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By J. S. Stachulak

The Diesel Emissions Evaluation Program (DEEP), a research consortium formed in 1997 by Canadian mining companies, labour unions, and provincial and federal government departments, completed its work by mid-2006. This program, in which Vale Inco participated with both direct funding and in-kind contributions, investigated the ability of currently available technology to significantly reduce underground concentrations of diesel particulate matter (DPM) with high efficiency and low maintenance over a long-term period (years of life).While DEEP?s testing showed that engine maintenance is a critical component for lowering DPM, it was clear that reduction of DPM to the very low target levels of ~0.05 mg/m3 was not possible with maintenance alone. The best candidate technology for achieving low DPM levels was particulate filter systems. Furthermore, successful deployment of such systems was highly dependent on removing them from having to rely on human intervention for their regeneration. The search continues within Vale Inco to identify a reliable and rugged system.

Jan 1, 2009

By Beth Robinson

This first of two articles on the Second Mexican Mining Rail Excursion describes some of the more casual experiences participants enjoyed on last fall’s rail tour of major Mexican mining operations. In this article, Beth Robinson, a graduate student at Colorado School of Mines, describes trip organizers, participants, and some of the unique events occurring during the two-week excursion. Next month, part two of the series will highlight various Mexican mines and plants.

Jan 1, 1982

By D. Küster, G. Franken, P. Schütte, J. Vasters

The CTC (Certified Trading Chains) mineral certification system has been piloted in Rwanda since late 2008. CTC project implementation is jointly driven by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) and the Rwanda Geology and Mines Authority (OGMR), in cooperation with other national stakeholders. Five Rwandan mineral producers participate in the CTC project with their flagship mining concessions. Based on independent third-party audits, CTC certifies supply chain due diligence measures of these companies engaged in the artisanal mining sector through on-the-ground assessments of mining conditions, transparency, as well as mineral origin and traceability. The CTC system thus allows responsible mineral producers and their clients to verifiably demonstrate supply chain due diligence and good governance in conflict-affected and high-risk areas.

Jan 1, 2011

By Ö. Kaya

The removal of gangue minerals from three different graphite ores (Inebolu, Akdag?madeni and Çoraklidere) from Turkey by acid leaching was studied. Acid leaching experiments were applied to the flotation bulk concentrates, which were obtained in determined optimum conditions after preliminary flotation tests. The effects of acid type, acid concentration, leaching temperature and leaching time on the dissolution of gangue minerals were studied. The most suitable leaching conditions were determined to be 20% HCl + 4% HF for acid type and concentration, 85 ºC for leaching temperature and 4 hours for leaching time. After removing the gangue minerals at these optimum conditions, the total carbon contents of the samples from Inebolu, Akdag?madeni and Çoraklidere increased from 23.51% to 40.07%, from 37.93 to 60.47% and from 42.28 to 59.47%, respectively.

Jan 1, 2009

By K. Short

Over the past several years, the mining and minerals market was overloaded with discussions around reviving mature terminologies like distributed control systems (DCS), programmable logic controllers (PLC), and the ?new comers?: hybrid control systems (HCS) and programmable automation controllers (PAC) and, in parallel, which technologies would be more appropriate for mining and mineral processing applications. Ten years ago, a careful comparative analysis would make more sense. Control approaches had very distinctive differences where users needed to choose the right approach.

Jan 1, 2012

"Lax, misguided, and dangerous" is Rep. James Santini's description of the official US position on strategic nonfuel minerals. Santini (D-NV), chairman of the House Mines and Mining Subcommittee, criticized the Interior Department for "its long record of benign neglect" regarding the domestic minerals crisis. Santini made his remarks at a news conference at the American Mining Congress convention in San Francisco, where he released his subcommittee report "US Minerals Vulnerability: National Policy Implications." The report-said to be the first major congressional study of the minerals issue by a committee of jurisdiction is the result of a two-year inquiry. The investigation was undertaken, according to the chairman, "because no person or agency in the executive branch of government fully grasps the critical importance of nonfuel minerals to the nation's economy, defense, and quality of life." The report also urges a larger role for the Department of Defense, which has "stood passively by for many years as a consuming by-stander," according to the report. President Carter's incomplete Non-fuel Minerals Policy Review also drew the committee's ire; Santini calls it "a tragic waste that cost tax-payers $3.5 million and the loss of some 13,000 person-days." The subcommittee examined the following issues for its report: • The US minerals industry's inability to meet national raw material needs under a "hodgepodge of contradictory, restrictive, and irrational" federal regulations; • Dependency on foreign sources of strategic minerals in times of "increasing resource nationalism" and "Soviet mineral expansionism;" • National security needs for foreign mineral resources that do not have effective substitutes; • The US government's approach to national minerals policy "amid a growing realization that such a policy does not exist." The subcommittee report includes an analysis of public and private studies on nonfuel minerals and discusses a series of policy problem areas that negatively affect domestic production. Capital formation disincentives, tax policies, antitrust enforcement, environmental laws, health and safety regulations, technical problems, and restricted access to federally-controlled public lands contribute to what Santini calls a "tragic irony." "The irony is that we are a nation vastly rich in mineral resources yet our own government chooses to stifle development of these critical raw materials and thereby increase offshore reliance. The tragedy is that we also are ensuring US vulnerability to severe economic dislocations and a weakening of our national security." In just six years, from 1973-1978, the US trade deficit in nonfuel minerals rose from $2 billion per year to $8 billion, according to the report. The country imports more than 50% of 23 critical minerals, including 100% of its manganese, chromium, cobalt and platinum. The US is promoting its dependence on foreign mineral sources at the very time the security of many of those sources is becoming less certain, the report notes. Santini said the subcommittee investigation revealed a vulnerability that may be more serious and pervasive than that of foreign oil. The US may be able to develop alternate energy resources, but there are no effective substitutes for many nonfuel minerals. The report also discloses that US stockpiles of critical and strategic minerals are of inadequate supply and quality. Holdings of some vital minerals are far below present objectives, and for some there are no holdings at all, according to Santini. To resolve the current crisis, the report makes the following recommendations: • Complete immediately President Carter's Interagency Nonfuel Minerals Policy Review; • Implement (throught the Interior Department) the 1970 Mining and Minerals Policy Act; • Create an Office of Energy and Minerals with the same stature, power, and oversight responsibilities as the Council on Environmental Quality; • Ease federal restrictions on mineral exploration and development on public lands and implement a complete review of public land use policies; •Fund for and fulfill US nonfuel minerals stockpiling objectives; •Increase federal funding for non-

Jan 11, 1980

By D. A. Lindsey

Gravel lithology affects the quality of aggregate because different rock types in gravel have different physical and chemical properties. The lithologic composition of alluvial gravel reflects the composition of its source terrane and the variable effects of weathering and transport on each rock type. This report discusses lithologic controls on aggregate quality in the mountain-front environment of the Colorado Front Range. Lithologic controls on aggregate quality of gravels were evaluated using pebble count data. Gravel lithology along the Front Range shows both temporal and regional variation. The principal variable in gravel lithology is quartz plus quartzite, of which quartzite is commonly more abundant. Large quantities of metaquartzite derived from the mountain front southwest of Boulder, Colo., were dispersed northeastward during deposition of the oldest Front Range gravels. Average quartz plus quartzite is greatest in the oldest gravels. Aggregate quality is probably enhanced by large quantities of quartzite. Abundant volcanic rocks in gravel may enhance aggregate quantity, but such occurrences are local in extent. Abundant sedimentary rocks in gravel, mainly sandstone near the mountain front, may decrease aggregate quality.

Jan 1, 2002

By Steve Klein

The Transbay Downtown Extension (DTX) in San Francisco involves the construction of a large-span tunnel with a width ranging from 43 to over 60 feet. The tunnel will be excavated using the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), also known as the Sequential Excavation Method (SEM), in highly fractured and sheared rock. This paper discusses the FLAC (Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua) analyses that were completed for conceptual design of the tunnel support system and to develop surface settlement estimates for the evaluation of measures to protect existing buildings located above the tunnel from damage.

Jan 1, 2008

By Eldon L. Abbott, Rebecca K. Bolan

The Florida Department of Transportation, Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise is studying the feasibility of a 1128 meter (3,700 foot) vehicular tunnel to provide direct access for Port of Miami traffic to/from I-395, I-95, SR-836 (Dolphin Expressway) and Miami International Airport. Both Bored and Immersed Tube tunnels were evaluated and re-evaluated for constructing two, two-lane, 11.9 meter (39-foot) diameter tunnels beneath the Main Shipping Channel lying between Watson Island and the Port of Miami on Dodge Island in Biscayne Bay, Miami, Florida, USA. Bedrock Geology of South Florida is predominately very permeable, vuggy limestone with sand seams and occasional voids. Groundwater inflows in deep cut-and-cover excavations, tunnel buoyancy, grouting, maintenance of Port operations and potential/possible environmental impacts to Biscayne Bay were significant issues.

Jan 1, 2005

By Bob Rautenberg

The Construction of Tunnel and Edison Force Mains contract involves the installation of two new force mains to provide a redundant means for sewage conveyance from Middlesex County Utility Authority?s (MCUA) Edison Pump Station on the northern shore of the Raritan River to the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant on the southern shore. The force mains will be installed in a 1,192 m (3,910 lineal foot) long tunnel with a 4.09 m (13'-5') inside diameter, fully gasketed precast concrete segmental lining, which is to be tunneled underneath the Raritan River utilizing an Earth Pressure Balance TBM. The tunnel is anticipated to encounter flowing soils near and beneath the river. Two new 60-inch diameter Centrifugal Cast Fiberglass Reinforced Polymer Mortar force mains will be installed within the tunnel leaving an open utility corridor above the force mains for future consideration. The project also includes the design and construction of two slurry wall shafts with associated piping. The paper will provide an overview of design and provide a case history of the construction of the tunnel and highlights of the construction methods implemented to date.

By B. Moore, Y. J. Zhang

In today’s competitive dimensional stone business environment, use of available technology is critical to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage. Awareness of improvements in diamond cutting technology, operation planning/scheduling, and geotechnical data manipulation/implementation are the keys to success. This paper presents the modern techniques of limestone sawing and quarrying developed and adopted by Indiana Limestone Company, Inc.(ILCI).To fulfill the growing market demands, ILCI’s quarries are committed to deliver planned quantities of all type of stone blocks in a variety of different colors, sizes, and textures. This involves scheduling which quarry ledges should be mined and when in order to minimize unnecessary inventory buildup. Challenges associated with ILCI’s operation are discussed and summarized in the closing of this paper.

Jan 1, 2004

Preface The intention of this paper is to provide the reader with knowledge gained here at Memorial University regarding the practical use of the Bruker SDD x-ray detector for applications in image analysis. Included below are descriptions of the detector’s characteristics and observations regarding precautionary use. What is described below is relevant to the XFlash® model 3001 detector only, whereas the model 4010 is the new and currently available detector. The manufacturer has provided up-to-date information and a figure that presents very different behaviour relative to the characteristics described in this paper. That information and figure is also included here as an addendum (see figure 9). Introduction It has been more than two decades since an image analyzer has been proposed based on the unique imaging characteristics and spatial resolution provided by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) together with energy discriminating x-ray (EDX) acquisition (Reid et al, 1984). From the inception of technique, technology of the day has played the major role for making applications increasingly more practical. Computers, digital imaging, and softwares together with computer automation of modern digital SEMs have all played their part in advancing the technique to where it is today.

Jan 1, 2007

By B. R. Zernich

Advances in tunneling technology, such as Earth Pressure Balance and Slurry Shield methods, have allowed the tunneling industry to construct tunnels in increasingly difficult ground conditions. In recent years, a number of civil projects including large diameter train tunnels, subway tunnels, water tunnels, sewer tunnels, and combined sewer tunnels have been successfully completed deep beneath the water table in soft ground conditions utilizing modern day Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM). With the increase in difficult ground conditions and higher water pressure comes the inherent need to utilize compressed air to gain access to the TBM?s cutterhead and cutting tools. This paper focuses on one such instance in Los Angeles, CA in which Traylor Brothers Inc. performed a cutterhead intervention by compressing the heading of an 11-foot diameter tunnel to approximately 3 bar gauge pressure. This paper focuses on the environmental controls used to manage ventilation, oxygen levels, temperature, and pressure, as well as discusses the problems associated with toxic gases and the increased risk of fire. The paper will also cover the physical science of the environment and the increased risks of performing basic job functions while in a compressed air heading.

Jan 1, 2009

By Paul C. Schmall, Arthur B. Corwin, Derek Maishman

Ground freezing occupies a unique and important niche in underground construction, fulfilling a geotechnical need that is difficult, or sometimes impossible, to fulfill through other groundwater control and excavation support methods. Where complete groundwater cut-off and in-built ground support are required, and deep excavation is planned or the work occurs in difficult or disturbed ground, ground freezing offers the assurance critical to safe and timely construction. Compared with other groundwater cut-off or excavation support methods, a frozen wall is easily connected to underlying bedrock and will also adhere to adjoining subsurface installations or obstructions, if necessary, to provide a composite cutoff structure. Ground freezing is effective in all soil and ground conditions and has been used for emergency situations in disturbed, displaced or loose ground, where detailed soil characterization could not practically be performed.

Jan 1, 2005

North American Coal is a subsidiary of NACCO Industries. Originally founded as Cleveland and Western Coal in 1913, North American Coal took its present name in1925. Today, North American Coal is one of the 10largest coal producers in America, mining about 32Mt/a (35 million stpy). The company mines primarily lignite for electric utilities. Its current operations are in North Dakota, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. In addition, North American Coal’s Florida operation provides dragline mining services for quarries that produce more than 18Mt/a (20 million stpy) of limerock. With more than 1.8 Gt (2 billion st)of bituminous and lignite coal re-serves in the United States, North American Coal constantly seeks new technologies to keep its operations modern, productive and cost competitive.

Jan 1, 2004

By A. B. Cecala

Enclosed cabs have been used for many years to isolate workers on mobile equipment in the mining industry for health and safety reasons. These enclosed cabs create a microenvironment for workers where they can be either more protected or more vulnerable to contaminants. Over the past decade, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has performed substantial research efforts to improve the air quality inside enclosed cabs of both underground and surface mobile mining equipment. In these efforts, NIOSH has partnered with mining companies, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and manufacturers of filtrations and pressurizations systems in a synergistic effort to reduce respirable dust and improve the air quality inside these enclosed cabs. Various field studies over this time have shown an array of results ranging from very minor to very significant reductions (protection factor: 3 ? 89) in respirable dust levels inside these enclosed cabs. In addition to and concurrent to the field work, NIOSH also performed a comprehensive laboratory study to evaluate all the factors involved in cab filtration and pressurization systems and identified those factors that were most significant for an effective system. From this comprehensive research effort, the key components for an effective filtration and pressurization system have been identified in an effort to provide the best air quality, thus minimizing the respirable dust exposure, to equipment operators inside of enclosed cabs of mobile mining equipment.

Feb 27, 2013

By P. Anyon

Exposure to the microscopic particles in diesel engine exhaust can lead to serious health problems, including the incidence of cancers, heart disease and increased susceptibility to respiratory ailments such as pneumonia, bronchitis, and asthma. In Australia, mining companies and state government authorities are actively responding to this major occupational health and safety issue. Their initiatives place considerable emphasis on routine monitoring of diesel particle matter (DPM) exhaust emissions, both for engine benchmarking and as a part of routine engine maintenance. Implementation strategies follow two complementary paths: determination of individual engines? emission signatures combined with periodic engine re-certification; and co-operatively agreed industry-government engine maintenance programs, which are subject to audit. Both strategies place heavy reliance on real-time measurement of DPM concentrations in engine exhaust, using ruggedized instrumentation, mainly based on laser light scattering photometry. Adding value to this cooperative approach, industry has also collectively funded a government agency to design and manage a database, into which the results of all-routine DPM testing can be uploaded directly by individual mines. This win-win outcome is a great example of how cooperative action between governments and industry can deliver the goods: in this case, a safer working environment, more efficient energy use and the capacity to benchmark performance with industry peers.

Jan 1, 2009

By E. Bakhtavar

Finding a ?practical spacing between the holes? for use of the expansive mortars is an important problem in dimension stone quarries. Objective has been to first introduce a relationship between this spacing and the dependent parameters in such a way that the required size and shape of the blocks is produced with the maximum efficiency and safety, minimum wastage, conservation of reserves and protection of environment. For this purpose, a dimensional analysis was used. On the basis of granite and marble rock types in Iran two separate relations are hence established to calculate the practical spacing between the holes.

Jan 1, 2011

By K. J. Stanaway

Major world ilmenite and rutile accumulations reveal similar regional geology and Proterozoic age deeper crustal source rocks. During crustal collision titanium crystallizes as ilmenite and rutile at buried sites of high pressure and temperature rock metamorphism. Hydrothermal activity can convert titanium minerals to rutile, but titanium migration and enrichment seem only local. Many melts crystallize rocks with iron-titanium oxides in solid solution, but titanium enrichment at economic scale takes place in basic intrusive melts often associated with anorthosites and charnokite. Sedimentary placer enrichments have formed since the Proterozoic with water-resistant ilmenite, and rutile segregating by gravity from quartz sands deposited from flowing water. Placers have residual, alluvial, strand and shallow marine variants. Time, organic acids, and sand permeability play lead roles in the leaching of iron from ilmenite during weathering and diagenesis.

Jan 1, 2005

By Leon Maday, Dan L. Pecha, Jeremy Johnson, Daniel N. Adams

The Brightwater conveyance system includes 26 km of tunnels, a 130 mgd pump station, 2 km of micro tunnels, and a 2.4 km outfall. The tunnels extend from Woodinville to Puget Sound through varying soils in 1 to 7 bars of hydrostatic pressure and depths to 185 m. The tunnel diameters range from 4 to 6 m and include numerous lining systems. This paper highlights major shaft and tunnel design, including dual cellshafts, multiple pipe configuration tunnels, polymer concrete segments, and the use of a one pass lining designed to convey high pressure effluent.

Jan 1, 2005