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Despite the media's use of the mining industry as a whipping boy over its perceived attitude towards the environment, the facts remain that the only legislated requirement in the SA Statute Books for any form of environmental impact-assessment prior to development is to be found in the Minerals Act in the form of an EMPR. Not only is our industry complying with this requirement, but moves are afoot to set up environmental management systems for existing operations in preparation for seeking accreditation under ISO 14001 when published towards the end of this year. On how broad a front are we advancing? ? Is the industry equipped to handle these challenges? ? Does it have the determination to overcome its problems? ? Do we realise that failure may mean the loss of markets overseas to competitors who can meet the international standards? ? Where are the shortcomings and when must our efforts be focussed?

Jan 1, 1996

Exploration for SX-EW copper deposits and plant operation depend largely on the copper and gangue mineralogy inasmuch as? they govern the feasibility of leaching. Mineralogical parameters are pivotal in identifying if an ore is suitable to dump, heap, thin layer, vat or agitated leaching and/or if the ore requires curing, bioleaching or alternate lixiviants. Problems in metallurgical testing, production leaching and recovery forecasting are very often related to lack of mineralogical data. This presentation will illustrate the use of quantitative mineralogical analysis for exploration, acquisition assessment and optimization of copper leach operations.

Jan 1, 1996

By Jr. Schnakenberg

In 1986 the U. S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) embarked on a major research effort to develop technology that can substantially reduce worker exposure to face hazards simply by relocating the equipment operators to an area of relative safety. This reduced exposure mining system (REMS) research effort enhances the USBM ongoing health and safety research efforts to reduce and control dust and noise and to reduce accidents through training and better mining practices. This paper reports progress of the research that is developing and will demonstrate the technologies required for the computer-assisted tele-remote operation of continuous mining machines, haulage systems, and roof bolting machines.

Jan 1, 1996

By Suswnu Makino

Sumitomo Metal Mining developed a new nickel refining process ( Matte Chlorine Leach Electrowinning process) based on chlorine leach and electrowinning technologies. After the pilot plant study, the commercial plant with design capacity of 24,000 tonnes per year was constructed and has been successfully operated since August, 1992. During the practice of the past three years, great deals of improvement have been achieved. Through these operations the MCLE process has been demonstrated to be one of the most superior processes in the world with nickel recovery, productivity, cathode quality and working environment. Today the refinery product capacity is increased to 30,000 tonnes per year. This paper describes the equipments and operation of the Sumitomo MCLE process.

Jan 1, 1996

Copper cathode and Uranium Oxide production at WMC (Olympic Dam Corporation) Pty. Ltd. involves processing leach liquors through a copper solvent extraction plant followed by a uranium solvent extraction plant. This paper discusses the processing problems, metallurgical testwork and circuit changes made due to contamination of amine in the oxime circuit and vice versa.

Jan 1, 1996

By S. Veeramasuneni

The sign of the surface charge for alkali halides in their saturated brines has been established from non equilibrium electrophoresis measurements and on this basis the flotation response of alkali halides was explained based on the adsorption of oppositely charged collector colloids by heterocoagulation. These surface charge results for alkali halides are generally as expected from simplified lattice ion hydration theory with some exceptions, specifically LiF, KCI, NaCl, KBr, RbBr, KI, and Rbl .The presence of natural oxygen defect states in the crystal lattice and the inaccuracies involved in the gaseous ion hydration free energy values used appear, in past, to be responsible for these deviations. The presence of natural oxygen defect states in KCI, KBr, RbBr, and Rbl as characterized by UV Nis absorption, was found to account for their anomalous surface charge. Further, other positively charged alkali halides, LiF, NaCl and KI, were found to be free of oxygen defect states. Nevertheless, oxygen defects can be created in these alkali halides to make them negatively charged and has been demonstrated for NaCl. Such negatively charged NaCl can be readily floated with positively charged amine collector colloids thus confirming the surface charge/collector colloid adsorption theory.

Jan 1, 1996

By A. Elizabet Serna

The weak acid is a by product obtained in a pre-treatment of gases from a copper smelter prior to sulfuric acid manufacture and the main components of this weak acid are: sulfuric acid. copper, arsenic. antimony, bismuth and iron. Usually, this effluent is neutralized with lime and the solid residues are stored in a landfill as a hazardous waste. This work was directed at determining the optimal conditions to recover copper from weak acid using a cementation process before the neutralization of the effluent. The variables investigated are: Effluent temperature, iron scrap amount and acid concentration versus reaction time. The results of these experiments show that the cementation process of copper and the co-cementation of impurities such as arsenic, antimony and bismuth were in accord with the theory of the electrode potentials.

Jan 1, 1996

By R. L. Lewis

The White Pine Mine is the second largest active underground copper mine in the United States, covering an area of approximately 34 km2 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A numerical flow model of the White Pine Mine was constructed to evaluate engineering controls that would reduce the rate of mine water discharge after closure. Of the passive controls evaluated, the placement of low-flow bulkheads within the mine workings was predicted to offer the greatest benefit, reducing the rate of discharge by as much as 35 percent.

Jan 1, 1996

By Keuncheol Choi, Yonghack Lee

"The new lead smelter based on the QSL technology was started operation from May 1992 at Onsan Refinery of Korea Zinc Co., Ltd. The smelter is designed to treat not only various types of lead concentrate but also secondary materials coming from the zinc plant without special pretreatment.Shortly after the start-up of the operation, it has demonstrated that the smelter have a capability to treat wide range of raw materials. Continuous modifications and improvements of the plant are still under way to increase the feed rate and also the ratio of secondary materials to the feed.In this paper, the operating experience and results of QSL smelter, especially the injection of gases and coal to the melt, will be presented with major operation parameters and data.INTRODUCTIONThe QSL lead smelter based on new injection technology was commissioned at the Korea Zinc's Onsan plant from May of 1992. After starting the operation, the QSL lead smelter faced various kinds of mechanical and metallurgical troubles. However, these were gradually worked out by the continuous improvements and efforts.At present, the QSL lead smelter is operated stably at the total feed rate of 57 tonnes per hour with an increased amount of secondary materials."

Jan 1, 1996

By Christopher Mark

The Bureau of Mines has recently completed a comprehensive study of coal strength. More than 4000 individual test results from over 60 seams were extracted from the literature and combined in the most complete data base of the uniaxial compressive strength of coal ever assembled. In addition, more than 100 case studies of in-mine pillar performance were available in the Analysis of Retreat Mining Pillar Stability (ARMPS) data base. Statistical analysis of this wealth of data has yielded valuable results. The data shows clearly that the "size effect" is related to coal structure. The widely-used Gaddy formula, which predicts a significant strength reduction as the specimen size is increased, was found to apply only to "blocky" coals. For friable coals, the size effect was much less pronounced or even non-existent. Case histories of failed pillars are the best available data on in situ coal strength. This study found no correlation between the ARMPS stability factor of failed pillars and coal specimen strength. Pillar design was much more reliable when a uniform coal strength was used in all case histories.

Jan 1, 1996

By Milton Manrique

The thermal decomposition of zircon concentrates in a non-transferred arc thermal plasma flow reactor was investigated. The plasma torch was operated using argon-helium and argon-nitrogen mixtures as plasma gases. The effect of power, feed rate and zircon particle size was studied. Products were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM and chemical analytical techniques. The average size of the product was in the submicron range. Free energy minimization plots were used to predict the behavior of the system under different operating conditions. A kinetic model to describe the different stages of the thermal decomposition process is proposed. The results of this investigation showed a significant segregation process where the zirconia-rich product is collected in the reactor while the silica-rich product is collected in the filter. TEM analysis indicated that silica vapor is condensed on the surface of the zirconia particles.

Jan 1, 1996

By Luis W. Pommier

The wastes of the plating industry are generated in the process of rinsing the plated objects and during the cleaning of the plating shops. High volumes of hazardous waters are neutralized on site producing recyclable water, generating a metal rich, hazardous, filter cake. Occasionally, a complete plating bath has to be discarded which increases the metal content of the filter cakes. These filter cakes are discarded as hazardous at a cost of over $ 250 per ton. The metals found in the cakes are generally copper, nickel and chromium or zinc, lead and cadmium, assaying from 2% to 15% or even higher content of each metal The metals and their contents are highly variable. Some plating shops discard their products directly to hazardous waste sites, others, have them collected by companies which consolidate wastes from several producers prior to discarding. These wastes, richer in metal content than mine ores, need neither mining nor crushing and grinding for concentration. The commonly found impurities in the mine ores, i.e.: pyrites, arsenic, and valuable metals which are present in minute quantities, are absent in the filter cakes. The processes available to selectively recover the metals from the filter cakes, are discussed based on their technical and economic merits. The flow-sheets include leaching, solvent extraction when required, and electrolytic refining. Examples, showing the separation of copper, nickel and chromium and also of zinc and lead in pilot plants, show the technical and economic viability of the processes.

Jan 1, 1996

A modified Cuprex Metal Extraction Process (CMEP) leach process was used to extract Cu. Ni and Co from a complex sulphide concentrate. The standard leach was modified to a two-stage countercurrent leach which provided emf control of the copper SX feed and minimized iron dissolution. A flowsheet was developed to recover the base metals and silver from the leach solution and gold and platinum group metals from the leach residue which was predominantly elemental sulphur. Techniques required to maintain an iron balance in the system including pressure oxidation and solvent extraction are described.

Jan 1, 1996

By Laxman M. Amaratunga, David N. Yaschyshyn

"In the mining industry several types of fills are used for backfill operations. They are broadly categorized into three basic types: rock fill, hydraulic/slurry fill, and paste fill. Recently, paste fill has become the popular alternative for backfilling because of its many environmental and operational advantages including its ability to use total tailings, both fine and coarse fractions.Amaratunga and Annor (1989) first presented the concept of agglomeration of fine tailings, which are otherwise excluded from backfilling, for utilization in backfill as a readily available supplementary fill material. Previous experimental work investigated the use of agglomerated fine gold mill tailings in low density slurry fills (60 -70% pulp density), consisting of varying agglomerate and tailings compositions.This paper presents the ongoing research into utilizing these agglomerates in a high density paste fill (70 -85% pulp density). Various binder dosages, curing period and combinations of pellet to tailings ratios were studied. Slump of the raw fill and compressive strength of the cured fill were examined. Results from the above study indicate that agglomerated tailings paste fill (ATPF) has superior strength characteristics when compared to total tailings paste fills.IntroductionThe Canadian mining industry produces more than 500 million tonnes of tailings and waste rock annually. These tailings consist of a coarse fraction and a fine fraction and can be either reactive (acid generating) or non-reactive. Most mining operations utilize the coarse fraction for backfilling while the fines have been traditionally disposed of in surface tailings ponds. Recently, paste fill has been developed which uses a fraction of the fine tailings (10 - 30% w/w of >45 µ,m) in the fill. This development allows a mining company to use a portion of the fines for backfill, but still requires surface impoundment of the unused portion of fine tailings. Reactive tailings have the added problem of generating acid after being oxidized in the presence of air and water. Treating acid mine drainage (AMD) seepage from these ponds has proven to be a costly environmental problem and long term liabilty.One practical method to reduce the environmental impacts associated with the tailings pond and to modify the physical and chemical properties of the fine mill tailings so that they can be utilized and disposed of in an environmentally safe manner through surface or underground applications is through agglomeration using the Cold-Bond Tailings Agglomeration technology (CBTA). Amaratunga and Annor (1989) first presented the concept of agglomeration of fine tailings for use as coarse aggregates for underground backfill, gravel or surface covering material. CBT A reduces the necessity of impounding tailings on surface while providing a suitable coarse aggregate resource material for practical use. Although the CBT A technology has been mainly limited to pelletization agglomeration alone, other forms of agglomeration like pressure agglomeration which include the techniques of briquetting and extrusion have also proven successful (Amaratunga, 1995)."

Jan 1, 1996

By Mustafa Akser

The Pipestone Lake anorthosite complex in Manitoba, Canada, was recently been re-identified as a potential source for titanium, iron, and vanadium. The present study utilized a 350 kg hard rock sample, which originated from the "Main Central" zone of the deposit. Commercial pilot-size equipment, such as dry low intensity roll magnets, wet high intensity magnets (WHIMS), and high tension electro-dynamic roll separators, was employed. As products, ilmenite up to 48.5% TiO2, and magnetite concentrates up to 87.9% Fe3O4 with 5.25% TiO2 were obtained. The majority of the vanadium reported to the magnetite concentrate. Subsequent characterization of various separation products shed light on the potential grade and recovery of the minerals from this deposit.

Jan 1, 1996

By W. K. Katoto

The Tailings Leach Plant (TLP) of the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Ltd at Nchanga was commissioned in 1974 as the world's first largest successfully operated agitation leach SX-EW plant for copper production. The design, development and operation of the plant soon after commissioning termed as TLP stage II has been described by Holmes et al (1). In the initial phase the plant was designed to treat approximately 25,000 tonnes per day of current flotation tailings from the Nchanga Concentrator operations, and had a design capacity to produce 75,000 tonnes per annum of copper. Further expansion took place in 1986, and TLP stage III was successfully commissioned to treat an additional 20,000 -25,000 tonnes per day of large reserves (over 135m tonnes) of reclaimed tailings stockpiled since the early 1930's in four paddock type tailings dams (T01 to T04). The salient feature of TLP stage III expansion described by S K Mwenechanya et al (2 -3) was the installation of the world's largest Horizontal Belt Filter Plant with 26 filters each of 80 m2 filtration area.

Jan 1, 1996

By F. P. Hassani, A. Hara, M. Momayez

To be competitive on the international market, the Canadian mining industry must reduce its costs, increase its productivity and maintain a high standard of safety. There is a great need today for improved methods that would allow the detection of geological structures in advance of mining to reduce dilution and the monitoring of underground structures to increase safety. This will facilitate planning for optimum exploitation of the mine and to increase production at lower costs. This paper discusses two examples of more efficient mine planning using new technologies such as Ground Probing Radar (GPR). In Kidd Creek mine, GPR technology was used at the 2500and 2600 levels to (1) monitor the stability of the sill pillar; (2) locate the presence of disseminated sulphide pockets in the sill pillar for extracting the mineral content; (3) monitor the stope backs and wall structures to evaluate the effect of on-time filling sequences; and (4)assess rockfill quality in terms of the presence of voids and fractures within the rockfilled areas. In the New Brunswick coal mine in Minto, GPR was used along with core log data to map and construct a 3D block of a section of the bench showing the relative position of different layers overlying the coal seam.

Jan 1, 1996

By Matthew C. Binsfield

The simultaneous electro winning of zinc and manganese from waste water treatment plant sludge was studied as a part of the overall research program, which was conducted to develop the methods for removal of environmentally hazardous metals from the Bunker Hill Superfund Site. This paper discusses the electrolytic method for recovery of zinc and manganese from the solution produced by leaching of sludge with S02 + H2S04. After three stage purification of the leaching solution, zinc and manganese were electro won simultaneously in an undivided electrolytic cell. Zinc was deposited on an aluminum cathode, while manganese was simultaneously produced (as Mn02) on a lead silver anode. The electrowinning parameters studied were the effects of: temperature, current density, electrode material, spacing of electrodes, composition of electrolyte, and electrolyte additives. Anodic and cathodic efficiencies were 30 and 91%, respectively. In light of the process design parameters discussed in the paper, which are affecting the electrowinning, these efficiencies were found as acceptable with regard to the quality and marketability of the products.

Jan 1, 1996

By G. Heinrichs

This paper is intended to provide information for one to be able to determine the slurry system head curve for pump applications. The slurry characteristics are the basis for what the size, material of construction, and critical carrying velocity of the pipe will be. The system head curve is adjusted by use of the pipe friction coefficient factor and slurry derate factors. An example using multi-staging of slurry pump curves is presented to compare the wear life relationship of pump parts for a tailing pipeline system head curve.

Jan 1, 1996

By Y. Suzuki, J. Nagao, Y. Ueda, K. Shimokawa

"A Ti- Ni intermetallic compound could be formed rapidly from Ti and Ni powder compact with SHS process. Microgravity experiments using a drop shaft are carried out, This report shows the effect of microgravity or high gravity on formability of an intermetallic compound. It is concluded that the specimen forms a porous and nearly amorphous alloy by rapid cooling under microgravity but with rapid cooling under high gravity after microgravity, the specimen forms a uniform and dense structure with better crystallinity.IntroductionTi - Ni inter1etallic co1pounds have been produced and have beco1e si1ilar to the a1orphous and porous structure as a result of the SHS (Self Propagating High-te1perature Synthesis) process under 1icrogravity. SHS process is being applied to the synthesis of cera1ics and inter1etallic co1pounds (1). The technique is characterized by a large a1ount of heat being emitted within a very short ti1e interval as regards the sistering reaction. One SHS process, acco1panying 1elting by a reaction was observed, and that was due to the quick heating of a Ni-Ti co1pact containing 50 ato1ic percent of Ti under a low pressure (2-4). In this report, we have researched the use a drop shaft which is 1ore effective during a short ti1e under 1icrogravity and high-gravity, so as to obtain high dense speci1ens with the exception of porous specimens (5). Mechanical properties of each specimen were esti1ated from these 1icro-structures with a discussion about the effect of changing gravity regarding 1elting and solidification of the Ti-Ni intermetallic comounds."

Jan 1, 1996