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Software exhibitors at MINExpo will feature the newest, the best, the most comprehensive computer-based tools available to get minerals from the ground to the market. From the ?cloud? to the pit, the variety that will be featured is almost limitless ? a digital tool for every phase of the mining lifecycle. Blue Sky Network SkyRouter brings the Blue Sky Network to the cloud. Using its interactive Web portal, SkyRouter, with detailed mapping and integration with Google Earth, the Blue Sky Network links enterprises to personnel and assets anywhere on earth through Iridium satellites. The cloud-based solution is designed to support connectivity with remotely dispersed mobile assets, including Blue Sky?s dual-mode GSM and Iridium tracking and communications services. This enables seamless connectivity with assets in problematic cellular reception areas, where only 10 percent of the Earth is covered, and in remote locations.

Jan 1, 2012

By Thomas E. P. Wechsler

The limiting factor for most pyro-metallurgical processes in secondary cop- per melting is the time required to heat and melt the product. American Combustion's proprietary PYRETRON variable £uel/air/oxygen combustion system improves the throughput of existing scrap melting and heating furnaces for copper and copper alloy production by increasing the rate of heat transfer from the flame to the product. The increased productivity and energy savings obtained from this technology can result in sizable reductions in operating costs for smelting operations.

Jan 1, 1991

By John W. Frey

This paper presents one of a series of digests of foreign mining legis- lation and court decisions, which is being prepared in advance of a general re- port relative to the rights of American citizens to explore for minerals and to own and operate mines in various foreign countries. This interpretation of the laws governing the Portuguese overseas possessions, prepared from the best avail- able information in Washington, has been slightly amplified in accordance with suggestions transmitted through the courtesy of the Department of State by Fred Morris Dearing, American Minister at Lisbon.

Nov 1, 1929

By A Scott, I Onederra

Most iron ores occur in mine benches as complex mixtures of lithologies and ore types. This significantly complicates their characterisation for both blast design and fragmentation modelling. A great deal of technical and research effort has been applied to the development of models to predict fragmentation from rock blasting. A number of quite useful engineering models are currently available to blasting engineers and consultants, and more sophisticated approaches using mechanistic descriptions of rock breakage continue to be developed and applied by researchers and explosives companies.The engineering or empirical models that are in more general use within the industry, such as the Kuz-Ram model, require appropriate data if they are to generate useful fragmentation predictions. Some of these models have reached significant sophistication and have made very useful contributions to both routine blasting operations and the exploration of new blasting paradigms. However, these models struggle to adequately deal with rock that is as complex as iron ore. This paper reviews the characteristics of the most successful blast fragmentation models available to the industry and discusses approaches to the derivation of suitable rock mass properties to adequately describe blast fragmentation in a range of iron ores.CITATION:Scott, A and Onederra, I, 2015. Characterising the blasting properties of iron ore, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2015, pp 481–490 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 13, 2015

By George H. Holmes

This paper is one of a series on mining methods and practices published by the Bureau of Mines. It describes quarrying methods and crushing practices of the U. S. Lime. Products Corp. at its Sloan and Apex quarries. Calcining and milling processes. at the Sloan and Henderson plants also are outlined. The Sloan dolomite and limestone quarries and plant are in secs. 12 and 13, T. 23 5., R. 60 E., and sec. 18, T. 23 S., R. 61 E., M.D.B. &M., Clark County, Nev., about. 17 miles by paved highway southwest of Las Vegas (fig. 1). The Apox limestone quarry, and crushing plant are in sec. 26, T. 18 S., R. 63 E., M.D.B.&M., Clark County, Nov., approximately 18 milos northeast of Las Vegas, adjacent to U. S. Highway 91 (fig. 1). The Henderson calcining plant is Inc., in sec. 13, T. 22 S., R. 62 E., 14 miles southeast of Las Vegas on U. in a reduction unit of Basic Magnesium, M.D.B. &M., Clark County, Nev., about S. Highway 93 (fig. 1).

Sep 1, 1949

By B Hawkins, S Durkin, V Lawrence

The requirement for secondary egress from underground workings has long been regulated in Australia. Escape way systems have evolved from simple airleg rising ladders and timber ladders to steel galvanised ladders and more recently fully enclosed polyethylene ladders.The polyethylene ladder, Safescape Laddertube, was introduced to the underground mining industry in 2010. It is an enclosed cylindrical modular plastic ladder designed for use in underground escape ways and access ways. Since its first installation in May 2010, the Laddertube has been installed in 43 mines across four countries, totalling 8800 m of ladders installed to December 2013.The Cracow Gold mine is one operation using Laddertube, located 500 km north-west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Upon discovering and developing both the Empire and Roses Pride orebodies, a safe and economically viable secondary egress system and surface primary ventilation exhaust shafts were necessary to support development and production activities to these workings. The need arose to merge these two critical requirements together between surface and underground mine workings some 200 m and 400 m respectively for each orebody. Neither egress has intermediate access points within their full service length from top to bottom. Several options were considered, the preferable and most feasible method adopted was Laddertube.The longest egress length requiring Laddertube within the two vertical surface exhaust shafts was 400 m long, within a 3.5 m diameter shaft. Due to the length of the vertical Laddertube system in both egresses, personnel are to be assisted by mechanical means using the Extended Ladder Climb Assist system.The Gossan Hill mine also uses Laddertube for their escape ways. Part of the Golden Grove operation, Gossan Hill is an underground sublevel open stoping mine located in the mid-west of Western Australia.With a considerable mine life remaining and a history of acidic water and stress related deterioration in vertical openings, the mine operators sought an escape way solution that would provide for the long-term needs of Gossan Hill. Laddertube was selected due to its non-corrosive properties and the ability to fill in around the ladder way to provide stability to the raise opening.Laddertube is a recent development in escape way systems, and is effectively being applied in a variety of operations, meeting the specific needs of underground mines.CITATION:Durkin, S, Hawkins, B and Lawrence, V, 2014. The application of Safescape Ladders at the Cracow and Golden Grove operations, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Underground Operators’ Conference 2014 , pp 311–318 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Mar 24, 2014

By AIME AIME

DOUBT in anyone's mind that this is the age of metals, industrially speaking, could easily have been dispelled by attending the National Metal Congress in Chicago, Sept. 22 to 26. Iron, copper and aluminum; zinc, lead and nickel, often alloyed with each other or with some of a dozen minor metals, make the materials without which the modern world could not run. Science, pure and applied, is doing marvels in finding new mixtures, new alloys to meet new needs; in developing new means of rolling, fabricating, casting and welding metals cheaply-and effectively. These and related matters were the subject of 100 papers presented at 33 seperate sessions of the organizations that participated in the congress.

Jan 1, 1930

By William J., Coulter

IN the early days of Colorado mining, between 1880 and 1900, when Leadville, Kokomo, and Robinson were boom mining camps, the entire area around Climax for a matter of fifteen miles was overrun with prospectors, so the mineralized outcrop at Climax was not unknown. The principal interest in minerals during this period was in gold, silver, and lead, and since the Climax outcrop showed none of these it drew little attention. Geology played an important part in bringing prospectors to the very edge of the Climax deposit. The Mosquito fault, which crosses near the base of Bartlett Mountain, continues as an important geological structure, at least as far as Leadville some twelve miles distant, and at the base of Bartlett Mountain the vertical throw on the fault is estimated to be between 2000 and 5000 ft. The sedimentary beds known to the Leadville district are all present on Bartlett Mountain to the north of the Mosquito fault, which cuts them off abruptly, and exposes the Pre-Cambrian rocks that underlaid them, so the prospectors, who were searching for gold, silver, and lead in the sediments

Jan 1, 1946

By E. P. Reed

We are proud that one of our predecessor companies originated the phrase "Safety First". That phrase remains today as the guiding principle that governs our total approach to safety and well being in U. S. Steel. U. S. Steel management is totally committed to this attitude and our objective is to have every employee as deeply conscious of his safety responsibilities. Safety is a state of mind but like most things it must have a physical side - both intertwined and inseparable. You might say each promotes the other; and this gives us confidence that with hard work, cooperation from all individuals, and proper application of knowledge and experience, our ultimate objective of frequency "0" will be attained. It is in this vein of thought we present a paper today which gives you briefly our progress, mainly in the physical, or mechanical, protection of miners at work in the Southern District mining operations of U. S. Steel. The Southern District not only includes the underground mining of coal but the underground mining of zinc ore in Jefferson City, Tennessee, and the quarrying of dolomitic limestone near Bessemer, Alabama.

Jan 1, 1970

By Albert H. Clough

The Coast Range subarea of the Juneau Mining District (JMD) extends from the Canadian border north of the community of Skagway, southerly to Tracy Arm. It is bounded by the international boundary on the north and eastern edges. The Ferebee Glacier and Lynn Canal mark the western boundary, extending south to the Berners Bay region. From Berners Bay south, the western boundary is the eastern boundary of the Juneau Gold Belt (fig. E-l). The city of Skagway (fig. E-2) is the only developed community within the confines of the subarea. Skagway was originally established as a port for the Klondike gold rush of 1898. Recently, Skagway has gained prominence as a port for shipping goods into and mineral products out of Yukon Territory (fig. E-3). Skagway has also developed a thriving tourist industry based on its Alaskan traditions. The community of Skagway maintains a paved airstrip which is suitable for use by small multi-engine aircraft. Several regional air carriers serve Skag-way with frequent scheduled flights, especially during the summer months. Helicopter charter services are available from Skagway during the summer months.

Jan 1, 2012

By Donald Leroux, Simon Gariépy, Luc Lachance

"Quantitative information about the quality of metal balance results is often overlooked when making important plant production planning decisions. Not only is this common omission made in a context where many measurements taken in and around mineral processing plants carry significant errors, but it also conflicts with the AMIRA P754 Code of Practice for Metal Accounting. The fact that metal balances are typically published without any indication of data quality may give the wrong impression that the measurements are unquestionably accurate. While it is true that statistical data reconciliation can improve the confidence intervals of redundant variables, there is no data processing technique that brings them down to zero at a finite cost. In this paper, we review the entire data flow, starting from field instruments to metal accounting-based decision-making to show how measurement errors are transmuted into business risks associated with production planning. Necessary conditions for first exposing then quantifying such business risks are stated. Pitfalls to be avoided are also discussed. Finally, a simplified risk assessment and management procedure which considers the quality of metal balance results are applied to a polymetallic mineral processing plant. INTRODUCTION Each and every mineral processing plant has production reporting obligations. In this paper, we are concerned with metal accounting reports (Morrison, 2008) where saleable metal flows and inventories are estimated and published. These metal accounting reports are delivered to a variety of stakeholders who use them for internal management purposes (day-to-day plant production planning, plant operation optimisation, capital spending, etc.) as well as for external management (royalty settlements, tolling agreements, etc.). Hence, there should be no doubt that spotless metal accounting is instrumental to high-quality corporate governance (Gaylard et al., 2014) of mining and metallurgical companies. To this extent, one would have expected industry-endorsed standards to have emerged a long time ago. However, the lack of an accepted set of standard procedures for metallurgical accounting was explicitly recognized as an industry-wide problem only in August 2001 during an SAIMM workshop held in Cape Town, South Africa. Discussions that followed this workshop led to the initiation of the AMIRA Project P754, “Metal Accounting and Reconciliation”, in 2003."

Jan 1, 2015

By Peter K. Strangway

During 1973, a 20,000 net ton (18 100 metric ton) formcoke test was carried out at Inland's 26.5-foot (8.08-meter) hearth diameter on NO. 5 Blast Furnace. The formcoke briquettes were produced from Elko1 coal by FMC at their pilot plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The briquettes were shipped to Inland in open railroad cars and most of them were placed in an outside storage field until a sufficient amount was available for the actual blast furnace test. The test consisted of three phases: an initial four-week base period; the actual 33-day formcoke test period; and a final three-week post-test base period. During the formcoke test period, the regular coke skip loads were gradually replaced with skips of formcoke until, after a three-week period, the replacement ratio reached 80%. The furnace operated smoothly and quality hot metal was produced. The burden remained permeable and it was possible to maintain wind rates 9 of over 100,000 scfm (47 Nm3/s) without significant blast pressure increases. Dusting from the formcoke was not a problem either in the stockhouse or in the top gas. The formcoke briquettes maintained their original shape and density as they descended through the furnace. When the 80 percent replacement level had been reached, the inwall temperatures became higher than normal (about 2000 ºF (1090 ºC)) and followed an unusual steady pattern. In addition, the top gas temperature became higher than normal, and the hot metal analyses and temperatures began to fluctuate unacceptably. In general, it is felt that the high inwall temperatures were a result of channeling of the hot furnace gases along the stack walls. This channeling appears to have been promoted by a change in distribution of the burden in the top of the furnace which, undoubtedly, was caused by the increased increments of formcoke. Since it was felt to be unsafe to operate the furnace for an extended period of time with the inwall temperatures at the high level, a decision was made to remove the formcoke from the furnace. When this was done, the inwall temperatures returned to normal. Once the inwall temperatures had returned to normal, the remaining 3,800 net tons (3450 metric tons) of formcoke were used in the furnace at a nominal 40% replacement level for five continuous days. The furnace operated smoothly during this period, and the results were representative of satisfactory furnace operation with partial replacement of regular coke with formcoke. The test was successful in proving that formcoke can replace up to about 50% of the regular coke in a large furnace operating at high wind rates. However, additional work will be required to develop acceptable charging practices for using higher levels of formcoke replacement.

Jan 1, 1977

By P. E. Fitzgerald

ACIDIZING, as the terns is used in the petroleum production industry, involves the use of hydrochloric acid in predominantly limestone formations, resulting in the lowering of resistance offered to the flow of oil and gas through the oil-bearing formation, usually with resultant increased production. A number of articles have been written on the chemical treatment of oil and gas wells; a bibliography of these works will appear in Volume 123 of the Institute's TRANSACTIONS (1937), and a few other references are appended to this paper.

Jan 1, 1937

By Ronald M. Hays

The White Pine Copper Division of Copper Range Company is a large copper producer operating an underground mine, mill, and smelter on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Principal water discharges are from the tailings basin where these discharges are high in dissolved solids because of mine water pumped into the basin. Principal air emissions are from the smelter where SO2 emissions are uncontrolled. Although water discharges and air emissions have not had significant environmental impacts, environmental regulations could require additional control procedures. Because of low copper prices and poor profitability, cost of compliance with possible new environmental regulations could have serious impact on White Pine with no apparent significant beneficial environmental impacts.

Jan 1, 1979

By Kenneth Savidge

With the recent demand for increased coal production there has been a corresponding increase in the horsepower of the shearing machines. The resultant increase in the machine haulage pull has heightened the incident of haulage chain breakage resulting in machine downtime, but more seriously the danger to face personnel. This paper discusses the application of chainless haulage to longwall mining and describes the systems currently available.

Jan 1, 1978

By G. A. Shirey

Breakthroughs in software technology and in computer hardware capabilities have opened new opportunities to develop more accurate process simulators and to reduce the operating time to reasonable levels. As a result, there are several new simulation packages being commercialized for modeling coal preparation plants and pulverized coal-fired power plants, and the users of these packages are reporting significant improvements in process efficiency and operating costs by implementing the simulators' results. This paper provides an overview of some of the models currently in use at CQ Inc., including the ASPEN PLUS"" Coal Cleaning Simulator, the Ultramax® process optimization software package, and EPRI's Coal Quality Impact Model?. Case histories of specific applications are also presented.

Jan 1, 1995

By M. Orchin

THIS PAPER is concerned with two aspects of the behavior of coal: (1) Dispersion by solvents atmospheric pressure and high temperature and (2) the destruction and regeneration of the coking properties of coal. Several pure polycyclic compounds and a coal-tar fraction were found to extract 95 percent of the organic material of a bituminous coal. About 20 percent of the extract was soluble in benzene, and this fraction contained the ?coking principle? of the coal. From an extensive chemical spectroscopic, and x-ray study of the benzene-soluble material, some conclusions could be drawn concerning the composition and structure of this fraction of coal. A possible commercial application of the extraction technique is in the preparation of low-ash carbonaceous material for the manufacture of electrode carbon.

Jan 1, 1951

By William C. Peters

"A large proportion of the earth's surface is blanketed by young sedimentary formations and by recent lava flows. How many Guanajuatos lie concealed beneath the rhyolitic capping of the Sierra Madre of Mexico? How many Kirkland Lakes are under the drift cover of the Canadian Shield? How many Wilunas are still hidden by the alluvium of the desert of Western Australia? How many ore deposits lurk underneath the basalt-covered plateaus of the Columbia River region? If erosion at Goldfield, Nevada, had stopped 100 feet higher, probably no ore would have been exposed. How many Goldfields are still awaiting discovery?" --Hugh Exton McKinstry, 1948

Jan 1, 1969

By Randall J. Weege

Nickel laterites throughout the world are similar in their gross aspects, but vary significantly in detail. The deposits occur in two separate and distinct geologic settings --those formed over ultramafic rocks which were mechanically emplaced, and those formed over ultramafic rocks that were intruded as melts. The source of the primary nickel in the parent rock may occur both as ionic replacement in silicate lattices and as nickel sulfides. Factors controlling the degree of laterization and nickel enrichment are dependent upon the parent rock characteristics as well as chemical and climatic conditions. Two chemically and physically distinct zones (oxide and saprolite) are commonly present in the laterized rock, but one or the other may be extremely thin or absent. Cobalt and copper may be present in recoverable amounts. Geologic, geophysical and geochemical methods are all utilized in exploring for these deposits. These methods are compared, evaluated and illustrated in the paper. Drilling patterns and ore reserve calculations are also discussed. In contrast to many ore deposits, processing costs are much higher than mining costs. The most efficient processing method is directly dependent upon the chemical composition of the ore. This variation in the chemical and physical characteristics of nickel laterites requires a detailed test program of the metallurgical response to representative samples and blends of ore. Detailed laboratory and bench-scale metallurgical tests are necessary prior to a full scale pilot plant test.

Jan 1, 1978

By Fernando Hernández Polanco

Transportation and handling metals and alloys from mills to consumption factories as well as dosing in conventional processes with ingots and scrap has always been considered a complicated activity with high operating costs. Several manufacturers of ferroalloys willing to solve these problems have chosen an alternative for their products that can be used to secure, during transport and dosage in the processes to making special steels, with more efficient consumption of ferroalloys. The trend for the production and sale of ferroalloys is to provide the product in the form of granules packed in bags or in bulk. In this paper we will show you how the granulation process was developed and rapidly adopted the ferroalloys industry as an effective solution to reduce operating costs, create cleaner and safer working environments.

Oct 30, 2017