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By Emily Rose

The concept of risk management is applied to multiple aspects of the mining lifecycle including safety, mine design, business plan—anything that affects getting the ore to the mill for production. However, risk management is not a topic that can readily be taught in universities. Many situations require knowledge gained from experience to know how this impacts current and future operations. Recent graduates, who must develop and apply decisions based on geotechnical monitoring, likely have not developed “operational experience” and may not be aware of options and typical applications. Thorough resources that explain different monitoring systems, and when and how to implement them, are available for geotechnical professionals. Accessibility to this information can often cause information overload, leaving one unsure of where to start, without knowing where to start. This paper is intended to serve as a high-level overview of development practices, levels of risk, and risk tolerance for entry-level geotechnical and mining professionals who do not come from a geotechnical background. Summarized detail on typical monitoring practices, types of instrumentation, and how to communicate what the data indicates to key stakeholders are provided.

Feb 22, 2026

By John M. Ackerman

INTRODUCTION In the spring of 1988 the Joint Venture of Freeport-McMoran Resource Partners, Limited Partnership, IMC Fertilizer Inc, and Homestake Mining Co. was awarded the sulphur lease for Main Pass Block 299, lease number OCS-G 9372. This was one of eleven leases awarded to the Joint Venturers. Following the initial discovery wells in December 1988, a program of delineation drilling confirmed proven sulphur reserves of 67 million long tons. Proven, recoverable oil and gas reserves are 39.4 million barrels and 7.2 billion cubic feet, respectively. Development of the sulphur mine was given approval as a fast-track project by the Joint Venturers in 1989. The oil and gas reserves were acquired from the original hydrocarbon lessee in 1990 and given fast- track status immediately. Fast-track for these projects meant design and engineering would not be complete before construction began JOINT VENTURE The Main Pass Joint Venture is one of thirteen joint ventures formed between Freeport and three other companies - IMC Fertilizer, Inc., Felmont Oil Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Homestake Mining Co., and Texasgulf Minerals and Metals Co. Felmont has subsequently changed its name to Homestake Sulphur Co. and Texasgulf assigned their interests in the three leases they participated in to their parent company. Texasgulf did not participate in the Main Pass 299 joint venture. Joint venture negotiations, anticipating a lease sale in mid-1988, began in December of 1987. This Joint Venture was the first of its kind; created to acquire offshore leases, explore, develop and mine sulphur. The Minerals Management Service announced a lease sale date of February 24, 1988 on the first business day of 1988. This greatly accelerated the joint venture negotiations. Of the thirteen leases the Joint Ventures bid on, eleven were awarded. Freeport holds its interest in all the leases through its ownership interest in Freeport-McMoRan Resource Partners, Limited Partnership, and Resource Partners is the operator on all of the leases. The Main Pass joint venture percentage ownership is: 58.33 Freeport-McMoRan Resource Partners 25.00 IMC Fertilizer, Inc. 16.67 Homestake Sulphur Co. 100.00 The Main Pass Joint Venture paid $3,401,757 for the Main Pass lease and will pay a royalty of 12.5 percent of production value to the MMS . LOCATION The Main Pass mine complex is located in the Gulf of Mexico, in U. S. federal waters, about 27 kilometers (17 miles) east of Venice, Louisiana or 140 kilometers south east of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is situated in about 63 meters (210 feet) of water. HISTORY The Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the United States Department of the Interior administers the mineral properties of the United States located in federal waters. Periodically the MMS holds lease sales of blocks under its jurisdiction. Prior to the offshore discoveries of sulphur associated with salt domes leased for hydrocarbons, the MMS leased blocks with all minerals including hydrocarbons awarded to the successful bidder for the block. In 1963 MMS held the first lease sale of blocks specifically for sulphur. This sale was followed by a similar sale in

Jan 1, 1992

By Erik Marsh, Frederick C. Harris Jr., Javad Sattarvand, Joshua Dahl, Alireza Kamran Pishhesari

Based on the mine safety and health administration (MSHA)reports, mining truck accidents are among the significant causes of fatalities in the mining industry. The major causes of haulage accidents can be divided into non-driving and driving factors, such as truck-related sudden failures and operator performance. Numerous parameters affect trucks' safe operation, but situational awareness plays a significant role. Due to the distinct structure of mining trucks, making them efficient for mining purposes, the operator has a very limited field of view (FOV), making them prone to accidents resulting in losing lives. The cabin's position blocks the truck's right and rear sides, creating several blind points around it. Aiming to test/train the operator's awareness of the surrounding, a proximity detection system is developed through a multiplayer virtual reality (VR) application to investigate the human factor in equipment collisions. The operators were examined and monitored when asked to conduct what exactly happened in the Marigold mine truck accident without being aware of the scenario. After receiving sound, vibration, and visual alarm warnings, their reaction and performance were analyzed. The platform is developed using the Unity game engine for HTC VIVE virtual reality goggles. An Omni-direction treadmill and a motion simulator platform are utilized for the player and dump truck operators. Fifteen students were monitored when driving the dump truck receiving/not receiving proximity detection alarms. None of them repeated the accident when receiving proximity alarms. Also, they found the visual alarm the most comfortable while driving the truck.

Jun 25, 2023

By Robert G. Lundguist

REAM is a unique and promising method of rock breaking using high energy, inert projectiles to impart mechanical energy to the rock. This paper describes a demonstration of the application of this new technology to two specific problems in open pit mining: secondary breakage and the scaling of loose material from pit walls. Under previous government contracts, Physics International Company developed the projectile impact method for a large variety of commercial and military rock excavation tasks. A 4 meter (13 foot) diameter by 16.8 meters (55 foot) long tunnel was driven at the Hope Valley Mine in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California in 1972 and 1973. An average of 1100 kg (1 ¼ tons) of a 172 MN/m2 (25,000-psi) granodiorite formation was broken by each of 590 shots used to drive the tunnel.l Based on these results it is estimated that REAM can drive over 60 meters (200 feet) of tunnel per day at about 88 percent of the cost of drilling and blasting. In addition, repeated axial impact by high energy projectiles was used to drill a 0.4 meter (16 inch) diameter horizontal hole in the same granodiorite formation. Each shot advanced the hole an average of 0.2 meter (8 inches).

Jan 1, 1976

By David Runnels

In September 1970, the Quebec Cartier Mining Company, started development of the Mount; Fright iron ore mine. The estimated ore reserve is in excess of 1,000,000,000 long tons with an average grade of 31.5% Fe. The run of mine ore is crushed, ground and concentrated to a product having 66% Fe and 5% silica at an annual concentrate production rate of 18.4 million long tons. The daily production rate of over 50,000 long tons of concentrate necessitates a daily mine output of approximately 250,000 long tons of material of which 50% is waste. The mine is located in the Province of Quebec, close to the Labrador border approximately 600 miles north-east of Montreal. The development of the mine necessitated the construction of an all electric one thousand housing unit townsite along with associated services such as a shopping center, swimming pool, arena, school, etc... A one-hundred mile long, 315 K.V. Dower line was built between the mine site and the Hydro-Quebec 735 K.V. existing power line between Churchill Falls and the Montreal area. The construction near the mine of a beneficiation plant was necessary to upgrade the 31.5% iron ore to a marketable product of 66% iron.

Jan 1, 1977

By Qingwen Shi, Yun Zhao, Brijes Mishra

The effect of discontinuities on the fracturing and mechanical behavior of shale has been extensively investigated on a laboratory scale in previous works. It is well agreed that the lamination properties, including discontinuity and lamina properties, affect the behavior of shale. However, it is still unclear how the lamination properties are affecting the stability of the shale roof in an underground coal mine entry. This paper investigated the effect of lamination properties using the discrete element method on a mine-scale entry model as an extension to the previous work conducted on laboratory scale models.

Jan 11, 2022

By J. M. Pachter

Property sales and acquisition are prominent features of today's coal industry. Before selling or buying a site, a company must know the property's economic net worth. Any evaluation of economic net worth would be inadequate if determinations of a property's environmental liabilities and costs were omitted. Short-and long-term costs can result from liabilities related to reclamation, water treatment, subsidence, and hazardous waste disposal. A structured, interdisciplinary approach can aid in the delineation, summation, and scheduling of these costs and liabilities.

Jan 1, 1987

By Yves C. Lizotte

Although blasting remains the most inexpensive method of fragmentation in hardrock mining, the significance of the costs of blast-induced rockmass damage in terms of mining efficiency and safety is becoming increasingly recognized. There is no straightforward and systematic method of adequately measuring blast damage in on-going mining operations. This paper considers various techniques available to measure blast damage, making particular reference to recent underground hardrock mine studies. It concludes by proposing a damage audit procedure for integration into routine mine production control.

Jan 1, 1996

By J. W. Furlan

Due to the time consuming nature of froth testing in a laboratory environment, it is required, due to practical limitations, to develop a method of applying a single set of performance test data (Visintainer & Whitlock, 2012) obtained for a single froth pump at a given speed, to a range of froth pump speeds and sizes, % air contents, and liquid viscosities. Head, efficiency, and flow all vary as functions of both liquid viscosity and air content. As such, it is necessary to develop a technique which can be used to interpolate from existing test data in order to predict froth pump performance for pumps of various sizes running at variable speeds. Details of the technique developed in order to achieve this goal as well as the insights gained from analysis of the resulting regressions are discussed. Additionally, comparisons are made between the performance predictions of this test-derived method and those of the Hydraulic Institute Standard for the effects of liquid viscosity on centrifugal pump performance (ANSI/HI 9.6.7-2010).

Feb 27, 2013

By John E. Edkins

Metal sulfides, chiefly pyrite and mFnor sphalerlte zssociated with che Herrin (No. 6) coal member of the Pennsylvania Carbondale Formation, have been concentrated in a coal refuse deposit in southern Illinois. Oxidation of pyrite has produced highly acid waters with high concentrations of iron, zinc (up to 200 parts per million) and toxic trace elements that have leached downward to a water system perched on glacial drift. Chemical, petrographic, low-temperature ashing and x-ray diffraction were performed on cores. The data show that economic recovery of zinc and other trace metals is unlikely at this site. Energy (coal) recovery at the Superior Washer site is possible if resultant environmental problems are considered in the planning.

Jan 1, 1981

By Luís Tavares Ribeiro

Nowadays there is a greater need for detailed reservoir modelling in the oil industry. It is generally recognized that nearly all reservoirs are heterogeneous and idealization of rock characteristics in flow calculations is unrealistic regarding actual physical and textural conditions encountered in geologic formations. The heterogeneity of oil reservoirs considerably influences the distribution of fluids, as well as their displacement. It would be advantageous if a reservoir petroleum engineer was able to construct a precise mathematical model of the detailed reservoir rock variability characterizing the degree of reservoir heterogeneity in an unambiguous way. This paper presents a geomathematical model describing the spatial behaviour and distribution of the principal reservoir properties. The model is based on the Theory of Regionalised Variables and the Kriging technique. The model is performed by a set of computing programs and is tested on an Abu Dhabi oil reservoir in United Arab Emirates.

Jan 1, 1986

By Calvin L. Stevenson

The probability of a particle passing through a maze is predictable and consistent. This principle may be utilized to effect a particle size separation of materials by presenting a physical maze to a stream of material that will allow the fine particles to pass, while deflecting the coarse particles. A maze is effective even though all apertures encountered are many times larger than the particles being separated. By designing a machine that allows the probability parameters to be controlled and varied without changing physical dimensions, probability sizing becomes a useful tool for the separation of granular materials.

Jan 1, 1967

By Robert M. Cox

A thorough geological engineering investigation is required before surface lands overlying abandoned underground mines can be safely recommended as building sites. The major problems confronting the geological engineer are assembling accurate geologic and mining information and developing an accurate rock mechanics model of the situation. A successful investigation requires a combination of technical expertise in rock mechanics and engineering geology tempered with practical engineering judgment. The results of a good study are not always favorable to the prospective builder.

Jan 1, 1975

By T. Tomioka

1. An Overall View of the Japanese Ferroalloys Industry 1) Depressed Demand for Ferroalloys: In Japan consumption of ferroalloys in the last ten years has decreased, although there has been some fluctuation from year to year. During this term production figures of the steel industry, which are closely related to consumption of ferroalloys, are as follows: Shipment of steel products for the domestic market has declined gradually from 69 million tons in 1979, which was the peak year for steel production, to 60.3 million tons in 1982 and 60.4 million tons in 1983, the level of 1978. In addition, exports also have been a downward trend since 1976, which was the peak year with tonnage of 34 million tons, to 28 million tons in 1982 and 31 million tons in 1983.

Jan 1, 1984

By W. Dan Hausel

Archean supracrustal rocks of the South Pass greenstone belt of western Wyoming have been an important source of gold and iron ore. Actual gold production statistics are incom- plete although gold production estimates for the South Pass- Atlantic City district range from a low of 2.0 Mg (70,000 oz) (Koschmann and Bergendal, 1968) to a high of 9.8 Mg (327,000 oz) (Hausel, 1980). From 1962 to 1983 iron ore was also mined from the greenstone belt and production totaled more than 91 Mt (90 million It). The supracrustal rocks of the South Pass greenstone belt occur in a tightly folded synform bounded by Late Archean granite and granodiorite. The youngest of the Archean successions has a reported Rb-Sr isochron age of 2.8 b.y. (Stuckess, et al., 1985). Metamorphism of the supracrustals increases towards the flanks of the belt and is amphibolite-grade enclosing a small island of greenschist facies rocks. The supracrustal sequence consists of metasedimentary and metaigneous rocks that are divisible into four mappable units. The metasediments include metagraywacke, quartzite, pelitic schist, banded iron formation, metaconglomerate, and graphitic schist. Metavolcanics include metabasalt, meta-andesite, and ultramafic schist. These supracrustals have been intruded by mafic sills and dikes and tonalitic stocks and dikes. Two granite plutons and associated pegmatites intrude the supracrustals in the western portion of the belt, and the supracrustals exhibit both fault and intrusive contacts with granitic batholiths along the western and eastern margins. The northeastern flank of the Archean belt is unconformably over- lain by Paleozoic sediments, and the southern portion of the belt is onlaped by Tertiary sediments.

Jan 1, 1990

By Everett H. Dobbs

The Tripoli deposits in the southwest corner of Missouri In Newton County and the northeast corner of Oklahoma in Ottawa County, located in the vicinity of Seneca, Missouri, contains an unusual and peculiar form of silica which has not been found any other place in the world. Its outstanding characteristic is the physical structure of the individual particle, The particle structure of the Missouri-Oklahoma type Tripoli accounts for its market. It is a soft, friable, porous, double-refracting silica of the chalcedony variety, The particle is porous, has a fibrous structure, no sharp edges or comers, ad an average size of less than .01 millimeter, It varies from 90 to 98 per cent Si02 with less than 1 per cent free silica in the form of quartz, 24; has ignition loss of 1 per cent and fractional percentages of iron, alumina, lime, etc.

Jan 1, 1960

By P. N. Thompson

The past few years have seen the introduction of mini-computers on an increasing scale at collieries in the British coal industry. These are being used for controlling underground transport systems, coal preparation plants and fixed plant (pumps etc.); and for monitoring the mine environment and face operations.. A separate mini-computer (termed a primary computer) is dedicated to each of these functions. The overall system under which these computers operate is a common one which is applicable at all collieries. The information collected by the primary computers, other than that required for immediate control, will be fed to a secondary computer for analysis and processing. This overall concept, called MINOS. (MINe Operating System) is being developed by the National Coal Board's Mining Research and Development Establishment (M.R.D.E.). Eventually most of the data required by the system will be captured automatically. For example, the fact that a delay has occurred on a face, together with the duration of that delay, will be detected automatically via transducers link linked to a primary computer. However, the reason for that delay will, in all likelihood, have to be recorded manually. Such a system is currently under development with the first trial installations now being made.

Jan 1, 1979

By C. G. Anderson

The treatment of materials for the recovery of the precious metals imposes many processing and environmental challenges. Sunshine Mining and Refining Company has developed hydrometallurgical technology for recovery of values from refractory precious metal materials. At Sunshine, the industrial focus of these processes has been for the direct recovery of silver without cyanidation. However, recent work has indicated that these technologies can provide a means for treating complex, refractory gold concentrates. This will be the focus of this paper. The practice of pretreating ores and concentrates to make them more amenable to cyanidation is becoming more common. Several pretreatment options for sulfide concentrates containing gold include roasting, bio-leaching, direct pressure oxidation and nitrogen species catalyzed pressure oxidation. The industrial use of nitrogen species catalyzed pressure oxidation has been limited to the Sunshine refinery where its focus has been for the treatment of silver concentrates. Much of the reluctance, outside of Sunshine, to use this type of technology may be based on the perception that high costs are associated with using nitrogen species (e.g. nitric acid, sodium nitrite) to leach. Also, the use of nitrogen species catalyzed pressure oxidation on an industrial scale is unfamiliar to most metallurgical professionals. A summary of pressure leaching processes which utilize nitrogen species as a catalyst is presented in Tables 1 and 2.

Jan 1, 1996

By Billy W. Parks

This paper reports on the first 2 years in operation of a special-purpose coal handling rig which provides blending, temperature reduction, and continuous, automatic mechanical sampling as part of midstream barge to ship coal transfers. Briefly reviewing some of the characteristics of coal handling peculiar to midstream transfers, the paper discusses how the most beneficial aspects of midstreaming were enhanced through the design of this blending and sampling rig.

Jan 1, 1986

By D. P. Harding

Quick, inexpensive and accurate mineral-phase identification is of utmost importance to applied mineralogists. The precise relationship between the intensity of measured backscattered electrons in a scanning electron microscope and the average atomic number of the specimen is still argued. Nevertheless, much can be gained by using backscattered electron images to identify mineral phases in a specimen. An application was developed to facilitate this method and makes it a practical, inexpensive and valuable option in many mineralogical investigations. Keywords: Mineral identification, Scanning electron microscope, Backscattered electron detectors

Jan 1, 2003