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By Clark R. Neuharth

To assess the supply status of ultra-high-purity silicon for national defense needs, the U.S. Bureau of Mines conducted a general study of the availability of materials and processing technology for silicon used in the manufacture of infrared (IR) detectors from raw materials to the highly advanced device state. The United States possesses all of the raw materials and processing technology for IR detector-grade silicon production, but does not produce at all of the processing stages on a regular basis. Consequently, the United States continues to rely on foreign sources for some of these critical materials.

Jan 1, 1989

By L Avalos, F Melo Miranda, J Misle, M Ingwersen

"Los Pelambres, majority owned by the Chilean company Antofagasta Minerals, is one of the leading producers of copper and molybdenum in the country. It is located high in Andes Mountains, over 3000 metres above sea level, 316 km from the nation's capital, Santiago.The maintenance service supplied to Los Pelambres over the past 13 years has evolved to the point that FLSmidth now provides an integrated service crucial to the management of their customer's assets. The contract initially involved specialty mechanical, electrical and instrumentation maintenance and has developed to encompass maintenance planning and plant control systems.The integrated partnership has delivered excellent results in the areas of improved availability, reliability and return on investment. The operation is now amongst the industry leaders in plant availability.The integrated maintenance service has delivered: An increase in plant availability from 93%, in the first year, to 96.5% today, generating approximately $50 million additional income per year, Quality work procedures, Process and equipment improvements, Major shutdown planning involving more than 700 personnel, 6000 parts and over 2 000 discrete activities.The ongoing success of the partnership requires a high level of understanding between both companies. A commitment to maintain a long term sustainable relationship, based on a ""win - win"" culture, is the key to this success. In this regard Los Pelambres has been a pioneer in establishing and developing such relationships.This case study will share the lessons learnt, the measures taken to improve performance and the best practices adopted during the 13 year evolution of the maintenance service partnership.CITATION:Misle, J, Melo Miranda, F, Avalos, L and Ingwersen, M, 2013. Integrated maintenance services at the Los Pelambres Mine in Chile - The lessons learnt and best practices developed from a long-term sustainable relationship, in Proceedings MetPlant 2013 , pp 296-331 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Jul 15, 2013

By R. L. Xu

In this paper, the author would like to point out with figures that the building industry is one of the key industrial sectors of the national economy in China. And in the coming 15 years, the output of building construction will not in the least decrease, but increase. The requirements for building standards, quality, functions as well as physical environment will also be higher along with the incessant development of the national economy and the gradual raising of people's living standard. China is a country with a vast territory and a great, variety of physical characteristics. The topographic and engineering geotechnical conditions are complex and varies considerably from place to place. Although, in recent years, encouraging progress has been made in building construction, there still exist many problems unsolved or even not explored at all, which we have to tackle in the future design and construction of foundations. Also reviewed in this paper are the achievements attained in the past thirty odd years and the challenge we will face in the foundation engineering field in China.

Jan 1, 2010

By S. K. Schwartz

"This paper describes the general layout of the environmental monitoring scheme at Devco 's No. 26 Colliery, including wall face ventilation, fan performance and methane drainage, and then goes on to discuss the sensors, the outstation layout, the surf ace control room and the protection of the system.IntroductionCape Breton coal mines have been pioneers in the use of the latest technology in mining coal on this continent. To mention just one example, continuous methane monitoring at the coal face was started in 1976 and the idea of automatically stopping the face conveyor during high gas levels using the face signalling system was conceived and developed by CBDC engineers.With the introduction of remote environmental monitoring, No. 26 Colliery will be the first underground coal mine in Canada and possibly in North America to have computer-based comprehensive environmental monitoring.Traditionally, surveillance of the mine environment has been based mainly on periodic checks by portable or hand-held monitors. Although this method proved adequate, it has some limitations, namely:1) restricted 'number of observations and samples;2) relatively long time between taking measurements and availability of results for assessment.With remote monitoring, the above limitations are overcome because (a) monitoring is continuous and (b) monitored data are updated quickly (typically 5-7 sec.). Remote monitoring also provides a centralized 'information center' at the surface from where the entire mine environment can be monitored. Details of modes in which data can be displayed and features available at the location will be discussed later in the paper."

Jan 1, 1982

By J. E. Tiffany, Z. C. Gaugler

An active list of permissible explosives was published in December 1943 as part of the Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 3736 under the title "Active List of Permissible Explosives and Blasting Devices Approved Previous to June 30, 1943." This list included 180 brand names. Changes in the list that have been authorized to December 31, 1945, placed 10 additional brands of permissible explosives on the active permis- sible list as a result of tests and changes in brand names.. Twelve permis- sible explosives were transferred from the active. to the inactive list. The present list contains 178 brand names. The brand names of the permissible explosives placed on the active list are as follows: American 3-A By test. Apcol No. 1-B Do. Black Diamond No. 11-B DO. Black Diamond No. 55 DO. Coalite G-1 DO. Coelite K-1 Do. Do. Coalite L-1 Coalite IS-1 Columbia B-2 DO. By change in name. By test. Monobel AA The permissible explosives transferred from the active to the inactive list are as follows: Anthracite B, L. F. Big Red No. 8 Independent No. 1, L. F. Independent No. 2, L. F. Independent No. 3, L. F. Independent No. 4, L. F. Independent No. 5, L. F. Independent No. 9, L. F. Independent No. 9-C, L. F. Independent No. 10, L. F. Independent No. 11, L. F. King No. 9

Jul 1, 1946

By R. Y. Wan

Acid ferric sulfate solution has been used for heap and dump leaching of low-grade chalcopyrite ores and is being considered as a possible lixiviant for the hydrometallurgical processing of copper sulfide concentrates. For many years, researchers have attempted to explain the leaching behavior of chalcopyrite, since the reaction rate kinetics are extremely slow and seem to be significantly influenced by the nature of the reaction product. A summary of conclusions drawn from reported literature on chalcopyrite leaching is found in the paper by Munoz, Miller, and Wadsworth(1) and more recently by Dutrizac.(2) Lowe(3) and Jones and Peters (4) attributed rate control to a surface reaction. Linge,(5) Dutrizac,(6) Bauer,(7) and researchers at the University of Utah(1,8) reported that the reaction rate is limited by transport in the chalcopyrite lattice or through the elemental sulfur reaction product layer. Munoz et al.(1) presented a model, derived from the Wagner theory of oxidation, which is based on the formation of a protective sulfur layer with rate control by electron transport through the insulating sulfur layer. By utilizing Wagner's parabolic oxidation relationships, (9) the following equation was obtained: [ ] where a is the fraction of CuFeS2 reacted at time t, pB is the molar density of CuFeS2, do is the initial diameter of the particle, e is the electronic charge, s is the total electrical conductivity of the sulfur layer, and ?G is the Gibbs free energy for the reaction:

Jan 1, 1984

Analysing a flotation plant?s operating performance requires accurate metallurgical sampling. Typically, the aims of performing flotation plant surveys are to establish a consistent and accurate understanding of the operation of the circuit as well as to identify potential areas for improvement. Once the data have been collected, a mass balance is required to provide a consistent set of data from which plant performance can be assessed. Mass balancing is a key skill that many metallurgists and mining industry professionals are familiar with. Mass balancing reconciles the feed and product streams throughout the plant and is sometimes used for accounting of the material entering and leaving a system (eg. JKMetAccount). However more common reasons for mass balancing are: better understanding of the flowrates within a system, assessing the quality of data obtained from sampling and surveys, and providing a key dataset for assessing and improving the performance of unit operations. Mass balancing requires practice and experience to determine if the results are reasonable. There are various software programs available to assist in the mass balancing and understanding of processing plants. This paper is focused on JKMultiBal initially developed by Gay (1993), and then later commercialized by JKTech. JKMultiBal in its current release is for balancing data in both one and two dimensions, i.e. balancing data on either sized or assay bases as well as size-by-assay. With the recent trend in flotation circuits becoming more complex, JKMultiBal has been used to gain a better understanding of the processes occurring within the circuit. This paper provides a description of the program as well as several case studies where the two-dimensional mass balancing has resulted in improvements in plant performance.

Jan 1, 2009

By Laurie Meyer

The need for improved, high confidence estimates of nodule abundance to support mine permitting, detailed mine planning and mining and processing equipment design is evident. To date, physical samples represent the ?Gold Standard? for nodule abundance measurement, and are likely to remain as such. However, there are some interesting improvements in the area of 3-D scanning which, if marinized for operations at 6000m, may prove to be reliable alternative methods for mapping abundance over large areas particularly if calibrated or benchmarked with physical sample data. . Features of a high confidence physical sampling device, such as the 0.75m2 (0.86m on a side) box corer developed and successfully used by the Kennecott Group for exploration in the CCZ, take into account not only the accuracy in nodule sample collection but a host of other operability considerations which can mean the difference between a successful exploration cruise yielding high numbers of large area samples and one in which few, inaccurate, often inconclusive samples are collected (or, even worse, the sampler fails to grab any nodules for any number of reasons). The collection of physical samples at appropriate spacing within a mine area combined with more qualitative indications of nodule density such as can be obtained using acoustic backscatter should prove adequate for the near term objectives related to overall abundance appraisal or estimates of ?indicated? resource. Looking ahead, exploration cruises will need to yield increasing amounts of data to support development of higher confidence resource abundance estimates to support issuance of mining permits and detailed design of mining plans and equipment. It is likely

Sep 14, 2011

It is difficult, and probably inadvisable, to frame rigid rules for the valuation of alluvial deposits, for such deposits are very diverse in type, varying, for example, according to the mineral sought and according'to the complexity of the deposit which, on one hand, may be a narrow welldefined alluvial strip at the bottom of which is a continuous mineral lead, or, on the other, may be a broad alluvial flat with discontinuous patches of the valuable mineral occurring at different levels throughout the alluvium.However, some definite procedure in valuation must be adopted when dealing with anyone deposit, and the fundamentals of such a procedure are applicable to almost all alluvial deposits.The methods described in this paper are based very largely on the valuation of a specific deposit and, although an attempt has been made to keep the discussion as general as possible, it contains some statements which, if traced to their origin, spring from the writer's association with that deposit. Such statements must be interpreted with sufficient flexibility to be appropriate to whatever area the reader may have in mind.The subject of valuing an alluvial deposit falls naturally into two divisions: The valuation of each borehole; the valuation of the deposit as a whole. The following discussion is therefore dealt with under these two headings.Some general matters are mentioned in a third section.

Jan 1, 1950

General recognition of the potential benefits of utilizing advanced technology has focussed public attention on the organisation of tertiary education. This has produced a situation where opportunities exist for significant changes to be implemented. The challenges to Mining education in this environment of change are analysed with respect to the setting of education objectives, the role of centres of education, course structures and student access to courses. The scope of the analysis includes formal courses for professional education and technical training, and programmes for continuing education and postgraduate research. Previous significant advances in mining technology illustrate the importance of encouraging the establishment of an extensive involvement with mining education. Education cannot be the sole responsibility of professional academic organizations; significant industry participation is essential. Methods of achieving this interaction are discussed. Major changes in techniques available for disseminating information provide a significant incentive to assess the relevance of existing course structures and restrictions on student access to courses. Establishment of a less rigidly progressive system of education is discussed with respect to the development of the full potential of computer based learning. This will expand the availability of mining education to include remote locations. The practical feasibility of such changes and recognition of the value of education as a commercial resource could also increase overseas involvement in Australian mining education. Benefits of such changes and problems that may develop if accreditation systems are not also changed to take account of new technology are outlined.

Jan 1, 1989

By D R. Seaman, R P. Tooher, B A. Seaman

"Several mine scheduling tools exist for use in optimising and scheduling the reserve according to in situ value. These tools generally value the ore on a per block basis according to regressed recovery models based on ore grade and type. It is then the task of the plant metallurgist to ensure that these ore blocks are fed to the plant in a manner that satisfies the prevailing plant constraints. This task is often completed in complex Excel® spreadsheets that are modified over time with factors applied to account for plant modifications or limitations.It is the authors’ experience that this approach is difficult to audit and replicate in a consistent manner. Furthermore, operational decisions, such as primary grind size or autoclave oxidation are made on the metallurgist or managements’ perceived optimum value and does not necessarily represent a cash flow based optimum.Many processing plants contain multiple internal constraints. As ore feed grades and properties change over the life-of-mine (LOM), processing-bottlenecks shift from one unit process to another and different operating strategies need to be adopted to maximise cash generation from the process.This paper presents a unified optimisation approach to scheduling ore based on a circuit mass balance to describe the process plant with individual models for each significant unit operation. The approach allows for optimisation over multiple input variables and the inclusion of linear and non-linear constraints.This optimisation process has been applied to different complex gold operations. The end result is an automated scheduler that selects the optimum blend of ores as well as plant operating conditions that satisfy all internal plant and shutdown constraints while maximising the objective of choice (metal production or cash flow). The models are also valuable for evaluating expansion or debottlenecking opportunities of individual processing units. These models are coded in Matlab® R2016a provided by MathWorks®, and can be deployed to end users in a compiled version with significant savings in time to run different scenarios over the Excel®-based systems.Citation:Seaman, D R, Tooher, R P and Seaman, B A, 2016. Optimisation of Complex Gold Processing Plants with Multiple Unit Operation Constraints - the Newcrest Planning Scheduler, in Proceedings 13th AusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference 2016, pp 191–198 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Oct 10, 2016

By W. M. Clark

OUR interest in the matter of pyrometers and pyrometry is primarily that of a user of considerable quantities of heat-measuring equipment; and while we play be somewhat critical on the subject we have aimed to make the nature of these comments constructive. The glass industry in America dates back to 1609, when Capt. John Smith started a small glass plant near Jamestown, Va., with a few Italian workmen, to manufacture glass beads for trading with the Indians. While the industry has expanded until it has reached a volume of over $200,000,000 per annum, the means of heat determination in Colonial days was the human eye, and in much of the industry the same means is used today. About 15 yr. ago the largest glass-house supply dealers began to sell platinum pyrometers, but as nearly all of these proved un-satisfactory, pyrometers met a temporary rebuff from the old-time glass manufacturers. As their ruggedness of construction, reliability, and stability have been improved, however, pyrometers have gradually won their way into more and more extensive use throughout the glass trade. But there are still many applications where pyrometers are not used, largely because of cost and upkeep considerations. There are two distinct fields in glass works for pyrometry. The first calls for accurate temperature measurement and the second only demands knowledge of relative comparative fluctuations of temperature, to know whether the work is becoming hotter or colder. For example, in a lehr for annealing glassware and removing strain we want accurate temperatures to know that the ware is heated to the critical temperature for rapid removal of strain. On the other hand, in a glass pot furnace nearly 120 ft. (36 m.) in circumference, where the pyrometer couples only project inside the furnace wall for less than 2 in. (50 mm.), it is inconceivable that these few inches represent the accurate temperature at every point of the 120-ft. circumference but the relative readings as to whether the pyrometer shows schedule temperature fluctuations are valuable indications for control. The glass melting in the pots is,

Jan 8, 1919

By Summer S. Smith

The year 1916 broke all previous records of mineral production in the Territory. As a consequence, there has been a noteworthy increase in the number of mines in active operation or under development, though the greater part of the increased output is the result of greater activity at mines already producing rather than of opening new mines. Owing to available funds not being sufficient to meet the cost of travel in the interior of the Territory during the winter months, the Federal mine inspector was unable during the spring to visit the placer mines of the interior as has been his custom in the past. However, by working in close cooperation with the Territorial in- spector, who left Juneau in June to take the first boat down the Yukon to Fairbanks after the spring break-up, it was possible to visit hurriedly all the larger mining centers of the Territory. The Territorial inspector covered the districts from Fairbanks to Nome and the Federal inspector covered those of southeastern and south- western Alaska. A number of applicants have begun mining coal on ground held under free-use 10-acre permits, and have furnished coal for local use. The larger leasing units in the Bering River and Matanuska coal fields have been advertised and applications for leases have been submitted. These applications came too late in the fall for active development to begin before the end of the year. The Government railroad has been built from Anchorage to the center of the Matanuska coal field, and private interests have under- taken the building of a standard-gage road from a point known as Goose City on Controller Bay to Canyon Creek, in the Bering River field. Capital has become interested in the oil fields on Controller Bay, and plans have been made for more active exploration and production. The work of the Federal mine inspector is still handicapped by the lack of funds for additional field assistants and of the office ac- commodations necessary for carrying on the work with the efficiency that its importance warrants.

Jan 1, 1917

By William H. Hansmire

The Modified Detroit River Outfall No. 2 (MOD DRO-2) will discharge treated wastewater to the Detroit River. Construction of a 6.4-m-diameter, 1.9-km-long tunnel was halted in 2003 by flooding during tunneling with an open face hard rock TBM. A new design for a higher rock tunnel, a ?Modified? design, was completed in 2007 and Notice to Proceed to the tunnel contractor was given in November 2008. Project duration is four years for completion of tunneling and start of outfall tunnel operation. This tunneling project has high groundwater pressure (5 bar), pervious limestone rock of up to 140 MPa (20,000 psi) strength, and hydrogen sulphide in the groundwater. The new tunnel will be connecting to access shafts and outfall diffuser riser shafts previously built for the now-abandoned tunnel. The new tunnel design construction contract, and initial planning to use a pressurized-face (slurry) hard rock TBM are presented.

By P. E. J. Pitfield, S. D. G. Campbell

The regional structure of shear and deformation zones in the belt, which is recognisable in plan view on Landsat TM images, is interpreted in terms of a conjugate-shear model. Gold mineralisation is related to this framework at a variety of scales. The principal recurrent structural geometries hosting deposits at mines such as Motapa, Durban, Charliesona, Cecil, Sunace, Turk group, Queens district, How, Peter Pat, Matabele Sheba, Goodenough, Old Nic and Bushtick are associated with shear zones and folds and include conjugate systems (shears, shear intersections, kink sets), side-step systems (en echelon segmentation, duplexes, monoclinal inflections, antiform-synform couplets) and interactions of the two. Linear sections of shear zones are generally poorly mineralised. The same geometries are identifiable on all scales from local to regional, so sections of regional structural lineaments or areas within mines should be prioritised for further investigation or development on the basis of the gold-bearing geometries observed to be dominant locally

Apr 1, 1996

By Albert W. Deurbrouck

This report describes the preparation characteristics of the Pittsburgh and Upper Freeport coalbeds in Hancock , Brooke , Ohio , and Marshall Counties , W. Va . Over 4.5 million tons of coal was produced in these four counties in 1962. Most of this production came from the Pittsburgh coalbed . Twelve coal samples were collected for this study , 11 from the Pittsburgh bed and 1 from the Lower Freeport bed . Two of these samples could be upgraded to produce metallurgical - grade coal . The sulfur content of the Pittsburgh- bed coals was generally excessive --as high as 4.9 percent in the raw coal and 3.19 percent in the float 1.30 specific gravity fraction . The rank of the coals in this area ranges from high-volatile A to high-volatile B bituminous .

Jan 1, 1964

By L. E. Fish, G. S. Wyman

CHUQUICAMATA open-pit mine is capable of producing a total of 105,000 tons daily. When the sulphide plant is operating to capacity the distribution of this quantity will be approximately 30,000 tons sulphide ore, 30,000 tons oxide ore and 45,000 tons of waste. At that time the combined capacity of the oxide and sulphide plants will be about 540 million lb of copper per year. Twenty one benches have been opened to date and all are still active except the three top ones at the northeastern limit of the pit. These have been pushed back to final slope line. The pit is 8850 ft long, 3540 ft wide and 980 ft deep. Benches are not all developed to a standard height as the large development shovels used in cutting new benches have been of different size and range. At this time new benches 521 ft high are being developed with an' 11-yd shovel. Ore haulage through the greater part of the pit operation has been on down grades to the crushing plant. With the opening of bench F-4 in April 1944 the first adverse-grade ore haul was encountered. Of the total tonnage now being mined, 35 pct comes from the four benches that are below the level of the crushing plant yard. Waste had been dumped on the same or nearly the same level as the bench from which it was removed up to the opening of bench F-4. Waste from this and lower levels is hauled to the level of the crusher, yard where it must cross the flow of ore traffic to reach the only available dumping space to the east of the mine. The average ore haul is 3.13 miles one way shovel to crusher, and the average waste haul from that portion handled by railroad is 3.32 miles one way from shovel to waste dump. Waste that is being removed by truck haulage from the upper part of the -mine is hauled an average of 1 mile. Ore loaded by trucks is hauled 3/4 mile to a car loading ramp and then by rail to the crushing plant. Drilling and Blasting There are two types of development for blasting being used: One for opening new benches and the other for bank shooting. The former consists of 9a in. diam churn-drill holes drilled 11.8 ft center to center in rows 10.2 ft apart with the holes staggered in the rows thus giving an equilateral-triangle pattern of 11.8 ft on a side. After the first block, 492 ft long by 71.5 ft wide, is shot in the pattern described above, the cut is advanced by smaller shots consisting of four rows of holes spaced 23 ft center to center with the rows 23 ft apart. These shots are fired in conjunction with side shots in which the holes are drilled 33 ft center to center and 29.5 ft back from the toe, thus squaring up the bank for subsequent shooting. An average bank shot consists of about 60 holes drilled in two rows parallel to the face, 30 holes to

Jan 1, 1952

By J J. F Smith

The application of pneumatically loaded ANFO for underground mining has continued to increase year by year since the technique was first developed and introduced underground during the early 1960's. Improvements in the manufacturing process for explosives grade prills, the design and construction of more efficient AN prill-fuel oil blending equipment, and the introduction of more durable and reliable pneumatic loaders have promoted the wide application of the relatively low cost blasting agent, ANFO.

Jan 1, 1982

By Edgard Llamoca T

"El objetivo del siguiente texto es describir las características geológicas de los niveles 80, 120 y 155 de la Mina Sucuitambo, situada en la provincia de Caylloma, departamento de Arequipa. La medición de los dos primeros nivels se realizó con referencia al último nivel 155 del trabajo. Posteriormente se hace una descripción de las distintas vetas con sus posibilidades de laboreo en los distintos niveles, especialmente en el nivel 155. Las nueve vetas a considerar son la del Carmen, Nueva Corona, Corona, Potosí, San Fidel, Potosí Ramal, San Pedro, San Mateo y San José, respectivamente. Finalmente para la geología de los niveles en mención se ha empleado cinta métrica y brújula, basándose en los planos geológicos revisados en el año 1954, de los niveles 80 y 120. El suscrito completó el mapeo de dichos niveles en las labores trabajadas hasta junio de 1956, y ha hecho el reconocimientogeológico de todo el nivel 155. Así también se ha confeccionado tres planos geológicos correspondientes a los tres niveles, además de las tres secciones estructurales."

Jul 20, 1956

By M. Clair Smith

The Sweetwater, Castro, Trinidad, New London, and Hilltop chromite properties are situated within an area 8 miles long and 1 mile wide between San Luis Obispo city and Morro Creek, San Luis Obiso County, Calif. Development work at this group of mines was a part of a long-range project by the Bureau of Mines to develop strategic mineral reserves in the United States in accordance with the Strategic Minerals Act of 1939. The junior author of this report participated in the preliminary examinations made in 1941 of the chromite deposits that later in the same year were the subject of more intensive investigation under the immediate supervision of the senior author. The ore occurs in lenses and kidneys in masses of dunite contained in large poridetite areas. Production has boon in the form of lump ore and concentrates from disseminated ore. Work by the Bureau of Miner included surveying, mapping, trenching, sampling, and assaying. It is summarized separately in the text under the name of each mine investigated. The report gives a brief history of the district, describer the concentrating plant of the Castro Associates, and gives detailed results on sampling and assays at the various proportion.

Jan 1, 1951