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By Charles Stone, Hannes Lagger, Dru Desai

The design methodology of the planned Second Avenue Subway Project (SAS) led to development of the initial support design to estimate cost and quantities in the Preliminary Engineering (PE) stage. Careful selection of the cavern design rules that recognized the impact of rock quality, rock cover, excavation geometry, and excavation sequence helped to overcome the design challenges of large, shallow caverns for the initial ground support. In the course of the design verification process prescribed by the design methodology, the design team was continuously reviewing and updating the support quantities. The design procedure includes methods using different approaches of empirical, continuum, and discontinuum analyses, which are currently advanced in the Final Engineering (FE) stage. The paper is a continuation of the RETC 2005 “Trials and Tribulations” and focuses on the procedures that led to the changes in the initial support as a result of the ongoing design development.

Jan 1, 2007

By Doris M. Hyde

The Government of Belize maintained strict control over spending in 1982 as a means of protecting its import-dependent economy against the effects of a general worldwide recession. The modest economic performance was not expected to differ substantially from the $152 million2 gross national product (GNP) estimated for 1981. Exports and reexports were expected to decline in 1982, partly as a result of the Mexican peso devaluation. Imports were also expected to decline slightly in 1982, but the overall trade deficit was projected some-what higher than the $44 million experienced in 1981. On September 21, 1982, Belize became an independent state. As a result, the new Government became eligible for assistance from international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Belize's independence from its former status as a colony of Great Britain was marred somewhat by the unsettled territorial dispute between Great Britain and Guatemala. Guatemala declared Belize was a part of Guatemala and. therefore. refused to recognize it as an independent state. Negotations between Great Britain and Guatemala continued without resolution.

Jan 1, 1984

The spatial and temporal evolution from the porphyry to high-sulphidation epithermal environment can be assessed by integrating new results on such deposits (Arribas et al, 1995; Hedenquist et al, 1998) with past studies of plutonic and porphyry systems (Dilles and Proffett, 1995; Cline, 1995; Shinohara and Hedenquist, 1997; Hedenquist and Richards, 1998). Some time ago, Sillitoe (1973) argued for the nature of the tops and bottoms of porphyry deposits. He concluded that epithermal deposits may form over the tops of some porphyry systems. We can now conclude more confidently what the tops and bottoms of many high-sulphidation ore deposits appeared like while active (Arribas, 1995; Hedenquist, 1995). In addition, we better understand the nature of the zonation of high-sulphidation epithermal systems from the intrusive to surficial environment (Sillitoe, 1999), and how these two styles of ore deposit are related. Geological and geochemical evidence clearly indicates a continuum between these two ore environments. This improved understanding of genesis allows more efficient exploration for these deposits. There are many examples of spatially associated porphyry and epithermal ore deposits. A genetic connection has been suggested by some, and argued against by others. Nowhere is this spatial association better seen than in northern Luzon, Philippines, where the Lepanto high-sulphidation epithermal Cu-Au deposit overlies the Far Southeast (FSE) porphyry Cu-Au resource (Figure 1). Together these mineralised bodies contain a resource of >3.8 M tonnes Cu and >550 tonnes Au. Lepanto was largely mined out in early-1997. Post-war production until 1995 was 0.73 Mt Cu, 115 t Au and 393 t Ag at an average grade of 2.2 per cent Cu, 3.5 g/t Au and 11 g/t Ag. The recent discovery of the adjacent Victoria low-sulphidation quartz-Au-base metal vein deposit, with a resource of >68 tonnes Au (Cuison et al, 1998), illustrates the variety and abundance of mineralisation in the Mankayan district. This district also hosts the Guinaoang porphyry Cu-Au deposit (Sillitoe and Angeles, 1985) and other epithermal vein occurrences (Figure 1). This brief summary reviews the results recently published on the Lepanto-FSE deposits (Arribas et al, 1995; Mancano and Campbell, 1995; Claveria, 1998; Hedenquist et al, 1998), and stresses the evidence for coupling of mineralisation between the porphyry and high-sulphidation epithermal environments.

Jan 1, 1999

By L. Forsbacka, M. Nakamoto, L. Holappa

Viscosity of the slag is one of the central parameters when producing FeCr in submerged arc furnaces. It contributes to smelting behaviour and reduction kinetics of chromite ore as well as to the Cr recovery by influencing the separation of dispersed metal droplets from the slag. A typical FeCr process slag contains 5-10pct chromium oxides, CrO and CrO1.5. The neural network computation was applied to the evaluation of viscosity for slags containing chromium oxides, and the prediction of viscosity in FeCr process slag was conducted. The main results in this estimation were that the chromium oxides in FeCr process slag lower its viscosity, and that the effect of CrO on the viscosity decrease is greater than that of CrO1.5.

Jan 1, 2007

During a programme to determine the suitability of the UK site for deep disposal of radioactive wastes, geostatistical methods were used to characterise rock heterogeneity on the basis of seismic and wireline acoustic-impedance data. The data were analysed to yield semi-variogram models that quantified the three-dimensional spatial heterogeneity of acoustic impedance. These models were reconciled with geological interpretations of the area and used to generate simulations of acoustic impedance, with wireline acoustic impedance as conditioning data. The three-dimensional simulated images were compared with actual seismic acoustic impedance. The variography confirmed a vertical zoning effect in the Borrowdale Volcanics, showing that it is caused by preferential clusters of high acoustic impedance values corresponding to regions of relatively low porosity. The method provided realistic three-dimensional models from sparse, one-dimensional wireline data

Jun 19, 1905

By Takahiro Kubo, Katsunori Yamaguchi, Hidehiro Sekimoto

Equilibrium relation between B2O3 slag, RExOy-B2O3 (RE = rare earths) slag and Fe-C alloy formed by melting treatment of neodymium magnet and B2O3 was investigated. When neodymium magnet was melted together with B2O3 and Fe-C alloy in carbon crucible, 3 liquid phases of B2O3 slag, RExOy-B2O3 slag and molten Fe-C alloy formed and clearly separated by the difference of the specific gravities. In the case that excess amount of Cu was also introduced in that system, molten Cu phase additionally formed. Almost all amount of RE were concentrated in RExOy-B2O3 slag. The concentration of RE in RExOy-B2O3 slag increased with the decrease of the melting temperature. While chromium, phosphorous, nickel, cobalt, and copper were concentrated in molten Fe-C alloy, silicon and aluminum were distributed in B2O3 slag and RE2O3-B2O3 slag.

Jan 1, 2014

By James A. Madonna

Information gathered while studying geological parameters that govern fine gold deposition in the a1luvial environment can be applied to the technological development and selection of fine gold recovery systems. It is recognized that substantial gold losses occur in the minus 1.5 mn (minus 12 mesh) fraction using conventional sluicing systems. Within the past two decades much attention has been given the design and efficiency of these thick bed concentrators. Studies and comparisons drew information from several foreign and domestic placer operations. These studies concentrated on: 1) the physical and chemical properties of alluvial gold 2) the parameters that control fine gold deposition 3) the geometrical form, components and general working structure of conventional sluicing systems 4) the physical properties which contribute to the overall efficiency of a sluice system 5) the comparison of three major styles of conventional sluicing systems. A dramatic improvement regarding fine gold recovery and water quality was observed when using modern multiple-channel sluicing systems in place of conventional single-channel sluicing systems.

Jan 1, 1988

Alluvial gold mining is thriving in the Yukon Territory and Alaska. The scale of many operations is similar to those in New Zealand but there is greater government support for research and test work. As a result a great deal of information on equipment for the recovery of alluvial gold has been obtained. This paper is a review of the information with the aim of making relevant data available in New Zealand.

Jan 1, 1989

By A J. Scogings, W J. Shaw

The successful development of industrial minerals projects requires an integrated, holistic understanding of the metallurgical and product performance test work in the context of the geological setting of the deposit and applied to mining, processing and marketing of saleable products. The product specifications provide the essential starting point for geometallurgical studies. A sound understanding of the desired product is needed to design and interpret a program of test work. Examples are provided from recent studies on bentonite and graphite deposits.For bentonite projects, the naïve testing of only the cation exchange capacity (CEC) as a measure of purity can lead to unexpected outcomes when the deposit is mined. The CEC attribute may remain the same, while other important properties such as pH and swelling index change markedly with depth, due to weathering and oxidation, leading to disappointing production outcomes.For graphite projects it is not enough to report only total graphitic carbon content (TGC). Knowledge is required of the in situ flake size and textures in addition to purity and flake size distribution of extracted graphite, which may all vary from one domain to another across the deposit. Such geometallurgical attributes of the ore will impact on the ‘basket price’ used to estimate the value of marketable parcels of expected product.Disclosure of such information must be considered part of fully informing the market. As with all new project developments, consideration of the JORC (2012) and VALMIN (2015) Codes requires disclosure of all material information. This includes the geometallurgical characterisation, ie those aspects of the mineralogy that impact on resource evaluation, ore reserve definition and project valuation.CITATION:Shaw, W J and Scogings, A J, 2017. The importance of geometallurgical test work for industrial minerals projects, in Proceedings Tenth International Mining Geology Conference 2017, pp 83–92 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 20, 2017

By Alton Gabriel

During the fall of 1940, J. R. Thoenen of the Mining Division, Bureau of Mines, accompanied by the senior author, surveyed the more important domestic alunite deposits. Although the study was designed primarily as an economic survey, samples from a number of the deposits were collected to investigate the beneficiation of the lower-grade material.

Jan 1, 1942

By Alton Gabriel

During the fall of 1940, J. R. Thoenen of the Mining Division, Bureau of Mines, accompanied by the senior author, surveyed the more important domestic alunite deposits. Although the study was designed primarily as an economic survey, samples from a number of the deposits were collected to investigate the beneficiation of the lower-grade material.

Jan 1, 1942

By George Koenig

I have been granted the outstanding privilege... and pleasure to introduce you this evening to the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg and to tell you in a few words how this country came into existence, how it managed to survive and what role it nowadays plays in the International Community. Luxembourg, situated between Belgium, Germany and Prance is a small, a very small country... just a dot on a map. After all, it is only a matter of 62 miles from top to bottom and 37 miles across at it's widest... barely covering some thousand square miles... so be careful about stepping on the accelerator... you might be in and out without having realized it... which would be a real shame as the Grand-Duchy enjoys a fairly unique geographical feature in so far as it provides the visitor with an outstanding variety of scenery concentrated in a minute spot.

Jan 1, 1987

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

Review of the mining legislation in New Zealand has coincided with a number of radical changes. These include a redirection of economic management towards a more open and competitive economy; major reform of the state sector aimed at greater efficiency, transparency and accountability; a new environmental administration; and a fundamental review of policy for management of natural and physical resources. These changes provide an opportunity to develop a consistent and coherent approach in the minerals and related statutes that will achieve objectives of economic efficiency, equity, practicability and good environmental management.

Jan 1, 1987

By I M. Turnbull

QMAP (the Quarter Million Mapping Programme, 1:250 000 scale) is a geological mapping programme which will build a digital geological database of the whole country and publish maps and books to document it. The programme was established in 1993, following a recommendation by a review panel appointed by the Ministry of Research, Science & Technology, and is funded by the government, from the Public Good Science Fund. The relevance and fundamental value of QMAP lies in the greatly improved geological knowledge it will provide for researchers and other end-users of geological information.   QMAP research involves assessment of previous work, field and laboratory investigations in key areas, and data storage, manipulation and publication using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) computer technology. The QMAP digital database of New Zealand geology will be completed by 2006, as will the series of 21 full colour printed geological maps and accompanying explanatory texts. Two are already completed and published (Kaitaia and Dunedin), and six other projects are well advanced.   QMAP information will also be available in digital form. Next year we hope to expand the scope of the programme to cover the reconciling and linking of many other earth science databases to QMAP, because we believe this will create a powerful research tool. The intention is to develop internet access to the databases, to make the information publicly available.

Jan 1, 1997

By Mike Faure

Hercules cribs make use of timber loaded parallel and perpendicular to the grain. Maximum use is made of the orthotropic properties of timber resulting in crib- having superior strength, high initial stiffness and controlled post yield deformations. Blocks and timbers can be combined in many different ways resulting in thousands of different geometries. Each geometry has a specific combination of block on block, timber on timber and block on timber contact area which results in a unique performance. Each crib can be fingerprinted by defining four parameters relating to its load/deformation curve. If the geometry is known, the performance can be predicted with a high degree of accuracy. If the mine support requirements are known, the crib geometries can be designed which met theme requirements in the most cost effective manner Hercules cribs come closest to satisfying mine support requirements. Due to the flexibility of the concept and their superior strength, they can be employed in most mining situations to enhance safety, improve productivity, reduce working costs or improve profitability.

Jan 1, 1993

By Polysius AG

"The Lone Tree demonstration was an important milestone in bringing High Pressure Grinding Roll (HPGR) technology into hard rock applications in the mining industry. HPGRs have become standard equipment in the cement, iron ore, and diamond industries over the past fifteen years, but their use in severe duties found in the hard rock mining sector has been restricted due to high roll wear and subsequent low availability. HPGR availability has historically been limited because of frequent downtime for edge weld rebuilding as the rolls wore and short tyre life from high roll surface wear rates.Recent advancements in HPGR wear protection are now being evaluated for commercial applications in the gold and copper mining industry where this technology may offer benefits in comminuting hard and/or abrasive ores and in improving metal recovery in heap leaching applications.Proving the feasibility of HPGRs for processing competent, abrasive gold ore, Newmont Mining Corporation, the world's largest gold producer, operated an HPGR demonstration plant employing a POLYSIUS (POLYCOM) HPGR incorporating some unique wear protection, at their Lone Tree gold mine near Winnemucca, Nevada. Results of the successful demonstration are presented and evaluated in this paper.The Lone Tree HPGR demonstration plant operated for three months, from April through June 2003. The HPGR operated for 1626 hours and processed 141,000 tons of ore. This technology demonstration focused on measuring operating performance, wear characteristics, and availability of today's HPGR technology.Polysius' innovative roll surface wear protection system eliminated edge-welding downtime. Improved surface wear protection extended tyre life to predicted durations acceptable for very abrasive service. The POLYCOM HPGR is now deemed suitable for selected hard rock applications."

Jan 1, 2005

In order to ensure safe mining and reduce surface damage in shallow multiple-seam mining, the failure characteristics of interburden strata with different coal pillar offset distances between pillars in the upper and lower seams, the distribution characteristics of stress concentration in coal pillars, and the development characteristics of stratum cracks and subsidence were physically investigated and also using UDEC2D software. Meanwhile, the effect of different coal pillar offset distances on the stress concentration of coal pillars and development of stratum cracks were studied. Based on those results, a formula for safe mining and reducing surface damage was established, which provided a theoretical basis for safe and environmentally friendly mining in shallow multi-seams. According to the results of the study, the optimal coal pillar offset distance (the side-to-side horizontal distance of the upper and lower coal pillars) between the upper and lower coal seams was developed to reduce the stress concentration of coal pillars and surface damage. The results of this study have been applied in Ningtiaota coal mine and have achieved good results in safe and environmentally friendly mining.

Jul 28, 2020

The Ministry of Commerce has been carrying out an evaluation of the resources of the Northwest Nelson region. In part this was to revisit the issues covered in the earlier proposal to close part of Northwest Nelson to mining under section 24 of the Mining Act (1971) initiated in 1990. In addition, the option of using GIS to integrate a variety of spatial data sets to aid policy formulation could be tested. The Northwest Nelson assessment would be a useful trial. The subsequent national park proposal provided a major impetus to the project and resulted in the scope of the study being broadened to include all energy and minerals resources.

Jan 1, 1993

By A. Boniface

The International Tunnel and Underground Space Association (ITA) has a number of working groups (WG) that meet at least once a year. One of these is WG12, ?Use of Shotcrete?, of which the author is a member. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to a number of topics that were discussed at the WG12 meetings held in April and September 2008; and also to a number of other matters that arose from the presentation of thirty-four papers at the 5th International Symposium on Sprayed Concrete held in Lillehammer, Norway between 21 and 24 April 2008.

Jan 1, 2008