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The mine planning and operational aspects of applying Continuous Surface Miner (CSM) technology to Australian coal strip and open cut mines is investigated for both existing and planned deposits. CSM produc- tivity as a function of geomechanical properties, formation thickness, mechanical availability and in-pit physical constraints, are considered. Productivity and operational costs are derived from current production machines and from first principles.

Jan 1, 1989

I stand here as a financial advisor who has been particularly close to the whole concept of reporting, independence and all the issues that are brought together in Release 149. However, I was asked to introduce this session by dealing with matters of Prospectuses, Part B's, 3J3's, 12G's and other requirements to report. Now I find it very interesting that one of the keynote issues is whether or not one should have a panel from which one chooses the so-called expert, and this is to deal with the question of independence.

Jan 1, 1989

By F. R. Deluca

"ClassificationClassification is a combination of mechanical and hydraulic operation which separates a pulp into two portions according to their respective settling rate. The finished product, the overflow, is removed from the other product, sand, which requires further grinding.Pulp is the uniform suspension of solids in a liquid. Overflow is the fines and therefore the more slowly settling portion of the pulp which is carried over the top of the classifier by the flow of water; sand is the coarser and more rapidly settling portion of the original pulp which is discharged from the classifier by the mechanical action of the rakes or conveyed out by a ""screw"" .Selective classification is classification that has for its object the concentration of the heavy constituents of the original pulp in the sand product so that it may be ground finer than the lighter constituent.Classification is used as follows:I. To make a size separation, for example, a sand-fines separation so that each product may be given a different treatment.2. For closed circuit grinding so that the maximum size of particles entering the circuit is limited, and so that the useful work is increased by enabling the mill to operate mainly on the particles that require the reduction.3. For differential grinding of the heavy mineral constituent and the gangue. In this case, the heavy mineral is concentrated in the sand product and is reduced further, while the lighter gangue material overflows the classifier.The selection of the proper size and type of classifier is determined by the function required, the character of the ore, and the tonnage to be handled, the initial cost and the operating cost."

Jan 1, 1989

By K. Nuttall, S. Vijayan, A. J. Meinyk, R. D. Singh

For conventional applications, there is limited demand for rare earth elements as well as yttrium and scandium. But the emergence of new high technology applications such as supermagnets, lasers, and superconductors should result in significant demand for some of these elements. This article examines the anticipated applications and demands for rare earth elements over the next decade. It also looks at the implications on the use of available resources. In the context of a growing demand, process methods are reviewed for the recovery of rare earth elements from conventional and unconventional resources. And the article also discusses the challenges facing the mining industry in meeting this opportunity. Reserves and reserve base The rare earths (RE) are a homogeneous group of metallic elements occupying the area from lanthanum to lutetium in group IIIB of the periodic table. Yttrium and scandium are also included with the rare earths because of their chemical similarities and common existence in nature. These 17 elements and their atomic numbers are shown in Table 1. The rare earths are widely distributed in low concentrations throughout the earth's crust (Hedrick, 1985). They occur in many rock formations including basalts, granites, shales, and silicate rocks at concentrations of 10 - 300 ug/g. They also occur in more than 160 discrete minerals. Most of these are rare, but may contain as much as 60% rare earth oxides (REO). More than 95% of the REO occurs in three minerals: monazite and bastnasite for the light rare earths and xenotime for yttrium and the heavy rare earths. Apatite and multiple-oxide minerals, such as euxenite and loparite, are also commercial sources of the lanthanides and yt-trium. Rare earths do not occur in nature in the elemental state. And, except for scandium, they do not occur in minerals as individual compounds. Bastnasite and monazite are the two major minerals used commercially to supply most of the rare earths (Hedrick, 1985). Bastnasite is a key raw material source for the cerium subgroup elements. The largest known bastnasite deposit occurs with iron ore minerals in China. The second largest deposit is situated in California. Typical rock analyses of the fluorocarbonate mineral bastnasite deposit in California show about 15% bastnasite. The REO content of that is about 50%. Monazite is present in beach sands in many parts of the world. This includes India, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, the

Jan 1, 1989

By Michael J. Shulman

During-all phases of exploration limited resources must be allocated among exploration methods and among exploration prospects. This problem,, an exercise in optimization, can be treated mathematically. For three objective functions - maximizing return, return to cost and return minus weighted cost - theoretical results exist which enable the exploration planner not only to gain valuable insight into the problem, but also to estimate the resources necessary and to allocate these resources for' at least-two stages of exploration prior to initial field work. A two-stage exploration strategy for volcanogenic-sedimentary iron in northern Egypt illustrates, how the results can be used. Stage 1 consists of an aeromagnetic survey to map the structure of five areas;" stage 2 consists of field reconnaissance work. For the three objectives, lower bounds are calculated as a function of exploration expenditures for each stage in order to facilitate the choice of an-optimal exploration budget. Nomograms are then presented which, based on the Kuhn-Tucker Conditions', enable the incremental allocation of airborne and reconnaissance effort among the five areas.

Jan 1, 1989

Extensive reserves of kaolin of the type suitable for use as a high quality paper coating exist on the Weipa Peninsula. In 1986 a commercial processing plant was constructed to produce 100 000 tonnes per annum of coating quality kaolin targetted principally for export. A number of processing difficulties have limited the production capability of the plant. The prime area being the pressure filtration operation with achieved cycle times being around 50-60% of design. The rate determining steps being press filling, press unloading and filter cloth washing. This paper details and summarises testwork and results from our attempts at decreasing the filtration cycle time.

Jan 1, 1989

By C. E. Jordan, B. J. Scheiner

The Bureau of Mines has developed a continuous ultrasonic flotation cell for the recovery of Florida phosphate ore. Within a small mixing chamber near the bottom of the flotation cell, an ultrasonic probe agitates an injected mixture of air, water, and phosphate ore and breaks the air into fine bubbles. Phosphate particles are preferentially attached to these fine bubbles and floated in the main chamber of the flotation cell. Over 94 pct of the phosphate was recovered, resulting in a 30 pct P205 concentrate. The ultrasonic energy consumption was less than 7 kW.h/mt of phosphate ore.

Jan 1, 1989

By R. H. Colquhoun

"INTRODUCTION The Holt-McDermott Mine is wholly-owned gold mining operation of American Barrick Resources Corp. that begun operations in June 1988.The property is located 0.5 km. south of Highway 101 East in the Harker-Holloway Townships of Northeastern Ontario, 7 miles south of Lake Abitibi and 15 miles west of the Quebec-Ontario border.Employees of the operation travel daily from various communities in the area, predominantly from Kirkland Lake, Ont., which is located 65 km. to the southwest.The significance of the operation is that it is the first full scale operation associated to the Oestor-Porcupine Fault to go into full production in recent history as well as the first Carbon-in-Leach (CIL) operation in the province owing to the natural occurring carbonaceous ores that are associated to the ore body and the geological fault systems.GEOLOGYThe Holt-McDermott deposit is located in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt, a short distance west of the Ontario-Quebec border. Ore grade material follows the footwall contact of a fault zone known locally as the McKenna Fault, which is thought to be a splay off of the Oestor-Porcupine Fault, itself a major feature in the Abitibi belt.The McKenna Fault strikes approximately east-west (as does the Oestor-Porcupine) and dips to the south at sixty-five to seventy degrees. The fault lies within a package of mafic volcanic rocks (basalts). These rocks have been strongly altered and mineralized adjacent to the McKenna Fault, and the resulting lens-like ore bodies constitute the mining targets."

Jan 1, 1989

By R. K. Singhal

"On the mining side the Canadian oil sands industry has become proficient in excavation and disposal of ore and overburden. Nearly twenty years of mining experience is now behind this industry. While local improvements to existing mining systems and practices will continue, it is believed that some further gains in productivity can be achieved by selectively introducing new ideas from other mining and non-mining industries. This type of technology transfer is vital for over-all cost-effective technology enhancement of oil sands mining operations.Discussed in this paper are the issues of mining equipment, equipment sizing, microprocessor and computer based technol¬ogy as applied to mine-wide data management, automation and remote control and a projection of likely mining systems in the year 2000!This paper reviews the ""state-of-the-art"" in selected surface mining systems and attempts to evaluate the forthcoming technology and its application."

Jan 1, 1989

By MacKenzie Dickson

"INTRODUCTIONGold is found in many natural states, native nuggets, loose grain in river sands, veins in rock, as well as associated with sulphides, oxides, etc., disseminated more or less minutely.Its high value in recent years has spawned new technologies to win values from sources once considered too lean for commercial recovery. Cyanide leaching from fine milled ore or tailings, from upstream recovery operations, coupled with adsorption onto relatively coarse granules of activated carbon, concentrate the gold enough to be converted to bullion by time-honoured methods.The carbon granules are fragile. Size degradation in handling must be minimized not only to prevent loss of gold on fine fragments of carbon that could pass with the barren tailings, but to maintain adsorption efficiency. Besides, the granulated carbon itself is costly. Circular Vibroscreens are winning acceptance for dewatering carbon granules thanks to their gentle yet effective performance in gold recovery systems around the world. The system at Equity Silver is illustrative.BackgroundEquity Silver Mines Ltd., Houston, British Columbia, first began production in September 1980. In 1984, a feasibility study showed that additional gold and silver could be economically recovered through cyanide leaching of the flotation tailing.Although the carbon-in-pulp (ClP) or carbon-in-leach (CIL) process is commonly used for extracting precious metals from slurries, the use of circular vibrating screens, and Vibroscreens in particular, for the carbon circuit is an innovation that cuts costs.Rectangular vibrating screens have been the conventional separation mechanism of choice across North America. In contrast, the use of Vibroscreens has been proven to be less costly for the initial purchase and installation. Also, these circular vibrating screens require less power and less space. A description of Equity Silver Mines' process shows how these screens have been successfully integrated into the system."

Jan 1, 1989

By Gregory J. Chekan

In order to reduce waste and improve resource conservation, mine planning, and development, the U.S. Bureau of Mines is investigating multiple seam interactions associated with longwall mining. Longwall gate entry and panel stability have been influenced by previous mining in coalbeds above and below a mine in Virginia that operates in the Lower Banner Coalbed. Directly superjacent, approximately 115 ft, the Upper Banner Coalbed has been partially worked by room-and-pillar mining. Directly subjacent, approximately 730 ft, the Tiller Coalbed has been worked by partial room-and-pillar retreat mining. The study mine has experienced problems during development of gate entries in areas of overmining and undermining. It is anticipated that stress fields associated with adjacent mining may further affect gate entry stability and face advancement during the extraction of the longwall panel. To assess overmining and undermining effects on ground stability, the Bureau gathered geotechnical information at the site. Headgate entries and pillars were instrumented and monitored to study loading behavior as the longwall face approached and passed potential problem areas. Measurements indicate that although increases in average pillar pressure were greater than predicted values, previous mining in adjacent coalbeds had little effect on headgate stability.

Jan 1, 1989

By J. Avraamides

Some operational difficulties have been encountered in the transfer of carbon-in-pulp technology to Australian conditions. Many gold mines? are located in remote and arid areas where the available ground water is highly saline. There is a gradual depletion of free milling oxidised gold ore reserves resulting in the necessity to treat deeper primary sulphide .deposits which can be refractory. Some near-surface ore-bodies and tailing dumps are contaminated by natural vegetative matter which can interfere with the adsorption of gold from the cyanided pulp,. Advances which have been? made include potable water conservation in elution, a new type of regeneration kiln, inter-stage screens, alternative leaching systems transportable carbon-in-pulp plants and efficient open-cut mining methods. Academic and applied research is well supported by government and industry and the results are normally rapidly disseminated and put into practice by the gold mining industry.

Jan 1, 1989

By Richardson A. H.

"IntroductionSafety and training in the mineral industry will always be issues that are hotly debated and discussed.The nature of the mining industry, where people and equipment work in close quarters deep below the earth's surface, attracts a great deal of public attention and concern, especially in the areas of safety and related training activities. This concern has been carried over into the mineral processingsector which is, of course, a vital part of the mining industry.It is therefore imperative that mining people closely examine the policies, procedures and programs presently in place to determine if they meet the needs of the industry and its employees. Everyone stands to benefit: the companies, employees and the mineral industry as an important segment of the Canadian economy.Phrases such as ""Safety First"", ""Safety is Number One"", have a role to play in industrial safety programs but in reality are a shallow approach to the magnitude of the challenge. An industry must produce its products in a cost-effective way, with good employee relations. None of these objectives can be successfully achieved unless accompanied by good safety performance. Accidents both on and off the job result in very poor efficiency, high costs and poor employee relations.This chapter, Safety and Training, outlines those major areas that the author believes are necessary components for an industrial safety, health and training program, but are not all inclusive. More will surely be added as additional problem areas requiring attention are identified. The major sections discussed are: Development and Implementation of a Safety Program; Occupational Health; Training; and Audit Procedures.The author has drawn on his experience as both a mill superintendent, mine manager and superintendent of safety, health and training. The approach developed at loco Metals Manitoba Division is frequently used in this paper with examples and excerpts to better illustrate the subject, but does not represent the full scope of programs in place in the Division."

Jan 1, 1989

By K. A. Sauer

Blasting can create severe interference for a mine's carbon monoxide based fire detection system. At the present time, without being able to differentiate between blast and non-blast carbon monoxide, a fire detection system must either set fairly high alarm levels for its sensors, or allow frequent "false" alarms to sound during blasting. This paper will introduce current work being done which will attempt to define characteristics of the carbon monoxide concentrations time curve for blasting. The work uses drift blasting for its data base as it is one of the more common forms of blasting. Future work with the data may produce a mathematical model which can be used to monitor and identify the carbon monoxide time curve for drift blasting.

Jan 1, 1989

By M. M. K. McCrank

"PRACTICAL SAMPLING TECHNIQUESIt is important to achieve reliability when sampling heterogeneous materials where there is a difference in composition, and non random distribution of the constituent particles. Throughout the design, construction and installation of sampling systems it must be borne in mind that the sampling point must be capable of:-allowing each particle in the stream an equal opportunity to be sampled.-accepting and collecting as large a volume or mass of material as necessary to satisfy the requirements of particle counting statistics.-establishing a sampling plan so that the sample is representative of the whole to a defined standard of accuracy.Design ConsiderationsFactors that may influence the design of the sample point include:-the mass, or volume flow rate of the material being sampled-the size and shape of the material or flowing stream-the physical condition of the material being sampled (i.e. temperature, wetness, size consist, density).-the chemical composition of the material being sampled -the location of the sample point and the space available for installation, extraction, reduction where necessary, secondary sampling, and return of the sample rejects downstream.-whether the process to be sampled is in an existing plant or one yet to be designed and built.-ease of access for servicing and maintaining the equipment.-whether the sampled material must be collected continuously or intermittently.-whether an existing sampling method is likely to be adequate or whether a new technique has to be developed."

Jan 1, 1989

There are many factors influencing the way in which a mining company disposes of tailings. Some of the more important factors include physical and chemical properties of tailings, cost, availability of dam wall construction materials, type of mining operation, topography and environmental constraints. As a result, the mining industry has seen a diverse and innovative range of disposal methods developed to satisfy the many conditions imposed at tailings disposal sites. This paper discusses a range of tailings disposal methods currently practiced in the mining industries in North America. These methods include various inpit disposal techniques, upstream, downstream and centreline dam construction and zoned earthfill or rockfill embankment construction. The thickened tailings disposal method and the disposal of fine clays are discussed. The importance of improving the depositional properties of tailings to enhance storage capacity, water reclaim, dam wall stability and final reclamation is stressed. It is important that mining companies are made aware of the full range of disposal methods and dam construction techniques available today. Such an awareness will help improve the planning, design and construction of safer and more efficient tailings disposal facilities in the future.

Jan 1, 1989

By G. T. Adel

As a prerequisite to removing mineral matter from coal by any physical separation technique, the mineral and coal particles must be sufficiently liberated. In the case of the production of superclean (< 2% ash), low-sulfur products, the appropriate liberation size may be less than 10 µm. Unfortunately, much of the liberation data obtained at these fine sizes is only qualitative due to the lack of appropriate instrumentation. In the present work, computerized image analysis has been used to characterize several common eastern U.S. coals. In most cases, it has been found that micronizing of the coal is necessary in order to achieve sufficient liberation for deep cleaning. Liberation analyses of the products from the microbubble column flotation process have been used to distinguish problems in liberation from problems in selectivity, especially as they pertain to pyrite rejection.

Jan 1, 1989

By Alain Simard, Andre Gobeil, Sylvain Lacroix, Maurice Rive, Denis Racicot, Pierre Verpaelst

"The Abitibi volcano-plutonic belt forms the major portion of the Abitibi lithotectonic subprovince in the Superior Province. The Abitibi belt is composed essentially of"" (1) approximately 2.7 Ga old volcanic and sedimentary rocks; and (2) gabbro, tonalite, granodiorite and syenite intrusions occurring in well-defined prekinematic ( synvolcanic ), synkinematic and post-kinematic plutonic suites. Most of these rocks are metamorphosed to greenschist facies. Regional multi-phase deformation affects the volcano-sedimentary rocks. Deformation was initiated as these rocks were formed, and peaked at the end of the Keno ran orogeny with the emplacement of granitic batholiths.There are 145 former and current mines in the Quebec segment of the belt. To date, more than 420 Mt of ore have been extracted yielding 1,600 tonnesof Au, more than4,000 tonnesof Ag,4,400,000 tonnes of Cu and 5,300,000 tonnes of Zn. Mineral production is concentrated in geologic domains that approximately coincide with the boundaries of lithotectonic domains. We have compared the geology and mineral deposits of different domains to illustrate their distinct metallogenic signature. Certain domains are dominantly gold-producing (Cadillac-Malartic, Val-d'Or, Caopatina), others are base-metal producers (Matagami and Normetal), while others produce both gold and base metals ( Rouyn-Noranda, Chibougamau, Casa-Berardi-Joutel).Gold is extracted from quartz-rich vein deposits (for example, Val-d' Or), sulfide-rich veindeposits(Cadillac or Chibougamau) and from volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits ( Rouyn-Noranda). Base metals are generally mined from volcanogenic massive sulfide( RouynNoranda, Matagami, Normetal), although certain vein deposits yield base metals (Chibougamau) . Certain sectors are dominantly zincrich (Matagami, Normetal)."

Jan 1, 1989

Enhance coal mine worker safety and productivity by developing a means to control and predict coal mine mountain bumps. Approach The Bureau of Mines has been engaged in extensive research to understand coal mine mountain bumps and their effect on underground coal mining in the United States. Information was collected on the geologic conditions, mining techniques, and engineering parameters at five mountain-bump-prone mines. Although research has not yet evolved to the point where mountain bumps can be effectively predicted or controlled, such studies are invaluable for providing clues that can lead to the development of mountain bump mitigation technology. Case Study Results and Recommendations Mountain bumps in coal mines are explosions of the coalbed that violently release the strain energy stored within it into openings created by mining. Such an event is not only dangerous to mine workers, but can cause substantial amounts of damage to mine equipment, resulting in productivity loss and downtime. In a coal mine, the occurrence may cause coal to be expelled violently from the coal face or coal pillars or cause the mine floor to heave suddenly. Coal bumps are usually accompanied by a very loud noise and tremors or vibrations. Such ground failure:; usually occur in the vicinity of an active gob line in an active retreating room-and-pillar panel, or at or near the face in an advancing or retreating longwall mining panel.

Jan 1, 1989

By J. M. Skeaff

As much as 100% of the gold and 67% of the silver in a sulphur-bearing hydrometallurgical leach residue have been transferred to copper metal at copper smelting temperatures by dissolving the partially calcined residue in an iron-bearing slag maintained in equilibrium with the liquid copper metal and matte phases. The precious metals can then be recovered by conventional refining techniques. Copper can be recycled at least four times without any detrimental effects on gold and silver transfers and recoveries. Apparent copper recovery in the .process can be over 100% because of the copper content of the residue. Based on slag analys.es, the overal1 recovery of gold in the copper metal and matte phases varies from 94% to 100% under all conditions investigated. On the? same basis, silver recovery varies .from 9S% ?to 99% under optimum conditions, but is only 4S% to 73% under other, less attractive conditions. Unaccounted for silver losses of&apos; about 30% make it difficult to determine the major factors affecting ?silver transfer and recovery. A method for implementing the technology on a commercial scale at a Canadian copper/zinc smelter has been proposed. A preliminary economic assessment and comparison of the proposed pyrometallurgical process with conventional cyanidation indicates that either process is economically attractive for recovering gold and silver from leach residues. Although the capital costs are higher, the pyrometallurgical process is simpler, has higher recoveries, lower operating costs and no .potential environmental problems related to cyanide disposal.

Jan 1, 1989