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By Ashok D. Dalvi

Production of nickel from laterite ores has occurred for over 100 years beginning with processing of garnieritic ores from New Caledonia. However, until now the world nickel supply has been predominantly from sulfide sources. Going forward, the authors project that the production of nickel from sulfide ores will remain more or less constant. Most of the expansion in nickel production capacity over the next ten years will come from processing of laterite ores. Thus the capital and operating costs of new laterite projects will have significant impact on the nickel supply and therefore price. The authors have reviewed the history and capital and operating costs of various recent laterite projects and capital and operating costs of these projects and those "on the drawing board". The authors have also evaluated the risk associated with such projects. The paper will discuss the impact of this and the recent history on the future development of laterite nickel projects.

Jan 1, 2004

The early records of hydraulic elevator and bucket ladder dredging in the Clutha River system indicate the success of that era of alluvial gold mining in Otago. This paper briefly reviews parameters of depth and gold grade for alluvial operations. The application of dragline technology is proposed for the economic removal of overburden to target the deeper alluvial gold areas which remain in the Otago region.

Jan 1, 1992

As in other countries, gold mining inNew Zealand has been cyclic in character. Looking at these cycles may provide insights as to what may occur in the future and that is the basis for this study.   New Zealand has experienced four gold mining cycles. The first began in 1857, peaked in 1866 and terminated in 1890. This cycle was characterised by alluvial gold mining by individuals and small groups. This is referred to as the Labour Led cycle. The second cycle began in 1890 and reached its peak in 1906 and terminated in 1929. This cycle was characterised by the use of dredges in alluvial gold mining and was also the peak of hard rock mining. This cycle is referred to as the Technology Led Cycle. The third cycle peaked in 1940. This cycle was far less significant than the previous cycles, arising out of the depression when the unemployed embarked on small scale alluvial mining. This overprinted the continuing decline that occurred after 1906. This cycle is here referred to as the Depression Overprint Cycle.   The fourth cycle began in 1984 when production began to climb rapidly from a very low base. The growth in production was spurred by rising gold prices in the early 1980s resulting in relatively low grade gold-bearing alluvial ground becoming economic. But in the 1990s, production from the new hardrock mines in Coromandel and Otago has overshadowed alluvial production. This cycle is here referred to as the Price Led cycle.   What are the future prospects for gold in New Zealand? Although there are many factors involved, this will be largely determined by two factors; firstly, continued access to prospective gold-bearing properties, and secondly, the price of gold. Based on these factors, three future industry scenarios have been developed. The first of these is industry collapse, in which access to prospective property is constrained and prices mayor may not weaken. The second is industry consolidation, in which the available ground is accumulated by a small number of large companies who can use economies of scale to weather price fluctuations. The third scenario is industry growth, in which access to prospective ground is constrained in environmentally sensitive areas but is otherwise relatively unconstrained. Efficient companies are allowed to work in a policy and economic framework that allows them to make a major contribution to the economy.   While the industry cannot control these critical factors, a good knowledge of the positive role gold mining could play in the future economy may provide a framework by which the access issue, in particular, may be addressed from a balanced perspective.

Jan 1, 1994

By M. C. Roberts

To assess the future markets for a mineral from a producing district, the following three aspects must be considered: the future growth of the markets, the competitiveness of the district in terms of production costs and reserve adequacy, and the competition from alternative sources of supply. This paper focuses on the first issue by developing a method for predicting the demand for phosphate from trends in the major market for phosphate products, the fertilizer and agricultural market. The paper shows how broad changes in this end-use market for phosphate has evolved over time. These trends are then projected into the future to make an assessment of future phosphate requirements.

Jan 1, 2000

By M. C. Roberts

In assessing the future markets for a mineral from a producing district, three key aspects must be considered: 1) the future growth in markets, 2) the competitiveness of the district in terms of production costs and reserve adequacy, and 3) the competition from alternative sources of supply. This paper will focus on the first issue by developing a method of predicting the demand for phosphate from the trends in the major markets for phosphate products, primarily the fertilizer and agricultural markets. The paper will show how broad changes in the final end use markets for phosphate products have evolved over time and how this has affected the needs for phosphate rock. These trends are then projected into the future to make an assessment of future phosphate requirements.

Jan 1, 1998

By R. L. Doan

WHEN the Plutonium Project was started in the spring of 1942 there was no technology to produce uranium metal of the required purity. Not only was there no such metal available; no one knew how to make it or fabricate it after it was made. Since this time vast technical effort has been ex-pended in the atomic energy field. A short 15 years later the metallurgy of uranium is probably better known than that of any other metal, with the possible exception of steel. At the beginning of the 1942 drive to obtain pure uranium metal the most available raw material was black uranium oxide (U3O8) of about 92 pct purity from the Great Bear Lake region of Canada. It took only three months for the project chemists to develop a process for bringing the purity of this oxide up to 99+ pct and another three months for Mallinckrodt Chemical Co. of St. Louis to build the purification plant and get it into operation. In early summer of 1942 the purified brown oxide (UO2) started moving to the Metal Hydrides Co. in Beverly, Mass., and to the Westinghouse Research Laboratory in Bloomfield, N. J., both of which had been granted Government contracts to try to make pure uranium metal.

Jan 9, 1957

By Ava Walker

The first form of a surety bond was an honest handshake between two or more parties agreeing to a decision, and their personal guarantee of following through to completion. This has all changed. In 1895, the United States Treasury Department disclosed that $35 million worth of personal surety guarantees on file had become worthless. A law was then passed requiring all surety bonds, in favor of the United States, must be corporate surety bonds. Today, a surety bond is one of the nation's leading fi¬nancial instruments used to guarantee the completion of an obligation. One hundred-fifty years before cor¬porate surety bonds, outcrops near Richmond, VA, were being mined. These surface mines became under¬ground mines. Today, both are still being used to obtain a leading energy source, coal. Since that time, more than 5956 km2 (1.47 million acres) of coal mined lands have been reclaimed in the US (Coal News, August, 1987). More than 25,000 state and Federal mining permits cover¬ing 14,164 km2 (3.5 million acres) have been issued during the last 10 years. Coal production has exceeded 7.2 Gt (8 billion st). More than 5665 km2 (1.4 million acres) of mined land has been reclaimed by active coal mining opera¬tions and 267 km2 (66,000 acres) of abandoned mined lands have been re¬claimed by others. Reclamation bonds were freely writ¬ten in the 1970s. So why are they almost extinct today? Contract bond losses have been severe in the past several years, sureties reporting losses exceed¬ing 110%. But the same proof is not provided on coal reclamation bonds. A surety bond is generally required when one party has an agreement with another party, and that party wants a guarantee from a third party that a job will be completed according to the terms and conditions of a written contract. In the case of a reclamation bond, the surety company (surety) is the financial party. It extends the credit and a guarantee to the obligee (the State, Commonwealth, or Office of Surface Mining) that the principal (the coal operator/company) will complete the terms and conditions of the contract (the rules and regulations governing mining and reclamation). The Surety Association of America defines a surety bond as an agreement providing for monetary compensation should there be a failure to perform specified acts within a stated period. Webster's Dictionary defines surety in the following ways: "l: the state of being sure; 2a: a pledge or other formal engagement given for the fulfillment of an undertaking and; 3b: one who has become legally liable for the debt, de¬fault, or failure in duty of another." Banks never make accommodation loans. Either the loan is good or no loan is made. Surety companies feel the same way about surety bonds. In fact, the average person does not realize the dangers of becoming surety for another. How does a surety determine if a company is worthy of receiving surety credit? How is a coal account under¬written today for an obligation that may not be released for many years? When a surety company executes a reclama¬tion bond, it financially puts its name behind the coal company and its guaran¬tee that should the coal miner default on the obligation, the surety will fulfill the contract. How is the surety to determine if a coal company may still be in business five, 10, 20, or 40 years from today?

Jan 1, 1989

DAVID THOMAS 1871 R. W. RAYMOND 1872-1874 A. L. HOLLEY 1875 ABRAM S. HEWITT 1876 T. STERRY HUNT 1877 ECKLEY B. COXE 1878-1879 WILLIAM P. SHINN 1880 WILLIAM METCALF 1881 RICHARD P. ROTHWELL 1852 ROBERT W. HUNT 1883 JAMES C. BAYLES 1884-1855 ROBERT H. RICHARDS 1886 THOMAS EGLESTON 1887 WILLIAM B. POTTER 1888 RICHARD PEARCE 1889 ABRAM S. HEWITT 1890 JOHN BIRKINBINE 1891-1892 H. D4. HOWE 1893 JOHN FRITZ 1894 J. D. WEEKS 1895 E. O. SPILSBURY 1896 THOMAS M. DROWN 1897 CHARLES KIRCHHOFF 189S

Jan 1, 1939

[ PRESIDENTS DAVID THOMAS 1871 'R. W. RAYMOND 1872-1874 'A L. HOLLEY 1875 'ABRAM S. HEWITT 1876 'T. STERRY HUNT 1877 'ECKLEY B. COXE 1878-1879 'WILLIAM P. SHINNY 1880 'WILLIAM METCALF 1881 'RICHARD P. ROTHWELL 1882 'ROBERT W. HUNT 1883 'JAMES C. BAYLES 1884-1885 ROBERT H. RICHARDS 1886 'THOMAS EGLESTON 1887 'WILLIAM B. POTTER 1888 'RICHARD PEARCE 1889 'ABRAM S. HEWITT 1890 'JOHN BIRKINBINE 1891-1892 'H. M. Hows 1893 'JOHN FRITZ 1894 'J. D. WEEKS 1895 'E. G. SPILSBURY 1896 'THOMAS M. DROWN 1897 'CHARLES KIRCHHOFF 1898 'JAMES DOUGLAS 1899-1900 'E. E. OLCOTT 1901-1902 'ALBERT R. LEDOUX 1903 'JAMES GAYLEY 1904-1905 'ROBERT W. HUNT 1906 'JOHN HAYS HAMMOND 1907-1908 'D. W. BRUNTON 1909-1910 'CHARLES KIRCHHOFF 1911]

Jan 1, 1940

By John A. Dunn

The history of underground coal mining has developed through the years from a manual digging and loading process to the highly mechanized pro- cess that it is today through the use of electric power. Mine power systems have closely followed the continued pattern of improvement and mechanization, through necessity and the application of technological advances, At the beginning electric power used in coal mines was confined to haulage. Since d-c power was better suited to traction drives, mine power systems naturally developed using direct current. During this development, a number of street railway systems were in service, using 550 volts, and it was natural that mine trolley systems went in at 550 volts. As machines for mining operations developed and the number of operating mines increased, a safety hazard developed through the use of 550 volts. Most regulating agencies opposed the use of 550 volts, and after a time the maximum voltage permitted was limited to 300 volts hot line to ground. Up until this time most mines had operated with one central generating station, which served utilization power to the whole mine. Power demands were not very great and transmission losses were within reasonable limits.

Jan 1, 1964

PAST AND PRESENT CHAIRMEN OF DIVISIONS Institute of Metals Iron and Steel Mineral Industry Industrial Minerals Year Division Petroleum Division Division Coal Division Education Division Division 1918 W. M. CORSET 1919 " 1920 W. H. BASSETT 1921 " 1922 W. B. PRICE RALPH ARNOLD 1923 E. DEGOLYER 1924 G. B. ELLIOTT 1925 F. JULIUS FOHS 1926 P. D. MERICA 1927 11 JOHN. M. LOVEJOY 1928 S. SKOWRONSKI A. W. AMBROSE RALPH H. SWEETSER ' 1929 " J. B. UMPLEHY G. B. WATERHOUSE 1930 ZAY JEFFRIES C. V. MILLIKAN W. J. MACKENZIE HOWARD N. EAVENSON 1931 SAM TOUR C. E. BEECHER F. M. BECKET 1932 C. H. MATHEWSON EARL OLIVER F. N. SPELLER THOMAS G. FEAR C. H. FULTON 1933 T. S. FULLER W. E. WRATHER JOHN JOHNSTON ELI T. CONNOR " 1934 J. L. CHRISTIE H. D. WILDE, JR. L. F. REINARTZ " T. T. READ 1935 W. M. PEIRCE HARRY H. POWER A. B. KINZEL JOHN T. RYAN SAMUEL H. DOLBEAR 1936 E. H. DIX, JR. HALLAN N. MARSH C. E. WILLIAMS EUGENE MCAULIFFE WILLIAM B. PLANK OLIVER BOWLES 1937 A. J. PHILLIPS M. ALBERTSON FRANCIS B. FOLEY J. B. MORROW " CHESTER A. FULTON 1938 R. F. MEHL G. B. CORLESS J. T. MACKENZIE PAUL WEIR FRANCIS A.THOMSON J. R. THOENEN 1939 R. H. LEACH W. H. GETS J. HUNTER NEAD C. A. GIBBONS " M. M. LEIGHTON 1940 E. M. Wise T. V. MOORE F. T. SISCO C. E. LA WALL W. R. CHEDSEY W. M. WEIGEL 1941 D. K. CRAMPTON E. A. STEPHENSON C. H. HERTY, JR. JULIAN E. TOBEY " PAUL M. TYLER 1942 CARL E. SWARTZ HARRY P. STOLZ E. C. SMITH NEWELL G. ALFORD A. F. GREAVES-WALKER B. L. MILLER

Jan 1, 1942

PRESIDENTS DAVID THOMAS 1871 R W RAYMOND 1872-1874 A L HOLLEY1875 ABRAM S HEWITT 1876 T STERRY HUNT 1877 ECKLEY B COXE 1878 - 1879 WILLIAM P SHINN 1880 WILLIAM METCALF 1881 RICHARD P ROTHWELL 1882 RICHARD W HUNT 1883

Jan 1, 1917

Jan 1, 1911

PRESIDENTS DAVID THOMAS 1871 R W RAYMOND 1872 R W RAYMOND 1873 R W RAYMOND 1874 A L HOLLEN 1875 ABRAM S HEWITT 1876 T STERRY HUNT 1877 ECKLEY B COXE 1878 ECKLEY B COXE 1879 WILLIAM P SHINN 1880 WILLIAM METCALF 1881 RICHARD P ROTHWELL 1882

Jan 1, 1910

PRESIDENTS DAVID THOMAS 1871 R W RAYMOND 1872-1874 A L HOLLEY1875 ABRAM S HEWITT 1876 T STERRY HUNT 1877 ECKLEY B COXE 1878 - 1879 WILLIAM P SHINN 1880 WILLIAM METCALF 1881 RICHARD P ROTHWELL 1882 RIVHARD W HUNT 1883

Jan 1, 1910

By L. E. Young

THE progress of mineral industry education will be limited to the period prior to World War II and will be considered as primarily a division of engineering education. Its relation to progress in the mineral industry and to the activities of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers will be emphasized. The history of mineral industry education has been recorded most completely and authoritatively by Dr. T. T. Read in his recent volume in the Seeley W. Mudd Series of American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers publications, entitled, The Development of Mineral Industry Education in the United States. Therefore, most of the historical details will be omitted from the discussion and an effort will be made to point out significant developments and to analyze trends. INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT AND SIGNIFICANT POINTS IN PROGRESS Among the significant points in the development of mineral industry education in the United States since 1871, the following deserve particular mention: I. The number of institutions offering undergraduate instruction has increased, particularly during the years 1890 to 1925; the number of students enrolled in undergraduate study has increased greatly, largely on account of the development of courses in petroleum engineering and increasing interest in metallurgy. 2. The selection of students to be admitted to undergraduate courses has been improved through the advisement, counseling, and guidance programs sponsored by the Engineers' Council for Professional Development. 3. Improved instruction methods and the training of the teaching staff have been promoted by the educational institutions themselves, but with the most effective stimulus and guidance of the American Society for Engineering Education and the Engineers' Council for Professional Development. 4. The accrediting of undergraduate curricula through the Engineers' Council for Professional Development, considering both qualitative and quantitative criteria, has done much to improve standards of instruction in engineering education for the mineral industry. 5. Undergraduate curricula and courses are revised currently to meet the needs of the American mineral industry. New curricula are developed currently to permit specialization in technical fields, particularly in the fourth year of undergraduate work. 6. There has been a strengthening of the fundamental courses in mathematics, physics, mechanics, and chemistry, and at the same time these courses are being adapted to the most recent developments in the industry, including metallurgy, geophysics, petroleum engineering, petroleum technology, ceramics and so forth. 7. There has been continuing improvement in plant and laboratory facilities of the educational institutions.

Jan 1, 1947

In early 1990s, the Korean government has launched a deep-sea research program to secure the stable long-term supply of strategic metallic minerals including Cr, Cu and Ni. Through the pioneering surveys, Korea registered 150,000 km2 of Mn-nodule field in the Clarion-Clipperton area, the NE equatorial Pacific to the international sea-bed authority (ISA) in 1994. Following the ISA exploration code, the final exclusive exploration area of 75,000 Km2 was assigned in 2002, based on results of eight-year researches of chemicophysical properties of nodules, bottom profiles and sediment properties. Since that time, environmental studies, mining technical developments including robot miner and lifting system and establishment of smelting systems were accompanied with the detailed geophysical studies to decipher the priori mining area until 2009. Major points of the recent Korea Mn-nodule program are deployed on a commercial scale until 2015. In order to meet the goals, detailed 25,000 scaled mining maps in the priori area will be prepared, which can provide operation roots of the miner. In addition, an environmental-friendly mining strategy will be pursued based on the environmental impact test and environmental monitoring.

Sep 14, 2011

By Edwin R. Phelps

Good morning ladies and gentlemen - today I am in an enviable position for two basic reasons - No. 1, since I am first on the program, the audience should start out awake because those that partied too much last night are still asleep, but in their room, not here. No. 2, since copper, iron, and mining technology are not competitive, the veracity of my statements will not be questioned. Most such meetings I attend are based on the subject of energy and the coal industry does have competition from oil, gas, hydro, and nuclear. However, to counteract this advantage I am the usual engineer with a limited vocabulary by schooling, and the remaining vocabulary almost completely eliminated due to the presence of ladies. In relation to the past of the coal industry, we have not only suffered the competition of other energy sources mentioned before, but in addition have in the last 25 to 30 years been required to meet the demands of a vastly changing market. To explain this statement, I am sure many of you can remember 30 to 40 years back when most homes were heated by coal furnaces or stoves and shudder to recall the shoveling of coal into the fire and the carrying out of ashes with the attendent manual labor dust. Now this space heating portion of our sales has almost become non-existant due to an almost universal switch from coal to natural gas, oil, and electric heating. Actual figures show a decrease from 119 million to less than 28 million tons per year in less than a twenty year span. Also, most of you can remember the coal burning steam locomotives and the tremendous volume of coal they consumed and then the very rapid change to the diesel-electric locomotives, incorporating improved large diesel engines driving D C generators and electric drive motors, which resulted in cheaper motive power. This change over was so complete that the annual tonnage of coal dropped from 125 million to less than 2 million tons in 15 years. 'Actually, now it requires some considerable interrogation and traveling to find a locomotive still operating on steam.

Jan 1, 1968

By John G. Whellock, Kevin A. Foo, John H. Canterford, Karen E. Sobel

Nitric acid has long been known as an effective oxidant. Nitric acid leaching is characterised by highly favourable kinetics. Process development was impeded due to the corrosive nature of the process, limited knowledge of acid recycle and complex reactions which are still not fully understood. In 1981, Arseno Processing Ltd (APL), began development of the so-called Arseno process. The technology targeted nitric acid oxidation of refractory gold ores and concentrates whose refractoriness was due to the presence of sulphide minerals. APL lodged patents in United States, Australia, Canada and several other countries covering the basic chemistry, the overall process, and reactor design. The name Arseno led to the misunderstanding that the process was only applicable to arsenic-bearing material. The name was therefore changed to the Redox process in 1988. Having played an important role in the development of Redox from 1986, SASOX recognised the great potential of the process and purchased the process in 1990. SASOX owns all the patents and other Redox proprietary know-how, licensing agreements in force, and is committed to the ongoing development and commercialisation of the Redox technology. Minproc has been granted specific marketing and engineering rights to the Redox pro_cess.

Jan 1, 1992