Search Documents

By J. D. McFarlane, V. Robinson

"The paper begins with a brief account of the naturarly occurring resources of gypsum and anhydrite and a discussion of their relative value and utility as sources of sulphur. The fundamental chemistry of recovering sul-phur values from calcium sulphate is discussed. (a) Thermal decomposition -discussed as impracticable; (b) Reduction to calcium sulphide; (i) Total Reduction-The chemistry is outlined and the Dorr-Oliver and Bureau of Mines processes mentioned. The Elcor process is mentioned and certain deductions made from available information.(ii) Partial Reduction-This is stated as the basis of the only proven process, namely ""The Cement -Sulphuric Acid Process."" The possibility of recovering lime is mentioned as an aside, but dismissed for lack of commercial application. The history of the cement -sulphuric acid process is covered briefly and a list of plants in commercial operation included. A brief elementary account of the basic chemistry of cement production is followed by a discussion on raw materials and fuels. A short account of the flow scheme of a typical plant, with notes on the operating peculiarities, precedes an account of product quality. The latest developments which enable by-product gypsum to be used as a raw material are discussed, with an indication of how the flow scheme is modified. A statement of feasible plant capacities is followed by requirements of raw materials, services, labour, etc., and finally some indication is given of capital costs."

Jan 1, 1969

By H. Lachmund, R. Bruckhaus

At Dillinger Hüttenwerke/Germany steel production of grades for linepipe applications especially for sour service has a long tradition. The BOF process after replacement of the vessels is optimized by a newly developed lime addition model and variations in lance tip geometry. Equipped with three state-of-the-art VOD tank degassers metallurgical requirements of lowest contents of e. g. sulphur, nitrogen and hydrogen can be achieved. Three continuous casting machines of vertical bending type with solid core even improve already high levels of cleanliness. The vertical part corresponds to the metallurgical length of 12 to 15 m and therefore assures a maximum of cleanliness after solidification before bending. Slab thickness up to 400 mm can be produced with model controlled dynamic soft reduction. The accurate alignments of the casters assure minimized segregation and microporosity. Surface and internal cracks can be avoided by special cooling, bending and straightening strategies.

Jan 1, 2005

By Patrick R. Stephenson

The Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the ?JORC Code?) has been operating successfully for 14 years, and has an ancestry dating back over 30 years. Together with complementary developments in stock exchange listing rules, the Code has brought about substantially improved standards of public reporting by Australasian mining and exploration companies. The Code is regarded as a world leader in its field, and has been used as a basis for the development of resource/reserve reporting standards in other countries. The reasons for its success are varied, foremost amongst them being its adoption in full by the Australian and New Zealand Stock Exchanges, and the ability and willingness of mining industry organisations to bring Competent Persons to account when necessary. The latest revision of the JORC Code was undertaken in 2002/03, based in part on releases of upgraded reporting standards in Canada, United Kingdom/Western Europe and South Africa, and the 2003 edition is expected to be released mid-year. Two of the more significant changes are: the introduction of a requirement for a Competent Person to be responsible for the documentation upon which Exploration Results are reported; and inclusion in the definition of a Competent Person of a reference to ?Recognised Overseas Professional Organisations?, being overseas professional organisations to which Competent Persons may belong for the purpose of preparing documentation for the submission of reports to the Australian Stock Exchange.

May 1, 2003

Cominco began investigations about ten years ago relative to noise abatement in underground operations. As a result of intensive research, this study has advanced so that the practice now has wide application. Automotive mufflers are used on vane-type blasthole diamond drills. Exhaust hoses are attached to longhole percussion drills. Hand-held drills, such as airlegs and stopers, are equipped with mufflers which are either part of the drill, as received from the manufacturer, or are light rubber de-vices developed, fabricated and installed by Cominco. Ear defenders are in general use. The paper reviews details of practices employed, and assesses the success achieved. Noise is generally associated with some of the basic equipment used in mining. About ten years ago, in order to improve on this situation. The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada Limited began investigations relative to noise abatement in its underground operations. As a result of intensive research, this study has advanced to the point

Jan 1, 1964

By R. B. Fermor

"The tyndalloscope is used in Europe for dust-hazard assessments in both coal and metal mines. Dust-hazard conditions can be directly evaluated by the tyndalloscope in many underground working situations, once the basic standard table or tables have been prepared from representative mine-rock samples.The tyndalloscope is excellent, in many cases, for diagnostic dust sampling during a working shift, because individual readings can be taken to within three-minute intervals. The limitations of the tyndalloscope are also discussed.The author suggests that a combination of both the tyndalloscope and gravimetric sampling methods would be an ideal match for most mine dust-hazard assessments."

Jan 1, 1970

By Yann Sivry, S. Subramanian, Divyasree C. Prabhakaran, Jean Riotte

The potential of a bacterial strain isolated from water samples collected from a chromite mine in Odisha, India has been assessed for the bioremediation of hexavalent chromium, a toxic environmental pollutant. The isolate was identified as Sphingopyxis sp., a Gram negative bacterium, adopting molecular biological protocols and biochemical characterization techniques. Detailed investigations on the bioremoval of Cr(VI) were carried out using Sphingopyxis sp. cells and the various parameters affecting the biosorption process were evaluated. About 55 % biosorption of Cr(VI) was obtained using Sphingopyxis sp. bacterial cells and the residual chromium in solution was found to be bio-reduced to the trivalent form, namely Cr(III). Thus, complete bioremediation of Cr(VI) could be achieved using the mine isolate, with contributions from both biosorption and bioreduction mechanisms. The Cr(VI) biosorption isotherm obtained for the isolate was found to follow a typical Langmuirian behavior and the free energy value of biosorption was determined to be ~-25 kJ/mol, indicative of involvement of chemical binding forces in the bioremediation process. The chromium biosorption kinetics by the isolate followed a pseudo second order reaction. The FTIR spectral studies revealed that carboxyl, hydroxyl, amino and phosphate groups were involved in the biosorption process. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic studies on the bacterial cells interacted with Cr(VI) confirmed the presence of both Cr(VI) and Cr(III) on the cell surface. The electrokinetic studies revealed that the surface potential of the bacterial cells were less electronegative subsequent to interaction with Cr(VI), compared to the cells alone, which further testified to the binding of positively charged Cr(III) ions, formed by bioreduction of Cr(VI), to the bacterial cell surface. A marginal shift in the iso-electric point obtained for the bacterial cells interacted with Cr(VI), corroborated the involvement of chemical binding forces in the bioremediation process.

Jan 1, 2016

By W. J. Kempson

In recent years, substantial progress has been made with respect to the definition and control of the primary energy requirements in underground mines. Little has, however been done to develop a more detailed understanding of how to limit the various pressure losses which are intrinsic to shaft systems. This is in spite of the fact that more than half of the pressures generated by the ventilation fans in deep level mines are dissipated as pressure losses within the shaft system. This paper presents research which has been completed to optimise the pressure losses which occur in shaft systems as a result of the ventilation air flowing through them. In this regard, the response of various shafts to the ventilation air flowing through them was measured. These results were evaluated against the current theory for the calculation of shaft pressure losses. Finally the results of the measurements and calculations were used to calibrate a Computational Fluid Dynamics model of the shaft systems. This model was then iterated to allow meaningful conclusions as to the specific make up of the shaft equipment which contributes the most to pressure losses in shaft The results of the above analysis demonstrated that the current theory used for the evaluation of these pressure losses is deficient. The paper discusses these conclusions and the specific ramifications of the analysis. Finally, the understandings gained with regards to the above research are applied to the design and layout of equipment in mine shafts. In this regard, the shape and orientation of the shaft steelwork is evaluated and it specific interaction with the piping and conveyance is evaluated. Coming out of this evaluation are specific recommendations for the design of future shaft systems. These recommendations are based on the above models and offer specific savings on the lifetime operating costs of shaft systems.

Aug 1, 2013

By M. Knot

Fans delivered to the Russian Federation, and eventually to countries of the former U.S.S.R., for mine ventilation must meet the legislative requirements of local jurisdictions. This paper presents a discussion of these legislative requirements and presents examples of fan equipment designed to meet the requirements. The legislative obligations discussed include four (4) separate requirements, including: ?Technical design requirements ? The Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology is responsible to issue a GOST R certification declaring conformance to the requirements ?Operational requirements ? A ?License for Application? must be obtained prior to operation ?Explosion risk requirements ? If the area of operation includes potential for explosion a special certificate must be obtained ?Technical condition requirements ? Market segments within the mining industry require special conditions that must be satisfied Examples of fans designed specifically for use in the Russian Federation are also discussed and examples provided. Designs for fan volume flow control will be highlighted.

Aug 1, 2013

By Ahmad Ghahreman, James McNeice

"Cerium is the most abundant rare earth metal and is often found in deposits along with small amounts of more valuable metals such as neodymium and gadolinium1. As a result, the production of cerium oxide often exceeds market demands, thus in some cases it would make more sense to remove the cerium from the process solutions before further purification. A common method of cerium removal is to precipitate CeO2 from the acidic leach liquors by raising the pH to oxidize cerium(III) to cerium(IV). This study investigates the oxidation kinetics using three oxidants; hydrogen peroxide, sodium hypochlorite, and potassium permanganate. The effect of oxidant, pH, cerium concentration and temperature on the oxidation kinetics will be discussed. Cerium oxidation in solutions with pH ranging from 1.0 to 4.0 was investigated at cerium concentrations ranging from 2.0 g/L to 16.0 g/L. A cerium recovery of 40% can be achieved at different conditions with each oxidant at room temperature, with higher recovery at 60°C.INTRODUCTION Over the last 70 years, the rare earth elements (REE) have become crucial components of modern technology. These metals are categorized as light rare earths (LREE) or heavy rare earths (HREE) by governments and miners based on weight, abundance, and therefore value. The minerals bastnaesite, monazite, and xenotime compose the majority of the world?s exploitable sources of these metals (Binnemans, 2013; Parker and Baroch, 1971). Geologists classify the LREE ores as „cerium group? minerals, approximately 50% cerium oxide by weight. The cerium group minerals monazite and bastnaesite compose the majority of world production, leading to an overproduction of cerium relative to world demand. This ratio of light to heavy REE in deposits has led to a phenomenon referred to as the balance problem (Binnemans et al., 2013). As an example, to produce 1 tonne of europium oxide from a bastnaesite deposit 450 tonnes of cerium oxide must be processed. This means that any push to increase production and access the value of the HREE metals will drive down the value of the LREE metals leading to diminishing returns (Zepf, 2016). These ores also contain measurable levels of thorium, subjecting them to complex radioactive waste regulations. During the 20th century, the USA was the largest producer of rare earth metals (REMs), primarily sourced from the Mountain Pass mine in California. However, due to a combination of market dynamics and regulations, China has dominated the market for the last two decades. The largest Chinese REE mine, Bayan Obo, produces rare earth (RE) concentrate as a byproduct of iron mining, decreasing their relative production costs (Gupta and Krishnamurthy, 2005). This mine alone represents about half of world bastnaesite production (Zhi and Yang, 2014). Rising demand for high-tech products has forced Chinese producers to commission other large mines, climbing to 90% of world production in the early years of the new millennium (Mancheri, 2016). This presents the west with a looming supply risk of these critical metals in the future."

Jan 1, 2017

By Michael Arriagada, Ivan Arriagada

"As mines return to shafts to economically exploit deeper reserves, two methods mine owners use to minimize short term costs are: sinking shafts in phases and refurbishing old, existing shafts. While there may appear to be benefits to utilizing existing infrastructure, often this is not the case, resulting in missed deadlines and added costs. Similarly, if proper long term planning is not executed when sinking a shaft in phases, additional costs and downtime will be accrued. This paper will take an in depth look at both of these options with an eye towards optimizing costs, minimizing downtime, and facilitating construction. INTRODUCTION With the onset of mechanized mining and large capacity trucks, many mines turned away from shafts and began to use ramps to haul ore to surface. However, continual exploitation of mineral reserves located closer to surface, combined with the subsequent unearthing of additional resources at greater depths, forced mines to go deeper and deeper to extend the life and keep the operation running. In shallow mines, hauling ore by truck was an economical option. However, as mines get deeper, driving ramps takes additional time, and hauling over longer and longer distances becomes less economic, both in terms of cost and time. For this reason Mexico, in particular, has seen a jump in the number of shafts which have been put into production, as well as having a number of shafts in different stages of development and still more in the conceptual stages. Many of the shaft projects in Mexico are being designed in phases, with the hoist and equipment purchased capable of reaching the ultimate planned depth of the shaft, but with sinking operations stopping short at an intermediate depth. A loading pocket is then installed to start exploiting mineral at this depth sooner, with subsequent phases planned for a later date using either a rock pentice or bulkhead to separate the sinking operations from the active shaft above. Currently, we are directly involved in two such projects which are actively being deepened, as well as having seen various others already reach completion. If done properly with the long-term plan in mind, sinking in phases can be a very viable option, allowing for faster production while fully utilizing the equipment at various depths. However, there are many issues which can arise when sinking a shaft in phases that if not properly examined and planned for from the outset, have the potential to eliminate the gains hoped for when it was decided to sink in this manner."

Jan 1, 2019

By E. G. Joe

"Recent trends in Canadian mineral processing were reported in seven areas of interest covered by seventeen technical papers at the 1976 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mineral Processors, held at Energy, Mines and Resources' Camsell Hall, Ottawa. New milling equipment included the Enviro-Clear thickener, large-volume Outokumpu flotation machines and abrasion-resistant polyurethane screens. Grinding experiences from a variety of milling operations were reported. Opportunities for increased sizing and grinding efficiency were presented. Flotation control by digital computer and by chemical additions were described in two mill operations. Slurry pumping and sampling techniques were described for various operations. Environmental control in milling was reported concerning dust suppression, arsenic removal and tailings disposal. Several aspects of gold milling were described by the most recently commissioned gold mine and by CANMET. Potash operations were reported showing the similarity of processing and process control to that of metallic minerals."

Jan 1, 1976

By S. W. Marcuson, P. J. Mackey

The 1973 Oil Embargo and succeeding disruptions in supply had a profound effect on energy costs and consumption patterns in the developed world. This was especially true in the USA where post World War II growth, fueled by low-cost imported oil, left the country dependent on uninterrupted oil shipments from the volatile Middle East. In this atmosphere, Professor H.H. Kellogg of Columbia University, convinced of the necessity of good environmental stewardship by the writings of the era’s leading environmentalists, developed a methodology for evaluating energy and process efficiency of metallurgical processes and wrote a series of papers describing and applying the techniques. One of these, "Energy Use in Sulfide Smelting of Copper" is recognized as a seminal work which both described the state of energy usage in copper smelting in the mid-1970’s and portended future developments. The background to these papers is examined and the current and past Cu-Ni matte smelting practices in Canada are examined in the context of the results. Data from early 20th century publications describing reverberatory and blast furnace operation is employed to show that energy consumption for much of the century was several multiples higher than that calculated for best reverberatory operation in the 1970’s.

Jan 1, 2015

By Lionel C. Piuze

Introduction and Early History The British Canadian Mine is one of four operating properties of Asbestos Corporation, Limited, and is located in the town of Black Lake, Que., five miles southwest of Thetford Mines. In the early days of as1bestos mining, this .property was owned by a few small companies who later became part of the Asbestos Corporation. First .to commence mining operations on the property was the Coleraine Mining Company who, in 1885, began selling part of their large holdings in the area to various asbestos mining interests. Of these, the earliest active companies were Manhattan United Asbestos, the Glasgow and Montreal Asbestos Company, and the Anglo-Canadian, the last named later becoming the Standard and Dominion Asbestos Companies. Extraction of fibre was limited to what is now known as crude asbestos and the methods were primitive. Drilling was done .by hand and the ore was lifted by derricks operated by band winches. These were later replaced by horse power, but it was not until 1887 that the first steam-operated boom derricks were introduced, at the Anglo-Canadian mine. The ore was hand cobbled and the asbestos roughly classified and bagged. The waste rock, which by today's standards contained a considerable percentage of marketable fibre, was dumped near the pit. The first attempt to separate the asbestos from the host rock by mechanical means was made in 1888 by the G1asgow and Montreal Asbestos Company, then known as the Scottish-Canadian Asbestos Company, whose mill, erected in that year, was the world's first asbestos mill. Though the equipment was crude, the principles employed were the same as those used today with much larger units. The next steps were the use of rock drills, the adoption of steam rail transportation for moving mill rock, and conversion to the more flexible cable-derrick hoisting.

Jan 1, 1950

By G. Marchand, R. H. Hay, E. C. Pearson

"AbstractA polishing .technique is described together with two anodic etching methods for aluminum and its alloys. Some of the optical and structural characteristics of the film formed by •these etching methods are discussed and it is shown to what degree these properties of the film are related to the crystallographic orientation of the metallic substrate. Applications to the study of recrystallization and twinning phenomena and to the study of plastic deformation, banding, and texture estimation are discussed. Micrographs are shown .to illustrate the manner in which the technique is particularly well suited to the study of such phenomena.IntroductionThe physical metallurgist is constantly faced with the problem of polishing and etching of metallic sections. Mechanical polishing is tedious, time consuming, and not applicable whenever a surface entirely free from plastic deformation is required. Etchants are generally required to reveal the grain structure in order to determine its size, shape, and regularity, or to bring up constituents. In the case of aluminum, the .most common etchant to reveal grains is a mixture of three acids: HC1, HN03, and HF. This etchant is fairly satisfactory on certain alloys and for certain metallurgical conditions but in general fails to give a good definition of the grain on castings, on highly alloyed products, and whenever the grain is smaller than 100 microns in diameter. Besides size and shape, a grain, or crystal, has an orientation and may be endowed with several types of imperfections."

Jan 1, 1952

By M. B. Kime

"A set of experimental batch leaching tests studied the effect of pH, time, temperature, and stirring speed on the relative Cu, Co, Ni, and Fe leaching yields of an oxidized copper-cobalt ore sample in an aqueous hydrochloric acid solution. The results were statistically analyzed and modelled using the structural equation modelling method. Models showed that Cu, Co, and Ni leaching yields were strong functions of the leaching time and leaching temperature, whereas the Fe leaching yield depended on the leaching temperature, stirring speed, and pH. Under optimum leaching conditions yields were 99.8% Cu, 82.4% Co, 91.3% Ni, and 30.6% Fe.RÉSUMÉ Une série d’essais expérimentaux de lixiviation en bâchée ont été menés pour étudier l’effet du pH, de la durée d’attaque, de la température et de la vitesse de brassage sur les rendements relatifs de lixiviation du cuivre (Cu), du cobalt (Co), du nickel (Ni) et du fer (Fe) d’un échantillon de minerai de cuivre-cobalt oxydé dans une solution aqueuse d’acide chlorhydrique. Les résultats ont été analysés et modélisés statistiquement à l’aide de la méthode de modélisation par équation structurelle (SEM, de l’anglais structural equation modelling). Les modèles ont montré que les rendements de lixiviation du Cu, du Co et du Ni dépendaient énormément de la durée d’attaque et de la température de la lixiviation ; le rendement de lixiviation du Fe, quant à lui, dépendait de la température de la lixiviation, de la vitesse de brassage et du pH. Dans des conditions optimales de lixiviation, les rendements étaient de 99,8 % pour le Cu, de 82,4 % pour le Co, de 91,3 % pour le Ni et de 30,6 % pour le Fe. INTRODUCTIONThe Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of Congo hosts the northwestern part of the Central African Copperbelt. This region abounds with large, rich deposits of sulfide and oxidized copper-cobalt ores. In general, the main valuable minerals present are malachite (CuCO3Cu(OH)2) and heterogenite (CoO(OH)). Common impurities found in heterogenite are Cu, Ni, Si, Al, Mn, and Fe. The substitution of Co by other cations (e.g., Cu, Ni, and Fe) has an influence on the crystallinity of heterogenite (Deliens, 1974). In general, well-crystallized varieties of heterogenite have lower impurity contents, whereas amorphous heterogenite types usually contain more impurities (Thys et al., 2009). Further, in heterogenite, Co can occur in the 2+ and 3+ oxidation states. The gangue generally consists of quartz (SiO2), talc (Mg3Si4O10(OH)2), kaolinite (SiO2·Al2O3·2H2O), limonite (Fe2O3·3H2O), and goethite (FeO(OH)). Oxidized copper-cobalt ores are often treated by hydrometallurgical methods, whereas sulfide ores are often treated by flotation or pyrometallurgy, depending on their grades. Hydrometallurgical methods typically entail selectively dissolving the metals of interest (Cu, Co, and Ni) in aqueous solutions (leaching), transferring the dissolved metals to an organic solution, and retransferring these to a second aqueous solution (solvent extraction). Copper and nickel are readily dissolved in an acidic aqueous media. In contrast, cobalt is difficult to dissolve, especially if it is present in the third oxidation state; however, this species becomes soluble after it is reduced to Co2+ (Mwema, Mpoyo, & Kafumbila, 2002; Kime & Makgoale, 2016)."

Jan 1, 2017

By Robert B. Parsons

"In all likelihood, Canada's mining industry would be adversely affected by corporate tax reform proposals actively being considered by the Department of Finance in Ottawa. When the next set of proposals for lax reform is released later this year as promised by Finance, the mining industry had better be prepared 10 take a hard look.IntroductionTwo federal budgets ago, in May 1985, Finance Minister Wilson tabled budget papers that were more massive in terms of volume than most federal budgets. Buried in this mass of documentation is a discussion paper entitled ""The Corporate Income Tax System-A Direction For Change"". When the discussion paper was tabled over one year ago, reaction from the business sector was almost nonexistent. By and large, the paper was regarded as nothing more than one more federal publication of mild academic interest.But, recent events suggest that this discussion paper for corporate tax reform could be the cornerstone for a series of changes to the tax laws which would have more profound and widespread effects for all sectors of the economy than any reform since 1971 . No industry in Canada can afford to ignore the movement afoot in Ottawa for corporate tax reform."

Jan 1, 1986

By A. G. Roach

Introduction The plant described in this paper is located at Coniston, Ontario, the smelting centre of the former Mond Nickel Company. Coniston is situated some eight miles east of Sudbury on the main line of the Canadian Pacific railway and on the Toronto-Capreol branch of the Canadian National-railways. The plant is now under control of the International Nickel Company, as a result of the merger of the two companies in 1929. The smelter proper includes four 50-in. by 240-in. blast furnaces and five 13 ft. by 30 ft. converters, and has a capacity of about 65,000 tons of ore charge per month. As accessories to the smelter there are a mill, where some 10,000 tons per month of low-grade ores are concentrated, and the sintering plant, which is the subject of this paper. The present 6-unit sintering plant replaces a former 4-unit installation. Here, fine ores, concentrates, and flue-dust are sintered on Dwight-Lloyd machines, the sinter produced being charged into the blast furnaces. At the time of writing (1931), only the concentrator is operating at capacity, due to present world conditions.

Jan 1, 1932

By R. M. Kleine

In the fall of 1968, Sheridan Geophysics leased the Renzy Mine property 50 miles northwest of the town of Maniwaki, Quebec. A 500-tpd flotation mill was dismantled at Belleterre, Quebec, trucked into the mine over a winter road and re-erected during extreme winter conditions. Approximately one billion gallons of water were removed from Renzy lake to expose the orebody. A 3,000-hp diesel generating plant and a self-supporting community were set up during the early part of 1969. This was a remark-able achievement considering that most of the work, including the pouring of foundations and the draining of the lake, had to be done during the winter months. Despite this, the project was completed ahead of schedule and one million dollars below budget. The mill is now treating an average of 800 tpd.

Jan 1, 1970

By Nicole Peter

When introducing digital training technology a practical approach helps address cultural concerns.  Solutions to help create acceptance are discussed.  Resistance to change may be deeply rooted in traditional mine training personnel.  Traditional training staff members may consider themselves less digitally-savvy and resist technological methods available to them. A transitional approach intended to help mitigate or resolve resistance is presented as a continuous improvement pathway toward full adoption.  This presentation contends every mine should welcome the benefit of a digitally connected critical enabler.  The adoption of a digitally savvy learning centre is often viewed a disrupter to existing practice.  Given a commitment-driven learning centre model, technology offers the opportunity to transition from a compliance-based training model to one of competence.  Learning and Development practitioners should welcome the latest advances in neuroscience, Bloom’s taxonomy of learning model, and principles which guide mine safety training as outlined by the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources at the University of Arizona. By employing digital applications to include animation, game-based simulations and immersive Virtual Reality (VR) these technologies create a viable digitally-savvy learning centre. We will outline the ingredients of a digitally enabled, or VR, Learning Centre to offer some observed benefits, successes, and potential short-comings. Much excitement in the industry surrounds implementation of simulation and/or VR headset training.  Given fair consideration of these as a ‘fit-for-purpose’ solution we examine the paradigm shift required to create real results for on-the-job learning.  Interim steps may be needed to meet the cultural transformation.   Simpler forms of VR, in the form of 3D models and VR environments as displayed on a large interactive touch screen, can serve to bridge this challenge and address a group learning environment. Features of the interactive 3D technology and ease of adoption are presented.  Usage of the touch screen is similar to that of a smart phone. It may be implemented as an obvious transitional tool.  To help describe merits of the interactive touch screen the presentation points out these sample underground and surface mine training applications. There are 3-D simulations such as ventilation, emergency response, support installation, and mine cycle and activity scheduling programs. These applications offer the ability to conduct entry examinations, complete digital pre-use checklists, and perform planned task observations in the virtual world of work. The tool may be used to teach the flow of hydraulics and do fault-finding on machinery such as loaders and dump trucks. Learners may navigate in a virtual mining environment to identify hazards, detect and assess abnormal ground conditions, address poor design features, and alleviate traffic constraints. It is possible to use connected physical controls to navigate machinery in the virtual environment. We conclude the presentation with a “compare and contrast” approach to cite potential cultural benefits by adopting a transitional method. 

May 4, 2025

By I. Ciabatti

Inorganic salts of hexavalent iron (ferrate (VI)) are versatile reagents for water and industrial effluent treatment because of the strong oxidising effect of the ferrate ion (FeO42-) and the well-known coagulation properties of the resulting ferric ion. Among other applications, ferrate can effectively remove arsenic, cyanide and phenols from industrial effluents. Furthermore, ferrate salts can be prepared from ferrous sulphate, a common byproduct of the steel and titanium industries, and possibly from other iron wastes. Notwithstanding their many potential advantages, the industrial-scale application of ferrate salts, such as potassium ferrate (K2FeO4), for effluent treatment has been hindered by the difficulties inherent in their synthesis and stabilisation. Within a project co-funded by the European Commission, the large-scale synthesis of stabilised potassium ferrate was realised through a new synthesis process, and different applications of the resulting ferrate to effluent and wastewater treatment are under investigation. This paper reports the results of the application of stabilised potassium ferrate for the purification of textile effluents. Laboratory and pilot-scale tests were carried out and the performance of the ferrate was compared to that of chemicals currently used in wastewater treatment. According to these experiments, potassium ferrate is a promising reagent for an effective treatment of textile and other industrial effluents.

Jan 1, 2006