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The primary purpose of the Institute is to advance the technologic and engineering arts embraced by it through interchange of knowledge. This can best be done by the presentation and discussion of technical papers by its members. Short practical papers are especially welcome. An author should always satisfy himself that his material is of a quality that will be a credit to him and to the Institute. The preparation of a good paper frequently leads to a reorientation of the author's thoughts, and publication contributes much to the professional standing of the author. Members are urged to submit papers presenting the results of their work. Attention to the following suggestions will greatly further the prompt and efficient handling of manuscripts.

Jan 1, 1944

The primary purpose of the Institute is to advance the technologic and engineering arts embraced by it through interchange of knowledge This can best be done by the presentation and discussion of technical papers by its members Short practical papers are especially welcome An author should always satisfy himself that his material is of a quality that will be a credit to him and to the Institute The preparation of a good paper frequently leads to a reorientation of the author's thoughts, and publication contributes much to the professional standing of the author Members are urged to submit papers presenting the results of their work Attention to the following suggestions will greatly further the prompt and efficient handling of manuscripts

Jan 1, 1952

1. OPLEIDING IN INGENIEURSWERK VIR IN G ENIEURS- IN -OPLEID IN G 1.1 llegistrasie as Ingenieur-in-opleiding 'n Gegradueerde ingenieur wat in 'n eksamen geslaag het wat die Raad erkenl, is registreerpaar as 'n ingenieur-in-opleiding kragtens die Wet op Professionele Ingenieurs2. Aansoekvorms kan van die Registrateur verkry word. Mineral processing congress The XIIIth International Mineral Processing Congress is to be held in Warsaw from 4th to 9th June, 1979. Seeing that by products and co-products are becoming of increasing importance in mineral processing operations, the theme of the Congress is to be the 'Treatment of Raw Materials with Total Utilization of All Constituents'.

Jan 1, 1979

By S. Maurigiannakis

In an effort to promote sustainability in the construction industry, the natural decorative stones that cover large external areas of buildings may be replaced with artificial stones. In this paper the physical and mechanical properties of artificial decorative stones are presented and are critically compared with corresponding natural stones. To test suitability for various applications, artificial stone specimens were subjected to weathering testing (freezing-thaw cycles in a climatic chamber). Mechanical characterization of these specimens was based on uniaxial compressive testing as well as non-destructive ultrasonic testing. Preliminary results show that artificial stones can replace natural stones, thus creating a sustainable development option for the construction industry.

Jan 1, 2003

By de Lassar de Pressigny Y

IRSID has in its laboratories two experi mental counter-current reduction furnaces allo- wing the simulation of the physico-chemical conditions of reduction in any gas-solid coun- ter-current process, including the blast furnace and direct-reduction shaft-furnaces. The counter current is realized by an electric furnace mo- ving along a laboratory tube filled with the material to be tested. The reducing gas stream in the tube travels in the same direction as the furnace After reduction, twenty samples, with dif- ferent degrees of reduction and which can be related to different levels of an industrial furnace, are taken from the tube and subjected to various quality tests. Experiments were realized to determine the behaviour of various types of industrial pellets when reduced under either blast furnace or shaft furnace conditions. The results show the large influence of the reducing conditions on any pa- rameter characteristic of the quality of the pellets : reduction efficiency, swelling, cru- shing strength and disintegration.

Jan 1, 1974

By Johan C. van Dyk, Johan W. van Zyl, Martin J. Keyser

"Coal is a crucial feedstock for South Africa’s unique synfuels and petrochemicals from coal industry and it is used as the main feedstock to produce synthesis gas (CO and H2) via the Sasol-Lurgi Fixed Bed Dry Bottom gasification process. Detailed coal characteristics are essential to predict gasification behaviour when a specific coal source is to be gasified.The principle aim of this paper is to highlight and discuss those specific coal characteristics, which affect gasification behaviour and stability.In order to determine the suitability of a coal source for gasification purposes, the coal is characterized and the results compared with historical data. Benchmark data, where it was possible to operate the gasifier with ease and relatively high stability, is used as a reference.Coal sources with extreme properties (i.e. low reactivity, ash content <10% as is used by Dakota Gasification Company, or “brown coal” with moisture >30%) can probably be gasified in a Sasol-Lurgi Fixed Bed Dry Bottom gasifier provided that certain operational changes are implemented. Other properties, like high caking and extreme ash content for example, require blending to acceptable levels."

Jan 1, 2003

By S. C. Maji, U. S. Chattopadyay, S. Chaudhuri, T. Gouri Charan

India is devoid of coking coal resources, which is a vital raw material for coke making. As a result it has to import about 80% coking coal for steel making. Indian National Steel Policy, 2017 has envisaged crude steel production around 300 million tonnes Mt) by the year 2030-31 and forecasts coking coal demand of 161 Mtpa (million tonnes per annum). One way of improving the indigenous resources is to study the performance of existing washeries and to improve the clean coal recovery by adopting suitable technology. A study was carried out, mainly to focus on the fine coal circuit of an existing coking coal washery, to generate the desired quality of clean coal. The operating coking coal washery being studied is presently feeding coal from nine different sources with varying feed ash contents. The coal fines varied in ash content ranging from 19.5% - 43.6%. For treating the coal fines, the washery has operated a spiral for the past few years. Performance studies were carried out, and it was found that the spiral is not efficient in recovering the cleans. Detailed investigations were carried out on the coal fines using flotation techniques, and it was found that to achieve a low ash clean coal, the froth flotation is a much better beneficiation option than a spiral, The studies showed that the recovery of clean coal through a spiral is 67.7% at ash content of 27.0%, while flotation tests showed a recovery of 68.1% at 16.5% ash content. Keywords: Coking coal washery, near gravity material, spiral washer, froth flotation

Jan 1, 2020

By A Bouazza, J Kodikara

In this study, 23 samples of leached ash (LA) were collected from an ash pond at Loy Yang Power Station and geotechnically characterised. The samples were collected at various depths and locations within the ash pond on two separate occasions in order to account for the full variability. The LA within the ash pond at Loy Yang Power Station (LYPS) was found to vary in texture from silt to sand, depending on the location from where the sample was collected. Samples collected near the ash pond inlet discharge point, for instance, contained more than 50 per cent sand sized particles and were subsequently classified under the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) as silty sand (SM). Further downstream of the inlet discharge, the LA became progressively finer and was classified accordingly as elastic silt (MH) when the sand content became less than 50 per cent. Basic geotechnical testing revealed that the LA from Loy Yang Power Station was generally acceptable as a landfill cover material. The permeability of LA, however, was generally too high for prescriptive covers, (ie resistive covers that generally rely on the impervious nature of the material to control percolation). Alternative covers, generally rely on the store/release function of a capillary or monolithic barrier to prevent percolation into the landfill. Subsequently, a material that can maintain a high water storage capacity while at the same time, readily allow infiltration and evapotranspiration is required for an alternative cover. Sandy silt and silty sand are optimal soils for alternative covers, as they do not yield water to gravity forces, but do give up most of the water in their pores when subjected to high-matric suction (Kavazanjian, 2001). The effectiveness of alternative covers is ultimately assessed using computer models, such as UNSAT-H and HYDRUS-2D, to rigorously perform water balance calculations. Prior to using a computer model to determine the highest possible percolation in the worst climatic conditions, it is necessary to select the most appropriate materials. This paper suggests a method to screen available materials for use as an alternative cover material on the basis of the soil water characteristic curve (SWCC).

Jan 1, 2003

"Real time analysis of conveyed bulk materials can be used to improve process performance by reducing variability and upgrading ore quality through selective removal of increments of flow that do not meet appropriate selection criteria. This paper focusses on proven Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) and microwave transmission technologies used to representatively measure conveyed ore quality in real time so that meaningful decisions can be made between the mine and mill. This enables the effective removal by bulk diversion of small increments of conveyed flow such as waste, highly deleterious material or sub-economic material from the mill feed. Improved ore quality in plant feed optimises process performance, reduces processing costs and minimises tailings generation. Analysis is unaffected by particle size, dust, layering or segregation, mineralogy and belt speed. Technologies are explained and performance examples given from installations in copper and iron ore. The technology has been used successfully in bulk sorting for over twenty years typically using measured increments of a few minutes. Improvements in technology and calibration performance have resulted in accurate measurements over increments of thirty seconds and below.INTRODUCTION Ore quality variability exists on a number of scales. Block model grades represent a few hundred to many thousands of tonnes. Grade control at the mine occurs on a scale typically down to the size of a haul truck, which may be a few hundred tonnes. Highly variable ore quality is detrimental to process efficiency and effectiveness. Processing waste or low grade ore when higher quality feed is available represents a lost opportunity to generate higher revenues earlier in the operational life. Measuring ore quality accurately over short time increments during conveying enables small increments to be measured and diverted according to their quality. The paper explains the technology and benefits. Neutron irradiation techniques were considered potentially suitable for conveyed bauxite measurement by Beurton et al, 1995. Tran & Evans (2001) concluded there was no equivalent technology to Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) in terms of material penetration power. PGNAA was evaluated by Nelson & Riddle (2003) for possible use in the phosphate industry and recommended its use for further characterisation of the mine’s various ore types to improve stockpile allocation and grade control. Cottle (2007) discussed test work for an iron sinter application and Delwig et al (2011) described the successful installation in 2009 and performance of PGNAA for base-to-acid ratio control in sinter feed with the analyser output used to control lime addition. Geoscan (PGNAA) works very well on iron ore and can “improve control over what is happening in the plant” and that comfort can be provided in knowing that the product is on-spec according to Minnett (2010). PGNAA is not yet used in the minerals sector for tariff purposes as has occurred since 2000 with Coalscan (PGNAA) in coal (Minnett, 2010)."

Jan 1, 2017

By M. C. Bétournay

Hydrogen fuel cells are a known technology, having been applied to stationary (e.g. equipment, buildings, and power plants) and vehicle applications (e.g. transit buses and space shuttles). There is currently a growing need to provide alternate power systems to diesel fuel for underground mining vehicles to improve underground air quality and reduce production costs and greenhouse gas emissions. To date, however, fuel cells have not been exposed to underground mine air and physical conditions. A testing program was carried out to provide information on the vulnerabilities of fuel cells as part of a number of proof-of-concept projects to apply hydrogen power to underground mining vehicles. The fuel cell type of choice for the industry, the proton exchange membrane, would function at the range of surface operations, and use hydrogen that is stored under low pressure and risk. A small fuel cell stack was tested in a cooperative project between CANMET, the Fuelcell Propulsion Institute, Inco, the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Sandia National laboratories, and H-Power. This article will review the tests carried out to measure the effects from high humidity, mineral dust, diesel emission gasses and diesel particulate matter, as well as from shock and vibration provided to the unit in underground conditions at Inco?s 175 Orebody minesite and Stobie mine. The test results provided will show that the unit was not affected by the underground conditions; physically and electrically, the unit performed without any reduction in operation or adverse effects imposed

May 1, 2005

By G. Bonnell, W. Lidkea, M. C. Bétournay, E. Edwardson

"Hydrogen fuel cells are a known technology, having been applied to stationary (e.g equipment, buildings, and power plants) and vehicle applications (e.g transit buses and space shuttles). There is currently a growing need to provide alternate power systems to diesel fuel for underground mining vehicles to improve underground air quality and reduce production costs and greenhouse gas emissions.To date, however, fuel cells have not been exposed to underground mine air and physical conditions. A testing program was carried out to provide information on the vulnerabilities of fuel cells as part of a number of proof-of-concept projects to apply hydrogen power to underground mining vehicles. The fuel cell type of choice for the industry, the proton exchange membrane, would function at the range of temperatures encountered in underground and surface operations, and use hydrogen that is stored under low pressure and risk.A small fuel cell stack was tested in a cooperative project between CANMET, the Fuelcell Propulsion Institute, Inco, the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Sandia National laboratories, and H-Power. This article will review the tests carried out to measure the effects from high humidity, mineral dust, diesel emission gasses and diesel particulate matter, as well as from shock and vibration provided to the unit in underground conditions at Inco’s 175 Orebody minesite and Stobie mine. The test results provided will show that the unit was not affected by the underground conditions; physically and electrically, the unit performed without any reduction in operation or adverse effects imposed."

Jan 1, 2005

By Marc C. Bétournay

Hydrogen fuelcells are a known technology, having been applied to stationary (e.g equipment, buildings, power plants) and vehicle applications (e.g transit buses, space shuttles). There is currently a growing need to provide alternate power systems to diesel fuel for underground mining vehicles to improve underground air quality and reduce production costs and green house gas emissions. To date, however, fuelcells have not been exposed to underground mine air and physical conditions. A testing program was carried out to provide information on the vulnerabilities of fuelcells as part of a number of proof-of-concept projects to apply hydrogen power to underground mining vehicles. The fuelcell type of choice for the industry, the Proton Exchange Membrane, would function at the range of temperatures encountered in underground and surface operations, and use hydrogen that is stored under low pressure and risk. A small fuelcell stack was tested in a cooperative project between CANMET, the Fuelcell Propulsion Institute, INCO, the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Sandia National laboratories and H-Power. This article will review the tests carried out to measure the effects from high humidity, mineral dust, diesel emission gasses and diesel particulate matter as well as from shock and vibration provided to the unit in underground conditions, at INCO?s 175 Orebody minesite and INCO?s Stobie Mine. The test results provided will show that the unit was not affected by the underground conditions: physically and electrically the unit performed without any reduction in operation or adverse effects imposed.

May 1, 2003

By Ennis P. C

The Mt Keith ultramafic intrusive extends for about 200 kilometres from Agnew in the south to Wiluna in the north. It forms the host for a number of nickel sulphide orebodies including Mt Keith and Honeymoon Well. Long fibre minerals are associated with the orebodies. The presence of these minerals impacts on the issue of tailings disposal from several standpoints, particularly the slurry beaching properties and dust generation from dry beaches. Central thickened discharge (CTD) is an innovative method of tailings disposal that involves stacking tailings in a low conical hill instead of storing them in cells. In appropriate circumstances this leads to savings in capital costs and operating expenditure. The method was introduced to Australia in 1981, and is currently employed at four operating mines, Elura and Peak Gold, both at Cobar in NSW, McArthur River in the Northern Territory, and Union Reefs near Pine Creek, also in the Northern Territory. It is the proposed method for Century Zinc and Ernest Henry, both in Queensland. The paper describes laboratory test work and design parameters for the application of the method to tailings disposal at Honeymoon Well and compares them with comparable data for other CTD systems. Of particular relevance for design purposes are beach slope, density, and water recovery. Wind tunnel tests were conducted on the Honeymoon Well tailings samples to investigate dust generation from the dry beach surface and it was concluded that dust generation from an undisturbed beach would not occur because of crusting.

Jan 1, 1996

By Youngtak Ko

The northeastern Pacific shows the highest nodule abundance among the oceans in the world, and thus has been drawing international attention for deep-sea manganese nodule development. The objectives of this study are to construct database using geostatistics and geographic information system (GIS), to quantify rating value using probability and statistical methods, to suggest suitable sites for manganese nodule development, and to verify results using three statistical approaches. The copper and nickel contents of the nodules were determined by chemical analysis. Factors related to slope, aspect, water depth, and topography were obtained from multi-beam echo sounding data. The transparent layer thickness was determined using a sub-bottom profiler. The probability method was used to calculate each factor&apos;s rating, and the layers for different factors were summed to produce the development potential index (DPI). Result maps were constructed for manganese nodules development. The distribution pattern of DPI showed to be controlled of nodule abundance and metal contents. Verification was performed by comparing the results with sampling data in three ways: success and prediction rate, linear regression, and test of independence.

Sep 14, 2011

By Jin-yan TIE, Ke-xin JIAO, Qian Li, Hai-bin ZUO, Jian-Liang Zhang, Meng SHEN

This paper designs three factors such as temperature, pH, conductivity and three levels of orthogonal test. Temperature is a significant factor. However PH and conductivity are not significant through poor analysis. Further research is conducted on the temperature. Temperature stability is 50 . Suitable water velocity is 2.3m/s, which is calculated based on the largest part of the heat flux intensity and the corresponding water temperature should be controlled with 1.5. Meanwhile, water velocity increased has little effect on the heat transfer capabilities.

Jan 1, 2015

By Serge Ouellet

Résumé Six modèles métriques de remblai cimenté en pâte (RCP) ont été suivis durant 120 jours par l?utilisation de deux méthodes géophysiques non-destructives : la résistivité et la micro-sismique. Les RCP étaient constitués de trois résidus miniers et de deux proportions de ciment (3% et 6% en poids). En parallèle, des cylindres de RCP étaient utilisés pour évaluer périodiquement l?UCS. La résistivité augmentait quasi-linéairement de 28 à 120 jours pour tous les RCP investigués. Des variations de résistivité selon le type de résidu et le pourcentage de ciment ont été observées. Une équation empirique a été dégagée entre l?UCS, la résistivité, le temps, la densité relative et le rapport eau/ciment (E/C). La mesure de la vitesse des ondes de cisaillement a permis de dégager une équation mathématique de type exponentielle qui relie la résistance mécanique sans correction préalable par les paramètres de la recette de RCP. La réalisation de ce projet avait pour but de dégager la meilleure approche non-destructive afin d?estimer la résistance mécanique des remblais en chantier minier. Sur la base des résultats obtenus, les deux méthodes utilisées ont donné des résultats probants afin d?estimer la résistance mécanique et les deux méthodes sont donc à même d?être utilisées en chantier souterrain. Abstract Six scale models of cemented paste backfill (CPB) were followed during a 120 days period using two nondestructive geophysical methods: resistivity and micro-seismic. CPB were made up of three mine tailings and two cement proportion (3% and 6% by weight). In parallel, CPB cylinders were used to periodically evaluate uniaxial compressive strength (UCS). Resistivity was increasing nearly in straight line from day 28 to day 120 for all CPB models. According to the tailing type and cement percentage, resistivity variations were observed. An empirical equation emerged from UCS, resistivity, time, specific gravity of tailings and, water/cement ratio. The use of shearwave velocity allowed to identify a mathematical exponential equation related to mechanical strength without prior correction of the CPB?s formula parameters. The purpose of this project was to identify the best non-destructive approach in order to evaluate the mechanical strength of backfill in a mine site. On the basis of those results, both methods gave conclusive results in order to estimate mechanical strength and both methods can be used in underground operations.

Feb 1, 2008

By Lucas Sanches Magalhães

A utilização de resíduos industriais é dificultada, na maioria das vezes, pela presença de determinados elementos, como por exemplo, o ferro, justificando assim a sua remoção. Dentro deste contexto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a sulfatação de um resíduo proveniente da flotação de um minério de ferro e subsequente lixiviação deste resíduo sulfatado. A composição mineralógica da amostra inicial foi obtida por DRX e MEV sendo possível identificar quartzo (SiO2), hematita (Fe2O3) e muscovita (KAl2Si3AlO10(OH,F)2). De acordo com a análise química, os teores dos elementos principais foram: Fe (12,65%), S (4,02%), e Al (0,62%). Na sulfatação, realizada à 250ºC durante 4 horas, foi estudada a influência da relação ácido sulfúrico/amostra (0,1:1; 0,2:1; 0,7:1; 0,8:1; 0,9:1 e 1:1) na extração do ferro. A lixiviação foi conduzida com 5% de sólidos do material sulfatado, sendo avaliada a interferência da temperatura de lixiviação (25°C e 90°C) e do tempo de duração dos ensaios (15min, 30min, 60min, 120min, 180min e 240min). Pelos resultados obtidos observou-se que o tempo de lixiviação foi um parâmetro insignificante. A máxima extração de ferro foi encontrada sulfatando o resíduo na relação ácido/amostra 1:1 e posteriormente realizando a lixiviação deste resíduo sulfatado a 90°C por 30 minutos, alcançando 85,64% de extração do Fe.

Aug 17, 2017

By D. Belin

Treatment of dilute acid mine drainage and similarly polluted water is becoming increasingly complicated. The pressure of economics is now exacerbated by legislation which classifies as hazardous waste the precipitates from conventional lime treatment plants. Since acid mine drainage invariably contains sulfate ions, one solution is to use anaerobic Desulfovibrio type bacteria to reduce the sulfate into sulphide ions which could then be used to precipitate out the heavy metals. Results are presented for both batch flask cultures and continuous column tests. Compost was used as the bacterial substrate in the column test which simulated heaps. Conditions changed from aerobic to the required anaerobic deep in the columns. Polluted feeds (up to 700 mg/l zinc) gave effluent containing well below I mg/l zinc over extended periods. Direct transfer of sulphide ions through a stream from an isolated container of bacteria is a good alternative.

Jan 1, 1991

By A. Miura, G. Granata, C. Tokoro, A. Fuwa

"The high copper demand as well as the lack of new high-grade deposits, are pushing the copper industry to process low-grade and refractory ores containing chalcopyrite. However, for a quantitative dissolution of copper from the chalcopyrite, the leaching performances still need to be improved. In the present research, we studied and optimized the iodide-assisted leaching of chalcopyrite in H2SO4-Fe2(SO4)3 media. The evolution of surface species during leaching was determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and mineral liberation analysis (MLA). Inductively-coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to determine the dissolved copper. Significance of experimental results was assessed by statistical analysis while a kinetic analysis of the leaching process was performed by fitting the experimental data with the Shrinking-core model. Results showed the significant positive effect of iodide on copper extraction rate. In the presence of KI, the dissolution rate of copper was almost double than in the parallel experiments without KI. Whether using KI or not, elemental sulfur was generated on the surface of the leached chalcopyrite. Nevertheless, in the presence of KI, the passivation layer did not arrest the leaching. Analysis revealed that the leaching rate was limited by the chemical reaction control step.INTRODUCTION Due to the large demand of copper, processing low-grade ores containing copper sulfides such as chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) has become unavoidable (Watling, 2013). Since ores with CuFeS2 may also contain appreciable amounts of arsenic that cannot be smelted, and because low-grade ores are uneconomic to smelt, the hydrometallurgical technologies are crucial for recovering the copper (Dutrizac, 1978). Sulfate-based processes are attractive because of the lower operating costs and because the sulfate ion is more suitable in case copper would be recovered via electrowinning. In ferric sulfate solution, chalcopyrite undergoes oxidation due to the large amount of Fe(III) and dissolution due to the presence of the sulfate ion (Majima, et al., 1985). The leaching reaction in ferric sulfate medium can be represented as in (1):"

Jan 1, 2017

By R. L. Eppley

The Blacklick Creek Watershed Association was awarded a $158,000 Growing Greener grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in 2002 for the design and construction of a sulfate reducing bioreactor (SRBR) cell to treat acidic discharge from the Judy 14 abandoned underground coal mine near Indiana, PA. The vertical flow SRBR was designed to treat 38 liters per minute of MIW containing elevated concentrations of aluminum and iron. Other treatment systems at this site plugged due to aluminum precipitates; this problem did not occur in the SRBR. The bioreactor has been periodically overloaded with flows up to six times the design rate. To date, the only maintenance performed on the unit has been the addition of hay to the surface of the unit in response to less than expected performance. The periodic hay additions appear to have restored the SRBR to nearly post-construction levels. Since construction, the SRBR has treated about 136,000 cubic meters (36 million US gallons) of MIW.

Jan 1, 2010