Search Documents

By W. O. Hotchkiss

Rock exposures are usually a very small part of the surface area in any mining district and the prospector and geologist must base their deductions as to the area, extent, and structure of various formations upon exposures that seldom form 5 per cent. of the area studied. Most often, outcrops form less than 1 per cent. of an area, so that exploration for mineralized contacts or mineral-bearing formations necessitates drilling, test pitting or tunneling, shaft sinking, and other underground work. In these days of high costs any method that will give definite facts regarding rock? obscured by soil or other material should be used to the greatest possible extent. In the early days of the Lake Superior iron districts, mines were located in the few places where ore was present in outcrops. Later, larger orebodies have been found, in depressions, obscured by soil and other foreign material. Mineralized rocks are oftentimes more weathered, softer, and more easily eroded than unmineralized rocks. It is quite natural, therefore, to expect that such orebodies (particularly where large enough to influence erosion in former physiographic conditions) should lie in depressions and be obscured by later debris. It is not difficult to believe that the history of the development of Lake Superior iron mining may be duplicated in other mining districts, that even larger orebodies than those first mined may be found in areas where the rock exposures, which led to original discoveries, are few or lacking. The chief properties of rocks that can manifest themselves through an obscuring cover are magnetism, electrical effects, radio-activity, gravity, and sound transmission. All of these have been used, to a small extent, to tell us a few things about what lies below the surface that we could not otherwise determine, but none has been used so long and so widely as

Jan 1, 1923

By W. O. Hotchkiss

Rock exposures are usually a very small part of the surface area in any mining district and the prospector and geologist must base their deductions as to the area, extent, and structure of various formations upon exposures that seldom form 5 per cent. of the area studied. Most often, outcrops form less than 1 per cent. of an area, so that exploration for mineralized contacts or mineral-bearing formations necessitates drilling, test pitting or tunneling, shaft sinking, and other underground work. In these days of high costs any method that will give definite facts regarding rock? obscured by soil or other material should be used to the greatest possible extent. In the early days of the Lake Superior iron districts, mines were located in the few places where ore was present in outcrops. Later, larger orebodies have been found, in depressions, obscured by soil and other foreign material. Mineralized rocks are oftentimes more weathered, softer, and more easily eroded than unmineralized rocks. It is quite natural, therefore, to expect that such orebodies (particularly where large enough to influence erosion in former physiographic conditions) should lie in depressions and be obscured by later debris. It is not difficult to believe that the history of the development of Lake Superior iron mining may be duplicated in other mining districts, that even larger orebodies than those first mined may be found in areas where the rock exposures, which led to original discoveries, are few or lacking. The chief properties of rocks that can manifest themselves through an obscuring cover are magnetism, electrical effects, radio-activity, gravity, and sound transmission. All of these have been used, to a small extent, to tell us a few things about what lies below the surface that we could not otherwise determine, but none has been used so long and so widely as

Jan 1, 1923

By Thomas H. Wilson

Common offset and refraction seismic data have been collected over four longwall panels at two different locations within West Virginia. Surveys prior, during and after mining were made in both areas. The velocity of seismic wave propagation in the overburden rocks is observed to decrease in response to panel emplacement. Variations in the magnitude of this reduction, apparent as an additional first arrival time delay in the after mining common offset surveys, do not appear to correlate directly to the amount of subsidence that has occurred. Velocity reduction and signal absorption zones are also produced in the cover beyond the panel face over the adjacent unmined areas. Signal absorption and velocity reduction zones have also been observed over room and pillar entry areas between mined panels. Velocity reduction zones have been- observed beyond the panel face in both shallow and deep mines, but the signal absorption zone has not been observed over the deeper mine. Changes in the compressional wave velocities of the cover rocks are associated with changes in their elastic moduli. Differences between borehole derived and surface seismic derived interval velocities, are related to differences in the properties of the bulk volume sampled by each method.

Jan 1, 1988

Jan 1, 1963

By E. A. Adey, C. Baciu, P. Whitbread-Abrutat, M. Varul, T. Ejdemo, R. K. Shail, F. Wall

Responsible mining requires stakeholder engagement throughout all operational stages and after mine closure. By assessing the current and anticipated future socio-economic and environmental impacts, a company can maximise the positive impacts they can have on a community, whilst minimising any negative impacts. Despite the current emphasis on companies maintaining effective stakeholder relations to gain their ‘social license’ to operate, findings of the present study reveal a wide variation in community expectations, with different degrees of ‘acceptability’ evident across seven sites in Romania (Rosia Montana), Sweden (Kristineberg), the United Kingdom (Cornwall), Bosnia Herzegovina (Vihovici) and Russia (Karabash, Gay and Mednogorsk). These variations reflect the current status of mining within a community, as well as its socio-economic background and the nature of existing engagement with mining companies already operating in the region.

Jan 1, 2011

By K. C. Heald

THE places where, yesterday, oil was unknown contain tomorrow's fields. Unquestionably, some states that now yield little or no oil have great potentialities, and developments in these states, although perhaps of less immediate interest than those in regions where great pools now exist, may easily be of greater ultimate importance than the results of exploration closer to known fields. Not long ago, Montana had only a quarter of an oil pool, and that was regarded by many as an accident that had strayed from Wyoming. More recently, the northern line of Louisiana was a dead line that would not be crossed by any Louisiana operator who valued his reputation for sanity. Within the past few months, Colorado has shown that it is far from being a negligible factor in the oil supply of the Rocky Mountain states, and it is now known that western Kansas, long shunned by many reputable geologists and operators, should be reckoned with. There may be a vast difference between what a wildcat well yields and what the well signifies. The fact that no commercial production is encountered may be lamentable and may well be disastrous to an individual or a company, but the same well that spells ruin to one may convey to another the information that will result in opening a new field. In presenting the conclusions, in this paper, the writer recognizes fully the possibility of erroneous deductions, particularly since he has had contact with only a few of the wells that are mentioned. Information comes principally from the scout. maps and files maintained at the Geological Survey by M. E. Latimer and G. K. Drach, without whose cooperation this summary would not be possible, supplemented by some personal contact and second-hand information gained by. conversation and correspondence. However, it is felt that the data contain few errors, and that the conclusions are at least reasonable.

Jan 3, 1924

By W. A. Cincilla

The use of resin-grouted rock anchors continues to gain popularity in underground wall mines in the United States. It is estimated that during 1985, more than 30% and as many as 35% of all roof bolts used employed sane from of resin anchor. The so-called 'combination' bolting systems, which generally utilize a resin pint-anchor, have also found increased application. This increased application is particularly true in poor ground, where more 'traditional' support measures have performed poorly. Virtually all resin bolts in use today in U.S. mines employ cartridge-type delivery systems, which in general, have produced good results under a variety of conditions. However, a host of inconsistent and sometimes uncontrollable variables may significantly alter the optimum bolt performance. These variables have been identified and are well documented in the literature (Snyder, et al., 1979; Kwitoweki and Wade, 1980; Serbcusek and Signer, 1985). The beau of Mines, Denver Research Center (DRC) conducted a major research project aimed at investigating the effects of selected aspects of installation procedures on resin-bolt performance. One objective of the project was to establish anchorage criteria for full column resin bolts installed in actual mining conditions. This piper describes the results of a particular study which focused on quantifying, through field tests, possible reductions in bolt anchorage due to installation of less-than optimum resin columns. These columns might result from losses of resin to surrounding strata, or non-compliance with recommended installation procedures. Over 1000 resin bolts having grout columns ranging from 12 inches up to 48 inches (full column) were installed and pull-tested at 13 underground test sites located in a total of 11 mines (Fig. 1). Four basic roof-rock types were included: shale, top coal, sandstone, and limestone. The majority of the bolts employed 3/4-in-diameter, 48-in-long, type 40 rebar having a minimum '~ated' yield point of 17,600 lb (8.8 tons). Actual yield strength may vary by manufacturer.

Jan 1, 1986

By Fernanda de Paula, Lázaro A. Rohen, Sérgio N. Monteiro, Rafael G. de Castro, Carlos Maurício. F. V, Maycon A. Gomes, Frederico M. Margem, Anna C. C. Neves

Synthetic fiber has been gradually replaced by natural fiber, such as lignocellulosic fiber. In comparison with synthetic fiber, natural fiber has shown economic and environmental advantages. The natural fiber presents interfacial characteristics with polymeric matrices that favor a high impact energy absorption by the composite structure. However, until now little has been evaluated about the hemp fiber incorporated in polymeric matrices. This study has the purpose of evaluate the impact resistance of this kind of epoxy matrix composite reinforced with different percentages of hemp fibers. The impact resistance has substantially increased the relative amount of hemp fiber incorporated as reinforcement in the composite. This performance was associated with the difficulty of rupture imposed by the fibers resulting from the interaction of hemp fiber / epoxy matrix that helps absorb the impact energy.

Jan 1, 2015

By Billy J. Thorne

The damage model in PRONTO simulates the dynamic fracture behavior of brittle rock. It is based on work started by Kipp and Grady, [lg] continued by Taylor, Chcn and Kuszmaul [I91 [20] and recently.modified by B. J. Thorne (first documented here). The essential feature of this model is the treatment of the dynamic fracture process in rock as a continuous accrual of damage in tension, where the damage mechanism is attributed to microcracking in the rock medium. The fundamental assumption of the damage model is that the material is permeated by an array of randomly distributed microcracks which grow and interact with one another under tensile loading.

Jan 1, 1989

Electricity supply constraints in SA are increasingly challenging mines to operate more energy efficiently without reducing production output. Mining compressed air systems are well known to be operated inefficiently and are also a major power consumer. Two available and proven technologies can be applied on new and existing mines to replace or and optimise available compressed air facilities and achieve meaningful reductions in electrical power consumption; ? Hydro powered drilling and mining is significantly more energy efficient than compressed air and provides drilling rates that are twice as fast. ? Stope drilling systems using compressed-air or water drills allow further energy savings. The technologies are discussed and a broad strategy to selectively apply these them together is presented.

Jan 1, 2008

Historically, mine ventilation practices as it was referred to then and which was enforced by legislation of those days, focused primarily on the conditions in the working place and little attention given to actual exposures of workers to contaminants in the working environments. With the advent of the Leon Commission of Inquiry into Safety and Health in the South African Mining industry in 1994, findings in the report indicated that more attention should be given to occupational health of workers. The upshot of this report resulted in the promulgation of the new Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) with certain sections of it devoted to all the aspects of occupational medicine and occupational hygiene. This paper describes the present situation with regards to statistics on occupational hygiene performance and compensation paid out to persons who have contracted occupational diseases, as well as the way forward in terms of legislation implemented in September 2002 on the chronic and acute issues affecting the mining industry in SA.

Jan 1, 2003

By Alessandro Navarra, Kristian Waters

Mineral concentrators are designed from preliminary geological data, and are therefore subject to geological uncertainty. This uncertainty has a demonstrable impact on the mining lifecycle, and has motivated stochastic strategic mine planning algorithms. The current paper describes how these algorithms may be extended to consider mineral processing operations in conjunction with open-pit mining operations. In particular, the paper describes an effective way to incorporate variable concentrator feed grade into these algorithms, which is the first step toward more elaborate representations of mineral concentrators. The resulting framework will be able to connect geological data to alternate configurations of the downstream resources, hence comparing the benefit of each configuration, and the corresponding capital investments. Sample computations are presented, comparing the NPV and utilization for several different mineral processing capacities.

Jan 1, 2015

By Dilip. Makhija, Asim. K. Mukherjee, Tamal Ghosh, Abhay Patra

In India around 15-20% of Run of Mine (ROM) from any iron ore deposit reports to slime dams as byproduct of iron ore beneficiation process. The proportion of iron ore slime to ROM will increase in future with higher proportion of lean grade ores in ROM. Furthermore, tonnages of iron ore slime will also increase with increasing demand of iron concentrate. Presently, this slime is stored in the dam in the absence of beneficiation technology. A beneficiation flowsheet has been developed at Tata Steel. This process produced concentrate of 2.2% alumina with 40 % yield from slime of 7-9% alumina. The iron content in the reject will be less than 40% thus adhering to the regulatory norm. Pilot scale study show waste from slime beneficiation is a good raw material for making a variety of building materials. Waste from slime beneficiation also has soil amendment properties. Pilot scale studies show productivity of rice increased when the waste of slime beneficiation process is mixed with soil. On commercialization of this zero waste technology slime generated from the iron ore washing plant will be completely used. In this paper the result of the pilot scale studies on slime beneficiation and utilization processes towards soil making and making of building materials are discussed in detail.

Jan 1, 2014

By J. K. Richmond

This is a progress report summarizing more than 5 years of a long-range Bureau of Mines research program. The purpose of this program has been to investigate the fire and explosion properties of Green River oil shale in the Bureau's Experimental Mine, in laboratories, and in the field. The lean limits of explosibility of oil shale dust, by small-and large-scale tests, are reported as a function of grade, ignition source, and particle size. A limited number of laboratory tests on the autoignition of oil shale dust layers and the spontaneous combustion tendencies of oil shale are described. Moderate-scale rubble fire tests were conducted to determine flame spread rates as a function of ventilation flow. With the aid of a system to continuously monitor methane emissions in a deep oil shale mine, the characteristics of the methane flow are reported as a function of ventilation and blasting procedures, and are compared with gas yields from core samples. Tentative predictions as to the emission of the methane to be expected in deep oil shale mines, far from the outcrop, are offered. Brief reference is made to a parallel investigation into the fire and explosion hazards of oil shale mining and processing by a Bureau contractor; detailed results of the latter investigation are to be found in the contractor's reports.

Jan 1, 1982

THE present article makes no claim to be exhaustive, since it cannot contain all the knowledge which scientists and manufacturers of the compounds of the rare earths have gained. The following notes are, therefore, simply an attempt to ascertain andclearly record the occurrence, properties, and uses of the more important of the rare earths, with a special reference to their commercial values and the industries based upon them.HISTORYIt was the mine manager, Gcyer, of Stockholm, who, in 1788, first drew attention to a black mineral which had been found in a quarry near Roslagen, in Sweden. In 1805 Klapproth received some specimens of this mineral, which he declared to be a newmineral. Subsequently Gadolin, professor of chemistry at Abo, analyzed the same mineral, and determined the presence of an unknown earth resembling alumina and lime. He named the mineral ytterbite, and afterwards gadolinite. Klapproth has alsothe merit of having detected (1804) another rare earth, which he named ochroit-earth, found in the Bastnas mine, near Riddarhyttan, in Wcstmannland, Sweden. Curiously enough, Hisinger and Berzelius simultaneously ascertained the existence of the same...

Jan 1, 1909

By Arild Palmström, Castro Fresno

El presente trabajo se enfoca en la información recolectada a partir de testigos de perforación diamantina, dejando de lado cualquier otra fuente de información como serían los afloramientos rocosos, laboreos subterráneos, estudios geofísicos, ensayos de laboratorio o de campo, etc. Cuando consideramos un formato de logueo geotécnico de perforaciones diamantinas, primeramente debemos evitar la utilización de formatos extremadamente grandes y complejos, no se necesita recolectar una gran cantidad de información, se necesita recolectar la información necesaria.

Sep 1, 2017

By C. T. Holland

This discussion is concerned with those com-J- paratively infrequent bumps that eject material from the failed mass with enough energy to wreck heavy machinery and seriously injure or kill people. In such cases there is a loud report, and the pressure waves set up in the mine atmosphere wreck ventilation controls several hundred feet from the site of the failure. Vibrations are induced in the earth's crust which may be detected several miles from the point of origin, and explosive gases may be released in large quantities." Usually a dense suspension of dust is produced from the failed mass, together with dust placed in suspension by the resulting air blast. These rock bursts or bumps have also been called mountain shots, bounces, pillar bursts, and crumps. Such occurrences, when extensive, are serious catastrophes, and may force abandonment of the mine.' CAUSES OF ROCK BURSTS Rock bursts in coal mines have occurred in sev-eral places under diverse geological conditions, mining methods, and/or practices. A study of many such occurrences indicates that they depend on the following conditions: 1) cover thickness of 500 ft or more, 2) cover composed of strong members and having a strong member lying close to or on the coal bed, and 3) a floor that does not readily heave. The minimum thickness of cover under which coal mine rock bursts occur is based on observation. Under unusual circumstances involving very strong roof members and/or mining systems, and/or practices especially likely to induce bursts, a burst conceivably could occur under less roof. Under special circumstances rock bursts have occurred in marble quarries almost at the surface.' Furthermore, under very heavy cover it is likely that controlling roof members need not be as strong and as close to the coal bed to cause bumps. Just what constitutes a strong roof or roof member is open to question. Obviously the strength of a roof member is determined by its thickness, the distance between bedding planes across which little or no bond exists, the spacing and development of joints, and the inherent strength of the rock material. Strata sections showing roofs under which rock bursts in coal mines have developed are illustrated in Fig. 2. In several instances the strength of rocks composing the roof of mines developing bumps has been tested. The tests (Table I) show that these rocks develop considerable strength in compression, bending, and shear and that in some cases the strengths are very high. No quantitative data are available concerning joints in roof members over coal beds where rock bursts have occurred, but the author has examined many mines subject to bursts and has received the impression that joints in the shales immediately over the coal beds are always present and well developed. In the main sandstone or conglomerate members themselves, however, where observed, he has yet to see a fracture system indicating well developed joints. Undoubtedly joints are present, but the evidence indicates that they are few, poorly developed, and widely spaced. In a mine subject to bumps, moreover, actual measurements of roof spans up to 225 ft between supports under a cover of about 800 ft have been made before roof failure occurred. Such spans signify strong roof. In coal beds subject to rock bursts, the bottom rock is usually a sandy shale. A few tests (Table I) have been made on the floor rock of coal beds. Observations in mines indicate that they are usually weaker than roof rocks and that under load they show more plastic effects. Observation in ground subject to bursts invariably indicates a relatively strong floor highly resistant to heaving, although some heaving may occur. Other factors listed as favorable to rock bursts are: 1) mountainous surface; 2) steeply dipping beds; 3) proximity of faults, folds, and other similar geologic structures. Many bursts have occurred in mines under mountainous country, although many bursts in mines under a surface with little relief indicate that thickness of cover, not relief, is the essential factor. In steeply dipping beds, many bursts occur in mines that are essentially flat, and rock bursts have been recorded in beds dipping as much as 35o Most rock bursts in the U. S. occur in beds that dip less than 10 pct. It is also true that most U. S. coal is produced from beds dipping less than 10 pct. Geologically, faults are regarded as providing stress relief, but in the vicinity of faults, as well as sharp folds, it would seem that residual stresses could be present. The fact that rock bursts occur in areas remote from faults and sharp folds suggests that their presence is not necessary for this phenomenon to take place. There have been many bursts close to faults and folds, and it may be assumed that occasionally such structures accentuate their occurrence3 The conditions and circumstances under which they occur, coupled with the effects produced, leave In the Crowsnest Pass coalfield, British Columbia, a rock burst is estimated to have released 1.8 million cu ft of methane.

Jan 1, 1959

[ ]

Jan 1, 1938

Exploration and mining title administration in the Northern Territory has changed dramatically over the last 20 years. These changes have occurred due to legislative amendments, technological developments, and the changing face of the mining industry. The first legislation to control mining in the Northern Territory was the Northern Territory Gold Mining Act (1873) of South Australia. In 1911, control of the Northern Territory was passed from South Australia to the Commonwealth. As a result of the mining boom which followed the discovery of gold in Tennant Creek in 1932, the Commonwealth passed the Mining Ordinance of 1939. This legislation was amended 39 times and stayed in force until July 1982, when the self-governing Northern Territory passed the Mining Act 1980. This Act is still in force and is continuously under review. The first computerised mining titles system, REGIS, was created in 1984/85 and was, to all intents and purposes, just a computerised index. Various modifications ensued, and in 1989 the Titles Database was unveiled. The database has developed to be one of the most sophisticated yet user-friendly mining titles databases in Australia. In excess of 50 companies have access to the database from their own offices. Work continues on its development and fine-tuning. The paper outlines the development of the database since inception.

Jan 1, 1994

By Frank Sames

Ground vibration levels are generally predicted using equations such as the USBM equation implementing the scaled distance concept and describing geological and blast design parameters in a ground transmission constant.

Jan 1, 1995