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The value of Australia's education services exports increased to over $15 billion dollars in 2009, placing education as the third overall export earner behind coal and iron ore; however there are concerns over the impact of emerging policies on the future of both the industry and the provision of mining education. Policies have impacts on the growing number of international rankings (or league tables) of mining jurisdictions and universities. A high position in such rankings might be used as a measure of perceived quality with benefit to those at the top and to the detriment to those lower down.    Top performing companies in the relatively new domain of sustainability have been shown to achieve better financial performance than their industry competitors, assisting them in attracting top quality committed staff, hence positioning themselves well for the future. The world's mining companies, jurisdictions and universities are now ranked with results in the public domain. It is argued as to the validity of the data or perceptions used in such rankings, but there is no doubt they are influential in determining the flow of dollars around the globe. By investing your pension fund assets in the shares of the top performing companies, by placing your exploration dollars in a country at the top of such a list of attractive jurisdictions, attending or recruiting from a University at the top of the rankings - risk must surely be reduced?   While savings and risk reduction can undoubtedly result from the introduction of new technologies developed through appropriate R&D (the other core activity of a university), the maintenance of a very high level of exploration and production performance through dedicated highly skilled staff every hour of every day quietly improves financial performance, while avoiding safety, environmental and/or community incidents (ie protects the 'triple bottom line'). As always risk reduction comes down to enabling quality people to do a quality job - through the actions of such people we can sustain the global mining industry and secure our social license to operate. However, there is global concern over where the numbers of such people, including those with the recently required skills in sustainability, are going to come from.   This presentation will discuss some of the complexity and interactions involved in the development of such rankings, the dangers inherent in their simple acceptance and use, plus indicate some of the directions mining educators might take to sustain and increase the supply of quality graduates to the global mining industry. This is an ABSTRACT ONLY. No paper was prepared for this presentation.

Jun 1, 2010

By Salas I. Ricardo

El presente trabajo revisa los principales métodos de sostenimiento minero para evaluar la estabilidad de una excavación de forma rápida y así proponer una metodología que considera algunos aspectos de los métodos anteriores como la estabilidad de la excavación, seguridad y determinar el tiempo de sostenimiento más adecuado para su aplicación en la excavación minera subterránea.

Nov 8, 1984

By William Roger Carvalho Gomes

Frequentemente surgem discussões sobre a utilização de tecnologias mais limpas em todos os segmentos de mercado. A indústria de transformação por estar relacionada ao aumento crescente na geração de resíduos sólidos. Atualmente, toma como necessária ter um foco importante na busca pelo desenvolvimento sustentável. Este trabalho tem como objetivo comparar dois materiais, sendo a fibra de vidro e a fibra de Basalto tendo como base a análise do ciclo de vida (ACV), por meio das análises do inventário e dos impactos. De acordo com os dados obtidos estima-se que o gasto energético para produção da fibra de vidro é aproximadamente 3 vezes maior que a fibra de basalto. Segundo a participação percentual da produção das fibras nos impactos ambientais, a fibra de basalto apresenta os melhores indicadores positivos em relação à fibra de vidro. Como análise preliminar o objetivo deste trabalho foi alcançado, apresentando que os impactos gerados pela fibra de basalto são menores que as da fibra de vidro.

Aug 17, 2017

Uranium mining remains controversial in many parts of the world, especially in a post-Fukushima context, and often in areas with significant uranium resources. Although nuclear proponents point to the relatively low carbon intensity of nuclear power compared to fossil fuels, opponents argue that this will be eroded in the future as ore grades decline and energy and greenhouse gas emissions (GGEs) intensity increases as a result. Invariably both sides fail to make use of the increasingly available data reported by existing uranium mines through sustainability reporting ? allowing a comprehensive assessment of recent trends in the energy and GGEs intensity of uranium production, as well as combining this with reported mineral resources to allow more comprehensive modelling of future energy and GGEs intensity. In this study, detailed data is reported for numerous uranium mines around the world, including production, energy and GGEs intensity and reported mineral resources. An important aspect included ? arguably unique and never before published ? is the relationship between ore grade and recovery, which is crucial in future projections of uranium mining. Overall, the paper shows the importance of continuing to improve reporting by the uranium sector as well as the ability to analyse key trends and future projections in energy and GGEs intensity of uranium production.

Aug 1, 2013

By Guilherme Silva Costa

A utilização de uma matéria prima renovável que possa substituir os asfaltos utilizados para pavimentação, provenientes do petróleo torna-se algo que pode ser viável ambientalmente. A produção renovável de bioprodutos através do craqueamento térmico de óleos vegetais gera um rejeito conhecido como produto líquido orgânico (PLO). O objetivo deste trabalho é obter uma metodologia de produção de ligantes asfálticos a partir do produto de fundo proveniente da etapa de destilação do PLO oriundo da reação de craqueamento do óleo de palma em uma unidade piloto de produção. Foram caracterizadas quatro amostras (produto de fundo sem tratamento térmico, produto de fundo com tratamento térmico a 375°C durante 15, 30 e 45 minutos) para obtenção da metodologia na qual os resultados seriam os mais aproximados dos valores específicos dos ligantes asfálticos derivados de petróleo. As análises dos dados possibilitaram observar a amostra com tratamento térmico a 375°C durante 45 minutos consumiu muito material, porém obtive resultados aproximados aos especificados pelo CAP 150-200.

Aug 16, 2017

By Gibson J.

Written discussion contributions to the paper presented at the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers' general meeting held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 12th February 1916, with Mr. T.Y. Greener, President, in the chair, comprise comments by Kilpatrick W.M., Routledge W.H., Watson J. and Smith W., along with the author's reply. Also briefly noted are the demonstration of two pieces of equipment, an incline chock and a cage arrestor

Dec 1, 1916

By H Allday

The mining industry’s attention has shifted over the last decade with the recovery from the downturn resulting in greater development of innovation and new work methods in a bid to remain competitive and deliver higher productivity. The emphasis on cost reduction to improve profit margins has primarily been the focus of the “work smarter” campaigns embraced within the industry. But is this strategy holistically the best-for-business, or does it place a ceiling on revenue opportunities and inhibit mining companies from truly maximising value? Businesses need to maintain a balance between active cost management and revenue generation often resulting in cost reduction strategies at site level. These strategies have merit, assessing areas of cost wastage across operations and creating space for opportunity. However, this potentially can create distractions from the goal of enabling growth and lead to the sacrifice of quality and delivery. Focusing too heavily on cost reductions without addressing revenue generation is an unprofitable lens to look through, and the relationships between cost, revenue, quality and profit margin can often be overlooked resulting in missed opportunity to maximise value. How these relationships are effectively employed by mining companies to reap the rewards from an overarching corporate perspective down to site level remains a fluid concept depending on the nature, operating market and strategy of the business. A common directive from businesses to their operations is to strive for greater profitability and productivity. The quantification of these requirements, and the nature of the cascading message delivered, impacts the methods employed by the operational team to meet the expectations of the business. Cascaded strategies, if not delivered with appropriate participation and buy-in can often be perceived to be knee-jerk and create frustration for operations who are squeezed to deliver on expectations by slashing site costs. This squeezing is not only felt by the mining operation but at the individual level and can result in increased team stresses. In some cases, this may also steer behaviours towards activities that result in corner cutting and an elevation of operational risk, potentially increasing associated incidents and injury. Driving down costs by any means can create an unhealthy tunnel vision where value is no-longer assessed for best-forbusiness results. By flipping the viewpoint to a value-based approach revenue opportunity may be realised and potentially exceeded, however this opportunity may be missed if value is over shadowed by a cost heavy focus. By analysing a selection of real operational cases (ranging from mining contractors through to in-house mining giants), it becomes apparent that practical revenue maximisation strategies are not only key to an increase in value and cash flow but to a stronger understanding of business drivers for sites and operators alike. In the cases evaluated additional revenue opportunities are foregone in favour of cost reduction strategies resulting in negative impacts on the associated operations and wider businesses. Alignment towards value generation is king. If strategies are not implemented focusing towards value and revenue maximisation, the opportunity loss experienced by mining operations could continue be great and the question should be posed; when the next up-turn hits will operations be ready to reap the rewards or still have a glass ceiling above their heads?

Mar 15, 2021

By J. Rajek

The novel multi-component, multi-particle, multi-phase precipitation model developed recently is used to predict the precipitation kinetics in complex 9-12% Cr steels investigated within the European COST 522 project. These steels are used for tubes, pipes, casings and rotors in USC (ultra super critical) steam power plants for the 21st century. In the computer simulations, the evolution of the precipitate microstructure is monitored over the entire production heat treatment starting with the casting process, including austenizing, several annealing treatments and in-service conditions. The main interest lies on the concurrent growth and coarsening interaction of different types of precipitates. Keywords: Precipitation kinetics, heat treatment, power plant steels, simulation

Jan 1, 2003

By M Clay, J Dunlop

Thermal and metallurgical coal mining in Queensland has resulted in mines which contain voids due to open cut mining. While there are several proposals for greenfield coalmines or expansions to existing operations, many existing open cut coalmines are reaching maturity and most will leave one or more residual voids in place. The rehabilitation of mine voids is challenging. Water held in voids will evaporate over time leaving solutes to concentrate. This is likely to lead to poor water quality with limited practical use. The most basic practices to rehabilitate voids have historically involved stabilising the high and low walls, bunding to provide flood protection, and preventing public access. Regulatory reforms for mine rehabilitation were introduced in Queensland as part of the Mineral and Energy Resources (Financial Provisioning) Act 2018, and aimed to strengthen progressive rehabilitation planning, limit risks to the environment and improve outcomes for local and regional communities. Under the reforms, the goal for rehabilitation of voids is to achieve a safe, stable, and non-polluting landform, which can sustain a post-mining land use (PMLU). The reforms also introduced a requirement to describe rehabilitation of mined land in Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure (PRC) plans, replacing the description of such plans in Environmental Authorities (EAs). The reforms are not retrospective and recognise historic approvals for voids, meaning established voids will remain in the landscape as non-use management areas (NUMAs). The objectives of this study were to outline historic void rehabilitation planning practices, describe water quality limitations of Queensland mine voids and identify possible opportunities for improved planning

Aug 2, 2023

By W. J. Bennett

"I AM very happy to have this opportunity of speaking to the Montreal Branch of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.I have selected as the subject of my remarks transportation in that area which is at present our only source of uranium -Northwest Canada. Considering the widespread interest in atomic energy, the end-product of uranium, it may be wondered why I have not chosen to speak of a more spectacular aspect of the development. I hope it will be evident from what I have to say that transportation plays a very dominant role in our effort to maintain a continuing supply from Eldorado's producing property at Port Radium on Great Bear lake and from its coming producer at Beaver lodge Lake in Northwest Saskatchewan. Moreover, transportation has such a bearing on the entire mineral development of the Northwest that it cannot help but be of concern to an organization of this kind. Finally, the transportation problem, of which I shall try to tell you something, is quite unique and the story of its solution or partial solution is, I believe, an interesting one.Transportation experience on this continent indicates that the cheapest method of moving freight is still by water -with •rail, highway, and air transportation following, and in that order •of economic significance. Excluding rail transportation, since the area has as yet no railway lines, this order also applies in the Northwest. I shall direct my remarks to the two kinds of transportation which serve our uranium producers -water and air."

Jan 1, 1952

By W. M. Peirce

THE PROCESSES USED FOR THE rolling of zinc are not novel or unique in a mechanical sense. There has not been so widespread a tendency toward heavy slabs and mechanical handling, and toward 3-high and continuous mills as has taken place with steel and with some of the other nonferrous metals. Those respects in which the rolling of zinc differs from the rolling of other metals center around two facts. First, the hexagonal zinc crystal has only one plane of easy slip: namely, the basal plane. Fortunately, however, the crystal twins readily on any of the pyramidal planes, thereby creating new basal planes favorably oriented for relief of the stress which has caused twinning. Second, the recrystallization temperature of zinc is little above room temperature and for very pure grades of zinc may in fact, be at room temperature for severely strained material. The practical effect of these two characteristics of zinc will become evident in the later discussion. First, it is necessary to give some attention to the melting and casting of billets for rolling. Reverberatory furnaces are commonly used for melting. These vary over a wide range of capacity from as low as 5 tons to 100 tons or over. Low-frequency electric furnaces have also been used with satisfactory results. Arc Furnaces are, of course unsuited to a low-melting and lute-boiling metal, such as zinc. To minimize oxidation and volatilization losses in the furnace, the temperature should be kept below 500°C. With this temperature in the melting furnace, a suitable pouring temperature in the neighborhood of 460°C can he maintained at the mold when a transfer ladle is used for pouring.

Jan 1, 1948

By Víctor Tenorio

Las restricciones sanitarias impuestas por la pandemia del COVID-19 constituyen un referente forzoso para replantear las actividades de explotación, con el fin de no afectar los objetivos de producción. El obligado distanciamiento social exige contar con equipos teleoperados, vehículos autónomos, una nueva infraestructura de transmisión de datos que permita interactuar a los equipos con eficiencia y seguridad, salas de control para la supervisión centralizada y la incorporación de dispositivos compatibles con la internet industrial de las cosas. Todo ello representa, de acuerdo con el autor de este texto, una oportunidad para reactivar las operaciones y nivelar la tasa de producción, instalando un proceso de cambio que va desde la gerencia hasta los operadores.

Jul 30, 2020

By H. Ishimoto

It always has been a serious issue to improve safety in mine sites, demolition work sites, and civil engineering work sites. Especially, collision accidents caused by construction equipment damage not only the productivity of operations but also the health and life of workers in those work sites. To solve this problem, a variety of worker auto-detection means are developed so far, but they have not still become widely used in actual worksites. There have been two controversial points in the prior methods. One is that they were not enough in respect of the detection accuracy and certainty, and the other one is that the information of the detection results was not comprehensible to the operator of equipment. In this paper, the functional requirements of the obstacle detection system in earth moving work site is redefined at first, and then, it is proposed to apply a stereo vision to the obstacle detection system for an excavator. The system consists of horizontally arrayed two digital cameras with low distortion lens, an image processing controller, and a monitor for an operator in the cab. Stereo vision calculates the depth image from images of two cameras and detects the presence of obstacles, its distance, direction, and dimensions. Sensed obstacles are informed to the operator in the monitor image. Preliminary experiments are conducted with a stereo vision system mounted on a real equipment in a demonstration site. The result shows that two controversial points of the conventional technologies are improved, and that the applicability of this system is validated.

Aug 1, 2013

By Hans E. Tausig

The economics of transporting minerals by sea in less than full cargo lots encompasses an analysis of production costs, sale and inventory calculations and a careful comparison of ocean freight costs all of which when pieced together will usually definitively indicate which of the ocean freight alternatives is the correct one for the economic factors involved. To illustrate: Let us assume that a production to be marketed yields 60,000 metric tons of copper concentrates over a twelve month period. Shipment is geographically viable through Vancouver, B.C. The production has been sold to a Japanese Smelter and the mine produces at a rate of 5,000 metric tons of concentrates per month. The copper has been sold CIF FO. The Seller has carefully investigated ocean freight rates Vancouver, B.C./Hibi, Japan and finds that he could obtain a twelve month freight contract at $15.00 per metric ton FIGS based on a loading/discharging speed of 4000/ 2000 metric tons per WWDSHEX (weather working day, Sundays and Holidays excluded) this freight rate being predicated on shipping in lots of minimum. 15,000 tons. A further freight investigation reveals that to ship at the same terms and conditions but in lots of 5,000 tons, and shipping each month (in accordance with the mine's actual production) would cost $20.00 per metric ton FIOS. The calculation that is now made is whether it is more desireable to pay a higher ocean freight by shipping in 5,000 ton lots or to pay the lower freight where here the ocean freight involves a difference of some $300,000.00.

Jan 1, 1979

By M. Marchese

It is no secret that scarcity of fresh water is an issue that at a global level in the years to come will have a major impact on the business landscape. A number of projects, beyond the mining sector, could remain on paper only due to this. At the same time, this situation is seeing the rise of new business opportunities, such as development of technologies for more efficient usage of water, water recycling, and desalinization of sea water. Despite that most of Chilean mining facilities are located in the driest area of the world, business has developed strongly and actively for more than a century. However, the negative effect on the water reservoirs and the environment is, lately, resulting in the reduction of the authorized water rights. Holding Water Rights for any given volume does not guarantee that the resource will be available when needed. A recent report from the United Nations on global climate change indicates that global warming can be directly related to changes in the natural and human environment. Chile would not be an exception. The reduction in snow levels in the high Andes and reduced rainfall during the so called "Bolivian winter", have directly affected the replenishing of the underground water reservoirs in the lower parts of the valleys, where most of the extraction of the resource takes place. Mining facilities shall be designed to reduce potential environmental effects, using proven technologies, and considering the best practices available. These measures shall constitute a complete structural framework for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Project. The measures to prevent and mitigate the impacts on the water resources shall be considered during the design stage of a mining project. Current and future mining projects in Chile are conscious that the increasing pressure on the limited water resources is becoming unsustainable, and are already facing the water scarcity and social pressure by implementing sea water desalination plants, including long pressurized pipelines to the mine sites (e.g. Escondida, Candelaria, El Morro, Regalito). This paper presents, in summary, an analysis of the present and potential future scenarios.

Jan 1, 2007

By William Metcalf

One of the first questions that naturally occurs to one who handles steel is, " Why does steel harden?" To answer this question the chemist and physicist have devoted much thought and experiment, and while they have enriched our store of knowledge of the nature and composition of steel, it cannot be said that they have yet solved the problem involved in its hardening. In this communication I desire to direct attention to a line of investigation yet new, in the hope that it may receive the attention. of those who have the time and ability to pursue it. I refer to magnetism. There are so many parallels between the action of magnetism on iron and steel and their behavior under different processes of manipulation that it would seem. as if there must be some connection between tile forces at work in the different cases, if, indeed, there be not an identify of force in all of these cases. Magnetism, as me know it, may be merely the visible manifestation of forces, which may serve as a guide to lead us to an exact knowledge of the structure, tile strains, and the resistances with which me have to deal in iron and steel. If a magnet be brought close to a pile of iron filings, the little pieces of iron will fly to the maguet and attach themselves to it, with their longer axes lying in the direction of the force. If molten cast iron be poured into an iron mould,—a chill,—the iron upon crystallizing will form needlelike crystals, with their long axes normal to the surfaces of the mould. • If the iron is at the proper temperatare and the quantity small, compared to the mass of the mould, the whole of it, will be chilled, or set, in 'the hard needlelike crystals

Jan 1, 1881

By J. Rastas

The recovery of lead, silver and gold from existing and potential zinc process residues using a sulfidization-flotation method was investigated on a laboratory scale. The following residues were tested: neutral leach residue, high acid leach residue, and hematite residues. The sulfidization of lead and silver is carried out at low pH by the addition of a stoichiometric amount of sulfide at a controlled rate. To increase the particle size of the sulfides, seeding with synthetic lead and silver sulfides -is employed. The flotation is carried out at pH 2-4 using low pH-collectors such as dithiophosphates and dithiophosphinates. Special attention must be paid to the role of oxygen in the conditioning stage. The effect of different parameters on both the sulfidization and the flotation has been evaluated. Recoveries of 85-90, 90-95 and about 80 % were obtained for lead, silver and gold, respectively. Typically, concentrates containing 50-60 % lead, 3-5 kg/t silver and 10-15 git gold were produced.

Jan 1, 1990

By A. J. Kraemer

"During the past several years a great deal of discussion has centered around the question of the permissible limit of sulphur content in fuels for automotive and aviation motors. Under certain conditions of operation, sulphur in motor fuels causes the formation of corrosive substances which attack bearings, wrist pins, and other parts of engines. On the other hand, in making gasoline from certain stocks, the gasoline fraction normally contains a relatively large proportion of sulphur compounds. By the generally used processes of reducing the sulphur content, a significant part of the gasoline fraction is lost as motor fuel, and added expenses are entailed for chemicals, labor, and other process costs. This condition has been an economic burden to some refiners of high-sulphur crudes. In some instances the treating losses have been rather severe and the treating costs relatively high, but the data presented in this paper indicate that the reduction of sulphur content of motor fuel is a problem to a relatively small number of refiners and of little or no concern to the remainder; in fact, more than 90 per cent of the 153 samples analyzed passed the Federal specification requirement, Which limits the sulphur content to 0.10 per cent. 3This report is based upon the results of an examination for sulphur content, Doctor test, copper strip corrosion, and color of the samples collected during January, 1930, for the twenty-first semiannual gasoline survey of the Bureau of Mines. The results of the gravity ad distillation tests of the survey were published as Report of Investigations 2995. The numbering of the samples given in this report is the same as in Report of Investigations 2995; for example, No. 25 of this report is the same sample as No. 25 of Report of Investigations 2995."

Jun 1, 1930

Jan 1, 2001

By A. C. Johnson, McHenry Mosier

The Bureau of Mines has adapted its activities to needs of national defense and to conditions brought about by the war program . Its work is now oriented solely to war problems . After studying about 1,600 deposits of war minerals , exploration projects have been undertaken on 96 of the most promising , of which 56 have proved successful . These have indicated that 56 million tons of ore of commercial or near -commercial grade can be utilized to meet war requirements . Included in this amount are 1 million tons of tungsten ore ; 4 million tons of chromite ore, 10 million tons of manganese ore , 2 million tons of antimony ore , 1 million tons of mercury cre , and 28 million tons of iron ore . Work done in connection with exploration projects included 172,000 feet of surface trenching , 210,000 feet of drilling , and 21,000 feet of shaft sinking . Nearly 100,000 samples were taken, on which 500,000 analyses were made . Extensive metallurgical tests were made on ore from many of these deposits , both in the laboratory and in pilot plants , in connection with research to develop metallurgical processes for their treatment .

Jan 1, 1943