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By Willy Ank de Morais

Este trabalho objetiva a descrição dos diferentes desempenhos sob corrosão de uma junta soldada de uma tubulação de aço carbono obtida pelos consumíveis ER 70S-3 e ER 80S-Ni2, empregada em plataformas offshore. Amostras de tubos e chapas de aço carbono foram soldadas, através do processo TIG, empregando tais consumíveis, e submetidas a ensaio de corrosão acelerada por perda de massa em uma cuba com fluxo constante de água destilada e ácido sulfúrico a 98%. Posteriormente, as amostras foram caracterizadas de modo a quantificar as possíveis alterações nas características mecânicas, estruturais e superficiais. O resultado final foi que a corrosão ocasionada na junta com o consumível ER 80S-Ni2 apresentou características diferenciadas e mais deletérias ao desempenho estrutural do material, apesar de ser o consumível inicialmente recomendado para a aplicação.

Oct 30, 2017

By K. Purazrang, P. Musavi Garavi, P. Sh. Naseri, P. Abachi

The fracture behavior of high strength Al7050 alloy was investigated at room and elevated temperatures using small size, V-notched tear (called Kahn specimen) and compact tension, CT, specimens, respectively.To study the elastic-plastic behavior of the alloy, the tensile test was also performed on the sub-sized cylindrical tension test specimen. The microstructure of the alloy was examined using optical- and scanning electron- microscopy. The rupture mechanisms and crack path were also studied by examination of specimens' fracture surfaces using SEM. The microstructure examination revealed equiaxed grains and some elongated grains in rolling direction, with the areas of partial re-crystallized grains where coarse intermetallic particles are mostly found.In general, fracture surfaces were indicative of dimpled ductile type. Considering the fractographs of tensile specimens, the void growth mechanism is also dominant in fracture of these specimens. Nevertheless, in some regions, smooth areas can be observed due to the friction during rupture process. The results of mechanical tests at RT made the evaluation of tear strength to 0.2 % tensile yield strength ratio, as a measure of notch toughness, available. According to elevated temperature, 150°C, test results and plots of log da/dt vs. log KI , the crack propagation behavior over discrete ranges of crack growth rates could be assumed linear and then be obeyed as a power law equation in the form of da/dt = A (KI)n .

Jan 1, 2015

By George J. Young

DURing the spring of 1910 1 visited a number of open-pit brown-coal mines and underground workings in the vicinity of Halle, Halberstadt, Leipsic, Cologne and Bonn. The notes which I took and the observations which I made at the time have been condensed and make up the principal part of this paper. Certain supplementary information has been taken from several sources which are given in the paper. The mining of brown coal is one of the important industries of Germany. The coal varies in color from dark brown to almost black and is soft like loam. Pieces of wood and strips of bark and even parts of tree trunks are frequently encountered in the excavation although the coal for the most part consists of a pulverulent, more or less matted mass of small particles of vegetal matter. It is a product between peat and lignitic coal. An analysis, taken from Coal Resources of the World shows the approximate composition of the material: Moisture, 53.73 per cent.; ash, 4.98; fixed carbon, 18.08; volatile carbon, 23.31 per cent. Thc principal characteristic is the amount of moisture. This seldom runs less than 48 per cent. The ash is usually low and ranges from 5 to 10 per cent. The sulphur content is usually less than 0.5 per cent. The heating effect of the fuel ranges from 2,000 to 2,500 calories. The commercial deposits are confined to the Tertiary period although

Jan 1, 1916

By E Cunha, D Roldao, TáTamantini, J F. C L Costa, T Webber, C Monteiro

The main problem of geostatistical simulations is to reproduce the real characteristics of the mineral deposit when there are few conditioning data. In this case, the geological interpretation, based on structures, geophysics and geological maps, plays the major role in terms of resource evaluation.The paper investigates the use of principal component analysis (PCA) to help classify multiple geostatistical categorical simulations considering the similarity among them and the interpreted model, herein referred as training image (TI).An iron deposit with four lithological facies, in a specific horizontal plane, was used as case study for two-dimensional (2D) simulations. Sequential indicator simulations (SIS) was used to obtain ten equally probable 2D images, which were generated and compared against the interpreted model (TI).In this study, 11 random variables are comprised by the vector of ten SIS realisations plus the training image (TI). The similarity between the TI and each SIS realisation is measured using the angle between the TI and SIS vectors projected in the new coordinate systems (PCA factors). It is possible to order the SIS realisations from the highest to the lowest PCA factor taking into account the TI similarity.The visual analysis of the images shows coherence in the PCA results as a method to measure similarity. This methodology can be used as a post-processing tool to rank simulation results and to select the ones which better represent the prior known geology or to compare the quality of different methods of simulation.

Sep 26, 2011

By E. J. Rorem

Rockfall and unstable rock slopes can be con-trolled by using steel wire-rope net systems as barriers or as slope draping. The chief advantage of such systems over rigid type barriers is the flexibility of wire rope netting. This flexibility and strength permits kinetic energy dissipation with low maintenance requirements. Mining activities can produce temporary or long-term unnatural slopes and unstable rock faces that may produce rockfall hazards. Such conditions can necessitate efforts to minimize the hazard to workers, structures and equipment.

Jan 1, 1996

By Liu Jin

"In order to reduce the dosage costs and increase the economic benefits of a full floating process in a low grade complex multi-metals W-Mo ore, based on the study of the magnetic characteristics of the main gangue minerals, a joint process by magnetic separation and floatation technology is adopted. The first step of the flowsheet is to recover magnetite by magnetic separation, then remove the magnetic gangues by high gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) and finally recycle the W-Mo from the magnetically separated tailings by flotation. Results of the lab experiment show that in comparison with the full flotation process, the floatation feed tonnage of the combined flowsheet are only 46%. The grade and the recovery of Mo in the rough Mo-Bi concentrate is similar with the original one while the WO3 in the tungsten rough concentrate is increased from 3.85% to 6.64%. The dosage costs are reduced by 53%. The new process can significantly improve the plant economically. INTRODUCTION With the continuous exploitation of scheelite resources, the easily obtained resource is gradually depleting. The ""lean, fine and complex"" scheelite resource has become the main research object of tungsten beneficiation (Lou et al., 2010) (Xiao et al., 2013). The passive situation of tungsten beneficiation can be reversed by enhancing technological innovation and investment in science and technology, changing the business philosophy and mode of production, optimizing the process structure and process conditions, improving various technical indexes and reducing production costs of reagents, which will maximize economic benefits (Jiang et al., 2012 ) (Zhu et al., 2016). A polymetallic deposit of tungsten molybdenum bismuth original process adopts a full flotation process. With the expansion of stope mining, the content of valuable metals in the ore continues to decrease, resulting in a high cost per ton of concentrate produced and a low output value (Li et al., 2015)."

Jan 1, 2018

By Robert S. Dewey

Drilling in West Texas during 1942 was substantially less than in the previous year. In all. 1267 Wells were drilled, as compared with 2325 wells in 1941. Of these 1267 wells, 1052 oil wells, 10 gas wells and 69 dry holes were drilled in proven fields and 36 oil wells, one gas well and 99 dry holes were wildcat operations. Of the 36 wildcat wells completed as oil producers, 16 led to new field discoveries, three found new productive horizons in old fields, and 17 extended the productive limits of established fields. Where semiwildcat drilling took place along established productive trends, there was often no sharp demarcation between wildcat wells that extend field limits and normal development to fulfil lease obligations, other than the arbitrary classification of a well as a wildcat if it was drilled at a distance of 2 miles from a producing oil well. The dry hole drilled on the edge of a field may have proved a more hazardous operation than a semiwildcat drilled several miles from production but favorably located on structure. The percentage of successful wildcatting ranges from 26.5 down to 14 per cent, dependent upon the degree of inclusion of the semiwildcat operations. Irrespective of which figure was used, the West Texas area maintained its better than average exploratory position. No doubt a number of factors may have influenced the extent of the 1942 development. Among those arising from the economic dislocation attendant on the war effort, the following are worthy of note. Owing to inductions into the armed forces and shipyard competition for mechanically trained men, experienced drilling personnel was sharply reduced, thereby increasing drilling costs and well-completion hazards. Replacement labor has not met the same standard of responsibility or workmanship to which the oil industry has grown accustomed. Increased military consumption of aviation gasoline and other crude products, coupled with decreased domestic consumption of lower-octane gasoline, has stimulated the market demand for the types of sweet crude most readily processed with available refinery equipment to meet war requirements, and has depressed the market demand for the sour West Texas crudes. As a majority of the purchasers of West Texas crude normally ship a substantial portion of sour crude to the refineries on the Atlantic seaboard, the loss and diversion of tanker service between Gulf Coast and north Atlantic ports have further curtailed the market demand for this type of crude oil. As some purchasers of crude oil were able to move by pipe line their West Texas trunk-line capacity to Midwestern refining centers, they were not impelled to curtail purchases of West Texas crude. The varying ability of the purchasers of crude oil to market West Texas crude was reflected back to various fields to which they were connected, causing an unequal distribution of production as among fields and operators. The pipe-line runs from the West Texas-New Mexico area decreased from approximately 354,000 bbl. Per day in January to about 265,000 bbl. in December 1942. .Approximately 2,991,000 bbl. of West

Jan 1, 1943

By Robert S. Dewey

Drilling in West Texas during 1942 was substantially less than in the previous year. In all. 1267 Wells were drilled, as compared with 2325 wells in 1941. Of these 1267 wells, 1052 oil wells, 10 gas wells and 69 dry holes were drilled in proven fields and 36 oil wells, one gas well and 99 dry holes were wildcat operations. Of the 36 wildcat wells completed as oil producers, 16 led to new field discoveries, three found new productive horizons in old fields, and 17 extended the productive limits of established fields. Where semiwildcat drilling took place along established productive trends, there was often no sharp demarcation between wildcat wells that extend field limits and normal development to fulfil lease obligations, other than the arbitrary classification of a well as a wildcat if it was drilled at a distance of 2 miles from a producing oil well. The dry hole drilled on the edge of a field may have proved a more hazardous operation than a semiwildcat drilled several miles from production but favorably located on structure. The percentage of successful wildcatting ranges from 26.5 down to 14 per cent, dependent upon the degree of inclusion of the semiwildcat operations. Irrespective of which figure was used, the West Texas area maintained its better than average exploratory position. No doubt a number of factors may have influenced the extent of the 1942 development. Among those arising from the economic dislocation attendant on the war effort, the following are worthy of note. Owing to inductions into the armed forces and shipyard competition for mechanically trained men, experienced drilling personnel was sharply reduced, thereby increasing drilling costs and well-completion hazards. Replacement labor has not met the same standard of responsibility or workmanship to which the oil industry has grown accustomed. Increased military consumption of aviation gasoline and other crude products, coupled with decreased domestic consumption of lower-octane gasoline, has stimulated the market demand for the types of sweet crude most readily processed with available refinery equipment to meet war requirements, and has depressed the market demand for the sour West Texas crudes. As a majority of the purchasers of West Texas crude normally ship a substantial portion of sour crude to the refineries on the Atlantic seaboard, the loss and diversion of tanker service between Gulf Coast and north Atlantic ports have further curtailed the market demand for this type of crude oil. As some purchasers of crude oil were able to move by pipe line their West Texas trunk-line capacity to Midwestern refining centers, they were not impelled to curtail purchases of West Texas crude. The varying ability of the purchasers of crude oil to market West Texas crude was reflected back to various fields to which they were connected, causing an unequal distribution of production as among fields and operators. The pipe-line runs from the West Texas-New Mexico area decreased from approximately 354,000 bbl. Per day in January to about 265,000 bbl. in December 1942. .Approximately 2,991,000 bbl. of West

Jan 1, 1943

By H. B. Pulsifer

THIS paper outlines a method for rapid production of flat, granular surfaces on many of the medium hard- alloys. Grinding wheels and fabrics on wheels are not used; the purpose is accomplished by rubbing on emery papers and on fine abrasives heaped on hand boards. The advantages of chromic acid in the solutions for etching nickel and copper alloys are explained. Steels may require an additional step in the mechanical smoothing owing to the lack of an ideal etchant. Chloric acid is a. rapid etchant for steel. Thirty-six photomicrographs illustrate the steps in smoothing and the clearness with which structures can be rapidly exposed. New structures in low-carbon steels are announced. After a little practice, many materials can be finished within two or three minutes. CUPRONICKELS In the previous papers on the metallography of copper and magnesium which the author has presented to this Institute there has been an attempt to demonstrate the advantages of minimizing the mechanical work of surfacing and depending more on chemical means; the present paper continues the research into a still wider field. It is obvious that the success of a chemical method for smoothing and etching depends almost entirely on the use of a suitable reagent. The etchant must remove the surface granulations and outline the structures. A very special type of reaction between reagent and metal must be displayed. Promiscuous corrosion or the intensification of the attack about local couples -formed by impurities or components must not be in evidence. There are several reagents that etch highly polished nickel and copper alloys very well. Acidified ferric chloride solutions, concentrated and dilute nitric acid solutions, and nitric and acetic acids in acetone have -been used to good advantage for the purpose. However, if they are expected to etch rather deeply-that is, smooth as well as characterize-the results may be far from satisfactory.

Jan 1, 1928

By G. R. Smith

This report describes research carried out by the Bureau of Mines to develop new technology for electrorefining metals at much higher current densities than those normally used in commercial practice, preliminary studies using rotating-ring and cylinder electrodes to increase the mass transport of copper are discussed. Following this work, single- and multichannel cells were developed that utilized a high electrolyte flow in the channels formed by the anode-cathode pairs. Using these cells, copper was successfully refined at current densities in the range of 70 to 300 amp/ft2. The effects of flow rate, electrolyte composition, and grain-refining and leveling agents on the morphology and purity of electrodeposited copper were determined.

Jan 1, 1979

By Guilherme L. M. G. Carvalho, Zachary T. Fleming

In a world of 2-dimensional design documents, envisioning and understanding 3-dimensional interferences for complex foundation construction scenarios can be challenging. Videos and computer models serve as 3-dimensional spatial aids but have drawbacks related to a fixed perspective. Augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) provide new tools to communicate design challenges and improve construction planning. This paper provides a practical look at the basics of AR/VR systems and the tools available to the foundation design and construction industry by giving a high-level example of the technologies’ use in the design and delivery phases of a complex micropile installation project for the remediation of a dam foundation. Using these technologies, GEI was able to design and deliver a complex foundation remediation solution. AR/VR benefited regulators, and the client, to help understand the design concept, construction sequencing, and approach to overcoming installation challenges. Due to its user-friendly nature and less rigorous programming and hardware requirements, AR proved to be more useful than VR for this scenario. AR/VR will likely not replace videos and computer models; however, it can be a useful 3-dimensional visualization aid that complements the project delivery process and offers benefits that traditional methods cannot. INTRODUCTION Augmented and virtual reality is a promising and rapidly developing technology within the engineering and construction world. Like any rapidly developing new technology, the language describing it can be confusing and dynamic. To eliminate the confusion some definitions must be made. AR/ VR definitions The definitions of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) for the purposes of this paper are as follows: VR is a computer-generated immersive environment that the user experiences within a digital 3- dimensional space (Satava, 1993)AR is a composite view created by superimposing digital objects into the user’s real-world view (Azuma, 1997). Often, VR is used in an office environment and allows the user to “visit” the digital site to review site planning, construction sequences, and interference geometry. AR can be utilized in both the office and onsite environments. Like VR, the in-office application for AR is commonly site planning. AR also can be utilized in the field for applications such as seeing through the ground to locate known existing obstructions like utilities, gas tanks, etc.

Jan 1, 2019

By K. C. Misra, W. Wrightson Jr.

The Lick Fork prospect shows appreciable nickel sulphide mineralization in a narrow, steeply dipping, layered sequence of metamorphosed hornblende peridotite, gahhro and hornblende gahhro, intrusive into the Pedlar Formation (charnockitic pyroxene granulite) of the Virginia Blue Ridge Complex (Precambrian). Rocks of the intrusion have equilibrated to granulite- facies metamorphism, as indicated by pervasive polygonal texture of silicate aggregates, development of biotite- and hornblende-preferred orientation, compositional equilibration of the silicate minerals, the Mg-Fe2+ (orthopyroxene-dino- pvroxene) distribution coefficients (average 0.57), (MgO + FeO + Fe20 3)/Al20 3ratios in orthopyroxenes, and Ti contents and AI(i\)/A I(\i) ratios of hornblendes. The sulphides, consisting of pyrrhotite-pentlandite (with up to 4 wt% Co)-chalcopyrite-pyrite-marcasite-violarite- bornite—mackinawite, are virtually restricted to the ultramafic unit of the intrusion and constitute 20-30% of the samples of hornblende peridotite studied. Although the basal accumulation of the sulphides may suggest magmatic segregation, sulphide- silicate textures typical of sulphide liquid immiscibilitv are not present, even in the sparsely mineralized gahbro units. On the other hand, the transgressive and relict textures are strongly suggestive of replacement of the silicate minerals by sulphides. These include chaleopyrite ± pyrrhotite ± pentlandite (violarite) ± pyrite ±magnetite veins crosscutting silicates, sulphide penetration into silicates at silicate-sulphide contact zones, rounding of silicate grains against sulphide matrix, and islands of silicate minerals (olivine, hornblende, pyroxene, biotite) in sulphide masses. Metamorphic mobilization of pre-existing sul­ phides is a possibility, but involvement of post-metamorphic, hydrothermal fluids is suggested by the following features: paucity of annealing and deformation textures in the sulphides, replacement of metamorphic and deformed silicates, lack of differential sulphide mobilization and the common occurrence of sulphides along grain boundaries and triple junctions of poly gonal silicate aggregates. The consistent association between sulphides and hydrothermal alteration products of silicates suggests that they are cogenetic. The hydrothermal fluids may have merely mobilized and concentrated the pre-existing, disseminated, magmatic sulphides, or there may have been significant addition of sulphides during this process. This question cannot be resolved unequivocally with the existing data.

Jan 1, 1984

By J. B. STEWART

T HE position of each hole of any series of holes was carefully located by the surveyor, plotted in plan and elevation, and numbers assigned to them. The second series was staggered halfway between the first and so on for each succeeding series. Two and a, half to three months was frequently required to grout a series of holes calculated to insure safety for sinking a distance of 10 meters or say 33 ft. Naturally the initial operation called for drilling and grouting two series of holes but thereafter each sinking campaign required only one series of holes as shown in Fig. 8. The pump handling about 75 gal. per minute corresponds to 46 tons of grout or 6 tons cement delivered as a fair over-all average for the 24 hours. Thus 600 to 800 tons of cement was used for a single section of 33 ft. depth of shaft. One campaign used nearly 1100 tons of cement. Some holes were effectually sealed with as low as 30 tons, while many required 60, and some 80 to 90 tons.

Jan 1, 1926

By R. S. Douglas

Introduction The operations of The Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting and Power Company, L1mited, have always been concerned with the mining of low-grade copper ores. In the fifty years of this Company's existence, nearly 60,000,000 tons of such material has been successfully mined and treated. During these years, many changes in mining practice took place. However, at Copper Mountain, due to the large tonnages of very low grade material, it was realized that something more than changing mining methods would have to take place if these low-grade orebodies were to be mined at a profit and the Company and. its employees enjoy many years of successful operation and employment. Production costs were mounting commensurately with rising taxes and the increasing cost of supplies, labour, freight, and smelting, while the value of the product on the market was not increasing in price to compensate for the higher costs of production. A survey of the mineable ore in 1944 indicated that, of the 12,000,000 tons in the reserves, only 3,500,000 tons was now profitable ore. This reduction in the commercial ore reserves was a serious matter, as it meant that the mine had only two years of life at the profitable shipp1ng rate of 4,800 tons per day. Further, the location in the mine of the orebodies making up the 3,500,000 tons was not suitable for such high production.

Jan 1, 1950

By N. E. Norman, R. Stier

The mining industry is continually seeking out new and better underground mining techniques. One of the most recent-also, perhaps, the most significant-of the new concepts in underground mining is the use of mechanical rock-boring machines. And one of the problems that concerns us all in this matter is the cost of mechanical rock tunneling. To help answer the oft-quoted question "What will it cost me?" the following pages deal with the operating costs of so-called "medium to medium hard rock" boring machines-i.e., those designed to meet the drilling requirements in 8000 psi to 25,000 psi rock. A few machines are capable of drilling hard rock above 25,000 psi, but the economics of mechanical tunneling in rock that hard is limited at the present time. [ ] For mechanical rock tunneling, there are five main cost factors influencing the expense: Capital Investment, Cutters, Labor, Power Requirements, and Maintenance. These factors give us a good basic picture of the cost of excavation, although muck handling, erecting supports, and other costs directly related to conventional tunneling and mechanical boring enter into the final picture.

Jan 6, 1967

By T. C. Vogt

The past history of uranium production has been dominated by strip and shaft mining methods, but recently in-situ leaching has emerged as a viable alternative for uranium recovery. (1-8) Mobil was the first company to start in-situ uranium leaching in New Mexico. Mobil's Crownpoint project areas are in Mdinley County and are part of the Grants Mineral Belt. The major uranium deposits in this area occur in the Westwater Canyon Member of the Jurassic Morrison Formation. (9-11) The ore depth at the Crownpoint project is about 2000 ft. In an earlier paper we discussed the uranium mineralogy of an areally broad sampling of Crown- point ore. (12) The organic carbonaceous material often associated with the coffinite ore was characterized in some detail. The organic material appeared to be a very mature, coaly-type kerogen derived from plant components. This result was consistent with other studies on such carbonaceous material. (13-15)

Jan 1, 1981

By Dipak C. Talapatra

This report describes the development of guidelines for design, inspection and maintenance of automatic couplers. In order to devise the guidelines, performance requirements for automatic couplers were carefully established. This was done through a comprehensive survey of coupler manufacturers and extensive observation of automatic couplers in service in a broad spectrum of mines. The capability of the couplers to withstand the demands of the mining environment in terms of strength characteristics, gathering range, curve negotiability, and other factors were all carefully evaluated. An analysis of coupler related accidents for the years 1972-1976 was carried out to provide information on the safety and reliability of existing automatic couplers. This formed an important input to the development of the guidelines. It is expected that these guidelines will be useful to coupler manufacturers for establishing designs for improved automatic couplers, and to mine operators for maintaining their couplers in a safe and good operating condition throughout their expected lifetime. This report is in two volumes: Volume 1 Technical Report Volume 2 Design, Inspection, and Maintenance Manual

Jan 1, 1977

By Sarah Bélair, Denis Beltrami, Valérie Weigel

"Mabounié is a polymetallic deposit in Gabon containing niobium (1.2%), tantalum (0.03%), rare earth elements (REE) (1.4%) and uranium (0.03%) that are mostly carried by Pyrochlore minerals. Classical route for niobium recovery is a pyrometallurgical process that consists in pyrochlore flotation, dephosphorization of the niobium concentrate and aluminothermy to obtain ferro-niobium. Pyrochlore concentrates can also be treated by a hydrometallurgical process with a mixture of sulfuric and hydrofluoric acid leaching followed by solvent extraction to separate niobium and tantalum. However, the first process does not allow recovering REE and the second one is not environmentally friendly because of the use of HF.ERAMET is looking for new opportunities on strategic metals market and has recently developed a hydrometallurgical process for the recovery of all these metals based on a sulfuric acid treatment of the ore. After solubilisation of the valuable elements, niobium / tantalum are precipitated as a concentrate (12% w/w Nb and 0.3% w/w Ta) while REE (2.7 g L-1) and uranium (90 mg L-1) remain in solution. Nearly 90% of REE are recovered from the solution by conventional REE double salt precipitation [NaREE(SO4)2.xH2O) method but some REE still remain in solution as this method does not allow to quantitatively recover medium (Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy) and heavy (Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Y) rare earth elements. From the different process routes studied (solvent extraction, precipitation, ionic exchange etc.), an innovative method has been developed and patented to recover REE residual concentration in solution. This is based on an aluminum removal step followed by precipitation of REE as REE phosphate concentrate (REEPO4) by phosphate addition into solution. The phosphate concentrate is then purified according to the conventional monazite treatment, i.e. caustic conversion and REE solubilisation in acidic media."

Jan 1, 2016

By Robin J. Batterham, Dave J. Robinson

The history of mineral processing in general and flotation in particular is long and has always been tied to mining methods of the day. Building on the ever-improving fundamental understanding of the underlying science, the most significant trend in flotation has been the putting into practice the learnings from trailblazers such as Professor Fuerstenau that has given the confidence that enabled an ever-increasing scale of operations. There is, however, doubt this ongoing trend is enough to maintain the economics against global trends such as that of falling grades, increasing mining costs, pressure on water supply and demand, rising energy demands needed for mineral processing, and a focus on whole of life value and mine legacy issues. In addition, we see that globally, the social license to operate for mining (and hence mineral processing) is far from secure and, at the very least, is under much more rigorous scrutiny. In this paper, we comment on the ramifications of broader uptake of more sustainable mining for mineral processing methods and address the specific question of whether recent progress in in-place recovery will lead to a timely breakthrough. The answer proposed is that this is possible in the next 10–20 years but in the meantime, the focus is just as likely to be on removal of waste (beneficiation) much earlier in circuits. Either way, mineral processing and flotation, as we know it, will change significantly.

By Wedam Nyaaba, Samuel Frimpong, Bruno Ayaga Kansake, Irene Akalanyaba Ateng

Haul truck capacities have increased due to their economies of scale in large-scale surface mines. These high-capacity trucks impose dynamic loads on haul roads. A previous study estimated the dynamic forces imposed by ultra-large trucks on haul roads to be more than three times the static load. These dynamic forces exacerbate haul road stresses and deformation. Current haul road response models are 2D and use static truckloads for low-capacity trucks. No models capture the ultra-large truck dynamic effects on haul road structural response. This study uses 3D finite element (FE) modeling to compute the haul road response to ultra-large truck dynamic loading. The dynamic forces were modeled using multibody dynamics (MBD) in MSC.ADAMS. These forces were used in an FE model developed, verified, and validated in ABAQUS, to simulate the response of the haul road to the dynamic truck forces. The road was modeled using an elastoplastic Mohr-Coulomb model. The results showed that road deformation decreases with increasing layer modulus and increases with increasing payload. Increasing the base modulus from 100 MPa to 450 MPa reduced the maximum deformation from 258 mm to 62 mm. When the subbase elastic modulus increased from 100 MPa to 500 MPa, the maximum deformation decreased from 160 mm to 84 mm. Increasing the payload from 0 to 120% of the rated load increased the maximum wearing surface deformation from 131 mm to 216 mm. This study forms a basis for designing structurally competent haul roads for improving haulage efficiency and truck and operator health.

Jan 7, 2023