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By George H. K. Schenck

In this decade of the 1.970's it is forecast that eight billion cubic yards of rock will be excavated from 400, 000 miles of new tunnels, drifts and other underground workings in the western world, according to estimates in a report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is expected that the cost of this work will be in excess of $54 billion in constant 1970 dollars. Most of this underground excavation will be in mining -- 97% of the tunnel length and 89% of the volume - -the balance in construction. In addition to this huge excavating task, in the 18 developed nations of OECD, will be projects in the Communist Bloc and in the developing nations. Underground excavation requires the successful completion of three principle activities: A. Break -- to free rock from the solid work face. B. Remove-- to clear the work area of broken rock. C. Support -- to assure stability of rock surrounding the underground excavation and to eliminate risk of rock collapse. In today's fully mechanized excavation systems, continuous miners, roadheaders or tunnel borers, (A) break the rock loose from the face, and (B) remove broken rock with their mucking devices and load it onto belt conveyors, mine cars, trucks, or any other appropriate haulage system for disposal. Such operations contrast to the more complex, intermittent systems employed when

Jan 1, 1974

By Noel A. Genco, Edward F. McCarthy, Robert J. Piniazkiewicz

Talc, when it can be isolated as a pure mineral, has a composition of 63.36% SiO2, 31.89% MgO, and 4.75% H,O. However, as a commercial commodity less than half of all talc sold has a purity exceeding 95%. Nevertheless, impure talc products find a multitude of uses and few substitutes in many industrial applications. Minerals commonly associated with and sold together in talcose mixtures are chlorite, dolomite, mica, magnesite, and tremolite. Steatite was originally a mineralogical term applied to pure talc. Today steatite usually denotes a high-talc ceramic body used as an electrical insulator, and the talc used in such applications is known as steatitic talc. Steatitic talc generally is found in massive, high- purity form and in the past was machined directly into electrical parts, which rarely is done today. Impure varieties of massive or block talc are still commonly termed soapstone. Soft massive talc, suitable for crayon manufacture, has been referred to as French chalk. It has been common practice to discuss talc, soapstone, and pyrophyllite under the same general heading. In the case of soap- stone and talc this is natural, since many different types of platy, soft minerals exhibiting a high degree of lubricity (commonly referred to as slip) have been grouped together and called soapstone or talc. Further, there are mineralogical relationships between pyrophyllite and montmorillonite and between talc and hectorite. Thus, talc and pyrophyllite are sometimes referred to as clay minerals. When finely divided talc or pyrophyllite are combined with water in proportions to make a slurry, the end product does have the appearance of a clay-water mixture. Soapstone for utensils and ornaments was mined by prehistoric Native Americans on Santa Catalina Island, CA. In the mid- 1800s soapstone from deposits along the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains was used by white settlers as building and ornamental stone and for the linings and foundations of furnaces (Anon., 1956). Previous to 1916 the annual recorded production in California did not exceed 1.8 kt. From 1912 to 1918, however, output rose sharply when the Talc City, Western, and Silver Lake mines were put into operation. From 1916 to 1935, the state's annual output of talc was in the range of 8.2 to 18.2 kt. There was another increase in the mid-1930s, when the use of talc in wall tile grew rapidly. In California the production of talc grew to 57.2 kt in 1943. The post-war building boom helped California's production to grow to 108.9 kt in 1951. Production stood at 149.8 kt in 1968, 13 1.6 kt in 1969, 167.9 kt in 1970, and 140.7 kt in 1972. In the mid-seventies and early eighties, however, California's talc production declined to approximately 20 kt in 1992 due to reserves exhaustion and the material's tremolite content, which raised significant product liability concerns at the time. Talc mining in New York State dates from about 1878, when a Colonel Palmer and associates opened the first commercial talc mine on the Nelson Freeman farm near Talcville. In 1893 this operation was sold to International Pulp Co., which changed its name to International Talc Co. in 1944. The company was acquired by R.T. Vanderbilt Co., Inc., in 1974. A new talc operation, Gouverneur Talc Co., owned by R.T. Vanderbilt Co., began operations near Balmat, NY, in 1948. The initial capacity of the processing plant was 180 tpd (Gillingham, 1950). Subsequent expansions have increased capacity to more than 725 tpd. Talc was discovered in the area of Johnson, VT, in 1902, marking the birth of the Vermont talc industry. American Minerals Co. initiated plant operations at Johnson in 1904. MagnesiaTalc Co. opened a plant at Waterbury, VT, in 1913 (Burmeister, 1963, Trauffer, 1964) and acquired American Minerals Co. in 1923. The Waterbury mine had a long history as a producer of talc crayons. Eastern Magnesia Talc Co. was formed in 1924 by the merger of Eastern Talc Co. and Magnesia Talc Co. In 1956 Vermont Mineral Co., with a talc mine at Hammondsville, VT, was also acquired. A new plant was then built at Gassetts to produce roofing products. In order to produce high grade products for several markets, Eastern Magnesia Talc Co. began operating a modem froth flotation plant at West Windsor, VT, in 1964. The ore was provided by the Hammondsville mine. This operation, known as Windsor Minerals, Inc., continued from 1972 to 1989 as a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson Co. In 1989 Cyprus Minerals Co. acquired Vermont Talc, Inc. and Windsor Minerals, Inc.. thus consolidating the talc mining and processing operations at Hamm, Windham, Johnson, Chester, Ludlow, West Windsor, Troy, and Reading, VT, under one ownership. As the result of Cyprus' sale of its worldwide talc assets to the RTZ Group in 1992, its US talc operations are now part of Luzenac America, Inc.

Jan 1, 1994

By E. Martinez

A heavy mineral sand sample was tested containing 13% heavy mineral consisting of rutile, zircon, and ilmenite. Eleven tests were run at a mill site with a Mineral Deposit Limited MG 4 spiral to determine the effect of the addition 0; magnets to the spiral compared to conventional gravity separation. Different magnet configurations and field strengths were tested. Optimum results were obtained with the spiral retrofitted with magnets. The heavy mineral content of the concentrate was increased from 55.5% in the control to 64.2% with the magnets. The 8.7% improvement in heavy mineral recovery was due not only to the weakly-magnetic ilmenite, but also to increased recoveries if the non-magnetic zircon and rutile. The increased recoveries were achieved with no loss of concentrate grade.

Jan 1, 1992

By O. J. C. Runnalls

Canada has played a significant role in the international uranium industry for some three decades. Although there have been many challenges in the past, the future offers a more extensive range of problems and prospects as Canada moves to expand its activities in all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle. World uranium demand could grow to an annual requirement of 500,000 tons U308 by the year 2000. A substantial fraction of this material is likely to come from Canada because the country's reserves and resources are large, and because of a favourable geological potential for future discoveries. There has been a long history of association between the producing industry and the federal government, and it has provided the foundation for existing national uranium policies. Close industry-government association will be maintained and developed in future because of the anticipated rapid growth of the industry and the consequent need for continual refinement of government policies relating to exploration, mining, processing and export of uranium.

Jan 1, 1975

By Thomas F. Stinson

Energy-producing states see severance taxes as attractive sources of increased revenues for otherwise tight budgets. Consumers in energy-poor states, however, protest that current rates are excessive and have moved to obtain a reduction. The US Supreme Court heard two cases questioning such taxes during its 1981 term, and Congress, in each of its last two sessions, has seriously considered measures placing a ceiling on severance tax rates. Although discussions usually focus on coal severance taxes levied by Montana and Wyoming, ramifications of changes in national policy are much larger, potentially affecting mineral taxes in all states. Severance taxes yield substantial revenues in some states, as illustrated in the accompanying table. In fiscal 1980, Texas collected more than $1.5 billion from such taxes, while Louisiana, Alaska, and Oklahoma collected $525 million, $507 million, and $436 million, respectively. Oil and natural gas production were the major items taxed. While the table shows only the 10 states with the largest severance tax collections, a total of 17 states had severance tax receipts exceeding $10 million in 1980. The enormous increases in severance tax revenue between 1970 and 1980 can be seen from the table by comparing columns A and B. For the 10 states shown, revenues increased from $650 million to $3.8 billion during that period, due to a combination of higher prices, increased production, and new or increased taxes. In most states, increases in prices and production were more evident than higher tax rates. Although the revenue increase is impressive, it understates the extent of changes occurring during the past decade. Since tax collections are shown for fiscal 1980, the full impact of the decontrol of domestic oil prices is not evident. Also, taxes on natural gas reflect controlled prices. When full de-control of natural gas occurs, significantly higher revenues can be expected in gas-producing states, even if tax rates, production, and world prices remain constant. These increases in severance tax revenues, coupled with further increases expected to accompany natural gas decontrol, have produced fears that a substantial transfer of income is taking place from residents of energy-poor states to those living in energy-rich areas. Others worry that increased severance tax revenues will be used to substitute for a substantial portion of state taxes that would have otherwise been collected from firms and individuals. The resulting improvements in tax climate, it is thought, may encourage firms and workers to migrate to energy-producing states. While these issues are often portrayed as pitting energy have-nots against the haves, such is not entirely the case. Much of the original impetus for limits on coal taxes came from Texas residents, the state collecting the most severance tax revenue. One way of gaining perspective on these concerns is by examining severance taxes per capita and as a percent of state tax collections (see columns C and D in the table). When this is done, Alaska, where 1980 taxes on oil and gas production totaled more than $1300 per capita (and 35% of all state tax collections), stands out as a special case. There, the state was able to eliminate some individual taxes, place revenues in a permanent trust fund, and consider offering a rebate of some previous income

Jan 4, 1982

By O. Tsuge, G. Hoffman

ITmk3®(Iron Technology Mark III) is an innovative new ironmaking technology whereby high quality iron nuggets are produced directly from iron ore fines and coal in a rotary hearthfurnace1). The reaction mechanism has been investigated in detail through fundamental laboratory research2)3), and the ITmk3 process has progressed from the laboratory to commercialization by the success of the pilot plant tests initiated at Midrex’ Technical Center and at the Kakogawa Bench Plant (KBP) located at Kobe Steel Ltd. Kakogawa Steel Works4)5). Pilot operations have demonstrated rapid production of the iron nuggets with complete metal/slag separation at a relatively low operating temperature. The Kakogawa Bench Plant (KBP) in Japan has logged 21 days continuous operation during which high quality iron nuggets were produced directly from fine ore and coal. The operation technology and the engineering data obtained from these pilot tests were instrumental for the scale-up of the ITmk3 process for the Mesabi Nugget Corp. pilot demonstration plant, which is located at Cleveland Cliffs Inc. Northshore Mining iron ore pellet plant in Silver Bay, MN. The ITmk3 process is an ideally suited technology for siting at the iron ore mine, as it allows the economical production of a value-added merchant iron product.

Jan 1, 2003

By John F. M. Sims

Political issues and a glaring infrastructure deficiency have retarded the emergence of a strong mining component to the Alaskan economy in recent years. Barriers to orderly mineral development are slowly being removed attendant upon changing political circumstances. Infrastructure development, as an investment avenue as well as a responsibility of the State, is receiving much greater attention than in the past. Alaska of course has a rich and varied mining history going back to the 19th Century. This paper, however, focuses on the mining potential, not the mining heritage of the 49th State. The mining industry is emerging from a nadir in the economic cycle - times during which it was buffeted by unsympathetic administrations and confused and confounded by the protracted land status- conflicts prior to enactment; of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) and other milestone legislation. Today Alaska's mining industry looks toward a bright and healthy future and, in the process, will become a very important and vital component of the State and national economy.

Jan 1, 1982

By Antoni Kalukiewicz

From 1997 through 2000, a team of Polish experts headed by the author studied the prospects of mining newly discovered emerald deposits in Afghanistan. This article describes the scheme for mechanization of the mining operations, along with improvements made to the ventilation facilities and lighting. The required equipment was flown to Afghanistan and the Afghan miners were trained in machine operation and maintenance.

Jan 1, 2005

By T. Bui

The shut-off value for a panel cave mine determines when a draw point will be shut-off and mining will cease from that draw point. Using a shut-off value strategy for a panel cave mine is similar to using a cut-off value strategy for an open-pit mine. This paper will discuss how to choose an appropriate shut-off value strategy that an engineer can use when planning a panel cave mine to increase the net present value (NPV) of the project. Using a shut-off value equal to the mining and processing cost will provide the total mining reserves for a panel cave mine given a specified footprint. When the net present value analysis method is used to compare one design to another then using a shut-off value greater than the mining and processing cost will generate a higher NPV. This strategy will replace the marginal ore at the top of a draw column with higher grade ore at the bottom of newly opened draw points. A draw column is broken material which sits above a draw point and it is mined to a specified height above the draw point. This height is called the height of draw (HOD). Varying the shut-off value over the life of the mine can increase the NPV even further. This strategy would have a high shut-off value during the early stages of a mine and low shut-off value during the later stages. If the shut-off value is too high then too many tonnes would be left behind the draw point and the overall value of the mine will be decreased. Also with a high shut-off value then the production target may not be maintained due to too many draw points closing too soon.

Feb 23, 2014

By G. R. Brunskill

The molybdenite flotation plant at the Magma Copper Co. San Manuel concentrator has been in operation since 1956. In January of 1980, the plant was converted from a hydrogen peroxide-ferrocyanide process to the current sodium cyanide-sodium hydro- sulfide process. This paper is an operational review of Magma Copper Co.'s molybdenite recovery circuit, column cell flotation experience, and use of on-stream X-ray fluorescence analysis.

Jan 1, 1987

By Robin J. Batterham

We still need to innovate, but it is getting harder. The real price of metals is declining, return on shareholder value is lower than other industries, and there is a shorter-term focus on staying viable in a capital-intensive industry where timeframes for implementation of new technologies can be long (+I5 years). In this environment, the levels of R&D spent by major minerals companies are remaining steady at around 0.2%-0.5% of revenue. This is not large and to remain viable in the future, we need to be smarter about the way in which we do R&D. The mining industry is a knowledge-based industry. Driving down the cost curve demands innovation, which demands knowledge. To be smarter and more effective in our approach to innovation, a new paradigm is required Generating, capturing and using knowledge has evolved from Mode 1 (discipline based and clear distinction between basic and applied research) to Mode 2 (multidisciplinary, team-based approached with flow between basic and applied activities). Mode 2 is now seen to be much more efficient and to deliver better appropriability (Tegart 2003). To survive, we need to innovate, and the best way to do this is collaboratively. Some examples and pointers for the future will be given in this paper. THE CURRENT SITUATION The Rand report and other recent studies have painted a grim outlook for the mining industry. The real price of metals continues to decline (Figure 1) and profit margins remain thin. This is reflected in shareholder returnwhich are well below other industries (Figure 2)-and current management strategies-which reflect something of a "survival mode." The current focus for most mining companies is on short-term, incremental gains

Jan 1, 2004

One of the largest mining shows in the world is set take place April 15-18 in Santiago, Chile. Expomin 2008 is expected to attract more than 60,000 professionals from around the world who are involved in all aspects of the mining industry. Expomin has become an important place for mining leaders to meet, organizers said, ?with great expectations for the development of new business in international markets.? This is the 10th Expomin. The event, held every two years, is expected to at-tract exhibitors from more than 25 countries, representing nearly 1,000 companies and more than 3,000 brands related to the mining industry, organizers said. Most all of the world?s largest equipment manufacturers and suppliers ? surface and underground ? will be represented. The importance of the event to the Chilean and international mining industry can be seen by the increase in size of the exhibition ? 13 percent more surface space in 2008, compared with the 2006 Expomin. The exhibit will be broken down into four pavilions, covering 34,054 m2 (355,570 sq ft). An outdoor area for the large mining equipment will cover 16,120 m2 (173,520 sq ft).

Jan 1, 2008

By Derek. C. Arnold

In order to meet increasing demands for water supply in the next millennium, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have identified the need for a major new water treatment and transfer scheme. The project now under construction will comprise a 1.2 km long raw water aqueduct, a major new 0.25million cubic metres per day water treatment works (with space for upgrading to 1.2Mm³/d), a 12.1 km long treated water aqueduct and a primary service reservoir. In order to meet increasing demands for water supply in the next millennium, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have identified the need for a major new water treatment and transfer scheme. The project now under construction will comprise a 1.2 km long raw water aqueduct, a major new 0.25million cubic metres per day water treatment works (with space for upgrading to 1.2Mm³/d), a 12.1 km long treated water aqueduct and a primary service reservoir.

Jan 1, 1999

By G. J. Goldberg

Through the early 1980's, surveying at Bingham Canyon required a great deal of repetitive and manual work. The advent of total station surveying equipment provided an opportunity to improve the speed and accuracy of surveying work while reducing manpower needs. An evaluation of total station systems and their ability to meet the surveying requirements of Bingham Canyon culminated in the purchase of a total station system as the mine re-opened in 1986. This paper presents the procedure for evaluating, implementing and using the total station survey system at Bingham Canyon.

Jan 1, 1990

By Bruce Geller

The 2004 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference contained an air of optimism and excitement that has not been seen since 1997. Many segments of the mining industry are alive and well. This is largely a reflection of improved metal prices, themselves due to the strong euro and improvements in Asian economies. Those factors offset higher oil prices, a weaker U.S. dollar and concerns about the Middle East. This report is an overview of the conference. It is supplemented by an examination of conference handouts, abstracts and a few complete papers that are on the PDAC’s Web site www.pdac.ca. Sixty PDAC 2004 abstracts are available at the same site, along with 15 complete papers in PDF format. The conference was held March 7-10 in Toronto, Ontario. It was attended by a record 9,200 delegates from 85 countries. About 8,000 people from 74 countries attended the 2003 conference.

Jan 1, 2004

By T. M. Ruff, W. G. McCoy, M. J. Beus, S. Iverson

Monitoring conveyance position and wire rope load directly from the skip or cage top offers several significant safety and production advantages. The Spokane Research Laboratory of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed a shaft conveyance monitoring system (SCMS). This system consists of position and guide-displacement sensors, a maintenance-free battery power supply and a new sensor, which is mounted on the wire rope with a Crosby Clip, to measure hoist-rope tension. A radio data link transmits sensor output to the hoistroom. A state-of-the-art automated hoisting test facility was also constructed to test the concept in a controlled laboratory setting. Field tests in full-size shafts are now underway.

Jan 1, 2000

By Aline Tatom

This paper presents numerical and experimen¬tal results dealing with the application of ferric ion oxidation of uranium in acidic media. Conclusions are derived from matching numerical results to experimental data taken on one-dimensional laboratory leaches using ore from a South Texas Coastal plain deposit. Since the numerical results can be made quite general, we are able to extract and quantify the effects of oxidant concentration, flow velocity, mass transfer, chemical kinetics, and competitive oxidant consumers (pyrite and molybdenite) on the experimental results. Our results suggest that the leaching of uranium is a mass transfer controlled while that of pyrite is kinetically controlled.

Jan 1, 1981

By D. J. Turk

Faced with decreasing production from the gold heap leach operation, Robinson implemented a drilling and blasting program on the leach pads in 1993. This program offset some of the negative effects of low ore permeability and short circuiting of leach solution that resulted in lower than optimum recoveries. The drilling and blasting program created new solution flow paths and increased gold recovery. Production and pulp assays at depth intervals, prior to and following drilling and blasting, reveal the degree of short circuiting and benefits of the program.

Jan 1, 1995

By Juan Andres Jarufe, Carlos Cifuentes

Numerical modelling has been extensively used to estimate plastic displacement in faults and rock mass surrounding mine excavations. Particularly, for fault slip seismicity, modelled plastic displacement is usually utilized to estimate seismic potential, however these methods assume that all the displacement caused during an specific simulated excavation step, is released as a single event at each step. This representation corresponds to a conservative estimation since rock mass displacement does not occur as one single event but as an exponential distribution of many small displacements and a few large ones. When displacement is expressed as seismic magnitude, this exponential distribution is addressed as the Gutenberg Richter (GR) relationship. This paper present a method to decompose the results from numerical models into a distribution of seismic events The reconstruction of the GR relationship from modelling displacement permits not only a more realistic approximation of the expected maximum magnitudes but also provides a tool to develop a probabilistic estimation of the maximum possible magnitudes.

Apr 26, 2022

By K. T. Mau

Hawaii is located approximately 2,500 miles from the mainland, but has basic needs for its thriving developing community. Cement is one of these needs Cement production in Hawaii is not without handicaps. The necessary raw materials are practically non-existent except for limestone. Even at that, the available limestone is marine in origin, coralline in nature and amorphous in characteristics - unlike calcite which is normally the calcium carbonate source for cement manufacture. There is no clay or shale for the argillaceous portion of cement raw mix. Hawaii being volcanic in origin is too young geologically for clays and shales to evolve and whatever there is, most likely is washed into the ocean.

Jan 1, 1982