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By Rod L. Norfleet

Cemented tungsten carbides are a sintered powder - metallurgical product essential to modern industry. Because of their moderate unit price and our dependence upon foreign sources for the component raw materials, a growing recycling industry has developed in the United States. There are two basic approaches taken to recycling cemented carbides; those which leave constituting materials unaltered or direct-reuse and those which separate the constitutes back to the raw components. To separate the carbides back to their raw components usually requires expensive chemical processing and is thus confined to the lower value materials such as grinding sludges. The direct-reuse methods recycle cemented carbides back to an intermediate level, a powder capable of being recompacted and resintered into a functional end-product. The three most commonly used methods of direct-reuse recycling, the coldstream process, bloaching and the Bernard or zinc process, are reviewed,

Jan 1, 1984

By MUSTAFA ERKAYAOGLU, Muhammet Mustafa Kahraman

Particulate matter (PM) is one of the main actors related to air pollution caused by surface mining. Fugitive dust, considered as particulate matter that cannot be collected by conventional measures, is classified by the particle size. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) categorizes PM as coarse and fine particles based on the particle size being less than 10 μm (PM10) and less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5). Basic operations of surface mining such as drilling and blasting, loading, haulage, and processing are processes that can potentially generate fugitive dust. Regulations and legislations enforce the mining industry to use environmental monitoring systems, fugitive dust level measured by PM10 level as part of this. Air quality monitors are positioned at different locations around surface coal mines and track air quality levels during production. This study introduces a data-driven methodology to handle air quality issues related to fugitive dust at surface coal mines. Data is sourced from different mine equipment in real-time and they are integrated with air quality monitoring systems to provide information to support decisions for fugitive dust. The method is implemented and demonstrated in a case study at a large surface coal mine.

Sep 29, 2020

By R. M. Barker

The historic Getchell property is currently being mined from the Getchell Main Underground workings, a foot wall extension of the Getchell open pit deposits along the Getchell fault. Drift-and-fill techniques are used to extract the ore through a ramp access. The adjacent Turquoise Ridge deposit is currently under development via two vertical shafts. Together, the two mines will continue to provide feed to the Getchell's 3,200 tpd mill/autoclave circuit, taking Getchell Gold from its current production rate of 200,000 ounces (Au) per annum, to over 400,000 ounces (Au) per annum by 1999.

Jan 1, 1997

By S. K. Mishra

The history of the Australian coal industry is almost as old as the history of Australia after new settlement. The first cargo of coal was exported from Newcastle to India in 1799. Although coal has been mined in Australia for almost two centuries, there are indications that the first coal was processed in 1877 in the New-castle area, nearly a half-century after the first coal processing in Europe. Processing on any significant scale began only in 1944 at the Newcastle Steel Works. In Queensland, however, coal processing did not begin until the second quarter of this century. The well-known dramatic growth of mining and processing of Australian coal since the mid-sixties has primarily been due to the expansion of the export market in Japan and other Asian and European countries. Black coal occurs in most of the major sedimentary basins in Australia. The better known deposits of commercial importance are in Sydney, Bowen, Oakland and Gailiee Basins (Figure 1). Apart from Collie Basin in Western Australia, other coal deposits of the Arckinga Basin in South Australia, the Bonaparte Basin in Northern Territory and Tasmania Basin, Tasmania, are basically unexploited. Sydney Basin of New South Wales and Bowen Basin of Queensland remain the major producers of black coal in Australia.

Jan 1, 1985

By Rolf J. Wesely

Recent events in The Peoples Republic of China indicate that a major effort is underway to increase trade with the western world. Gold production contributes to China's ability to participate in international trade. Consequently, the Chinese government places a high priority on increasing gold production. Many of the operating gold mines in China contain refractory ores that to date have not been efficiently treated. Figure 1 illustrates the description and location of a few of China's major gold mines. China recognizes that the technology necessary to economically treat this ore has been developed in the United States and other western countries. The country has therefore begun to seek assistance in evaluating several potential projects. Organizational structure Gold mining and processing in China is directed by the China National Gold Corp. (CNGC), headquartered in Beijing. The agency has a director in each province who is responsible for exploration, mining and processing. CNGC uses the services of two engineering organizations for metallurgical testing, process development and design engineering for their projects. The largest engineering organization is the Central Engineering and Research Institute for Non-Ferrous Metallurgical Industries (ENFI), also located in Beijing. The second engineering organization is the Changchun Gold Design Institute (CGDI), located in Changchun Jilin province.

Jan 1, 1993

By Yoshio Hiramatsu

In Toyoha mine near Sapporo, the ground temperature is very high, perhaps due to inflow of hot mineral water, the origin of which may be rock masses intruded by the igneous activity in the Tertiary period. The rock masses are found about 2 km east of the mine, their temperature being estimated at from 770 to 870 K at a depth of 3 km. In this mine several veins bearing zinc and lead ores have been mined down to the depth of 300 m from the level of the main entry, of which altitude is 551 m above the sea level. Formerly no attempt was made at development of the deeper part of the mine than the 350 m level from the main entry. Let us indicate hereafter the levels in this mine in such a way that the level 300 m deep from the main entry is denoted as 300 mL. Since 1974, however, the 450 mL of Tajima vein has been developed by deepening No. 5 Shaft to, and by driving drifts in the level. Much hot mineral water has been flowing into the drifts from rock. After twenty-eight months from the beginning of development, the total length of excavation amounted to about 1300 m. The success in development so far may be attributed to cooling rock and air with chilled water and to adopting heat-resisting explosives and detonators. This cooling costed very much and for further development in this level a more effective and economical cooling is desired if possible. To obtain fundamental data for designing an economical cooling, the authors investigated, as a preliminary study, the heat balance in the main drift of 450 mL, by measuring the temperatures of air, rock, hot mineral water, the rates of flow of air and water and so on, in August 1976. They are now carrying out continual measurements of the variations in rock temperature, air temperature and humidity with time. The present paper describes the details of the preliminary study.

Jan 1, 1980

By K. F. Unrug

Extrapolation of the rock properties obtained from the cores exploration holes to the surrounding areas often causes problems because of frequent sudden changes in the geologic composition of strata. To address this problem, the author has been developing a method of rapid strength testing "in situ," with application of a borehole penetrometer. This method, as opposed to conventional laboratory testing, does not require rock samples to be retrieved and handled/machined before testing. The results are generated by strength determination on the wall of a drill hole at a site. The newest development is a borehole penetrometer that requires only a 1.38.mm (1.5 in) diameter hole. The small diameter of the penetrometer body allows for drilling test holes with production mine equipment such as roof bolters. It opens the possibility of broad application in coal mines, as well as in hard rock mines and tunneling. The principles of the apparatus are described and are illustrated with examples of its applications.

Jan 1, 1999

By K. A. McDonald

Hibernia de Mexico SA de CV, based in Durango, Durango, Mexico built and put into operation a 700-t/d (770-stpd) agitated cyanide leach plant in Guanacevi, Durango. Plant construction began in March 1993 and operations began in November 1993. Hibernia de Mexico, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hibernia Holdings, Inc., is a privately held Tucson, AZ-based company. The startup procedures described here deal with Mexico's legal, import-export and finance requirements, and labor and security requirements. The 700 t/d (770 stpd) Guanacevi project is located next to the town of Guanacevi. The project is an agitated cyanide leach plant built to process about 2 Mt (2.2 million st) of flotation tailings over its life. The plant is operated by Servicios de Guanacevi, Asociasion en Participacion. It is owned jointly by Hibernia de Mexico and Metalurgica Guanacevi SA de CV. Legal, importation of equipment and financing For a foreign company to operate in the mining industry in Mexico, it must form a Mexican company. A Mexican company presently must be at least 51 % owned by a Mexican entity. The other 49% may be owned by non-Mexicans.

Jan 1, 1994

By Tor L. Brekke, Alberto Marulanda P.

The paper describes hazardous water inflows during construction that have taken place over the last three years in tunnels in Colombia. The projects involved are the Chivor II Hydroelectric Power Project (penstock tunnel), and the Chingaza Water Project (two tunnels). In all cases, loss of face control led to significant loss of ground; in one case some 70,000 m3 of slide material was involved, much of which came out through the portal situated 1.6 km from the face. Emphasis is given to: (a) the geologic setting, (b) the remedial measures taken, and (c) the main efforts that can be made to prevent hazardous conditions from developing.

Jan 1, 1981

By H. Suharyono, R. Hogg

A laboratory investigation was performed on flocculation following the addition of polymer to slurries flowing through pipes and in-line (static) mixers. Results are presented showing the effects of flow velocity, pipe length, in-line mixer elements and the use of multiple addition points. Flocculation performance was measured by the settling rate and the supernatant turbidity. The effects of agitation and mixing time are shown to be generally consistent with the results of equivalent tests (both batch and continuous) conducted in stirred tanks.

Jan 1, 1997

By Paavo Eerola

In May of 1984, it was decided that Outokumpu Oy would design and build a new nickel flotation mill to process ore from the newly discovered Enonkoski mine in eastern Finland. Since there hart peen a number of successful process charges in the existing mills, the design effort included the study and incorporation of several new developments, including all-autogenous grinding, "flash flotation", lane cell roughing, large cell cleaning and a computer-based, profit optimizing, process control system. The paper discusses the background and results of those studies, and a description of the resulting mill which will begin production in 1986.

Jan 1, 1985

By F. S. Knoll

Electrostatic separation is one of the most misunderstood physical processes used to beneficiate minerals. Nonetheless, millions of tons of titanium ores, iron ores and other minerals are processed every year economically, efficiently and safely. Over the past ten years major advances in electrostatic separation and its application have occurred. New processes include dewatering clay slurries, separating halite and sylvite, and shape separation of vermiculite and gangue minerals. Electrostatic separation techniques are based on one of two methods, electrophoresis or dieleccrophoresis -- processes involving charged and uncharged particles respectively. In some cases, the combination of these two techniques has proven quite useful. The purpose of this paper is to provide a basic understanding of the physical processes collectively called "electro- static separation" in order to enhance one's ability to define and consider new possibilities in mineral processing and other fields.

Jan 1, 1984

By P. G. Vikre

Several factors have caused less emphasis to be placed on geologic mapping in mineral exploration in the last 15 years. These include opportunities for "easy" discoveries of near surface gold and silver deposits in developed countries, and of base metal deposits as well in less developed countries, a decline of emphasis on geologic mapping in many universities, and a decline of useful mapping by government agencies in many areas. Geologic mapping is simply a way of recording geologic observations on volumes of rock larger than can be seen from one place. Since most geologic processes involve systems larger than this, mapping is also essential to understand the significance of observations made on smaller volumes of rock, such as thin sections and sample taken for chemical or isotopic analysis. To be useful, the observations recorded through geologic mapping are then interpreted to arrive at an understanding of the 3D geometry and geologic history of a volume of rock, which is used to direct mineral exploration, or any number of other purposes.

Jan 1, 1995

By J. F. T. Agapito, R. R. Goodrich

Yield pillars have been used for many years to help reduce stresses near mine openings and improve roof and floor stability. A yield pillar is often defined as a pillar that fails but retains residual strength. Stress transfer occurs through the roof and floor after the peak strength of the pillar is reached. High stresses are transferred from around the openings onto abutments that can be barrier pillars or unmined ground. This mechanism, often referred to as pressure arching, is possible as long as the width of yield pillars is less than the critical width above which stresses cannot be carried by the overburden. Significant stress transfer also can occur due to small amounts of pillar and/or floor yielding before the peak strength is reached. This is accomplished in a quasi-elastic manner with little or no visible roof and pillar fracturing or floor heave. Long-term stability may be achieved when stresses and mechanical properties are favorable to pre-failure yielding. This paper gives practical examples where improvements in stability and resource recovery were achieved with this mechanism. Yielding was assessed by comparing measured and calculated vertical pillar stresses. Results indicated that calculated stresses in the pillars were 25 to 40 percent higher than the measured stresses, demonstrating significant arching load transfer to the abutments. Pre-failure yielding is probably often present but unintentional in both development and production areas. Better recognition and use of this mechanism should lead to improved designs as mines become deeper.

Jan 1, 2001

By J. O. Marsden

Over the past eight years, Phelps Dodge (a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Inc.) devoted a significant amount of effort to the development of a suite of processes for the effective hydrometallurgical treatment of copper sulfide concentrates. This effort resulted in the development of high-temperature (>200ºC) and medium-temperature (150° to 165ºC) pressure leaching processes. Specific configurations of both processes have been commercially demonstrated at Phelps Dodge?s facility in Bagdad, Arizona. This paper reviews in detail the chemistry of medium-temperature pressure leaching of copper concentrates and reports on the process development work conducted by Phelps Dodge and others for this technology. This paper is Part I of a four-part series on this technology. Part II covers the development of medium-temperature pressure leaching and direct electrowinning technology; Part III considers the large-scale demonstration of the MT-DEW-SX process at Bagdad, Arizona; and Part IV addresses the development and design of a full-scale commercial application at Morenci, Arizona.

Jan 1, 2007

By Brendan Demich, Brendan Macdonald, Timothy J. Orr, Jason Navoyski, Jennica L. Bellanca, William J. Helfrich

Recent advances in computing, rendering, and display technologies have generated increased accessibility for virtual reality (VR). VR allows the creation of dynamic, high-fidelity environments to simulate dangerous situations, test conditions, and visualize concepts. Consequently, numerous products have been developed, but many of these are limited in scope. Therefore, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health researchers developed a VR framework, called VR Mine, to rapidly create an underground mine for human data collection, simulation, visualization, and training. This paper describes the features of VR Mine using self-escape and proximity detection as case studies. Features include mine generation, simulated networks, proximity detection systems, and the integration and visualization of real-time ventilation models.

By Kenneth S. Johnson

Large reserves of high-purity Permian gypsum crop out and are at shallow depth in three regions of western Oklahoma, Gypsum beds in the Blaine Formation are 10 to 30 feet thick and are generally 95 to 99 percent pure, whereas the massive Cloud Chief Gypsum is 20 to 100 feet thick and is 92 to 97 percent pure. Reserves are estimated at 48 billion short tons. Eight companies in the State currently mine about 1 million tons of gypsum each year for wall- board, for plaster, as a retarder in portland cement, and as a soil conditioner. Future uses, under more favorable market conditions, may be in the chemical industries, largely because of gypsum's potential as a source of sulfur. Three thick sequences of Permian rock salt underlie most of western Oklahoma at depths of 30 to 3,000 feet. Individual salt beds 5 to 30 feet thick are interbedded with thinner layers of shale and anhydrite. Five large salt plains, fed by natural springs of saturated brine constitute additional resources of salt. Reserves, estimated at 20 trillion short tons, are virtually untapped, and, ironically, about 90 percent of the salt used in Oklahoma is imported. Chemical data on the rock salt are lacking, but evaporated salt produced from brines is generally 97 to 99 percent pure. Current production from three solar-evaporation plants is used mainly for stockfeed, recharging water softeners, and deicing roads. Potential uses are in the chemical industries, where salt or brine is a necessary raw material.

Jan 1, 1973

By William C. McBee

A sulfur concrete technology has been developed by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, in which chemically modified sulfur is utilized with suitable mineral aggregates to produce construction materials which are resistant to corrosion by acids and salts. This report presents a summary of the basic technology and results of testing the materials under actual operating conditions in 50 corrosive environments in 40 commercial plants. After 4 years of testing, there was essentially no evidence of material degradation or loss of strength. Regular concrete materials were attacked and in some cases completely destroyed under the same conditions. Testing is continuing to establish ultimate longevity and durability of the sulfur concretes. The materials are finding widespread applications in metallurgical, chemical, and fertilizer processing plants.

Jan 1, 1983

By F. F. Peng

A unique collector dispersion techniques was developed and used to improve the flotation rate and recovery of coarser and ultrafine coal-rich particles in the froth flotation processes. In this novel collector dispersion method, the collector such as hydrocarbon-oil is gasified and transported by gas phase (air stream) into the pulp. In addition to the excellent mode of collector dispersion, the collector-encapsulated air bubbles are generated in the pulp. This approach alters the surface properties of air bubbles and provides the fast rate of flotation compared to that of direct liquid collector addition froth flotation. Using gasified kerosene as the collector, the effect of altering surface properties of bubbles on the recovery of larger and finer coal-rich particles of -1.7 mm (-12 mesh) and -600 µ m (-30 mesh) raw coal samples were studied. The Redstone seam coal obtained from Northern Central region of West Virginia was used in this work. The effect of particle size on oil-coated bubble flotation rate and recovery were also evaluated. The conventional froth flotation test with a liquid form of kerosene addition was also conducted for comparison purpose.

Jan 1, 1991

By Caroline Gerwig, Joseph R. Wickline, Zach Agioutantis

In longwall mining, the progressive caving of the roof allows stored energy to dissipate over an extended time. However, in some cases, the roof strata above the longwall panel are unusually strong and do not break with the movement of the working face. Instead, the roof material bridges over the expanse of the longwall, forming an unstable beam. Later, when this beam breaks, the stored energy can release suddenly, causing a seismic event to propagate to surrounding mine workings. The focus of this paper is to estimate the size of beams that form over longwall panels to the seismic energy recorded by the mine. Analytical calculations are used to verify two-dimensional models of longwall roof beams to determine the strain energy and gravitational energy developed, which is then released upon strata failure to surrounding mine workings. Models are developed using RS2 to model the stress, strain, and deflection along the bottom of the longwall roof beam to calculate gravitational and strain energies. Gravitational energy is shown to be the main driving factor in energy release, except for the beams with low heights. Analyses allow the determination of beam characteristics based on seismic data. The analysis is refined using swelling factor to compare various beam drop heights. The models show an increase in seismic magnitude for higher drop heights. However, the actual data provided by the Buchanan mine displays a decrease in seismic magnitude with increasing drop height, indicating that energy is dissipated into the broken gob material as drop height increases.

Jul 1, 2023