Search Documents

By Robert W. Miller, Rhoda S. Kriesel

INTRODUCTION With each passing year, the general public becomes increasingly aware of the potential hazards associated with many products and services previously considered unharmful. This new consciousness is especially evident in the workplace, both as the result of advances in scientific understanding and the influx of concerned, responsible professionals into the labor movement. For example, data produced by epidemiologists doing retrospective mortality studies which related mortality to toxic substance exposures has often been the prime motivating factor behind reductions in exposure standards. This certainly has been the historical case with many radiation exposure standards, including the limitations set for "Working Level" exposure. The concept of "Working Level" was introduced in PHS Publication No. 494 as a result of both the difficulty in relating radiation units to biological effects and the complexity of interaction of radon daughters with the physical environment. WORKING LEVEL One working level is defined as any combination of radon daughters in one liter of air that will alternately release 1.7 x 105 MEV of alpha energy during decay of 210pb (RaD). Its usefulness is that working level can be readily measured in both the field and the laboratory. Because of this, existing occupational exposure standards for radon daughters in both the U. S. and other countries use working level as their basis. In the U. S., the last twenty years has witnessed a significant reduction in radiation exposure standards from 120 working level months to 4 working level months per year. New international standards are being proposed that would be only slightly higher than these current U. S. standards. POTENTIAL EXPOSURES TO RADON DAUGHTERS The universal use of nuclear power, along with the transfer of nuclear technology to developing nations, has significantly increased the demand for fuels. As a result, uranium mining operations have expanded and increased numbers of miners are regularly exposed to radon daughters. In addition to potential exposures in uranium mines, other deep mines such as tin, gold, platinum and tungsten, also have potential exposures due to the distribution of uranium and its accompanying radium throughout much of the earth's crust. The energy crisis has also prompted interest in general population exposure to radon daughters in buildings. Many homeowners, using additional insulation and caulking to seal cracks and conserve energy, have reduced indoor ventilation to the point where working level exposure could become significant, especially in homes with unventilated crawl spaces. In fact, several serious exposure situations have occurred where mine tailings were used for building materials. MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES Historically, rapid and convenient measurement techniques have been actively sought to improve the ability of ventilation engineers to limit mining exposures through ventilation control. A number of measurement techniques have been developed, including the Kusnetz method (further elaborated by Shalaynev) and techniques developed by Rolle and Tsivoglou. All, however, suffer from similar handicaps that prevent their usefulness in the mining environment. Their main limitation, in terms of minimizing employee exposure, is the elapsed time from the start of sampling until the results can be calculated. It is usually 40 to 90 minutes. This time delay presents both serious economic limitations as well as the potential for exposing workers to high radon daughter concentrations until calculations are completed and corrections made. Further reducing the utility of the Kusnetz and Tsivoglou techniques is the need for tedious calculations that increase the possibility of human error along with the need for cumbersome sampling equipment that is not ideally suited to the mining environment. INSTANT WORKING LEVEL METER To alleviate these problems, the idea of an Instant Working Level Meter was conceived by several groups. Several such instruments were proposed, built, and tested with disappointing results. Although the concepts behind them were sound, the instruments simply failed to measure working level without excessive distortion. In addition, their cost was relatively high, gamma background presented a problem, and sophisticated computations were necessary to determine working level. In short, these systems lacked the design engineering that would make them suitable for the demands of a mining environment.

Jan 1, 1981

By J. H. Kelley

In this paper, we show that the methane emission and the dust generation in under-ground mining currently and in the future pose operational, health and safety conditions which adversely Impact face productivity and worker satisfaction. One solution is the use of a dual-aircourse system of ventilation. In this concept, one aircourse captures and exhausts to the surface the dust generated and the methane emitted in coal/mineral fragmentation while a second aircourse provides workers with cleaner air for breathing and comfort. Various dual-aircourse configurations adapted to the Variable Wall Miner are analyzed and compared with conventional mining in gassy seams, indicating a marked reduction in the required air quantity and the number of aircourses.

Jan 1, 1996

By Archie M. Richardson, Carl E. Brechtel, Tom R. Kelly, Frank Feero

Recent work to upgrade the ventilation system for the el Mochito lead/zinc mine in central Honduras is discussed. Network modeling and underground measurements were used to evaluate cost-effective alternatives for achieving satisfactory ventilation in a complex and expanding underground operation. Both interim and long-term solutions were implemented to make mining possible under difficult conditions. INTRODUCTION Mining operations at the el Mochito Mine, located in the central highlands of Honduras, Central America, have been virtually continuous since the opening of the mine in 1948. Initially a high-grade silver mine, the mine has expanded along a westward trend of pipe-like orebodies to a distance of roughly one mile from two centrally located shafts. Production of the relatively large San Juan orebody at the western most extension of the mine (Paddock, 1981) led to the introduction of diesel-powered equipment; however, the ventilation infrastructure was insufficient to meet the needs of mechanized mining. A succession of owners/operators in the 1980s allowed the existing ventilation infrastructure to decay to the point that ventilation in the production areas of the mine was very poor. Environmental conditions in some working areas were not conducive to efficient ore extraction because of high dry bulb temperature, high humidity, and diesel emissions. Upon acquiring the mine in 1990, Breakwater Resources of Tucson, Arizona began an aggressive program to refurbish the mine infrastructure to complete extraction of the San Juan orebody and to allow the extension of the mine another 2500 ft to the west for extraction of the Nacional orebody. The program included increasing the capacity of the main ventilation system. This article presents a case history of the process of upgrading the ventilation system in a mine where extensive old workings cause large air leakage. This process has been one of selecting solutions to difficult technical problems that are compatible with the existing mine infrastructure and economic constraints. The initial ventilation system is described in the background section, along with ventilation projections for the mine expansion. Field characterization of the ventilation system for design verification and fan specification is then discussed. The paper describes a series of interim changes to the system to improve ventilation pending completion of new ventilation boreholes. In addition, the temperature/ heat problems in the mine are described. BACKGROUND Initial Condition of Ventilation System The ventilation system is illustrated in Figure 1, which shows the extent of mining with the main ventilation paths superimposed. Early mining around the two shafts opened up vertical connections (stopes and raises) over the entire 2420 ft (737.6 m) of vertical extent, and mining progressed to the west primarily using compressed air and electric-powered equipment. Since ventilation was not a complex problem in the original mining system, the stopes and interconnecting raises were not sealed. The San Juan orebody was much larger than the silver ore zones mined previously, being primarily zinc and other base metals. Its geometry, size, and grade allowed the use of vertical crater retreat (VCR) stoping with diesel mucking and haulage equipment. Its depth, along with the existence of warm groundwater, resulted in a mine climate problem on the lower levels. To establish a complete ventilation circuit, two vertical boreholes (Bonanza Nos. 1 and 2) had been drilled by previous owners from the surface in the vicinity of the San Juan orebody. The system design called for air to be drawn down the intake shafts, across the lower mine levels to the San Juan workings, then up through the San Juan ramps and ore passes to these two exhaust boreholes (see Figure 1). In practice, however, only the Bonanza No. 1 borehole was drawing air through the desired path. Leakage across the old upper levels from the intake shafts, the Caliche tunnel, and from intervening abandoned stopes and raises supplied most of the air flowing to the base of the Bonanza No. 2 borehole. In effect, there were two ventilation circuits in semi-parallel through the mine, of which only one was delivering appreciable air to the San Juan workings.

Jan 1, 1993

By S. K. Mukherjee, M. M. Singh, N. I. Jayaramn

In underground mining operations, ventilation and water sprays are the common methods of controlling dust. In recent years, there has been a proliferation of technical literature dealing with water sprays for dust control. However, guidelines for the design of an effective water spray system have not been presented to the mining industry. This paper recommends guidelines for water spray systems to control dust in underground mining operations. These guidelines suggest type, number, location, and orientation of nozzles; desirable operating water pressure; and associated filtration system.

Jan 1, 1987

By L. B. Hales

Color video or digital cameras have been installed over flotation cells to monitor color, bubble size, froth movement, and other characteristics. These systems are designed so that the camera provides flotation performance information just as any other sensor might. Factorial tests have been run to monitor and measure the variation in froth characteristics as a function of flotation control settings. Ultimately, it is envisioned that froth image sensors can be used to monitor and control the flotation performance as effectively and for less cost than current analytical systems.

Jan 1, 1999

By G. I. Mathieu

Research and development studies were carried out at the Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology to produce a synthetic forsterite sand from asbestos tailings for Les Sables Olimag Inc. The National Research Council of Canada also supported and collaborated to the project. Theoretically, the technological approach consists of a heat at over 1300°C; however, the process without additive would result in the production of an enstatite-rich product (MgSiO3) having a fusion temperature less than 1600°C. The purpose was to foster the formation of forsterite (Mg2SiO4), a more refractory compound. The fabrication of the forsterite product requires pre-agglomeration of serpentine-MgO with a binder, which is stable at high temperature, to prevent the loss of the powdered magnesium oxide as dust in the kiln off gases and to maintain the mixture homogeneous during the process. Characterization of the end products with respect to mineral composition and thermal resistance are described. The synthetic forsterite in sand form was tested with success under a bath of liquid steel maintained at 1700°C for up to two hours. The advantages of the new sand and its potential applications will be reviewed.

Jan 1, 1992

By Josh Swank

Albert Einstein once said, ?the important thing is not to stop questioning.? In the mining industry, a lack of inquisitiveness may lead to a blissful ignorance but it certainly will not increase efficiencies. While one may claim necessity is the mother of invention, questioning and analyzing how methods and systems can be improved is the catalyst to discovering necessities. Understandably, when working in the middle of Canada?s oil sands, where trucks operate around the clock every day of the year, it is nearly impossible to pull the nose from the grindstone long enough to provide thorough analysis. But, fortunately, some manufacturers/inventors have assisted by examining the process and the ensuing headaches within this application.

Jan 1, 2013

By Philani Larrance Ngwenyama, Ronald CW Webber-Youngman

Through-the-Earth (TTE) communication systems were developed to provide post-accident communication in underground mines. Unlike primary tracking systems, they do not require any major infrastructure installations underground. Instead, they use the Earth’s overburden as the medium or channel for the transmission of electromagnetic waves between surface and underground. Under ideal conditions, TTE communication systems should be able to provide full-duplex, two-way voice, text and data communication. However, this will depend on the design and optimization of the different types of TTE communication systems (that is, antenna and electrodes), and understanding of the rock properties and their influence on the transmission of signals. This can help simulate and model the transmission efficiencies and predict the possible range and data rates. Being able to optimize the performances of these systems can enhance rescue missions, improving the chances of saving trapped miners, and ultimately reduce fatality rates across the mining industry.

Feb 1, 2025

By M. Rieber

The potential for the wide-spread commercialization of superconductivity, the disappearance of all resistance to a direct current (D.C.) electric flow, began in 1986-87 with the development by Bednorz and Muller at IBM's Zurich Laboratory of an yttrium -barium -copper oxide conductor which attained zero resistance at 90t:. Although the status of superconductivity is still pre-bench scale, it is useful to forecast its probable effects on the copper industry. I t should not be forgotten that at their inception, the impacts of transistors, semi-conductors, thin films and fiber optics on the electric/electronics sector of this industry, were largely underestimated. Superconductors are not metals, but a class of ceramics. They represent an efficiency increase of one or more orders of magnitude. If their development is to be a boon to the copper industry, rather than a reduction of metal demand through miniaturization or material substitution, vastly expanded copper containing electrical uses must be in prospect. In this paper the projected uses of high temperature superconductivity are examined, followed by the remaining problems to be overcome. Assuming success, a time horizon for maturation is estimated. The penalties for the non-recognition of new markets and material substitution are shown on the basis of past forecasts. Finally, the application of successful superconductivity to the copper industry over the forecast period is estimated.

Jan 1, 1990

By M. Ramokhothoane, S. Rupprecht

"NTRODUCTION Women employment in the mining industry dates back to the 19th century. Various parts of the world, for example, India, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America had women employed in large numbers. The women’s jobs were primarily manual in nature. Women were used to carry coal in buckets from the coal face and out the mine, and those who worked on the surface plants were used to sort waste rock from the coal product. Other heavy industries, which were traditionally male dominated, for example the military, also had a considerable number of women supporting the war effort. The outbreak of war also caused a shortage of labour, which in turn, necessitated that women were used in various roles during the war. After World War II, women returned to their traditional roles, but had acquired new skills, and had a different outlook to life. The wearing of pants and short hair became fashionable, as a result of being in the army.Various laws were passed which prevented the employment of women underground. Different countries had rules that they believed were in the best interest of women and were of the opinion that the rules somehow were protecting women against the harsh working conditions. In South Africa, post 1994, there has been a shift in thinking in regard to the employment of women in the mines. WOMEN IN SOUTH AFRICA MINING In the words of the Minister of Women in the Presidency, Minister Susan Shabangu, “women must take centre [sic] stage as the country gears itself for the implementation of radical socio-economic transformation policies and programmes in the next five years” (SA Government News Agency, 2014). In as much as some progress has been made in advancing women, more needs to be done in order to realize sustainable benefits in the economy. The emancipation of women is a reality and remains top of the South African government agenda. From the Authors’ experience there are two types of men in the mines. The first group support change and see the value in it. To them, women in mining bring in the diversity and play the complementary role in achieving greatness. There is no fear of job security and humiliation but a great sense of “camaraderie”. The other group continues to enforce stereotypes, which works against the spirit of redressing the imbalances of the past."

Jan 1, 2018

By F. Romero, L. Yacher, M. Orchard

Specific software tools for Statistical Multivariate Analysis combined with real time process data were applied to Concentrator Plant at Compañía Minera Doña Inés de Collahuasi SCM in Chile, basically to two Mill Lines, each one with one SAG mill (32’x15’8MW)and one Ball mill (22’x36’9.7MW). The main objective was to empower the operator actions using process patterns references instead of process variable set-points. Pattern clustering and the analysis of pattern deviations regarding normal or desired pattern, allows for improvements in process control and the further implementation of soft sensors for those variables not included in the initial model.

Jan 1, 2003

By Juan C. Diaz, Juan P. Carmona, Manuel Z. Salgado, Oscar J. Restrepo

The “Teaching Kids” project is an educational initiative for young people and children from elementary schools. It is carried out by Mining, Geological, and Environmental Engineering students from the SME Student Chapter of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellin. The primary purpose of the Teaching Kids project is to share knowledge about geosciences and mineral resources in a didactic and attractive way, emphasizing the importance of identifying the use of minerals in daily life and responsible and sustainable mining in our society. Furthermore, this project aims to promote the importance of pursuing geoscience majors in the new generations and improve the mining industry’s public perception. Different methodologies related to early childhood education are implemented, such as gamification, in which the dynamics of games are adapted during the development of workshops to teach and learn in an active and motivated environment. Furthermore, the Montessori Method is used. It implements textbooks, sensory mineral boxes, and presentations to allow learning through experimentation itself (Montessori 2003). The implementation of this methodology has been successful; it has shown high engagement, participation, and retention of the basic concept of geoscience and mining.

Feb 1, 2025

Column flotation cells continue to gain acceptance in the coal industry for the treatment of high-ash streams containing clay slimes. Unfortunately, some industrial installations have failed to meet expectations due to improper scale-up, incorrect operation and poor ancillary circuit design. To overcome these problems, case studies have been conducted to fully define the capabilities of column cells for coal applications. These data have been used to develop generic engineering guidelines for column circuit design and operation. An economic analysis has also been conducted to illustrate the importance of key capital cost considerations. These analyses indicate that column cells are significantly more expensive than conventional machines, although this difference can be greatly reduced through the installation of very large-diameter columns.

Jan 1, 1999

By G. Wang

With the depletion of easy-to-treat phosphate resources, low quality phosphate ores with high carbonates, particularly dolomite impurities have to be mined to meet the agricultural demand because of the continued growth of world population. The separation of dolomite from phosphate has been recognized as one of the most difficult subjects in mineral processing due to the similarities in their physical and chemical properties. Flotation is considered the most important approach for beneficiating both easy-to-treat and high impurity phosphate resources. There is no doubt that the development of reagents is the key for achieving satisfactory separation performance through flotation process. In order to separate dolomite from phosphate, Arr-Maz Custom Chemicals has made great efforts in developing flotation reagents for removal of carbonates from phosphate ores of different origins worldwide. This paper describes some flotation reagents and processes for the separation of dolomite or/and calcite impurities from phosphate in the ores from different locations.

Jan 1, 2010

By John Thella, Edward McNew, Christina Thella, Mends Emmanuel, Pengbo Chu

Ore sorting is an emerging technology in mineral processing that can produce a significant impact on the total mining and processing economics. The technology is capable of preconcentrating an ore based on differences in the mineralogical characteristics, which can include color, brightness, transparency, size, shape, density or near-infrared response. The current practice of conducting an ore sorting test typically requires large amounts of materials to be sent to a commercial testing facility, which is expensive and time-consuming. Here, we present a novel method to simulate commercial ore sorting on a laboratory scale using a rare earth ore.

Jan 1, 2025

By R. J. Roman

Several research groups have spent considerable time investigating coarse ore leaching. Coarse ore leaching includes both heap and dump leaching. The term "heap leaching" will be used in this paper to mean any type of coarse ore leaching. The results of their work are generally in agreement: the progress of leaching can be described by the shrinking core model and its associated mathematics. The shrinking core model is schematically represented in Figure 1. The particle is contacted by the leach solution on its outside surface and the solution migrates inward by filling the pores on the particle. As the solution filling the pores comes in contact with grains of ore mineral the reagent chemically reacts with the ore mineral to solubilize the contained metal. The solubilized metal diffuses outward to the particle surface and is washed away by the leach solution flowing past the particle. The leaching reagent in the particle interior is replenished by the diffusion of reagent from the surface of the particle to the interior of the particle. If the chemical reaction between the leaching reagent and the ore mineral is relatively fast compared to the diffusion rate of the reagent in the solution in the pores of the particle then leaching proceeds from the outside of the particle inward resulting in a "shrinking core" of unreacted ore surrounded by a "leached shell". The rate controlling step in the reaction can initially be a chemical reaction between the reagent and the ore mineral grain, however, once the reaction has proceeded a short period of time diffusion of the leaching reagent through the leached shell will be the slow step and hence the rate controlling step in the production of metal from an ore particle.

Jan 1, 1992

By G. D. Hood, C. E. Jordan

The US Bureau of Mines investigated rapid froth flotation through more efficient bubble-particle collisions that improved the overall flotation kinetics. An in-line static mixer efficiently mixed the bubbles, water and ore, selectively attaching these bubbles to the hydrophobic mineral's surface. As the mixture entered the flotation chamber, the hydrophobic mineral was already attached to the bubbles and was quickly floated away from the remaining ore pulp. The rapid flotation system was evaluated for beneficiation with a western porphyry copper ore containing 0.67% copper and with a phosphate-bearing amine flotation tailings sample containing 9.5% P2O5 in a quartz matrix. Over 88% of the copper was recovered from the ore in a rougher concentrate containing 5.9% copper at a rate seven times, faster than conventional flotation. Sixty percent of the quartz in the phosphate-bearing sample was floated at a rate four times faster than conventional flotation. The unfloated product retained 80% of the phosphate in a 16.9% P2O5 concentrate.

Jan 1, 1994

By K. G. Black

When one's attention moves from the control of a process unit or from the control of a department of similar units, to the control of an entire plant, two things must change. One is the techniques of control, and the other, the goal or purpose of control. The goal is no longer maintaining a certain quality of product or maintaining a particular flow rate through a process unit. The goal becomes economic - how to make the most money out of the plant. The principal control techniques become those of optimizing, rather than regulating. It is quite common to discuss the control of an entire plant in terms of three levels of control l; regulation, supervision, and optimization. Regulation is the control of inputs to a process unit at desired values. This is accomplished by two or three mode analog controllers or DDC loops. The second level of control is the selection of these desired values, e.g., set-points of the regulation controllers. The third level is to make such adjustments or corrections to the supervisory calculations so as to optimize the plant profit. It is immediately evident that supervisory control and optimizing control are intimately related, and a distinct dividing line cannot always be drawn between the two. Some authors prefer to add even more levels such as adaptive control and management information systems, but we believe our point is well made without further division of the functions which are necessary for complete plant control. To accomplish the economic goal, that is, the optimizing (maximizing) of the profit of a mineral processing plant, the plant should ideally be operated as if it were a separate company, buying its raw materials on the open market and selling its products on the open market. While petrochemical plants endeavor to operate in that manner, unfortunately this is not true of a mineral processing plant. The plant manager has to accept the amount and quality of ore the mining department delivers to him, and the products (concentrates) are delivered to another department of the company for further refining. In some cases he may sell

Jan 1, 1972

By S. S. Klima, D. E. Pollock, J. A. Organiscak

"Airborne respirable coal dust capture by water sprays or wet scrubbers has been studied and developed over many decades as an engineering control to reduce dust exposure in coal mines and combat coal worker pneumoconiosis. Empirical relationships and deterministic models for particular dust capture experiments have previously been devised to show the key parameters involved in airborne coal dust capture. Many of the results from these models show that the significant parameters related to airborne dust capture are water spray pressure, water quantity, water droplet size, relative water droplet-to-dust particle velocity, and total operating air pressure of the scrubber. However, many airborne dust capture efficiency relationships and models developed for particular experiments cannot be readily applied to forecast the dust collection efficiency of different spray and scrubber design configurations, which rely on several key dimensional engineering measures. This study examines engineering measures from previous water spray and wet scrubber experiments conducted by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) to develop empirical models for wet collection of airborne dusts. A dimensionless empirical model developed for predicting airborne dust capture efficiency of water sprays and wet scrubbers is presented. IntroductionWater sprays have been one of the earliest mainstay engineering controls used to suppress respirable dust in underground coal mines. Some of the earliest reports of water spray usage on continuous mining machines indicated respirable coal mine dust reductions of 20 to 60 percent (Kobrick, 1970). Not long after the enactment of the 1969 Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) and others conducted extensive research into water spray and wet scrubber systems to control respirable dust in coal mines. The primary aspects of water spray dust control included prewetting for dust prevention, localized ventilation redirection and airborne dust capture, which are summarized in handbooks or best-practices guides (Kost, Yingling and Mondics, 1981; Kissell, 2003; Colinet et al., 2010). Initially, underground studies were conducted to identify the primary sources of dust during the mining processes and effective dust controls (Courtney, Jayaraman and Behum, 1978; Jankowski and Organiscak, 1983). Laboratory research systematically studied ventilation and airborne dust capture effects of water sprays and scrubbers to improve their application in underground coal mines (Tomb, Emmerling and Kellner, 1972; Divers and Janosik, 1978, 1980; Grigal et al., 1982; Ruggieri et al., 1983; Jayaraman, Jankowski and Kissell, 1985; Volkwein, Ruggieri et al., 1985; Jayaraman, Schroeder and Kissell, 1986; Divers, Jankowski and Kelly, 1987; Jones and James, 1987)."

Jan 10, 2018

By Michael Chender

Introduction Clearly, many problems confront the minerals industry today. Yet, at the same time, there is too much energy spent bemoaning the negative effects of difficult economic circumstances, low metals prices, and adverse government policies. These are factors that cannot be altered by individual mineral company reactions. In fact, as we look to the future, the only thing we can be certain of is that we will continue to be faced with uncertainty. Thus, an area that demands close scrutiny and that can significantly affect a company's performance in the future is the posture it adopts to deal with uncertainty. This paper looks at how strategies are developing to deal with this issue. It also examines some of the implications that implementing such strategies have for the role of the individual explorationist. Elements of strategy Whether mineral company strategies are based on diversifying or retrenching, on emphasizing primary production or downstream integration, there seems to be increasing agreement that in the current environment strategies must have several features. They need to be information-based - developed out of access to timely and complete data and analysis about proposed directions and competitor activity, rather than simply following a current fashion. They need to be flexible - adaptable in light of changes in the marketplace and an unpredictable industry. And they need to be cost-efficient - making the most of limited resources. Whether a company is looking for gold financing opportunities, acquiring polymetallic prospects, or doing grassroots exploration for diamonds, these three elements are increasingly essential. They not only allow the company to pursue its current goals most expeditiously, but also open it to hearing and using feedback in the most constructive way. The company can then improve or change strategy as it proceeds. And it can be best positioned to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. These elements of strategy place great emphasis on the skills of the individual. The need for critical intelligence and the reduced amount of capital available to manage are making it more obvious that exploration is a "people" business. This is in accordance with a general trend in many sectors of industrialized economies, reflecting the widely discussed shift from smokestack to information-based industries. Increasing the odds There is a direct connection between successfully implementing the approaches to strategy discussed above and encouraging and improving the quality of work of the individual explorationist. To illustrate the importance of this, some commonly quoted figures on the odds of discovery success can be used. These figures are arbitrary but illustrative. Assume that one out of 100 exploration prospects actually turns out to be a promising ore body, and that one out of 1000 becomes a mine. Based on our research, chances are the most of those

Jan 1, 1986