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By J. Kretschmann, R. Amiri

"The Sangan iron ore mines (SIOM) in Iran are located in a remote area near the Afghanistan border. The SIOM deposit contains a geological resource of 1.1 Gt (1.2 billion st) of mostly magnetite with an iron (Fe) grade ranging from 27 to 61 percent. The Iranian government plans a stepwise development of SIOM in cooperation with private companies to satisfy the growing demand of the Iranian steel industry. Sustainable development is an influential ethical concept in mining all around the world. However, a successful realization of a sustainable development plan is not possible without a foundation on the core values and regarding the specific circumstances of the individual mining country. This paper introduces SIOM and describes sustainable development activities undertaken during its development. From the early stages, these activities have been realized to secure the acceptance of the stakeholders in the region. To evaluate their effects, indicators were filtered to the ones with the highest priority for the stakeholders. Moreover, Islamic values and Iranian regulations and their influences on SIOM were analyzed.Mining industry in Iran The Islamic Republic of Iran holds 68 types of minerals, including salt, sand and gravel, gypsum, chrome, lead, zinc, copper, coal, gold, iron, etc., with 33.5 Gt (37 billion st) of proven reserves and more than 51.7 Gt (57 billion st) of potential resources. Iran is ranked among the 15 major mineral rich countries (1). In accordance with the statistics published by Statistical Center of Iran (SCI), there were 5,316 active mines and 84,922 employees in the whole country in 2012-2013 (2) and, according to the statistics published by Central Bank of Iran (CBI) in 2011, the share of this sector in the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country was 1.2 percent (3)."

Jun 1, 2016

By B. Waterman, R. Collins, V. R. K. Paruchuri, P. Gonzalez, H. Dijkman

"INTRODUCTION Mining and processing of sulfide ore bodies has the potential to solubilize sulfate. Gypsum in the host rock, as well as oxidation of sulfides during milling and processing can solubilize sulfate. Acid rock drainage (ARD) also has the potential to generate waters high in sulfate. Even after treatment of the ARD with lime, the treated water can have sulfate present in gypsum saturation levels. Most mine-sites reuse sulfate impacted water but as a mine nears closure, reuse options may be limited and water treatment becomes an option. Furthermore, sulfate discharge requirements, particularly for anti-degredation narrative standards, can be very strict. Freeport has investigated many new technologies to economically remove sulfate from these types of water. A Dutch company, Paques B.V. developed one of these technologies and it utilized biological reactors to convert sulfate into elemental sulfur in a 2-step process. In 1992 the first industrial reference of the SULFATEQTM technology was commissioned at the Nystar Budel zinc refinery in the Netherlands. PILOT PLANT TECHNOLOGY AND DESCRIPTION As shown in Figure 1, the plant contains several process steps, which can mainly be divided into the following sections: 1. Anaerobic biological system in which sulfate is reduced to hydrogen sulfide by sulfate reducing bacteria. 2. Aerobic biological system in which hydrogen sulfide is oxidized to elemental sulfur by sulfide oxidizing bacteria. 3. Solid/liquid separation in which sulfur, calcium carbonate and biomass solids are separated and dewatered. Sulfate impacted ground water is pumped to the feed water tank through a plate and frame heat exchanger to maintain the solution temperature around 95°F. A custom mix of micronutrients is dosed to the feed tank. This nutrient mixture provides essential elements for the growth of anaerobic and aerobic biomass. Urea is added to the feed tank and provides the required nitrogen source to the biomasses. The pretreated feed water is pumped into the anaerobic reactor. The reactor works on the gas lift principle. Sulfate reducing bacteria utilize hydrogen gas as electron donors and reduce sulfate to hydrogen sulfide. This reaction increases the alkalinity of the solution. Carbon dioxide gas is added in order to control the pH within working range of the reactor. Due to the low solubility of the hydrogen gas, the anaerobic gas mixture is recycled through the system. The gas mixture recycle also provides the gas lift for mixing within the anaerobic reactor."

Jan 1, 2016

By M. P. Oommen

This paper provides a brief look at a proposed short-longwall for coal, development. The proposed method is an attempt to realize the advantages of longwall mining in deposits that, historically, would only be minable by continuous mining methods. An overview of the proposed layout, development requirements, production rate, ventilation scheme and other associated features is provided. This mining method could help operators in above-drainage seams where minable areas are smaller. It may also have application in areas that are peppered with gas wells and in environmentally sensitive areas which preclude the use of conventional longwalls.

Jan 1, 1993

By J. Andrew McGlenn, Greg Emslie, Murray Gant

The Second Narrows Water Supply Tunnel will ensure system reliability in the event of a major earthquake and increase the Greater Vancouver Water District’s capacity to meet a growing population’s longterm needs. It includes a bored tunnel between two deep shafts located in North Vancouver and Burnaby, BC, Canada. The support of excavation for the 16-meter-diameter (52.5 ft) TBM launch shaft consists of 83-meter-deep (272 ft) unreinforced concrete slurry walls. This paper discusses challenges encountered during construction of the launch shaft slurry walls, namely excavation methods and slurry loss, and mitigative solutions implemented to successfully complete the shaft with minimal impact to project schedule.

Dec 1, 2022

By H. P. Rosenof

The G2 real-time expert system, a commercial product since 1988, is widely deployed in process, manufacturing and other industries. A number of innovative applications are installed or under development in the mining and metallurgical industries. These include: ? A chemical reagent control system for a mineral concentrator, at a mining company; ? A supervisory control system for a product dryer, at a surface coal mine ? A training system for equipment operators, at a steel mill; ? A scheduling system for furnaces at a hot rolling mill; ? A simulation system for mining operations; ? Several graduate-level research projects in materials handling at a university Realized and projected benefits will be discussed. In addition certain applications installed or under development in other industries will be proposed as applicable in mining and metallurgy. For example, applications for the management of vehicular traffic may find use in mining and shipping.

Jan 1, 1992

By P. G. Dempsey, J. R. Heberger, J. P. Pollard

During a mine disaster or emergency, underground air can quickly become contaminated. In these circumstances, all underground mine workers are taught to don breathable air supply units at the first sign of an emergency. However, no contemporary oxygen consumption data is available for the purposes of designing breathing air supply equipment specifically for mine escape. Further, it would be useful to quantify the oxygen requirements of breathing air supply users for various escape scenarios. To address this need, 14 participants crawled a distance of 305 m each while their breath-by-breath oxygen consumption measurements were taken. Using these data, linear regression models were developed to determine peak and average oxygen consumption rates as well as total oxygen consumption. These models can be used by manufacturers of breathing air supply equipment to aid in the design of devices that would be capable of producing sufficient on-demand oxygen to allow miners to perform self-escape.

Jan 1, 2015

By H. W. Seany

Over the years since the initial experiments with underground concreting were made in 1956, attesting to cope with the ground weight and pressure encountered in the development of a large-scale underground block caving system, the use of monolithic concrete linings has grown to include most of the primary development in the, mining area. Although the development cost of concrete linings is higher than either timber or steel-supported openings, the repair and maintenance costs are substantially lower, making concrete the most economical means of ground support. Other advantages are also apparent, in that concrete provides superior fireproofing, better ventilation, and a safer, cleaner working place.

Jan 1, 1965

By R. L. Pearson

The 1987-88 Denver Brown Cloud Study was performed to determine the sources of the particle cloud which forms over Denver each winter. The study was organized under the leadership of Colorado Governor Roy Romer , EPA Region VIII and the Greater Denver Chamber of Commerce. The study was sponsored by over 40 organizations representing governmental agencies, the natural gas industry, the coal industry, utilities, oil companies, railroads, the motor vehicle industry, and other Denver area companies and organizations. The cost of the study was $1.5 million which was raised almost entirely from private sources. The study team was headed by Dr. John Watson of the Desert Research Institute of the University of Nevada. Dr. Watson is a recognized expert in conducting studies of this type.

Jan 1, 1990

By Richard Campbell, Claire Pirona, MEHMET KIZIL, Ismet Canbulat, Stephen Giese, Ravindu Goonawardene, Edward Steed, Serkan Saydam

The Australian longwall mining industry spends millions of dollars per year on proactive and reactive ground consolidation applications across most of the operations currently in production. The design and effectiveness of the applications and products vary widely and are based predominantly on-site precedence or what were considered successful applications at other sites in similar situations. In the continual improve the effectiveness of how consolidation products are used and when by enhancing our knowledge of the mechanical properties of products used in underground coal applications and applying this increased understanding to geotechnical design. One of the current challenges to further developing more appropriate and accurate geotechnical design methods for consolidation activities is the lack of standardised materials testing and knowledge of rock mechanics data on in situ performance. The lack of industry standardisadesign of consolidation programs, with a reliance on experience-based guidance for rockmass consolidation design. consolidation products. The program was designed to provide the industry with a set of geomechanical property index tests and a data set that can be utilised by rock mechanics engineers as baseline information for product evaluation and engineering design. The laboratory work undertaken is critical to understanding the exact small-scale mechanical properties of these products and testing was carried out at Monash University for various states of curing of each product. Recognising that the speed at which a mixed product develops its desired properties to act as a support element in underground coal mines is critical to its serviceability. This paper presents the testing rationale proposed, the testing results, and a framework for how the data set can be used to improve the engineering basis for ground consolidation design, in terms of expected rockmass performance under various mining conditions and application parameters.

Jun 25, 2024

By Jack O?Hearn

A liquid and solid waste management plan for an operating uranium ore processing mill was developed to efficiently and effectively dispose of existing solid wastes and related, affected surface and ground water resources. The goal of this management plan was to achieve satisfactory clean up of these existing wastes ad their by-products as well as to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. An existing, modern system of synthetically lined tailings ponds, constructed after many years of mill operations, now provides an approved site for the disposal and containment of waste streams currently generated by the mill. This system was thought to be readily adaptable to serve as a key element of the waste management plan. The potential presence of extra capacity in these ponds could eliminate or reduce expenditures for new facilities required solely for proper management of liquid and solid wastes generated by operations prior to construction of the modern tailings ponds as well as for a range of anticipated future operations.

Jan 1, 1984

By Lewis L. Oriard

The authors outline the development and application of blasting methods put into use 11 years ago at the Berkeley Open-Pit Mine, Butte, Montana. The blast design uses a very short delay (5 milliseconds) between detonation of explosives charges, a feature challenged several times in principle despite its success for Anaconda. Concern is expressed over the categorical rejection of very short delay blasting which can make the difference between success and failure of major mining operations. There is ample evidence to show that the method can be used successfully and not violate the concerns of the public.

Jan 1, 1980

By K. Heatwole, D. Shier, A. Davis, J. Kidder, S. Sunkavalli

"Acid rock drainage (ARD) is produced when sulfides are exposed to oxygen and water. Oxidation reactions typically result in a depression of pH and leaching of solutes and metals. Many oxidation models have been developed based on oxygen diffusion, but in environments with high permeability, other transport processes (i.e., convection and advection) can play an important role. Multiple sulfide mineral phases with differing oxidation rates should also be incorporated. WROC, a finite-difference model, was developed to account for these factors in predicting ARD. The program includes sulfide mineral oxidation using a shrinking core mechanism, heat transfer by conduction, heat of reaction and oxygen transport by diffusion and advection. The model was validated using data from the literature. After validation, the WROC model was used to simulate several different waste rock scenarios, including different forms of sulfide mineralization and the effect of implementing a waste rock cover. The results demonstrate that including specific sulfide mineral phases can have a significant effect on oxidation and that implementation of a cover can also aid in reducing waste rock oxidation.IntroductionAcid rock drainage (ARD) is a notable environmental concern in areas where rock or other material with acid generation potential is disturbed. ARD is defined as drainage that occurs as a result of sulfide oxidation in rock exposed to air and water. ARD is characterized by low pH, elevated metals concentration (especially aluminum, iron and manganese), sulfate and high total dissolved solids. The low-pH water that results from acid generation is capable of solubilizing heavy metals contained within the rock. The principal sulfide mineral in mine wastes is pyrite (FeS2). Pyrite oxidation is complex and can involve chemical and biological reactions. Oxidation of pyrite by atmospheric oxygen produces one mole of Fe2+, two moles of SO4 2- and two moles of H+ for every mole of pyrite oxidized, as described by Eq. (1)."

Jan 1, 2015

By S. K. Kawatra

Outokumpu Electronics has designed a new on-line coal slurry ash analyzer, based on an instrument developed at Michigan Technological University. The primary goal was to build an accurate instrument at the lowest possible cost. The instrument determines ash content from measurements of x-ray backscatter, iron Ka fluorescence, and low-energy y-ray absorption. It is capable of measuring the ash content with a standard error of 1.1% ash over an analysis range of 9-21% ash and 7-22% solids. The analyzer was tested on coals from United States, Poland, Great Britain and the USSR.

Jan 1, 1992

By A. M. El Shafey, Ahmed W. Hussein, Ibrahim M. Gaafar, Mona M. Fawzy, Mohamed Diab, Mohamed S. Abu El Ghar

The Quaternary stream sediments of the Diit area, southern Red Sea coast, Egypt, were mineralogically studied for their content of economic heavy minerals. The study area covered approximately 450 km2 and included three main parts: Wadi and Delta Diit, as well as Diit lens. The mineralogical investigation revealed that these sediments contain considerable amounts of placer ilmenite, magnetite, zircon, sphene, apatite, garnet, and rutile. Also present, in minor or trace amounts, are uranothorite, monazite, xenotime, fergusonite, khatyrkite, and gold. The magnetic fractionation tests, supplemented with the XRD and SEM mineral analyses, indicated the presence of Fe-oxide minerals as wuestite, hematite, and maghemite accompanied with magnetite as products for hand magnet separation. Ilmenite separation was carried out using a high intensity magnetic separator at a current of 1 A, while the paramagnetic minerals (e.g., garnet, pyroxene, amphibole, epidote, monazite, xenotime, and fergusonite) were separated as magnetic fraction at a current of 3 A. The non-magnetic minerals (e.g., zircon, apatite and rutile, uranophane, uranothorite, gold, and khatyrkite) were obtained at 3 A current. On a mineralogical and geochemical basis, the present work suggests that Diit stream sediments should be considered as a potential source for Ti, Fe, Zr, Zn, and Cu after the physical upgrading processes for concentrating the minerals carrying the aforementioned economic elements.

Jan 21, 2022

By Ronald L. Wiegel

In the 2000 page Handbook of Mineral Dressing by A. F. Taggart, the subject of material or metallurgical balances is covered in only six pages of eve-straining type. Although Taggart's work was compiled before 1945, and there has been significant progress since then in most areas of mineral processing, the practicing metallurgist's approach to metallurgical balances remains exactly the same as described in those six pages. There are several portions of Taggart's text appropriate to introduce the subject of this paper which I would like to quote: "Milling Calculations. Computations of per¬formance in milling are complicated by the fact that it is a continuous rather than a batch operation, that the quantities of solid materials handled are large and usually mixed with water, hence difficult or impos¬sible to weigh. Fortunately it is possible to determine many facts concerning perfor¬mance without knowing weights, if the value of various constituents is known in some common unit, e.g., the content of some par¬ticular metal or mineral, or of water, or some ingredient soluble therein, or of par¬ticles of a particular size or falling within some particular size range, or the like."

Jan 1, 1979

By Max Friedemann, Alexandros Bousdekis, Anna Gustafson, Helmut Mischo, Håkan Schunnesson

Many devices used in mining are not monitored by sensors or do not have their own intelligence. By retrofitting sensors and real-time data processing, machines can be integrated into an existing digital infrastructure. Within the project Mine.io funded by the European Union a Sandvik DE110 exploration drill rig is being digitized using various AI algorithms at research and education Mine “Forschungs- und Lehrbergwerk Reiche Zeche (FLB)” of TU Freiberg. The aim is to increase the productivity of drilling with real-time evaluation of the current rock to be drilled and the current maintenance status of the drill rig. The drill rig is equipped with a speed sensor, pressure sensors in the hydraulics, 3-axis vibration sensor, borehole length measurement and temperature sensor. The sensors are additionally attached to the drilling rig and no structural changes on the drill rig are necessary. All data are processed real-time at a server structure outside of the mine using AI algorithms to analyze which rock (ore or host rock) is being drilled and to perform predictive maintenance. Processed Data are visualized for the operator to optimize the workflow and the productivity.

Feb 1, 2025

By Andrew Scogings

The current edition of The Australasian Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) Code was published in 2012 and, after a transition period, the 2012 edition came into mandatory operation on Dec. 1, 2013. There is a significant change between JORC 2004 (Clause 44) and JORC 2012 (Clause 49) for the reporting of industrial mineral resources and reserves, which should be addressed by ASX-listed players in the industrial minerals space.

By K. R. Miller

Thunder Basin Coal Company has two mines located in the southern portion of the Powder River Basin. 60-90 km southeast of Gillette, Wyoming. The mines are principally located on federal coal leases acquired in the late-1960's. Development plans for the Black Thunder Mine focused on dragline stripping, but environmental considerations during the mid-1970's made truck-shovel stripping the method of choice when the mine opened in 1976. In 1981, the Coal Creek Mine opened as the first dragline mine in the Gillette area of the Powder River Basin. The regional terrain is flat-lying with occasional clinker-capped hills. The mines are located on the Wasatch and Fort Union Formation contact. The coals are Paleocene in age and the deposits are structurally simple, dipping gently to the west. The seams are thick and are classified as sub-bituminous-C. The Black Thunder Mine, with its 21 m thick seam, is strategically located in the center of the highest heat value mining area of the southern Powder River Basin.

Jan 1, 1993

By A. C. Lordi

Present industrial plant design is influenced by motivators beyond the usual powerful one, creativity, on which Consultants thrive. The respected, although annoying, ever-present Return on Invested Capital becomes even more significant with anticipated escalation. Government regulations are having an increasing influence as air and water protection, sound and electrical safety requirements must be met And more recently, the increasing cost and uncertain availability of energy sources are having a revolutionary affect on plant design. More than ever before, the Consulting Engineer is faced with requirements and restrictions which tax even the most original thinkers -- and the result is good. This paper includes a brief review of recent trends in Cement Plant Engineering Design.

Jan 1, 1975

By Yves Boissonnas, Marco Bettelini

"INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES The operational safety of long and very long rail tunnels represents a key issue in all development stages, including design, construction, commissioning and operation. The spectrum of potential threats is very broad and challenging. These issues can only be mastered by means of a proper combination of a number of safety measures at various levels. This paper focuses on the specific safety issues and the extremely challenging conditions characterizing very long and deep tunnels. They include a significantly increased risk during operation that the incident train cannot exit the tunnel by its own means, long self-rescue and rescue distances, the presence of a number of trains, possibly mixed traffic as well as significant thermal issues. Amberg Engineering is strongly involved in the design and construction of most long and very long rail tunnels in Europe, including in particular the Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT), Lyon-Turin Base Tunnel (LTF) and the Brenner Base Tunnel (BBT). The combined experience arising from these tunnels forms an invaluable body of expertise, which is summarized in this paper. The focus is on shared issues with practical relevant examples and project-specific solutions. Special attention will be devoted to the 57 km long Gotthard Base Tunnel, which will be operational by mid-2016 and will be the longest infrastructure tunnel worldwide. VERY LONG TUNNELS IN EUROPE Overview From the point of view of safety, tunnels in excess of about 20 km exhibit a significantly increased risk that incident trains could stop within the tunnel. This is related to the European Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) on rolling stock, to be discussed in the chapter on rescue stations. This paper will specifically focus on the following longest tunnels in construction or operation, listed in Table 1."

Jan 1, 2016