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By Jonas Olsson

"The picture of China as an antiquated continent is changing rapidly and fast-forwarding progress is a fact in most infrastructural fields. Mining is not an exception. China is today the largest producer of aluminum, coal, steel, zinc, tin, lead and manganese and the country’s mineral resources comprising approximately 12% of the global reserves ranks them number three in the world after US and Russia.In order to feed the growth industry is needed to take extra ordinary strides to improve supply of raw material and Chinese mines are continuously being upgraded with the latest western technology to meet the increasing domestic demand of base metals.In Anshan located in China’s northeast province Liaoning we find one of the fastest developing mining companies, Angang Iron & Steel Group Co. Ltd. With their six mines that together process approximately 60 M ton iron ore/year Angang Iron & Steel Group Co. Ltd is the largest iron ore company in China. The group’s thorough pre-studies and technical evaluations over the past five years have made them very successful in both plant upgrades of existing operations and green field projects.INTRODUCTIONWe live in a time when the world market is gradually acclimatising to the global consequences of “The China effect”. An effect caused by a formerly sleeping giant nation that during the last years has awakened and developed beyond comparison, primarily because of booming infrastructure projects and demand for capital and consumer goods"

Jan 1, 2006

By B. Krysa, A. Mitsui, T. L. Koehler

The presence of arsenic, even at trace levels, in copper processing leads to the risk of arsine gas where reducing conditions exist that can reduce any soluble arsenic present to its minus 3 valance state and generate hydrogen gas from the solutions. This risk is understood to be significant within the industry, particularly in the case of liberator cells where copper concentrations in solution are drawn down to remove the copper and impurities from the bleed stream. However, there are numerous other potential areas where the arsine gas risk exists including contact between active metal such as iron, zinc or aluminum and arsenic bearing solutions in pyrometallurgical dust treatment, refining and acid plant operations. In turn this breaks down to different mitigating strategies dependent on the risk scenarios considered; for example, how this risk interacts with Change Management, Confined Space Entry or Contractor Training. The ISO 45001 is an emerging standard meant to improve employee safety, reduce workplace risks and create safer working conditions all over the world. The paper shows a case study of how a framework consistent with the tenets of ISO 45001 has been used to provide a consistent assessment of this risk for a wide variety of copper operations and the expectations of how this may be used to effectively improve the effectiveness of barriers against future incidents. INTRODUCTION Arsine gas (AsH3), first identified in 1775, is a highly poisonous, colorless, non-irritating gas with a mild garlic odor that is heavier than air. Arsine gas is generated when reducing conditions are generated in the presence of hydrogen ions and arsenic compounds. Present permissible occupational exposure limit as defined by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as an 8-hour time-weighted average is ppm (0.2 mg/m3). Further increasing the risk, conventional respiratory protection utilizing half or full masks with gas filtering cartridges provide minimal protection against arsine. In copper processing plants, the risk of arsine generation is well understood in liberator cells, which are part of the electrolysis process. In this process, solutions containing copper are reduced in copper concentration removing not only the copper, but also arsenic, antimony and bismuth. The residual solution can be bled to control impurity build-up in the refinery. In this process, if the copper concentration is reduced to the point where As3- can form, arsine gas is generated via reaction with hydrogen ions generated during the plating process. The copper concentration at which arsine gas is generated depends on copper concentration at the cathode surface, the temperature and the acidity. As a result, there is always a risk of arsine gas generation in the liberator cell. Process measures to minimize or mitigate arsine evolution are tight control on final copper concentration, warm temperatures, fresh feed distribution and internal acid recirculation rates. Operator exposure protection measures are hooding, ventilation, arsine detection systems, restricted personnel access, automated shutdown controls and pre-defined evacuation plans.

Jan 1, 2019

By Jonathan Matthews

Efficient and effective management of mine tailings is essential for continued successful development of Alberta?s vast oil sands resources. Syncrude Canada Ltd. continues to research novel tailings management techniques in an effort to improve production efficiency and environmental sustainability. During the summer months of 2001, Syncrude Canada Ltd., in collaboration with members of the Canadian Oil Sands Network for Research and Development (CONRAD), conducted field-scale trials of thickened tailings technology at Syncrude?s Aurora mine, north of Fort McMurray, Alberta. This paper provides an overview of the test program including discussion of objectives, test configuration, and program observations. 0Data collected during the field trial indicate that substantial swings in feed slurry composition challenge effective thickener operation. When coarse mineral solids dominated slurry composition, thickener rake torque rose to unmanageable levels. It was determined that the end-of-pipe depositional characteristics of thickened oil sands slurry were generally consistent with present understanding of oil sands tailings slurries. After shear, thickener underflow product exhibited very shallow beach angles and a limited capacity to keep coarser particles in suspension indicating that stacking of ?paste-like? thickener underflow product from a conventional thickener is not practical in an oil sands setting unless process adjustments can be made to increase the underflow density and/or preserve the initial high yield stress of the underflow during transport and deposition. These technical challenges notwithstanding, Thickened Tailings technology offers considerable promise for recovery of warm water from oil sands process tailings.

May 1, 2003

By C. W. Eggert

"The idea for this talk came to me last year when I was attending the Canadian Gold Metallurgists Meeting. I talked about it to a friend of mine who is an authority on mineral dressing, particularly the theoretical end of the business. He remarked that this was an excellent technical note, why don't you write it up. This is what I have for presentation this morning. I hope in presenting this type of idea in this way it is in keeping with the tradition of the Canadian Gold Metallurgists which was to function on a not too sophisticated level and where operators could get together and trade ideas in an informal way.My basic thesis is that it should be possible to evaluate screen analyses by the application of the standard statistical probability theory. In any statistical analysis the sample is the first consideration. If we look at existing methods of size evaluation we find it is usually based on the fact that a given particle will pass one square aperature and not another. One system of standardizing how these aperatures will be set up is based on Rittenger' s work with the ratio of hole sizes proportional to the square root of 2. Keeping in mind the limitation we have accepted this as our method of 11 sizing"" in attempting to apply standard statistical methods to screen analysis."

Jan 1, 1968

By H. Houali

Corrosion is an electrochemical process that causes degradation and deterioration of various steel works (pipelines, drains, cisterns) whether they are buried, immersed, or not. Worldwide, we estimate that corrosion destroys a quarter of the annual production of steel at a rate of 5 tons per second. Several techniques are used to protect against corrosion. Among these processes, Cathodic protection, which is regarded as the best technique to assure the protection of steel, works against this phenomenon. This is achieved either by a system of reactive anodes, or by the technique of impressed current protection or other techniques. Before any installation of cathodic protection, a preliminary study and pre-evaluation of certain parameters must be made. In the present work, we will present an example of dimensioning of an installation of cathodic protection by imposed current of a pipeline using solar energy, where we discuss the following items: ? Evolutions of the potential as well as current along the pipeline and their respective expressions deduced from the laws known as telegraphists; ? Range of protection (potential of protection along the pipeline); ? Influence of the isolation resistance of the coating on the range of protection; Effect of the aging of the coating and its influence on the current of protection

Jan 1, 2005

By K. Niboucha, M. Zergoug, S. Brick-Chaouch, H. Houali

"Corrosion is an electrochemical process that causes degradation and deterioration of various steel works (pipelines, drains, cisterns) whether they are buried, immersed, or not. Worldwide, we estimate that corrosion destroys a quarter of the annual production of steel at a rate of 5 tons per second. Several techniques are used to protect against corrosion. Among these processes, Cathodic protection, which is regarded as the best technique to assure the protection of steel, works against this phenomenon. This is achieved either by a system of reactive anodes, or by the technique of impressed current protection or other techniques. Before any installation of cathodic protection, a preliminary study and pre-evaluation of certain parameters must be made. In the present work, we will present an example of dimensioning of an installation of cathodic protection by imposed current of a pipeline using solar energy, where we discuss the following items:•,Evolutions of the potential as well as current along the pipeline and their respective expressions deduced from the laws known as telegraphists;•,Range of protection (potential of protection along the pipeline);•,Influence of the isolation resistance of the coating on the range of protection;•,Effect of the aging of the coating and its influence on the current of protection."

Jan 1, 2005

By Walter E. Montgomery

ACCIDENT-PREVENTION work in years gone by has been carried on by many mine managers as a philanthropic movement, but in recent years they have come to realise that Safety is good business and pays tangible dividends. Let us begin with the word itself. We are told that an accident is "any-thing occurring unexpectedly, undesignedly, or without known or assign-able cause'. It is further explained that it is any 'unpleasant or unfortunate occurrence involving injury, loss, suffering, or death", and, finally, "any unintentional or non-essential circumstance". We admit that accidents are unfortunate, unpleasant, unintentional, and they generally happen undesignedly and to a great degree unexpectedly, but to say that they happen "without known or assignable cause" leads us to believe that the word 'accident' is often misused. Would it not be more correct to say that a man suffered a "personal injury"? The word 'accident' in its proper sense implies something over which no one has any control, but when the majority of all so-called accidents are analysed we arrive at the incontestible fact that some act or action, previous or present, was the underlying cause. As long ago as the year 1556 this fact was mentioned by Georgius Agricola, who, in writing a paper on metallurgy, aptly stated, "It remains for me to speak on the ailments and accidents of mines, and of the methods by which they can guard against these, for we should always devote more care to maintaining our health, that we may freely perform the functions of our body, than to making profits". Farther on, Agricola relates in more detail, "Sometimes workmen slipping from ladders into the shafts break their arms, legs, or necks, or fall into the sumps and are drowned; often, indeed, the negligence of the foreman is to blame, for it is his special work both to fix the ladder so firmly to the timbers that they cannot break away, and to cover so securely with planks the sumps at the bottom of the shafts, that the planks cannot be moved nor the men fall into the water; wherefore the foreman must carefully execute his own work. Moreover, he must not set the entrance of the shaft-house toward the north wind, lest in winter the ladders freeze with cold, for when this happens the man's hands become stiff and slipping with cold, and cannot perform their office of holding. The men, too, must be careful that, even if none of these things happen, they do not fall from their own carelessness'.

Jan 1, 1938

A mathematical model of a decision is represented by the table in Figure 4. The numbers in the matrix are a measure of the effectiveness of each alternate for an objective. In this case, it is the per cent of desired profit that is satisfied by each alternate for each objective. By adding all of the values in a row, we have a measure of which alternative is best for both objectives. However, if you think that alternate 1 is necessarily better than alternate 2, you are wrong. Why? Because the weight of the objectives may not be equal. It could just be that this plant can sell more than it can produce, so that the loss in profit represented by increased sales is more than twice as important as reductions in costs. (See Figure 5). In that case, let us weigh objective 1 as 30 per cent and objective 2 as 70 per cent. It must also be obvious that the sum of all the "objective weights" must equal 100 per cent. Now, by evaluating our alternates according to their weights. we find that alternate 2 is better than alternate

Jan 1, 1964

By Brian Hart, Hong Zhong, Liuyin Xia, Kyle Douglas

"The application of hydroxamic acid as flotation collectors is fast becoming of significant interest for the selective flotation of oxide minerals along with upgrading oxidised based metal ores and minerals. In the hydroxamate molecule, both O and N atoms in the -CONHOH group are identified as coordination atoms in many complexes and their characteristic structure determines the strength of the chelation complex between the hydroxamate and metal ion. The chelating performance of hydroxamates with transition metals including Cu, Ni, Zn, Fe, Cr, Mn and Co, the alkaline-earth metals (Be, Ca) and heavy metal (Pb) has been studied. Cytec has developed and patented a range of alkyl hydroxamates as flotation collectors for oxidised base metal sulphides, metal oxide minerals and precious metals. This paper introduces two new structures of hydroxamate collectors (Cyclohexyl and 4-tert-butylbenzoyl hydroxamates) and evaluates their characteristics relative to alkyl and benzoyl hydroxamates. Laboratory small-scale flotation tests were conducted with ilmenite and wolframite. The use of 4-tert-butyl benzoyl hydroxamate resulted in a best flotation performance for ilmenite. A relatively low cyclohexyl hydroxamate dosage was required in the flotation of wolframite to obtain comparable results to the alkyl and benzoyl hydroxamates. It is also shown a significantly improved flotation performance with 4-tertbutyl benzoyl hydroxamate in the flotation of ilmenite plant ore in comparison to the oleic acid or fatty acid collectors typically used for ilmenite flotation.INTRODUCTIONHydroxamic acid has been reported as an effective collector in small-scale flotation tests for a wide variety of oxide minerals and ores including copper (Lee et al., 1998, Lee et al., 2009), iron (Quast, 2000), tin (Sreenivas and Padmanabhan, 2002; Wu and Zhu, 2006), tungsten (Marinakis and Kelsall, 1987; Xia et al.,2004), and rare earth metal minerals (Ren et al., 1997; Pradip and Fuerstenau, 1991; Assis et al., 1996; Pavez et al., 1996; Zheng et al., 1996; Chen et al.,2005).As part of our previous research project, a selected suite of hydroxamic acid collectors including fatty, aromatic and modified hydroxamates (naphthoyl, cyclohexyl, benzoyl, octyl, 4-tert-butyl benzoyl, salicylic hydroxamates) were tested in order to examine their potential for recovery and selectivity of rare earth minerals. In these tests it was shown that the flotation performance with the hydroxamate collectors was significantly better than the phosphoric acid collectors on no slimes removed samples (Brian, et al., 2014; Liuyin, et al., 2014 and unpublished internal technical reports). Furthermore the tests revealed that for most of the hydroxamate reagents tested, their dosage requirements to achieve recoveries at the same levels was less than that for the phosphoric acid collectors. Recovery of both La and Ce was significantly better for the salicylic hydroxamate and that Nb, Y and Zr recovery were favoured by the octyl and benzoyl hydroxamates (Brian, et al., 2014; Liuyin, et al., 2014). Comparison among the hydroxamate collectors showed that the flotation and recovery performance of cyclohexyl (CHH) and 4-tert-butyl benzoyl (TBH) was not as good as the other hydroxamates for rare earth recovery."

Jan 1, 2015

By H. Aaltonen, T. G. Robinson, M. Morimitsu

"The energy required to plate pure zinc can be the most significant operating cost for an operator in the production of electrolytic zinc. This paper reports on developments on low energy Outotec coated titanium anode process technology with fully amorphous coatings, MSA®, and its application to brownfield zinc electrowinning operations around the world. This technology aims to reduce the operating cost and increase productivity for zinc producers.INTRODUCTIONZinc electrowinning is an energy-intensive process using more than 3,000 kWh/t of electric energy [1-4], and the reduction of the energy consumption is one of the key issues. The high energy consumption is due to a high cell voltage during electrolysis, which is mainly caused by a high overpotential of oxygen evolution reaction on lead alloy anodes which have been widely used in commercial zinc electrowinning processes. The overpotential of oxygen evolution is 0.6 V or more and which is approximately 4 times higher on average than that of the cathodic reaction (zinc deposition) [3,4]. Therefore, the reduction of oxygen overpotential is significant to reduce the electric energy consumption, and this will become more significant with increasing demand in metal production and rising energy costs.Oxide coated titanium anodes have been widely investigated for the oxygen evolution anodes in order to replace the lead alloy anodes [5-9], because it is known that the oxygen overpotential strongly depends on the material and structure of the anode. The most typical example of such anodes is an IrO2-Ta2O5 coated titanium anode, which is usually prepared at thermal decomposition of a precursor solution containing metal salts at 450 oC or more and obtained mixed oxide coating consists of crystalline IrO2 and amorphous Ta2O5. On the other hand, one of the authors of this paper, Professor Morimitsu, Doshisha University in Japan, has developed a novel oxide coated titanium anode, MSA® [10-25]. The most specialized point of MSA® is that the catalytic coatings are prepared at low thermal decomposition temperature and amorphous IrO2 or RuO2 is contained as the components in the coatings. Such amorphous coatings have high catalytic activity for oxygen evolution compared to lead alloy or crystalline coatings. Outotec acquired the international specialized MSA® patent licensing rights from Doshisha University and has produced and commercialized the amorphous oxide coated titanium anodes. These anodes have already been utilized mainly in copper electrowinning plants worldwide and have demonstrated a significant voltage reduction, a cost-efficiency, and a long lifetime. This novel technology is also effective to zinc electrowinning process, thus this paper presents the characterization and performance of amorphous IrO2-Ta2O5 coated titanium anodes and amorphous RuO2-Ta2O5 coated titanium anodes for oxygen evolution in zinc electrowinning."

Jan 1, 2016

By A. E. Cameron

MR. N. T. AVARD : I would like to congratulate Dr. Cameron on his presentation of some pertinent facts about the Coal Resources of Nova Scotia. There is no question but what there is something very definitely wrong about the coal mining situation in this Province. These are times when we can with profit look facts in the face and attempt to solve some riddles. Perhaps now is the time when we can bring some of these coal mining facts into the open and look them over. Co-operatively, we might evolve some helpful solutions. However, I would like, first, to make some specific reference to the Joggins coal field, not as a mining expert, but rather as an executive who has evolved some ideas after some years of practical contact with this field. Dr. Cameron states that existing operations in this area will probably continue for a few years. As a matter of fact, under normal conditions, these mines are good for another twelve years. With the installation of more powerful equipment for hoisting, pumping, and ventilation, an additional five years could be counted on. With one exception, that pretty well clears up mining from the outcrop, hitherto the only method of approach in this field. The chief reason for this present limitation is prolific 'bootlegging' operations. It is too bad that these should have been permitted to ruin a valuable coal field. Moreover, I am cold by competent authorities that this need not have been so. At one time shortly before war broke out there were 74 bootleg operations within an area of one square mile around Joggins. However, despite the fact that these operations were illegal, I could not find any means of stopping then and I believe the same conditions existed in many other coal areas in the Province. For some reason, the eyes of the law were closed. The result is that many outcrop possibilities have been permanently ruined. The exception noted in the so-called Queen seam, which has definite possibilities for approach through the outcrop. This is probably the best coal in the district.

Jan 1, 1944

By Floyd Smith

Based on underground observations made in .the coal mines of the Dominion Coal Company Ltd., this paper deals with the stress phenomena in the approach roads and headways and in the gob areas associated with the longwall method of total extraction. The deformation of roadways during development and the deformation of roadways during the total extraction period is delineated and presented in graphical form .. Conclusions are made as to the feasibility of the introduction of the retreat method of longwall extraction in one of the colhenes. The importance of future studies are enumerated, especially. those pertaining to the determination .of the opti.m.um sizes of protective pillars and to increasing the efficiency of the current methods of artificial roadway support.

Jan 1, 1967

By Robert Martin

New Millennium ?a new project for an experienced mine building team ?Owns 100% of KeMag(Harris Lake) property ?Owns 80% of LabMag(Howells River) property -20% owned by Naskapi Nations of Kawawachikamah ?All founding directors are mining professionals : Geologists or Mining Engineers ?All have extensive experience in the iron ore industry ?The Project Office is located in Montreal, lead by a team of experienced iron-ore professionals Project Overview Geology & Resources Market Prospects Process & Product Development Development Plan Questions

May 1, 2007

By Bin Tang, Suping Yao

In the last decade, the copper industry in China has developed rapidly and attracted the world’s attention. The production capacity of refined copper has grown remarkably from 4.578 million tons in 2010 up to 9.029 million tons in 2018, accounting for about 40% of the global refined copper production. And now, China has become the biggest refined copper producer in the world. This paper summarizes the application of modern copper metallurgical technologies such as Outotec flash smelting/converting technology, Cyclone smelting technology, TSL (ISA/Ausmelt) smelting/converting technology, Jinfeng side blown smelting and Baiyin side blown smelting technology, Chifeng side blown smelting and continuous top blown converting technology, SKS bottom blowing technology, Dongying two-step smelting technology, copper electrorefining with high current density, etc. in China’s copper industry, analyzes and compares the characteristics of those technologies and presents the great efforts of China’s copper smelters in adapting to the increasingly strict emission standards and improving economic benefits of copper smelters. INTRODUCTION China has been the biggest refined copper producer in the world for many years. China produced million tons of refined copper in 2018, accounting for 40% of the copper smelting production in the world, and of which, roughly, 70% of the copper concentrate was imported, mainly from Chile, Peru and Australia. ICSG (International Copper Study Group, 2017) shows clearly the position of top 20 countries of copper production and copper mine production (Figures 1 and 2). Blast Furnaces, Reverb Furnaces and Electric Furnaces dominated China Copper Smelting for quite long time till 1980s. The first modern copper smelting technology (flash copper smelting) was introduced into China in 1980s, then followed by Noranda, Ausmelt and ISA. Since then, China copper smelting technology stepped into modern time. Since 2000, old processes (Blast Furnace, Reverb Furnaces and Electric Furnaces) were phased out and replaced by modern smelting technologies. China Copper Production has been increasing dramatically (Figure 3).

Jan 1, 2019

By Melanie Grob

Two commonly estimated fractal dimensions, called b and D values, represent statistical characteristics in the distribution of magnitude sizes (b) and spatial hypocenter locations (D) of microseismic events, respectively. We postulate that the values of b and D are related to specific stress regimes. Through different case studies of fluid injection into an oil/gas reservoir or geothermal field, we infer that the measured temporal variation in fractal dimension b is most likely due to significant changes in the local stress regime. The fracture dimension D indicates the spatial clustering of events. The distribution of these events can vary with time because of stress perturbations that (re)activate fractures whose direction favours their movement under a specific stress regime. Thus a combined statistical study of these two dimensions can help infer the variations of local stresses in a reservoir.

Jun 1, 2012

By L. K. Daneshmend

"Competitive pressures dictate that the mining industry moves to larger mobile underground haulage equipment with more advanced equipment mechanization, higher levels of autonomous operation of machines, and longer periods between access by maintenance personnel. Since such new machines will of necessity be more complex than existing designs, machine reliability has become a key issue in progressing toward advanced mobile underground haulage equipment. Reliability and maintainability models of such equipment are practically non-existent in the literature. This paper addresses the issue of reliability and maintainability of mobile underground haulage equipment on two fronts: reliability modelling to enhance decision making for maintenance planning; and reliability simulation to enable evaluation of more rigorous production planning scenarios. A case study from a gold mine in the Chilean Andes is presented, for which reliability models of mobile underground haulage equipment, specifically load-hauldump vehicles and underground haul trucks, are developed, and a reliability-based simulation implemented. IntroductionMaintenance accounts for 20% to 35% of the overall operating budget for a typical underground operation, and hence represents the largest portion of the mine’s controllable operating costs (Cutifani et al., 1996; Campbell, 1997; Goddard, 1998). This, coupled with the fact that industry today is faced with an ever more complex and demanding marketplace, has led to an increasing interest in methods to reduce maintenance costs.Although significant effort has gone into developing effective maintenance strategies for industry in general, application of these to the"

Jan 1, 2003

By Thomas Glück

Established and emerging mining companies face significant challenges in managing their operations and projects. Outcomes often do not meet the expectations of all the stakeholders of particular developments. This paper reviews typical management practises used by mining companies to undertake mining projects and improve their operations. A simple application of the House of Quality (HOQ) tool used in the Quality Functional Deployment (QFD) management approach is presented. It is shown that a QFDMMPtg approach could lead to innovation in mining processing plant development practice.

Jan 1, 2015

By D. M. Doyle

"A study of the various components contributing to energy costs and their relationships to generally trended operating data, such as tonnage, operating costs, etc. over progressively shorter time periods provides information for an energy audit. A study of annual data gives some insight into the importance of various energy components. As the time frame of the study 11rogresses through monthly, daily and finally, into quarter hourly data, the variations become more evident and most important, strategies develop to minimize energy costs. The results of an audit conducted during the summer of 1978 at Wesfrob Mines are reported to illustrate this important phase, prerequisite to a meaningful energy cost avoidance program.The balance of the paper deals with the energy conservation program at Falconbridge Nickel Mines Sudbury Operations, the material and control equipment, the commitment, the new energy accounting practices and lastly, the policies. Examples of successful energy conservation endeavors include automatic peal electrical load control, waste heat recovery from mine air and compressor cooling water, energy reductions resulting from lower building temperatures and curtailmen: of idling loads. The use of pulse meters to measure the flow of gas, steam, compressed air and electrical energy, with their signals interfaced to process computers, allows monthly, daily and if necessary, immediate reporting of energy and energy per unit of production information. The program so reported at Falconbridge’s Sudbury Operations is credited with an annual cost avoidance of .9 million dollars in a 14.0 million dollar annual energy account."

Jan 1, 1979

By J. B. Boniwell

The INPUT electromagnetic prospecting system was originally developed by Dr. A. R. Barringer in an effort to increase the sensitivity and penetration of airborne EM methods. Although brought to an operational state some several years ago, it is only through relatively re-cent modifications and testing that some of the potential of the system has been fully realised. This is brought into perspective by some recent results over known ore deposits and geologic environments.

Jan 1, 1967

By H. R. Oliveira, C. R. Aragonez de Vasconcellos

Pipeline operation and maintenance necessarily involves geotechnical studies at points and areas with deflagrated instabilities or still to map and monitor areas prone to geotechnical problems. Landslides, erosions and debris flows are some examples of natural hazards, that not rarely, can bring high consequences to pipelines, sometimes leading them to high stresses levels and ruptures. Bolivia-Brazil Natural Gas Pipeline has 2.593 kilometers since Rio Grande City in Bolivia until Canoas City, in south Brazil. The pipeline crosses a lot of types of geological fields and difficult topography. The south spread of the pipeline has the most prone areas to geotechnical hazards because of its hard topography combined with the variety of geological materials, such as, colluvium deposits and debris flow areas. The aim of this paper is to present the right-of-way geotechnical risks that affect pipelines, presenting some practical remedial works done by TBG at Bolivia-Brazil Natural Gas Pipeline as well as the integrity plan and the adopted actions in way to prevent geotechnical accidents.

Jan 1, 2005