Search Documents

By R. J. Sweigard

Many states are considering the need to establish or modify policy relating to the disposal of coal ash. One of the primary concerns is the impact of leachate from the ash disposal sites upon groundwater and nearby bodies of surface water. A detailed site investigation was conducted at a coal ash disposal facility associated with a power generation station. The disposal site is situated alongside a major river. Monitoring wells were installed and soil samples were taken for characterization. Groundwater models were used to simulate migration of leachate from the disposal site toward the river. Such models could be used potentially to verify regulatory compliance. This paper addresses the validation and adaptability of these models to this case and their usefulness as possible tools to be used in future environmental audits.

Jan 1, 1992

By G. Pouskouleli, T. A. Wheat

"The role and benefits of using statistical methodology in the development and optimization of materials and processes is examined. It is shown that considerable benefits accrue from the use of an appropriate design in which a number of factors (process parameters) are varied simultaneously while the system response such as percent recovery, degree of separation, purity, etc. is monitored and ultimately optimized.Compared with the commonly encountered one-factor-at-a time approach, this schema exploits reduced experimentation (thereby requiring reduced resources [staff, time, dollars, etc.]) yet yields quantitative information on the significance of each factor and their combinations on the measured response."

Jan 1, 1992

By Robert F. Randolph, Arnold C. Love

This study describes the positioning strategies used by operators of radio controlled underground mining machines. The observations have implications for task design to insure adequate visibility and task performance. Radio controlled continuous coal mining machines have allowed many mines to increase safety and production by placing human operators away from the hazards of an unsupported mine roof. The operator is no longer confined to an operators component and visibility can be enhanced with proper positioning. Also, the operator is no longer subjected to the shocks and vibrations of the mining machine. The operator's ability to move freely about the worksite requires a careful analysis of several competing safety and production considerations. Thirty-five operators of remotely controlled continuous mining machines were observed using work sampling followed by interviews to determine where the operator was positioned and what he or she was watching. These observations were separated according to the task being performed by the continuous mining machine and summarized as position density plots. The specific task of tramming in reverse through a crosscut is analyzed along with more general summaries of the time miners spend outside of the policy-defined operating positions while performing other production tasks. The operators were: observed to frequently vary from company standard operating procedures (SOP). Many of the variations from company SOPS were based on task demands. Interview responses indicated that portions of the mining task place visibility demands on the operators that are difficult to accommodate within existing procedures. An improved task design process would include these visibility requirements. Also, the operator's vision can be augmented thorough video cameras in future teleoperated mining systems, and the operator can be increasingly isolated from environmental hazards.

Jan 1, 1992

By John M. Ackerman

INTRODUCTION In the spring of 1988 the Joint Venture of Freeport-McMoran Resource Partners, Limited Partnership, IMC Fertilizer Inc, and Homestake Mining Co. was awarded the sulphur lease for Main Pass Block 299, lease number OCS-G 9372. This was one of eleven leases awarded to the Joint Venturers. Following the initial discovery wells in December 1988, a program of delineation drilling confirmed proven sulphur reserves of 67 million long tons. Proven, recoverable oil and gas reserves are 39.4 million barrels and 7.2 billion cubic feet, respectively. Development of the sulphur mine was given approval as a fast-track project by the Joint Venturers in 1989. The oil and gas reserves were acquired from the original hydrocarbon lessee in 1990 and given fast- track status immediately. Fast-track for these projects meant design and engineering would not be complete before construction began JOINT VENTURE The Main Pass Joint Venture is one of thirteen joint ventures formed between Freeport and three other companies - IMC Fertilizer, Inc., Felmont Oil Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Homestake Mining Co., and Texasgulf Minerals and Metals Co. Felmont has subsequently changed its name to Homestake Sulphur Co. and Texasgulf assigned their interests in the three leases they participated in to their parent company. Texasgulf did not participate in the Main Pass 299 joint venture. Joint venture negotiations, anticipating a lease sale in mid-1988, began in December of 1987. This Joint Venture was the first of its kind; created to acquire offshore leases, explore, develop and mine sulphur. The Minerals Management Service announced a lease sale date of February 24, 1988 on the first business day of 1988. This greatly accelerated the joint venture negotiations. Of the thirteen leases the Joint Ventures bid on, eleven were awarded. Freeport holds its interest in all the leases through its ownership interest in Freeport-McMoRan Resource Partners, Limited Partnership, and Resource Partners is the operator on all of the leases. The Main Pass joint venture percentage ownership is: 58.33 Freeport-McMoRan Resource Partners 25.00 IMC Fertilizer, Inc. 16.67 Homestake Sulphur Co. 100.00 The Main Pass Joint Venture paid $3,401,757 for the Main Pass lease and will pay a royalty of 12.5 percent of production value to the MMS . LOCATION The Main Pass mine complex is located in the Gulf of Mexico, in U. S. federal waters, about 27 kilometers (17 miles) east of Venice, Louisiana or 140 kilometers south east of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is situated in about 63 meters (210 feet) of water. HISTORY The Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the United States Department of the Interior administers the mineral properties of the United States located in federal waters. Periodically the MMS holds lease sales of blocks under its jurisdiction. Prior to the offshore discoveries of sulphur associated with salt domes leased for hydrocarbons, the MMS leased blocks with all minerals including hydrocarbons awarded to the successful bidder for the block. In 1963 MMS held the first lease sale of blocks specifically for sulphur. This sale was followed by a similar sale in

Jan 1, 1992

This paper reviews the gold mining history and recent exploration activities on a number of beaches in the Catlins area of coastal South Otago. Past mining history and recent sampling indicate the presence of economically significant concentrations of placer gold, as well as anomalous PGM, and various heavy mineral species. A local source for this placer mineralisation is considered a strong possibility, along with a contribution from the Waiau River catchment via longshore drift. Blacksand beds in Jurassic sandstones of the Southland Synclinorium may represent this local source of mineralisation on the modern beaches. The possibility of placer mineralisation extending onto the inner continental shelf is also considered. Further exploratory work is justified, both for in situ Jurassic blacksand deposits, and to delineate mineralisation in the modern beach and inner shelf environment.

Jan 1, 1992

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

By J. H. Kim

Since the Hardy Cross numerical algorithm was applied to the solution of mine ventilation networks, there have been numerous developments in ventilation network analysis procedures. The Newton-Raphson method, the linear theory method, and the second-order approximation method are three of the additional approaches that have been applied. The efficiency of a ventilation network analysis procedure depends not only on the method of solving the system of equations derived from ventilation networks, but also on the method of deriving the equations through selection of the meshes. This paper investigates the impacts of three mesh selection methods on the efficiencies of four ventilation network procedures. The minimum-resistance spanning tree method is the most popular procedure for selecting meshes. The shortest-path method was suggested by Epp and Fowler (1970) for improvement of the Newton-Raphson method. The minimum-resistance-path method is suggested here as the third method of selecting meshes. The effects of these three methods on the Hardy Cross method, the Newton-Raphson method, the linear theory method, and the second-order approximation method are analyzed in this paper. These network analysis methods have been summarized in the paper by Kim and Mutmansky (1991).

Jan 1, 1992

By Thomas J. Peters

This report is part of the U.S. Bureau of Mines Idaho Land Assesment Program to study the mineral resources of priority roadless areas in Idaho. The results of these mineral inventories provide minerals information needed to make wise decisions regarding future land management practices, and to ensure a dependable supply of minerals at a reasonable cost. The 16,300-acre Lionhead area, studied in 1991, lies along the Montana border north of Henrys lake, 10 mi west of West Yellowstone, Montana. The study area includes much of the rugged Henrys Lake Mountains, and is largely covered with conifer forest. Several peaks are over 10,000 ft in elevation. The Lionhead area has been proposed for Wilderness. No mineral resources were identified within or near the Lionhead study area. Five prospects occur in, or within 1 mi of the area: these include 1) an intermittently used road gravel pit, 2) the Thimbleberry lateritic iron prospect, of geologic and historic interest only, 3) the Tick Heaven talc prospect, 4) the Dry Fork garnet prospect, and 5) the lynx prospect, which appears to be of historic interest only. Talc is seen only as float at the Tick Heaven prospect, but the geology is permissive of talc resources at depth. The garnet prospect, and nearby similar alluvial terrane, mainly outside the study area, appears to be the most likely setting to contain mineable resources. Examined workings include four trenches and pits in rock and one gravel pit.

Jan 1, 1992

By John W. Gunnett

The purpose of this afternoon’s presentation is to highlight the investigative proce dures employed to complete an engineering audit of a mining operation. Skelly and Loy has been retained to perform operational audits throughout the nation’s coal fields, The need for such studies is generally associated with long term coal supply contracts and is typically initiated by the utility company. However, a number of projects have been commissioned by mining companies while others have been jointly funded by the utility and mining company.

Jan 1, 1992

By Erich U. Petersen

Recognition of mineralogical and chemical zoning patterns associated with mineralization is an integral part of mineral exploration. Even though the origin of zoning may not always be known, zoning patterns as expressed by the systematic distribution of ore and gangue minerals, alteration or elemental assays (soil and rock geochemistry) have received much attention and are extremely useful in guiding exploration efforts toward locating economic mineralization. By contrast, the potential of using zoning information recorded in solid-solution minerals to address practical geological-engineering problems has received less attention. Solid-solution minerals can provide critical information for common problems faced in exploration, mine development and valuation. Mineral zoning information from solid-solution minerals can now be easily obtained because advances in electron microprobe instrumentation have made these instruments a most efficient, accurate, economical and practical tool for analysis of large numbers of samples. Now entire mines and districts can be studied in a timely and cost-effective manner as required by modern mineral exploration and mining practice. This article shows how knowledge of the composition of fahlore minerals can be used in addressing important problems in exploration, development and valuation. Situations are described in which drilling intersected "low grade zones" (Case one: Orcopampa, Peru, precious metal system) and where there was a need to determine the "lateral correlation of multiple ore intercepts" (Case two: Sheep Creek, Montana, sediment-hosted sulfide deposit).

Jan 1, 1992

By Charles L. Kimbell

This study summarizes and amalgamates much information collected, compiled, and utilized by the Bureau of Mines numerous country specialists and branch chiefs for inclusion in their country and regional reports that comprise the five other volumes of the international studies of the Minerals Yearbook. Because of the plethora of sources used in preparing these regional studies, it is impossible to cite all sources of information used in preparing this summary, but some recognition seems due. Generally speaking, the preparation of this study, and its related detailed studies on countries and areas, would be impossible without the efforts of the personnel of our counterpart agencies throughout the world. Information that they collect, compile, and then publish, either in their own volumes or in publications of central statistical agencies in their countries, are the foundations upon which this work rests. Thus, we must begin by expressing our appreciation to the multitude of persons employed by these agencies for their contributions.

Jan 1, 1992

By Kerry Spickelmier

Editor's note: information for this feature was taken from the published APCOM proceedings. Computer trends, with special focus on the reasons for computer use, grabbed the lion's share of attention at the 23rd worldwide meeting on the Application of Computers and Operations Research in the Mineral Industry (APCOM 23). However, technical topics did not provide the meeting's sole focus. The last-minute inability of certain former communist countries to fund the travels of a few scheduled speakers was a reminder that science does not operate in a void. As with all technical progress, the APCOM presentations raised interesting questions regarding interrelated organizational dynamics and political and socioeconomic issues. Consider US Bureau of Mines (USBM) research to design an expert control systems to "duplicate" an experienced, "good" operator during automated underground roof bolting. In his presentation of the project, Takach, Jr. stressed the importance of preserving the ability to switch from automatic to manual drilling control. From a technical standpoint, this allows the expert system to "learn" from a good operator. As important, he said, is that this flexibility decreases the human operator's sense of being replaced by the machine. The question arises: Which will loom larger in union minds, increased operator safety through remote opera¬tion or the potential for total operator replacement? Like any new product, computer technology relies on marketing to aid its acceptance and use. Consider, too, a decision support system, by Schena and Gochin, for mineral resource management in a developing country. The authors said "the analysis permits the assessment of the overall socioeconomic consequences of mineral prospects and allows incorpo-

Jan 1, 1992

By Tom Gonzales

At San Manuel, AZ, Magma Metals Co. operates an Outokumpu flash furnace, four Peirce-Smith converters and two anode casting wheels that are supported by six anode vessels. Process gasses from the flash furnace and converters are treated in a two-train/ double-contact sulfuric acid plant. The plant captures 98% of the sulfur. A new flash furnace was commissioned in July 1988. It has since processed more than 2.7 Mt (3 million st) of sulfide concentrate without a major rebuild. The company has gained unique experience in the operation of the flash furnace at high oxygen enrichments with low off-gas dust loadings. New procedures have been developed to maintain secondary material generation at equilibrium and for maintaining metallurgical control of operating parameters. Process flow description At Magma's San Manuel plant, concentrates and other copper-bearing material are blended and conveyed from two separate areas of the plant to three 420 t (465 st) capacity wet charge bins located above the rotary dryer. Flash furnace silica flux is conveyed to a 227-t (250-st) capacity fine flux bin located adjacent to the wet charge bins. The concentrate and flux are blended in controlled amounts and fed into a 168-t/ h (185-stph) gas-fired rotary dryer. The wet charge enters the dryer at 8% moisture and is dried to 0.2% moisture. The dried charge is pneumatically conveyed to a 580-t/h (640-stph) dry charge bin located above the flash furnace. Flash furnace charge is drawn from the bin by two drag conveyors at a concentrate feed rate of 145 t/h (160 stph). The charge is mixed with enriched combustion air and injected into the furnace reaction shaft. In the reaction shaft, the charge is oxidized to form matte, slag and a rich SO, off-gas.

Jan 1, 1992

By S. D. Hudock, C. M. Keran

A review of all upper extremity cumulative trauma disorder (UECTD) injuries was conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Mines for 1985 through 1989. This review was performed by analyzing each injury, as reported by law and maintained on the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration's accident data base. This analysis found that incidence rates in mining were lower than in private sector industry, although the number of reported UECTD injuries increased sevenfold and their percentage of all mining injuries increased fivefold from 1985 through 1989. Metal-nonmetal mines accounted for 80 pct of UECTD injuries, while coal mines accounted for 20 pct. Nearly 63 pct of UECTD injuries were accounted for by only four occupations-mechanics, laborers, boney (crusher) operators, and miners not elsewhere classified (NEC)-with an incidence rate well above the private sector industry rate.

Jan 1, 1992

By C. Veloo

"Westmin Resources operates a mine/mill complex at Myra Falls and produces copper and zinc concentrates with minor associations of gold, silver, and lead from a polymetallic, massive sulphide orebody. Mill flotation performance has historically been plagued by periods of uncontrollably high circulating loads leading to low concentrate grades and below optimal tails. This led to a detailed examination of the flotation process. Locked cycle, and pilot plant data are presented. In addition, plant design and commissioning as well as column cell details are discussed. A comparison between actual and predicted performance is also presented. Benefits realized are higher copper and zinc concentrate grades and improved zinc recovery.PrologueMyra Falls Operations is located at the south end of Suttle Lake in Strathcona Provincial Park. Access to the mine site is provided by a 90km paved highway from Campbell River, British Columbia.The mine and facilities are nestled in the narrow Myra Valley between Mount Phillips and Mount Myra. These steep, rugged mountains rise from the valley floor at an elevation of 900 feet to summits of almost 6000 feet. The steep slopes are heavily wooded with fir, hemlock, and cedar up to an elevation of 4000 feet where a transition to alpine meadows occurs. The summits are craggy rock faces, some capped with glacial ice. Myra Creek winds its way through the valley dropping several hundred feet into Suttle Lake. Precipitation is high at over 100 inches per year, which may include up to 10 feet of snow in winter. The temperature may range from 32° C in summer to -18° C in winter.Myra Falls began production in 1965 with the Lynx Mine, supplemented by the Myra and Price Mines in subsequent years, feeding a 950 stpd mill up until the middle of 1985 when the H-W mine was brought into production. The original mill was replaced with a modern 2700 mtpd facility and in 1988 production was increased to 4000 mtpd.Both Lynx and H-W mines are currently in production producing an average of 3650 mtpd. The ore minerals are primarily sphalerite and chalcopyrite, with subordinate galena, bornite, tetrahedrite, and electrum."

Jan 1, 1992

By G. H. Blackwell, A. J. Sinclair

"The main components of a ""PC” -based mineral inventory system are described in a sequence common to many real reserve/ resource estimation projects and in the practical context of problems and decision-making typically encountered in such studies. Some components are designed particuarly to improve the geostatistical instructional capability of the package. An important part of this approach involves the use of widely available software for data manipulation and evaluation in the design of a mineral inventory study progressing to mine design and feasibility. A variety of more or- less fixed routines written in high level languages provide acceptable computational speeds on a personal computer. These critical segments are linked by simple, short, compiled Basic programs easily adjustable to various data configurations and needs. IntroductionGeostatistical mineral inventory estimation has progressed greatly since its slow dissemination during the 1960s. The mining industry generally has accepted the benefits of the technique, notably the quantification of grade and geology, an indication of error in grade estimation, and of the mined volume / grade variance relationship (Clark, 1979, Isaacs and Srivastava, 1989).Acceptance has been slowed, first by complexities of geostatistical theory and second by a bewildering variety of computer systems and applications programs. Continuing improvements in education will facilitate a better understanding of the underlying theory.The purpose of this paper is to describe, in a practical context, the development of a geostatistical-based approach to reserve/resource estimation. The approach integrates various existing commercial software packages with a wide selection of programs developed by the authors for personal computers which estimate mineral inventories and educate users in the techniques applied; that is, the QMIN system.It is hoped that the approach presented here will convince mining and geological engineers concerned with resource estimation, of the soundness of geostatistical methods and its broad potential to their problems."

Jan 1, 1992

By Leigh J. Wardle

Significant coal reserves in New South Wales lie under areas with steep topography such as valley slopes and cliffs. Subsidence predictions are difficult to make for these locations as existing empirical databases cannot cover all permutations of topography and mining geometry. Two dimensional numerical model alternatives are of limited applicability. Consequently a novel three-dimensional numerical model is developed including the detailed panel layout, realistic rock mass properties including the full stratigraphy, goat behaviour and actual surface topography. Model results show the same trends as subsidence measurements from Baal Bone Colliery in the Western Coalfield of New South Wales

Jan 1, 1992

By Norm Greenwald

The Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has been attempting to develop a federal regulatory program for mine waste under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act since 1986. Recent regulatory and legislative events are now bringing this goal closer to reality. This paper discusses the mining industry's perspective on a number of the issues currently being addressed at EPA's Policy Dialogue Committee and in Congressionally-sponsored negotiating sessions.

Jan 1, 1992

By Yve Potvin, Fabien Miller, Deni Jacob

"The potential benefits of measuring the volume of excavated open stope are enormous. By comparing the actual excavation of the orebody contour, it is possible to determine the “real"" amount of mining dilution, as well as the ore left in place. Noranda Technology Centre (NTC) has developed a stope survey system that allows for rapid and efficency measurement of underground excavation volumes. The system comprises a commercial laser (EDM), a set of lightweight rigid rods, an automated scanning device, a hand-held data logger and Autocad-based software for volume calculation and drawing manipulations. This system is an invaluable tool for the optimization of mining practices and could also be used for the delineation of caving areas. IntroductionDilution is the most common and devastating mine disease. In some instance s it could systematically cripple the profitability of an operation, and in more extreme cases, it could become a terminal disease. The Northern Miner Journal (1988) reported that many operations have closed because of uncontrolled dilution, before they even completed their first year of production. Other studies (Pakalnis, 1986) have shown that approximately 40% of all underground operations have more than 20% dilution. Considering that every ton of dilution costs in the neighbourhood of $25, the total direct cost of dilution to the Canadian mining industry may easily exceed one hundred million dollars per year.The dilution problem has been a major concern to Noranda Minerals for some time and in 1984 a comprehensive geomechanics research program was created at the Noranda Technology Centre (NTC) in Pointe-Claire, Quebec. New empirical stope dimensioning techniques, improved cable bolting techniques and sophisticated ground control instrumentation projects (among others) contributed to improve the situation at Noranda.A new tool which can have a very significant impact on the ""war"" against dilution is being developed by the Noranda Technology Centre. The laser stope survey system allows for a rapid, precise and efficient measurement of underground excavation volumes. By comparing the excavation planned with the volume excavated, it becomes possible to determine the ""real"" amount of mining dilution as well as the amount of ore left in place. This system may also allow for early detection of a dilution problem. As with other diseases, early detection provides the best chance for a fast and total recovery."

Jan 1, 1992

By Y. Luo, S. S. Peng

Several issues deserve further attention to improve subsidence prediction accuracy. These include: subsidence initiation and development over a setup entry area; subsidence development after face stop; and subsidence over chain pillar. An intensive subsidence monitoring program has been carried out over several longwall panels. A large amount of subsidence data has been collected, analyzed and solution techniques developed. In this paper, some of the measured data. data analysis techniques and the developed prediction methods are presented.

Jan 1, 1992