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By F. Turatti

Rio Tinto is one of the world's largest mining companies, involved in every stage of metal and mineral production, producing aluminium, copper, diamonds, coal, iron ore, uranium, gold and industrial minerals. Operations are in more than 50 countries in multiple continents and vary in location between large urban centres, regional industrial complexes and remote regions. A risk-based strategy was developed by Rio Tinto to manage its air quality impacts on a global scale. The strategy consists of three objectives ? improving air quality performance, developing industry leading practices and engaging and influencing in air issues. This paper discusses three major successes achieved this approach. Firstly, how air shed resources are managed in constrained air sheds. Secondly, how financial modelling is used to value air quality constraints, and thirdly, how a rigorous and comprehensive e-learning course is used to improve the overall level of air management knowledge of Rio Tinto?s environment managers.

Feb 27, 2013

By Oliver Bowles

GLASS razor blades, glass chairs, and marble window panes attest that creative genius was still active in 1935. Many less striking, though doubtless more important, developments are to be recorded for the nonmetallic mineral industries, and not the least of them is the establishment of an Industrial Minerals Division in the A.I.M.E. under the able leadership of Samuel H. Dolbear, Chairman. Thus the nonmetallics are rightly granted equal dignity with metals and fuels in the category of mineral industries. The brief review of progress that follows merely touches the fringe of important developments in this broad field.

Jan 1, 1936

By Makiko Takahashi

A tool is being developed to predict and visualize the microstructural evolution of steels during quenching. This tool utilizes experimental data and reference data that are stored in a database to predict the microstructural development. The visualization tool animates qualitative representation of two- dimensional microstructure drawings as well as the quantitative volume fractions of phases present as a function of time. This is achieved by superimposing the Jominy End-Quench test results over the Continuous Cooling Transformation diagram of the alloy. The predicted microstructure is presented through the web browser to maximize the ease of use. In addition, a parallel coordinate system is used to aid in identifying similarities within the data set by presenting the large number of data at a glance. The results for 4140 steel that was quenched in a wide variety of quenchants will be presented to illustrate the prediction and visualization tools. Keywords: Quenching, Microstructure Prediction, Simulation, Data Visualization, Database, Applet, Animation

Jan 1, 2003

By Wei Yingchun

Based on the deep burial depth of coal deposits in Huainan-Huaibei coalfields, Anhui Province, China, this paper puts forward the concept of partitioning of coal deposits according to occurrence conditions. This process is controlled by tectonic forces. The classification scheme of coal deposits exploration types is presented according to occurrence and mining conditions of coal deposits as viewed from the perspective of deep coal exploration properties. The principles underlying geological exploration services for the resources development are incorporated. There are six exploration types of coal deposits in the Huainan and Huaibei coalfields. Exploration models tailored to different types of exploration have been established and exploration strategies corresponding to different exploration models have been proposed. Steady-state temperature must be measured for the deep heat-harm type of coal deposit. The sealing coring of mine gas samples should be performed for the high mine gas type of coal deposit. For coal deposits with complex structures, such as those located beneath nappes, coal-controlling structural styles must be performed. Existing data on shallow districts are very important to the research of folds and fault-block types of coal deposits beneath and peripheral to old and existing coal mine areas. For the types of fault-block coal deposits hidden by thick Cenozoic cover, particular attention must be paid to comprehensive use of research on regional coal occurrence law and geophysical methods. The present work promotes the exploration level of coal deposits in Huainan-Huaibei coalfields to best meet the need for sustainable development of the coal industry.

Aug 1, 2013

By Nii Allotey Odunton

One of the primary responsibilities of the International Seabed Authority?s Secretariat (the Secretariat) is to assess the quantities of metals present in seabed polymetallic nodules in the International Seabed Area under the Authority?s jurisdiction. To carry out this responsibility, the Secretariat periodically undertakes an assessment of the reserved areas in the Clarion-Clipperton region of the northeastern Pacific (CCZ) using the data submitted by the registered Contractors and maintained in the Authority?s POLYDAT database. The results of its most recent assessment demonstrated that the information submitted by the Contractors, though satisfactory for some purposes, does not permit the in situ quantities of metals in these areas to be estimated with a degree of confidence that is comparable to many land-based mineral resource estimates. Our strategy is to divide the work into two distinct but closely related efforts; one to draft a Prospector?s Guide that provides a narrative description of the key geological and oceanographic data that may be related to deposit abundance and metal content, and another that we call the Geological Model, that summarizes and documents the quantitative resource assessments accomplished in the project.

Jan 1, 2005

By James R. Evans

Forecasting demand is an art as well as a science, and much personal judgment is required. National forecasts made for sand and gravel, crushed stone, and/or aggregate may be misleading or unhelpful locally. This is because of significant variation in demand within different geographic and/or political areas in the United States, and/or the use of an inadequate data base and forecasting methodology. The best forecasts may be made for local or regional market areas, irrespective of geographic or political boundaries, provided a proper data base is available. The Bureau of Mines compiles detailed statistics on commodities sold or used in the construction industries and, therefore, is in an advantageous position to make national aggregate demand forecasts.

Jan 1, 1978

By Tristan H. Jones

Beginning in 1987, miniature dataloggers approved by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) were publicly available for sale. The principal among these was the model CR21XQM, manufactured by Campbell Scientific, Inc. These dataloggers had been tested and were deemed permissible by MSHA and thus could be installed in the return air of an underground coal mine. In 1996, production of all permissible Campbell Scientific dataloggers ceased due to lack of sales. Data collection with these dataloggers has been a staple of ground control research in the United States for decades, and, without them, or a replacement, the capability to monitor ground behavior is severely impacted. Since that time, any party requiring a permissible datalogger has needed to borrow one that was purchased during the production years. In order to fill this technology gap and ensure its own data-gathering capabilities, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has developed and refined its own miniature data acquisition system (MIDAS). On February 16, 2010, MSHA deemed the MIDAS to be permissible and approved it for use in the return air of an underground coal mine. The MIDAS is an intrinsically safe, 16- or 24-bit datalogger, compatible with a wide range of resistive, single-ended, and differential-type instrumentation. It contains enough data storage memory to operate for over a year with typical data rates and is efficient enough to do this on a single C-sized alkaline battery for that entire period. It is menu-driven and requires no programming knowledge to operate. It supports wireless or hardwired communication for datalogger setup and data download. This paper describes the design, field and laboratory testing, and capabilities of the MIDAS datalogger. While not as fully -functioned as the CR21XQM, it is the only new permissible datalogger available, and there is intent to make it available to the mining industry for purchase.

Jan 1, 2012

By Thomas J. Albin

This U.S. Bureau of Mines report identifies potential causes of slip-and-fall accidents occurring during surface mine equipment maintenance and describes the relative roles of direct worker behavior and machine design. The relative roles of human behavior and machine design in the causation of slip-and-fall accidents were determined through analysis of accident records, observations of maintenance worker behavior, and evaluation of mine machinery. From these data, relative risk ratios were calculated. Behavior had a relative risk ratio of 1.5; machine design, specifically access systems design, had a relative risk ratio of 2.2. Of the access systems, ladders had the highest relative risk ratio, 7.0. This study suggests that accident intervention would be most profitably made in improving the design of systems used to access maintenance worker areas of mining equipment.

Jan 1, 1990

By E. F. Schnitzer

During 1996 and 1997, Oregon experienced flooding on a scale not seen in many years. Some gravel pits located near rivers experienced erosion and, in several cases, breaches between the gravel pit and the river. Initial evaluation of several sites that experienced breaches indicates that impacts to the river system are complex and vary significantly from site to site. The impacts to the adjacent river system may be viewed as both positive and negative. Several floodplain-mining sites in Oregon located in areas of historic river flow have reverted to active riverbed. In many cases, state and federal fisheries biologists and university researchers see the resulting increase in channel complexity and habitat as favorable. The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries -Mined Land Reclamation Program (DOGAMI-MLR) is performing additional studies of the impacts to the off-channel areas that resulted from the 1996 floods. More data is needed to make sound floodplain decisions regarding mining.

Jan 1, 1999

By Yoshihiko Maeda

It is said that the 21 st century will be an era of the remedy of the global environment. In order to reserve natural resources for the future and to avoid the dispersion of heavy metals after usage and to avoid pollution problems, it is extremely important to recycle heavy metals as much as possible by reasonable recovery procedures. The nonferrous metal industry is expected to play a important role in the recycling of heavy metals that are originally their products. From the depressed metal price experienced in Japan in 1980th due to the sudden change in current exchange rate between US dollar and Japanese yen, one of major nonferrous metal company, Dowa Mining, has diversified its business area not only to the so-called down stream, but also to the environmental business including metal recycling, industrial waste treatment and soil remediation by utilizing technologies and facilities once used or still used for mining and smelting of copper, zinc, lead and precious metals. In this paper some of these applications will be presented.

Jan 1, 2003

By David P. Conover

The U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) has developed a computer-assisted Ground Control Management System (GCMS) for near realtime evaluation of underground coal mine ground conditions. The GCMS combines existing mine-monitoring system and sensor technology with automated computer analysis techniques to enhance the acquisition, analysis, and display of geostructural data. The GCMS, which combines mine structure data with other information, such as geologic conditions and mine layout, has provided information on mining-induced stress transfer and pressure buildup associated with several ground control events. The GCMS collects and analyzes shield-leg pressure, ground pressure, and strata movement data to evaluate the structural behavior of an active Western U.S. Iongwall coal mine. Field data are transmitted over a dedicated phone line to the USBM Denver Research Center (DRC) mine monitoring laboratory, 240 km (150 miles) from the mine site. Real-time collection, processing, and analysis of mine structure and shield pressure information has proved to be an effective method for near-face ground conditions while mining progresses. The GCMS provides the mine operator with information to rapidly identify and manage potentially hazardous ground conditions while mining is in progress.

Jan 1, 1994

By N. D. Schupp

The Doe Run Company's Herculaneum, Missouri lead smelter has existed in continuous operation since 1892. Throughout the history of the plant extensive developments have been made to improve throughput, increase productivity, decrease operational costs and improve technology, while remaining an environmentally responsible producer of high quality primary lead in the international market. This paper provides an overview of the Herculaneum smelter, focusing on the most recent configuration of the operations. The paper includes discussion on all the aspects of primary lead production at the Herculaneum smelter.

Jan 1, 2000

By Skinner. W.

"Introducing cutting-edge development work, which aims to simplify mineral processing flow-sheets, reduce costs and address environmental issues. Over the past four years Innovative Mineral Processing Technologies Pty. Ltd (IMPTEC) Australia have developed a Super-fine Crusher and a Planar Magnetic Separator which offer low cost, wet or dry alternatives to conventional grinding and conventional magnetic separation. Each of these machines has been successfully trialed at pilot scale and are now in the process of transitioning to commercial scale. This paper reports on the progress made in each of these fields. The potential scope for application of super-fine crushing technology as an alternative to grinding is potentially expansive and could include beneficiation of metalliferous ores, precious metal ore processing, hydrometallurgical processing, industrial minerals and coal processing, plastic fillers and ceramics processing as well as processing of cementitious slags and fly-ash. IMPTEC have recently achieved outstanding results at pilot scale with a dry combination of super-fine crushing and planar magnetic separation, which offers an alternative to the wet processing of magnetic iron ores. The dry combination has set new laboratory performance benchmarks when compared with the industry standard wet Davis Tube Tester. The test results have also established a strong evidence base showing that super-fine crushing achieves liberation of value minerals at coarser sizes when compared with grinding. The dry combination of super-fine crushing and planar magnetic separation also addresses environmental issues and completely eliminates grinding. An IMPTEC super-fine crusher is currently undergoing commercial trials, generating ultra-fine products from granulated lead blast furnace slag for use as cement substitutes. The performance of the super-fine crusher on this extreme duty highlights the potential benefits of super-fine crushing over the wide range of industries and applications where conventional grinding is employed.INTRODUCTION Present day mineral processing practices can become anchored in convention, where, inefficient methodologies are recognized and accepted as “best practice” or “industry standard”. Motivated by this challenge, IMPTEC has undertaken the development of radically different and improved methodologies in the fields of fine comminution and magnetic separation. Whilst, crushing is much less energy intensive and generally less capital and maintenance intensive than grinding, the technology has stalled due to the lack of crushing devices, which have the capacity to adapt to fine and ultra-fine duties. Grinding practice advances have been achieved through major increases in machine size and power. However, these advances are also accompanied by major escalations in capital, operating and maintenance costs. The economics of this strategy has become increasingly questionable. A typical example is the viability of low-grade magnetite beneficiation, which can hinge largely on the cost of grinding to fine and ultra-fine liberation sizes."

Jan 1, 2018

By J Hartog, V Beehan, D Beeson

Treating an ore blend from five different deposits at Newgold’s Peak Gold Mine (PGM) has always been a challenge due to the inherent variability between each of the orebodies.Operating the processing plant at PGM with a ‘normal’ level of process control and a good operations and metallurgical team has allowed the processing plant to achieve above the name plate design at 102 t/h and recoveries in the order of 92.8 per cent for gold and 88.4 per cent for copper.With a company value and culture of striving for continuous improvement, PGM implemented the Manta Cube® system, an advanced process control system, for the semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill, gold leach circuit and tailings thickener over a 12-month period throughout 2012 and 2013.The overall benefits of implementing the Manta Cube® system has led to an increase in mill throughput of at least two per cent, improved SAG mill liner life, a ten per cent decrease in cyanide consumption and a reduction in flocculant of at least 30 per cent with no detriment to the gold and copper recoveries.The entire project had a payback period of less than two months, and the combined benefits resulted in an overall increase in revenue of at least $5 million per annum. This is quite significant for a processing plant the size of PGM.This paper describes the methodology, overall results and economic benefit of applying the Manta Cube® system on-site at Newgold’s PGM.CITATION:Hartog, J, Beehan, V, Karageorgos, J and Beeson, D, 2014. Optimisation of the Peak Gold Mine’s processing plant through advanced process control, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference 2014 , pp 335–344 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 1, 2014

By Eric E. Cather

A mineral investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Mines revealed no mines or prospects and no past or present mining claims in the Agua Tibia Wilderness Study Area (WSA). The area is underlain mainly by weakly foliated gabbro similar to rock that has hosted gem- and lithium-bearing pegmatites in the Pala district about 6 mi to the south. However, no gem- or lithium-bearing pegmatites have been discovered in the WSA. Nearby quarries in the gabbro have yielded rock for facing and dimension stone. No sand, gravel, or energy (oil, gas, coal, or geothermal) resources were identified.

Jan 1, 1984

By Clinton H. Crane

IN October, 1925, J. R. Finlay delivered an address entitled, "The Future Price of Lead." Lead was then selling at 8.85c. and Mr. Finlay and most of the rest of us were concerned about the shortage. Now, a little more than six years after, lead is selling for 3.55c., and nobody is worrying about the difficulty of getting plenty of it. For 1931 the U. S. G. S. reports United States produc¬tion as 390,000 tons of recoverable lead in ore. Our estimate is slightly higher than this; nearer 400,000 tons. This is the smallest production since 1911 and 1912, but in spite of this, stocks for the year-have increased nearly 50,000 tons. Our estimate for the production outside the United States is 1,120,000 tons, or more than double the production of either 1920 or 1921, and 30 per cent more than in 1913. Stocks abroad probably have not increased more than stocks in the United States. In other words, foreign consumption is double what it was in 1.920-21, whereas domestic consumption is substantially less. It looks as if Mr. Krueger, president of the Swedish match trust, was right when he said that "This country had better stop worrying about Europe and think a little bit more about its own affairs."

Jan 1, 1932

By J. Gordon Parr, D. A. Whitaker, G. A. Yorko

High purity alloys of zinc with 25 per cent to 50 per cent aluminum, have been prepared. Mechanical properties of the as-cast and heat-treated alloys have been related to constitution, determined by x-ray diffraction and microscopic methods. Investigations include the effects of aging and of small nickel additions on the properties of the alloys.

Jan 1, 1960

By David A. Edgecombre

This paper discusses modern practices in the extrusion of steel. Particular emphasis is given to a description of the Ugine Sejournet method of extrusion, involving the use of glass as a hot work lubricant. Other methods are also mentioned. A brief history of extrusion is presented; present practices in the quality extrusion of tubing and solids are described; and the future potentials of the) process as a tonnage producer are briefly discussed. The advantages of extrusion and the reasons for the use of a glass lubricant, as well as the various methods of using glass, are given. The process, as described, is being used in the manufacture of large commercial quantities of stainless steel tubing and sections. This extrusion process is an essential and unique means of forming such atomic-age materials as titanium, zirconium, molybdenum and other super alloys all of which are materials required in the creation of nuclear installations.

Jan 1, 1963

The mining industry has generally been slow to apply ion exchange processes to hydrometallurgical applications even if ion exchange offers an ideal solution for a particular problem. Two notable exceptions are in gold and uranium recovery. The largest application of ion exchange in the metals processing industry has been the use of resin-in-pulp (RIP) for gold recovery as an alternative to activated carbon. Iron is a ubiquitous impurity in hydrometallurgical solutions. In many cases, bulk removal of iron from the process solutions is accomplished by precipitation. However, precipitation for iron control is often accompanied by losses of base metals by co-precipitation. Increasingly, the option of ion exchange for removal of smaller amounts of iron from process solutions has been favoured. A number of applications have been developed and proven at the commercial scale for the removal/control of iron from a range of metal processing solutions. This paper provides an overview of the application of ion exchange for iron removal from a range of metal processing operations, including Cu, Ni and Co solutions. A number of case studies are provided which review operational and resin regeneration strategies and the impact upon the commercial operation of metal processing with improved iron control.

Jan 1, 2006

By José Fagundes Jr., Juliano Braz Possatti, Bruno Câmara Vieira, Gabriel Godinho Alves, Bruno Bastos da Silva Murad, Cristina Maria de Oliveira Roque

Driven by market trends, increasing environmental accountability, government regulations and fostered by the Company’s strategic plan, ArcelorMittal Tubarão has developed new steel products to deliver better solutions to fit each customer’s needs. This often translates in higher strength, more complex and dimensionally challenging (thinner and wider) steels to attend a broad array of goals, such as reduction of vehicles fuel consumption and carbon emissions, increase in fatigue performance of heat treated parts, higher load capacity per net weight in vessels or wagons and lower supplying lead time as ArcelorMittal Tubarão establishes itself as a domestic option for so far imported grades. Based on the annual Product Development Plan, a structured workflow involves technical discussions from an operational point of view about safety issues, metallurgical project, steel grade family definitions, offline simulations prior to field trials, deformation resistance and process parameters adjustments and scheduling strategy. As a result of the increasing synergy between the areas, the share of new materials developed in recent years has been sustainably increased up to 15% in 2018, adding value to the final product without impact on hot rolled coil output and with a low cobble index.

Oct 1, 2019