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By H. P. Pew

THE Pembina oil field is in west-central Alberta, about 88 miles west-southwest of Edmonton. The field, about 35 miles long by T HE Pembina oil field is in west-central Alberta, about 88 miles west-southwest of Edmonton. The field, about 35 miles long by 85 miles wide, is the largest in Canada in areal extent, in the amount of oil in place and in the current producing rate. The discovery well was completed in the middle of 1953. The field has grown until its present area is 369,820 acres. There are 74 working interest owners in the field. Early in the producing history of the Pembina field a committee of operators was formed on a permanent basis. The Pembina Operators' Committee has established a permanent staff, which compiles and distributes pertinent field information on a regular basis to all participants. The Alberta Oil and Gas Conservation Board has dealt with field-wide problems primarily through this committee. Expansion of the field was rapid as shown by the number of wells completed -from 135

Jan 1, 1961

By Leslie D. Marrus

This project and final report represent an effort to collect, analyze, and verify reliability and performance data on currently available medium -to-high seam models of continuous miners being used in underground coal mining. The analysis determined availability, mean time and tons between failures, amounts of down time associated with various failures, labor and part costs required to correct failures, and various indices of maintainability. Machine performance and reliability are discussed relative to cumulative tons (machine age) produced and production rates (machine loading). It was determined that performance can be significantly improved given preventive maintenance programs that will increase machine availability.

Jan 1, 1976

By B. Benmokrane, G. Ballivy

"RésuméLe mécanisme de transfert des charges et le processus de décohésion le long des scellements d'ancrages scelles dans des massifs rocheux sous des charges de tensionnement peut être examine par instrumentation de l'ancrage à l'aide de jauges de déformation. Dans ce contexte il est présente ici les résultats d'une étude, en vraie grandeur sur chantier, ayant porte, d'une part sur des essais d'arrachement conventionnels et d'autre part sur des essais déflagrée barres d'ancrages instrumentées et scellées à l'aide d'un coulis de ciment dans un massif rocheux sain et compètent. Les résultats décrits ici, particulièrement les profits de contraintes de cisaillement le long de l'ancrage, obtenus à partir des valeurs de déformations relevées sur les jauges, ont permis de préciser le niveau de chargement correspondant à la décohésion initiale du coulis de scellement, d 'examiner l'effet de la décohésion sur la distribution des contraintes et de caractériser le fluage du système barre d'ancrage/coulis de scellement.ABSTRACTThe load transfer mechanism and the debonding process along grouted rock anchor, subjected to tention loads, can be examined through the instrumentation of the anchor with the aid of strain gauges. In this context, the resultsof a full-scale site investigation including classical pull out tests and creep tests are presented in this paper. These tests were performed on instrumented bars which were cement grouted in a competent rock mass. Results presented in this paper concern, among others, shear stress pro/ties along the grouted anchors which were determined from strain values obtained from the strain gauges. These results have been used to: (1) predict the load level corresponding to initial debonding of the grout; (2) study the effect of debonding on shearstress distribution along the anchor; and (3) characterize the creep behavior of the bar anchor/cement grout system."

Jan 1, 1991

Mining men and State officials in their efforts to make mining safer are confronted from time to time with various complicated questions. In recent gears these questions have tended to increase with the use of mechanical appliances. Twenty-five years ago electricity had been used but little in mires; today there is practically no other means of transmitting power employed in American mines, except that in metal mines compressed air is used, chiefly for drilling and for operating small portable hoists. In coal mines there has been a great increase in mechanization, which tends to concentrate the work of production in small areas and to increase the local difficulties of ventilation; also, it has intensified locally the hazard from coal dust as well as firedamp in bituminous and subbituminous mines. The answers to the questions that arise are not always obvious, as is shown by the fact that even able, experienced men differ in their opinions of the best, way to overcome a particular mining hazard. The difficulty of .solving the problems is also demonstrated by the varying provisions in mine-safety rules, both in official regulations and in the rules of those mining companies that are endeavoring to do more than follow the letter of the law. Such differences of opinion as to the best way of meeting a difficult situation are often found within the same mining organization, and, similarly, varying opinions are held by different members of the Bureau of Mines staff.

Jan 1, 1937

"Longwall shearers are widely employed in underground coal mines. The reliability of such machine has significant importance for successful mining operations. This paper aims at studying reliability of a longwall shearer using failure data recorded for a year. Data was pre-processed, sorted and selected for analysis. Selected data is then examined using statistical models. Distribution fitting of time-between-failure (TBF) and time-to-repair (TTR) are accomplished using three different models. Goodness-of-fit criteria is used to ascertain the best fitting model. Reliability in terms of mean-time-between-failure (MTBF), and mean-time-to-repair (MTTR) are calculated using the model which best represents the failure data. Exponential distribution best represents the time between failure and lognormal distribution the time to repair data. A well-known risk management technique Failure Mode Effect and Criticality Analysis is used to evaluate the critical breakdowns. Critical system/parts, experiencing regular failures is delineated based on this analysis. INTRODUCTION Mining is a capital intensive process, and huge monetary investment is required to develop and operate a mining project. Heavy and expensive equipment’s are employed in development and operation of these projects. In order to ensure timely completion of set milestones, it is mandatory that equipment’s perform their required task productively. Delays are not unusual owing to breakdown of these equipment’s. Breakdown or failure experienced by any of the equipment pose heavy financial burden. Moreover, frequent times, companies have to employ and dedicate additional resources to make up for such delays. Delays in project is not only detrimental to company’s image in market, but it also interrupts customer commitments. Mines having history of not fulfilling their promise usually get lower commodity price. Penalties are also imposed on the companies defaulting its obligations. Especially, in today’s world where competition among the companies are growing, success means keeping up the commitments in a timely manner. Heavy machinery and equipment are instrumental in success of any project. These machinery and equipment’s have to reliable in a sense that they can perform the set task in given time period. Reliability of these equipment plays a pivotal role in success of any project. The reliability analysis of mining equipment has long history. Many researchers have applied different statistical models for analyzing the reliability of mining machines (Samanta, Sarkar [1]. Kumar and Klefsjö [2] demonstrated the use of the power law process model for reliability assessments of repairable mining machines. Barabady and Kumar [3] performed the reliability analysis from failure data of the crushing plants."

Jan 1, 2018

By A. L. Martikainen

Booster fans increase air pressure to overcome resistance, the objective being to force adequate amounts of air through distant workings. They are used in areas that are difficult or uneconomic to ventilate with main fans alone. Booster fans are currently permitted in underground coal mines in some countries; the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and Canada have been defined as major users. Booster fans are not allowed in the US bituminous and lignite coal mining operations at the present time due to safety concerns. This paper presents the history of booster fan use in coal mines of the United States during the last 90 years. Changes in regulations, as well as advantages and disadvantages of booster fan use, are discussed. Research and petitions for booster fan use are highlighted in order to bring the debate into focus.

Jan 1, 2010

By H. H. Schrenk, Carlton E. Brown

"The purpose of this paper are (1) to present a broad picture of the recognized methods of measuring the various forms of atmospheric pollution; (2) to evaluate the significance of such measurements; and (3) to suggest suitable methods for obtaining comparative information on the concentration of contaminants in city air.The atmosphere (the gaseous envelope surrounding the earth) consists of a mixture of gases. These gases and their usual proportions are:4/The volume of water vapor in the atmosphere ranges from almost zero (in very cold weather) to about 5 percent arid averages about 1.2 percent.Strictly speaking, any other substance in the atmosphere or an excess of any of the substances mentioned (with the possible exception of water) is a contaminant. Needless to say, there are many contaminants in the atmosphere.In accordance with their physical state, contaminants may be classified as gaseous or particulate, and the latter may be classified as solid or liquid matter. Particulate matter, especially when dispersed in some medium such as air or some other gas, sometimes is referred to as dispersoid, and the complete system of gas and dispersoid is referred to as aerosol.All substances on the earth are potential sources of atmospheric contaminants. Combustible materials (particularly fuel for heating and power), sea water, earth or soil, metals, and animals (including man) are some of the important sources of contaminants.Ordinarily gases are produced by chemical processes, whereas dispersoids are produced by both chemical and physical processes. There are two general dispersoid-producing processes: (1) Condensation, in which molecules join to form larger units or particles, and (2) disintegration, in which large units are reduced to the particulate range (which for the purpose of this article may be considered to be from 100 microns, or 1/254 inch, down to molecular size) by such processes as crushing, grinding, abrading, and atomizing.“Condensoid"" is a convenient term for dispersoids formed by condensation, and ""disintegrasoid"" for those formed by disintegration. Solid condensoids are sometimes called ""fume,"" solid disintegrasoids ""dust,"" liquid condensoids ""fog,"" and liquid disintegrasoids ""mist.""5/"

May 1, 1942

By P. A. Riveros, R. Molnar, F. J. Baša

"An acidification circuit was installed and operated at the Agnico-Eagle Silver Division refinery in Cobalt, Ontario, for treating ~300 m3 of a concentrated cyanide waste solution with the purpose of recovering its cyanide and metal values. The acidification circuit was designed from parameters determined experimentally at CANMET. Available refinery equipment was assembled according to a flowsheet developed by Agnico-Eagle Mines. The process produced a regenerated cyanide solution containing >15 g/L of free cyanide, which was used for leaching gold ore at another Agnico- Eagle operation. It was estimated that the value of the recovered cyanide offset the treatment cost. BackgroundThe Silver Division of Agnico-Eagle Mines needed an economic and effective method for disposing of ~300 m3 of a concentrated cyanide waste solution that had remained in the plant after the operation was shut down in 1989. As a result of extensive recycling and evaporation, the solution had become practically saturated with metals, cyanide, thiocyanate, sulphate and other components, and was, therefore, an environmental liability for the company. A partial analysis of the solution is presented in Table 1. Initially, the use of cyanide destruction methods was considered by Agnico-Eagle, but the estimates indicated a considerable cost with no credits to be gained. A research project carried out by CANMET showed that a simple procedure consisting of acidification, filtration and reneutralization was the most attractive option, because it enabled the recovery of a substantial portion of the cyanide. Furthermore, the metals would be recovered in the form of a solid precipitate. The research showed that conventional AVR was not applicable because of excessive cyanide degradation and low HCN volatilization obtained with this particular solution (Riveros et al., 1996). This paper describes the procedure used to treat the concentrated cyanide waste solution and the operating practices of the large-scale acidification circuit run at the Agnico-Eagle refinery."

Jan 1, 1998

By Liming Yuan

Barometric pressure changes affect air density, leading to change in the mass of the gas in the gob. When the barometric pressure decreases, the volume of gas in the gob expands, while the volume of gas contracts when the barometric pressure increases, causing the gob to breathe out and in. Although the concept of gob ?breathing? is simple, its effect on spontaneous heating of coal in the gob area is not clear. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted to model the spontaneous heating of coal in longwall gob area under measured barometric pressure changes. A single longwall panel using a bleederless ventilation system was simulated. If there is no barometric pressure change, the intake airflow rate is equal to the return airflow rate. When the barometric pressure changes, these two airflow rates are no longer equal, and the difference between the two airflow rates represents the airflow rate the gob breathes in and out. The effect of inflow and outflow of gas on the potential spontaneous heating in the gob was investigated using the CFD model developed in our previous study. The effect of barometric pressure changes on the spontaneous heating was found to be dependent on the gob permeability and the coal oxidation rate. The effect of barometric pressure changes on oxygen concentrations in the gob was also examined.

Jan 1, 2010

By Oliver Bowles

WAR necessities have spurred inventive genius in many fields. A grinding mill without any moving grinding parts stirs the imagination. Among the new and striking accomplishments in the heterogeneous group of nonmetallic industrial minerals is the use of an electric arc to speed up manyfold the difficult and delicate task of drilling a microscopic hole in a diamond, the hardest of all known substances. Outstanding in the field of optical research is the ability that man has developed to improve upon nature by making in the laboratory optical crystals many times larger than those usually found in rocky crevices. These are merely samples of numerous events and circumstances of noteworthy import, many of which are recorded in this review. Termination of the second World War in 1945 permits an appraisal of the effects of the conflict and the probable effects of the coming restoration of a peacetime economy on the nonmetallic mineral industries. Some industries were stimulated greatly by the war, notably mica, quartz crystal, graphite, spinning asbestos, potash, fluorspar, barite, and refractories. The large-tonnage industries connected with the building trades, however, were forced to curtail their activities, except where their products were needed for wartime construction. Their reconversion to peacetime production will not be difficult.

Jan 1, 1946

By F. V. Meriwether

The Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the Federal, State, and local health services, and the mining companies, and miners? organizations, has for several years been carrying on sanitary surveys of mining districts in various states, with the purpose of collecting information on good and poor practices in mine sanitation, construction of approved wash-houses and change houses, the measures being taken to combat preventable diseases, the essential features of good houses for mining towns, and other conditions affecting the health and efficiency of miners and their families. The knowledge thus gained is disseminated for the common benefit of the mining industry. The sanitary conditions in the coal-mining districts of Alabama, as found by a recent survey made by the writer, are presented in this report. In addition to the towns on which this report is chiefly based, at least twice as many were visited where no details :were taken, but their general conditions are taken into consideration in summing conditions in the coal districts.

Jan 1, 1926

By T Raynlyn, R J. Holmes, J R. Manuel, A Poliakov, L Lu

The prediction of sintering performance of iron ore fines and the possibility of targeted optimisation of specific sinter properties are very important for both the iron ore industry and related research organisations. Physical pilot-scale sinter runs require large amounts of raw materials and are expensive, so it is critical to target large test work programs with many different sintering parameters effectively. To predict values for sintering performance parameters such as tumble index (TI), low temperature reduction disintegration index (RDI) and productivity, a comprehensive database of pilot-scale sintering experimental results has been established and empirical modeling conducted. Similarly to earlier work, physical, chemical and mineralogical characteristics of the iron ores have been considered. However, in contrast to the previous work where only one textural parameter was taken into account, namely the proportion of dense haematite ore texture, the current model includes the abundances of several different textures which were combined into different textural factors corresponding to different sinter properties. Coefficients for the variables within specific regression equations can provide a better understanding of the effect of the variables on the corresponding sintering performance. The modelling results have also been used for predicting the sintering performance of mixtures that were not part of the database used for establishing the models. Comparison of experimental and modeling results for the verification test data is also reported in this paper.

Jan 1, 2009

By Aditya Rana, A. K. Mishra, M. M. Singh, N. K. Bhagat

Many cases of derailments, train accidents and traffic interruptions due to the slope failure and rockfall have been reported in the past on Konkan Railway trackline because of unstable rock slopes. The authorities installed stability enhancement measures such as wire netting, rock bolting and shotcreting which were found insufficient. The failed geotechnical measures prompted authorities to excavate the unstable slopes. Rock blasting is generally not preferred for the excavation of slopes along the transportation route. Stabilisation and widening of slopes by blasting need closure of the route for a considerable time. Discontinuing traffic on Konkan Railway route was undesirable as it connects two important port cities Mumbai and Mangalore. The paper presents an innovative directional controlled blasting (DCB) technique for excavating three unstable slopes (i.e. cuttings) in hilly terrain without disturbing the traffic. New empirical formulae for small geometry blasting to estimate burden and throw have been developed. A unique sequence of firing and excavation with powder factor varying between 0.04 and 0.39 kg/m3 irrespective of the actual free face was used for rock blasting. The process controlled the throw of blasted material over the track and resulted in a smooth and stable wall. The slope angle has been changed from 80 to 82° to 45–47° and probability of wedge, planar and toppling failures was eliminated. About 100 such accident-prone slopes (52 km cumulative length, 7% of total route) situated at discrete locations along Konkan Railway route were stabilised using the technique. No incident of rockfall and slope failures along these slopes has been observed after the stabilisation.

By Débora Guimarães da Silva

Este trabalho trata da deposição de um nanofilme de sílica através do processo sol-gel na superfície de um substrato vítreo para sua aplicação em usinas térmicas de energia solar. Os filmes foram confeccionados pelo processo de revestimento por imersão utilizando-se um equipamento dip-coating e passaram por um tratamento térmico à 425°C durante 30 minutos. Na etapa de caracterização foram feitos ensaios de espectroscopia de fluorescência de raios-X, refletância difusa no UV-Vis, microscopia eletrônica de varredura e medidas de molhabilidade. As propriedades mecânicas foram avaliadas por teste de adesão da fita e dureza a lápis. Resultados dos ensaios de espectroscopia de fluorescência de raios-X confirmaram haver a deposição de sílica sobre o substrato. Foi obtida uma refletância difusa de 2,72% para o filme antirreflexivo. Imagens no MEV revelaram uma superfície lisa, uniforme e isenta de trincas. Medidas de molhabilidade mostraram que houve o molhamento dos filmes pela água, caracterizando-os como hidrofílicos. Os filmes apresentaram uma adesão de 4B e dureza de 3H. Os nanofilmes de sílica confeccionados apresentaram propriedades ópticas e mecânicas satisfatórias para a aplicação solar.

Aug 17, 2017

By N. Melnyk

"FOREWORDThis paper provides a unique description of a method devised for mining a very thick steeply dipping seam of soft gassy coal which was prone to spontaneous combustion. The editors con¬sider that the information in this paper should be important to those who may have to consider mining such seams again at some time in the future and therefore believe that the paper warrants reprinting in the present volume. The author was ask¬ed to review the paper and to add any additional relevant in¬formation. He provided the accompanying footnote, only a month before his death on April 22, 1982.IntroductionIn the past, the Cadomin Coal Company has opened four mines, all in the same coal seam or its folds. Three of these were opened from river level by horizontal entries or rock tunnels. and the fourth, the present working mine, by vertical shafts. This paper deals largely with some operating phases of this fourth mine, with which the writer has been associated.The seam worked here is a thick, steep, bituminous seam, and the writer feels there is a paucity of published data on the mining of such seams. Possible reasons for this are that such seams do not lend themselves to intensive development or mining, there is little chance to mechanize because of the extreme pitch, and operations are fraught with many problems. In addition the present operations in this particular' seam are being carried on at a level below the former workings, introducing new problems, not encountered on the upper level.Coal will, without question, long continue to be an impor¬tant factor in the national economy, and some of the best coal is to be found in thick, steep seams. But with the exhaustion of the easily-mined coal near the outcrops, future coal will have to come more and more from lower levels. At Cadomin there is still considerable coal on the second level, below the old river-workings, and there is a possibility that, in the future, still lower levels will be worked. It is the purpose of this paper to indicate some phases of such lower-level operations and to invite discussion."

Jan 1, 1985

By E. R. Hughes

Introduction Situated 182 miles east of Vancouver, on the Kettle Valley branch of the Canadian Pacific railway, the Princeton coal field is readily accessible to the Coast markets. The area covers approximately forty square miles and present indications are that the deposits should contain at least 300,000,000 tons of coal. Comparatively little development has yet taken place in this coal field. Since the commencement of recorded output, the collieries operating in this area have produced 1,640,518 tons of coal. The coal field proper includes only the Tertiary deposits adjacent to the town of Princeton and does not include the Coalmont or Nicola deposits. Production has never been on a large scale. The largest annual output from any property was 81, 780 long tons mined at the Granby colliery in 1940. Coal output was first recorded in 1909 and since that time fifteen properties are reported to have either mined coal or to have done prospecting or development work; of these, only two are presently active. However, none of the properties now inactive were closed because their coal resources were exhausted. The accompanying key map shows the extent of the Princeton coal field, and the location of the coal mines and prospects in this field General Geology The Princeton field is underlain by rocks of Oligocene age and is one of the series of more or less isolated Tertiary lake basins in which coal, or lignite, has been found in the interior of British Columbia. Resting on the Nicola group rocks of Triassic age, the Princeton sedimentaries consist of sandstones, conglomerates, shales, bentonite, bentonitic clays, and several seams of coal. Tertiary volcanics occur both above and below the stratified rocks and in places they have been thrust through the overlying measures. In some areas, the coal has been burned to a red ash as the result of vulcanism, while in other parts some of the moisture has been driven from the coal, thus improving the grade. The field can best be described by dividing it into two areas: the Southern area, lying to the south of the town of Princeton, where most of the mining has been done; and the Northern area, to the north of Princeton, where very little development has taken place.

Jan 1, 1947

By Mao Chen, Baojun Zhao, Zhixiang Cui, Leonel Contreras

Viscosity is one of the important physiochemical properties of metallurgical slags which is important for slag tapping, metal loss in slag, freeze lining and fluid dynamics. High temperature viscosity measurements are time- and cost-consuming and the number of experiments is limited. Viscosity model is an effective way to predict the viscosities of the complex slags at high temperature. However, a reliable viscosity model can only be developed on the base of accurate experimental data. A unique high-temperature viscosity measurement apparatus developed at The University of Queensland enabled accurate viscosity data to be measured for the “FeO”-SiO2-CaO-MgO-Al2O3 system in equilibrium with Fe. An accurate viscosity model has been developed based on Eyring’s theory and extensive viscosity measurements. The viscosities of copper smelting, converting and cleaning slags over a wide range of compositions and temperatures can be predicted and applied in the process control.

Jan 1, 2016

By D. W. Leyshon

The fluidized solids technique for the calcination of phosphate rock has been well established for over 10 years. This paper is intended to review the recent performance of many of the Dorr-Oliver FluoSolids* calciners. In addition, design features of these three compartment refrac¬tory construction reactors will be described and a comparison made with fuel requirements for single compartment calcination. Also presented will be certain, aspects of the use of the rock including a discussion of non sulfate sulfur in the rock. A system is described for producing a blended mixture of calcined and uncalcined rock.

Jan 1, 1972

By Mark Zablocki, Dakarai McCoy

Ground vibrations are an unavoidable effect of driving piles and may pose a risk to nearby infrastructure and the comfort of adjacent occupants. Driven-pile-induced ground vibrations are known to vary widely based on ground conditions, pile material, and installation means and methods. A monitoring sensor to record ground vibrations during pile driving is necessary for understanding potential impacts to sensitive infrastructure and should be considered when implementing a monitoring program anticipating ground vibrations. The implementation of a vibration monitoring program historically relies on experiential-based decision-making, which may result in the costly vibration monitoring of low-risk infrastructure. Prior understanding of anticipated ground vibrations is necessary to create an appropriate monitoring program. A framework is proposed for organizing data from past monitoring programs and quantifying the anticipated risk of driven-pile-induced vibrations. An example of risk quantification from data imported to ]a cloud database is presented by comparing driven steel H-pile and prestressed precast concrete vibration monitoring measured and collected by Haley & Aldrich between 2010 and 2020. The methods presented within the example can be applied to quantify a first order approximation of risk for ground vibrations at proposed driven pile sites based on the measured performance of previous sites with similar ground characteristics and pile installation methods. The presented novel data managements tools allow for a quick aggregation of vibration data with similar site conditions.

Sep 8, 2021

"In addition to outstanding technical sessions and networking opportunities, the SME Annual Conference and Expo offers attendees a chance to see the latest and greatest technology that the industry has to offer. The 2017 SME Annual Conference and Expo was no exception as 575 companies filled 756 booths from Feb. 19-22 in Denver, CO. The following is a look at some of the vendors that were on hand.AIL MiningThe Edge, featured by AIL Mining at the 2017 SME exhibit, is a four-flange structural liner designed to be an alternative to structural plate’s traditional lapped seams and to help mine operators build more efficiently and safely. It is ideal for creating underground structures, such as mine shafts, ventilation raises and escape ways. The Edge is available on SuperCor structural steel plate — 10 times stiffer and five times stronger than traditional steel liner plate. It facilitates curved structures, both horizontal and vertical, and eliminates the need for ring beams. It is ideal for remote sites. For added safety, structures can be assembled from the inside, and the leak-resistant structures can be dismantled and removed easily. Brackets can be attached to mine shafts or vent raises to support Alimak rails or climbers. Similarly, brackets or hangers can be attached to drifts or tunnels to support mine air, water or electrical utility services.ArcadisMining companies spent nearly $12 billion on water infrastructure worldwide in 2014, reflecting the industry’s heightened concern about environmental issues and social, regulatory and political risks.So, with an increasing focus on water reuse and recycling, mining companies must have effective water management plans that include sustainable solutions. Also, many water quality issues fall under both state and federal regulatory jurisdictions. To solve these problems, Arcadis provides comprehensive ground- and surfacewater technical support in a complex hydrogeologic setting. It can characterize the nature and extent of mine-related constituents in ground water and surface water, as well as the complex interactions between the two waters, and prepare the operational permits needed by mine and tailings facilities. As an example, Arcadis constructed a hydrogeologic and geochemical conceptual site model that improved site understanding for a molybdenum mine in the western United States that spanned several watersheds. It also provided technical support for permitting and compliance issues, allowing the mine to return to active production."

Jan 5, 2017