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By M. Rahman, P. C. Kapur

The fixed-time locked-cycle grinding test is employed to simulate the industrial closed grinding circuit on the laboratory scale. A mathematical algorithm for 'cyclewise' computer simulation of the locked-cycle test has been derived and used to study an idealised laboratory-scale model of a closed ball-mill circuit. The agreement between simulated and experimental results is reasonably good, except when the grinding times are relatively long

Dec 1, 1971

By I. Garba

The Bin Yauri deposit in the Zuru schist belt of northwestern Nigeria is a vein-type quartz-sulphide-carbonate gold mineralisation hosted by a brittle fault zone. The occurrence of the mineralisation in a contact zone of a Pan-African granitoid was believed to be sufficient evidence of deposition from magmatic fluids. However, studies may now indicate a metamorphic source for the mineralising fluids. A study of rare earth element geochemsitry was used to investigate the nature of the fluid-rock processes involved and identify the sources of the auriferous mineralising fluids.

Jan 12, 1992

By K. M. Kinealy, A. R. Ramsden, D. H. French

A negative correlation exists between sphalerite composition and gold content when gold is transported as Au(HS)2(-); however, there are spatial and temporal differences within a single deposit. A previous model for the formation of volcanogenic massive-sulphide deposits within thermally intensifying and waning hydrothermal sytems in much the same way as is observed around modern sea-floor vents is supported. The results also emphasise that recognition of the mechanisms of gold transport in ancient deposits depends critically on an understanding of their mineralogy and stratigraphy

Jan 1, 1991

By R. Patel, J. Ephraim

The production of titanium dioxide (TiO2) from its minerals such as ilmenite is challenging, and subsequent isolation of titanium from TiO2 is even more difficult because of the metal-oxygen bond strength. Currently, titanium sponge is mainly produced via the Kroll process, which is energy intensive and generates large quantities of waste. A number of international research groups have come up with technologies for the production of titanium metal. However, none of them have been commercialised, because of engineering or economic issues. The team at Bradford have confirmed that ultra-pure titanium powders can be separated from TiO2 powder through metallothermic reduction and are working to scale up the process.

May 1, 2015

By L. D. Smith

Paper presented at the conference: Risk assessment in the extractive industries, held in Exeter, UK, 23-24 March 1994, and first published London: IMM, 1994, preprint volume. 22pp., 15 refs. The concept of risk is well established in the mining industry but it is difficult to provide a quantitative assessment of risk. A discussion is presented of the significant sources of risk in a mineral project and how they are addressed. The discount rate is examined as a fundamental means of reflecting risk in discounted cash flow evaluations. Current industry practice is discussed and a methodology for the analysis of risk levels is proposed which assesses the constituent components of the discount rate (real interest, mineral project risks and country risk)

Dec 1, 1994

The mineralogical composition of the ore was determined and the mineral phases with which nickel is associated were identified. The ore was prepared by grinding to -420 micrometres and classification into granulometric fractions. Prior to the main series of experiments the effect of agitation rate on nickel recovery was investigated. The influence of sulphuric acid concentration, temperature and particle size on the kinetics of nickel extraction was then studied, both quantitatively and qualitatively, over fixed value intervals. Application of the initial rate method enabled determination both of the order of reaction with respect to sulphuric acid concentration and the activation energy for the dissolution of nickel. The results indicate that a physical mechanism can be ruled out as the rate-determining step in the extraction of nickel from the ore and that a chemical mechanism is more likely

Dec 1, 1991

By C. E. Dunn

Paper presented at the 28th International Geological Congress held in Washington DC, July 1989 (International geochemical mapping sessions). Evidence is accumulating that reconnaissance-level biogeochemical sampling can provide valuable insight into the chemistry of the substrate. Problems such as seasonal variations in plant chemistry and the lack of a universal biogeochemical sample medium may be circumvented by adopting normalising procedures. The planet can be divided into a few climatic zones, each of which is characterised by one or two common plant genera. If it can be demonstrated that the chemical differences between certain species of a single genus are small - as is suggested by studies of boreal forests - it would seem feasible to apply biogeochemistry as a low-density geochemical mapping tool. The technique could prove particularly useful for assessing the substrate chemistry of areas of dense forest, rugged terrain and difficult access by employing airborne sampling of trees from helicopters

Jul 1, 1991

Paper presented at the conference Risk assessment in the extractive industries, held in Exeter, 23-24 March 1994. Sensitivity analyses based on financial variables are now routinely applied to the forecast financial results of mining projects especially during the feasibility stage. Risk analysis is gaining acceptance but is still almost universally confined to the effects of variations in financial variables. The single most sensitive factor in almost all mining projects is the ore reserve, but it is either ignored or improperly used in sensitivity and risk analyses. Unlike financial variables, the components of the ore reserve (grades and tonnages of mining blocks) are a function of location within the orebody. Physical (mining) access to these components is therefore a function of time which has a crucial effect on forecast cash flows. It is critical that these fundamental concepts are included in risk analyses of mining projects. The effects are considered of the uncertainty of the ore reserve on feasibility studies and open-pit mine design for a small gold mining venture. Geostatistical simulation is used as a method of quantifying the risk in using grades and tonnages estimated from sparse data

Jun 16, 1905

By P. C. Kapur

Several empirical and semi-empirical laws of comminution, which describe the relationships between the cumulative grinding energy input and the degree of size reduction of brittle solids, have been rationally derived in the time-domain in a unified manner, starting with an integro-differential equation of grinding kinetics. The analysis leads to and provides explicit interrelationships between the energy-size reduction laws associated with Kick, Rittinger, Holmes, Bond, Charles and others, and gives useful estimates of their relative merits and validity. It is shown that Holmes' expression is, in fact, a solution to the grinding equation; consequently, this classical law is compatible with the modern theory of comminution based on population balance on particulate species

Dec 1, 1971

By Jones R. G.

Dr Pat Foster, Senior Lecturer in Mining Engineering at the UK's Camborne School of Mines, talks to Rhiannon Garth Jones about mining safety around the world, education and the future of the industry

Feb 1, 2015

By J. D. G. Groom

The introduction to a selection of papers from the Minerals '98 professionals' conference, held in London, 24 June 1998 as part of a week of activities supported by 13 professional and trade associations to promote the industry, highlights enthusiastic visitor comments on quarry visits around the UK and outlines the Foresight programme whose key issues were addressed at the conference

Jun 21, 1905

By A. C. Dunham, Y. D. Drakapoulos, P. W. Scott

The Pt and Pd occur alloyed with copper in small, irregularly-shaped grains, 0.25-5.0 micrometers in maximum dimensions. Grains of unalloyed native copper are also present. The grains are completely surrounded by or marginal to magnetite with inclusions of Ni-Fe-Co sulphides and native Ni-Fe, which is apparently a product of the serpentinisation process. Crystallisation of the Pt-Pd-enriched copper probably occurred at the same time, at low temperature, but the previous form of the Pt and Pd is unknown as no earlier PGE phases have been found. While Pt and Pd minerals are usually important in early-magmatic base-metal sulphides, Pt alloyed with Cu is extremely rare and apparently occurs only very late in the paragenetic sequence. A Cu alloy with Pd dominant over Pt and only minor amounts of other elements appears not to have been reported

Jun 14, 1905

By R. G. Jones

Chris Hinde talks us through his career from BSc in Mining Engineering to roles with Golder Associates, Schroder Securities, Mining Journal and SNL. He discusses the issues facing the mining industry.

May 1, 2015

By D. L. Buchanan, M. J. Jones

In May, 1982, the University of Western Australia in Perth hosted a three-day international conference on nickel sulphides, followed by a ten-day field excursion to the Western Australian nickel sulphide deposits. The conference was arranged by Professor D. I. Groves, C. M. Lesher and Dr. R. E. T. Hill under the auspices of the International Geological Correlation Programme's Projects 161 ("Sulphide deposits in mafic and ultramafic rocks") and 91 ("Metallogeny of the Pre- cambrian"). This volume contains a selection of the papers that were presented at the Perth conference. Most of the papers are related to the nickel sulphide deposits of Western Australia, but contributions with settings in North America, Finland, Vietnam and Southern Africa have also been included.

Jan 1, 1984

By Dickinson C.

Discussion at the The Midland Counties Institution of Engineers' general meeting held in Nottingham on 6th May 1916, on the paper published in Trans. I.Min.E., vol.XLVIII, 1914, p.400, included brief oral contributions by Bragge G.S. and Hepplewhite W.H. with the author's responses regarding leakage and boring of cement into the coal

Dec 1, 1916

By D. H. Watkinson

Paper presented at the IAGOD international symposium on mineralisation related to mafic and ultramafic rocks held in Orleans, France, 1-3 September 1993. Part of the contact of the 4b orebody with the enclosing Murray granite is characterised by the presence of recrystallised and biotitic Sudbury Breccia; in places the contact is faulted and sheared. In other areas of the contact partly silicified granite contains disseminated chalcopyrite and quartz-chalcopyrite veins with other minor minerals. Both ore and veins contain platinum group minerals (PGM); predominant PGM are michenerite, kotulskite, merenskyite and sperrylite with Au, galena and Bi-tellurides. At some silicified-granite contacts Mn-rich garnets, some containing inclusions of PGM and quartz, are associated with biotite + epidote + stilpnomelane + quartz. PGM and Au also occur within Cl-rich biotite and ferropyrosmalite in massive sulphide and in siliceous ore. Quartz, chalcopyrite and feldspar in the contact rocks and in veins contain abundant, highly saline fluid inclusions. Studies showed that the fluids were trapped at intermediate temperatures. The 4b orebody is surrounded by a sheath of brecciated granite but is close to the Contact Sublayer. During and after emplacement of sulphide magma, saline formational fluid that was resident in the breccia interacted with hot massive sulphides in and near the Sublayer and remobilised Cu, Au and PGE. This fluid reacted with cooler rocks and ore in footwall fractures, enriching the 4b protore and producing the adjacent Cu- and PGE-enriched quartz veins. Exploration for Cu and PGE enrichment in footwall rocks of the Sudbury South Range is warranted not only in zones of magmatic ore in the Contact Sublayer but also in fractures and permeable units within Sudbury Breccia

Jun 16, 1905

By R. H. . T. Garnett

Contributed remarks on paper published in the Transactions, Mining industry section, vol. 100, September- December 1991, A121--45

Jan 12, 1992

Further discussion at the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers' general meeting held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 3rd June 1916, on the paper published in Trans. I.Min.E., vol.L, 1915, p.179, consisted of the author's written response to Mr. Hare's comments at the April meeting

Dec 1, 1916

By C. P. Summerhayes, J. W. G. Gilbey, S. Henley, G. P. Glasby, J. J. T. Harvey, J. Larsson, O. Akiman, A. G. Brown

Abstracts are presented from six University of London, one University of Nottingham and one University of Durham PhD theses

Dec 1, 1971

By B. Denby

sintered ores, to be removed by a pneumatic,

Apr 1, 1995