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By J. Tang, B. Q. Li, R. Akarapu

"An integrated model is developed to represent the three-dimensional electromagnetic wave propagation and thermal phenomena during microwave heating of ceramics and dielectric/biological materials. The model development is based on the edge finite element formulation for electromagnetic fields and the node fmite element formulation for thermal phenomena. Results are presented and compared well with available analytical solutions and experimental measurements. With the model, the effect of sample positions on the electromagnetic and thermal field distributions is studied.IntroductionMicrowave, as an electro-heating source, has been widely used in the processing industries for packaged foods and other materials. The commonly used household microwave oven is a typical example of microwave heating processes. Other industrial microwave processing systems include large-scale microwave guides and cavities, which are used for the sintering operations as required for making ceramic components or for sterilizing the packaged foods."

Jan 1, 2004

By S. Upadhyay, A. M. Afrapoli

"Fluctuation in market price of mineral products has enforced mining companies to cut down their operating costs. One useful way of reducing operating costs in mining operations is to make optimal operational decisions, incorporating efficient mining fleet management systems (FMS). Over the last 50 years, several types of FMS have been developed and introduced in the mining systems around the world. However, there are two major shortcomings in existing systems. Firstly, none of the existing systems consider effects of the short-term plan on dynamic truck assignment. Secondly, most of the existing FMSs make decisions in a way that optimize a specific objective while ignoring others. Herein, we propose a multi stage and multi objective FMS that deals with aforementioned shortcomings of the currently available systems. The developed FMS, in its upper stage, links semi-dynamic operational decision making process to the short-term production plan by simultaneously assigning shovels to mining faces and allocating trucks to the shovels by implementing its first multi objective decision making model. Then in its second stage, in a real time dynamic decision making process, it assigns trucks to shovels and corresponding destinations by optimizing its second multi objective decision making model. The developed fleet management system has been verified using an Iron ore case study and the results are presented in this paper. INTRODUCTION Open pit mining method is the most common method to mine mineral from the earth. Based on Wetherelt and van der Wielen (2011) there exist 2500 open pit metal mines that are categorized as industrial scale mines. Over all of those, the amount of material handled using truck and shovel material handling system is more than the amount handled by all other systems together (Humphrey & Wagner, 2011).It has been proven by several studies that more than 50 percent of operating cost in a truck and shovel based open pit mining operation is accounted for material handling (Moradi Afrapoli & Askari-Nasab, 2017, Alarie & Gamache, 2002, Ahangaran et al., 2012). Thus, introducing even 1 to 2 percent cut in its material handling cost saves huge amount of money for the stakeholders. Over the last 50 years, two major areas have been identified to cut this cost. On one hand mining industries have been implementing equipment with higher production capacities, and on the other hand, researchers have been developing operations research techniques to make dynamic decisions as close to optimal as possible to deduct operational costs in truck and shovel based mining operations."

Jan 1, 2018

By A. M. Esteves

This paper addresses the question ?What constitutes the right level of investment in community goodwill?? Mining companies are still grappling with this subject even though the business case for community investment has been accepted at a general level, as a strategy for competitive differentiation, risk mitigation and a desire to deliver - and to be seen to deliver - a ?net benefit? to affected communities. Gaining senior management commitment to long term social projects, by definition characterized by uncertainty and complexity, is made easier if projects are shown to benefit the site?s strategic goals. Case study research amongst mining companies, including interviews with social investment decision-makers, has assisted in developing a SI-DAT (Social Investment Decision Analysis Tool), a decision model for evaluating social projects in order to create value for both the company and community. Multi-criteria decision analysis techniques integrating business planning processes with social impact assessment have proved useful in assisting mining companies think beyond seeking access to required lands and peaceful relations, to how they can meet their business goals and contribute to regional development.

Jan 1, 2007

By M Korte, J McMaster, C Brent

The Barrick Osborne concentrator has gone through a number of upgrades since commissioning and has increased production from the original 119 t/h design capacity to a milling throughput of 265 t/h in 2008. This was achieved incrementally over several years, by maximising operating efficiencies, in order to minimise capital expenditure, and take advantages of economies of scale; but more importantly it was reached with no measurable loss of recovery. Osborne currently processes a blend of underground and open pit material from the nearby Trekelano deposit. Following primary/secondary crushing, the material is processed through a rod/ball mill grinding circuit ahead of rougher/scavenger flotation that produces a copper concentrate. Osborne was seeking a further increase in plant throughput of the order of 15 per cent, but at more sustainable levels of secondary crusher plant utilisation. In early 2008, Osborne contracted Metso Process Technology and Innovation (PTI) to review the entire process from run-of-mine feed to final copper concentrate. This review would be done concurrently with surveys of both the crushing/grinding and flotation circuits being performed at the same time. The outcome would be a steady-state model of the complete flow sheet allowing the crushing/grinding model to interact with the flotation circuit model, such that overall process optimisation was possible. This was to apply both by exploring the operating limits of the currently installed plant, as well as looking at the logical next stage of capital plant expansions. Surveys of the crushing and grinding circuits were conducted at the Osborne concentrator in May 2008. The main objective of the surveys was to review the potential of increasing grinding throughput whilst maintaining the flotation feed 80 per cent passing size. This would also require improving the efficiency of the crushing circuit which was already operating in excess of 80 per cent of the time. Steady-state simulations were performed using the developed circuit models to identify opportunities to increase throughput and alleviate high circulating loads in both the secondary crushing and grinding circuits. Due to operational changes, the recommendations resulting from this project were considered by Osborne but have as yet only been partially implemented.  This paper covers part A or the crushing and grinding component of the project. A separate paper discussing part B or flotation is also being presented at this conference. The results of interactive simulations between the flotation and grinding circuit models are included in part B of this paper.

Jan 1, 2009

The value derived by good mine planning is often underestimated as many mines steer their attention to the more immediate and more easily recognised successes made by the day-to-day operational æbush fireÆ fighting. Similar to machine maintenance, the efforts made to quickly rectify short-term breakdowns are well recognised; whereas the value derived from the work in planning, scheduling and undertaking preventative maintenance is not so obvious or readily quantified. Too often the focus of the business shifts to building and supporting an efficient operations team at the expense of developing a highly experienced team of mine planning practitioners that are well trained with procedures and purpose-built tools to develop optimum mining strategies. A resource has an inherent value based on its quality parameters and its likely mining conditions. How well that value can be unlocked is governed, to a large degree, by the proficiency of the mine planning practitioners, as they, essentially, set the foundation of the mine business and the path along which the mine will operate. The importance of having a well documented and procedural mine planning methodology that integrates both a thorough technical and economic understanding of the resource cannot be over emphasised. The aim of the mine planning process is to develop a robust mine design and production capability which can best cater for future uncertainty whilst providing the best opportunity to maximise cash flow into the business. The planning process must be transparent and auditable, clearly summarising the process steps and assumptions made to arrive at a justifiable and defendable outcome. To provide maximum value to the business, the planning process must be repeatable and scalable to enable easy replication throughout the different mines and projects within an organisation. The diminishing numbers of highly experienced personnel within our industry, coupled with the growing pressure to clearly demonstrate that appropriate due diligence has been exercised, means that well documented and monitored mine planning processes using purposed built and innovative tools need to be developed to ensure optimum outcomes.

Jan 1, 2009

By D. C. Yang

A practical and economical flowsheet has been developed and demonstrated by integrating the packed column flotation with the GranuFlow process for fine coal recovery. Orimulsion, which was used as an additive, served a dual purpose: first in the flotation and second in the dewatering and granulation steps. The test results on the coal preparation effluent sample show that Orimulsion is flexible and compatible with fuel oil and various frothers used in the packed column. Clean coal with ash contents of 3.0, 3.7, 4.3 and 5.1% were produced from a head sample of 33% ash at combustible matter recoveries of 72.4, 81.1, 87.5, and 89.2%, respectively. Other advantages include high throughput, low moisture, improved handleability, and reduced dustiness of the dewatered coal, thus providing a very significant economic Incentive for the integrated process.

Jan 1, 1998

By Patrick Wong, Gareth Hatch, M. A. Halim, V. I. Lakshmanan, Darcy Tait

"This paper describes development of an integrated chloride process for separation and purification of REEs. The process includes atmospheric leaching of ore/concentrate with mixed chloride lixiviant containing HCl and MgCl2 followed by bulk recovery of REEs, dissolution of the bulk intermediate product, and separation of individual REEs by solvent extraction (SX) process steps. Mixed chloride leaching technology provides the opportunity to regenerate the lixiviant, while the addition of MgCl2 in HCl enhances the hydrogen ion activity by orders of magnitude increasing REE extraction efficiency at a lower concentration of HCl. An individual REE separation process developed by Innovation Metals Corp. is being piloted at a state-of-the-art facility at Process Research ORTECH Inc. in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The SX process includes the separation of light REEs (La – Nd), medium REEs (Sm – Gd) and heavy REEs (Tb – Lu plus Y) from leach liquor followed by individual REE separation. Each SX circuit proceeds by multistage extraction followed by scrubbing and stripping. The process is chloride based and reagents are recycled, reducing waste generation and optimizing water usage to reduce environmental impact.INTRODUCTIONRare earth elements (La to Lu plus Y) exhibit a range of unique magnetic, electronic, catalytic and optical properties. Due to these special properties, the application of REEs is increasing and they are found in components for wind power generation, hybrid electric cars, catalytic converters, and many electronic devices.Rare earth elements (REEs) are commonly divided in two groups: light rare earth elements (LREEs) and heavy rare earth elements (HREEs). Light rare earth elements include elements from lanthanum (La) to neodymium (Nd). Although promethium (Pm) is considered an LREE it is unstable and scarcely occurs in nature and is generally excluded. Heavy rare earth elements include elements from samarium (Sm) to lutetium (Lu) plus yttrium. Although rare earth elements are not rare and the rare earth oxides are scattered around the globe, over 95% of REEs+Y are currently produced in China (Pitts, 2011). On one hand the Chinese government is restricting the export of rare earth elements and on the other hand the demand for REEs+Y is increasing in the rest of the world. This has created an imbalance in the supply and demand of rare earth elements and has led to a rush for developing new rare earth projects."

Jan 1, 2016

By Zhongran Dai, Nan Hu, Jianhong Ma, Hui Zhang, Zhihua Zhong, Han Zhou, Feng Li, Yonggen Qiu, Yang Ding, Yingchun Yang, Dexin Ding

In the traditional chlorination roasting-water leaching-solvent extraction process for the extraction of rubidium-bearing ore, Rb leaching from the ore and calcium removing from the leachate are conducted separately, and this results in the complicated process and high energy consumption. In order to integrate the Rb leaching and calcium removing processes, Rb-bearing polymetallic ore was firstly treated by chlorination roasting, it was then leached in a micro-reactor with raffinate, and the calcium ions in the leachate were removed in the reactor as carbonate precipitates by passing CO2 at certain pressure into the reactor. The effects of raffinate alkalinity, CO2 pressure, and CO2 reaction time on Rb leaching rate and calcium removing rate were investigated. The experimental results show that when Rb-bearing polymetallic ore was leached for 90 min by stirring with raffinate with 1.125-mol/L alkalinity, and the pulp was made to react with CO2 at 0.8 MPa for 15 min, the Rb leaching rate and calcium removing rate amounted to 92% and 98.2%, respectively. This integrated process including Rb leaching from Rb-bearing polymetallic ore and calcium removing from leachate could simplify the process for the extraction of Rb-bearing ore and increase its economic benefits.

Sep 27, 2023

By M Safa

Addressing deficiencies and defects that occur during construction projects is costly and time consuming. The manual quality assurance programs currently used in the industry have certain limitations, including human error and lack of consistency. Hence, there is a need for integrated electronic models that employ new technologies and methods. This research introduces an integrated construction quality control system that has the potential to improve quality management processes in the construction field for piping construction, which is a complex process often requiring rework. The proposed integrated system relies on data collected from construction sites using photogrammetry and laser scanning, which is then used to compare actual work performed to that designed. The proposed system aims to improve the promptness and accuracy of quality assurance processes, in particular dimension measurements, by avoiding human error and integrating defect detection and quality management. The use of this system has highlighted some of the limitations during data fusion and acquisition process, which are highlighted in this paper. These aspects must be considered to increase the reliability of the acquired information.

Aug 1, 2013

Analysis for pillar extraction potential (A-PEP) is an intelligent tool, which could be used as a preliminary output indicator when considering the secondary extraction of regional support pillars in the Witbank and Highveld coalfields of South Africa. The safe and economic extraction of underground coal pillars is of paramount significance and importance to the South African coalmining industry to ensure continuity of supply of this fossil fuel. Pillar extraction practices in South Africa have been responsible a significant proportion of safety and fatality statistics in relation to its relative output (less than 5 per cent of total South African coal production) and, as a result, research was undertaken in local pillar extraction operations and extended to similar operations in New South Wales, Australia to assess a way forward for pillar extraction in South Africa. It was found that, although little in the way of new technologies has emerged in this field in the recent past, significant contributions could be made in the field of risk analysis to obtain a generic design methodology for pillar extraction in South Africa. The resultant A-PEP tool to assess pillar extraction potential is based on certain physical, risk and economic factors, which combine to indicate operational success in terms of economic, health and safety attributes. At the time of A-PEP?s development there was alack of operating underground coal pillar extraction operations, which made it difficult to validate its applicability. Since then, however, A-PEP has been successfully tested and validated against two unique underground coal pillar operations, which is the discussion of this paper. One operation is situated in the Witbank coalfield and is extracting pillars, which are 20 years old and at a depth of 80 metres below surface, while the other operation is situated in the Highveld coalfield-which is extracting 6 month-old-pillars underneath a massive dolerite sill at a depth of 220 metres. A-PEP has shown that its predictive nature is consistent the workings at both operations, irrespective of their unique conditions, and as such it can be successfully used as a mine planning tool. The A-PEP mine planning tool thus represents a positive step toward an integrated approach to underground coal pillar extraction when considering legal and operational aspects, which could form the basis for legislative guidelines when considering the future of pillar extraction in South Africa.

Jan 1, 2005

By Ronald L. Wiegel

Success has been achieved in developing mathematical models of rod mills, ball mills and recently to a limited extent autogenous grinding mills. There is also considerable activity in the development of mathematical models of various mineral concentration opera¬tions, such as flotation, magnetic separation and electrostatic concentration. However, at present there is a technological gap which hinders the integration of both size reduction and mineral concentration models into an overall process simulation model. This gap exists because size reduction models have been aimed at describing the size of the product and have not dealt with the equally important problem of identifying the product composition in each size fraction. Without this information the concentration model is ineffective. This situation is especially critical in the simulation of the magnetite-taconite beneficiation process, where a portion of the ore is rejected from the process following each stage of size reduction. Consideration has therefore been given to the merging of a size reduction model and a mineral liberation model to permit prediction of mineral composition as a function of size. The results of this integration of size reduction and mineral liberation models are discussed from both theoretical and practical viewpoints using batch grinding data for a magnetite iron formation sample as a demonstration vehicle.

Jan 1, 1975

An Integrated Solid Waste Management Method for Western Macedonia, Greece

Sep 13, 2010

Project cost control procedures and computer systems have enjoyed a successful and simple relationship over the past decade, thanks primarily to the proliferation of portable computers or PC's. Prior to the introduction of this technology, project control was largely a manual and somewhat onerous task of historical data compilations, with little time available for dynamic forecasting, staged planning, or pre-emptive cost control. Automated systems developed during this era were resident on "Heavy Iron" or mainframe computers and were expensive to maintain and operate. Use of these early systems was limited to large engineering, construction, and industrial concerns with the economies of scale and funding required for their successful application. Systems were either designed for critical path analysis or task scheduling, but rarely integrated with the other, much less cost control.

Jan 1, 1990

By Ian F. Hughes

"Concepts of an integrated steel plant for sheet products to be built and operating in the year 2000 will be described. The design and operating methodology of this market driven facility will integrate process uniqueness, standardization, manufacturing automation, artificial intelligence and information flow.An integrated steel plant for the year 2000 is defined for this article as one that will be built on a greenfield site and ""started up"" in the year 2000 with a capacity of three million tons per year of flat rolled products ranging from cold rolled and electrical steels to high strength formable steels and a full range of coated products.It may seem that the 21st century and the steel plant we're discussing are far into the future. The startling truth, however, is quite the opposite. As shown in Figure 1, even with accelerated development, a new process on which laboratory development work is begun today might just barely pass through the laboratory phase, pilot plant, and commercial feasibility stages such that it can be considered viable for construction and start up in the year 2000.On that basis, it is very unlikely that this 21st century steel plant will utilize any technology that isn't at least under investigation in the laboratory in 1988. As a result, we recognize that planning and selecting the facilities for this plant is, in fact, a pragmatic rather than futuristic process, and that its main value is in providing a bridge to longer-term predictions."

Jan 1, 1988

By Yong Li, Tao Jiang, Xiangxin Xue, He Yang

"In this paper, we describe the current status and research progress on the utilization of typical industrial solid wastes in China. We propose a creative method called “eco-utilizing wastes” with an aim of both integration and increment but without second-time waste and pollution, in terms of the characteristics of typical industrial solid wastes, such as titanium-bearing blast furnace slag, high-silicon iron tailing and boron-enriched slag as well as oil shale.Situation of Typical Industrial Solid Wastes in ChinaThough mineral resources in China are abundant, most of these are low grade ores. Moreover, the distribution of mineral resources is asymmetric, which causes the increase of cost and decrease of the economic benefit. Over-exploitation of mineral resources results in a large number of solid wastes. The accumulation of solid wastes not only means the waste of valuable resources, but also causes environment deterioration. There exist some problems in the current practice of the disposal of industrial solid waste, such as only emphasizing the final results and causing new pollution and waste [1]. So the research and development of a high value-added method has a high practical relevance to our nation. Based on the present status and research progress of industrial solid wastes in China, a creative new idea and method for eco-utilization of solid wastes is proposed in this paper."

Jan 1, 2012

An Integrated Study of Bubble-Particle Attachment Mechanisms

Sep 13, 2010

By C. L. Sainsbury

For 10 years, the author has been engaged in a program of geologic mapping of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska, for the U.S. Geological Survey. Initially, two 1:63,360-scale quadrangles were napped by traditional methods of traverses by foot and by tracked vehicle, supplemented by reconnaissance from a light aircraft owned and piloted by the author. Five summers were required to map those two quadrangles, which lie north of the tree lice in typical Arctic climate. In 1967, the project was reoriented toward the reconnaissance capping of four 1:250,000-scale quadrangles, with helicopter support to be used for cart of each of four summers amounting to about 45 hours time per support year. The light aircraft was use-,' to support the field operations. Over the year,, the aircraft was used in progressively more geologic tasks, culminating in 1970 with a successful field test of rudimentary devices made to collect soil, rock, and sediment samples while the aircraft remained airborne. Additionally, an attempt was made j- 1970 to prepare reconnaissance geologic maps entirely by the use of the light aircraft combined with foot traverses [fr??], the landed aircraft. Several such maps, prepared at the rate of about one 1:63,360-scale quadrangle per day, were checked from a helicopter by an impartial observer end were found to be sufficiently accurate for reconnaissance mapping when reduced to 1:250.000 scale.

Jan 1, 1971

By C Parihar, R Garg, A Bhandari, S Bhandari

Blasting can impact the efficiency of entire downstream mining operation. Individual technology solutions for blasting have been available in the industry for many years but all of them only cater for certain aspects of blasting. Many of them are based on individual research and/or experiences. Some of the available software solutions are not suitable to be used in the field as that they need advanced skills or tools. Also, most do not take technology advancements like mobility, advanced data analytics, web solutions and integration into consideration. Hence, no technology platform is currently present in the industry that addresses all potential needs a blaster may need in an integrated manner.This paper presents an integrated solution that takes care of all aspects of blasting – design blasts according to mine plan; collect data after drilling has been carried out (as there is often difference in designed and actual drilled hole locations in the field); predict blast results in terms of fragmentation, flyrock, ground and air vibrations, wave front reinforcement and flyrock distance; and after assessment, allows changes in charging, delay timing and sequence. The technology solution is a secure, cloud-hosted, web-based software-as-a-service solution that can be accessed from anywhere. Also it has a mobile app, which is available for both Android and iPhone/iPad. The mobile app is also integrated with the web-based solution using application programming interface calls to the central data repository.Case studies for two limestone mines are presented where this solution is being used in its initial format. This software platform enabled analysis of the outcome from a previous blast pattern and then subsequently allowed optimisation of blasting operations based on historical data. Uses of this platform have resulted in improved key performance indicators in these two limestone mines. The mobile app as part of this platform enables extensive field blast data capture and analysis and also various predictions before a blast. Data collected include blast parameters, individual hole charging, initiation pattern, videos, photographs and vibration records for analysis/reporting. The key features of the solution are a blast designer, a detailed blast data collection/analysis and a series of environmental predictors. These predictors give blast results in terms of fragmentation, flyrock, ground and air vibrations and wave front reinforcement and take remedial steps before blasting to optimise and control adverse environmental impact. Many features, such as fragmentation predictor and mobility solution, are completely unique features that are not available elsewhere in such a field personnel-friendly manner.CITATION:Bhandari, S, Parihar, C, Garg, R and Bhandari, A, 2015. An integrated technology solution for optimised and environmentally-controlled blasts, in Proceedings 11th International Symposium on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting, pp 393–400 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 24, 2015

By Leroy G. Hagenbuch

"IntroductionAn integrated Truck Management Information System (Truck MIS) evolves as seemingly separate functions combined to yield a single homogeneous result / product. The concept of a computer integrated Truck MIS includes truck dispatch, truck maintenance management and truck weighing.A truck management system is only as good as the information / data bases input to it. The concept of an integrated system works best with automated data gathering. Automated data gathering provides timely and normally, the most accurate historical information/data bases. Data bases are, however, historical, which is a problem to be overcome in a computerized truck management information system, especially in regards to a truck dispatch system as loading sites / loading conditions and some dump site conditions continually change. As these changes occur, data base s must change as well, and thus the need for the continual update of data bases that the computer uses for a Truck MIS.For a truck dispatch system to achieve reliability / viability, dispatch decisions need to revolve around real time data gathered in an automated way. Integration of all truck management function s through automated data gathering lead s to the best over-all system.An integrated system is a combination of many different factors and is only as good as each factor / building block put in the system. With the proper building blocks, an integrated Truck MIS is very feasible - an MIS System that includes weighing, time and motion study, truck maintenance and maintenance management, as well as truck dispatch.Truck MISAn integrated Truck MIS provides for truck dispatch as the ultimate end result, a truly automated /integrated truck dispatch system (to function non-operator-dependent). The following comprises its central building blocks:-Time.- Haul Cycle Segments.Truck Status, i.e. Load on truck,- being loaded,- loaded,- unloaded,- in service,- out of service.- Vehicle Location.Loading Equipment Status.- in service,- out of service.Optional- distance travelled in each haul segment.With this data provided on a non-operator dependent basis, it is possible to build good data bases so a computer can make truck dispatch decisions. Knowing what information is needed as the central core to a good Truck MIS, how can this information be automatically gathered and fed into a central control computer?"

Jan 1, 1986

By I. Sanchez

The development of the recent generation of large mining projects in South America has been challenging in many ways, but especially in the management of water in all its aspects. As a result, a number of projects have experienced difficulties and in some cases significant delays due to a lack of a clear and approved definition of the supply, use and discharge of water from mining and processing sites. The development of the recent generation of large mining projects in South America has been challenging in many ways, but especially in the management of water in all its aspects. As a result, a number of projects have experienced difficulties and in some cases significant delays due to a lack of a clear and approved definition of the supply, use and discharge of water from mining and processing sites.

Feb 23, 2014