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By R. L. Soderberg

This paper is one of a series on mining methods and costs being published by the Bureau of Mines. It describes briefly the mining methods employed since the start of operations in 1937, with emphasis on the diamond-drill blast-hole method of ore breaking and slusher-drift method of ore drawing at the Holden mine of the Howe Sound Co., Chelan Division, Holden, Wash. The Holden mine is in the north-central part of the Cascade Range, 11 miles up Railroad Creek from Lake Chelan. The nearest railroad is at Chelan Falls, 40 miles by boat and 4 miles by highway from the mine. All freight comes into the mine and all concentrates are shipped out via Chelan Falls. The altitude of the main haulage level is 3,500 feet. Railroad Creek Valley is covered with a dense growth of fir and spruce, while most of the surrounding mountains are rocky, with sparse timber growth.

Jun 1, 1948

By C. A. C. Sequeira, G. N. Anastassakis

Electrochemical processes occur on nano-, micro- and macro- scale in numerous applications such as fuel cells, batteries, hydrogen production, mineral extraction, water treatment, electrotherapy, sensors and many others. In most of these applications, gases evolve either at one or both electrodes due to electrolysis. These gases form bubbles play a crucial role in electrochemical systems. For example, in electrowinning (EW) that is used to extract and refine metals such as Cu, Zn, Ni, Mn, and Cd from their solutions, in most cases the solution is acidic and oxidation of water molecules at the anode is the common counter reaction, which results in the liberation of oxygen bubbles. This generally requires a high overpotential and accounts for a considerable percentage of the energy consumed in metal EW electrolytic cells, apart from producing acid mist that is very corrosive for other cell equipment and building structures. The behaviour of bubbles in electrochemical systems is still a complex challenging topic which requires a better understanding of gas bubbles hydrodynamics and their interactions with electrode surface and bulk liquid, as well as between the bubbles themselves. The objective of the current paper is to briefly review the fundamental hydrodynamics of both gas bubbles on the electrode surface and gas bubbles interaction with the liquid bulk solution. The current work also investigates the impact of gas bubbling and some operating parameters in copper EW, such as current density (100-500 A/m2), temperature (25-75ºC), acidity (50-300 g/L) and a typical chemical mist suppressant (<50 ppm). The results clearly show that both suppressant and temperature reduced the overall surface tension of the solution. Also, chloride concentration and applied current improved electrolyte flow and copper quality at higher current densities. The current paper contributes to the development of mineral processing (specifically to copper hydrometallurgy), as it deals with fundamental hydrodynamics and interactions of gas bubbles that formed during copper EW and play a crucial role in copper electrochemical systems.

Jan 1, 2018

By Josef Martinsen

This paper describes two-lane dual motorway tunnels under construction in Bergen. The tunnels are part of a by-pass motorway system throuth the most congested area of the city of Bergen. The tunnels are unique due to their length, heavy traffic, longitudinal ventilation system and the use of a tunnel boring machine, or "TBM", to excavate through hard rock. The tunnels are being built by The Norwegian Public Road Administration and the TBM was delivered by the Robbins Company. The diameter of the TBM is 7.8 m and the tunnel profile is cut by conventional drill and blasting methods in the tunnel&apos;s lower half to attain a two lane motorway tunnel. This paper also describes proposed fjord crossings along the Norwegian west coast where the TBM may be used due to its great advantages in comparison to conventional drill and blasting methods.

Jan 1, 1987

By Eduardo M. Sacris

The performance of the grinding circuit, from the initial stages of operation to the present, is discussed. The mill efficiency as measured by the Bond grindability data and the operating work index is presented. The objective has been to produce a sand cyclone overflow containing not more than 6% +65 mesh. However, this has never been attained even at low milling rates. On the other hand, significant improvements in throughput were achieved by instituting some equipment changes and process modifications within the grinding circuit. The latest approach to solving the coarse grind problem is also discussed.

Jan 1, 1983

By E. J. Y., G. J. McLachlan, E. Amini, Koha

Inferring individual component flotation rates from recovery-time data of ore complexes is important in optimising and designing minerals processing plants. However, existing two-component first-order flotation models are computationally intensive to solve using conventional non-linear least squares regression. In this paper, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is used to approximate the inverse function which predicts the two-component first-order model parameters using recovery-time data. This paper compares the accuracy and computation speed of the proposed CNN against traditional non-linear least squares regression on 1 million generated data based on a known two-component firstorder kinetic model. It is shown that using a CNN is possible to approximate the inverse function for the non-invertible two-component model with recovery-time as an input matrix for convolution operations. The CNN method is 450 times faster to compute than the Trust-Region (TR) non-linear least squares regression algorithm. However, the CNN model is less accurate compared to the TR algorithm overall. Keywords: Flotation kinetics, convolutional neural network, inverse problem, modelling and simulations

Jan 1, 2020

By Jr. Hawk

The power generation industry may be required to reduce CO2 emissions if regulations related to global climate change are enacted. Coal-fired generation, which emits 82% of the power sector CO2, would be a likely target for CO2 reduction. Compliance with the Kyoto protocol will require a 30% reduction from the projected year 2012 emission level even with moderate load growth. This paper describes an analysis of power industry CO2 reduction options and their costs to assess how a generator would make compliance decisions under a mandatory CO2 emissions reduction program. Carbon sequestration, fuel switching and new plant construction are considered.

Jan 1, 1999

By S Farrokhpay, C Akop

Copper-gold-pyrite ore types with an elevated pyrite head grade utilise a sequential flotation circuit to recover initially a copper-gold concentrate with a pyrite-gold concentrate being produced from the tailing of the initial circuit.A simpler flotation circuit with lower operating and capital costs for treatment of such copper-gold-pyrite ores with an elevated pyrite head assay was sought in the described work. After characterising the ore, the objective was to apply bulk rougher flotation of both the copper minerals and pyrite for the copper-gold-pyrite ore at natural pH. Hence, no lime or other pyrite depressants were required in bulk roughing. The bulk rougher concentrate was upgraded in a cleaner circuit to reject non-sulfide gangue and then the resulting sulfide concentrate was separated by depressing the pyrite to produce two products (copper and pyrite concentrates, both having significant gold assays). A standard test with a sequential circuit was applied to the same ore for comparison.The chalcopyrite and pyrite losses in the tailing from the rougher circuit were the same for both bulk and sequential roughing (less than six per cent). In cleaning (bulk circuit), the effective pH for pyrite depression was 11.8–11.9; copper recovery was 70–75 per cent (grade of 15–20 per cent copper) and the sulfur recovery (pyrite product) was 80–85 per cent (grade of 34–36 per cent sulfur).These results approached those for the sequential circuit where copper recovery was 80–85 per cent (grade of 15–20 per cent copper) and the sulfur recovery (pyrite product) was 83 per cent (grade of 38 per cent sulfur).The observed effects of feed sizing on the liberation of minerals in the rougher feed are discussed. Options for improving the bulk circuit results are also considered. Importantly, the implications of various aspects of these findings for the bulk circuit are discussed with an industrial focus.CITATION:Akop, C, Farrokhpay, S and Johnson, N W, 2014. An alternative circuit for chalcopyrite-pyrite ores with elevated pyrite content in Cu-Au ore treatment, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference 2014 , pp 407–416 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 1, 2014

By E. W. Davis

THIS nation has been depending upon the Lake Superior iron ranges for most of its iron ore requirements for over half a century. Furthermore, it can continue to draw the major portion of its ore requirements from the same source for another century or more, but to accomplish this, great changes must take place in the present ore mining industry. Preliminary preparations for these changes are now underway and in the next few years decisions of far-reaching importance must be made. But to understand the situation, it is first necessary to know something of the nature and occurrence of the Lake Superior iron formation. So far as is known, the merchantable grades of iron ore remaining in the various Lake Superior ranges are as shown in Table 1, which shows that

Jan 1, 1947

By John Hillman

The reconstruction of the British mining industry which began shortly after nationalisation in 1947 continued until well into the 1950s with the support of the Government. This support diminished as plentiful supplies of cheap oil from the middle East made many coalmines un¬economic. The planned rundown which followed was foreshadowed in the 1965 White Paper which outlined the financial measures to speed the closure of uneconomic collieries. The decline appeared likely to continue into the 21st century as the role of coal in UK energy requirements became less and less significant. This policy was well on course in 1973 when the oil crisis led to a complete reappraisal of the position. A Government examination in 1974 of the coal industry then supported the National Coal Board&apos;s general strategy of major capital investment as set out in its &apos;Plan for Coal&apos; (1). Plan for Coal aimed at halting the intended decline in the industry&apos;s capacity and restoring it to 120 million tons of deep mined output in 1985. The Plan proposed action along the following lines (a) increase output by major Investment in construction at existing collieries with sufficient reserves to give 13 million tons per annum extra output (b) invest in extending the life of existing collieries by gaining access to additional reserves, to give 12 million tons per annum extra output © by sinking new mines, produce an extra 20 million tons per annum. Figure 1 shows the contribution (2) expected from each of the three sources up to 1990/1. The measures taken were expected to offset the inevitable exhaustion of existing pits and provide the additional 40-42 million tons capacity needed to restore annual output in 1985 to 120 million tons. Parallel to this programme for expansion of deep mined output, opencast mining was to produce 10-15 million tons per annum. A recent review however, indicates that new mines are likely to yield only 10 million tons per annum by 1985, mainly owing to the need for public inquiries into proposals for new mining and the resultant fact that planning approval takes &apos;much longer than originally expected. Nevertheless the objective of 120 million tons deep mined output by 1985 is still considered achievable of means of a greater contribution from existing mines. This programme was originally estimated to cost 2,-56 million dollars at March 1974 prices, out revised estimates of the cost of Plan for Coal indicate that it may now exceed 6,960 million dollars at mid-1977 prices. Plan for Coal includes a substantial investment in new and reconstructed coal preparation plaints. At mid-1977 prices more than 322 million dollars Ls so be invested in coal preparation projects in the UK, at the rate of, about 70 million dollars a year. This rate 3f capital expenditure has been maintained over the past three years and covers investment in a wide range of coal preparation coals for the power station, coking and domestic markets.

Jan 1, 1978

By R Dunne

"Continuous improvement on metallurgical treatment plants is possible only when good data and analysis of the data are available. Good data implies appropriate and accurate mass measurement coupled with good sampling practices and accurate chemical analysis especially when carrying out monthly metallurgical metal reconciliations. Adequate characterisation of key samples (eg tailings, feed, concentrates and others) at timely intervals is an important part of a good continuous improvement program. The data from this will help identify opportunities to improve operation performance and thus profitability. Examples are provided of projects that have led to improved plant performance based on good metallurgical data collection and analysis.Citation:Dunne, R, 2016. Using Metallurgical Data to Drive Continuous Improvement, in Proceedings 13th AusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference 2016, pp 201&ndash;206 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Oct 10, 2016

By J. R. Thoenen

This circular is the third of a series summarizing the technical problems involved in the production and preparation of sand and gravel. The first, Information Circular 6668, published in December 1932, discussed the problems involved in prospecting and exploration. The second, Information Circular 6689 (March 1933), dealt with the development of gravel deposits. This is part I of a paper designed to present a study of problems arising in the excavation of sand and revel and their delivery to the treatment plant. Other circulars are planned which will discuss preparation of the material for market, plant storage, and miscellaneous subject. Definitions For the purpose of this circular, excavation is defined as the recovery of sand and gravel from developed natural deposits and their delivery to a plant for market preparation.

Jan 1, 1934

By C. Clark, R. Pakalnis, B. Seymour, L. Martin, R. Jacksha, M. Stepan, M. Roworth, C. Caceres

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is conducting research to develop safe practices for the use of shotcrete as ground support in underground mines, particularly mines operating in weak host rock. As part of this research, a rugged, portable direct tensile test system was developed for measuring shotcrete adhesion strength in underground mines. During the development of this test system, more than 185 direct tensile tests were conducted with a common, commercially available macro-synthetic fiber-reinforced shotcrete that was applied to concrete test panels using a dry mix process and machinery. The average bond strength of the shotcrete to the concrete substrate typically increased as a function of the shotcrete’s curing age, ranging from 0.44 MPa (64 psi) after one day of curing to 1.58 MPa (229 psi) after 90 days of curing. Adhesion strength increased markedly between one and three days of curing, reflecting a similar trend of increasing shotcrete tensile strength with curing time. This robust direct tensile test system can improve mine safety by providing a reliable means of measuring shotcrete adhesion strength and also supplying important information about the quality of the applied shotcrete and the competency of the underlying rock.

Jan 1, 2010

By Graham J. Morgan

The following material is excerpted from a presentation Mr. Morgan gave recently to representatives of the financial community. Introduction 1982 was a period of challenge for United States Gypsum Company because of reduced market opportunity. Housing starts for the first 10 months averaged a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1 million units, 9% below the comparable 1981 period when housing starts were the lowest in 35 years. Industry gypsum board shipments declined 9% from the already low levels of the same period in 1981. US Gypsum met the challenge with stringent cost reduction programs and aggressive action in the marketplace. In late 1981, anticipating market deterioration, the company&apos;s management adopted strategies to focus on two shortterm objectives: • Adjust operations to perform profitably in view of limited opportunities through more efficient operations and asset management. • Continue to strengthen U.S.G.&apos;s resources and ability to take advantage of important market opportunities as the economy improves through selective expansion of production capacity in key growth markets. Concentration on these two objectives resulted in a nine month performance in 1982 that, while certainly not satisfactory by company standards, compared very favorably with that of principal competitors in terms of net earnings, margin on sales, and return on average stockholders&apos; equity. To counteract limited market opportunities, U.S.G. focused on productivity improvement, cost reduction, expense control, and maximization of market penetration. Energy Use Improving performance encompassed all segments of operations. For example, efficient use of energy was a significant factor despite lower operating rates at most plants. Overall, in the third quarter of 1982 versus 1972, the company used 27% less energy per unit of production, a savings of $15 million in that quarter alone. These continuing improvements helped to partially offset constantly rising energy costs. A number of operations achieved superior results in the first nine months of the year compared with the same period in 1981. For example, gypsum board plants in Jacksonville, FL, and Sweetwater, TX, recorded 8% and 7% reductions, respectively, in energy use per unit of production. Paper mills in Oakfield, NY, Galena Park, TX, and Kansas City, MO, each reduced energy use more than 12%, while the Greenville, MS, ceiling products facility achieved a 16%o reduction. Safety Safety is another important element that received increased attention. U.S.G.&apos;s safety performance over the past five years has consistently improved. In 1981 it was five times better than that of the gypsum industry; nearly 10 times better than all industry as measured by the National Safety Council; and almost 20 times better than all US manufacturing as recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition to human concerns, this excellent record results in significant dollar savings that directly affect company results. In 1981, U.S.G.&apos;s pre-tax savings in claims, premiums, and related expenses were about $20 million compared to the industries in which it competes. For the first half of 1982 performance improved further, with a cumulative lost workday incidence rate per 200,000 man-hours worked of only 0.27, an all-time record. Expense Control Careful control of inventories and receivables also received special attention. As of Sept. 30, 1982, inventories were 29%, or $44 million, below the level of Sept. 30,

Jan 2, 1983

By Szwedzicki T

In recent years substantial advances have been made in the field of geomechanics. Staff at the Western Australian School of Mines (WASM) are keen to see that such advances continue and that the mining industry in Australia can take full advantage of such developments in a timely manner. WASM views mining geomechanics in its broadest sense, as being concerned with the characterisation of the physical properties and the behaviour of earth materials (soil, rock and water) and openings as mining proceeds. Aspects such as, soil and rock improvement techniques for difficult site conditions and the rock breaking processes, are also considered to be an integral part of mining geomechanics. This paper indicates the inter-relationships between the various areas within the field of geomechanics and the strong reliance of all of these areas on site specific engineering geology.

Jan 1, 1992

By J. Fournier, D. Fortin, F. Robichaud

Since milling began in 1988, the Laronde mill has been expanded several times, the most recent, increasing the milling rate from 5 000 to 7 000 mtpd. Laronde uses SAG/ball mill grinding followed by copper and zinc flotation circuits. A cyanidation/Merrill-Crowe process recovers the remaining gold and silver in the flotation tails in order to cope with high silver/gold ratio associated with the discovery of the Penna shaft. Since the commissioning of the Merrill-Crowe refinery in 2000, several modification and expansion projects were performed to reduce health and safety hazards. Remarkably, several of these improvements have contributed at increasing productivity and Net Smelter Return of the refinery while reducing worker&apos;s injuries. In 2004, the refinery was audited to evaluate and quantify the circuit performance. Metallurgical and mechanical operating conditions of the refinery are now understood and areas for further improvements are well defined. This paper describes some of the factors that have contributed to this improvement and describes how ergonomics and recovery can further be improved.

Jan 1, 2005

By G. Van Weert

Oxygen transfer from dispersed air in agitated slurries represents an important unit operation in the minerals processing industry. Gold leaching, iron precipitation and especially bio-oxidation come readily to mind. However, little engineering information is available on the variations between impeller types on such O2 transfer. Engineering literature on the subject, i.e. information which relates slurry density and energy input to O2 transfer, is reviewed and compared to current experimental work. The latter was carried out with minus 50 micron sand/water slurries in a 64 I laboratory tank of standard proportions, equipped with a variable speed drive with torque meter. A standard Rushton turbine and a specifically sized A315 were compared. Results confirm an increasing impairment of O2 transfer with increasing slurry density for both impellers. The volumetric mass transfer coefficient, k,a, in a 10 vol. % slurry shows a decrease of 30% compared to the k,a in water. At 20 vol. % sand this decrease is near 50 %, depending somewhat on superficial gas velocities. Power efficiency, i.e. the kg O2/kWh, decreases about 25 % more rapidly for the Rushton turbine than for the A315 with the addition of sand. However, for equivalent O2 transfer the Rushton turbine was more efficient in this work. Experimental results are presented and their significance for slurry bio-oxidation discussed.

Jan 1, 1996

By Earle S. Burnett

This report outlines the experimental procedures for using a Burnett apparatus to obtain compressibility coefficients for multiphase, multicomponent fluid mixtures. The conventional Burnett method is described briefly whereby multiphase compressibility data can be obtained by first determining the compressibility factor, Z, as an isothermal function of pressure alone. Then starting at conditions of temperature and pressure where Z is known, the fluid is cooled at constant volume to some lower temperature at which the resulting pressure is measured, and a corresponding value of Z is obtained from a fundamental relationship between compressibility factors, pressures, and temperatures at constant volume. The isochoric treatment of the fluid, extended to still lower temperatures and along other isochors, eventually results in compressibility determinations for the whole two-phase system thus covered experimentally.

Jan 1, 1963

By A Mehrani, F Zamani, A Dehghani

Vibrating screens play an important role in the dry classification circuit of Gol-e-Gohar iron ore processing plant. This circuit was designed to classify the autogenous mill discharge and produce a suitable feed, with K80 about 450 ¦m, for dry magnetic separators. Three parallel vibrating screens produce more than 50 per cent of the separatorÆs feed. The efficiency of the magnetic separator is greatly affected by feed size distribution. In this work, the JKSimMet 5.1 software was used as an analysing tool to assess the flow rates and USIM PAC3 software as the simulation tool to control and optimise the vibrating screens. Samples were collected and the circuit was mass balanced. Then the vibrating screen was simulated and adjustment parameters such as cut-point, bypass and imperfection factor were determined. The product streams of vibrating screens can also be predicted.

Jan 1, 2007

By M. Fan, H. E. Wyslouzil, J. Kohmeunch

Eriez HydroFloat(TM) separators and Canadian Process Technologies (CPT) flotation columns have been developed to overcome the limitations of traditional flotation cells in recovering coarse and fine particles, respectively. The flotation column can effectively separate 30-5 µm phosphate. Several industrial-scale HydroFloat separators have been installed in phosphate and potash beneficiation plants. Industrial-scale ultra-coarse (+850 µm) phosphate separation results suggest that a more-than 40% BonePhosphate- of-Lime (BPL) recovery increase and a 37% collector consumption reduction can be achieved. The paper describes the applications of Eriez HydroFloat separators to coarse particle separation and the CPT flotation column to fine/ultrafine particle flotation.

Jan 1, 2009

By Atmesh K. Sinha

The market for thermal coal has recently been growing rapidly and it is projected to continue to do so in the foreseeable future. Both the national and international markets often demand high Btu low sulfur thermal coal in order to minimize the cost of utilization and meet the environmental restrictions. High quality thermal coal can be prepared to compete in the utility market by desulfurizing the high Btu midwestern coal and blending it with low sulfur western coal which is usually low in Btu content. The methods that can be used for optimizing the coal preparation plant operating parameters for physically desulfurizing coal is presented.

Jan 1, 1984