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By Douglas R. Schmitt

In general, knowledge of the state of stress within the Antarctic lithosphere remains largely unconstrained due in part to Antarctica?s inaccessibility and because of the paucity of seismic focal mechanism solutions. As such, an important component of the ANDRILL project was to acquire new information on the stress directions and magnitudes within the upper crust. Extensive fracture mapping of the core and oriented ultrasonic televiewer logging were carried out to provide strong constraints on both stress orientations and the faulting regime. The first hydraulic fracturing stress determinations in Antarctica were also carried out to provide complimentary stress magnitudes. These measurements were accomplished using a wire-line transported hydraulic fracturing system consisting, essentially, of two synthetic polymer packers that were inflated to isolate the 1-m long pressurization interval. The tests were conducted at the end of the drilling and logging in a ~130-m section specially drilled below 1000 mbsf (nearly 1500 m from the rig floor) for hydraulic fractures. This zone was drilled primarily through competent, dense, and low permeability diamicts. The core fracture and televiewer logging information was used to site twenty separate measurements. Classic hydraulic fracturing pressurization records with unambiguous breakdown and fracture closure pressures were obtained in about half of the measurements. The remaining tests provided fracture propagation and closure pressures that are consistent with the classic breakdown curves, but they did not include a clear breakdown pressure and are indicative of the reopening of either natural or drilling induced fractures in the wellbore wall. The preliminary analysis of the results are in generally good agreement with the stress directions indicated by the core fracture logging and the stress regime suggested by the character of the drilling induced core fractures.

Jun 1, 2012

By Hendri Silaen, Ishak Degei, Nicoll Soumilena, Arwin Edijanto, Avesiena Primadiansyah

PT Freeport Indonesia’s Deep Mill Level Zone (DMLZ) is one of three operating cave mines at the Grasberg mine complex. The DMLZ is situated in the East Ertsberg Skarn System (EESS). It is set 500 m below the operating DOZ mine and located approximately 1,500 m below the surface, making it one of the world’s deepest panel caving operations. Initial undercutting of the DMLZ commenced in the second half of 2015 and has expanded to more than 120,000 m2. High pre-mining stresses and the changes associated with caving, combined with a strong and brittle rock mass, led to significant seismicity and rock bursting. Stress and seismic management are the main challenges for the operation and have evolved significantly from initial undercutting to the present. Considerable amounts of empirical data associated with ground response have been collected, evaluated and combined with historical lessons learned from the Intermediate Ore Zone (IOZ) and Deep Ore Zone (DOZ) mines, which are located within the EESS. This has provided an improved understanding of how the various geological, geotechnical and mine design criteria relate to one another. Additionally, the information has allowed for the development and implementation of improved strategies for stress and seismic management in the DMLZ. This paper describes how these learnings have driven changes in mine geometry, layout, and support systems. Through comprehensive monitoring and detailed inspections, positive changes have been seen in the ground response, leading to an increase in footprint reliability and accelerated cave growth. The paper summarizes the key learnings at the DMLZ regarding stress and seismic management as well as the positive improvements towards sustained and safe caving operations in the DMLZ.

Apr 26, 2022

By Godofredo F. Barrios

For years urethane screen surfaces have been used in a wide range of wet screening applications where openings from as fine as 100 microns and coarser have been used. The purpose of this paper is to expose the reader to new developments in both screen surface and screening equipment technologies which allow an end user to consider urethane screen surfaces for fine screening applications. These technologies allow an end user to use the inherent advantages of urethane with regards to wear resistance while also realizing the benefits that a high oper area urethane screen surface can bring. These benefits include non blinding characteristics and feed capacities that which rival that of traditional stainless steel surfaces. The paper will highlight the features of this patented urethane screen surface technology and the screening machines they are used in conjunction with. There will also be a presentation of case studies of commercial installations where these technologies are utilized. These case studies are from the base metals industry therefore relevance to the conference is direct and not inferred. Included in the paper will also be constraints which must be taken into account when considering urethane screen surfaces such as temperature and chemical attacks. This paper will expose potential end users to a possibility of using screens to achieve extremely accurate size separations in applications where screens were previously not considered. The paper will explain and demonstrate that prior concerns of screen surface blinding, high screen surface consumption rates and large screen surface area requirements can be eliminated by proper utilization of high open area urethane screen surfaces.

Jan 1, 2007

By K Williams, A Lavrinec, V Gurung, D Ilic

The moisture content of iron ore during handling can range from the dust extinction moisture at the point of arrival at the port to the transportable moisture limit at the point of loading ships for maritime transport. Moisture content and ore composition, specifically fines content, have a large influence on ore flowability. Typically, elevated moisture can result in bottlenecks, downtime and lost productivity due to build-up, conveyor carry-back and blockages, increasing maintenance costs. On the other hand, low moisture can result in increased dust emissions influencing the environmental footprint and product losses. Managing the use of water across the supply chain is therefore critical for service life of equipment, productivity, but also has environmental and social impacts, affecting the social license to operate. Previously, experiments have shown that oscillations induced in iron ore during handling and transport can result in movement of moisture through the ore. This kind of moisture migration depends on the nature of these oscillations, such as the undulation of idlers during conveying, the inherent ore properties and the initial moisture content. Moisture has been observed to move either upwards and/or towards the bottom of the burden. These effects can be exploited to remove excess water from the ore influencing handleability and operation, however, the actual mechanisms of moisture migration are currently poorly understood. The study presented herein involves the use of simulation to examine moisture and ore interactions. Simulations using discrete element method (DEM) and coupled with smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) are implemented to investigate the behaviour of moisture in wet ore in the presence of oscillation. This is conducted at a fundamental level first using glass beads and water which is then compared to iron ore at high moisture content. The results of the modelling are discussed in view of experiments conducted.

Sep 18, 2023

By Rollin A. Pallanch

THE Midvale mill of the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company is situated on a flat site whose elevation is 50 ft above that of the Jordan River. Tailings are impounded in the area between the river and the flat upon which the mill and railroad switchyard are located. The water supply is pumped from the Galena canal which leads from the river at a point some ten miles to the south. The mill has a present capacity of approximately 1700 tons daily. It started out originally in 1926 as a 750 ton three-unit plant. The tonnage was gradually increased to 1200 tons by 1934, and in late 1935 a fourth unit was added. The accompanying flowsheet shows the principal equipment and how it is utilized. The ore is principally sulphide with varying degrees of oxidation, with individual lots ranging widely in both precious and base metal content. In each of the four individual units of the mill there will often be mixtures of as

Jan 1, 1948

By Floyd G. Anderson

Owing to the rapid growth of the perlite industry in recent years, the Bureau of Mines has received numerous requests for information relative to the possible harmful effects of breathing dust resulting from the processing and use of perlite. As published information on the composition of perlite is rather meager, consisting chiefly of conventional chemical analyses, samples of crude and expanded perlite from 9 deposits in 6 Western States were studied. Crude perlite ores were examined petrographically and analyzed by chemical, spectrographic, and X-ray-diffraction methods. Sized crude and expanded perlites were analyzed chemically for total free and combined silica content.

Jan 1, 1956

By R. D. Haynes

Coal, gas, and oil in many geological formations of the Eastern United States are intimately associated but have traditionally been recovered independently of each other. Oil and gas wells, however, are often spaced sufficiently close to cause the subsequent loss of up to 50 percent of the recoverable coal in the form of pillars or barriers left for mine safety purposes. A long-range planning technique was devised for exploiting oil and gas wells simultaneously with the mining of coal to recover the maximum fuel potential of the formations. Planned plugging of oil and gas wells, determined partly from production predictions via decline curve analysis, is coordinated with a mine development plan to achieve maximum coal recovery and reduce overall production losses of gas and oil due to plugging of the wells.

Jan 1, 1973

By Nikolaos Petropoulos, Daniel Johansson, Håkan Schunnesson

The optimization of the explosive performance is of great importance since blasting is extensively used in civil projects and mining industry. An improved understanding of how the energy from the detonation of an explosive is transmitted to the surrounding rock mass is critical information for the proper selection of an explosive. Therefore, an extensive study was done on the influence of the blasthole diameter on the Velocity of Detonation (VoD) and the detonation front curvature. In this study, pure emulsion was tested in confined conditions to better simulate the behavior of the detonation of the explosive in rock mass conditions. A methodology is proposed for carrying out the evaluation of the explosive performance. The blasthole diameter of the samples varied from Ø 25 mm (0.98 in) up to Ø 65 mm (2.55 in). The confiner was a magnetic mortar cylindrical sample with mechanical properties similar to a rock mass. A streak camera and VoD probes were used to measure detonation front curvature and VoD. The data was analyzed and correlated with the physical parameters of the explosive. Additional to this, the data was further used to calibrate numerical models in LS-Dyna.

By A. C. Stevenson

IN OUTLINING the various steps taken and the exigences met during the time of unwatering and rebuilding the burnt top equipment at the Hecla mine, the major portion of the detail is omitted and a general description of the experience only is given. All the electrical power lines were out of commission, as were the mine feeder cables. The first effort, there- fore, was to restore electrical connections. The Washington Water Power Co. immediately put a crew to work restoring the power line, it being necessary to rebuild about 4000 ft. of 66,000 volt transmission and about 2000 ft. of 2200 volt feeder. This work was rushed and power was again available at the mine sub- station about 26 hours after the fire. During the same time temporary lighting lines were strung and transformer equipment obtained, so that when electrical connection was resumed the lights were turned on and the dump well lighted that night.

Jan 1, 1924

Electroosmotic Dewatering and Consolidation of Mineral Waste Tailings

Sep 13, 2010

By I. M. R. Duarte, J. A. Rodrigues-Carvalho, F. R. S. Rosa, A. B. Pinho

"This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge of the mechanical properties of the shales and greywackes which constitute the flysch-type deposits of the Baixo Alentejo Flysch Group, in the south of Portugal. These formations are flysch-type deposits constituted by sequences of usually thick greywacke beds alternating with thin shale beds, which include sometimes intercalations of conglomerate beds. All the sedimentation of these flysch formations was controlled by tectonics. At the same time, should have occurred along with the first Hercynian deformation phase, a low-grade metamorphic event (chlorite zone), that affected these flysch deposits. This study highlights the influence of anisotropy and heterogeneity of these flysch rocks on their physical and mechanical characteristics. The anisotropy verified in some physical properties and on mechanical properties, due to the foliation makes difficult the sample preparation for the laboratory tests. Besides, it induces a scattering of the properties values measured, as for example, the strength and the deformability. The heterogeneity is related to the main features of these geological formations, which are constituted mostly by thinly stratified greywackes and shale beds, which sometimes may affect the results of the laboratory tests making them less representative. The study is made by using both shales and greywackes that constitute these flysch-type deposits in order to evaluate their geotechnical properties, mainly of the shales. Samples of these two rock materials, are tested accordingly a laboratory testing programme, which includes which included mineralogical analysis (X-ray diffraction), physical tests (bulk density, porosity, and void index) and mechanical tests (uniaxial compression, and deformability tests). INTRODUCTIONOne of the factors that most influence the geomechanical behavior of rocks, as well as rock masses is the anisotropy. The word anisotropy comes from two Greek words ""anisos"" (meaning uneven) and ""tropos"" (meaning direction). A body or material is considered to be anisotropic, where the same property has different values depending in which direction it is measured, therefore, an anisotropic material is one whose magnitude of the properties depends on the direction in which these are studied or measured. Otherwise, it is about an isotropic material. However, the fully isotropic materials are quite rare in nature."

Jan 1, 2015

By J. P. Harrison, R. Roostaei

"In this paper we investigate the consequences of using conventional triaxial peak strength criteria in the polyaxial stress conditions that occur around the end of a long circular underground opening. A series of 3d boundary element analyses were performed using Examine3D to determine the stresses induced around the tunnel in different in-situ stress conditions. To discuss the applicability of a triaxial strength criterion in failure prediction, strength factors were computed for both the Ottosen polyaxial strength criterion and the triaxial Hoek-Brown criterion. Assuming that the Ottosen criterion is an accurate indicator of strength factor, the discrepancy from this value due to the Hoek-Brown criterion is the error in prediction.In order to simultaneously show the error in prediction and actual strength factor, a quantitative bivariate colour scheme is used to visualize the results. This allows rapid identification of regions with large error, and where either unsafe or overly conservative conditions occur. We show how the inappropriate use of triaxial criteria rather than polyaxial criteria leads to an under- or over-estimation of strength factor, and can result in uneconomic or unsafe design. Extending the analysis to different in situ stress regimes shows how the in situ stress conditions affect the assessment."

Jan 1, 2015

By Walter E. Hopper

(Wilkes-Barre Meeting, June, 1911.) I. LOCATION AND EXTENT. THE Caddo oil-field, shown in Fig. 1, is located in Caddo parish, northwestern Louisiana. The known producing territory of oil is covered by townships 19 N, 20 N, 21 N, 22 N, and ranges 15 and 16 W., shown in Fig. 2. The center of the field may be taken as Oil City, 24 miles north of Shreveport, on the Kansas City Southern railway. Shreveport is the second largest city in the State, and is the connecting point of five rail-road-lines. Drilling at the present time, however, is going on all over northern Louisiana, especially in Caddo and the neighboring parishes. II. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT. Natural gas escaping at the surface is found at numerous places in northwestern Louisiana. At Shreveport, the plant of the Shreveport Ice & Refrigerating Co. has been lighted by natural gas for 20 years. The well was drilled for water, but was abandoned on account of the gas. A test well, put down in 1905 near the western limits of Shreveport, was driven to 1,650 ft., and encountered indications of gas and oil at various depths, but did not succeed in finding enough to be profitable. Attention was first attracted to the Caddo field in 1895 by indications in water-wells from 40 to 60 ft. deep, in which the pressure of natural gas was noticeable. This indication of gas in a shallow well led to the drilling of the first well in the Caddo field, the old Savage Brothers & Morricell, or the Caddo Lake Oil and Pipe Line No. 1. The rig for this well was erected in May, 1904, and drilling began in June, 1904. The well was bailed Mar. 23, 1905, with a small amount of oil. It was deepened July, 1905, and converted into a "gasser " Jan. 3, 1906. It was abandoned January, 1907. In consequence of the finding of oil in the Savage well, drilling-operations were pushed with energy; and in April, 1905, four wells were drilling. Great trouble was experienced with

Apr 1, 1911

By V. Gall

The three-dimensional finite element technique combined with the progressive failure approach was utilized to simulate stress distributions in a mine section which occur in response to a longwall mining operation. Due to the availability of the Cray supercomputer, a large-scale three-dimensional finite element model was developed for the analysis. The Hoek-Brown failure criterion, which describes a realistic behavior of rock masses, was used for the simulation of progressive failure. A comparison of calculated and monitored stresses in the mine has shown that the model gives a good representation of stresses in the mine structure.

Jan 1, 1990

By Clive Chadbourne

Investigations of world wide coal face strata control practice, the study of theoretical calculations and detailed engineering analysis have been combined to design and select a powered roof support suitable for use in conjunction with the extraction of 4.5-m (14.7- ft) of the 7.5-m (24.6-ft) thick Warwickshire Thick Coal Seam. The interface between geotechnical criteria and engineering design has been closely considered along with the following 3 important factors: Firstly, the need to further improve strata control and operational characteristics whilst producing a wall integrated overall face design. Secondly, to enable the supports to be rapidly transported from face to face in roadways driven at the minimum size for operational requirements. Finally, to provide hydraulic power, automatic control and monitoring systems which will improve operations reduce manpower requirements and improve management information. Clear design requirements were determined in order to allow selection on a commercial basis. A method of tendering is described with the subsequent analysis and selection process. In the event oversupply of coal in the UK resulted in the order not being placed. Brief consideration has been given to supports suitable for reserves to be mined In a few year's time where there is potential for extraction well in excess of 4.5-m (1 4.74.

Jan 1, 1994

By P. Roy

Smelting or converting of sulphide concentrates and mattes in a batch operation presents a challenge when directing the off- gas to a conventional acid plant. The Hindustan Zinc Ltd. (a division of the Vedanta Group of companies) Chanderia Lead Zinc smelter was presented with such a challenge that was met with the adoption of the Cansolv® SO2 Scrubbing System. The Ausmelt top submerged lance technology used at Hindustan Zinc generates a furnace gas stream that containsbetween 0.1 vol% and 12 vol% SO2 during the three stages of batch smelting. Cansolv® SO2 Scrubbing Technology captures the SO2 to ensure that treated flue gas exits the facility at a concentration below 100 ppmv SO2 and it releases SO2 in a controlled fashion, to more closely match the needs of the existing acid plant. The application of a regenerable scrubbing system to capture SO2 from a batch-operated furnace and convert it to acid in a conventional acid plant was a first of its kind in the world. This paper provides an update on the design and operation of the Hindustan Zinc SO2 recovery system and suggests two improvements to the basic flow sheet that optimize the cost of SO2 scrubbing further.

Jan 1, 2007

By Mirian Mamani

El presente trabajo define nuevas zonas para la exploración del sur peruano a través de la identificación de fallas corticales y dominios geotectónicos, desarrollado por el Proyecto GR1: Geología de la Costa Sur y Vertiente Oeste de la Cordillera Occidental de la dirección de geología regional del INGEMMET. Los dominios están limitados por sistemas de fallas importantes y contienen Super Unidades intrusivas y Unidades volcánicas representativas , que permiten ubicar nuevos polígonos para la exploración de yacimientos minerales.

Sep 12, 2011

By D. Harrington

The occurrence of dust in mines has always been a source of trouble, but for any years, and virtually up to the beginning of the present century, relatively little of a definite nature was known as to the numerous ill effects of dust in mining operations. Even today, with the west amount of time given and attention paid (for at least 40 years in various, countries) to research and observation en dust in mining, and in spite of the experience with it, much information remains to be obtained, before definite, well-authenticated statements can be made as to numerous features connected with the occurrence of dust in Dines an of its effect upon the health and safety of the worker. One statement that can be made with relatively good assurance of being uncontradicted in that dust is a real menace to the well-being of mine workers, and this includes both health and safety. In addition, dust in and around mines and mining plants is one cause of large financial losses to mine owners and operators. FORMATION OF DUST IN COAL MINES IN THE UNITED STATES One definition of mining is "the processes by which useful materials are obtained from the earth's crust; " since virtually all of the useful materials of or in the earth's crust either are solids or must be reached by penetrating through solids, the materials that are moved in mining must necessarily be broken or disrupted, so that almost every phase of the work of loosening the material and transporting it is likely to produce dust.

Jan 1, 1939

By Ph. D. Favreau, Favreau Patrice B. Eng, R. F.

Geology is important in mining by helping to identify the rocks which contain sufficient valuable ore to justify their excavation. Geologists give a geological name to each rock type, so geology is a player in blasting; when a blaster has successfully blasted rock of a given geological name at a former site, and he later has to blast rock at another site whose rock has the same geological name, then his first trial often is the same method as he used at the former site, since the geological name of the rock is the same

Jan 1, 2019

Caterpillar’s 797 327-t (360-st) mining truck is currently being tested at the company’s proving facilities. Mine evaluations began in the second quarter. The unit will be commerically available in North America in 2000 and worldwide in 2001. The new model is the largest of Caterpillar’s off high-way truck line. In addition, the company has replaced its 966F series II and 970 F wheel loaders with the966G and 972G models. 797 mining haul truck Caterpillar developed the 797 mining haul truck in response to mining companies seeking to reduce cost per ton in large-scale operations. The 797 is sized to work with loading shovels used in large mining operations. And Caterpillar will match the body design to the material being hauled, to optimize pay-loads.

Jan 1, 1999