubic yards has been attained. Shovels and drag lines are self-propelled and revolve through 360°. The cost of these large-capacity modern machines is great, and in order to assure the return of the investment during the life of the property the reserve of coal in the area to be mined must be large;" Many comparatively small areas of coal suitable for strip mining exist, but these areas probably could not be mined, profitably with this large equip- ment. Therefore, heavy equipment has not been used in small areas because of the high cost in place of this equipment, the time and Atpense required to transport the machines to the mine site, and the construction of power lines if the machines are electrical powered.. Scrapers and light excavating equipment ane mobile, and the investment cost is not high. These units have been used in sirring the coal in small areas. A study to determine the methods in, yogue, and economic considerations involved in the use of such equipment was undertaken, and the information obtained is discussed in this report.

Jan 1, 1947

By V Pere

A geotechnical data management system has been developed to manage drillhole and mapping data generated from in house and consultant administered field programs. This system comprises a data collection interface with integrated validation, processing and reporting functionality. Development of the database required careful consideration of how and what geotechnical information is gathered in the field, a clear understanding of the interdependency of the parameters, and the outputs required to support geotechnical design.The acQuire Geoscientific Information Management System was selected as the preferred software to support the process because of its ability to easily manage data from capture in the field through to quality reviews and ultimately into reports. Initially only geotechnical logging of diamond core was considered, subsequently the system has been expanded to support additional geotechnical data sources such as laboratory test results, traverse and window mapping data. This paper focuses on the core logging data acquisition, validation, analysis and presentation of data.The acQuire Geoscientific Information Management System has proven to be a robust platform for the capture, interrogation, and reporting of geotechnical data. Data entry objects have been created to manage seven different areas of geotechnical data collection ranging from core logging to mapping to automated reports for falls of ground.

Aug 22, 2011

By P. Lan

Gold is often associated with arsenopyrite in many refractory gold ores. The selective recovery of arsenopyrite by flotation is therefore necessary in order to maximize the recovery of gold. However, the complexity of arsenopyrite flotation often makes it difficult to obtain a high recovery from real lean gold ore. This paper presents the results of arsenopyrite flotation by ultrasonic pretreatment in micro flotation experiments and bench scale flotation tests. The tests showed that pure arsenopyrite exhibited low natural floatability due to the oxidation on the mineral surface under ambient conditions. Using ultrasonic pretreatment, the oxidation film was ruptured and the floatability was enhanced greatly. The presence of Fe (III) was found to inhibit the flotation of arsenopyrite and this depression was also removed by the ultrasonic pretreatment. This result explained why the arsenopyrite in real ore is often difficult to float and how ultrasonic pretreatment can effectively improve the arsenopyrite flotation in real gold ores. Guanidine (GMM) was found to be a superior collector for arsenopyrite in acidic medium and xanthate in alkaline medium.

Jan 1, 1998

By Charles V. Riley

While the late 1960&apos;s are known as the years of the public recognition of impending environmental crises, the 1970&apos;s will be known as the decade of public concern for improving the quality of that environment. One of the present major environmental concerns is the temporary disturbance resulting from coal surface or open cast mining. To realize that this concern will continue in the future, one need only observe the daily news media. Increasing energy demands in the U.S., a doubling of electrical power consumption each decade during the present century, and the projected needs for the remainder of the century are indica¬tions that coal surface mining as a major extractive industry will continue. Coal and lignite, prime energy resources and extremely abundant in these United States, in the face of seemingly limited gas, oil and uranium reserves, are both destined for expanded future use. Presently some extremely serious techno-logical and environmental problems are associated with the develop¬ment and use of nuclear power. It is true that the extraction and use of coal as an energy fuel poses disruptive problems for the environment, but the solutions to many of the problems are known or can be solved within a reasonable time framework. Certainly our national well-being and continued survival, as a free nation within the world community, automatically dictate the continued use of the coal resource for energy. Concurrently, those engaged in coal surface mining, with the temporary disturbance of the land and water resources, must also realistically conclude that public concern for maintaining and improving the quality of the environment will not diminish. Although as ecological, economic, social and aesthetic elements

Jan 1, 1972