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By Farzad Moradpouri, Kianoush Barani, M. R. Azadi

The aim of this paper is to assess the effect of microwave treatment on copper sulfide ore for ball milling and bed breakage. Liberation analysis of ground products in eight size fractions showed that microwave pretreatment liberated more chalcopyrite particles from the bed breakage product than the ball mill product. In bed breakage, microwave pretreatment caused a 2% increase in chalcopyrite liberation on average. Microwave pretreatment produces more elongated particles in ball milling and more rounded particles in bed breakage, respectively. Microwave pretreatment produces coarser chalcopyrite particles with a wide range of sizes. This effect is more significant in bed breakage compared with ball milling. Micro-flotation test results showed that in ball milling, treated and untreated materials have similar metallurgical performance and there is a little difference (1%) between the average Cu recovery values. However, in bed breakage, the average recovery for the treated materials is about 5% higher than the untreated materials.

Jul 8, 2021

By Luis M. Tejada C.

La mina Tintaya es un yacimiento skarn de cobre, que por su disarmonía litológica, complejidad estructural y fuerte tectonísmo acontecido, origina diferentes tipos de inestabilidades en los tajos operativos, constituyendo un cierto grado de vulnerabilidad a la seguridad por los fenómenos conocidos como caída de rocas y deslizamientos. En ese sentido, el presente texto señala las curvas del desarrollo de la ruptura en los taludes altos de Tintaya en sus fases progresiva y regresiva, así como una metodología geotécnica que defina el grado de riesgo en taludes inestables para adoptar controles de mitigación de los mismos. A ello, se instalaron redes de instrumentación de campo; conformados por extensómetros electrónicos y prismas asociados al sistema de monitoreo robotizado, ambos en tiempo real.

Sep 14, 2009

By F. Baczek, S. S. Rocks, D. Chaiko, T. Walters

The atmospheric leaching of chalcopyrite concentrates using acidic ferric sulfate lixiviants is well known to suffer from slow leach kinetics and poor copper recoveries. A number of approaches have been proposed for improving both leach kinetics and recoveries in this system. Many of these, while effective, suffer from high CAPEX and/or OPEX. As many mine sites begin transitioning from heap leaching of copper oxides to processing of primary copper sulfides, cost-efficient leach processes that are compatible with existing SX/EW processes will be needed to maintain existing cathode production. To this end, FLSmidth is exploring process options and reactor technology for the hydrometallurgical processing of primary sulfides. One approach that appears to be highly effective at increasing copper recoveries takes advantage of the enhanced reactivity of transitory, surface-defect structures generated during particle fracture. Significant process efficiencies are gained by matching the rate of grinding to the rate of electrochemical leaching in Mechano-Chemical leach processes. The patent-pending FLSmidth® ROL process uses a Stirred Media Reactor (SMRt reactor) to achieve copper recoveries of 97+% in 6 hours or less. This approach overcomes many of the surface passivation problems that have hindered other atmospheric leach processes. New insights to leach mechanisms are presented.

Jan 1, 2015

By Erle C. Donaldson

Bureau of Mines engineers examined the chemical and biological treatment of sewage water designed in one case for reuse and in another for subsurface injection. In the first case discussed, approximately 6 million gallons per day of sewage are treated by the activated sludge process followed by tertiary treatment that includes ion exchange. The renovated water is used in the industrial complex. Liquid industrial waste is sent to a waste disposal facility where it is treated for injection into a deep subsurface formation. In the second case, a community of 3,000 people is using a lagoon sewage treatment system followed by subsurface injection of t- treated effluent. Subsurface disposal is used to avoid growth of algae and weeds in a nearby lake to which the treated effluent was originally discharged. The renovation of municipal water for reuse provides a source of water for industries in a semiarid region and may also provide a source for domestic use in densely populated regions where domestic water requirements have priority over industry needs. In addition both waste treatment systems provide examples of the use of subsurface waste disposal to avoid pollution of surface streams.

Jan 1, 1971

By Richard A. Thomas, Connor B. Brown, Thomas H. Dubaniewicz, Teresa Barone

Electric vehicles powered by lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are being developed by mining vehicle manufacturers as a replacement for diesel-powered vehicles. Explosion-proof (XP) enclosures are frequently employed to enclose electrical ignition sources in gaseous underground mines to prevent the spread of an internal methane-air explosion to a nearby explosive atmosphere. Due to thermal runaway (TR), Li-ion batteries have the potential to cause pressurized explosions in an enclosed structure. Past research has shown the potential for well-confined Li-ion cell TR to drive pressures beyond the conventional pressure specification for XP enclosures. Researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) used an Accelerating Rate Calorimeter (ARC) to induce thermal runaway of Lithium Titanate or Lithium Titanium Oxide (LTO) type 18650 cells enclosed within containers with various volumes and found an inverse power relationship between the TR pressure and available free space. The results were similar in magnitude to that of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells, which were used in prior testing. Temperatures, gas amounts, and TR pressure-rise rates were also recorded. The data indicate that with enough free space, the pressures can be lowered below the conventional pressure specification for XP enclosures.

Feb 1, 2024

By T. Bui, T. Wallmach, S. B. Blancher, A. Back, M. Pierre, V. Delarue, A. Kanzari

This study investigates nickel laterite porosity and its impact on geometallurgical modelling. We performed a detailed mineralogical study on a set of Ni-laterite samples originating from New Caledonia. Samples were analysed after heavy liquid separation by automated SEM (QEMSCAN®). Laboratory and QEMSCAN® modelling results do not correlate well. Ideal physical mineral properties such as mineral densities used in QEMSCAN® modelling do not match the actual physical densities of minerals. The presence of empty or water-filled pores can represent important amounts in minerals and change the overall density of a particle. An adequate modelling of real density separation of minerals and particles should consider the water-filled pores. The first step towards a better simulation was to integrate pores larger than 10 μm in diameter filled with water (density of 1 g/cm3) in the QEMSCAN® database. The results approached, but did not match the physical laboratory results. The second step was to identify nanometer to micrometer sized pores, which could not be identified by QEMSCAN®. It was possible to identify nanometric pores in enstatite, Fe-oxides, serpentine, talc and quartz, and radial aggregates of fibrous Fe-oxyhydroxides with high resolution SEM (HR-SEM). The quantification of those micro-sized pores was performed on 2D HR-SEM images using image-processing techniques developed in Python to calculate the nanometer to micrometer scale pores in each mineral. Despite the limitation of converting 2D imaging into 3D objects, in our case pore sizes and porosities, we were able to calculate a mean value of porosity for each mineral. The integration of this porosity in the calculation of particle densities yielded a good match between the QEMSCAN® model and the laboratory experiment results. Despite the complexity of a strongly weathered material, such as Ni-laterites, a good knowledge of the ore makes it possible to build reliable processing models. Keywords: Mineralogy, geometallurgy, nickel laterites, SEM, QEMSCAN®, porosity, density

Jan 1, 2020

By W. A. Clark, E. H. Dresser

ORE from the Minnesota iron ranges is transported from the mines to the loading docks on Lake Superior over four different railways: the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Soo Line, and Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range, with hauls varying from 60 to 110 miles. For this service a large amount of specialized equipment is used. The steel ore cars are of the hopper type, 24 ft. long, to dump into alternate pockets of the docks, these pockets being 12 ft. long to correspond with the 12 or 24-ft. spacing of the boat hatches. The more recently con-

Jan 1, 1941

By E. Bélisle, Christopher W. Bale, S. Petersen, C. Robelin, K. Hack, J. Melançon, G. Eriksson, A. D. Pelton, P. Chartrand, S. A. Decterov, I. H. Jung, A. Gheribi

The FactSage® package consists of a series of information, database and calculation modules that enable one to access pure substances and solution databases and perform thermochemical equilibrium calculations. FactSage was originally founded by process pyrometallurgists and has since expanded its applications to include hydrometallurgy, electrometallurgy, corrosion, glass technology, combustion, ceramics, geology, environmental studies, etc. With the various modules one can perform a wide variety of thermochemical calculations and generate tables and graphs of complex chemical equilibria and phase diagrams for multicomponent systems. This paper presents examples of recent and current developments in FactSage in areas of particular interest to Dr. David Robertson. These include both ferrous and non-ferrous processing, as well as solidification and refining simulation. The paper also includes reference to the Internet Fact-Web education package.

Jan 1, 2014

By M. H. Pettibone

Sohio Petroleum Company's new L-Bar uranium mill near Grants, New Mexico. refines 2722 kilograms of yellowcake daily from 1360 metric tons of ore produced at Sohio 's J.J. No. 1 mine and other nearby mines. This paper follows the ore from the mine through the various processing steps - semi-autogenous grinding, acid leaching , countercurrent decantation, solvent extraction , ammonium diuranate precipitation, washing and drying, and tailings disposal.

Jan 1, 1978

By Eduardo Luiz Sales Marinho

A Central Termelétrica SOL, ou CTEs 5 e 6, foi construída com o objetivo de fazer o aproveitamento da energia do gás oriundo do processo de coqueificação do carvão mineral realizado em fornos específicos para este fim, em um processo denominado “Coqueria Heat Recovery”. Nesta unidade operacional de responsabilidade da área de energia da ArcelorMittal Tubarão, seguindo o plano plurianual de manutenção nas turbinas Fuji, foi realizado intervenção de manutenção nos dois turbo gerados CTE’s 05 e 06 no ano de 2015. Durante as atividade de inspeção de manutenção foi detectado que existiam trincas nos pés das palhetas encaixadas no rotor da turbina nº6. A partir desta constatação, o equipamento ficou sem confiabilidade para operação continua, precisando de substituição das palhetas danificadas. O trabalho proposto apresenta as alternativas possíveis até a solução definitiva que foi a substituição das palhetas defeituosas por novos spare parts. As possibilidades descritas a seguir, serão o objeto de tomada de decisão até a normalização do equipamento: i) Montar TG e operar com palhetas do ultimo estágio trincadas até a chegada do sobressalentes para troca; ii) Deixar equipamento parado aguardando chegada dos sobressalentes para troca e conclusão da montagem e testes; iii) Remover por usinagem de campo, o ultimo estágio de palhetas do rotor montagem e operação do TG6 até a chegada do sobressalentes vindos da Fuji Japão.

Aug 17, 2017

By S. X. Shi, M. Tan, Y. Q. Li, D. F. Han, Z. B. Han

Bauxite resources in China are mainly diaspore ore with the characteristics of low ratio silicon to aluminum. In order to obtain high quality of alumina product, flotation process is generally used to extract the aluminum from diaspore ore. Small aeration rate is needed for bauxite flotation, which requires air to be controlled accuracy. In addition, productive froth from bauxite flotation is too sticky to effects froth transportation. Air-forced XCF/KYF flotation machines are helpful for aeration control, while self-suction GF flotation machines benefits froth transportation. Zhongzhou aluminum plant of China Aluminum Group (Chinalco) uses 7 series of XCF/KYF /GF combined flotation machines to process bauxite. Air distribution, suspension characteristics, froth flow velocity and Al2O3 recovery were investigated, to evaluate the performance of flotation machines in one series and determine recovery contribution of each cell to the entire flotation circuit.The air distribution degree varies from 3 to 4, which is enough for bauxite floatation process. Froth in the tank could flow smoothly with a flow velocity of 2.4m/min. The recovery of the first KYF-40 flotation cell is the largest. Flotation concentrate of Al2O3 is up to 64.29%, the total recovery is about 75%, and the ratio of Al/Si has reached 10.4.

Jan 1, 2015

By H P. Tardif

This paper briefly describes some of the phenomena encountered when materials are submitted to extremely high pressures, such as those produced by the detonation of an explosive charge placed in contact with the material. It was found that extensive changes take place in the? microstructure of iron and steel. Diffusion-controlled processes, such as the transformation of lamellar pearlite, the recrystallization and grain growth of ferrite, and the homogenization of the pearlite-ferrite structure, can take place within micro-or milliseconds. Mechanical twins can propagate without deviation from ferrite to pearlite, thus indicating a proeutectoid ferrite-pearlite-ferrite orientation relationship. The propagation and interaction of intense stress waves in materials was demonstrated with the use of Armco iron. Finally, a comparison is made of the damage produced in metals by the formation of craters made by explosive shock and by hypervelocity impact. D DRING the last few years, exceptional development has taken place in the field of explosive metallurgy, i.e., the

Jan 1, 1964

By Vladislav Kecojevic

Both Canada and the United States are endowed with significant reserves of mineral resources. Mining industries in these two countries have a strong safety and health culture; skilled, dedicated and well-paid workforce; applications of state-of-the art technologies and high productivity, strict environmental requirements and social responsibility. Both countries are global leaders in safe, economic, productive, environmentally responsible and sustainable mining practices. Mining schools/ departments in Canada and the United States provide a strong and comprehensive education and training, hands-on learning experience, with support for internships and co-op opportunities to prepare graduates for careers not only nationally but also in the global mining industry. While there are many similarities in their industries and mining schools, there are also some differences. This article examines the contribution of mining to the economy, the political climate, the regulatory framework, the investment climate, environmental regulations, the language, the perception of mining, news and press coverage, and the academic landscape in both countries. Opinions, observations and perspectives shared in this article are of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies or positions of any organization, employer or affiliated group.

Nov 1, 2025

By A. Wahab Khair

"This paper presents an analysis of fracture mechanisms in coal subjected to bi-axial state of stresses, indentation of laterally confined coal specimen. Coal specimens were loaded to failure by the straight wedge indenters at various lateral confinement pressures. Strain distribution and acoustic emission characteristics of coal specimens under stress were recorded. The influence lines of vertical forces acting on the horizontal straight boundary of the coal specimen for each type of wedge indenter have been established using holographic interferometry technique. The effects of wedge indenter angle, confinement pressure, and coal anisotropy on fracture types, failure modes, and post-failure conditions were studied. The results indicated that combined application of holographic interferometry and acoustic emission monitoring techniques is not only suitable ·for studying deformability of heterogeneous and microscopically discontinuous material under stress but it also enhances the mode of fracture during the post failure stage. INTRODUCTIONOne of the relevant processes in the coal cutting technology is the application of indentation theories. Since most cutting tools in the coal industry are wedge shaped most of the indentation research is found for a wedge shaped tool.A wide range of behavior is found in different rocks subjected to the wedge penetration. A rock which is elastic brittle at standard pressure might become elastic plastic at high confining pressure (Gnirk and Cheatham, 1963). It was also observed that some rocks will merely be crushed and indented by a wedge whereas others will crack and form chips, furthermore the existence or non-existence of chips depends mostly on the geometry of the indenter, type of rock and the depth of penetration (Evans and Murrel, 1958). However, coal cutting technology is mostly explained by models which use rigid wedge to penetrate into a brittle material in which both crushing and chipping will occur (Evans and Murrel, 1958, 1962)."

Jan 1, 1988

By Brian Wilson, Megan Atkinson, Richard Diggle, Nathan Sweeney

"Ruskin Dam, located near Mission, British Columbia, was constructed in 1929 and 1930 and comprises of a concrete gravity dam structure founded on bedrock. At the right abutment, which consists mostly of dense to very dense sands and silt, the dam abuts against overburden soils, and connects to a cutoff wall system consisting of sloping concrete slabs. Significant seepage and piping issues were encountered during first filling of the reservoir in 1930. In 2012, BC Hydro, the owner of the dam, awarded a contract for the construction of seepage control measures at the right abutment, including construction of a plastic concrete cut-off wall extending upstream of the dam, a plastic concrete seepage training wall extending downstream of the dam, tie-in of the new cutoff wall to the dam, consisting of jet grouting of the soils adjacent to the dam to allow for the construction of the special cutoff connecting the cutoff wall to the dam, and construction of additional jet-grouting ground improvement downstream of the dam.Integral to the upgrade was the requirement for the special tie-in cutoff wall, consisting of a highly flexible, impermeable membrane to connect the concrete dam to the new, 1 m thick plastic concrete cutoff wall. The tie-in extends vertically into bedrock through the dam and jet grout columns constructed adjacent and beneath the overhanging portion of the dam at the right abutment. The membrane is required to survive the anticipated earthquake induced deformation between the dam and the abutment soils.This paper describes the processes used to develop a material suitable to meet the specified flexibility and permeability criteria, as well as the innovative construction techniques utilized to construct the slot and place the bituminous material within it. The final dimensions of the slot were in the order of 7 m long by 25 m deep by 0.17 m wide. The bituminous material was placed under a head of water which was required to maintain stability of the slot, and was placed at temperatures in excess of 120 degrees Celsius."

Jan 1, 2017

By Jean-Luc Cornet

As modern conveyors are increasing in size and complexity, their control requirements are becoming more and more critical. In addition to the safety and equipment protection requirements, control systems are now called to implement intelligent drive controls derived from dynamic analysis modelling, as well as to provide fast and accurate diagnostics while keeping operator controls simple. These requirements led to the development of a new and innovative approach to control system development. This paper describes the control philosophy used by Conveyor Dynamics, Inc. (CDI) and some of the key features of our approach to the architecture of control systems.

Jan 1, 1993

By J. P. De Carvalho, R. Dimitrakopoulos

An actor-critic reinforcement learning approach is presented to improve the production of an industrial mining complex by defining shovel allocation and adapting the short-term plan given grade-control decisions. Blasthole data updates the simulated orebody models, which are input into a stochastic grade-control method based on a spatially constrained clustering approach that minimizes the profit-loss function. These aspects are embedded in a discrete-event simulator that defines the material flow from faces to processors. A case study at a copper mining complex shows the methods’ ability to adapt to new information, improving the quality of the material feed and increasing cash flow by 23% compared to a baseline case.

Jun 25, 2023

Rotor speed is one of the key hydrodynamic parameters in froth-flotation and it plays an important role in bubble-particle attachment. Laboratory scale studies for optimizing the rotor speed to achieve maximum flotation rate constant (K) of quartz, ground by ball mill, are. Purity of quartz was 99.4 percent and d80 of ball mill product was 230 µm. Each size fraction was separately subjected to flotation at three different rotor speeds, namely, 1200, 1000 and 800 rpm, and the flotation rate constant was calculated. The results showed that the flotation rate constant was high at the rotor speed of 1200 rpm. The flotation rate constants achieved at 1200 rpm were 8.676, 8.232, 7.818, 7.248, 7.068 and 6.984 min-1forthesize fractions of +300, -300+250, -250+212, -180+150, -150+125 and -125+106 µm, respectively. Keywords: froth flotation, rotor speed, flotation rate constant, ball mill, quartz

Sep 1, 2012

J. E. JOHNSON, JR., New York, N. Y. (communication to the Secretary*).-The discussion of Mr. Henrich's paper took place at a meeting from which I had the misfortune to be absent, and has just come to my attention. I do not wish to let the subject pass without contributing to it a little information which has come into my possession. In 1912, I published a brief note in the Transactions on The Effect of Alumina in Blast-Furnace Slags, giving in tabular form three typical slags used in iron blast-furnace practice, one of them the high alumina slag of, which Professor Richards speaks. That table is reproduced herewith. TABLE 1.-Composition of Slays. 1 3 3 4 5 6 7 CaO by Neutral Ratio Ratio Ratio Al2z03, SiO2, Differ- Substan- Cat Ca0 a A1203 Ratio Per Per ence, ces, CaO Cent. Cent. Per Per Al2O3 + Sioz Sit: SiO2 Cecil_ Cent. Virginia practice 6.5 36.0 54.0 3.5 1.27 1.6S 1.50 Lake-ore practice 13.5 33.0 50.0 3.5 1.08 1.92 1.51 Special experiment... 36.0 24.7 36.8 3.5 0.59 2.90 1.44 It supplies what seems to me convincing evidence that, for the purposes of the iron blast furnace, alumina can be regarded only as a neutral substance, dissolving in the slag and materially altering its viscosity, but not affecting its chemical activity. In subsequent experience with charcoal furnaces, I found the same rule to hold; that the chemical effect of alumina could be disregarded, providing the ratio of the lime and magnesia to the silica were kept constant. This is exactly the experience which Messrs. Dwight and Mathewson had in copper- and' lead-smelting furnaces. I have never seen any evidence or argument adequate to support the contention of Professor Richards-that the alumina acted as a base in the charcoal iron furnace and as an acid in the coke furnace, and that the function of alumina in iron-furnace slags is inherently different from that in copper- and lead-furnace slags-and I am compelled to differ absolutely with his conclusions in that respect.

Jan 9, 1917

By Leandro Carrijo Gomes

O grande desafio para as empresas, principalmente as de grande porte, é ter controles desenvolvidos e simplificados de seus processos eliminando as vulnerabilidades encontradas, aumentando a produtividade, evitando desperdícios assim reduzindo custos e garantindo um bom nível de serviço para seus clientes, sejam eles internos ou externos. Este trabalho tem como objetivo demonstrar os ganhos obtidos com a criação de uma ferramenta automatizada de controle de materiais sobressalentes que são debitados do estoque contábil e que ficam aguardando sua aplicação em eventos de manutenção programados. Para alcançar o objetivo, foi desenvolvida uma transação no sistema SAP que possibilita a inserção de todas as informações necessárias para controle destes materiais eliminando a necessidade de controles paralelos. Com esta nova transação, conseguimos manter a rastreabilidade dos materiais em todas as etapas do processo até a aplicação pelo usuário final, trabalhando dentro do sistema homologado pela empresa, além de reduzir os estoques, devido a ter visibilidade destes materiais pelo setor de planejamento de materiais, evitando compras desnecessárias.

Aug 17, 2017