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By Gregory A. Knapp

Treatment of industrial wastewaters generally advances with specific chemical concentration and mass-flow targets, established by National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. Treated discharges must also address toxicity to test and receiving water organisms. Various parameters might need consideration during treatment design and planning, such as the known toxicants, hardness, alkalinity, solids, nutrients, metals in both the dissolved and particulate state, and even flow. Since toxicity is used as a "catch all" regulatory monitoring tool, design of treatment systems should focus on the various factors contributing to toxicity.

Jan 1, 1996

By Jr. Holmes

The Bureau of Mines drilled and sampled the more important magnesite deposits in the Currant Creek Mining District, White Pine County, Nev. The properties of the Ala-Mar Magnesium Co., Inc., and the Nevada Magnesite Co. were examined in August 1942 by D. W. Butner, engineer of the Bureau of Mines, to determine the advisability of investigating the deposits under the strategic minerals program. Development involving diamond drilling, trenching, and sampling was started September 1, 1942, and was completed in the latter part of November 1942. The deposits are on unsurveyed public land in T. 12N., B. 59 E., M.D.B.&M., in an area of high relief ranging from 7,300 to 8,100 feet in altitude. Both properties are situated northwest of the Tonopah-Ely Highway, U.S. Highway 6, from which a dirt road extends about 4.6 miles northwesterly, about 35 miles southwest of Ely, to the Ala-Mar property, and another dirt road extends about 10 miles westerly, about 26 miles southwest of Ely, to the Nevada Magnesite property. The magnesite occurs as irregular nodules, veins, and lenses in a bedded calcareous tuff formation, which overlies a group of volcanic rocks, and which is capped by remnants of rhyolite flows.

Jan 1, 1950

By T Goswami, G Brent

In response to concerns over greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and an imposed cost in some jurisdictions, many mining houses have committed to reductions in their GHG emissions. However, mining faces particular challenges in this regard, notably from increasing strip ratios. Furthermore, mining activity around the globe is not expected to decrease in the foreseeable future as mineral demand is driven up by the aspirations of rapidly-developing nations. Novel approaches will thus be needed if any reductions in energy consumption and GHG emissions of mining are to be achieved.This paper presents some directions for the mining industry to pursue in reducing their GHG impact, focusing on the difference that blasting methods can make. Importantly, large productivity and revenue gains can also be realised from these methods.Key directions considered here include optimising resource recovery and quality through:reducing coal damage and loss from throw blastingrecovering thin coal seamsproducing cleaner coal with less dilution.Blast design can also significantly improve the productivity of surface mining by:improving muck pile shapingimproving mine equipment productivityimproving scheduling.We show how a particular blasting method can eliminate coal loss in overburden throw blasting and can lead to large increases in coalmine profitability. Thin seams that were previously wasted can also be recovered with this method. Furthermore, the method has been implemented to combine several separate drill and blast cycles into a single cycle, leading to productivity gains.An illustrative example is given to show how increased coal recovery can increase revenues and more than offset any potential GHG emissions liabilities. Overall mine energy and GHG emission intensities can thus be reduced.CITATION:Goswami, T and Brent, G, 2015. Blasting approaches to increase mine productivity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in surface coal mining, in Proceedings 11th International Symposium on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting, pp 635–644 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 24, 2015

By Stephen Mansfield, Johannes Schoeman

In August 2006 a technical alliance was formed between Orica Mining Services and Century Mine to provide blasting solutions. The alliance is in the form of a Rock to Specification (R2S™) service, one of Orica’s Blast Based Services (BBS™). The ultimate goal was to facilitate the rapid expansion of material movement from 26 to 41M m3 (34 to 53M yd3) per annum while maintaining a reliable ore supply to the mill.

Jan 1, 2010

The Kalgoorlie Golden Mile is proposed as an Archaean volcanogenic-type deposit, modified and redistributed along later-developed structures. Rich pyritctelluride and Green Leader gold mineralization is associated with the end phase of basic volcanism and, in a general sense, is confined to a broad interface zone between the products of marine basic volcanism and later acid volcanism. There is virtualIy no ore associated with the main body of acid volcanics.Green Leader is the local name of a type of ore that occurs at some igneous rock contacts in association with graphitic sediments and layered acidic tuffs. It is characteristicalIy green, of various shades, and commonly yields very high gold assays, the reasons for which are not apparent in hand specimen.Carbonates, carbonaceous shales, tuffites, rich gold ores, and acid and intermediate dykes, alI indicating a common heritage, are features common to the main ore hosts, viz. the Paringa Basalt (Calc Schist) and theGolden Mile Dolerite ("Quartz Dolerite Greenstone").Several probably related fracture systems have reconstituted most, but not all, of the original deposits into a large number of steep tabular lodes.Includes two sets of discussions and comments from later Proceedings volumes.

Jan 1, 1974

By H. F. Maulson

For the benefit of those who are not familiar with the history of the western Provinces-Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta-as regards our natural resources, a few words of explanation may be in order before taking up the consideration of the Mines Act of 1930. In 1867, The British North America Act was passed by the Imperial Parliament. That Act, which is our constitution, created a union between the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Upper and Lower Canada (now known as Ontario and Quebec respectively) under the name of the Dominion of Canada. Provision was made therein for embracing other parts of Canada from time to time. That portion of Canada which today comprises the Provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta and the lands to the north of them, was then known as Ruperts Land and the North West Territory. In the year 1670, King Charles II had granted by Letters Patent to Prince Rupert and his associates, known as ?The Governor & Company of Gentlemen Adventurers of England, Trading into Hudson's Bay?, commonly known as the Hudson's Bay Company, the lands and territories therein described, being roughly all the lands adjacent to and west of Hudson's bay; also the gold and silver to be found or discovered therein and other rights as more fully described in said Letters Patent. The land so granted was called 'Ruperts Land'.

Jan 1, 1930

By C Fischer

The introduction of digital communications technologies into the underground mining industry, in both coal and hard rock mining, has enabled high bandwidth applications to be applied in the mining industry. Digital networks based on 802.11 b/g/n open Wi-Fi standards have allowed numerous applications to be run over a single communication backbone. One of the many important applications is the tracking of personnel and equipment via RFID Tags. This tracking application has formed the basis of a Proximity Detection System or Collision Avoidance System (Schiffbauer and Mowrey, 2001; Kent, Fischer and Schiffbauer, 2011) thereby improving safety and increasing control in the mining environment. This paper discusses the growth of digital technology as the backbone for communications in underground mining applications. This growth has allowed the ‘convergence of technologies’ (occurring in the general business world) to be available to mine operators in general and underground mine operators in particular. Mine Site Technologies’ involvement with major mining companies and mining equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in developing and supplying their communication systems is also discussed.The latest technical requirements and specifications for communication systems for underground and open cut mines will be reviewed.

Nov 22, 2011

By S. Saluja

El presente texto describe las aplicaciones de los pernos de roca como un sistema de sostenimiento en la minería. Asimismo, se comparan los distintos tipos de pernos de roca, se muestran los pernos de roca de madera y la función de los tijerales de sostenimiento en la prevención de la comba del techo.

May 1, 1981

By Unkown

To the Membership of the Institute Gentlemen: The Mineral Industry of Canada in 1948 The preliminary estimate issued by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics and tabulated in the Bulletin of January, 1949, indicated that the value of Canada's mineral production in 1948 reached an all-time high of $808,180,216, showing an increase of 25 per cent over the previous record of $644,696,007 established in the preceding year. The output value of metallics was increased by 22.4 per cent; of fuels, by 43.7 percent of other non-metallics, by 19 per 'cent; and of structural materials, by 16.8 per cent. The value of metals produced in 1948 at $483,770,759, was about $87,000,000 more than in the previous year. There were substantial increases in the tonnages of copper, lead zinc nickel, and other base metals produced, but the rises in market prices for such metals accounted for most of the gains in output values. Production of gold at 3,495,403 ounces valued at $122,339,105 indicated an increase in volume of approximately 500,000 ounces and an increase in value of 14 per cent. Despite the benefits provided under the Emergency Gold Mining Assistance Act 1948 the volume of gold produced in the year was still nearly 2,000,000 ounces less than the record of 5,300,000 ounces established in 1941. The value of mineral fuels produced in 1948, at $158,787,255, was 44 per cent above the 1947 total. Coal production at 18,431,250 tons valued at $107,298,757, while substantially higher than in the preceding year was still half a million tons below the record reached in 1942. Striking developments in the Leduc field in Alberta were responsible for bringing the output of crude petroleum in the year to a new high of 12,098,166 barrels, valued at $36,858,959.

Jan 1, 1949

By E A. G Marques, P M. Dight, T A. V Costa, K Mercer

Brazilian banded iron formation (BIF), known as ‘itabirite’, is the main host rock for iron ore in the Iron Quadrangle mines, Brazil. Their geneses are controversial and it is agreed that diagenetic, metamorphic and tectonic events, as well as weathering processes, were responsible for the iron concentration. In addition, it is understood that weathering processes are mainly responsible for reducing the original high intact rock strength, and for generating deep weathered profiles with low strength rocks commonly observed in Vale’s mines.A considerable amount of work has been done to correlate the macro and micro aspects of the itabirites as physical, chemical and geotechnical characteristics that directly or indirectly affect the intact rock strength; however, it is not yet clearly understood what effects the weathering processes have on the strength reduction of these rocks and its associated impact on pit slope stability. This forms a key focus of the lead author’s current research work.This paper presents a review of the geological, geotechnical and weathering characteristics of the itabirites, and early results for the evaluations of fresh itabirites from the PhD thesis research being undertaken by the authors at the Australian Centre for Geomechanics, School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, The University of Western Australia, sponsored by Vale SA.The results showed that to evaluate the density and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) correlation, not only the porosity but also the geological features should be considered, as they are responsible for data dispersion; however, the presented data suggested a trend that provides the confidence to develop advanced studies and a data population increment to establish proper correlations to support a reliable UCS method.CITATION:Costa, T A V, Dight, P M, Mercer, K and Marques, E A G, 2015. An overview of the weathering process, preliminary density and unconfined compressive strength correlations for fresh itabirites in vale mines on the western side of the Iron Quadrangle, Brazil, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2015, pp 241–254 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 13, 2015

By Homer J. Ballinger

The Krueger property was examined by an engineer of the Bureau of Mines in September 1943. The records of 23 old drill holes indicated an appreciable body of ore without delimiting the deposit. It appeared that additional drilling might increase this reserve sufficiently to justify mining. Accordingly, the Bureau of Mines drilled 5 churn-drill holes and 19 diamond-drill holes on the Krueger tract. The last of these holes concluding the Bureau?s project was completed in April 1947.

Jan 1, 1948

By J T. Carswell

Best practice mine sampling should provide a detailed quantification of all potential sources of error at each stage of sampling, sample preparation and assaying.Quality assurance (QA) should include testing for and quantifying potential sampling errors, and should be the basis for establishing ongoing sampling protocols, should set error limits and define quality control (QC) procedures. QA should be within the framework of Theory of Sampling (TOS) but may not involve the estimation of the sampling constant and the application of Gy’s formula.Best practice QC should be carried out efficiently and in a timely and cost-effective manner with regular reporting against the guidelines established by QA.This paper provides an assessment of, and checklist for, current best practice sampling QA/QC with examples from operating gold mines including the QA/QC of underground (UG) reverse circulation (RC) grade control.CITATION:Carswell, J T, 2017. Best practice sampling QA/QC for gold and base metal mining – including how to assess the applicability of underground reverse circulation grade control sampling, in Proceedings Tenth International Mining Geology Conference 2017, pp 297–304 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 20, 2017

By Michael Perch

The fact that coal is a complex organic material and heterogeneous in composition has made its study extremely difficult, particularly in regard to obtaining a fundamental concept of the processes involved in the formation of coke. It has been stated recently that coals are natural polymers and that in a complex reaction such as occurs during carbonization the differences between coals are quantitative and not qualitative. Such being the case, it would be expected, therefore, that a series of coals subjected to exactly the same conditions of coking would produce results that should be related quantitatively to the chemical analyses of the individual coals. In the past, however, this fact was not generally recognized and consequently many empirical test methods were devised for testing coals. The interpretation of the results obtained depended upon comparing a set of data with other data on coals of known characteristics. The testing procedure had to be con- ducted in precisely the same manner each time and not the least requirement in making the interpretation was experience. The test methods varied from those utilizing a gram of coal to the plant-scale tests in which one or more ovens were charged with the test coal. The aim had been principally to find some simple, inexpensive means by which the coke-making and other properties of coal could be predicted. It is not necessary to emphasize the importance of these endeavors, for anyone acquainted with the problems involved in the selection of coals for making coke is well aware of the time and expense involved in making a series of definitive tests.

Jan 1, 1949

By Carlandrea Albonico, Salvatore Miranda

The paper describes an innovative geotechnical engineering solution that has been provided within the scope of the Galataport Project, in Istanbul, Turkey. Among all interesting geotechnical works included in the Project, this paper presents the design principle, adopted technologies and performance controls related to the Multi- Purpose Bottom Plug (MPBP). This original geotechnical engineering solution has been employed for the deep basement excavation in Karaköy and consists of a combination of seepage control, ground improvement, and load bearing elements, which have been executed with double-fluid jet grouting, pseudo-elliptical jet grouting and permanent micropiles, respectively. The paper highlights the importance of employing cutting-edge technologies within the foundation engineering field and state-of-the-art electronic control devices, in parallel with the essential human expertise, in order to obtain the desired results in this high-profile Project.

Nov 1, 2022

By Wayne E. Tuomi

The mining industry is faced with a pressing problem; that is, to develop more efficient methods of extraction, handling and upgrading-techniques that will do the job faster and better than ever before. New techniques require new machines, or applications of new and improved materials that can be used to modify and improve existing machine and equipment designs. The traditional approach has been to increase productivity by increasing equipment size. Prognostication indicates that the trend toward larger equipment sizes and capacities will continue as one answer to the challenge imposed by future increases in mineral demands. But what is the limit on the continued growth of equipment size? Until about 1930, there was a very definite limit-a limit imposed by the strength of the steels and the power plants then available. The equipment engineer had come to an impasse: even though it was easily possible, for instance, to triple the size of a bucket, it had become impractical to correspondingly enlarge the boom, the counterweight, and the power plant.

Jan 3, 1967

By Chris Mark

Perhaps the most significant development in coal mine ground control during the last century was the introduction of roof bolting during the late 1940's and 1950's. From an engineering standpoint, roof bolts are inherently more effective than the wood timbers they replaced. Roof bolts promised to dramatically reduce the number of roof fall accidents, which then claimed hundreds of lives each year, and they were initially hailed as "one of the great social advances of our time." Roof bolting also emerged at a time of rapid technologic transformation of the coal industry, and greatly accelerated the transition to trackless, rubber-tired face haulage. The U.S. Bureau of Mines quickly became the new roof support's strongest advocate. Some state agencies and miners were skeptical at first, but nearly everyone was soon won over. Case histories were reported showing that roof falls could be largely eliminated while productivity increased dramatically. Little wonder that, in the words of one contemporary observer, "roof bolting has been adopted more rapidly than any other new technology in the history of coal mine mechanization." Yet by the end of the 1950's, it was clear that roof fall fatality incidence rates had actually increased. It would be another decade before the superior ground support provided by roof bolts would clearly save lives, The story of how roof bolting was implemented by the mining industry, but took so long to live up to its promise, is a fascinating example of the interaction between economics, technology, regulation, and science. It still has important lessons for today.

Jan 1, 2002

By G. Y. He

The large-scale 8.53m×3.96m (28?×13? F/F) SAG mills was first applied in Donggua Hill Copper Mine which processes 13,000 tons ore per day. The crushing and grinding circuit went into operation in the Donggua Hill plant in October 2004. However, at the beginning, the productivity of grinding only reached 58% of the capacity expected and some indexes of the crushing and milling circuit didn?t meet the requirements. Especially, the total load of the 8.53m×3.96m (28?×13? F/F) SAG mills was up to 34%~41% (25%~30% designed)and some hard rocks with the size of 25~70mm, which can?t be treated as a medium or even would be crushed and make larger ores or steal balls necessary, were seriously accumulated in the SAG mills. Consequently, they occupied the effective mill volume which in turn reduced the efficiency of the SAG mills and increase the energy consumption. In order to solve the problem of accumulation in the SAG mill and increase its productivity, some measures were taken, such as passing more hard pebble through the grate at mill dis-charging end, changing the type of steal balls and so on. And the results showed that these measures functioned well and had good effects, which is that the filling percentage of the SAG mills has been reduced to 26%~29% from 34%~41% with the composition of particle sizes improved a lot and the productivity increased by 77.4% reaching up to 13,380 tons per day.

Jan 1, 2014

By Mengmeng Gai

This paper introduces a model-based automatic object recognition and registration framework to assist heavy equipment operators in rapidly perceiving 3D working environment at dynamic construction sites. A video camera and a laser scanner were utilized in this study to rapidly recognize and register dynamic target objects in a 3D space by dynamically separating target object?s point cloud data from a background scene for a quick computing process. A smart scan data updating method has been developed which only updates the dynamic target object?s point cloud data while keeping the previously scanned static work environments. Extracted target areas containing 3D point clouds were orthographically projected into a series of 2D planes with a rotation center located in the target?s vertical-middle line. Prepared 2D templates were compared to these 2D planes by extracting SURF features. Point cloud bundles of the target were recognized, and followed by the prepared CAD model?s registration to the templates. The field experimental results show that the proposed rapid workspace modeling method can significantly improve heavy construction equipment operations and automated equipment control by rapidly modeling dynamic target objects in a 3D view.

Aug 1, 2013

By Y. Wang

Wet magnetic separation methods for recovering hematite and chromite fines and ultrafines are investigated in this paper. These methods include wet high intensity and high gradient magnetic separations, carrier or "piggy-back" magnetic method, magnetic field-induced aggregation and magnetic seeding. This investigation indicates that wet magnetic separation is more efficient for fines and ultrafines whereas other methods can be used to enhance the particle aggregation and/or the magnetic response. The magnetic behaviour of these minerals with respect to magnetizing field, particle size and temperature is also presented.

Jan 1, 1993

A comprehensive analysisof rock structures in non-oriented (axially oriented) drillcore is now available (Laing, in press). The system embodies new concepts which better equip the geologist and engineer to deal from the outset with optimising the acquisition of structural information in drillcore, logging, interpreting, and graphically presenting the results. The few existing techniques for determining orientations of structures are augmented by a wide range of new techniques, and all are brought together into two solution types by considering the underlying Euclidean geometries. Analysis of these solution types in terms of what data are required to implement each solution and what assumptions need to be made, leads to strategies which facilitate intelligent design of different drilling programs for blind and outcropping situations. Drillcorc is variably structurally fertile, depending on the number of different structures present. This concept fosters the selective logging only of the more fertile core. Drillholes are also variably fertile, depending on their orientational relationship to the structures in the host rocks. Structural parameters are either vectorial or non-vectorial. Vectorial structures parameters comprise normal structural orientations plus polar vectors like vergence, younging, shear sense and so on. They can be determined by one of two solution types: external solutions, which use an external reference structure to fix the drillcore and thus permit orientation of all structures within that core, and internal solutions, which use orientational data from a selected structure at three or more different drillhole orientation to determine the unique orientation of that structure, without reference to any external structure.

Jan 1, 1990