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By Donald Babbitt

In 1971, during the planning and design stages of a $300 million expansion, the Iron Ore Company of Canada Ltd. through its Engineers, Canadian Bechtel Ltd., came out with a preliminary request for two (2) 10,000 LTPH belt conveyor scale systems. These Systems were to provide weighing accuracies within 2.5% of the iron ore pellets and concentrates in transit on two (2) 72" wide conveyors from the stockpiles to the ships. Each conveyor system would be fed by a rail mounted bucket wheel reclaimer, with the conveyed material moving directly to the ship loaders with no inter- mediate surge and/or storage bins between the stockpiles and the ships. The bucket wheel reclaimer discharge rates would vary from 0-9600 LTPH in cyclic periods, with the periods varying from 1-5 minutes - dependent on the level of the reclaim buckets in relation to the stockpile as well as the slewing rate of the reclaimer. There would be frequent interruptions for bucket wheel repositioning (laterally and vertically), changing ship holds, and trimming ship holds. These frequent zero flow conditions, approximately 500 per 150,000 ton ship, could last 1-5 minutes. In addition, the conveyors on which the scales were to be mounted would be over the water and subject to the wind and cold of Northern Quebec. These Systems would be in use 350 working days of the year and would load 30,000,000 LT/yr. (An average of 90,000/working day).

Jan 1, 1975

By P. J. Brown, R. W. Nice

The Thalanga Copper-Lead-Zinc Concentrator in Northern Queensland was commissioned in early 1990. The design of a flotation process for the sequential production of separate copper, lead, and zinc concentrates has always been a most formidable mineral processing challenge. In 1988-1989 during the process design phase, sized fractions of various samples were subjected to quantitative and qualitative mineral analyses. These analytical techniques are collectively known as modal analysis. Modal analysis aided in the selection of key process treatment parameters for the initial laboratory testwork on the Thalanga ore. The work also guided the flowsheet development and quantified the mineralogically imposed limitations on the separation process. This paper describes in general terms how these modal techniques were used to guide the program of laboratory flotation testwork which constituted the flowsheet design phase of this project. During these design studies, the primary grind and regrind requirements were deduced and the basic flowsheet configuration selected. Recent operating plant performance data are to illustrate the value of modal methods in addressing complex metallurgical separation problems.

Jan 1, 1995

By M. R. Shahan, W. R. Reed

A laboratory apparatus (shield dust simulator) was designed and constructed to simulate the dust generated during the advance of longwall hydraulic roof supports, or shields. The objective of the study was to develop a tool that could be used to test the hypothesis that foam applied to a mine roof prior to a shield advance could be used to reduce the respirable dust generated during shield advances. This paper will outline the design parameters for the development of the system, as well as describe baseline testing of coal and limestone dust. Results show the average instantaneous respirable dust concentrations that occurred during simulated shield advance. Confidence intervals were calculated from the instantaneous respirable dust data to determine the repeatability of the data produced by the device. INTRODUCTION During longwall mining, miners can be exposed to respirable dust that is generated during the advance of hydraulic roof supports or shields. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) researchers have conducted numerous surveys of longwall mining operations, benchmarking the operating practices and dust control measures in use. It has been determined that the shields are responsible for 27% of the respirable dust that is generated on the longwall face [1]. The dust generated by the shield advances ranks second, next to the longwall shearer which is accountable for 43% of the respirable dust generated on the longwall face. The respirable dust generated during the advance of the shields can be a significant contributor to the respirable dust exposure of the mining personnel operating at the longwall face, especially since some of this dust is generated in the walkway. Control systems designed to reduce the dust levels generated during the shield advance have the potential to greatly reduce the respirable dust exposures of the personnel downwind of these activities. One control technology to decrease the dust generated by the shield advances would be to apply a layer of foam to the forward shield-roof interface prior to the shield advance [2]. The blanketed layer of foam would interact with the material located on the top of the shield during the advance, preventing a portion of that dust from becoming entrained in the mine air. This layer of foam would be applied using a foaming nozzle located on the longwall shearer body that would spray foam on the roof surface as the shearer passed. Substantial laboratory work has been completed to determine the feasibility of this type of foam application. NIOSH engineers have classified the various characteristics of foaming agents, using foam expansion ratio and drainage as important properties, as well as developed the mechanical systems required to apply the foam safely to the mine roof [2, 3]. The construction of an apparatus that could simulate the mechanical interaction between the dust-laden shield top and mine roof was necessary to adequately test the hypothesis that foam could be an appropriate control. A team of engineers designed and constructed a shield dust simulator system allowing for in-house testing prior to a full-scale field investigation.

Jan 1, 2019

By Christopher E. Dianora, Matthew Sorrell, Eileen Test

"Constructed between 1939 and 1945, the Rondout-West Branch Tunnel (RWBT) portion of the Delaware Aqueduct is 45 miles (72 km) long. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) first identified suspected areas of leakage from the RWBT in the 1990s. A $1 billion project is underway to mitigate the leakage through the construction of a bypass tunnel around the area of most severe deterioration, a 2.5-mile (4 km) section located beneath the Hudson River. Two shafts, 800 and 900 feet (244 and 274 m) below the ground surface, are being sunk to support the tunnel construction. The deep shafts will be subjected to high groundwater pressures and have been designed to accommodate multiple tunnel portals. This paper discusses the engineering decisions and analyses leading up to the final design. INTRODUCTION Project Background The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) provides over 1 billion gallons (3.7 billion liters) of water to over 9 million residents of the City of New York and surrounding communities each day. This water is stored in upstate reservoirs and conveyed to the City via a system of aqueducts and tunnels. Water is delivered to the City almost completely by gravity and consists of three systems: the Croton, the Catskill, and the Delaware. The Delaware System is the largest of the three and supplies between 50% and 70% of the City’s daily water supply. In the 1990s, the NYCDEP discovered leaks in the central 45-mile-long (72 km) portion of the Delaware Aqueduct known as the Rondout-West Branch Tunnel (RWBT). The leaks release between 15 and 35 million gallons per day (MGD) (132.5 million liters per day) and are concentrated in two areas near Wawarsing and Roseton, New York. As part of the Rondout-West Branch Bypass Tunnel and Wawarsing Repairs Project (Bypass Tunnel Project), the leaks in the Wawarsing area will be repaired by grouting from inside the existing RWBT, and the leaks in the Roseton area will be mitigated by constructing a bypass tunnel parallel to and 1,750 feet (533 m) north of the leaking portion of the existing RWBT. Two deep shafts will be excavated on either side of the Hudson River: Shaft 5B in Newburgh and Shaft 6B in the Town of Wappinger."

Jan 1, 2016

By G. Wonnacott

A model for simulation of gravity regrinding circuits is presented. The model can predict "secondary" density distribution data from a series of "primary" grind/density distribution tests. Thus middlings regrind requirements can be predicted from primary grind data. Traditional methods of regrind design involve lengthy and tedious tests programmes. The model presented herein can considerably reduce the quantity of testwork required for regrind design. The model can also be used to design primary gravity grinding circuits. A parameter estimation scheme and experimental data validating the model are presented.

Jan 1, 1989

By Arthur S. Cornford

According to Arbiter (Reference 1), the ball mill was invented by Brückner in Germany in 1876 and was first used in the United States on ores about 1905. The basic concept was a simple rotating cylindrical drum in which the tumbling action of the charge of material and grinding media resulted in size reduction of the material. Despite the very low mechanical efficiency of this method a number of factors have caused the tumbling mill to remain, by far, the most widely used piece of equipment for mineral grinding. The principal factors influencing this situation have been simplicity of design, ease of manufacture, ready adaptability to familiar material handling layouts and the absence of practical alternatives acceptable to the industry. In the early mills, the material was ground in batches, the mills being charged and discharged through doors in the shell. The shell was supported by means of solid trunnion shafts resting in plain bearings and the drive was accomplished through one of these shafts. In some later batch mills, the mill shell was supported on rollers which were also used to drive the mill. At an early stage, continuous operation was made possible by feeding and discharging the mill through hollow trunnions, the method still in most widespread use. The mechanical and structural design of the early mills was not an onerous engineering task. Norse sense and good practical knowledge were key qualifications. The mill shells had to be heavy enough to withstand the physical abuse they would receive in the field and the bearings had to have low enough unit pressures and sufficient wear retol to ensure several months of operation before the need for replacement occurred. When these requirements were satisfied, stresses developed in the equipment during operation were insignificant and the majority of structural failures were probably due to the use of inferior materials in manufacture. Over the years, the ever present demand for increased productivity has resulted in a steady Increase in the size of units of production equipment, including grinding mills. Arguments have been presented elsewhere, for and against the Idea of a high throughput single line grinding operation as opposed

Jan 1, 1972

By J. B. Lott

The authors' company has recently undertaken a development programme aimed at exploring the relationships between the variables of greatest importance in the design of mixer-settlers for metallurgical solvent extraction applications. Such applications vary from relatively small scale plants treating copper mine waters, nickel containing effluents, etc., where the total flowrates may be of the order of a few hundreds of gallons per minute, to very large scale plants treating several thousands of gallons per minute of leach liquors containing copper, uranium or other metals. This paper outlines the physical and mechanical factors which must be taken into account when designing mixer-settler systems for large scam. solvent extraction plants. The performance of the equipment will also be dependent upon the chemistry of the system, including the kinetics and thermodynamics of the ion exchange reaction itself, the effect of impurities flocculants, surfactants, temperature, etc., but these will not be dealt with here. Much of the laboratory work has been carried out using copper containing solutions and either LIX 64* or LIX 64N* as the solvent dissolved in various grades of kerosene. For simplicity, all the graphs and tables of results which are presented and discussed here will refer to the LIX-copper system, although the conclusions will in many cases be generally applicable to other systems also. The LIX-copper process is now sufficiently well known to obviate the need for a full description, however, an outline flowsheet of the process is shown in Figure 1. The ultimate objective of a laboratory programme for a particular extraction application is to provide data upon which a mixer-settler system can be designed to handle a given throughput of leach liquor and extract from this liquor the maximum quantity of metal for the minimum cost. In other words, the objective is to determine the design and operating parameters which achieve the optimum balance between capital and operating costs. * Trade-marks for General Mills solvents.

Jan 1, 1971

By E. F. C. Ferrett

The benefits derived from the use of main fan evasees or diffusers are well known. If a well designed evasee is fitted to a fan either more air will flow through it or the same air flow rate will be discharged at a lower fan speed. This latter possibility will reduce the air power requirement of the mine, the fan input power and the overall energy costs. Despite these apparent advantages, many reports have been received from the industry of poor evasee performance. After examination, it appears that these problems are often caused by installation difficulties or inaccurate design procedures. The performance of an evasee is affected by several independent factors. Some of these factors describe the evasee geometry whilst others are concerned with the behaviour of the air as it passes through the evasee. This paper shows that the divergence angle is by no means the only ;important parameter which affects evasee performance and that the size of the inlet boundary layer has a significant influence. The performance of evasees of differing geometric shape are compared and the criterion to be used for optimum performance is discussed. It is shown that the commonly used evasee efficiency is a poor indicator of good performance. Recent work by the author and others is evaluated and a simple design. guide discussed. For more sophisticated work, details of a. computer program are provided. Finally, a brief resume of the performance of truncated diffusers is given. Since compressibility effects can be ignored for most mining applications, incompressible flow has been assumed for most of this paper.

Jan 1, 1980

By John C. Bowling

Many recent mine developments in North America are located in remote northern regions with extreme winter temperatures in the range of -20oF to -60°F. In addition, many locations are subject to very heavy snowfall. This paper discusses some of the key considerations in the planning and design of mine plant buildings, particularly concentrators, located in these regions. SUMMARY & CONCLUSIONS The subject is considered under three main headings: I. Building Out line and Structural Frame 2. Wall and Roof Materials 3. Foundations The plan outline of a mine plant building will naturally be governed by the scope and layout of the process equipment it contains. The selection of roof profile, on the other hand, will generally depend upon a number of factors extraneous to the process e.g. snow conditions. When these factors are considered for concentrators in cold locations, a flat or stepped roof will usually be more economical and suitable than a sloping roof. The materials normally used for the structural framework of concentrators are the same as used for other industrial buildings, namely steel, concrete and wood. Structural steel, however, is the most commonly used material for concentrators in

Jan 1, 1971

By Iain Weir-Jones

The efficient operation of an open pit mine presupposes that the slopes are maintained at an angle which closely approaches that of the ultimate stability of the slope. In order to do this in a safe manner, it is essential that the data relating to the behavior of the slopes be monitored and made available, through an instrumentation system, to the appropriate personnel so that soundly-based engineering decisions may be reached with the minimum of wasted effort. In addition to simply detecting potential failures, the system should also define what type of failure is developing; i.e., rotational, wedge, or dilational failures. Providing this data is the prime function of a stability monitoring system. Therefore, in an operating open pit mine, the instrumentation system must provide information which will have a direct bearing upon both the safety and the economics of the operation, as well as provide data which is pertinent to initial design, or to the re-design of slopes where developing instability is found to be a problem.6 It is possible to excavate pit slopes which will remain stable under extremely adverse conditions; however, such slopes would usually be so flat that they would tend to render the operation of a pit uneconomical which might otherwise be mined at a profit. On this basis, all practical pit slopes must be considered to be, to some ex- tent, unstable; if they are not, the design is too conservative and the mine is not returning its maximum profit. To reduce the problem to its fundamentals, one can simply state that the ideal pit slope design produces a slope which stands with zero maintenance for the entire life of the pit and then collapses into the final excavation as soon as the personnel and equipment have been removed. Such a design is impossible to achieve, but the fact remains that an efficient slope would hover on the edge of failure for the life of I the pit. As one retreats from this position, the profitability of the mine decreases because of an unduly conservative design.

Jan 1, 1975

By Peter N. Calder

There is little doubt that the stability of both highwalls and spoil piles is essential to efficient strip mining. Accurate determination of the appropriate geotechnical parameters will pay dividends during mining, but only if the mine operation closely follows the engineering plans which have incorporated These factors. Productivity is invariably higher in mines where failure of highwalls and spoil piles does not occur. This is the result of the reduced rehandle and better working conditions found in stable mines. Control of the waste piles and highwalls also leads to better coal recover since failures can result in the burial of uncovered coal, which is then lost to mining. Safety is an important consideration. The importance of providing a safe working place for employees and of protecting costly mining equipment is hard to overemphasize. For miners, working in areas where instability exists, the degree of hazard involved in their occupation is increased particularly where night operations are involved. It is true, too, that there have been many cases where loading equipment has been buried and severely damaged by failures.

Jan 1, 1980

By P. J. Bethell

Background Increasingly complex geological conditions, with the presence of high ash binders in the mining horizon were encountered at the A.C. I. Dugout Mine near Price, Utah. This led to the production of high ash coal from the Dugout Mine during 2003 and 2004. This material had poor marketability and posed operating issues for the utilities burning the coal. Ash levels increased from typical levels in the 9-12% range to between 15 and 25%. etween 15 and 25%. Reviews of the mine plan and expected geological conditions indicated that further periods of high ash production could be expected. Action Plan Detailed sampling of the mine high ash production was carried out. The majority of the coal from the Dugout Mine is trucked to the Savage Coal Terminal (SCT) at Wellington, Utah where it is stored in multiple piles by quality. Coal at the mine is segregated by a CoalScan 2600, on-line analyzer into high ash, low ash and rock chute (waste material). From these piles, the material is crushed prior to shipment to SCT. The samples obtained from the various high ash piles were subjected to detailed sizing and washability analysis. Once this information was obtained, alternative circuit configurations were evaluated to process this material into a salable product. Water supplies in the arid terrain where the plant is located are scarce. This factor played a part in the final circuit design.

Jan 1, 2008

By Joel Lööw, Jan Johansson, Erik Lund

Digitalization and automation technology offer new possibilities to increase productivity and obtain higher levels of autonomy in mining operations. Introducing autonomous systems into mining is not only a technical problem in terms of effectiveness and efficiency, nor a problem of safety in human-automation interactions. The systems also need to be designed and developed so that they foster healthy and attractiveworking environments. The design and development phase of newmining technology has not been extensively studied previously. To fill this knowledge gap, we investigated technology developers’ basic assumptions about humans and their interactions with the technology they develop. We conducted five semi-structured workshops within an EU funded project concerned with developing digitalization and automation solutions for the mining industry. The data suggests that many critical functions will still be under human control in future mining systems. The results also indicate increased complexity in the interaction between autonomous systems and humans as the technology becomes more advanced. As a result, we suggest that a human perspective, based on sociotechnical principles, should not only be considered in implementing the technology at mines but also in the early conceptual phases of developing and designing the technology. This will ensure healthy and attractive work environments in the future mining industry.

Mar 26, 2024

By X. Wu, E. Topuz

Booster fans have been extensively used in underground mines throughout the world. In the United Kingdom, S. Africa, Germany, and other countries, many non-coal and coal mines employ booster fans. These fans help to reduce air leakage, to provide an improved flow distribution and to reduce the overall cost of mine ventilation. Although booster fans have not been used in coal mines in the United States, a recent survey indicated that many coal mines would install booster fans if they were allowed to do so. With the inclusion of coal mines, the use of booster fans in underground mines is expected to increase substantially in order to maintain air quality and quantity requirements. Several techniques are used, with varying degrees of success, in determination of booster fan locations in an underground ventilation network. These techniques include linear programming, critical-path crashing, CPM together with cutset operations, the out-of-kilter method, and simulation techniques. This paper provides a brief comparison of these techniques, and reports on ongoing research for an improved methodology for the determination of booster fan locations.

Jan 1, 1987

By John L. Halls

Modern business practice dictates that in order to ensure the economic optimization of investment, the size of any investment venture must be such that every increment of capital invested in such a venture yields at least a corporate minimum acceptable rate of return. This practice is based on the premise that alternative investment opportunities capable of yielding the minimum corporate return are immediately available. If a mining corporation is to make the maximum use of its investment funds, any capital investment in a mining property must comply with the above practice. The most important parameter in estimating ore reserves is the cut-off grade which is used to separate material into ore or waste. The cut-off grade is calculated on the basis that material of cut-off grade produces sufficient revenue to cover the estimated costs of mining and processing through to sales, including depreciation and produce a pre-determined profit. Ore reserves so estimated are adequate for determining the magnitude of an orebody but do not provide a sound basis for determining plant size and therefore capital investment in a new property or for expansion consideration on an existing property. From a financial analysis of this one ore reserve it is impossible to ascertain whether each increment of capital investment is providing the minimum acceptable rate of return, Other difficulties associated with the calculation of a cut-off grade including the determination of depreciation and the amount of pre-determined profit to be included in the cut-off grade calculation are outlined in the text. The proposed solution to determine optimum ore reserves and plant size for new properties avoids the complication of calculating a cut-off grade by computing a series of ore inventories using arbitrarily selected cut-off grades. A comparison of the cash flows generated by production from such ore inventories using incremental financial analysis clearly indicates the ore reserve and plant size which will best serve the corporation's investment and metal production goals. Incremental financial analysis of a corporation's operating mines and prospects assists management in assessing the comparative expansion and investment possibilities of each property for increasing or maintaining metal production on a long term basis.

Jan 1, 1969

By Alan Bye

Sandsloot open pit is situated on the northern limb of the Bushveld Complex, 250 km north east of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sandsloot is currently the largest open pit platinum mine in the world and is one of six potential open pits in the area. The geotechnical strength properties of the Platreef have posed significant mining and processing challenges to the PPRust operation since inception in 1992. In order to optimise the whole business as opposed to isolated cost centres a mine to mill initiative was embarked upon in 1997. Initial work focussed on ore characterisation and an entire suite of data was collected for each rock type. This included mineralogy, geochemistry, geotechnical, blastability indices as well as metallurgical strength data. The second phase involved the clear definition of customer requirements, namely the optimum performance criteria for the plant and mining departments. This involved extensive field trials and data capture to measure the interaction and influence of the mine to mill value chain. Once the design targets were defined a 3D geotechnical model was constructed to ensure that the targets were consistently achieved. The model is very similar to an ore reserve model however it is populated with geotechnical, metallurgical and blast index data. Through software queries the appropriate blast powder factor for each mining block can be obtained thereby ensuring the correct fragmentation is blasted for the plant and mining operation. The initiative has delivered significant results showing improvements across the mine to mill value chain. These include increased loading rates, reduced electricity and crushing consumables as well as higher plant throughput. Additionally, the initiative has benefited both Brownfield and Greenfield projects on the PPRust operation.

Jan 1, 2005

By Xu Xiaohe, Zhou Jiandong, Luo Shihui, Zhang Liqun

Recently, the research and applications of ES (Expert Systern) have been put forward actively in many mining fields in China. After various ES applications or instances are introduced, the paper has especially focused on the exclusive properties of a mining system different from any other system and the problems of the existing mining ES applications. And a synthesis methodology has been introduced in order to develop a applicable ES application

Jan 1, 1996

By E. G. Loesche

Grinding mills in which the comminution takes place between rollers and the surface of a disc, table or ring are generally known as roller type mills. The Loesche Mill, also known as the Disc Roll Mill, is a special type of roller mill in which the grinding surfaces consist of two rollers assembled over a horizontal disc or table which rotates at a relatively low speed. This design is particularly applicable to industry's present day demand for large capacity grinding mills.

Jan 1, 1964

By G. C. Anderson

The Cleveland Cliffs NOLA electronics and software upgrade is a Windows based system that simultaneously controls two Texas Nuclear NOLAs and associated sampling. It uses new spectrum analysis and algorithms to produce accurate, linear silica measurement with slurries that range from 5 through 50 percent solids. This linearity allows us to achieve a reproducible procedural calibration. The hardware consists of readily available shelf items, is extremely redundant and eliminates all NIM bus modules.

Jan 1, 2003

By T. A. E. Breen

A new high intensity grinding technology has been developed and is now being commercialized by Hicom International of Australia. This has led to the development and manufacture of Hicom 120 grinding mills which are now being sold internationally for a range of mining industry applications. The first commercial process application has been for the diamond sector, where the ability of the mill to remove host kimberlite rock by attritioning, with no damage to the thereby liberated diamonds, is seen to be a most beneficial attribute. There are, however, many other mineral industry applications for this mill. The design of the Hicom mill is unique. Based on a high speed centrifugal motion of the grinding chamber, very high power intensity is delivered to the grinding process. Most significantly, a high acceleration field, 50 times stronger than gravity is produced, creating very high power input per unit of mill volume, and exceptionally fast particle breakage rates, typically 50 - 100 times greater than those in conventional tumbling mills. A mill developing such forces has significant implications to comminution technology and practice.

Jan 1, 1999