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In addressing the challenge of sustainable development, the North American mining industry finds itself operating in two culturally distinct frameworks. Companies are based in the developed world where a profoundly environmental ethic prevails with an emphasis on inter-generational equity – preserve now for the future. Increasingly, their operations are in the developing world where the emphasis is on intra-generational equity, and the distribution of wealth – providing opportunity for improvement today. The paper discusses the further implications of these realities and the factors facilitating or hindering the ability of mining companies to meet social expectation in these two distinct global cultures.

Jan 1, 2004

By Len H. Steele

To date VMD have designed, built and supplied nine autoclaves to various mining companies in Canada, the US, and Papua New Guinea. Initially, completely fabricated and lead lined units were shipped. The logistics of Placer Dome's Porgera PNG Project necessitated fabricating and lead lining each autoclave in five sections for transportation to site, each piece weighing approximately 30.5 tonnes. Support equipment such as turning rolls, automatic and manual welding machines had to be set up on site to facilitate assembly of these units which was a challenge in planning. This on site erection programme was completed in three months.

Jan 1, 1992

By S. Behl, Pradip

Selective-flocculation process development generally involves single-mineral flocculation tests to identify the appropriate polymer experimental conditions for achieving the desired selectivity. Invariably the selectivity predicted on the basis of such tests is not realized when mixed-mineral tests are conducted. A systematic experimental investigation revealed that adsorption of the polymer on various substrates is critical to selecting the suitable flocculant. Simultaneously, a mathematical model was developed to predict the overall process of efficiency with a given polymer. In this paper, the results of these efforts to scientifically design a suitable selective flocculation process are presented.

Jan 1, 1994

By Sergey N. Zhurin

At Gubkin Mine (Korobkovo Iron Ore Deposit, Russia) tailings are being pumped into two experimental stopes. Slurry has water content that exceeds 80%. In-situ measurements were conducted to determine pore pressure distribution in the backfilling panels. Numerical FEM modeling has been implemented to infer pore pressure distribution within filled cavities. Field observations reveal that pore pressures within neighboring stopes are slightly interrelated, because of drift connecting stopes at its bottom and single drainage system occurrence within filled caverns. Both extensive field data and numerical analysis demonstrate that water pressure on the bulkhead depends predominantly on filtration rate through bulkhead filters.

Jan 1, 2001

By Y. Akin, M. S. Celik, T. Batar, F. Arslan

Despite its importance in various diverse industries, research on beneficiation strategies of boron minerals has not received enough attention. Boron minerals are primarily upgraded by wet processing methods. However, severe environmental constrains have accelerated the development of dry processing techniques such as calcination. Interestingly, the boron minerals colemanite, ulexite and borax undergo decrepitation, shrinkage and expansion, respectively, upon heat treatment. Each mineral then requires a different beneficiation scheme. In this study, laboratory and pilot-plant studies conducted in our laboratories on the calcination of boron minerals are briefly reviewed and their implications to commercial operations are discussed.

Jan 1, 1999

By Glenn Mallory, Margarete Kalin, Ben Romanin

A waste management area of a copper zinc mine which is expected to be generating acid exceeding 1000 years is used as a research facility to develop a passive treatment approach to decommissioning the site. One of the processes proposed to be implemented in a lake with a one million cubic metre volume is biological polishing. To determine the expected performance of the process, model is constructed from experimental data collected in the lake. The model results and the field data represent a weak fit, but the discrepancies are useful indicators of key factors affecting the process, such as iron cycling.

Jan 1, 1995

By W. D. Monaghan, G. L. Mowrey, C. W. Ganoe

In addition to developing various types of coal-interface detection systems, the US Bureau of Mines is actively involved in developing a coal rib-thickness monitoring system for high wall mining applications. One particular system that shows promise uses a ground-penetrating radar system to detect the coal-air boundaries of coal ribs. Based on preliminary laboratory and field tests, results indicate that this method can be applied successfully in highwall mines to maintain a constant rib thickness. The coal seam should be relatively clean in the vicinity of the antenna (e.g., have minimal partings or dirt bands) for best results.

Jan 1, 1996

By Frederik P. Agterberg

During the past 20 years, methods of multivariate statistical analysis have been developed on mainframe computers for the integration of geological, geophysical, geochemical and LANDSAT data in mineral resource appraisal. At present, it is becoming increasingly feasible to perform mathematical image analysis of digitized patterns on microcomputers. This has led us to develop a new method of statistical pattern integration for mineral exploration. In this paper, the new method is used to outline, by means of posterior probabilities, exploration targets within small areas of which the prior probabilities for occurrence of new mineral deposits had been estimated by multivariate analysis.

Jan 1, 1989

By C. Maltesh, P. Somasundaran, G. A. Gruber

Anionic conditioning of phosphate ores prior to fatty acid flotation is a critical step that determines the selectivity, recovers and, hence, the economics of the process. However, the chemical mechanisms operating during this conditioning step are not very well established. In this work, a comprehensive surrey of plant practice was conducted. Then, adsorption on flotation feed and francolite were studied under simulated plant conditions. Different adsorption mechanisms were found to be dominant under laboratory and plant conditions. In plant water, there was sonic physisorption of oleic acid on phosphate flotation feed and francolite, in addition to chemisorption. However, in distilled water under laboratory conditions, only chemisorption was detected. Fuel oil reduces the residual oleic acid in solution after adsorption, which explains the beneficial role of extender in phosphate flotation. The dissolved species in solution arising from the flotation feed or plant processing water are shown to clearly play a major role in determining the adsorption of oleic- acid on the substrates. The study also specifically demonstrates that, for the results to be used commercially, it is important to conduct the tests under plant mixing conditions and with the same plant water chemistry.

Jan 1, 1997

By Jerry Dolph

Hecla Mining's Lucky Friday Mine, located beneath the town of Mullan, ID, has been shaken since the 1960s by many deep underground rock bursts. The largest rock burst carried a magnitude of 3.5 on the Richter Scale. It occurred in 1969 when all of the stopes on a level approached an upper level at the same elevation. After that, a stair-step pattern was used to give the mine's levels more of an "arch." The article is an account of one of the more ferocious bursts to hit the miners of the Lucky Friday. I say "miners" instead of "mine" because I was there and it was a very personal experience for me. I had been working at the Lucky Friday for six years. During that time, I had heard and felt thousands of air blasts. In fact, in the early spring of 1986, the mine was experiencing as many as 1000 air blasts an hour, of different intensi¬ties, of course. Most of them sounded like popcorn popping. There were also a few bumps and occasionally a real boomer. That day did not seem any different

Jan 1, 1994

By David Marsh, Mark W. Johns

Carbon-in-pulp (CIP) is a preferred method of gold recovery from cyanided pulp. However, the resin-in-pulp (RIP) process is considered to have several advantages for the recovery of gold. Mintek therefore undertook a research programme to develop a commercially-viable RIP process. The MINRIP RIP process and a novel gold­selective strong-base resin, Minix, were developed. The process has been successfully demonstrated at a scale of 100 000 t/month. Continuous countercurrent tests using synthetic solutions indicate that the relative performance of an adsorbent depends on the composition of the solution. Minix resin yielded a higher gold loading than that of carbon, while maintaining an acceptable barren value. Batch tests on a number of gold-bearing materials indicated that Minix has potentially a higher capacity than carbon, and loads gold faster than carbon. An economic appraisal that consolidated the countercurrent results and the economic study indicated that the capital and operating costs of the Minrip process are considerably lower than those of CIP. The amount of the cost advantage depends on the gold content of the feed and the throughput.

Jan 1, 1993

By David J. Gurtler

In early 1988, Chino Mines Co. began using a system of economic splits for all materials encountered in mining. All mined material is evaluated as mill ore, solvent extraction electrowinning plant feed, and non-ore material, to determine its disposition. Results thus far indicate a significant increase in financial returns on material mined compared with the copper cutoff grade previously in use. Chino Mines is a partnership between Phelps Dodge Corp. (two-thirds ownership) and Mitsubishi Corp. (one-third ownership). The company produces copper and byproduct metals from the historic Santa Rita del Cobre mining district in southwestern New Mexico. The history of copper production in the district began with the use of surface native copper by native Americans before 1800. Spanish soldiers from Mexico later became aware of this district and mining began in 1801. The district was worked intermittently until 1909 when the Chino Copper Co. was formed, with Daniel C. Jackling as vice president and managing director. Concentrator operations were started in 1911. Kennecott purchased the company in 1933 and built a smelter in 1939. Chino Mines Co. was formed in 1980 when Mitsubishi purchased one-third of Kennecott's holding at the property.

Jan 1, 1990

By Kenneth R. Miller

ThunderBasin Coal Co. has two mines located in the southern portion of Wyoming's Powder River Basin - the Black Thunder Mine and the Coal Creek Mine. Both are located 60 to 90 kin (37 to 55 miles) southeast of Gillette. The mines are principally located on federal coal leases acquired in the late-1960s. Development plans for the Black Thunder Mine focused on dragline stripping. Environmental considerations, however, made truck-shovel stripping the method of choice when the mine opened in 1976. In 1981, the Coal Creek Mine opened as the first dragline mine in the Gillette area of the Powder River Basin. The regional terrain is flat-lyimg with occasional clinker-capped hills. The mines are located on the Wasatch and Fort Union Formation contact. The coals are Paleocene in age. The deposits are structurally simple, dipping gently to the west. The seams are thick and are classified as sub-bituminous-C. The Black Thunder Mine, with its 21-m (70-ft) 'hick seam, is strategically located in the center of the highest heat value mining area of the southern Powder River Basin.

Jan 1, 1993

By Harry Sutcliffe, George B. Wallace, Madan M. Singh

INTRODUCTION Several recent estimates have predicted that the extent of underground tunneling in the future will far surpass past records. It is also emphasized that the expected increase depends largely on the cost of tunneling and hence every effort should be made to reduce this price. The largest items of expense in some tunneling programs are not related to the technical problems encountered but rather the human factors involved in contracting and executing the project. In order to examine the mutual interactions between the groups involved in tunnel programs, the Engineering Foundation sponsored a conference on "Owner-Engineer-Contractor Relations in Tunneling", July 12-16, 1971 at Deerfield, Massachusetts. The meeting was cosponsored by the Associated General Contractors of America and the Construction Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The seminar was attended by representatives of contractors, owners, and engineers who drafted and approved a set of recommendations based on the ideas generated during the discussions. It was also suggested that the resulting document be given as wide publicity as possible amongst the underground construction community. The First Annual Rapid Excavation and Tunneling Conference provides an excellent forum for this presentation.

Jan 1, 1997

By E. Turner

In a joint exercise, the European Commission, (led by DG Enterprise), the EU Member States, the various sectors of the Extractive Industry, and WWF have developed a set of Sustainable Development Indicators specific to the non-energy extractive industries. Of equal significance, a Voluntary Scheme for publicly reporting the data has been created. This paper presents these indicators at the company level and explains the role of companies and trade federations in establishing the reporting process. This has been achieved in just 18 months and the paper identifies 6 Success Factors, which have made this possible. It is believed this is the first Scheme of its kind to be put into place and to have begun operation. It is a model for co-operation between government, the NGO sector and industry. The first set of data, based on the reference year 2001, has been gathered. The SD performances of the European Minerals Industry will be publicly reported on for the first time, on the basis of these 2001 data by industry sub-sector. The Member State level Indicators will follow to complete the picture.

Jan 1, 2003

By Ing Newton Amegbey, Joseph Afari Idun

Ashanti Goldfields Corporation (Gh) Ltd., the leading gold mining operation in Ghana is embarking on a major rehabilitation and expansion programme to increase gold production. A new southern ventilation district was targeted for this programme, and the ventilation system was to be reviewed in order to cope with increased production. The southern ventilation district was previously ventilated by booster fans. This arrangement was however, inadequate to solve the problem of the need to reduce smoke clearance time of the production areas, and to generally improve the underground ventilation conditions. Fan maintenance costs increased with the number of fans installed in the booster fan arrangement, and the fact that the fans were installed underground made maintenance difficult and took longer time. It became necessary to consider the installation of a new main fan on the surface. This paper gives an overview of the ventilation systems of the southern ventilation district of the mine before and after the new main fan was installed. The field tests carried out on the fan to ensure that it complied with supplier's specifications are described, and the new system analysed to see it's effectiveness.

Jan 1, 1993

By S. S. Cook, S. E. Paulson

The US Bureau of Mines is conducting core leaching experiments with sulfuric acid on oxide copper ores from the Cyprus Casa Grande and Asarco/Freeport Santa Cruz deposit in Arizona to further the understanding of the leaching process in supergene copper ores as it relates to in situ mining. Leach solutions from atacamite mineralization contained 5 to 30 g/L (0.05 to 0.28 oz/gal) copper and few extraneous ions. Leachant from chrysocolla ores, with grades similar to the atacamite, contained 2 to 9 g/L (0.02 to 0.08 oz/ gal) copper and abundant extraneous ions. Quartz and K-feldspar had no impact on leach solution composition at any acid concentration up to 40 g/L - (0.39 oz/gal) while illite and sericite had minimal impact. Biotite, calcium-rich clay, and limonite have a significant impact on solution chemistry when there is abundant free acid in solution. High acid concentra¬tions increase acid consumption in ores with abundant biotite and limonite gangue. High acid concentrations can be used in ores with quartz, K feldspar, and sericite gangues without increasing acid consumption per unit of copper removed.

Jan 1, 1990

By S. Ford

The introduction of recent advances in molecular biology into the field of microbial ecology has made available a powerful set of analytical tools for dissecting the structure of microbial communities in natural environments. The use of these approaches, many of them based on DNA-DNA hybridization enables the researcher to assess the occurrence of specific DNA sequences among the natural bacterial flora (Ford and Olson 1987). These techniques promise to have wide application as tools for monitoring the spread of introduced microorganisms (Trevors, 198'): Ford and Olson. 1987) and have been used to examine the response of bacterial communities to environmental contaminants and stressors (Barkay and Olson. 1986. Olson and Ford. 1986. Olson. Ford and Lester 1987) The occurrence of heavy metal resistance among microorganisms has been discussed as a possible tool for the detection of pathfinder elements employed in mineral exploration (Olson and Barkay 1986). In addition, the occurrence of heavy metal resistant bacteria may be utilized in protocols for assessing the occurrence and biological impact of contamination occurring as a consequence of mining operations. In this context the use of DNA hybridization technology enables the investigator to directly quantify the number of heavy metal resistant bacteria by the use of genetic probes specific for those resistance genes. The implementation of a strategy for detection of heavy metal resistance genes by hybridization technology is dependent on the availability of data on the genetic systems which encode resistance The availability of extensive DNA sequence data on mercury resistance genes (Brown et a11986. Barrineau et al 1984) has lead us to use gene probes specific for mercury resistance within natural bacterial populations as a model system for investigating the response of these bacterial populations to the occurrence of mercury In the environment.

Jan 1, 1988

By John Ralston, Jinming Duan, David R. E. Snoswell, Daniel Fornasiero, Jingwu Yang

The colloidal stability of synthetic silica spheres with clean, methylated and dehydroxylated sur¬faces was studied at different concentrations of dissolved gas and KCl electrolyte at a fixed pH of 4.2. A classic stability ratio/electrolyte concentration analysis shows that hydrophobic, methy¬lated particles undergo faster rates of aggregation with increasing concentrations of dissolved carbon dioxide. Similar data for hydrophilic particles and dehydroxylated particles show no change as a function of dissolved carbon dioxide concentration. Zeta potential data behave simi¬larly, showing a strong influence of dissolved gas only for methylated particles. The results are interpreted in terms of DLVO theory, with the surface-to-surface interaction dominated by the presence of very small protruding bubbles. Direct evidence for the existence of these very small gas bubbles (or "nanobubbles") was obtained using tapping mode atomic force microscopy. Small bubbles do not form on smooth, hydrophilic, or dehydroxylated silicon oxide water sur¬faces immersed in aqueous solutions under known levels of gas supersaturation. Randomly dis¬tributed small bubbles were observed over the whole surface of observation on methylated surfaces of controlled roughness. Bubbles formed on rough, methylated surfaces were larger and less-densely distributed than those on a smooth surface of similar hydrophobicity. The process of bubble coalescence was observed as a function of time. The macroscopic contact angle, measured with respect to the aqueous or gas phase, is very different from the microscopic contact angle detected by TMAFM and appears to be due to the influence of line tension at the pinned three¬phase contact line. The latter has a value of -3 x 10-10 N and acts to stabilize the small bubbles, flattening them and thereby reducing the Laplace pressure.

Jan 1, 2005

By Pentti Seppanen

The activities of Outokumpu Oy in the mining industry span all branches from prospecting to the production of refined metals and the manufacture of semifinished products. Products include copper, zinc, mercury, cadmium, nickel, cobalt, sulfur, gold, silver, iron ore, stainless steel, selenium, ferrochromium, lead and chromium concentrates, as well as chromite foundry sand. In addition, the activities of Outokumpu Oy extend to development and production of instruments, planning of industrial projects and instrumentation as well as the manufacture of specialized machines for ore concentration. The company now operates ten mines, eight of which are underground and all of which are in sulfide deposits except one. The fully automated monitoring and control of underground mine ventilation at the Pyhasalmi mine are an important technological contribution to the industry. Development work on the ventilation control was started in 1969, and since May 1973 it has operated in a fully automated computer-controlled mode. The Pyhasalmi mine has been in production since 1962, having begun as an open-pit operation. Development of underground mining began in 1967. The present annual production is one million tons all from underground mining. The underground mine is equipped with a main shaft and an auxiliary shaft, and two raises for ventilation. There is also a rampway from the surface to a depth of 500 m. The main shaft is for ore hoisting and the auxiliary shaft is used for waste-rock hoisting and for downcast ventilation. One of the raises is for downcast ventilation and the other is for upcast ventilation. The mining methods employed at Pyhasalmi are sublevel stoping with backfill, sublevel caving, and sublevel shrinkage stoping. Copper and zinc concentrates are produced. The Pyhasalmi mine is highly mechanized with about 4000 installed diesel horsepower underground. The maximum capacity of fresh air is 150 m3/s.

Jan 1, 1979