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By S. Pastor, S. Hahn

"As the concept of autonomous haulage systems (AHS) moves from proto-types to production-ready applications, the operating performance of the haul road will become ‘mission critical’ to the overall success of autonomy in mining. Deterioration in road performance will require remediation, human intervention and significant, albeit temporary, changes to operating procedures, to accommodate road maintenance. With autonomous trucks comes the opportunity to reduce road formation and operating width, and therefore generating potentially significantly reductions in stripping ratios and improvements to mine economics, but only if the design of the road, and it’s associated deterioration rate, is predictable and manageable, based both on the materials used to construct the road and the maintenance interventions to be carried out on the road. This paper presents the assessment of a digital photogrammetric approach to the characterization of a mine haul road surfacing, or wearing course material. Design and maintenance parameters for these roads are currently determined from physical particle size distribution (PSD) assessments of ‘in-road’ material. However, this approach does not accommodate the need, nor leverage the benefits from, AHS. The digital imaging approach is assessed in this paper, using two standard digital analysis software tools, together with in-service mine haul road wearing course samples and images which are assessed to determine the applicability and reliability of the approach to deliver a real-time assessment of haul road surfacing conditions and thus to identify the road maintenance interventions required to address deterioration. INTRODUCTION Enhancements in mine road design, construction and management for the past 20 or more years has largely been focused on short-term tactical needs. These improvements have not been matched by advances in the fundamental technologies that underpin mine road design and management, and although the quality of mine roads have probably increased, many of fundamental and longer-term issues have yet to be addressed. With AHS’s evolving from prototype to production applications, any decision to implement these systems in a mine requires a thorough evaluation of impacts, not only operational improvements, but the inter-connectivity of this autonomy technology to other organizational processes. In developing an understanding, the full interactions that may affect autonomous truck behaviour due to changes in various sub-systems or external environments, haul road conditions and operating performance is a key consideration. This is as true in autonomous as well as in conventional mine truck-based hauling systems where the mine haul road network is a critical and vital component of the production process."

Jan 1, 2015

By S. Pastor, S. Hahn

"As the concept of autonomous haulage systems (AHS) moves from prototypes to production-ready applications, the operating performance of the haul road will become critical to the overall success of autonomy in mining. Deterioration in road performance will require remediation, human intervention and significant, albeit temporary, changes to operating procedures, to accommodate road maintenance. With autonomous trucks comes the opportunity to reduce road formation and operating width. This will, therefore, generate potentially significant reductions in stripping ratios and improvements to mine economics, but only if the design of the road, and its associated deterioration rate, is predictable and manageable, based on the materials used to construct the road and the maintenance interventions to be carried out on the road.This article presents the assessment of a digital photogrammetric approach to the characterization of a mine haul road surfacing, or wearing course material. Design and maintenance parameters for these roads are currently determined partly from physical particle size distribution (PSD) assessments of ‘in-road’ material. However, this approach does not accommodate the need, nor leverage the benefits from, AHS. The digital imaging approach is assessed in this article, using two standard digital analysis software tools, together with in-service mine haul road wearing course samples and images that are analyzed to determine the applicability and reliability of the approach to deliver a real-time assessment of haul road surfacing conditions and thus to identify the road maintenance interventions required to address deterioration.Enhancements in mine road design, construction and management for the past 20 or more years has largely been focused on short-term tactical needs. These improvements have not been matched by advances in the fundamental technologies that underpin mine road design and management and, although the quality of mine roads have probably"

Jan 1, 2015

By S G. Li

Mine intelligent ventilation is an important guarantee to realise intelligent mining. It is the integration of the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, internet, cloud computing with ventilation technology, forming a complete ventilation system with intelligent perception, intelligent decisionmaking, intelligent emergency response and airflow control. In order to fully grasp the progress and trends of mine intelligent ventilation research in western China. The paper based on literature analysis and field application research, comprehensively expounds the main research and practical results of mine intelligent ventilation in western China, mainly analyses the development status of key technologies such as accurate and rapid determination of mine ventilation parameters, intelligent analysis and decision-making of ventilation and intelligent regulation of ventilation equipment, and introduces the field test or application of mine intelligent ventilation technology in western China. It lays the foundation reference for related research and improving the intelligent level of mine ventilation.

Oct 12, 2022

By E Amini, N Beaton

Application of ore pre-treatment technologies such as Grade Engineering and in-pit ore treatment require comprehensive analysis to show proven value is being generated by switching away from the current practices. Considering most mining operations last several decades; the pre-treatment technologies must be investigated over life of mine (LOM) to truly show value was generated or lost. Therefore, a value chain flowsheet model has been usually developed to run those analysis/simulations over LOM using a set of defined ore characteristics and the operating equipment capacities. The Integrated Extraction Simulator (IES) has been used for this type of LOM simulations as it has the necessary flexibility to accommodate the whole mining value chain flowsheet in one platform and provide essential computation power to run mass simulations for the given scenarios using the resource block model. This allows to forecast the value chain response over the LOM for all given scenarios in a feasible amount of time. The traditionally developed flowsheets for the analysis/simulations are usually limited to the mineral processing plant and were developed based on a single audit conducted on the plant in a very short time, e.g. several hours. The process plant is being operated with a certain ore at a certain condition during the short audits which would not reveal the true capacity of the operation equipment when ore characteristics changes. Therefore, it would be impossible to define the true capacity of the equipment and identify the constraints along the value chain. In this study, a methodology was developed to identify the constraints along the value chain and implement those in the IES flowsheet using process information. Also, the equipment models were fine-tuned to represent the true capacity of the equipment in the flowsheet using the same data set. The methodology was tested over five process plant in two operations and showed the performance forecast was significantly improved over the traditional methods being used so far. Then those high-fidelity flowsheets were used to evaluate the ore pre-treatment technologies proposed by the relevant resource company experts.

Nov 10, 2020

By David A. Monaghan, Kenneth R. Maser, Adi R. Gurdar, D. Randolph Berry

6. Development of Mine Sealant Material Systems 6. 1 Introduction The preliminary evaluation of material systems described in Section 3 led to the selection of the following four promising systems for further development: System A: Aggregate, Fly Ash System System B: Aggregate, Fly Ash, Urethane Foam System System C: Aggregate, Bulkhead, Light Expansive Concrete System D: Aggregate, Self-Supporting Thick Slurry Preliminary laboratory tests indicated that the building of effective bulkheads from one borehole would be extremely difficult. Two extra boreholes would be required adding to the overall cost of the system and making the system less attractive. Tests with light expansive concrete showed that bulkheads would be required, the material would not support itself. As a result, further development of this system was terminated. Foam concrete was selected as the most suitable material to be developed into a self-supporting, rapid-setting slurry. A laboratory investigation of its use for mine sealing was conducted during this program; the results are summarized in Section 6. 5 and details of the laboratory program are presented in Appendix B.

Jan 1, 1973

By D. Shink

A small scale continuous flotation cell was designed and constructed at Noranda Technology Centre to develop a mobile testing flotation circuit located next to the production circuit. This mobile small scale flotation pilot plant can easily and economically be set up at any circuit in a mill and used to evaluate and predict plant performance against a given flotation condition. The main feature of the cell, beside the provisions of automatic pulp level and feed rate control, is to provide a reduced surface to volume ratio approaching to that of an industrial machine. This paper describes the basic design and the results of various testwork carried out to date including aeration, conditioning, reagents, recirculation, flotation gas, etc. are presented in comparison with the plant production results.

Jan 1, 1992

By W Russell

This is an account of Cominco's explosives development work spanning 20 years from the introduction of ANFO into underground operations through to the present day where the use of blasting agents and sophisticated detonation systems create improved safety and blasting efficiency.

Jan 1, 1982

By B. F. Giyani, A. Salama

Tanzania is a country with a variety of mineral deposits, including metallic minerals, gemstones, mineral fuels, industrial minerals, and critical minerals. This study provides an overview of mining legal framework, mineral occurrence and production, challenges in the mining sector, and government initiatives. The aim is to demonstrate the development of the mining sector in Tanzania and explore the potential for further mining investment in the country. The mineral production data showed generally increasing trends over the years, for example, gold production increased from 42 tonnes in 2018/2019 to around 50 tonnes in 2023/2024. Despite the growth, the mining sector encounters several challenges, including a lack of detailed geological information on mineral deposits, inadequate infrastructures in some remote mining sites, the existence of informal artisanal miners, and mineral smuggling. The Tanzanian government has introduced several initiatives to address these challenges, including carrying out the highresolution airborne geophysical survey to increase geological information in some areas, the formalisation of artisanal and small-scale mining, establishing mineral markets to combat mineral smuggling, and encouraging mineral value addition within the country.

Oct 24, 2025

By George W. Hezzelwood

THE Balatoc mine, one of the Haussermann group,† is on the Island of Luzon, the largest of the Philippine group, about 260 km north of Manila, and 12 km from the city of Baguio The Baguio district is the most important gold-mining area of the Philippines, with 14 producing mines in 1939, milling 2,358,804 tons of ore, yielding [P]40,881,048, approximately 55 per cent of the total Philippine production of [P]74,131,216 PRODUCTION HISTORY The Balatoc mine began production In January 1929 with a 150-ton cyanide mill Increases in mill capacity have taken place as follows March, 1932, to 330 tons June, 1933, to 470 tons December, 1933, to ;15 tons July, 1934, to 700 tons December, 1934, to loon tons May, 193, to 1200 tons October, 1938, to 1300 tolls April, 1939, to 2000 tons January, 1941, to 2T50 tons Production during the period of expansion has steadily increased in total value in spite of the fact that grade of ore milled has dropped-from $31 06 in 1929 to $5 78 in1940 Annual reports give production as shown in Table I, the average value, being based on gold at the old price of $20 67 per ounce [ ] GEOLOGY The ore occurs in quartz-calcite veins that vary in width from narrow stringers to mineralized zones 40 to 30 ft wide Wall rocks consist largely of diorites, with some andesite, and a fragmental breccia called locally the "Balatoc plug " Texture of the ore varies widely in the different vents-from a soft, highly altered, gouge material filled with quartz fragments through a soft, unaltered quartz-calcite to a hard, massive quartz ore Three major vein systems have been extensively developed, and smaller amounts of work have been done on several others These veins strike east-west to N 60°, clipping south from 50° to 90°, and are essentially tension breaks between a series of faults or shears striking N 30°E to N 30°E and clipping southeast from 50° to 90° The shear veins and tension veins probably formed more or less simultaneously,

Jan 1, 1942

By George W. Hezzelwood

THE Balatoc mine, one of the Haussermann group,[t] is on the Island of Luzon, the largest of the Philippine group, about 260 km. north of Manila, and 12 km. from the city of Baguio. The Baguio district is the most important gold-mining area of the Philippines, with 14 producing mines in 1939, milling 2,3;8,894 tons of ore, yielding [P]40,881,048, approximately 55 per cent of the total Philippine production of [P]74,131,216. PRODUCTION HISTORY The Balatoc mine began production in January 1929 with a 150-ton cyanide mill. Increases in mill capacity have taken place as follows: March, 1932, to 350 tons June, 1933, to 470 tons December, 1933, to 515 tons July, 1934, to 700 tons December, 1934, to 1000 tons May, 1935, to 1200 tons October, 1938, to 1300 tons April, 1939, to 2000 tons January, 1941, to 2150 tons Production during the period of expansion has steadily increased in total value in spite of the fact that grade of ore milled has dropped-from $31.06 in 1929 to $5.78 in 1940. Annual reports give production as shown in Table 1, the average values being based on gold at the old price of $20.67 per ounce. [ ] GEOLOGY The ore occurs in quartz-calcite veins that vary in width from narrow stringers to mineralized zones 40 to 50 ft. wide. Wall rocks consist largely of diorites, with some andesite, and a fragmental breccia called locally the "Balatoc plug." Texture of the ore varies widely in the different veins-from a soft, highly altered, gouge material filled with quartz fragments through a soft, unaltered quartz-calcite to a hard, massive quartz ore. Three major vein systems have been extensively developed, and smaller amounts of work have been done on several others. These veins strike east-west to N. 60°, dipping south from 50° to 90°, and are essentially tension breaks between a series of faults or shears striking N. 30°E. to N. 50°E. and dipping southeast from 50°to 90°. The shear veins and tension veins probably formed more or less simultaneously,

Jan 1, 1942

By Jan Butra

In copper ore mines located in the Pre-Sudeten Monocline the deposit mining using room and pillar systems has been carried out for more than forty years. When implementing mining systems in deep copper ore mines it appeared to be necessary to adapt them to variable geological conditions and natural hazards. In the initial period of exploitation there were mainly caving and rockburst hazards. The adaptation of room and pillar system was connected with a state of knowledge in the scope of identifying, forecasting and controlling rock mass hazards. The new solutions allowed the safe and efficient exploitation of a blanket deposit of variable thickness from about 2 to 15m, seated on progressively increasing depth. They included exploitation in constrained conditions, such as in protective pillars. In the exploitation period, technical and organisational activities aimed at rockburst hazard control were introduced including active methods for controlling rockburst hazard and procedures for conducting mining works in the rockburst hazard conditions. When mining at a depth exceeding 1,200 m, the exploitation method and technique are additionally affected by thermal hazard and by gas and rock breakout hazard. New solutions of the room and pillar system and a longwall system with mechanical mining have been developed for exploitation in the associated hazard conditions. The require application of many innovative solutions in the scope of mining process and ore haulage mechanisation, excavation support and forecasting and control of existing hazards. The main purpose of these solutions is to conduct the safe and economically effective exploitation of the deposit.

Aug 1, 2013

By D Hart

In 1944 some ten or so pieces of legislation impacted on the mining industry. Today in excess of 80 in one way or another apply to the Northern Territory miner. This paper will look at the nature of the legislation that has been introduced and the reasons for its introduction. During the Second World War the mining of resources such as iron, tin etc for the war effort set the platform for the subsequent expansion of the industry in the post-war years. Thereafter, the change in attitudes over the years that have resulted from a more conscious public and more responsible governments and developers associated with the recognition of the legal rights of others and the threat of litigation, will be traced. With a major review of the Northern Territory Mining Act currently in progress, this paper will view ANZMEC's foreshadowed preference for a National Code and the NT's intent of drawing some commonalities with other states of Australia to achieve this aim. Finally, the questions of over-regulation and whether existing legislation is complete will be addressed. From this it is foreshadowed how legislation may develop during the lead into the 21st century.

Jan 1, 1994

By Rainer Kahrger, Guenter Ewald

The topic of this paper is to demonstrate the development of mobile crushing installations from throughput capacities of 200 tons per hour, to mobile and semi-mobile large- scale crushing installations with throughput capacities of 3,500 up to 10,000 tons per hour. Basis are approximately 140 mobile and semi-mobile crushing installations which have been built since 1956 or were on order in 1987. [FIGURE 1. Total Number of Mobile or Semi-mobile Crushing Plants] Sixteen of these approximate 140 mobile and semi-mobile crushing installations have a throughput higher than 3,500 metric tons per hour. Mobile crushers were developed more than 25 years ago in Europe for the quarry industry, which had special requirements - fairly low capacity, mostly softer and less abrasive material (limestone) and full mobility. So the majority of the units up to about 1980 were fully mobile, having a fairly small capacity and utilizing mainly hammermills, double roll and impact crushers. It was only when the mining industry and large quarries picked up the concept in the early 1980's that a drastic increase in capacity took place. Even though the first mobile crusher in a true mining application went into service in 1971, it took another 10 years before it proceeded in a larger scale. This trend was obviously supported by the drastic fuel price and energy cost increase in the mid 70's. Since the cost of conveying material is substantially cheaper than trucking it, the increase in energy cost, combined with increasing haulage distances provided a strong incentive. Figure 1 shows clearly the throughput distribution of all crushing installations and it also shows the sharp increase in the throughput capacities within the last few years.

Jan 1, 1989

By S. Ellor

The development of models of INCO's Copper Cliff operations using a computer spreadsheet program is discussed. Empirically developed metallurgical relationships were utilised. The paper concentrates on models of the pyrometallurgical processes but discusses applications such as optimisation of operating parameters, evaluation of feed changes and custom or recycle materials processing. The models were initially developed using a spreadsheet program on a personal computer. The requirements of plant engineers and process operators for significant increases in operating speed led to the transformation of some of the modules. The paper is presented in two parts: 1. The development of the modules using a spreadsheet. 2. The transformation of a module into a high speed tool for process control. The application of the technique to other pyrometallurgical processes is discussed.

Jan 1, 1992

By D. C. Panigrahi

Extensive field studies have been carried out to investigate the pillar fire problems in one coal mine in India. A Thermal IR gun and a Thermovision camera have been employed for thermal scanning to assess the state of heating in selected pillars. Special sampling set-ups have been designed to collect gas samples from the holes drilled into the selected pillars and the multigas detector is used to analyse the composition of samples in situ. In order to predict the spontaneous heating in coal pillars, different gas ratios have been calculated and it has been observed that some of the established gas ratios, viz. Graham?s ratio, Young?s ratio etc. have resulted in negative values in samples containing high amounts of methane. The modified gas ratios have been proposed which will be useful for predicting the pillar fires. These ratios may also be used for assessing the condition of fires in sealed-off areas.

Jan 1, 2004

By G. Donald Emigh

WESTERN phosphate resources which lie in Ida- ho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, have seen great expansion of activity in recent years. Growth has been two-pronged: expansion in fertilizer use, and since 1949, into the elemental phosphorous industry. Elemental phosphorous, produced in the electric furnace, goes largely into chemical making. Phosphate ore was first recognized in the West about 1889. Production started in 1906, and for many years consisted of underground operations by small companies operating sporadically. In 1920 Anaconda Copper Mining Co. opened the underground Conda mine near Soda Springs in southeastern Idaho, and has maintained and increased its operations since then. About 1930 Montana Phosphate Products Co. began underground mining in Montana and has remained a steady producer. In 1945 San Francisco Chemical Co., one of the oldest companies in the western field, initiated strip mining at the Waterloo mine near Montpelier, Idaho, and later at Leefe mine near Sage Junction, Wyo. In1946 J. R. Simplot Co. began open pit mining at Gay mine near Fort Hall, Idaho. In 1950 Victor Chemical Works began underground development work in the area of Maiden Rock, south of Butte, Mont.: and has since mined there. Monsanto Chemical Co. began open pit mining near Soda Springs, Idaho, in 1951.

Jan 11, 1954

By D. Bessinger

The present paper provides a brief overview of the thermodynamics of titania rich slags, an outline of the Multi-Phase Equilibrium (MPE) package and its application to ilmenite smelting. Through assessment of published experimental data on various systems containing TiOx, it was found that despite considerable scatter in measured phase equilibria data for the binary Ti2O3-TiO2system,the behaviour of binary and higher order titania rich slags and oxide solid solutions phases could be represented by solution models in the MPE package. Results from the applications of the MPE model on the stability of solid phases and slag-refractory interactions will be presented and discussed. Parallels will be drawn between the predictions by the model and observations made during pilot plant tests. Key words: Thermodynamics, titania slags, ilmenite smelting, phase equilibria, refractory.

Jan 1, 2003

By Heather N. Dougherty

In the absence of values for each influencing parameter and a known relationship of input-output space, novel approaches should be implemented as proxy solutions to mathematically complicated problems. Proxy solutions can be in the form of linear or non-linear multiple regression equations. Predicting the performance of gob gas ventholes is one of these mathematically complicated problems as it is difficult to know the exact relationships between various parameters influencing gob gas venthole (GGV) performance from active and sealed (completed) longwall panels. In this paper, a discussion of the NIOSH-developed software suite for methane control and prediction (MCP) based on an artificial neural network (ANN) is presented. The application of the ANN-based software suite to develop algebraic relationships for gob gas venthole performance prediction in sealed and active longwall panels is sought. Output information obtained from the NIOSH-MCP software as a response to various input parameters were used to create an input-output database for total flow and methane percentage from GGVs operating in active mines during completed and sealed panel situations. Due to the multi-variable nature of the software, outputs generated using the software for various inputs were used to develop analytical equations first using linear and then second using non-linear multivariable regression techniques. The advantage of this method is its ability to better understand the significant parameters of the relationships between the inputs and outputs for gob gas venthole production in active and sealed panels and to be able to predict their performances using relatively simple analytical functions.

Jan 1, 2010

Development of New Comminution Testing Methodologies for Geometallurgical Mapping of Ore Hardness and Throughput The emerging discipline of 'geometallurgy' is becoming increasingly recognised as a discrete and high-value activity that reflects an ongoing trend towards more effective mine site integration and optimisation. Constrained sampling that reflects and defines inherent ore body variability is a key geometallurgical requirement. This requires use of larger numbers of low-cost physical testing which can be applied to small sample volumes suitable for defining natural variability. The AMIRA P843 'GeMIII' project (Geometallurgical Mapping and Mine Modelling) is a major industry-supported research initiative designed to develop new tools, methods and protocols to support geometallurgical integration. As part of this integrated research a new more rapid low-cost comminution test (GeM Comminution index) has been developed which can be employed as a front line tool for geometallurgical mapping purposes and predictive throughput modelling. The test has been designed to be inserted into routine assay sample preparation and is based on constrained jaw crushing protocols linked to analysis of resultant size distributions. Extensive validation and modelling has shown the GeM Comminution Index (Ci) is correlated with the Drop Weight index A*b and Bond Mill Work Index (BMWi). Large scale trials have been conducted within a commercial assay laboratory to demonstrate and optimise incorporation of the Ci test into routine sample preparation protocols. While Ci based estimates of A*b and BMWi are not as precise compared to larger volume more expensive test-work, the ability to undertake large numbers of tests typically in a systematic down-hole manner, provides a high level of data support through adjacency. A Ci based approach is highly suitable for variability mapping, domaining and selecting large composite samples for more precise testing. Within the context of the AMIRA P843 project this forms part of an integrated work flow designed to support geometallurgical integration. The development of a comminution test linked to routine assay sample preparation represents significant value adding to a process that in most cases is already going to be carried out. This paper introduces the Ci test concept and application to geometallurgical testing for throughput modelling

Sep 13, 2010

By Yasuo Ojima

A new copper continuous converting process was investigated to evaluate the possibility of its application in the commercial operation. The tests were performed both in the laboratory and in pilot plant scale. Bath smelting process with the use of the top submerged lance technology was applied in these tests. Furnace shape was modified to a lengthwise eylindrical one with a settling area. The furnace monitor was put in the settling area to check the furnace from inside, FeOx-Si02, FeOx-CaO and FeOx-CaO-Si02 based slag systems were used to check their efficiency, The optimum slag chemistry to have good metallurgical results was discussed and FeOx-CaO system with some Si02 content turned out to be preferable although it has not been practically used, In this pilot plant test feeding rate of I tIH of solid grain matte was charged consecutively for two weeks and continuous converting could be done successively. This process is expected to overcome the problems of existing processes and be easily applied in existing plants.

Jan 1, 2003