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By Harvey Parker

The International Tunnelling and Under-ground Space Association (ITA) is a nonprofit organization that represents all aspects of the tunneling and underground space industry worldwide. The United States has had a prominent role in ITA since its 1974 inception. ITA was formed as a result of a worldwide survey conducted in the early 1970s by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Bill Lucke was in charge of tunnels for the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration and was a member of the organizing committee that created ITA. He became a vice president of ITA. Jack Lemley served as President of ITA from 1983 to 1986. Dick Robbins was very active in ITA and served for many years both as a member of the Executive Council and as First Vice President. Harvey Parker has served as President of ITA for the last three years and will serve as Past President for the next three years. Moreover, there are many individuals and companies from the United States that have contributed significantly to the activities and the success of ITA. There have been several active Working Group Animateurs from the U.S. and there have been significant contributions from many individuals as well as companies from the U.S. Several engineers from the U.S. are currently serving ITA in a leadership role. The Underground Construction Association of SME (UCA of SME) is the official organization representing the U.S.. SME Executive. [ ] Director Dave Kanagy and UCA President Tom Peyton were instrumental in the U.S.?s role at ITA during the last few years. Peyton has been the official delegate to ITA. Henry Russell and Christian Ingerslev are both Animateurs of ITA working groups. This article will introduce ITA and its activities. A subsequent article will describe the ITA in more detail and will discuss the significant role the U.S. has played in the development and success of ITA.

Jan 1, 2007

The Earth Moving Equipment Safety Round Table (EMESRT) was established by mining companies in 2006 to influence manufacturer's equipment design through a process of engagement. 2010 EMESRT member companies include Anglo American, Barrick, BHP Billiton, Centennial Coal, Collahausi, Newcrest, Newmont, Rio Tinto, Vale and Xstrata.Driven by a persistent need for retrofits to new equipment, such as haul trucks, EMESRT initially engaged with Surface Equipment Manufacturers including Caterpillar, Komatsu, Leibherr, Hitachi, Le Tourneau and Terex. These OEMs responded positively to the EMESRT initiative, welcoming the opportunity for dialogue with an aligned industry regarding human factors issues related to equipment design, rather than needing to respond to the disparate range of demands for design modifications previously received from individual customers. This engagement process is about making global sustained changes within the OEM organisations and within the mining companies. It is a very international exercise. For example, over two weeks in September 2010, a total of 21 different miners from ten different companies travelled from Australia, South Africa, Canada, Brazil, Singapore and the United States to engage with OEM counterparts who assembled from the United States, Japan, France, Sweden, Finland and Germany. EMESRT Surface Group representatives completed a whirlwind tour of the major North American manufacturers of mining equipment. Starting in Dallas (Atlas Copco, LeTourneau), this tour passed through Gainesville (Sandvik), Newport News (Liebherr), Guelph - Ontario (Hitachi) and Milwaukee (P&H Mining/Joy Global; Bucyrus), before winding up in Peoria, Illinois (Komatsu, Caterpillar). Over nine meetings, this group engaged with 129 individuals from nine OEMs. The EMESRT group welcomed miners from four non-member companies to come along for the meetings. These companies are Syncrude Canada Ltd, the Kearl Oil Sands Project - Imperial Oil (ESSO), Suncor Energy Ltd and Teck Resources Ltd.Other mining industry sectors have now expanded the EMESRT scope from surface mining to include exploration and underground mining equipment. In 2009, EMESRT was organised into four Technical Groups, consisting of EMESRT member company representatives, to focus on engagement with OEMs of surface, underground coal and soft rock, underground hard rock, and exploration drilling equipment. An advisory group has been formed to coordinate activities between all workgroups and provide strategic direction and cohesion between all activities. The Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre (UQ-SMI) facilitates and coordinates all EMESRT activities on behalf of member companies. Building on successes with individual Surface Mining OEMs, EMESRT now aims to help OEMs in their transition to a sustainable design process that will incorporate and address specific design philosophies at the concept phase of design, so that significant improvements can be made up front for little cost within the overall budget. EMESRT members plan to educate all stakeholders, internally, within their own companies, and externally, by addressing industry associations, regulators and other end users about new ways of evaluating equipment design based on EMESRT purchasing specifications. This presentation will outline the EMESRT approach and report on progress in 2010.

Dec 6, 2010

By K Thorpe

Amorphous silica deposits have been identified at Tikitere and Taheke near Rotorua. Two areas at Tikitere have been surface sampled and drilled to establish a resource of amorphous silica in excess of one million tonnes. A pilot plant was established to develop a process to manufacture a high quality super pozzolanic material. This development process took two years before a commercial product was introduced to the construction industry in 1996. The amorphous silica product, marketed as Microsilica 600, is used as a pozzolanic material to produce high quality strong and durable concrete, sprayed tunnel linings, mortars and grouts. Microsilica 600 has been used locally and exported to 11 countries.

Jan 1, 1999

By E. Laatio, W. McKay

"History of Tara Mines Ltd.Tara Exploration and Development Company Ltd. was formed in Canada by Irishmen in 1953. The discovery of an orebody approximately six miles from the historically famous Hill of Tara in County Meath was a wild dream . Nevertheless this dream became a reality. Tara Mines Ltd. was formed, and the mine developed some 35 miles northwest of the City of Dublin in the Irish Republic.Tara's original drilling program indicated a zinc-lead orebody of approximately 60 million tonnes grading at 10.1% Zn and 2.6% Pb. The terms of the mining lease stipulated that the Irish government would acquire 25% equity interest in the operation. The mine was thus owned 75% by Tara Exploration and Development Company Ltd. of which the principal shareholders were Noranda and Northgate, together with 25% being held by the Irish government. The mine was purchased in March 1986 by Outokumpu Oy, a Finnish mining and metallurgical company, and together with the 25% government stake are the current owners. Outokumpu Analysis on Tara Mines Ltd.Upon ownership Outokumpu carried out a comprehensive analysis on the operation and came to the following conclusions :1. Tara had a good orebody;2. Tara had a skilled, capable, stable workforce;3. Tara's concentrator and processing equipment was adequate to meet requirements;4. Tara's mobile equipment fleet was too old and too numerousin numbers; and5. Tara had too many employees, both staff and hourly paid .With ore reserves of approximately 50 million tonnes and at a planned extraction rate of 2.6 million tonnes it meant that the mine had a lifespan of approximately 20 years. To be a viable operation into the future, the mine had to become more efficient. Operating costs and manpower levels had to be dramatically reduced."

Jan 1, 1989

By R. Matusewicz

The key drivers for the copper smelting industry are a complex mix of economic and "human" factors which combine to drive technology in new directions and can provide a strong indication of future industry trends. Recent examples have been the drive to achieve increased scale of production and resultant cost efficiencies by using a single furnace high intensity smelting vessel, and the broad acceptance of Top Submerged Lancing (TSL) technology for this duty. The development and adoption of continuous converting processes to counter the increased pressures faced by the Peirce Smith converting process is another example of the need for innovation. This paper discusses the merits of the continuous converting process, describes how the Ausmelt TSL batch converting process has been adapted to the new Ausmelt Continuous Copper Converting (C3) process in response to these industry trends and examines the Ausmelt continuous converting flowsheet options available to the end user.

Jan 1, 2007

By Richard P. Graff

Author?s note: Diversity in practice exists in the application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for purchase price allocations with respect to the recognition of Value Beyond Proven and Probable Reserves or VBPP, as defined by the Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) in EITF 04-3: ?Mining Assets: Impairment and Business Combinations?. This diversity appears to arise from differing interpretations of what constitutes sufficient information to value components of VBPP in business combinations. Concerned with this diversity in practice, respected members of the mining community formed a working group which prepared an issues paper that discussed this diversity and provided recommendations for recognition and valuation of VBPP in business combinations. The working group then submitted this paper to the EITF, requesting further guidance be issued on the concept of VBPP. In conjunction with the submission to the EITF, the working group also provided this paper to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for review and comment. The EITF discussed this issue at its May, 2008 agenda committee meeting. However, it declined to add this topic to the EITF agenda for further consideration. Absent additional guidance on VBPP from the EITF, the working group submitted a proposed definition of VBPP to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its consideration. The following article, which is consistent with the issues paper that was submitted to the EITF and the SEC, discusses the components of and valuation techniques for VBPP. The correspondence with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which includes the proposed definition of VBPP by the working group, is attached as Appendix 1 to this article.

Jan 1, 2008

By F. T. Cawood

This paper focuses on the role of the coal mine surveyor at the start of the 21st century. It demonstrates that surveyors must look beyond their legal appointment and pursue opportunities to add value at an operational or corporate level of the company. It also exposes the shortfall of statutory appointments in defining the surveyor?s role in terms of key business drivers of the company. One such an opportunity is the potential role of the surveyor in mineral accounting and quality assurance to meet mine requirements, market specifications and standards pertaining to corporate governance and reporting. Finally, some thoughts are expressed on what can be done to elevate current practice to best practice and how to achieve this goal

Jan 1, 2007

By W. W. de Graaf, M. J. Ntsekhe

Klipspruit Colliery is experiencing coal losses, which leads to a negative impact on coal production and subsequently loss in revenue. This study aimed to identify the possible causes of coal losses in the No. 4 upper and lower seams. The objectives were to identify potential sources of coal losses through a literature survey, to identify areas where the coal losses occurred, to determine factors affecting coal losses, and to identify the most cost-effective methods to reduce coal losses. Highwall losses, top-of-coal losses, and coal edge losses were identified as the major areas of coal loss at Klipspruit. These losses were mostly attributed to the drilling and blasting practises of the pre-split, interburden waste, and the coal seams. Recommendations include re-visiting the current pre-split design and the tolerances adopted for the interburden and coal seam drilling and blasting design. It is furthermore recommended that Klipspruit implement a continuous improvement plan for the drilling and blasting and refresher training for the blasting crew and operators.

Jun 10, 2024

By J. R. Goode

Up to one half of neodymium and praseodymium production, key ingredients in permanent magnets, is produced illegally. About 60% of cobalt production, critical in lithium-ion batteries and other applications, comes from central African states, and much of it is produced illegally. Tantalum, important in modern electronics, is also primarily sourced from central Africa and, again, much of it illegally. Illegal mineral production, as exemplified here, is often used to fund armed conflict. Furthermore, it is typically conducted with scant regard for human rights and environmental protection. It also leads to depressed prices which in turn limits the possibility of legitimate producers entering the market. Systems of traceability and provenance, along with cooperative supply chain participants can limit the production of illegitimate material and thereby improve conditions in the countries of origin and reduce downward pressure on prices.

Official Program

Jan 8, 1950

By Paul R. Terry

This paper presents a brief picture of the quality of coal produced in Eastern Canada for use in thermal generating stations. It describes, in particular, the characteristics of coals burned in six power plants -two in New Brunswick and four in Nova Scotia. Each station is dis-cussed in turn, and comments are made on the coals used therein with regards to origin and physical and chemical properties affecting station operation. A table of coal data shows, at a glance, the wide variation in the quality of coals received by these stations from producers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. "The promotion of improved coal quality for thermal generation can benefit our national economy." T HIS is the opening statement in a paper which was presented by Mr. D. A. Pirttinen at the Coal Division's Toronto meeting in April, 1960. In bringing the power engineer's viewpoint to the coal producers' attention, Mr. Pirttinen made a survey of utility steam plants operating in Canada, and the results of this survey formed the basis for his paper, which he titled: "Generating Station Coal Quality.

Jan 1, 1965

By H. Britton

This bulletin is the seventh in the series of petroleum bibliographies published by the Bureau of Mines, Bulletins 149, 165, 180, 189, 216, and 220 being compilations for the years 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919-20, and 1921, respectively. In this bulletin the same general plan of classification of references has been followed, but several additions have been made. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Acknowledgment is made to the following organizations for the use of their libraries in the preparation of this bulletin: University of California, Stanford University, California State Mining Bureau, Union Oil Co. of California, Standard Oil Co. of California, and the Mechanics Mercantile Library of San Francisco; acknowledgment for their assistance is also made to H. H. Hill, C. P. Bowie, A. L. Foster, M. J. Gavin, H. C. Miller, E. B. Swanson, and Miss Louise Janssen, all of the Bureau of Mines, and to Miss Elizabeth H. Burroughs of the Union Oil Co. of California.

Jan 1, 1929

By Kritika Baxla, M. Mustafa Kahraman, Frank A. Drews, Yaxue Wang, Joel M. Haight, Kody Powell, Mohit Sobalkar, W. Pratt Rogers

In the opinion of these authors, technology alone can never give an organization an edge over competitors or provide an industry step change. However, history has shown that technology applied with correct logistics and strategy makes a significant difference. Never has the minerals industry faced such daunting challenges and been in such need of a step change. Application of autonomous systems has been steadily increasing in the minerals industry. Automation technology has changed the mining value chain from exploration to mineral processing and refining. The future state will only see additional in-roads of automation into more processes and the whole system design. To better understand the near-future potential of automation, it is useful to explore and review the current state of automation in minerals development. A review of the state of automation research is given. The review will consider three critical areas: automation technology, system’s engineering and management processes around automation, and the role of human factors engineering in automated and semi-automated systems. The review ends with a discussion on the social and political risks of automation in terms of shared value and sustainable development.

By Will H. Coghill

The scope of this paper is such that it was deemed advisable to group the contents into several main sections. They are: Section 1. Geography and Geology. Section II. Historical Review. (a) Mining and Smelting in Alabama. (b) Milling. (c) Summary of Milling Research. These two sections are primarily a bibliography and summary of the research on the Birmingham Red Mountain ores up to the middle 1040's. Section III. Status of the Birmingham Iron Industry. This sect ion points out the extent to which the findings of the iron-ore research have been applied on a commercial scale. Also, a very brief description of the dependent and allied industries is included. The value of the Birmingham iron ore is greatly enhanced by the proximity of coal and dolomite. Thus the coal and coke industry and the dolomite industry are closely allied with and to a large extent dependent upon the possibilities of economic utilization of the Red Mountain iron ores. Section IV. Beneficiation Investigations of the Red Mountain Iron Ores. This is a record of the most recent, hitherto unpublished work of the Southern Experiment Station of the Federal Bureau of Mines, Tuscaloosa, Ala., on the chemical and physical composition not only of the Big seam but of most of the iron-bearing rock strata of Red Mountain.

Jan 1, 1946

By John R. Benham

The Windigo Theilson RARE II area has a low mineral potential. There are no mines or claims in the area. The only observed results of mining activities were five prospect pits near Tolo Mountain. Samples from these pits contained no significant assays. The study area contains more than 190 million cu yds (145 million m3) of cinders in 17 cones. Development of these cinders is unlikely because their locations are remote, and other sources supply area needs. The Geological Survey has classified the area as prospectively valuable for geothermal resources. However, there has been no geothermal exploration activity.

Jan 1, 1982

The Production Profile Program is written for use on a Digital Model PDP 11/70 computer using a Fortran IV level G language. It may be run on any system which uses G level or an upward compatible version of Fortran IV language. Please note, however, that the Model PDP 11/70 for which the program was written is programed to read DEC026 type keypunching. If the user's computer is programed for another type of keypunching it may be necessary to re-keypunch the Production Profile Program. The Production Profile Program uses a fourteen card input. The data must be keypunched according to the layout described in detail in the multiple card layout forms (following). The output from this program must be printed on wide paper, as a full 120 columns are used. The samples of output at the back of this appendix have been reduced for inclusion in this report.

Jan 1, 1977

By I. R. Firth, D. L. Taylor

The ability to accurately model the movement of grade boundaries during a typical bench blast would be of significant benefit to mine operators. The movement of grade boundaries during the blasting process may have significant impact on grade recovery if not accounted for. The paper describes the preliminary stages of a research project which combines numerical blast models and conventional mine planning software to allow practical use of the results of a numerical blast simulation. A two dimensional bench blast is simulated using the Universal Distinct Element Code (UDEC). The results of the simulation are used to provide input to the Surpac mine planning package which can be used to generate grade control plans.

Jan 1, 2001

By M. Wiber, P. Nicoll

Rio Algom has embarked on a major programme of expansion with the goal of becoming one of the world’s top-performing base-metal mining and metals distribution companies. To assist the company and its operations in achieving its business objectives, we are implementing an environment, health and safety (EHS) management system, built to be compatible with the 14001 model. We recognize that a sustainable development approach for Rio Algom includes outstanding performance in EHS and community responsibility and is essential to earn acceptance within the communities where we operate or wish to locate; raise capital; obtain permits, and operate efficiently. We are committed to triple bottom line accountability, i.e. full consideration of environmental, social and economic concerns in our business decision making.

Jan 1, 2000

This Bureau of Mines report reviews the development of the world potash industry. The trends leading to the present market situation of oversupply arid low prices, which threaten; the domestic potash industry, are presented and analyzed. Because the major threat to the domestic industry comes from Canadian imports, the report focuses on the comparative economics of United States and Canadian production. The study resulted in these major conclusions: 1. Balance of world supply and demand is foreseeable in 1975, but it could be delayed by planned expansion. 2. Balance of U.S. supply and demand could occur as early as 1974-75 or as late as 1981. 3. Nearly all U. S. production capacity vis-a-vis Canadian competition is now uneconomic. Prices cover out-of -pocket costs for only 30 percent of U.S. production. 4. U.S. producers will be undersold by Canadians in 60 to 90 percent of the U.S. market. Canadians also will have the edge over United States and European producers in export markets. 5. U.S. firms have invested in 60 percent of the planned 1971 Canadian production, and they have large holdings in Saskatchewan. 6. The decline in the U.S. potash industry probably reduced personal income in Carlsbad, Eddy County, N. Mex, the chief potash-producing area in the United States, about $21.5 million between 1966 and 1969.

Jan 1, 1970

Use of Impact Crushing for the Enrichment of Low-Grade Colemanite Concentrates This paper presents the results of an investigation into the enrichment of -25+3 mm low grade colemanite concentrates exploiting differential breakage properties of various minerals associated within the ore sample. Boric acid production process requires concentrates containing at least 42 per cent B2O3, hence concentrates below this grade either stock piled or further treated to increase B2O3 content. The low grade concentrate is obtained as a by-product of Emet Colemanite Concentrator and the B2O3 content may vary around 37 - 38 per cent. The sample used in the experimental studies assays 37.52 per cent B2O3. In the experimental procedures the sample was crushed using a laboratory size horizontal shaft impact crusher and the products were classified into different size fractions by screening so that any improvement by size could be observed. In the tests the effects of parameters such as the revolution speed of the crusher and heat treatment was checked. Test results prove that boron contents show a tendency to increase as the particle size decreases. As a result of the experimental studies a colemanite concentrate assaying 42.13 per cent B2O3 is produced with 76.55  per cent recovery. Arsenic content is seen to change inversely proportional with the B2O3 content of the concentrate such that it drops from 1016 ppm from the as received sample to 676 ppm in the concentrate.

Sep 13, 2010