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By C. J. Bise

Virtual Reality (VR) is a concept in which the human experience of perceiving and interacting with a computer-modeled environment is achieved through the use of sensors and effectors. It is an advanced fonn of computer graphics where the images are generated based upon where the user looks and how the user moves. As personal-computer-based (PC-based) instruction gains acceptance as an innovative approach to providing safety training, VR offers the capability of providing a multisensory, rather than merely a multimedia, mode of presentation. VR has been effectively used by the military for training tank commanders and by hospitals for training surgeons. However, these applications have been limited to small numbers of highly skilled participants. The purpose of this paper is to examine VR's potential for enhancing the hazard awareness of larger numbers of individuals in a broad-based approach to mine safety training, such as new-miner, annual-refresher, and independent-contractor training.

Jan 1, 1996

By Kenneth A. Gutschick, Harry L. Francis

A large number of minerals and chemicals (Table 1), some mineral-derived, are used in the treatment of both potable water and domestic sewage waste water and solids (Anon., 1990). In water treatment there are ten principal process uses as shown in Table 2 (Anon., 1990), which also lists the major chemicals in each process. Since lime (calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide, and dolomitic lime) is the largest chemical (by tonnage) used in water treatment, this chapter will deal primarily with this product. Note that it is included in five of the process uses shown in Table 2, and that indirectly it is also used in at least one other category (taste and odor control, where lime is used with potassium permanganate to provide optimum pH condition). POTABLE WATER TREATMENT Water Softening The biggest use for lime in water treatment involves water softening, where it serves to reduce carbonate hardness caused by dissolved bicarbonate and carbonate compounds. Currently there are more than 1000 domestic water softening plants (Table 3) located in most sections of the country, but particularly in Ohio, other midwestern states, Florida, and Texas, where limestone bedrock abounds (Anon., 1990). Among the other uses for lime in water treatment are coagulation, disinfection, and removal of heavy metals due to high pH softening, removal of certain radioactive and organic compounds and fluorides, neutralization of acidic water, removal of silica, particularly with dolomitic lime, and removal of color. Most of the above advantages accompany water softening, although at some plants lime is used specifically for one purpose, such as silica removal with dolomitic lime, minimizing pipeline corrosion by addition of lime to correct an aggressive water, and others. Hardness in water comprises two types - carbonate hardness, caused by dissolved calcium and magnesium carbonates and bi- carbonates, and non-carbonate hardness caused by dissolved non- carbonate salts, particularly calcium sulfate, calcium chloride, magnesium sulfate, and magnesium chloride. Total hardness is the sum of the carbonate hardness and non-carbonate hardness. Waters are classified as soft (0 to 75 mg/L as CaCO,), moderate (75 to 150 mg/L), hard (150 to 300 mg/L), and very hard (above 300 mg/L). Most water plants strive to reduce total hardness to about 100 mg/L, although in recent years the tendency in some cities has been to allow a little higher value in order to reduce both chemical costs and the amount of water softening sludges produced. There are four basic types of softening plants: lime softening, primarily to reduce carbonate hardness; lime-soda softening, for reduction of both types of hardness (in some plants caustic soda is used in place of soda ash, but it is more costly); split lime-zeolite, where a base exchange mineral is employed in place of soda ash (this system also requires salt [sodium chloride] to regenerate the zeolite mineral); and finally zeolite softening, which is generally used in small systems for private houses and small municipalities. Principal disadvantages of the latter system are its relatively high cost and the salt requirement, which introduces considerable quantities of soluble salts into the waste water discharge system.

Jan 1, 1994

By T. H. Parker

The Guasare Coal Project is located a short distance from Lake Maracaibo, in the Northwestern region of Venezuela. In 1987, Carbones del Guasare, a joint venture comprised of Carbozulia, ACC Venezuela, a subsidiary of ARCO, and AGIPCoal of ENI Group, Italy, was formed to develop the Guasare coal reserves for world markets. Drilling with the Venezuelan state of Zulia has indicated a coal resource of over 6 billion metric tons. Further exploration has delineated the Guasare deposit as an area particularly suited for cost-effective surface mining. The calculated mineable reserves of this area (300 million metric tons) and the coal quality characteristics are based on extensive core drilling programs.

Jan 1, 1989

By M. J. DeJong, R. J. Mair, S. Ritter, G. Giardina

"For urban tunneling projects it is essential to predict and prevent building damage. Although various case studies and experiments have shown that buildings considerably modify greenfield soil movements, widely accepted damage assessment methods neglect this soil-structure interaction and simplify structures as linear elastic beams. This paper summarizes an experimental investigation of the response of more realistic structures to tunneling-induced deformations. Small scale structural models with façade openings and brittle material properties were 3D printed and tested in a geotechnical centrifuge. Soil and structure displacement data were obtained by image-based measurement. Results demonstrate that structures notably mitigate differential greenfield ground displacements. It is also shown that maximum soil settlements, horizontal soil displacements beneath the structure and structural damage in the form of cracking significantly depend on the position of the structure in the settlement profile. The results provide a basis from which to predict building settlement response with greater certainty. INTRODUCTION With continuing population growth and increasing urbanization expected in the next decades, there is an urgent need for a next generation of infrastructure. It is likely that a large part of this infrastructure will be underground. Such creation of urban underground space frequently involves the excavation of shallow tunnels in close proximity to existing structures and utilities. For example, along the Crossrail project in London more than 1,200 structures are located within a possible influence area of the tunnel construction (Torp-Petersen and Black 2001). The assessment of building damage plays a vital role throughout the planning, design and construction stage of urban tunneling projects. However, while predictions of tunneling-induced deformations in the greenfield can generally be made with some confidence, much uncertainty exists about how structures interact with ground movements arising from tunnel construction."

Jan 1, 2016

By C. R. Stephan

Explosion-resistant seals in underground coal mines isolate the environment within the sealed area from the active workings of the mine. The current United States Title 30 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) requires these seals to be constructed of solid concrete blocks. The CFR also allows for alternative methods or materials to be used to create a seal if they can withstand a static horizontal pressure of 138 kpa (20 psi), provided the method of installation and the material used is approved in the ventilation plan. The purpose of this report is to identify those explosion-resistant seals that have been tested and meet or exceed all the requirements of the CFR.

Jan 1, 1997

By P. Oghazi

It is possible to have traceability in the mining industry, by parameters and signatures like particle mineralogy, mineral association, texture and mineral liberation. The study is on an apatite-iron ore deposit at Malmberget, Sweden, and characterizes an ore body both mineralogically and texturally in a quantitative manner by using analytical methods like optical microscopy, microprobe (EMPA) and an automatic SEM based system, Particle Texture Analysis (PTA). The mineralogy was evaluated by PTA and characterized by modal mineralogy, mineral liberation and mineral associations. Magnetite has a simple outline and straight grain boundaries and the gangue minerals have a finer particle size with a more complicated texture. The PTA analysis also shows that apatite is associated to magnetite as mixed particles, while smaller grains of magnetite are inclusions in feldspar. Result from particle texture analysis shows that there is a connection which link to the mine-to-mill context, and it may be used to create traceability. This link is not the associations of the main ore mineral magnetite, nor the modal mineralogy. Instead, it is the mineral associations of contaminating minerals (apatite and feldspar) that appear to be most promising since they survive from mine to mill. The modal mineralogy may be used to understand how contaminated minerals break into or out of particles size fraction during grinding.

Jan 1, 2010

By Matthew Preedy, Anthony Pooley, Mike Wongkaew, Dirk Bakker, Raghu Bhargava

Sound Transit’s ST3 program will add 62 miles of light rail to the Puget Sound area, including connections to the neighborhoods of West Seattle and Ballard. These connections include considerations for both elevated and tunnel alternatives in West Seattle and Ballard, as well as a new tunnel and six underground stations in the densely developed downtown Seattle. This paper describes the conditions and constraints along the corridor, and the latest development in the ongoing process to plan the underground guideways and stations.

Jun 13, 2023

By Ehsan Alavi, Brian Hagan, Colin LaVassar, Glen Frank, Derek Dugan, Rick Capka, Lisa Mori

"Tunnel face instability is one of the most common issues in EPB tunneling. The evaluation of an ideal face support pressure is a critical element in the design and construction phases of EPB tunneling. In this study, measured tunnel face pressures in three EPB tunneling projects (University Link U230 and U220 projects and the Northgate Link Extension N125 Project) for Sound Transit in Seattle, WA are compared with the calculated analytical methods. This comparison shows that the analytical methods generally overestimate the required tunnel face support. The best practice for managing the face pressure in EPB tunneling operation is discussed based on the experience gained through these projects. Furthermore, the algorithm that is developed for identifying ground loss in these projects is addressed. INTRODUCTION Earth pressure balanced tunneling relies on using muck within the chamber to support the face. Muck is pressurized by controlling the advance rate of the tunnel boring machine and the speed of the screw conveyor. Target face pressure is typically calculated by using the geotechnical assumptions in the geotechnical baseline report. The concept behind EPB tunneling is that the application of sufficient face support pressure will prevent tunnel face instability and the resultant over excavation. Tunnel face instabilities caused by a lack of sufficient face support can lead to ground loss and surface settlement (Anagnostou & Kovári 1996, Kirsch 2010). A certain support pressure must be achieved to counteract water and earth pressure with an adequate factor of safety. While the water pressure can be predicted accurately, the determination of the resultant earth pressure on the face is less precise. This becomes manifested in the relatively high partial safety factors on the earth pressure."

Jan 1, 2016

By B. Ollila, L. Brown

As mining fronts converge in sill pillar extraction, the mine seismic hazard can be significantly altered and large seismic events have been known to occur. This study used common seismological tools to analyze the extraction of highly stressed sills from two deep Canadian mines with the objective of characterizing the rock mass failure process and relation to large seismic events. The approach treated a sill pillar as a mine-scale failure process, meaning the temporal and spatial analysis scales needed to exist on a similar scale to a significant part of the mine. The temporal analysis scale overlapped with the entire mining sequence, included several years of data to establish long term change in the characteristics of rock mass failure. The spatial analysis scale included the rock mass surrounding a large part of the convergent mining sequence. To accommodate the large spatial and temporal scales, the highest magnitude 2% of events in the dataset were analyzed. Similar results were shown for sill pillars in both mines. Changes in event location, time, magnitude, energy index and apparent volume were similar to expected behavior of rock failure. Indications of strain hardening and strain softening were observed in the sills. The hardening period was characterized by a high rate of small events, high energy index and low apparent volume, giving an indication of high stress and low rock yield. The softening phase was characterized by a decrease in the rate of small events concurrent with an increase in the rate of large events, low energy index and high apparent volume, indicative of release of stress and increase in deformation. Large magnitude seismicity was strongly related to the softening phase, with several Nuttli magnitude 3.0+ events occurring shortly after the transition from hardening to softening failure regimes. Sill failure was indicated by consistently low EI and low levels of seismicity and seismic hazard in the sill pillar.

Apr 26, 2022

By T. W. West

During the design and construction of a coal preparation facility, there are many items that can cause serious problems if not properly handled in the early stages of a project. These problems can be a detriment to smooth owner/ contractor relationships, the designing of a flow sheet, the selection of equipment, the design of the facility, the maintenance of schedule and budget, and a smooth start-up. It is the purpose of this presentation to identify some of these problems and to suggest steps that can be taken to reduce or eliminate their impact.

Jan 1, 1977

"On-site research and development as well as in-situ testing are key factors to the successful implementation of new mining equipment and technology. Unfortunately the demands and necessities of research and development often conflict with the reality of mine production in operational mines, especially during early stages of research and development and the initial testing of new equipment. Several experimental mines under university supervision attend to this problem and provide a close-to- reality testing environment for the mining industry and mining equipment manufacturers. This paper gives an overview of the design and organization of such an underground testing area as well as of the wide range of possible operations it can facilitate at the example of the FLB Experimental and Teaching Mine (Forschungs- und Lehrbergwerk) at Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, the central European underground research mine. INTRODUCTION As well as the Mining Engineering education follows the same pattern worldwide, the tasks and duties to be fulfilled by engineers in the productive mines are comparable around the globe. This also holds true for the technologies and equipment needed, both in surface and underground mines. Almost all mining equipment brands are being distributed worldwide. The tasks and challenges of guaranteeing an ever- increasing productivity at the mines, while simultaneously maintaining, respectively improving, safety standards, also in the developing countries and emerging economies, requests a constant development, improvement and adaption both of the engineering education and of R&D in technology and equipment. The increasing safety requirements at the mines, in combination with also increasing safety and liability policies, do often not allow a proper practical education of mining engineering students. At the same time, new technologies and equipment to be deployed / brought to the mines have to be fully functional in a production operation from the very first moment. Time losses like break-down time or even repair and maintenance breaks are often costly and, even when expected up to a certain degree with newly developed machines, have a wider negative impact on the neighboring operations and operations within that mine, thus often being unacceptable within the ongoing production process and extremely costly."

Jan 1, 2015

By José A. Matar Ibañez

Geologic terranes in Argentina include potential mineralized environments from localized younger Precambrian cratonic outcrops through Paleozoic sequences, generally in the northwest or under younger cover, to the Mes[o] zoic-Cenozoic Andean Systems in western and southern Argentina. Argentina is self sufficient or nearly so in many metallic, nonmetallic, and energy commodities, and exploration in each of these categories is ongoing. Present production of precious metals (silver and gold) is important, and many recent discoveries of base metals, precious metals, alloy metals, and other mineral categories have been made. Economic trends, geologic environments, and commodity types important in actual exploration are described, and it is emphasized that extensive areas showing attractive alteration, geochemical, and geological anomalies, especially of porphyry, cordilleran vein, and epithermal characteristics, remain to be fully evaluated.

Jan 1, 1986

By Enrique Jelvez, Pierre Nancel-Penard

The traditional way of generating open-pit mine production schedules has several limitations. This work addresses the design and production-scheduling problem by considering minimum operational space requirements under a Direct Block Scheduling approach to generate extraction sequences that satisfy the operational space required. For this, traditional formulations were extended by including a new set of constraints that generate operating spaces for mining equipment to move and extract material. Then, a heuristic algorithm produces close to optimal practical pushbacks. This proposal was applied in a case study, and the results show its ability to generate practical production schedules without sacrificing expected return, obtaining differences in terms of Net Present Value (NPV) lower than 1% when compared to the traditional approach.

Jun 25, 2023

By Dale R. Ralston, Roy E. Williams, Gerry V. Winter, George L. Bloomsburg

The literature on four different topics is re¬viewed herein for purposes of mathematical mod¬eling of mine water inflow. The first of the topics reviewed is modeling of fissured or fractured ma¬terials; the second is general Darcy based flow models; the third is field methods for determining fracture flow properties; and the fourth is methods used presently for determining mine water inflows. The four topics are considered in the foregoing order. FRACTURE FLOW MODEL Two basic types of fracture flow models have been developed. The first type uses various tech¬niques for space averaging to obtain the equations. Systems are considered in which the porous media properties vary smoothly enough and the fracturing is sufficiently profuse and well distributed that the locally averaged properties are meaningful when viewed on the macroscopic scale. The final result is that a coefficient is used which is similar to saturated hydraulic conductivity and in many cases, simply is hydraulic conductivity. In other cases, the coefficient is apparent hydraulic conductivity be¬cause the response from flow in the fractures is more rapid than flow in the pore spaces. Faust and Mercer (1980) refers to this method as the contin¬uum approach. Some of the papers on this type of problem are by Duguid (1973), Verner et al. (1974), Owili-Eger (1975), Duguid and Abel (1974), duPrey and Weill (1974), and O'Neill (1978). Duguid and Lee (1977) also considered heat flow in the fluid and the porous medium. These papers all result in various types of computer programs. Some papers on this topic that do not result in computer programs are by Snow (1968, 1969) and Streltsova (1976). Some of the foregoing articles consider con¬solidation of the porous media and the resulting effect on hydraulic conductivity. Barenblatt et al. (1960) developed an analytical solution for fracture flow and discussed the time that is involved in the drainage process and the effect that fracture flow has on the drainage time. The second type of fracture flow model con¬siders the width of the fractures as a function of the pressure in the field. Faust and Mercer (1980) refers to this method as the discontinuum approach. This approach often requires two finite element programs that consider the stress in the material and the flow in the fractures separately. The pro¬grams are then linked to arrive at the final solution. Some of the articles that consider the interrela¬tionship between pressure and the size of the frac¬ture but do not use computer solutions are Gringarten et al. (1975), Narasimhan and Palen (1979), and Witherspoon et al. (1979). Papers that use a linked computer program between stress and flow are by Ayatollahi (1978), Gale et al. (1974), and Noorishad et al. (1971). Ayatollahi's program is primarily for the petroleum industry because it does not consider the effect of gravity. Ayatollahi assumes that pressure effects are very large in com¬parison to gravity effects. This assumption would apply only to very deep aquifers. Articles that consider fracture flow on a more applied basis are by Wittke et al. (1972), who con¬siders that the flow is entirely through fissures and negligible through the pores of the rock. Gringarten and Witherspoon (1972) developed type curves that may be used for analysis of fracture flow systems; the curves are based on the assumption that it is possible to distinguish between aquifers with hor¬izontal and vertical fractures and that it is possible to analyze the system as an equivalent anisotropic homogeneous porous medium with a single fracture with much higher permeability. DARCY FLOW MODELS The Darcy flow models of greatest interest to mine water inflow prediction are those which allow

Jan 1, 1986

By K. W. Grubaugh

The recently enacted federal surface mine law (P.L. 95-87) will increase further the complexity of securing a reclamation permit. This law intensifies the need to present the required reclamation plan in a thorough and comprehensive manner. One plan format, that used in construction performance contracts, offers promise of filling this need. Reasons for using the format of expressed, bilateral, negotiated contracts common to the contruction industry, and the salient aspects of an application which uses this format are reviewed. Advantages of this procedure are seen to be improved mine planning, awareness of the total design job, potential for improved speed of permit acceptance and improved cost control.

Jan 1, 1978

By David Hatem, Paul Madsen, Daniel Adams, James Morrison, Randall Essex

Managing commercial risks associated with subsurface construction may be the greatest challenge the underground industry faces. The Geotechnical Baseline Report (GBR) was developed in the U.S. to help manage those commercial risks, and to stem increasing litigation in the industry. A guidelines document by the American Society of Civil Engineers was published in 1997 and was updated in 2007. This paper provides an historical perspective, overviews the main objectives of a GBR, presents issues and trends that instigated the need to update the 2007 publication, and describes the process that will lead to a new GBR guidelines publication in 2022

Dec 1, 2022

By W. L. O?Connell

[Patent Issue No. Date Issued To Subject 386,504 July 24, G. Sweanor The separation of quartz from a 1588 metal with a liquid such as CS2 or CHC13 under water by introducing mixture into water layer. Quartz will stay in water layer while metal sinks through organic.]

Jan 1, 1963

By R. Miller

Lowering our globe’s emissions is a major effort as we move toward a future net-zero carbon environment requiring significant investment in a new, low-carbon infrastructure, along with key market incentives to change. Industry will play a key part in this transformation, requiring expertise in both energy and emissions. Key elements of the de-carbonization strategy are: energy data, emissions reporting method, governance, de-carbonization project generation and drivers, the MACC, electrification, and the de-carbonization checklist. For a zero carbon future, it will be key for business leaders to understand decarbonization, anticipate technological changes, and implement new business me

Mar 2, 2022

By C. Konya, A. Konya

"INTRODUCTION Over the past twenty years this Linear-Regression Modeling has become widely accepted for ensuring limits are not exceeded at a site, using the Scaled-Distance variable. In today’s industry, numerous equations are present for different scenarios, geologic environments, hole sizes, and numerous other factors with an emphasis on site-specific equations developed for all major projects; however, underground blasting applications have not been analyzed to a great degree of detail. Without previous knowledge this puts underground blasting operations into a guessing-game to ensure that vibration levels are not exceeded. This paper will review two recent projects that have been worked on by the authors and linear-regression models that were used with both burn cuts and stope blasts. BLAST VIBRATIONS MODELING The first major research project conducted in the United States on blasting vibration was Bulletin 442 (Thoenen & Windes, 1942) which looked at the relationship between blasting and blast vibrations in the fall of 1940. This study examined numerous blasts and began the investigation into topics such as damping, structural damage from vibrations, frequency dependency on vibration, resonance vibration, delayed blasting, and numerous other factors. Bulletin 442 had two major conclusions which are: 1. The vibration from a blast can be predicted with a relationship of size of the shot and distance to the structure (now known as scaled distance) 2. “The vibration of a structure at resonance does not in itself cause damage because of the restraining effect of damping inherent in the building” (Thoenen & Windes, 1942) Due to the increase of blasting near homes and busier areas the USBM commissioned an additional study to further develop a few of the topics covered in Bulletin 442; this study would go on to be published as RI 6561 (Duvall, Johnson, Meyer, & Devine, 1963) with the study looking into delayed blasting and the relationship between charge weight, distance, and peak particle velocity of the blast. This relationship would be termed as the ‘scaled-distance’ and take the form of:"

Jan 1, 2018

By Rolf Christiansson, Daniel Johansson, Urban Åkeson, Henrik Ittner, Mats Olsson

"This paper presents two recent studies on the extent of blast damage after excavation in crystalline rock. The Swedish Transport Administration and the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) are both under regulations to limit excavation damage during construction of tunnels. SKB is also required to limit the Excavation Damage Zone (EDZ), as this could be a potential flow path for radionuclides in the planned repository for spent nuclear fuel. Presented in this paper are investigations of blast damage from three tunnel sites, a road tunnel, an experimental tunnel in Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory and an underground subway depot. As expected the fractures resulting from the bottom charge are both longer and more frequent then those mapped in the column charge. The results show that the requirement to limit blast damage according to Swedish regulations was fulfilled for the column charge at the three studied sites.1 INTRODUCTION The Swedish Transport Administration (TRV) and The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) have both recently completed studies related the extent of blast damage from modern explosives after excavation. SKB studies focused on blast damage from pumpable emulsion explosives for underground construction (Ittner and Bouvin 2015) and hydraulic connectivity in the EDZ (Ericsson et al. 2015). TRV had a broader focus with different types of explosives including blasting for both road cuts and tunnelling with pumpable emulsion explosives. Investigations by means of geophysics were also conducted (Olsson et al. 2015). High demands on perimeter control and excavation damage is usually required for underground constructions with a long operation time, such as public tunnels for transport or underground repositories for nuclear waste. This paper presents the findings of recent Swedish studies and aims to discuss the topic in a broader context."

Jan 1, 2016