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By Pierre Antoine Dhaiti, Gilbert Sergerie, Michel Dagbert, Jean-Maurice Brodeur

"Quality of iron ore is generally determined by several factors which can be correlated or independent. Among these f actors, we generally find per cent iron, silica, magnetite or hardness. Forecasting the short- and long-term fluctuations of these f actors in the future pit is an important feature of mine planning in these deposits. Computer simulation provides a realistic answer to these questions. It allows to generate values for the most important quality features of each shovel load with the proper correlations between them as well as between one load and the next being fully reproduced. Then different sampling schemes f or grade control or blending facilities can be examined on the simulated data. The mechanics of the simulation procedure and its potential applications are described in an example.IntroductionThe purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of in-situ grade simulation in the planning o f the grade control in an iron ore min e. More precisely, given a production unit of given size, we need to know how many samples have to be collected in that unit so that we ca n recognize its grade with a reasonable precision. Conclusions that we would like to arrive at are of the type: with 4 blasthole samples we ca n get the iron grade of a 10,000 ton bloc k with less than a ± 2% Fe error 95% of the time.The approach t hat we take to solve this problem is simulation. We simulate the grade of samples and the grade of the block that contains these samples. We repeat the simulation for hundred s o f blocks. By comparing the sample grade with the block grade in each case, we determine the actual number o f blocks where the difference sample-bloc k is less than a given limit."

Jan 1, 1983

By Kenneth M. Berrry

A unique situation has developed at an abandoned coal mine in St. Clair County, Illinois. Subsidence features have been observed at the ground surface over the mine including settlement of a pair of bridges for Illinois Route 158. The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is currently replacing the two bridges. Foundation treatment for the two new bridges included backfilling the mine void. The light rail system for St Louis (MetroLink) is also constructing a bridge over the same abandoned coal mine less than 1000 ft from the Route 158 bridges. The new MetroLink bridge is being constructed using piles which extend through the coal mine and overlying bedrock in order to transfer the loads to below the mine floor. The differing foundation types for the IDOT and MetroLink bridges were due to geometry and economic factors involved with the individual structures.

Jan 1, 2001

By Steven J. Schatzel, William P. Diamond

Coalbed gas content measurements are commonly used in mine safety as well as coalbed methane resource assessment and recovery applications. Gas content determination techniques generally fall into two categories: (1) direct methods which actually measure the volume of gas released from a coal sample sealed into a desorption canister and (2) indirect methods based on empirical correlations, or laboratory derived sorption isotherm gas storage capacity data. Direct gas content determination techniques may be further. subdivided into quick-crushing and extended desorption methods. The quick-crushing methods are primarily used in mine safety applications outside the United States, but have also been used for resource recovery applications. Quick-crushing methods rely on crushing the coal sample soon after collection to release all the desorbable gas, thus significantly shortening the amount of time required for desorption measurements. However, some data useful for resource recovery applications are lost. Extended desorption techniques are most commonly used for resource assessment and recovery applications where information on desorption rates is useful for reservoir modeling, and for fundamental coalbed methane research. Extended desorption methods allow the gases in the coal sample to desorb under controlled laboratory conditions until a defined low desorption rate cutoff point is reached. The sample may then be crushed to measure the amount of gas remaining within the sample. Direct method techniques for gas content measurement are the focus of this paper.

By J. C. Coetzee

In this article, a case is made for the importance of the transfer and management of tacit knowledge to ensure continued sustainable competitive advantage within the pyrometallurgical industry in South Africa. The state of knowledge management (KM) is assessed through a theoretical and empirical study. The empirical part of the study was conducted by means of a survey questionnaire. An important prerequisite within the research entailed determining the current state of KM within the pyrometallurgical industry, and the findings are presented throughout this article. The research argues for initiatives to address the high turnover of pyrometallurgical knowledge workers. This industry needs to entrench tacit knowledge and therefore address the problems associated with the continuous loss of inherent specialized knowledge. Appropriately, emphasis is placed on identifying initiatives required to embed and retain not only human capital lost through mobility, but rather retaining tacit knowledge through a practical KM framework.

Jan 1, 2012

By J. C. Coetzee

In this article, a case is made for the importance of the transfer and management of tacit knowledge to ensure continued sustainable competitive advantage within the pyrometallurgical industry in South Africa. The state of knowledge management (KM) is assessed through a theoretical and empirical study. The empirical part of the study was conducted by means of a survey questionnaire. An important prerequisite within the research entailed determining the current state of KM within the pyrometallurgical industry, and the findings are presented throughout this article. The research argues for initiatives to address the high turnover of pyrometallurgical knowledge workers. This industry needs to entrench tacit knowledge and therefore address the problems associated with the continuous loss of inherent specialized knowledge. Appropriately, emphasis is placed on identifying initiatives required to embed and retain not only human capital lost through mobility, but rather retaining tacit knowledge through a practical KM framework.

Jan 1, 2012

By Walter Kauenhowen

Germany's crude oil production during 1935 totaled 3,007,711 bbl., an increase of 36.6 per cent over the 2,202,214 bbl. produced in 1934. The Nienhagen-Haenigsen field furnished 77 per cent of the total 1935 production. Cumulative production figures for Germany's two most important oil fields, Wietze and Nienhagen, show that during the period from 1872 to the close of 1935 the Wietze field produced 13,325,536 bbl. and the Nienhagen field 9,340,870 bbl. Table 1 gives statistics of German production since 1928, arranged both by fields and by oil provinces. Fig. 1 demonstrates the production of the various German fields since 1890. New Fields Discovered During 1935 five new fields came into production. The first of these, the Moelme-Hoheneggelsen field near Hanover, was opened up in April. This region has been sporadically drilled for oil since 1882, but not until 1935 was production on a commercial scale obtained. The oil comes from Mesozoic sandstones on the flanks of a shallow salt plug. Also during April, oil was found in commercial quantities in the Rhine valley at Forst, near Bruchsal. Tertiary and Mesozoic sandstones cut by faults of the Rhine Graben form the reservoir structures in this area. In July a wildcat well drilled on the Fallstein structure, a broad Triassic anticline near Halberstadt, came in as a producer from Permian (Zechstein) dolomite. In September commercial oil mas found at Gifhorn, near Braunschweig, in Wealden sandstones associated with a shallow, geophysically discovered salt plug. During the same month production was obtained at Heide, in Holstein, from the Permian Rotlie-gendes formation, in a structural high on which oil seepages have been known for years. Drilling Activities Published information indicates that during 1935 drilling totaled 574,000 ft., as compared with 436,000 ft. in 1934; 233,000 ft. in 1933 and 151,000 ft. in 1932. The German Government is subsidizing wildcat

Jan 1, 1936

By Walter Kauenhowen

Germany's crude oil production during 1935 totaled 3,007,711 bbl., an increase of 36.6 per cent over the 2,202,214 bbl. produced in 1934. The Nienhagen-Haenigsen field furnished 77 per cent of the total 1935 production. Cumulative production figures for Germany's two most important oil fields, Wietze and Nienhagen, show that during the period from 1872 to the close of 1935 the Wietze field produced 13,325,536 bbl. and the Nienhagen field 9,340,870 bbl. Table 1 gives statistics of German production since 1928, arranged both by fields and by oil provinces. Fig. 1 demonstrates the production of the various German fields since 1890. New Fields Discovered During 1935 five new fields came into production. The first of these, the Moelme-Hoheneggelsen field near Hanover, was opened up in April. This region has been sporadically drilled for oil since 1882, but not until 1935 was production on a commercial scale obtained. The oil comes from Mesozoic sandstones on the flanks of a shallow salt plug. Also during April, oil was found in commercial quantities in the Rhine valley at Forst, near Bruchsal. Tertiary and Mesozoic sandstones cut by faults of the Rhine Graben form the reservoir structures in this area. In July a wildcat well drilled on the Fallstein structure, a broad Triassic anticline near Halberstadt, came in as a producer from Permian (Zechstein) dolomite. In September commercial oil mas found at Gifhorn, near Braunschweig, in Wealden sandstones associated with a shallow, geophysically discovered salt plug. During the same month production was obtained at Heide, in Holstein, from the Permian Rotlie-gendes formation, in a structural high on which oil seepages have been known for years. Drilling Activities Published information indicates that during 1935 drilling totaled 574,000 ft., as compared with 436,000 ft. in 1934; 233,000 ft. in 1933 and 151,000 ft. in 1932. The German Government is subsidizing wildcat

Jan 1, 1936

By Wright J

Large scale cut and fill mining in narrow silver-lead-zinc orebodies began at Mount Isa in 1964. Initially each orebody was one stope and access was via raises from the level above. Upholing was the principal mining method, although flatbacking was employed where ground conditions were more difficult. Developments since have included access via footwall inclines and connection of all stopes with major crosscuts. Flatbacking is the principal method. The most recent cut and fill operation is now fully mechanised using drilling jumbos, rockbolting jumbos and load-haul-dump units. Improved ground support and drilling and blasting practices have enhanced safety, recovery and productivity in all cut and fill operations.

Jan 1, 1988

By H. Bannach

"This paper focusses on what seem to be the leading indicators of prosperity in the minerals industry during this decade: the geographical distribution of deposits, environmental impact, capital allocation and acid consumption. There is a potential for meeting environmental criteria at a reasonable profit margin, but those with limited acid demand within economic range will face hard times to meet growing environmental concerns, resulting in additional mine closures. At the other end, those with old waste dumps who are thinking about smelting capacity additions will need capital influx at a much larger rate than ever before. All things considered, a change should be made in the way the world's copper reserves are computed, because there is a growing need to internalize these effects back to the ore blocks before a meaningful estimate of reserves becomes available.IntroductionThe copper industry has undergone several changes during the past decade, many of which were expected to take place because they rel1ect the economics of ageing mines. However, many others took place that shocked the industry because they were not completely under control. The focus of this paper is to rel1ect on those changes, and on market expectations for this decade that somehow depend on their impact.To review the prospects for new mine developments and expansions from an industry perspective to a full extent, it would be necessary to consider not only the deposits themselves, but also geographical constraints, environmental constraints, labour composition, technology development and use, the availability of capital, ownership issues, and integration within the industry. This paper, however, will concentrate on only some of the key elements that are believed to playa major role in shaping the market in the decade that has just begun. These elements, all interconnected, are:"

Jan 1, 1992

If a straight line should be drawn on the map (Fig 1) through the northern half of the South Island of New Zealand, from Mt. Domett in the north to Arthur's Pass in the south, and another line drawn parallel to it and at a distance of ten miles to thewest, according to the topographic scale, it will be found that within the belt thus drawn across the country all the most important mines, past and present, of the outh Island are situated, with the exception of a few in Otago.The most important product of this tract being gold, and Reefton, the most important southern mining field, being situated at about it central portion, the zone may aptly be termed 'The Great Reefton Gold Belt.'The occurrence of so many gold mines along this particular strip of country is not at all a matter of chance, but is the outcome of cause and effect. Running along the eastern side of the gold belt are the Brunner and Victoria Ranges, which are chiefly composed of crystalline schists and metamorphic granite of probably Cambrian or Silurian age; between these and the gold-bearing series there are interposed at one or two places some beds of slates, limestones, and cherts of Devonian age, characterized by the brachyopods Spirifer...

Jan 1, 1911

By John E. Butler

Due to the present economic climate, particularly the depressed copper market, conventional mining, milling and flotation operations have been suspended. However, due to the apparent amenability of the ore to 'natural' leaching, investigations have been initiated into establishing an in-situ leaching operation as a preferred alternative to conventional operations. Cement copper production has been developed in parallel with the leaching trials and is presently at the rate of approximately 3,000 tonnes of contained copper per annum. Testwork includes controlled leaching of ore both in the laboratory and in-situ following blasting.

Jan 1, 1981

By Charles I. Richman

Aquispirillum magnetotacticum (AM) is gram-negative hetrotrophic bacteria that belongs to a class ,of magnetotactic bacteria that have an ecological niche in marine marches and fresh water swamp sediments. Thiobacillus Ferrooxidans (TF) is a Gram-negative, acidophillic chemoliths that may have similar chemical conditions within the cytoplasmic membrane as Aquaspirillum M. to support growth of Magnetosomes. Magnetosomes are cellular bodies that accumulate under slightly aerobic conditions. Magnetotactic motion occurs in an external magnetic field and depends on the medium viscosity. The Atomic Force Microscope equipped with a magnetic tip shows the presence of Magnetosomes in these bacteria strains. The size, shape of magnetosomes in AM and TF strains are characterized.

Jan 1, 1998

By R. S. Kinasevich, D. D. Crabtree, D. W. Fuerstenau, T. P. Meloy, A. L. Mular

This paper presents details of the concept that size reduction in comminution machines takes place by three mechanisms; namely impact, abrasion, and chipping grinding. Experimental evidence is presented to show that each of these comminution mechanisms produces particles of a characteristic size distribution. The actual product from a comminution device has been postulated to be the result of a composite of these three types of mechanisms. Composite curves are demonstrated for a material following the Gaudin-Schuhmann, Gaudin-Meloy, and Rosin-Rammler size distributions. About forty years ago, Gaudin1 showed that grinding may be considered a combination of impact and attrition. Since that time, major efforts have been devoted to studies, both experimental and theoretical, of impact and compression fracture, while attrition has been almost wholly neglected, at least quantitatively. A significant attempt to distinguish between attrition and impact grinding is the work of Tanaka2 in Japan. By means of an instrumented abrasion grinder and a drop weight device, he determined coefficients relating the increase in surface area of various materials to the energy expended by the two methods of comminution. He showed that physical properties of a material determine its response to attrition and impact grinding. By extending his ideas to ball milling, he concluded that to a large extent the basic comminution process in a ball mill is due to the impact of falling media. Because Tanaka used a mass of particles in his drop weight device, however, he did not obtain pure impact size reduction. The purpose of this paper is to define basic mechanisms of size reduction, to verify that each has a characteristic and meaningful distribution curve, and to show how a combination of these mechanisms results in a size distribution very like that produced by grinding mills. DEFINITION OF COMMINUTION MECHANISMS The product from a grinding device will be considered to be the sum of the contributions resulting from the action of three basic mechanisms of size reduction which operate in a ball and rod mill. These are impact grinding and two forms of attrition, namely abrasion grinding and chipping grinding. Each is defined below. Impact Grinding: If a straight line is obtained when the cumulative weight fraction finer than a given size is plotted on log-log paper as a function of that size, the slope of the line is defined as the distribution modulus. A number of investigators 3,4,5 have shown that impact fracture of single specimens of different composition and shape results in a distribution of daughter particles that exhibit a distribution modulus of unity. This has also been true for materials broken in slow compression. Moreover, under slow compression or impact fracture conditions, theoretical distribution equations6*' which approximate the Gaudin-Schuhmann distribution when the distribution modulus is close to unity agree reasonably well with the experimentally obtained products. If one now considers a comminution process where many impact or compression fracture events are taking place, then any rational summation of the individual events yields, in the finer size range, a Gaudin-Schuhmann distribution whose distribution modulus is also unity. If the size distribution of the product from a mill has a distribution modulus of unity, it is implied that particles are fractured in a manner which results in a comminution event having a distribution like that obtained for the breakage of single specimens. These impact events would occur when a particle is smashed between balls or between a ball and the mill liner. Attrition, on the other hand, is that form of grinding which cannot be called impact grinding, and comprises both abrasion and chipping grinding. Abrasion Grinding: Abrasion is a form of surface wear resulting when particles rub against each other or against balls or the mill liner of a tumbling mill, somewhat like a piece of wood being rubbed over a piece of sandpaper. The surface wears at a more or

Jan 1, 1964

By Roger A. Bullivant

As the UK's foremost domestic foundation underpinning contractor over the last 25 years it has become abundantly clear that the size of the repair market, some £500m per annum is a significant waste of resource and cost. To experience this scale of foundation failure in mainly new construction less than 20 years old is unacceptable. This is being further endorsed by our contracting experience in the USA over the last 10 years. Our foundation repair systems are mainly based upon the use of driven mini piles and it was considered appropriate that this type of pile should be upgraded and used on new build construction where the ground was marginal or bad.

Jan 1, 1995

By Ju Hao L, Jian L

A joint project between the Fan Kou Mine, the Guangzhou Research Institute of Non-ferrous Metals, the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre, and the Changsha Design and Research Institute of Non-ferrous Metals has implemented grinding control on a circuit consisting of two primary mills and a single secondary mill at the Fan Kou mine in northern Guangdong province, PR China. This paper describes the initial design of the control system and the changes made during its implementation. The initial design was to obtain maximum throughput at a constant product size. This was changed so that the control provided a constant product density at a set feed rate. The set feed rate is reduced when necessary to prevent overloading of critical components in the circuit. The reasons for the changes in the control strategy are discussed.

Jan 1, 1993

By Noel N. Moebs

The Bureau of Mines measured surface subsidence above four small coal mine room-and-pillar sections in southwestern Pennsylvania, to obtain preliminary information on the magnitude and character of selected parameters, such as angle of draw and maximum subsidence, which are essential to the development of subsidence prediction methods. Data varied widely at the four sites; this is attributed to local geologic and mining conditions. Surface deformation at each site was of a magnitude normally associated with severe structural damage.

Jan 1, 1982

By Brian Hawkins, David Bradley, Rachel Gooding, Lucas Rodriguez, Patrick Wilson, Kevin Wegman, Dhruv Mittal

To better protect the nation and inform difficult defense and preparedness decisions, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is performing a probabilistic risk assessment of explosive terrorism risk to the US homeland. After assessing existing models against requirements, well-developed mathematical descriptions and algorithms associated with explosives hazards were combined with probabilistic modeling techniques used in DHS chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) terrorism risk assessments to create a suitable interior explosive consequence model for assessing the impact to human health.

Jan 1, 2018

By H. I. Aaronson

The nucleation of pearlite at proeutectoid ferrite is inhibited, to an increasing extent, at the following locations: At twin boundary-nucleated ferrite, between closely spaced ferrite sideplates, and at intragranular plates. These effects are discussed in terms of the influence of transformation strain energies and of the interfacial free energy of austen-ite:ferrite boundaries on the rate of pearlite nucleation. The growth of pearlite into the interiors of austenite grains from the region of the grain boundaries is markedly restricted when low reaction temperatures and large austenite grain sizes permit the development of interlocking networks of intragranular ferrite plates. PREVIOUS investigators have made extensive studies of the interactions which occur between the proeutectoid ferrite and the pearlite reactions from the viewpoint of the mechanisms through which pearlite interferes with the nucleation and growth of proeutectoid ferrite.1-3 In the present investigation, the processes through which proeutectoid ferrite (hereafter termed simply "ferrite") can reduce the rate of formation of pearlite have been explored in some detail. A steel with a relatively low carbon content, in which the ferrite reaction can compete successfully with the pearlite reaction over a wide range of reaction temperature, and exceptionally coarse-grained specimens, which further emphasize the role of the ferrite reaction, have been employed for most of this work. A brief examination also has been made, however, of the effects of smaller austenite grain sizes upon these processes. Experimental Procedure The steel employed had the following composition: 0.29 pet C, 0.76 pet Mn, 0.25 pet si, 0,007 pet S, and 0.005 pct P. This alloy was homogenized for 48 hr at 1250°C. The investigation was performed

Jan 1, 1959

By W. A. Wood, W. H. Reimann, K. R. Sargant

A study is made of the microstructural changes produced in armco and pure iron subjected to alternating torsion at amplitudes above and below the knee of the S/N curve. The aim was to identify the basic mechanisms of fatigue and to find why they should give rise to a sharp S/N knee in contrast to the type of S/N curve shown by fcc metals. It is found that the basic structural change above the knee in the iron is a pronounced cell formation in the grains, which determines irregular micro-cracks, and below the knee a dispersion of fine slip that determines a dispersed pore formation in the grains. Comparison of these changes with those in fcc metals similarly tested shows that they do not include an intermediate structural change, a concentrating of slip in narrow bands with associated slip-band cracking, that characterizes the fcc metals and accounts for their different type of S/N curve. RECENT conferences on basic mechanisms of fatigue emphasize that fatigue damage takes many forms: for example, cracking in slip bands (Thompson1), at grain boundaries and inclusions (Hempel'), at precipitation zones in alloys (Han-stock, Forsythe), or at surface notch-peak effects, both hypothetical (Mott, cottrel16) and observed (Wood). Evidently it is not easy to see in this diversity a basic mechanism. At the same time the contributions suggest that some reconciliation may be possible if distinctions are drawn between three phases of the fatigue process: initiation of damage at nuclei, distribution of these nuclei, and the final macroscopic crack system. In initiation, the relevant features appear to be that nuclei may appear early, at least by 1/100th to 1/1000th of the life of a test specimen; that they may do so at many independent centers, appearing according to some observationsa as pores or voids; and that they are not necessarily self-propagating, damage spreading rather by their multiplication. In distribution, the relevant feature appears to be that they form preferentially in zones where the microstructure becomes abnormally strained (as defined more closely below). Now in these two phases the basic fatigue process should be systematic. But, at the same time, the "abnormal strains" in particular set the stage for considerable diversity in the final phase of macroscopic cracking, for where zones of abnormal strain develop will depend on what kind of fatigue deformation is applied and what kind of prior processing the test material has had. On this view it seems desirable to know what in

Jan 1, 1964

By J. S. Levine

A series of four displacement experiments has been run in a large alundum core. Flow potential distribution in each liquid phase was measured continuously through oil-wet and water-wet capillary barriers, using a null-point pressure balance, and saturated distribution was determined from electrical resistivity measurements. A method has been devised for calculating the effective (and relative) permeability to each phase at any time and at any point in the flow system for the transient displacement process. Relative permeability points have been calculated and average curves drawn for oil displacing water and water displacing oil. The values of dynamic capillary pressure have also been determined. Data have been substituted into the generalized Buckley-Leverett fractional flow equation and a comparison between actual and theoretical breakthrough recoveries is shown. Displacement experiments have been performed in the laboratory for many years in an effort to determine the effect of a number of parameters on multiphase flow in porous materials. In the literature of petroleum technology, Wyckoff and Botset' were among the first to develop the relative permeability concept and to show experimentally that oil, gas, and water can flow simultaneously through a porous medium in a precise way governed by certain fluid properties, by the relative saturation of each fluid, and by characteristics of the medium itself. Somewhat later, Leverett2 and Hassler, Brunner, and Deahl11 developed some theoretical concepts of capillary behavior in porous materials. The work of Buckley and Leverett3 presented a theoretical analysis of immiscible liquid displacement based on the equation of continuity and the Darcy equation for viscous flow of each fluid. Subsequent investigators attempting to verify the Buckley-Leverett equation have, in general, deliberately neglected the capillary pressure term or have performed experiments in such a manner that it could be neglected. Terwilliger, et al4 in 1951, obtained agreement between theory and experiment for the constant rate displacement of water by gas in a long vertical sand column. Rapoport and Leas5 have investigated the

Jan 1, 1955