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By John L. Mero

"The ocean has served humanity as a source of raw materials for thousands of years, but only on a minimal scale relative to its potential. Exploration programs have shown the ocean to contain a large number of mineral deposits of great extent and attractive grade. Recent research has indicated that a number of these deposits can be economically exploited with present-day technology and that the cost of winning many industrially important minerals from the oceanic deposits is potentially much less than that of winning similar minerals from land deposits. Although the finding of mineral deposits in the sea is a relatively simple matter at the present time, the exploitation of many of these deposits has lagged due to the lack of the availability of specific mining techniques for the individual deposits. Within the past two years, however, several developments have taken place in the design and testing of ocean mining systems in depths of water as great as 12,000 feet which indicate that the problem of mining in the ocean may soon be solved.Within the next decade, the ocean should prove to be a major source of many minerals for society and should come to dominate as a source of such metals as copper, nickel, cobalt, manganese, etc. Within a few years of the initiation of the mining of the deep-sea metalliferous nodules, land sources of such metals as nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese, etc. will be seriously affected and it is conceivable that the present structure of the world mining industry will undergo a substantial change in character."

Jan 1, 1972

By A. Golabchi

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is an increasingly popular method for generating and managing facility information during the life cycle of a building, ranging from facility conceptualization, through design, construction and its operational life. Organizations involved in Facility Management (FM) have the opportunity to use BIM as a knowledge repository to document evolving facility information and to support decisions made by the facility managers during the operational life of a facility. This paper demonstrates the potential of using BIM to develop algorithms that automate decision making for FM applications. The potential of utilizing BIM as an analysis tool is demonstrated through the scenario of HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system failure in an operating facility. In case of a typical HVAC malfunction today, facility occupants record complaints in a ticketing database maintained by the FM organization. Upon receiving notification of HVAC system failure, facility inspectors visit the location to confirm the reported failure. Upon confirmation, facility managers review building plans and specifications to develop a detailed plan of action to repair any HVAC components suspected of damage. Based on the plan of action, inspectors visit the facility to inspect and, in case of damage, repair the appropriate HVAC system components. These FM practices ? as currently implemented across the industry ? are labor intensive, time consuming, and often rely on unreliable and outdated information. To address these shortcomings, the authors propose an alternative methodology of HVAC fault detection in operational buildings. The authors implement an algorithm that leverages complaint ticket data and automates BIM to determine potentially damaged HVAC system components. Based on the list of HVAC components suspected of damage, the algorithm develops a plan of action for the facility inspectors. Finally, the authors discuss the advantages of the proposed method as well as the challenges of implementing automated BIM-enabled decision making processes in the FM industry.

Aug 1, 2013

By I. L. Sills

Introduction So many minerals and mineral products are used in the glass industry that it would require an unduly long paper to deal adequately with all of them. Only those that go to make up the batch for the more common types of glass will be discussed here, and even with these only, the list is a lengthy one. It is true that for the body of the glass comparatively few materials are required-as silica sand, soda-ash, lime, and feldspar. The others are used mainly to colour or decolorize the glass, or to give it some other desired characteristic, such as high lustre, greater physical strength, or opalescence; but, although they may be present in very small quantities, they are just as in-dispensable to the glass industry as are the main constituents of the batch. Sand Sand is essentially quartz, the dioxide of silicon, Si02. Most glass contains from 71J to 75 per cent silica. Sand for use in the glass industry, or 'glass sand', is obtained both from deposits of unconsolidated material, commonly referred to as 'sand', and from solid rock-sandstone, quartz, or quartzite. For the manufacture of glass, the material must possess a high degree of purity, as noted below, so that, although sand is widespread in most parts of the world, and sandstone, quartz, and quartzite are not at all uncommon, it is only in certain places that suitable deposits are found. At the present time, most of the glass sand used in Canada is imported from France, Belgium, and the United States. The French material, from Fontainebleau, near Paris, is known the world over as a very high quality glass sand. That from Belgium is nearly as good and is lower is price.

Jan 1, 1934

By J. Pontt

Gearless mill drives (GMD) offer high performance for torque and speed control for grinding mills and have been applied successfully in modern concentrators for wet grinding with mill diameters from 34 to 40-feet. It is considered a mature technology. However, recently, some large GMD?s have presented unexpected failures in stator and rotor subsystems. The phenomena involved in such failures has shown a complex nature and surprised users and manufacturers. The manifestation of such failures has been observed as mechanical damages to certain components of ring motors. This paper presents a discussion on the electromagnetic forces that can generate stresses in the electrical ring motor that can produce failures and outages. Guidelines for further research and contributions to improved reliability of GMD?s are proposed.

Jan 1, 2012

By Henry F. Hebley

THE solid fuel industry, especially that branch represented by bituminous coal, is gradually becoming aware of its ? paramount importance in a world where there is an ever increasing demand for the products of a mechanical age. In practically every process of manufacture, the necessity for energy in some form is being multiplied. Some of that prime energy is derived from water power-hydro-electric schemes, flood control schemes, etc. - but often the electrical energy thus developed is generated at great distances from the load centres, requiring long transmission lines with consequent transformer and transmission losses. A few plants have harnessed the tidal power of the seas and one has harnessed the energy of the wind in a modern manner. All of these schemes are dependent on certain natural geographical, hydrographical, and physical advantages of terrain, as well as an adequate area of consumption of the energy developed. If flood control is the primary object, then power generation is a by-product; and the economics of large capital expenditure on power generating equipment must be considered in that light.

Jan 1, 1945

By R. Walker

This paper deals with the selection and design of a belt conveyor handling steam coal between a mine and a barge loading terminal, and extending for some 5 ¼ miles over some of the most rugged terrain in the state of West Virginia, U.S.A. After a thorough analysis by consulting engineers and the owner's engineers, a single-flight cablebelt conveyor was chosen as representing the alternative of greatest reliability and lowest over-all cost. The value analysis and design features of the system are covered in this paper along with an updated report on the performance of the system since its start-up in the spring of 1969.

Jan 1, 1971

By John G. Kelly

"In 1982 an extensive study was carried out to determine the best means of size reduction for the ore to be hoisted through the borehole hoisting system at Sherritt Gordon's Fox Mine.The study examined three alternatives:1. a jaw crusher,2. pneumatic rockbreaker(s) at a grizzly, and3. hydraulic rockbreaker(s) at a grizzly.The final decision was a compromise between alternatives 2 and 3. Two rockbreakers, one pneumatic and one hydraulic, were installed over a single grizzly. Some modifications have been made to the system, but over-all it has operated at acceptable levels since its installation in July 1983.As all the ore passes through a jaw crusher before being hoisted to surface, an evaluation of the relative performance and cost-effectiveness of the jaw crusher and the two types of rockbreakers is possible. This paper outlines the initial study, and compares the three breaking systems in operation at Fox Mine.IntroductionThe Fox Mine of Sherritt Gordon Mines Ltd. is located 800 kilometres north of Winnipeg near Lynn Lake in Northern Manitoba. Production at the copper-zinc orebody began in 1970 at a rate of 3,000 tons per day. Over 12.5 million tons will have been hoisted from the underground mine when the ore reserves are depleted in October 1985.The mining method at Fox Mine is sub-level open stoping with delayed backfilling are from the upper level stopes, above the 2000 level, is mucked on the main levels established at 400-ft elevation intervals, and is fed through a central orepass to the crusher located on 2100 level. Production in the lower levels commenced in 1975, and ore from the 2200 and 2400 level stopes was hauled up a 15010 ramp by 26-ton trucks to the 2000 level orepass dump. Projected production rates from the 2600 and 2800 levels using the trucking system were too low, and therefore, in 1983 a borehole hoisting system was commissioned to hoist that ore'!'. One thousand tons per day of ore are skipped through an 8-ft diameter borehole from the 2650 level loading pocket and dumped on the 2000 level. The ore is transferred by LHD to the main orepass for crushing before being conveyed to the main shaft for hoisting to surface (Fig. 1)."

Jan 1, 1986

By Hevina S. Dashwood

This paper proposes to build on my previous research (Dashwood 2012), which analyzed how and why the norm of sustainable development became institutionalized in the global collaborative corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of major mining companies. Since the late 1990s, the majority of major global mining companies have employed the norm of sustainable development to frame their individual CSR policies and to inform industry collaboration at the global level through the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM). This paper proposal seeks to address lingering questions from that research, by developing an explanation for how the normative frame of sustainable development has translated into specific CSR standards adopted by the mining industry. Preliminary findings suggest that, although the global mining industry has reached broad consensus on the meaning of sustainable development in the context of mining, there remains considerable variation between mining companies in terms of which specific global standards they adopt. As members of the ICMM, major mining companies are required to report according to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) indicators relevant to mining, and there has been wide-spread up-take of the ISO 14,001 environmental management system standard. However, other global standards, such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards and the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, have not been uniformly adopted by the mining industry. What explains this variation? The paper employs a three-level institutional framework (rational choice institutionalism, historical institutionalism and the ?new? institutionalism in organization theory) to explain the influences on the adoption of CSR standards in the global mining sector. Existing research confirms that institutional context is an important factor in explaining CSR adoption in the mining sector (Dashwood 2012). Are similar forces at work in explaining the variation in adoption of specific CSR standards? A three-level institutional analysis lends itself to uncovering influences both external to mining companies (such as pressures from stakeholders), as well as internal company dynamics (such as managerial discretion). Furthermore, the framework can incorporate dynamics operating at the global level (such as isomorphism), the national level (such as the regulatory regime) and the local level (such as community needs and environmental challenges). The theoretical significance of this framework is that the influences on CSR adoption are more complex than can be explained in a single approach (such as narrow rational choice/cost benefit explanations). On a practical level, insights into how global standards get interpreted and acted upon by individual companies could lead to the development of more appropriate and effective global standards.

Aug 1, 2013

By F. Sorensen

ABSTRACT Electricity production by the Electricity Supply Commission of South Africa (Eskom) is the most important beneficiation process for South African coal. As one of the world’s lowest cost producers, energy-intensive industries such as ferroalloys and aluminium were introduced. However the poor were neglected. The white paper on energy policy (Department of Minerals and Energy, 1998) sought to redress this. Also, chasing economic growth to generate jobs resulted in high electricity demand and interruptions. Lifespan estimates of South African coal reserves based upon peak theory vary widely. Approaching peak, coal production in the future will be more expensive and, thus, contribute to more expensive electricity, which could inhibit industrial development unless South Africans work smarter.

Jan 1, 2011

By L. K. Daneshmend

The mine of the year 2020 will need to be based on a new way of mining. It will employ technology in a paradigm that assumes responsibility for sustainable development: taking account not only economic but also ecological and social issues. This will require a holistic approach to mine design and planning, considering all controlling factors and impacts (technical, economic, environmental and social). A national collaborative strategy is required to address the several options that exist for the development and application of 2020 mining technology. Key issues in implementing 2020 mining technology will also relate to human resources, in terms of employment, skills and education. A need exists to proactively prepare for 2020 through development of a comprehensive education and training strategy.

Jan 1, 1998

By J. W. Spyker, D. H. Filson, W. H. W. Husband

"Large deposits of sodium sulphate exist in southern Saskatchewan in the brines or muddy crystal beds of alkali Jakes. Currently, more than 300,000 tons per year of sodium sulphate are produced from these lakes and sold as salt cake to the paper industry. Most of the production is obtained from the brines of a limited number of Jakes.The Saskatchewan Research Council was requested to develop a process for recovering sodium sulphate from the muddy crystal beds so that this type of deposit could be exploited in the future. A flowsheet was developed with the aid of phase diagram data and the process was studied on a pilot-plant scale using raw material from three different lakes. Satisfactory yields and product purities were obtained in all cases, and an economic analysis indicated that a 100,000-ton-per-year sodium sulphate plant could produce salt cake at a cost of $12.26 per ton for a rate of return upon investment of 16 per cent at current market prices."

Jan 1, 1966

By B. van Beek, T. Goff, P. Gebski, P. Szyplinski, W. L. Ying

"Monitoring the refractory lining integrity is essential to assure the safety of the operators and to determine the remaining campaign life of a furnace. Early detection of refractory lining degradation is essential to avoid sudden furnace failures and prevent unscheduled shutdowns. In the mid-1990s a stress wave propagation technique was developed and since then it has been utilized by Hatch Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Group to evaluate furnace linings. For the last 17 years the AU-E technique evolved in terms of hardware, software and signal acquisition and interpretation. Most importantly, based on more than a decade of commercial applications, an extensive database of various failure modes, refractory deterioration trends and material properties has been created. This knowledge base is an integral part of AU-E which progressed from a NDT technique towards a comprehensive approach for furnace condition monitoring. All of the improvements introduced over the last several years have greatly improved the accuracy of the measurements. The data analysis process has also become more time efficient making the critical results available to the furnace operators in a more timely manner. Today the AU-E technology is used on a variety of process vessels in non-ferrous, glass, chemical and iron and steel industries.In this paper we are reviewing the available techniques for furnace refractory lining measurement and discussing the pros and cons of each method. The need for continuous improvement and development of new techniques for refractory monitoring is also emphasized. Finally, we are presenting a number of case studies and comparisons between the physical verifications and the AU-E measurements."

Jan 1, 2015

By William G. Pariseau

"This contribution describes linkage of stress concentration at the face of tabular excavations, for example, longwall coal mine panels, at a meter scale to surface subsidence at a kilometer scale. Joints are considered according to orientation and spacing at an intermediate scale. A new dual-node, dual-mesh technique based on first principles uses a multi-scale technique that allows for computing whole mine surface subsidence while also allowing for computational details of stress, strain and displacement about main entries and pillars, panel entries, and bleeder entries. The technique is implemented in a conventional continuous Galerkin finite element program that has been in use for many years.The advantage of the dual-node, dual-mesh technique is the capability to do a whole mine analysis that takes into account interaction between all sections of a mine where stress transfer over long distances is often the rule rather than the exception while at the same time allowing for details of stress concentration at working faces where caving is initiated and subsidence begins. The technique, outlined recently during ARMA 2014 (Pariseau, 2014), is applied to an underground coal mine in central Utah where mines are developed from outcrops in steep canyon walls. Meshes contain over 10 million, three-dimensional nodes; runtimes are typically overnight, as a practical matter. Results compare favorably with mine subsidence measurements made over a period of several years and show the capability of this new technique to provide useful design guidance for tabular deposits such as underground coal mines. The role of variability or uncertainty in strata properties is illustrated in element safety factor distributions about development, bleeder and main entries and pillars. Such details are new in this contribution. Energy tracking for mine-induced seismicity is also new. Results show a high correlation between number of events and failed elements and suggest a simple index to mine induced seismicity."

Jan 1, 2015

By Tapio Leskinen, Jouko Koskinen, Timo Nlltti, Lappalainen Seppo, Pentti Vanninen

"The Courier 300 on-stream analysis system manufactured by Outokumpu has now been in operation at five of the company's concentration plants long enough to give a reliable basis for closer examination of the benefits achieved in control of these processes. The first system was installed at the Pyhiisalmi mine at the end of 1967. Since November 1970, two analyzers have been in operation at Pyhiisalmi feeding the assay data to a process computer which controls the whole plant and does the optimization of the process. In October 1970 the Courier 300 analysis system was installed at S. T. O. LESKINEN J. KOSKINEN the Keretti concentrator of the Outokumpu mine, followed soon by installations at the Vihanti Mine in May 1971, at the new Vuonos mine in November J 971 and at t he Kotalahti mine in December 1971. Since installation of the Courier analysis systems, considerable improvements have been achieved in the control and the economy of the plants. Immediate knowledge of the changes in the process and the possibility for rapid action has resulted in evener production and higher capacity and recovery. The recovery has been increased most significantly at the Vihanti concentrator, which operates on a complex ore. Consumption of chemicals has been reduced at all concentrators. Due to the fact that process control and partly also bilance analysis are not achieved by conventional methods any more, it has been possible to reduce the personnel of the laboratories drastically. Two of the plants, viz. the Pyhiisalmi and the Vuonos concentrators, are computercontrolled. The Vuonos concentrator started operation in January 1972 under computer control from the very beginning. The Pyhiisalmi concentrator has been computer-controlled since 1970. The Courier 300 analysis system was described in detail at the AIME Centennial Annual Meeting (1971). In this paper, less attention is paid to the analysis system. Only the sampling system of the Courier 300 is described in more detail. In the development of sampling equipment, effective use has been made of the company's wide knowledge of the problems involved and the test field offered by its concentrators. The sampling equipment includes secondary samplers and six basically different types of primary samplers, with which most sampling situations can be managed."

Jan 1, 1973

By G. E. Murray

Introduction The development of the method for recovering zinc from lead blast-furnace slags at Trail is interesting and important in the history of both lead and zinc metallurgy. Many efforts have been made in the past, particularly in Germany, to make economic recovery of zinc from slag. The Pape process on Oker slags was successful and is being worked at the present time. More recently the Waelz process has come to the fore. One effort at Cockle Creek, Australia is of special interest in view of subsequent developments. This was re-ported in detail by Guy Courtney in 1920(1). It deserves mention as it shows how, as in many other instances in the metallurgy of lead and zinc, important pioneering work has been done in Australia. These experiments, started over 25 years ago, comprised reduction with coke, powdered coal, and eletrothermically in carbon-lined furnaces. The so-called slag eye furnace, which volatilised the metals from a blast furnace running with a hot top, was also investigated.

Jan 1, 1933

By J. Scrimgeour

"The word ""instrumentation"" has expanded from its original meaning, which in engineering perhaps referred to measuring apparatus alone. In its broadest form, it now includes sensors, display instrumentation, standard pack-aged controllers and, most recently, the use of stored program computers for on-line process control. The paper traces the evolution, in tutorial form, of the successive application of mechanization, measurement instrumentation, automatic control, central operating systems, programmed control, process computer control, direct digital control and, finally, hierarchies of computers used for process control and corporate management as a fully integrated business system. In the field of industrial minerals, the cement industry has seen the most widespread acceptance of these techniques. Computer control has been accepted as the way of life for the blending of chemical materials and for on-line control of the cement kiln. Accordingly, the cement application is selected for further presentation in the paper. This illustrates the trend progressing from control of single loops on process variables toward the objective of total control of the product quality. The economic justification for instrumentation, centralized control, automatic control and computer control is .discussed with reference to savings in fuel, maintenance, operating labour, depreciation, power and product quality improvements."

Jan 1, 1967

By Tanai Marin

Modelling of pyrometallurgical processes can become extremely challenging when the process involves complex chemical reactions, phase change, multiphase flows, heat and mass transfer and fluid flow. Traditionally modelling involving complex thermodynamic equilibrium and thermochemistry are treated separately from problems in which transport phenomena are dominant, such as CFD and heat transfer studies. The separation is also necessary due to the lack of modelling tools that can effectively couple both solution thermodynamic and transport phenomena or even multiphysics problems. However, there are, quite often, problems in high temperature process metallurgy in which it is not possible to simplify this two modelling approaches. Typical cases of this are for example, the modelling of slag freezing on furnace walls (electric or flash furnaces) to create a protective layer in front of the refractories hot wall, the formation of build up from the matte or metal phases at the hearth of the furnace, calcine smelting from charging piles into slag phase, etc. The problem is even more challenging in nonferrous pyrometallurgy as most, if not all, of the condense phases are highly non ideal solutions involving several components and exhibiting complex crystallization paths and miscibility gaps, such as the Fe-Ni-Cu-S matte, FeO-Fe2O3-SiO2, FeO-MgO-SiO2 slags, etc. In this paper, an approach to model coupled problems involving multiphysics and solution thermodynamic is presented. The approach consists in developing in-house a library containing the Gibbs energy minimization routines and using the local equilibrium concept for process modelling from a multiphysics commercial software (COMSOL). Simple test cases, such as building a non-ideal binary phase diagram on a CFD package is presented, the limitations and of other classic approaches such as equilibrium or Scheil cooling are discussed and compared to this model.

Jan 1, 2015

By L. M. Scovell

The Internet and its related technologies will radically change the way that mines manage and control their maintenance, repair, and operating supply chains. The Internet is creating new distribution channels and offers new technology platforms with significant advantages over more traditional methods. Mines will have to re-evaluate both the strategies and the tactics employed in these areas. Mines will use e-commerce to integrate their maintenance, repair, and operating supply chains. The integration will extend beyond traditional trading partners to a worldwide network of communities with similar interests and goals. The changes will transform the way mines operate, lower mining costs, and thereby increase their chances of success in an increasingly competitive environment.

Jan 1, 2000

By A. F. Banks

"IntroductionThe typical potash processing plant recovers and/ or upgrades from 10% to 20% of its production through the recrystallization process. The feed to the recrystallization section consists of preconcentrated slurries of fine crystal size that cannot be raised to the required product grade by flotation and fine dusts also of low grade and too fine for compaction feed. It produces high grade white potash crystals that can be marketed as a high grade product or blended into the flotation products to raise their grade. In this chapter, a typical leaching (dissolving) and recrystallization operation will be discussed.The crystallization process makes use of the three phase system chemistry of NaCl, KCl, and H,O. The normal potash process operates on a temperature range of 75°F to 95 °F. A three phase slurry feed to the dissolving circuits will be within that range. The potash (KCl) is dissolved by heating the slurry in the presence of sufficient brine to a temperature of 190°F to 200°F. As the slurry is heated, the potash (KCI) dissolves and the salt (NaCI) precipitates. The potash rich brine is then clarified and the salt and other undissolved solids removed by thickening. Clarified brine becomes the crystallizer feed.The hot brine is cooled in evaporative cooling crystallizers. In cooling, the potash precipitates as a high grade white crystal. Crystallization is done in multiple effects to permit energy recovery and control of the process. In a four effect crystallizer the cooling is done by recycling mother liquor counter currently through the first two effect condensors and using brine pond brine for the cooling of the last two.The crystallizer product is removed from the last effect as a slurry at normal process temperature and is fed either to its own centrifuging and drying circuit or blended with the flotation product for centrifuging and drying."

Jan 1, 1989

By H. M. Thurgood, F. A. Godfrey, F. W. Gilbert

This is a detailed presentation of the ancillary facilities, including power production, water supply, shiploading facilities, fire-fighting equipment, housing and community services. Additional subjects discussed include construction problems, townsite philosophy and staff organization.

Jan 1, 1968