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By M. Hepokoski, M. Klein

"Mine refuge shelters are designed to protect mine workers from hazardous environmental conditions after a mine disaster, but high temperature and humidity levels inside these shelters may pose a significant safety risk. Due to the safety risks associated with human testing, detailed thermal models of shelters and human occupants have been developed using TAITherm simulation software. These models are used to predict the temperature and humidity within the shelter resulting from metabolic heating, evaporation due to sweat and respiration, moisture and heat from the shelter’s carbon dioxide scrubbing system, and heat transfer within the shelter. A detailed human thermoregulation model simulates the sensible and latent heat generated by the shelter occupants, and predicts the occupant’s body core temperature and moisture lost due to sweating and respiration. This information is used to assess the safety of the shelter. This paper presents the technical details of the human thermal model, validation comparing the human model to human subject test data, and results of a mine shelter analysis. IntroductionPortable mine refuge chambers are used in U.S. coal mines to provide protection to mine workers from hazardous conditions following a traumatic event. Although these shelters are designed to supply clean air and sustenance for up to 96 hours, prolonged exposure to the mine shelter environment itself can pose a substantial risk to human safety. Heat generated by the shelter occupants combined with heat from the carbon dioxide (CO2) scrubbing system can raise the shelter interior temperatures and relative humidity to dangerous levels that can lead to heat stress in humans. Unfortunately, the thermal burden associated with mine shelter exposure is not well characterized due to potential hazards associated with underground human subject testing. In order to assess the thermal burden on people within a mine shelter environment, a detailed thermal model was created to accurately predict the temperatures and humidity levels within the shelter, and the impact of these environmental conditions on human occupants. The model consists of a mobile inflatable tent-type mine shelter with 23 humans, and includes the surrounding mine environment. The thermal simulations were performed using a validated commercial heat transfer prediction computer software. Additionally, a module of the software provided the capability to simultaneously model the thermophysiology of 23 unique humans contained within the mine shelter. The human thermal models accounted for the thermal interaction with the environment and provided a core temperature response prediction that can be used to evaluate survivability in heat stress situations (U.S. Army, 2003). The models can also be used to determine maximum occupancy in order to maintain safe temperature and humidity levels inside the shelter in specific mine environments, to optimize shelter size for maximum heat dissipation, or to simulate active cooling systems."

Jan 5, 2017

By Sitotaw Y. Fantaye

"The first segment of the Second Avenue Subway extension is approaching construction completion. The new extension will operate along Second Avenue from 96th Street to 63rd Street, where it will divert west along the existing 63rd Street line, stopping at the Lexington Avenue/63rd Street Station. The new line will have stateof-the-art stations at 96th, 86th, 72nd and 63rd streets.Most of the two-track, twin-tunnel subway was constructed using bored tunnel methods (Figure 1), with a tunnel boring machine (TBM). The launch and retrieving box of the TBM was strategically located at the south end of the 96th Street Station where bedrock exists approximately 70 ft (21.3 m) below street level. The TBM launch box and the 96th Street Station (Figure 2), including the ancillary facilities adjacent to the station, were constructed by the cut-and-cover method. The cut-and-cover work required the contractor to design and implement a stiff, tightlybraced retaining wall, approximately 100 ft (30.5 m) long, to tie the existing tunnel constructed in the 1970s to the new station, temporary street decking over the entire excavation, and a wide range of excavation support systems at various locations.The cut-and-cover construction posed significant challenges including: installation of street decking on busy Second Avenue, relocation and suspension of the myriad utilities beneath the streets, and configuration of a lateral support system that would minimize movement of adjacent structures but not slow down excavation activities. This article describes the innovative solutions developed to manage and facilitate safe and efficient construction without disrupting Second Avenue, a major southbound one-way thoroughfare.The work was performed in several phases involving: (1) preconstruction condition survey of existing buildings, (2) installation of instrumentation and monitoring, (3) major utility relocation efforts to move vital utilities from within the alignment of the slurry wall on both the east and west sides of the avenue, (4) implementation of maintenance and protection of traffic plans, (5) installation of temporary street decking across the entire avenue and over the excavation to allow an orderly movement of traffic and pedestrians, (6) staged excavation and installation of an intricate temporary bracing system beneath the decking (7) step-by-step construction of the new subway station’s structure and (8) staged removal of the bracing as the structure gained sufficient strength to resist the lateral loads. The main focus in this article is the design and construction of the temporary street decking and lateral bracing systems; the utility suspension system and the north tie-in that allowed the daunting task of excavation and construction of a new subway station in bustling New York City, with minimal disruption to the community, businesses and everyday traffic."

Jan 1, 2016

The application of methods using large diameter down holes has become an important facet in both the development and stoping operations of mines within the Aberfoyle group. Holes of up to 98 metres (vertical) and 78 metres (inclined) have been successfully used in stoping operations. A number of rises have been developed to meet ventilation, servicing and escape-way requirements. The most ambitious rise to date has been a..vertical 93 metre long by 4.50 metre square ventilation rise. Although some early problems were experienced, the ultimate successful completion of this rise has enabled the technique to be incorporated with confidence in future mining plans. This paper summarises experience in long hole rising techniques, their evolution from the original cratering concepts, and the approach to further development of these techniques.

Jan 1, 1982

By J. W. Merkley, K. B. Hustwick

"The authors describe the use of a computer system for the control oj warehouse inventory at Cominco's Canadian operations. The challenge presented by the company's diverse products and various locations necessitated a practical approach to operational and manpower requirements. The utilization of modern forecasting techniques, manual intervention and exception reporting provides system flexibility. The system also provides both operational and management control to set required service goals at the lowest inventory levels for inventory management.IntroductionCominco Ltd. is a Canadian company, with international operations, the principal business of which is zinc, lead and chemical fertilizer s. Its involvement is fully integrated and range s from mineral exploration through mining, smelting, refining and by-product production to international marketing. It also embraces related services, including trade, wharfarge and power. With head office in Vancouver, it is involved, directly or through subsidiary or associated companies, in Canada and in the United States, Greenland, Europe, Australia, India and Japan.Cominco has over 12,000 employees and 26,000 shareholders, with 91% of all shares held in Canada.Cominco's Inventory Control System is one of the most extensively used computer systems employed by the company. Also, inventory control is regarded as one of the most economically successful computer applications to be undertaken by the Data Processing Services (D.P.S) Group that was responsible for the development of the Inventory Control System.The main use of automatic inventory control has been at operating plants in Western Canada and the Northwest Territories, which are separated by large distances. Each location has equipment-intensive mining and processing operations and it is essential to maintain control of parts and supplies inventories. Some of these locations are remote from urban and industrial centres and it is important to avoid the adverse effects of high personnel costs and re-training due to turnover."

Jan 1, 1982

By F. F. McINTOSH

STEEL is a general name applied to the alloys of iron and carbon. These alloys always contain , other elements such as manganese, silicon, sulfur, and phosphorus. Manganese and silicon are usually considered to be alloying elements. Sulfur and phosphorus are regarded as impurities. Tradition has damned them both and, in addition to classifying them as impurities, has established the general impression that many of the ills of steels are the result of the presence of one or both of these elements. Metallurgists are inclined to question the soundness of this tradition. The fact that one blast-furnace plant is devoted entirely to the production of ferro-phosphorus which is used to rephosphorize basic open-hearth steel, and that sulfur is added to many heats of steel, indicates that these so- called impurities might also be classed as alloying elements, and that the tradition which damns them may not be altogether fair and well founded. A critical search through the technical literature on the effect of phosphorus on steel will disclose many references to its harmful effect. Most of these are general in character, but there has been a strong tendency to accept this traditional belief in the harmful effect of the element.

Jan 1, 1926

By Ali Ekrem Aritan

In this study, the vibration exposure of excavator operators working regularly in 25 different natural-stone quarries was measured. In addition, the relationship between vibration exposure and rock properties was investigated. Gloved and ungloved vibration measurements were performed and revealed that antivibration gloves reduce excavator operators’ vibration exposure by 7.10 to 25.95 percent. Samples from each quarry were characterized with rock mechanics tests. The correlations between the hand-arm vibration measurements and the natural stone’s physical-mechanical properties, such as uniaxial compressive strength, Shore hardness, Knoop hardness, apparent density and total porosity were determined to be more than 70 percent. One finding of the study was that the health risk in excavators cannot be reduced sufficiently by the sole use of antivibration gloves. Furthermore, the excavation of any rock with a Knoop hardness above 121 is associated with an 81 percent risk of hand-arm vibration. To increase awareness of the danger of vibration exposure for natural-stone miners, training programs should be provided, and technical and operational changes should be implemented.

LESLIE BRADFORD GOLDEN JUBILEE ORATION "Not only a metallurgist but a scientist of the highest order" Leslie Bradford and the Australian Metallurgical Industry

Jan 1, 1987

By Mario González Ramírez

The safe transport of sour gas requires steels with enhanced hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) resistance. Centerline segregation bands of high hardness microconstituents and non-metallic inclusions are the heterogeneities usually linked to HIC failures in pipeline steels. Full-scale production heats of a new low Mn, Nb microalloyed steel were produced by different steel mills aiming at the application in sour gas environments. The new alloy design provides both effective strengthening and control of sulphide inclusions. Coil microstructure consisted of fine grained ferrite with a small volume fraction of uniformly dispersed eutectoid aggregates. Most importantly the microstructure was uniform in both the longitudinal and transverse directions and exhibited exceptional consistency. Samples from this steel were submitted to HIC testing according to NACE standards TM0284-2003 without any sign of cracking. The results, so far, confirm that this new alloy design provides the unique opportunity to economically produce a high strength pipe steel grade with improved sour service resistance for the linepipe industry.

Aug 8, 2018

By Harry D. Jumper

This paper describing the methods of ruining a sand, gravel, and bowlder deposit 20 miles east of Los Angeles, and the classification and preparation of these materials for market, is one of a series being prepared for and published by the United States Bureau of Mines on methods and cost of mining sand and gravel. These papers are designed to disseminate technical information regarding, the methods used. The cost tabulations represent operating expenditures only and not total costs. It is recognized that publication of total costs might in many instances cause embarrassment to individual operators as well as to the industry as a whole. On the other hand, operating costs are essential to the technical discussion anti study of the methods employed. The attention of the reader is specifically called to this differentiation in order that no misunderstanding of the scope of the cost tabulations stall ensue. The description contained herein is typical of this industry in Southern California. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author acknowledges tine assistance of L. L. Rogers, vice-president and manager of production and distribution for the Consolidated Rock Products Co., in the preparation of this paper.

Jan 1, 1933

By M. C. Harris

"In the flotation process the contact angle is an important indicator of the hydrophobicity of a mineral particle. There is considerable literature showing that the contact angle increases when the chain length of the alkyl group associated with the collector molecule used to render the valuable mineral particle hydrophobic increases. The extent to which an alkyl group interacts with surrounding water molecules is quantified thermodynamically by the excess Gibbs energy. In the present paper it is shown that there exists generally a strong linear relationship between the excess Gibbs energy of the alkyl group associated with the collector and the contact angle. The structure-activity of such alkyl groups is in turn related to the total surface area, molecular volume, the molar volume, molecular weight of the functional groups in the molecule and interaction energies. It is proposed that the demonstrated relationship is indicative of the role which the alkyl group component of the collector, which is attached to the mineral particle, plays in increasing the extent to which water molecules at the surface of the mineral are rejected from the surface thus increasing the contact angle. The relationship between excess Gibbs energy and surface tension is further explored with a view to relating the observations quantitatively to the parameters in the Young equation.INTRODUCTIONThe issue of wettability of materials is of great importance to many industrial applications. Wettability studies usually involve the measurement of contact angles which indicate the degree of wetting when a solid and liquid interact. As is well known the contact angle (O) is the angle between planes tangent to the surfaces of the solid and the liquid at the wetting perimeter which is the zone where the air, water and solid phase merge. When the air bubble attaches to the solid surface there is an increase in the air/solid interface area and a decrease in the solid/water interface area. For attachment to occur the cosine of the contact angle should be less than 1 and this will be promoted if the interfacial surface tension between the air and the solid (? SV) is low. Classically the relationship between these parameters has been expressed through the Young equation (1) for a perfectly flat surface:"

Jan 1, 2018

By Mike Harrington, Tung Vu

The Regional Connector Transit Project is a 1.9-mile-long underground light rail system that will connect LA Metro’s A (Blue), E (Expo), and L (Gold) Lines in downtown Los Angeles. This $1.75-billion design-build project is scheduled for revenue service in Spring 2023. The project consists of 21-foot diameter twin-bored tunnels, a 300-footlong crossover SEM cavern, three new underground stations (at 1st Street/Central Avenue, 2nd Street/ Broadway Avenue, and 2nd/Hope Streets), and cut-and-cover tunnels along South Flower, Alameda, and 1st Streets. This paper, which is the continuation of our previous paper presented in RETC 2019—LA Metro Regional Connector Transit Project: Successful Halfway-Through Completion, will provide insight regarding the construction of major components, and the system integration and testing work undertaken for this complex transit project.

Jun 13, 2023

By S Natsui, Y Goto, S Kawanishi, J Takahashi, H Nogami

The demand for copper increases yearly, and further improvements in copper smelting efficiency using flash furnaces are required. This study was conducted to understand and promote the interfacial reaction associated with the collision of silica flux and iron oxide particles, ie the formation reaction of fayalite slag, in the reaction shaft of the flash furnace. High-temperature microscopy was used to observe the reaction behaviour of a 2 mm granular SiO2 reagent in contact with micrometreorder- sized FeO reagents in situ. When the amount of FeO was lower than the stoichiometric amount with SiO2, the molten slag formed at the interface between FeO and SiO2 diffused into the SiO2 particle before dissolving the remaining FeO particles. It did not contribute to the subsequent reaction, and despite having the lowest amount of FeO among the samples in this study, many unreacted FeO particles remained on the surface of the samples after testing. On the other hand, under conditions with high FeO content and close to the eutectic composition of the FeO-SiO2 system, a liquid phase formed from low temperatures, gradually increasing in volume and eventually completely dissolving the 2 mm SiO2 grain. These results indicate that the early-stage slag is essential in increasing the interfacial area between FeO and SiO2 and facilitating the supply of FeO to SiO2. In other words, the FeO/SiO2 determines the amount of liquid phase and significantly influences the subsequent interfacial reaction rate between FeO and SiO2. Therefore, the local FeO/SiO2 of the particles falling down the reaction shaft should also be optimised to ensure early slag formation. Meanwhile, the time required for 2 mm SiO2 to complete the reaction for the temperature history employed in this study was significantly longer than the particle residence time in the reaction shaft. Further detailed investigation of the effects of silica flux particle size, composition, and reaction temperature on the reaction time will help find the conditions under which the reaction of silica flux can be completed in the reaction shaft. These kinetic approaches could contribute to future innovations in the copper smelting process using flash furnaces.

Jun 19, 2024

By S Love, M Anderson, M Boland

"The high rate of failure of new mine developments to meet feasibility study expectations has been the subject of many fine technical papers. Yet failure rates remain stubbornly high.Similarly, the common occurrence of disastrous acquisitions resulting from failed due diligence on projects is well known. Yet such mistakes continue to be made.The authors argue that project and due diligence failure are caused at least partly by cognitive biases. These biases pervade decision-making throughout project evaluations.A wider understanding of these biases (and their effects) is necessary. Only then can mitigating actions be taken.The opportunity for this wider understanding exists. A number of best-selling books have been published on the topic in recent years. With wider understanding of key concepts and terms, cognitive biases can be recognised and discussed. They can also be challenged and mitigated.The authors believe that these concepts should be entry-level, required knowledge for anyone evaluating, developing, reviewing or financing mining projects.Perhaps the most prevalent biases in project evaluation failure are the ‘over-optimism’ biases. In particular, the planning fallacy and confirmation bias.The anchoring effect is also pervasive. This bias propagates unrealistic assumptions from scoping and prefeasibility studies through to so-called definitive feasibility studies. Unrecognised anchoring biases also undermine the validity of many ‘independent’ due diligence reviews. They are also prevalent in corporate acquisitions.The availability heuristic refers to a mental shortcut that can lead to a number of biases. One of these is the narrative fallacy. The mind constructs coherent narratives and opinions, regardless of the amount and quality of the information that support them. Narrative fallacy commonly occurs in the evaluation of social and political risk. Another is disaster neglect, which is especially common in the failure to assess risks associated with tailings management.This paper outlines the relevance of these biases to mine project evaluations. It also provides examples where the authors have observed their effects.CITATION:Love, S, Boland, M and Anderson, M, 2016. Influence of cognitive biases on project evaluation, in Proceedings Project Evaluation 2016, pp 226–235 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 8, 2016

By Z. Q. He

This paper introduces the structure and working principle of SLon magnetic separator that has excellent performance in iron removal, and summarizes a part of the examples of applications, which applies this machine to remove iron from non-metallic ores, and shows widespread prospect of application of this machine in the purification of non-metallic ores.

Jan 1, 2014

By Henk van Muijen, Jan Willem de Wit

1.1 Profile IHC Holland Merwede IHC Holland Merwede is world market leader in the construction of specialist dredging equipment and large-size custom-built offshore vessels. The clients of IHC Holland Merwede include major dredging companies, oil and gas exploration groups, offshore contractors and government authorities. IHC Holland Merwede is focused on the continuous development and innovation of technology to ensure maximum performance and efficiency of its designs and constructions supplied to the dredging and offshore industries. IHC Holland Merwede has a staff of approximately 2,000 at its locations in Hardinxveld- Giessendam, Kinderdijk, Krimpen aan den IJssel, Sliedrecht, Delfgauw, Goes, Hendrik Ido Ambacht and Heusden. Besides worldwide representations, IHC Holland Merwede has branches in China, Houston (USA), India, the Middle East and Singapore. 1.2 Mission IHC Holland Merwede’s mission is to optimize value by anticipating and satisfying its client’s requirements, with efficient advanced technology solutions. The group’s aim is to be consistently at the forefront of technology development, in the business sectors in which it operates.

IN speaking, on the subject, "Engineer-Citizens," at the Lehigh Valley Mineral Industries Conference dinner, on April 26, at Easton, Pa., George Otis Smith, Director of the United States Geological Survey and President of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, said in part: "It would be carrying coke to Connellsville to bring to the Lehigh Valley the idea that mineral resources are the foundation of national prosperity. Unfortu-nately, however, this obvious, fact is not everywhere recognized. Too many of our economists, journalists, statesmen and other dopesters of present business con-ditions stress the human factor so strongly that they overlook the material with which men work out their destiny. To them the financial psychology of Wall Street and the political logic of Capitol Hill and the business commonplaces of Main Street all loom far larger than the geology of the Lehigh Valley or the engineering triumphs of Bethlehem, or, the creative thinking at Lehigh and Lafayette. "The present situation in the industrial and .business world is a complex of interacting causes and reacting effects not easily itemized and entered on our trial balance sheet. But, chief among the liabilities of today is the excess of production capacity in most branches of industry. The farmer has no. monopoly in his desire for relief. Whether your professional connections are with steel or cement, coal or oil, copper, or zinc, you; know too well that for, the moment America is over-engined, and you keenly realize the ever-present hazard of industry speeding up regardless of the curves or grades just around the corner.

Jan 5, 1928

By MARSHALL D. DRAPER

THERE are said to be about 150 operating companies in Kotchiu, most of these being small, corresponding in degree to lessees in western mines in the United States. Of the total number there are probably forty large companies having their own smelting plants equipped with one or two furnaces, slag crushing plant and other accessory equipment. A few plants, not more than ten, do custom smelting. There are in all about fifty smelting plants in Kotchiu. With little variation, the equipment and methods are the same. The plant usually consists of two furnaces, one being in operation while the other is being relined 01- re- paired. An adjoining house contains one or more of the large buffalo-drawn Chilean mills for crushing slag. A few houses for the working coolies, with more pretentious ones for the owners, complete the establishment, the whole being surrounded by a compound wall 8 ft. high.

Jan 1, 1931

The nature of adsorbed calcium carboxylates (oleate and stearate) has been investigated by in-situ/ex-situ Fourier transform infrared internal reflection spectroscopy (FTIR/IRS). Previous spectroscopic studies in alkaline solution have shown that adsorbed carboxylate is characterized by a C-O stretching vibration at about 1550 em?1 for less than monolayer coverage. Similar results were found in this study. More specifically, in this study such a singlet at 1550 cm-1 was found for LB monolayers of calcium distearate transferred as a condensed layer at a high film pressure to the surfaces of fluorite and germanium. Normally the spectrum of bulk calcium distearate reveals a doublet at 1575 and 1540 cm-1, characteristic of a three dimensional 7-fold coordination for calcium carboxylate complexes. This doublet is generally found for carboxylate multilayers formed by spontaneous adsorption at the surface of calcium minerals. In this regard, the spectral evidence suggests that whenever the calcium dicarboxylate is constrained at a surface as a condensed layer, the 7-fold coordination can not be satisfied and the surface carboxylate is forced into a two dimensional symmetrical coordination with a singlet at 1550 cm-1. On the other hand, if the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) monolayer calcium distearate film is transferred at a low film pressure the doublet is observed. This analysis is further confirmed by the spectral results for LB transferred calcium distearate monolayers at a hydrophobic silicon surface. Even though these are condensed monolayers formed at high film pressure, the carboxylate group, oriented away from the surface, is no longer constrained by the surface force field, and thus exhibits the characteristic doublet of the bulk calcium distearate salt.

Jan 1, 1998

By Jose F. Hevia

This study is part of a broader project on the hydrothermal conversion of copper concentrates to metallic copper by solid state reactions in which the copper remains localized in the solid phases. The kinetics of the solid/solid hydrothermal hydrogen reduction of tenorite (CuO) and cuprite (Cu,O) to metallic copper are presented. After an induction period, the process is governed initially by a nucleation step followed by rapid solid state reduction. Nucleation promoter agents decrease the induction period and control the particle morphology. Separate nucleation and reduction rate processes have been identified. Following nucleation, reduction follows a shrinking core process.

Jan 1, 1994

Mt. Whaleback is in the Pilbara region of Western Australia approximately 1200 kilometers north of Perth, the State capital. In this deposit the Mt. Newman Joint Venturers are mining ore reserves totalling 1500 million tonnes of high grade hematite averaging 64.0% Fe. In addition to Mt. Whaleback, 38 ore bodies have so far been identified outside Mt. Whaleback on the Company's remaining 75,000 hectares of lease area. These ore bodies contain major tonnages of iron ore. Extraction at present is planned at a rate of 37 million tonnes per annum at an ore-to-waste ratio of approximately 1 to 1.4. The ore is railed north to Port Hedland on the Indian Ocean where the different products are screened, crushed and blended prior to shipping. The purpose of this paper is to acquaint the reader with the facilities installed in the Mt. Newman operation to form a background to the sampling techniques employed, describe the precisions which were achieved in experiments conducted February through June, 1976 and also to assess the degree of blending which takes place during the various processes and to put a quantitative measure to the degree of blending. There have been many excellent papers written on the more theoretical aspects

Jan 1, 1976