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By D. J. DeLeo

In recent years the hue and cry of American industry concerning the pressure of foreign competition on the domestic marketplace has become all too familiar to most of us, as we are all well aware, the steel industry has not been exempted from this pressure, reduced production levels, work force cutbacks, and in some extreme cases, plant closings and company liquidations have resulted, new regulations governing imports and quotas have been enacted, foreign trade agreements reached, and more strict regulation enforcement practices undertaken, despite these, and other measures, the impact of aggressive foreign competition has not lessened, the concensus of numerous management consultants is that in order to successfully cope with these problems we must draw on all available technology to provide the tools which will enable us to enhance our management effectiveness, one area requiring particularly close attention in any mining operation is that of managing critical resources - namely time, energy and equipment in a fast and efficient manner, In mining, with critical resources deployed over a large geographical area, any degree of success involved with resource management is dependent upon knowing the current status of all work related activities, if we, as mine operators, are to be more successful in this area, additional tools are a necessity and modern technology has provided a multitude of new options from which to choose.

Jan 1, 1985

By R. S. Douglas

Introduction The operations of The Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting and Power Company, L1mited, have always been concerned with the mining of low-grade copper ores. In the fifty years of this Company's existence, nearly 60,000,000 tons of such material has been successfully mined and treated. During these years, many changes in mining practice took place. However, at Copper Mountain, due to the large tonnages of very low grade material, it was realized that something more than changing mining methods would have to take place if these low-grade orebodies were to be mined at a profit and the Company and. its employees enjoy many years of successful operation and employment. Production costs were mounting commensurately with rising taxes and the increasing cost of supplies, labour, freight, and smelting, while the value of the product on the market was not increasing in price to compensate for the higher costs of production. A survey of the mineable ore in 1944 indicated that, of the 12,000,000 tons in the reserves, only 3,500,000 tons was now profitable ore. This reduction in the commercial ore reserves was a serious matter, as it meant that the mine had only two years of life at the profitable shipp1ng rate of 4,800 tons per day. Further, the location in the mine of the orebodies making up the 3,500,000 tons was not suitable for such high production.

Jan 1, 1950

By Robert E. Kirby

The potash mine and refinery of AMAX Chemical Corporation is located 26 miles east of Carlsbad on the north end of the potash producing areas. This property was developed between 1949-1952 and production of muriate began in August 1952. Two shafts, located 400 feet apart, were sunk to the ore zone 900 feet below the surface. A 15-foot diameter ore hoisting shaft equipped with a 1000-ton ore pocket, crusher and automatic skip loading equipment plus a 20-foot diameter service shaft with a curtain wall for exhausting air were provided. Sylvinite production to date has been from the first ore zone, stratigraphically, the lowest of ten identified mineralized zones in the salt section. This first ore zone has been the top producer of Muriate of Potash over the years. In our area we do have some very marginal mineralization in the third ore zone some 35 feet above the first. We have not mined from this seam as yet but we are investigating the economics very closely with access slopes and an experimental mining panel. Our ore seam is generally flat lying but does have local gentle rolling with grades from 2% to 5%. The mine was designed and developed from the beginning with conventional mining practices and rail haulage from the mining section to the ore pocket. As mining progressed in the early years, production increased from less than one million tons annually to a maximum of 3,935,000 tons in 1964. Efficiency also kept pace with the increasing production and continually improved until the efficiency of the production crews reached an average of 100.3 tons per manshift in 1964.

Jan 1, 1974

By M. Hermanus, N. Coulson, N. Pillay

"SynopsisThis paper assesses the effectiveness of the Mine Occupational Health and Safety Leading Practice Adoption System (MOSH) and its potential to improve mine health and safety in South African mines. Developed by the Chamber of Mines, which represents the majority of the country's large scale mining employers, MOSH was devised to accelerate progress towards achieving health and safety milestones, which were set by tripartite agreement in 2003. The paper documents and builds on the findings of a study conducted by the Centre for Sustainability in Mining and Industry (CSMI) in 2011 that evaluated MOSH strategy, structures, and process of implementation.The study found that MOSH operated across the mining sector, was directed and dominated by experts and, despite best efforts to include other stakeholders, was led by employers. Statutory worker health and safety representatives and structures were not integrated into the complex change process developed by MOSH. The Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate (MHSI) and organized labour were ambivalent about direct involvement in MOSH and preferred regulatory measures to enforce the participation of mines. MOSH interventions were not targeted at mines with a poor health and safety record, and MOSH lacked a baseline from which to track impacts on sector-wide health and safety performance. The leading practices most widely adopted by mines were designed to improve, rather than fundamentally alter, existing practice. Although the depth of engagement with MOSH among stakeholders and on mine sites varied, mining companies, labour representatives, and the Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate (MHSI) saw the programme as significant.IntroductionIn 2011, the Chamber of Mines commissioned the Centre for Sustainability in Mining and Industry (CSMI) to evaluate the progress and effectiveness of the rollout of the Mine Occupational Health and Safety Leading Practice Adoption System (MOSH). CSMI, based in the School of Mining Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, is an independent research centre conducting health and safety research relevant to all major stakeholders in the mining sector. The purpose of the evaluation was to identify the factors that enabled or hampered the adoption of new technologies or practices. The timing of the evaluation, two years before the deadline for the 2013 safety and health milestones, allowed time for adjustments to be made. This paper summarizes the results of the evaluation and includes further analysis and discussion of the nature of the programme and the conditions that act to advance it or it hold back."

Jan 1, 2015

By L. K. Daneshmend

The mine of the year 2020 will need to be based on a new way of mining. It will employ technology in a paradigm that assumes responsibility for sustainable development: taking account not only economic but also ecological and social issues. This will require a holistic approach to mine design and planning, considering all controlling factors and impacts (technical, economic, environmental and social). A national collaborative strategy is required to address the several options that exist for the development and application of 2020 mining technology. Key issues in implementing 2020 mining technology will also relate to human resources, in terms of employment, skills and education. A need exists to proactively prepare for 2020 through development of a comprehensive education and training strategy.

Jan 1, 1998

After World War I the character of my mining life changed completely. Before then adventure had been almost continuous but after the war there was lots of staying in one place, almost routine, between adventures. This was fortunate, as the life of a mining engineer is a wandering one at best, and it makes being married and raising a family a dubious enterprise. It would have been quite out of the question with the life I led before I got married at the end of the war The new sort of life made the "beaconing of adventure" intermittent. There were often long stays at home between wanderings which was fortunate as it changed the continuity of these memories. I must briefly summarize accounts of the more or less routine periods and concentrate on the occasional exciting episodes between. After a long visit with friends in Berkeley, Dorothy and I left for Arizona and three days at the Grand Canyon that were nearly too much for both of us. One beautiful day we started a short walk down the Bright Angel Trail. It was such a lovely bracing day that we kept on walking and enjoying the views until, just after noon, we reached the Colorado River. We were the only ones in sight so to enjoy the sunshine to the full we both had a good swim in the swiftly flowing river. So far, everything was wonderful. But when we started to climb back up the trail, rising nearly 6000 ft in ten miles we soon found that we had counted too much on our youth and endurance. We had to rest every few hundred feet and it seemed as though we would never reach the top. It was eight o'clock in the evening when we finally staggered into our room and collapsed. On the way to the Canyon I had seen John Greenway and Dr. Ricketts in Santa Barbara and they had little idea what would happen to them or to me. Before resuming his position as general manager of Calumet and Arizona and New Cornelia, Greenway must recover from the effects of the gas he had suffered in the war. Dr. Ricketts

Jan 1, 1976

By Glenn J. Phillips, Debra L. Musick

The operating mine is dynamic, everchanging, and a continuous moving target. The only way to effectively manage such a creature is to be able to evaluate the cost of operation over short enough time periods that rapid effective controls can be implemented before loss can erode the marginal profits in todays market place. Such short term evaluations can provide the basis for the long range planning that can keep an operation healthy in the future. The spreadsheet programs on small computers (PC's) offer the possibility of such evaluation by accumulating data in a useable format, providing timely cost reporting and providing a tool for use in evaluating the day to day alternative choices of the real mining world.

Jan 1, 1987

By Vincent R. Bovino

The future of coal mining is bright - only if we realize and then manage as though we are competing in the world marketplace. Accept it or not, our market is global. We tend to think our problems are caused by the uncontrolled foreign production of coal, and the uncontrolled drop in coal prices. I submit that our problem is not the world pricing structure - part of our problem is our on-site cost structure - our productivity. We are the world's best at getting out the tons - that is, production. Most mine managers thrive on that. What is in serious doubt is our productivity - our ability to produce tons of coal in a cost effective manner. Please think about the difference: ? Production is tons of coal. ? Producitivity is decreasing the cost per ton of coal. Our future is bright, only if we can increase our productivity by trying different and new ways to manage our businesses and our people. Unlike the easy successes during the 60's and 70's, success in the decades ahead will depend on our ability to achieve greater levels of productivity. If mining and other old line smoke stack industries are experiencing difficult times in 1986, three years into an economic recovery, what will happen when the economy cycles downward? Any operation can achieve unlimited productivity by developing the resources within their employees. As an industry, we have harvested the

Jan 1, 1986

By A. K. Kuhn

In virtually all jurisdictions, comprehensive environmental protection regulations or standards are in place that apply to all industries, including mining. The only other legitimate mine-permitting concern is post-mining land use (PMLU). PMLU includes all uses of land after mining as well as the ecosystems appropriate for those uses. Although flawed, the New Mexico Mining Act (NMMA) of 1993 is a PMLU-based permitting statute. It requires measures during closure that will establish a PMLU or self-sustaining ecosystem for each mine unit. PMLU-based permitting avoids prescriptive, one-size-fits-all measures and keeps permitting focused on the legitimate goal of responsible land management..

Jan 1, 1999

By R. W. Sims

"He?s an SOB, but he's my SOB." Many of us have heard this line in reference to attorneys, and can appreciate the humor. However, the thought reflects a deeper attitude that lawyers should be used for attack purposes in the legal system or the regulatory process. Often, more permitting progress can be made with tact and flexibility than with inflexible, overly aggressive strategies. Usually, administrative hearings or other litigation work to the disadvantage of the applicant. Thus, I have concerns about approaching any permitting system with a hard-line attitude. On the other hand, the project team must always be prepared to defend permit applications and present a legally adequate case at public meetings, administrative hearings, or judicial proceedings. This paper discusses a number of strategies intended to increase the probabilities for successful permitting, whether opposition is informal or highly organized.

Jan 1, 1990

By J. M. Mercier

Approximately seven (7) years of recent intensive mining activity in the Wasatch Plateau Coal Field of Utah has revealed distinct geologic patterns which, at times, profoundly influence reserve estimates, coal quality, mine layout, and reserve accessibility. Mine planning, economic feasibility, and resource recovery activities by Getty Coal Company utilize a multi-faceted approach by necessity when evaluating Utah properties. Two specific operating mines offer examples of the affects of adverse geologic conditions on mine operation and project economics.

Jan 1, 1984

By Kadri Dagdelen, Steven Hoerger

For gold mines, orebody uncertainty is one of the leading causes of differences between planned and actual production. Geostatistical conditional simulations create multiple equally probable orebody block model realizations which are conditional to the current drilling information and demonstrate the sampled grade distributions and spatial statistics. These simulated block models are key inputs for a stochastic evaluation to show the likely range of grades and cash flows to be delivered by a mine plan. The stochastic evaluation outputs can be used to compare different mine plans in terms of expected values and risks to planned grades, production, costs, Net Present Value (NPV) and other plan metrics. For the McLaughlin gold mine, risk profiles are demonstrated to show how different mine, cut-off and stockpile strategies can reduce risk and improve expected value. The strategies considered were effective in improving expected NPV and reducing or eliminating tonnage uncertainty, but the strategies had little impact on reducing the uncertainty of NPV’s or mill grades. The stochastic evaluation process is also used to compare the risk impact of orebody uncertainty against the risk of not achieving planned mining tonnages or vertical advance rates. Risks for plans created with and without stochastic mine plan optimization are also compared.

Feb 1, 2025

By Francis Martino

There are numerous techniques and predictive models used by geologists and mining engineers to define coal reserves and plan mines. The traditional reserve estimation methods commonly used include the isopach, triangular, polygonal, inverse-distance weighting, weighted-moving-average, and trend-surface methods. Geostatistically-based estimation techniques are now being examined by many geologists and mine planners as a superior alternative to these traditional methods. With today's coal mine development costs often exceeding $100 million, and power generation $1 billion, it is logical that a technique that can indicate the degree of confidence associated with a reserve estimate (fuel supply), and thus also the degree of risk, is highly desirable to the coal producer, the financiers, and those desiring to commit to coal utilization under short or long-term supply arrangements.

Jan 1, 1983

By S. P. Winkelmann

The expansion in gold production in the Carlin 'Trend over the last few years has been one of staggering proportion. To increase gold production while minimizing capital requirements and providing for the safe and efficient mining and processing of ores has required a tremendous effort by the Mine Engineering group at Newmont Gold. This paper discusses the organizational changes implemented to effectively deal with a full range of engineering problems and how the Newmont Gold Mine Engineering group dealt with these problems. Specially developed computer software and their applications will be explained. Improvements in the techniques used in converting geologic resources into reserves, and in scheduling the mining of multiple pits to feed multiple processing facilities, as well as ore control procedures are presented. Current mine engineering practices are discussed.

Jan 1, 1990

By M. G. Premo

The McKinley Mine is located in the northwest New Mexico, in McKinley County, approximately 25 miles from Gallup. The mine is operated by The Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co. (P&M), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chevron Corporation. P&M is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado. Since the McKinley Mine began operations in 1962 a total of 83,391,000 metric tons of coal have been sold through 1990. The 1991 production was approximately 5.000.000 metric tons. The mine operations are contained on a 109.000 square kilometers lease area of which 44.000 square kilometers are on the Navajo Nation. The present customer base consists of four utilities and one industrial account, all of which are located in Arizona. The utility customers are the Arizona Public Service Co. Cholla Station at Joseph City, The Salt River Project. Coronado Generating Station near Joseph City, and The Tucson Electric Company, Irvington Generating Station in Tucson. The industrial customer is the Stone Container Corporation, Snowflake Paper Mill.

Jan 1, 1992

By James E. Lonergan

To determine the best materials handling system for surface mined materials, one must develop a mine plan for each candidate system based on the most efficient use of that system. This is essential for a fair, unbiased economic compari¬son of the candidate systems. This paper will present two case studies where an integrated mine planning /systems engineering approach has been utilized at different levels of detail in the analysis of an in-pit crushing/conveying system vs. total truck haulage at 2 open-pit copper mines.

Jan 1, 1985

By P. J. Clifford, A. B. Brown

The development of computerised mine planning has been hindered by the cost of processing the large data bases associated with mineral deposits and the inherent inconvenience of performing an interactive process on a time-shared computer. A dedicated computer is ideally suited for the purpose but reasonably priced micro/mini-computers have not had the capacity to store the volume of data or the processing capability required. Hardware development has cleared the way for the development of truly interactive mine planning software, covering the complete range of activities associated with mine planning, from geological assessment to short-term scheduling of operations, incorporating them into a single system using a common database. The integrated system, comprising software and dedicated hardware, adds previously unattainable speed, flexibility and clarity to the planning process because it has been tailored exclusively for that purpose.

Jan 1, 1983

By Thomas Novak, Philip Johnson, Richard L. Sanford, Lloyd A. Morley

Macintosh use in mine-planning applications lags DOS machines since many users have made significant investments in hardware and training for other environments. Macintosh use is becoming more pronounced in many other industries, and com soft-ware is of at least the quality of that available for DOS machines and many workstations. This paper describes attributes of the Macintosh computer family as related to many mine-planning problems and solutions including software, memory considerations, workstations, DOS compatibility, and networking.

Jan 1, 1993

By J. B. Mitchell

Many of the pre-production and plant startup problems that we regard as inevitable are actually caused by poor organizational methods. Traditional methods of organization can be modified to provide clear definitions of responsibility, continuity and depth of involvement of key personnel in order to overcome these problems.

Jan 1, 1966

By Christopher J. Bise

INTRODUCTION Before a mine is planned in detail, a preliminary analysis is often conducted. This preplanning permits the mining engineer to make a rapid assessment as to whether or not a particular mining property warrants further consideration. In fact, a properly conducted preplanning phase can come within 10% to 20% of the actual results, thereby saving the mining engineer valuable time before committing himself to a fine-tuned analysis. The questions to be answered by mine preplanning are (1) What will be the operating conditions for the mine? and (2) How long will it take to complete the project? To answer these questions, calculations dealing with reserve estimation, production planning, man- power planning, and project scheduling are conducted. The following sections discuss these various phases of mine preplanning in greater detail. RESERVE ESTIMATION The estimation of the various characteristics of a reserve, such as quantity, grade, and thickness, is an ongoing process throughout the life of a mining venture. However, the reserve-estimation phase of mine planning is more closely associated with the preplanning phase. There are many different techniques employed in reserve estimation of solid mineral deposits; variations among them are introduced because of such considerations as ease of application or level of accuracy. In any event, each technique is developed in the following manner: (1) the mineral body is represented pictorially and then subdivided into blocks related to one or more samples of exploration data, (2) the area and volume of each block is determined, (3) the volumes are converted to representative tonnages (or, for example, grades), and (4) the results are tabulated. To illustrate this procedure, the polygonal (area-of- influence) technique will be presented due to its ease of application, flexibility in dealing with different deposits, and general acceptance. The polygonal method assumes that all characteristics of a mineral body extend halfway between a point of observation and any other point of observation. The explored portion of the mineral body is represented by polygonal prisms whose depths relate to the characteristic in question (grade, thickness, etc.) and whose plane bases relate to the area of influence of each point of observation (drill hole, etc.) as shown in Fig. 1. The polygons must be constructed in a definite order, usually clockwise and from the periphery to the center of the deposit. Table 1 can then be used to calculate the characteristics in question. Since, by definition, the polygonal method assumes that the characteristics of a mineral body extend half- way between points of observation, it becomes readily apparent that the evaluation of a vertical-drill hole exploration program requires that the sides of the polygons be formed by the intersection of perpendicular bisectors (Fig. 2). Figs. 3 and 4 show correct and incorrect construction of the polygons. The criterion for correct construction of the polygons is that all points within a particular polygon must be closer to its rallying point than those located in any other polygon. This is clearly not the case for certain points that are located in the polygon containing rallying point B in Fig. 4. Although this method can be used where the drill holes are irregularly spaced, calculations become less tedious when a square net (Fig. 5) or a chessboard (Fig. 6) grid is adopted. The numbers shown in Figs. 5 and 6 represent the relative weight for each of the shaded areas. In general, the greater the number of polygons, the more continuous the mineral body, and the more regular the grid, then the more accurate the computations will be. PRODUCTION PLANNING Before an acceptable evaluation of the production potential of a mine can be determined, a thorough exploration program should be conducted. It seems obvious that the nature and properties of the deposit and adjacent strata, the presence of impurities, and other mining conditions should be adequately determined prior to production planning and equipment selection. The lack of sufficiently detailed knowledge of the many mining parameters has led to the failure of numerous operations. For example, targeted production tonnages and equipment sizes for a coal mine are intimately related to the seam thickness. Needless to say the quality of information that is gathered from an exploration program can have a tremendous impact on the production plan. Production plans are developed initially by determining reasonable shift tonnages per operating section. Most of the time these values are developed from his-

Jan 1, 1986