Search Documents

By Alan Zeni

Blind shaft drilling equipment has not changed substantially since the 1970s. Since it resides in a niche market between conventional shaft sinking and raise boring, the relatively small demand has resulted in some stagnation of development. In the 1990s the technology found a larger foothold in foundation and deep piling work for civil construction. WIRTH GmbH from Erkelenz, Germany has been servicing this market for many years with pile top drilling rigs and tools. Frontier-Kemper Constructors, Inc. recently entered into an agreement with WIRTH to develop a new generation of large diameter blind drilling equipment more specifically aimed at mining needs. The, recently completed, DHI-240 is the first rig to apply the most recent technology. This machine made its commercial debut in the fall of 2008. A description of the technology and a short case study of the first project will be described

By M. R. Louthan, C. L. Angerman

In polycrystalline Zircaloy-2 the orientation of zirconium hydride precipitates is influenced by an applied stress during hydride precipitation; hydride platelets are oriented nearly parallel to a compres-sive stress and perpendicular to a tensile tress. 1,2 A similar effect has been observed in the Ti-H system, where precipitation of the low-density hydride platelets occurred on habit planes made energetically favorable by the application of stress. 3 Recently, stress activation of hydride habit planes in zirconium and Zircaloy-4 was also demonstrated. The hydrides precipitated on {101l), {112l} and (2131) planes in both zirconium and Zircaloy-4; however, no platelets were found near the prism-plane positions in the Zircaloy-4 samples. Investigations at the Savannah River Laboratory, using polycrystalline Zirc_aloy-2 samples, have confirmed the (101l) and (1121) habit planes but also showed that the prism planes were active hydride habit planes. Using single-surface stereographic analysis and back-reflection Laue techniques, most of the previously reported habit planes for a zirconium were observed.4"1 and one additional plane, the (1013) plane, was noted, Table I. All the habit planes observed had the form (101l) or { 112l) indicating that these planes are the habit planes for hydride precipitation in poly-crystalline Zircaloy-2. The specimens used in these studies were cut from large-grained weld areas of seam-welded tubing and were hydrided in either a static steam autoclave at 400°C and 1500 psig or in a modified Sieverts apparatus at 400°C.

Jan 1, 1967

By R. Colás, A. Salas, M. P. Guerrero Mata, R. Garza

"The use of the finite element method (FEM) for studying the plastic behavior of metals has become a common practice over the past few years, because it has been proved to be a good means of evaluating processes parameters, and predicting and improving processes, avoiding the traditional trail and error technique. FEM was used via a commercial package (Abaqus) to create two dimensional models to simulate uniaxial tensile tests for a galvanized low carbon steel. The aim of the work was to analyse the plastic behaviour of a distribution of grains on the zinc cover of a set of galvanized low carbon steel samples. A mesh with lines 2 mm apart was drawn on one of the faces of the samples that were deformed at room temperature, at constant crosshead speed, stopping the deformation at different times. Before and during the stops the deformation measurements were recorded for further calculations in an image analyser in order to compare these with computational predictions, as well as validate the numerical model. The results of this study can be extended to other testing conditions, besides the model can be used for obtaining constitutive equations of the materials.INTRODUCTIONThe use of the finite element method has been widely spread during the last two decades in most engineering areas, it is a good means of obtaining approach values at a first try [1-4]. Thanks to the software and hardware developments it is now possible to run huge problems within hours or minutes, making the technique more accessible and useful for the industry.The aim of this work is to create a finite element model for the uniaxial simple tension test, and compare the results with some experimental results, and asses the validity of the model.The plastic behaviour of the materials with FEM has been studied for a long time [5] and there is always something new to learn about this behaviour of the metals in particular, as well as to characterized new materials and alloys [6,7]. The tension test has been used since XIX century to get knowledge of the materials [5,8], it is the test that has been used the most and the only that is fully standardized, although it has the limiting of low strains, it is still the most widely used, especially in the industry.Two different finite element models in two dimensions (2D) have been developed, one called the mesh model and the other one the grain model, attention was focused on the geometry and strain prediction. The model is validated with experimental test, by using the data and directly comparing it with the numerical predictions. All the tests were carried out at the same constant crosshead speed at room temperature. An analysis of the grid distortion using FEM and analytical methods has been carried out."

Jan 1, 2001

By Donald L. Katz

FIFTEEN years ago Dr. Manning published a paper in "Petroleum Development and Technology" on '.Fundamental Research Relating to Petroleum." He tabulated for several industries "the proportion of their present success which can be fairly attributed to the application of information and processes obtained by scientific research," giving petroleum a score of 7 compared to 100 for the electrical and coal-tar industries. Today the petroleum industry as a whole and the producing groups both have raised their score beyond the majority and are climbing toward the top. Present practices are being developed both by fundamental research and the application of the research method in field operation.

Jan 1, 1941

By Bruce Notthup

Using a Three Dimensional Laser Profiler, persomrel from Austin Powder were able to determine drilling patterns for use in underground mine Room and Pillar blasting operations, The faces had got out of alignment, causing concave faces across the 100 feet wide, 28 feet high tunnels. This was leading to poor drilling and poor blasting results. By profiling the faces, modifications could be made to the drilling pattern to help gradually straighten the faces. The Laser Profiler was also used to check the accuracy of collaring the holes and also perform post blast surveying of the positions of the bootlegs. This allowed recommendations to be made to improve drilling operations at the face. In addition, other volumetric calculations could be performed using the systems’ surveying software, all a lot more easily and quickly than by standard methods.

Jan 1, 1994

By T. Norvell, R. Gosine, S. O’Young

"This paper describes the use of dynamic scheduling and discrete event control to provide coordinated control of multiple automated vehicles. This work has been carried out within ongoing research into multi-robot coordination developed around the underground mining scenario. Demonstrations using scaled laboratory models of underground mines illustrate the potential for this technology for full-scale implementation for mine-wide automation. IntroductionIn the past decade, the mining industry has been improving the efficiency of underground mining operations. Robotics and automation have demonstrated the potential to further reduce costs. Tele-operation of underground vehicles from above ground and autonomous navigation have reduced travel delays and allowed for single operator control of multiple vehicles (Bloomquist and Hinton, 2001). Other recent projects include the automation of the digging process as well as the drilling and blasting operations. Infrastructureless guidance systems are also being developed (Bloomquist and Hinton, 2001).Mine-wide automation requires significant developments at two levels: (1) the development of mining robots capable of performing tasks either autonomously or semiautonomously; and (2) the development of methods for automating operations at a systems level. This paper focusses on the latter, and describes a general framework for the coordination of multiple mobile robots in an unstructured or semi-structured environment."

Jan 1, 2003

By Hillis R

As part of BHP Iron Ore's policy and goal of achieving a high standard of environmental management within its operations, a protocol for mine closure has evolved. The need to demonstrate sound environmental management with respect to site decommissioning meant that a comprehensive, environmentally sensitive closure protocol was required. Within this framework, a four-phase protocol was developed, the first phase was the determination of objectives in relation to site rehabilitation and end land use. The second phase was the determination of the process required to achieve these objectives. The third phase was the application of this process in a site specific manner. The fourth and final phase was monitoring of the site with regard to the achievement of determined objectives. The protocol was originally developed to direct the closure and decommissioning of the Goldsworthy site in 1992. This being the first total site decommissioning for BHP Iron Ore. Since that time the protocol has been successfully utilised for the closure of the Yampi (Koolan Island) operations (in 1993/94) and the Shay Gap/Nimingarra Operations (in 1994/95).

Jan 1, 1996

By Bob Robinson

In 1990, the European Space Agency (ESA) initiated a technology transfer program to stimulate the wider use of technology developed by the European and Canadian space communities. This paper focuses on the method of technology transfer from the space industry to terrestrial industries, with a focus on the mining resource sector within a program called the Harsh Environments Initiative (HEI) created in 1997. Other resource sector applications include forestry and oil & gas. C-CORE in partnership with the Mining Innovation, Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation (MIRARCO) supported by ESA, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and European R&D organizations conduct projects to promote and demonstrate the transfer of innovative technologies from space to non-space industries. Space programs have and continue to develop new knowledge for extra-terrestrial application, e.g., satellite earth observation, manned missions and unmanned planetary exploration. Many of which hold the potential for application on land and ocean. Currently, space technologies of interest to the mine sector range from robotics and image analysis to sensors, software and advanced materials. The HEI works to identify and apply these types of technologies in the areas of automated/tele-controlled mine operations and mine monitoring.

May 1, 2001

By Edward Barrody

There are wide variations in the values of heats of explosion and detonation as reported in literature. These values are not “stand-alone” or sole properties of the explosives. Specifications of the conditions under which they were determined are necessary to characterize these values. This paper proposes that these values are dependent on their oxygen content and the surroundings their products “work against” upon expansion. Also, the heats of explosion and detonation values can have the same values, but different products, showing that the products can take “independent paths” but have the same values.

Jan 1, 2003

By T. C. Cheng, G. P. Demopoulos

It is the object of this paper to discuss various options for improving the hematite process in terms of increased throughput hence lower capital cost and production of saleable quality hematite. With reference to increasing the throughput of the process, it has now been determined via the analysis of Akita Zinc Co's continuous industrial autoclave performance data that the process kinetics is limited by the rate of the hydrolytic precipitation reaction. By correlating the hydrolytic precipitation rate to supersaturation ratio, it is shown that accelerated kinetics can be achieved via the following measures: (1) in-situ neutralization with addition of zinc calcine; (2) elevation of temperature; and (3) dilution of feed; of which, the first one was retained for further evaluation. According to presented estimates, addition of calcine, amounting to only 2.6% of the total zinc calcine processed, can allow for shortening the retention time by at least 50%. Such drastic shortening of retention time may be either used to increase the throughput of a given autoclave circuit or alternatively to release autoclave capacity for clean hematite production. Hydrothermal treatment of the crude hematite product proved effective in producing clean hematite as according to laboratory tests, hence allowing the sulphur content of hematite to be reduced from around 4% to less than 1%. A conceptual flowsheet incorporating in-situ neutralization for accelerated kinetics with hydrothermal upgrading of crude hematite without sacrificing production capacity and with minimum upset of the plant's water balance is described.

Jan 1, 2004

By SungWon Park

The efficiency of the current design methods for computing pile resistances is evaluated using field load-settlement tests results. Twelve load-settlement test data for drilled shafts and bored piles were obtained from the literature. These load-test data were fitted using the ?t-z? method. Subsequently, the ultimate resistances were evaluated based upon the failure criteria from following methods: (1) the Davisson?s approach and (2) settlement corresponding to 5% or 10% shaft diameter approach. The ultimate resistances for these drilled shafts and bored piles were also predicted using methods based on the design code from North America (United States, Canada), Europe, and Asia (Japan). The pile resistances determined from field load-settlement tests were compared with those calculated using the design codes. The comparisons show that most design codes predict a conservative resistance for drilled shafts and bored piles. However, in the case of drilled shafts, we find that some of the design codes can over-predict the resistance and, therefore, should be applied cautiously. This research also shows that ?t-z? method can be successfully used to predict the ultimate resistance and the load transfer mechanism for a single pile.

Jan 1, 2009

By O. K. Miniato, L. Massé, K. Nobe, J. S. Aronofsky, W. F. 213-000-000-016 Seyer

MUCH work has been done dealing with the effect of mechanical stress on electrode potential in an electrochemical system. The contradictory nature of the experimental results indicates the complexity of the problem although thermodynamic considerations show that a simple relationshir, should exist. In those systems where a gas was the electromotive active substance satisfactory agreement between theory and practice has been found. Des Coudres' found this to be so even when the active substance of the electrode, in this case mercury, was in the liquid state. In contrast, attempts to correlate theory and experiment for the solid state have met with a very limited success. The early workers in this field, Andrews,2 Walker and Dill3 used iron, certainly one of the most reactive of metals. Others have made use of less active metals such as copper and nickel. Recently Fryxell and Nachtrieb4 investigated the electrochemical behavior of gold and silver under both tensile and compressive stresses and concluded that it was doubtful whether true stress potentials could ever be measured. Much of the lack of success to measure the thermodynamic stress potential can be ascribed to the presence or formation of a complex film on the metal surface in contact with the electrolyte. Further, the theoretical stress potential is very small and therefore difficult to measure directly. Thus the calculated emf between a 24 B & S gage cold-drawn copper wire stressed with a weight of 1 kg and an unstressed portion of the same wire is only 2.60 X 10"7 volts. This is very small compared to that which can be produced by chemical reactions at the metal electrolyte interface which in turn can be so large as to mask completely the stress potential. Hence in this type of measurement all chemical side effects must be eliminated or reduced as much as possible. It was for this reason that the system copper-sodium chloride solution was selected for study. INSTRUMENTATION In the many preliminary experiments conducted, two major difficulties were encountered. The first was to measure the small electro-potentials to be expected and the second to obtain a suitable electrode surface. The conventional potentiometric method was found to be unsatisfactory for measuring the small emf expected. However, by using an L & N No. 2290 galvanometer having a resistance of 915 ohms consistent measurements were possible. The reference electrode was always the unstressed one made from the same sample of wire. The steady current flow was approximately 10-8 amp. Lewis and Randell5 have stated that for currents of the order of 10-8, if there is no sensible polarization, the measured emf may be taken as a reversible one. To check the galvanomenter readings an alternative method was devised to measure the potential difference between the wires. This involved a Liston-Falb d-c breaker amplifier model 10, an L & N k-2 potentiometer and a moving-coil galvanometer having a sensitivity greater than 0.1 µv (microvolt) per mm. To increase further the output voltage of the amplifier a d-c amplifier, model B. L.-932 was introduced into the circuit. This amplifier was in turn connected to a Brush recorder which had been calibrated previously by the test signals from the Liston-Falb instrument. These test voltages employed took into account the impedance of the input current. Unfortunately, this method had too low a sensitivity for measurement below 10 µv. Above this value the voltage agreed reasonably well with those obtained directly by the simple galvanometer method. The main advantage of the amplifier setup was that one did not have to wait until no deflection occurred on the galvanometer in the circuit when first exposing the wires to the solu-

Jan 1, 1959

By Alan R. Johnson

Because of the competitive nature of the iron ore pelletizing industry, commodities required for the production of pellets are continually being scrutinized to minimize their usage and offset rapidly escalating costs. In the Tilden pellet plant, the usage of one commodity, bentonite, has been reduced from over twenty-four pounds per long ton of pellets to as low as eight pounds per long ton. The evolution of bentonite usage from plant start-up to the present time is described.

Jan 1, 1984

By D. A. Norrgran

The process of magnetic separation is based on the differences among magnetic susceptibilities of various mineral species. Performed either wet or dry, the separation has application in both the recovery and concentration of value minerals and in removing deleterious mineral constituents from a product stream. There are two major catagories to be considered when addressing magnetic separation of minerals. The first catagory refers to particle characterization and relative differences in magnetic susceptibility. The second catagory refers to design parameters and the magnetic field generated by the separator.

Jan 1, 1987

By B. Z. Weiss, N. R. Comins, F. Blum

The effect of microstructure on the deformation and fracture properties of 3CR12 steel was investigated at different strain rates in the temperature range -196 to 200°C. The yield stress of the as-received steel, showing a banded dual-phase microstructure, was much lower than that of the flake-like dual-phase microstructure produced by heat treatment. The heat treatment also resulted in an increase in the volume fraction of martensite. The fracture toughness of the as-received 3CR12, on the other hand, was significantly higher than that of the heat-treated material. These changes in both yield stress and fracture toughness were attributed to the effect of microstructural parameters on the constraints imposed on the deformation and subsequent failure of the ferritic phase in the as received and heat-treated steels. The exceptionally low resistance to crack extension in a plane parallel to the roiling plane of the as-received material was ascribed to the delamination process, which is typical for controlled-rolled steels. The yield stress and fracture toughness were found to depend on temperature and strain rate. The appearances of the fracture surfaces were found to be consistent with the mechanical properties.

Jan 1, 1992

By J. L. Luo, D. G. Ivey, A. H. Adeleke

Double-edge-notched flat tensile samples of X70 steel were used for both slow strain-rate testing (SSRT) and cyclic loading testing with the notch located in the zone of interest, i.e., the weld metal (WM), base metal (BM) and heat affected zone (HAZ). By using both optical and scanning electron microscopy, the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behaviour with respect to crack morphology and various forms of microstructure was investigated. In all the samples considered, the mode of failure was predominantly transgranular with cleavage facets around the edges of the fracture surface. The BM, with a bainitic microstructure, had the highest resistance to SCC when compared with the mixed microstructures of acicular ferrite-primary ferrite and acicular ferrite-grain boundary ferrite observed in the WM and HAZ, respectively. The effect of microstructure on stress corrosion cracking behaviour is discussed based on experimental observations.

Jan 1, 2005

An investigation into the stability of large open stopes at Premier diamond mine, Culinan, South Africa, is described. The open stopes are located in a weak kimberlite orebody, directly underneath a 75 m-thick sill of gabbro. Two and three-dimensional stress analyses were carried out in a back-analysis of the stresses and failure around the first open stope created under the sill. The results were used in the prediction of the future stability of the planned open stopes, intervening pillars, and sill.

Jan 1, 1987

By Sam Ash

The Murray Mine was one of the first mechanized cut-and-fill underground gold operations in northern Nevada. At the end of 2002, mine production began to decline. So the mine entered a phase of remnant mining and began preparations to close down. The remaining mining took place along the ore waste boundary in previously condemned areas and in challenging ground conditions. To remain economically viable, new techniques were implemented in operations, geology, engineering and rock mechanics. These improvements pushed the edge of known and accepted mining practices and have allowed the Murray Mine to remain in operation.

Jan 1, 2006

By D. Malhotra

The number of variables which can effect flotation of molybdenite is very large. This paper discusses the effect of two operating variables, namely, the degree of aeration and agitation, on the grade and recovery of molybdenite. A series of factorially designed flotation tests were carried out in a "Leeds Automatic Laboratory Flotation Cell." The analysis of flotation results indicate that molybdenite can be characterized into fast-floating and slow-floating components. The rates of fast-floating components, which do not create a problem in flotation, could be varied by changing agitation of airflow rates. However, the rate of slow-floating components was stable and was only a function of residence time in the float machine. The degree of aeration has a significant effect on the grade of MoS2 with only a slight effect on the recovery of MoS2. The degree of agitation has a slight effect on the grade, but does not effect the recovery of molybdenite. The implications of the results on the design of flotation cells and control and optimization of the existing circuits is subsequently discussed.

Jan 1, 1977

By Charles L. Kimbell

On the basis of world production data alone, 1985 appears to have been a year in which the world's mineral industry took another step upward in its recovery from the very poor years of 1981, 1982, and early 1983. Despite a drop in the output of crude oil, which was the single most significant crude mineral product from the viewpoint of value, the estimated value of world crude mineral production advanced by 3.4% to about $1,054 billion constant 1983 dollars, with output increases logged for nearly two-thirds of the commodities and forms of commodities for which the U.S. Bureau of Mines calculates a total world output. However, the economic well-being of any industry or group of industries cannot be measured solely in terms of the volume and/or value of its production, and examination of statistics reflecting other aspects of mineral industry performance shows that 1985 was a less than ideal year in many respects. In the case of consumption of mineral commodities, although there were gains registered in diverse sectors such as iron and steel, aluminum, fertilizer materials, solid fuels, and gaseous fuels, there were also proportionally small but notable declines in use among the older major nonferrous metals (copper, lead, tin, and zinc) and in the all-important liquid fuels. In the case of international trade in mineral commodities, although comprehensive data for 1985 were not yet available, there were indications that the value may well have fallen below the estimated 1984 level of $632 billion, although the volume may have increased slightly. This, if true, would be chiefly the result of declining prices of mineral commodities, and indeed, price declines were noted for a number of significant materials in terms of current dollars, and even more would register declines if calculated on the basis of constant dollars, adjusting for inflation.

Jan 1, 1987