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By Fred V. Seibert

The Functions and the Responsibilities of the Institute The Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy is unique. ln addition to the welfare of its members, it has a real interest in the welfare and promotion of one of Canada's largest and most important basic industries. It is because of this that the membership is composed of both individual and corporate members. The individual members are both technical and non-technical (Members and Associates). Both Members and Associates have the same status in the Institute and all are interested in the welfare of the mineral industry. The aims and objects of the Institute 11re twofold. The education and welfare of its individual members and the sound promotion and welfare of the mineral industry. Perhaps it might be well if we reviewed these aims and objects as stated in our Constitution: "First - To promote the arts and sciences connected with the economical production of valuable minerals and metals, by means of meetings for the reading and discu11ion of technical papers, and the subsequent distribution of such information as may be gained throo.gh the medium of publications". It cannot be denied that we have do ne a good job in this particular phase of our work. Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement. It has been suggested that we might have more discussion and, on occasions, more criticism of our papers and programmes. This can best be done if the authors will have their papers prepared in sufficient time to permit of preprints being made availa1ble before the meeting at which they are to be presented.

Jan 1, 1950

By M. R. Geer

American and European practices in cleaning fine coal are strikingly different. The tables, launders, classifiers, and pneumatic devices used in America are seldom employed in Continental Europe, where much of the fine coal is cleaned in feldspar jigs, often supplemented by froth flotation of the extreme fines. This difference in choice of cleaning equipment may be fortuitous, but in large measure can be attributed to a difference in economic factors. Coal being more costly in Europe, there is greater emphasis on efficient cleaning of all sizes, including the extreme fines, and it is common to produce a high-ash middling for "on-site" consumption to avoid any waste of fuel value. The feldspar jig has been found advantageous under these conditions. In the United States fuel coal must be prepared as cheaply as possible, and metallurgical coal must be prepared as efficiently as possible; thus in both branches of preparation practice, any cleaning device that promises greater economy or higher efficiency warrants consideration. The feldspar jig, as employed in Europe, has a much higher unit capacity than the wet table used so extensively here and therefore offers economy in the capital costs of a washery through saving in space. As pointed out by Vissac,4/ the jig operates under automatic control, and therefore can cope with fluctuations in quality of feed. Maintenance costs for a single, large-capacity unit, such as the feldspar jig, would be expected to be lower than those for a battery of low-capacity cleaners. These considerations led the Bureau of Mines to undertake an investigation of the feldspar jig to determine its possible usefulness in this country.

Jan 1, 1958

Elongates are commonly used as stope support in South African gold and platinum mines. To evaluate the effect of the inherent strength, stiffness and yield variability associated with elongates, a statistical method is presented which addresses and quantifies the support performance at various levels of certainty. The analysis, which is based on a normal distribution, makes use of force-deformation curves determined from multiple laboratory compression tests on the same support type. The applicability of the method is illustrated making use of actual performance capabilities of various types of elongates. In order to ensure a high probability that support units installed underground exceed the standard support performance curve established by means of laboratory tests, the statistical mean of a suite of tests based on the same support type is downgraded. The ?correction factor? is a function of the mean and standard deviation of the test data, as well as the sample size of units deemed to control the local rock mass stability. It is shown that downgraded performance curves based on a high probability (90 to 95percent) of support units exceeding this performance level are suitable to ensure that the design of support systems will in variably meet the design criteria. In the highly discontinuous hangingwall rock mass typically associated with intermediate- and deep-level mining operations, the interaction between adjacent support units is comparatively limited (at the support spacings commonly used). Therefore, the appropriate sample size (n) of the support units controlling the local rock mass stability should be n= 1. In shallow mining conditions, sample sizes of up to n=5 may be warranted, depending on the spacing of joints and other discontinuities in the hangingwall.

Jan 1, 2001

By V. Nasri, S. Rashidi

The Baltimore Red Line Project is a proposed 22.7-km (14.1-mile) long east-west light rail transit (LRT) line envisioned to connect the areas of Woodlawn, Edmondson Village, West Baltimore, downtown Baltimore, Inner Harbor East, Fells Point, Canton and the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Campus. The Red Line LRT System has two tunnel segments - the Cooks Lane Tunnel (CLT) and the Downtown Tunnel (DTT). The CLT segment is roughly 1,920-m (6,300-ft) long. It commences at the west portal located at the highway ramp for I 70 (to be removed) and terminates at the east portal that is at the intersection of Edmondson Avenue (U.S. Route 40) and Glen Allen Drive. This segment of the project consists of the following construction components: approximately 1,458 m (4,786 ft) of tunnels, 143 m (469 ft) of cut-and-cover tunnel, and 318 m (1,045 ft) of retained cut (U) section. The approximate horizontal alignment for the Red Line LRT Project is shown in Fig. 1.

Jan 1, 2014

By P. R. Schmidt, N. J. Themelis

A study zvas made of the deoxidation of copper at 1170°C by injecting a jet of carbon monoxide vertically upwards into the melt. The effects of submersion depth (2 to 20 cm), orifice diameter (& to 5 in.), and gas velocity (100 to 3650 ft per sec) were examined. In the oxygen range 0.1 to 1.0 pct 0, the overall rate was conlrolled by gaseoLcs mass Lransfer. The results were interpreted in terms of a rate coefficient per unit depth which was found to be constant with distance along the jet axis and nearly proportional to the orifice Reynolds number in the range 1000 < NReo < 9100. AS the gas flow rate through an orifice submerged in a liquid is progressively increased, at least three regions of bubble formation may be distinguished. At very low rates, the formation of bubbles is practically a static phenomenon, depending on the orifice diameter, the liquid surface tension, and the densities of the two phases. In this region, the bubble size is constant while the frequency of bubble formation increases with gas flow rate.&apos;-3 At higher flows (500 < NR~, < 2100), the frequency of bubble formation reaches a steady value and the bubble size increases with gas flow rate; when the bubbles issuing from the orifice become so large that they start coalescing to form larger bubbles, the turbulence induced in the liquid by the passage of previous bubbles shatters them into small bubbles of varying size. Finally, for gas velocities in the intermediate and turbulent regions of flow (NR,, > 2100) a tangential separation surface is created around the jet and momentum transfer takes place between it and the surrounding liquid medium. The entrainment of liquid and the resulting deceleration of the gas-liquid dispersion causes the jet to expand forming a characteristic jet cone. The large velocity and density differences between the jet and the liquid result in a high degree of instability and the jet envelope fluctuates rapidly.The characteristic jet cone can be observed by means of time exposure photographs such as those shown in Fig. 1 for an air jet introduced vertically upwards in a water bath. High-speed photography has showns that the gas-liquid dispersion within the cone consists of small bubbles the size of which depends mainly on the jet orifice diameter and Reynolds number. In the laminar region of flow, the following correlation was obtained by Leibson: The results of Liebson et a1.&apos; are plotted in Fig. 2. It can be seen that the region 2000 < NReo c 10,000 is not well-defined experimentally. In the entrance to the fully turbulent region of flow (NR,, = 10,000), the mean bubble diameter decreased to about 0.4 cm and varied only slightly from there on according to the correlation:

Jan 1, 1968

By James M. Krese

The West Kentucky Division of Island Creek Coal Company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, operates the new Hamilton Mine. It is located six miles West of Morganfield, Kentucky, in the Northwest section of Union County, adjacent to the Ohio River in Lock 50. On July 15, 1968, a unique new coal conveying system was put in operation. This system consists of eight conveyor units carrying coal from the bottom of the mine slope ultimately to barges on the Ohio River. It is over two miles in length and has a total of 3175 connected horsepower. The river loading conveyor is the longest 72" wide conveyor in operation in this country.

Jan 1, 1969

By S Schwarz, D Alexander

The mining industry, and in fact the world, has undergone significant changes in the past five to ten years, ranging from the metals boom, the global financial crisis and the rise and fall of national economies, to name just a few. There has been a focus on sustainable development for projects and operations in the mining industry, mainly pushed onto the industry by communities, governments and other agencies. While sustainable development and operation is a worthy priority for mining operations, discussions with mining industry personnel (with a strong slant on the mineral processing perspective) have shown other issues have surpassed the typical issues of water resources, energy availability and the environment. These include staff turnover and skills shortages, extracting metal from more complex orebodies and the uptake of new step-change technology.A number of key operating mineral processing personnel were interviewed to determine their perspective on the current issues facing the mining industry. This paper details the findings of this survey and highlights some of the topics that have been identified as the top issues from a mineral processing perspective.CITATION:Schwarz, S and Alexander, D, 2012. Current issues in the mining industry - From the operational mineral processorÆs perspective, in Proceedings 11th AusIMM Mill OperatorsÆ Conference, pp 369-372 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Oct 29, 2012

By Jay S. Silhanek, Vernon E. Andrews

[Introduction] Section 122 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977, Public Law 9595, directed the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to review all relevant information and determine whether emissions of radioactive pollutants into ambient air will cause or contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health. In August 1979, EPA published a preliminary report on assessments of public health impact resulting from emissions of radionuclides into air from a broad spectrum of major source categories (1). A section of this document presented a theoretical analysis of the radioactive airborne emissions from several non-uranium mines including iron, copper, zinc, clay, limestone, fluorspar, and phosphate. Since 1978 EPA&apos;s Las Vegas Laboratory has been gathering field data on actual radionuclide emissions from these mines to support the earlier theoretical analysis. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of those field measurements in comparison with the assumed values for the theoretical analysis. Data were presented in EPA&apos;s preliminary report on both gaseous radon-222 and particulate uranium-238 emissions from non-uranium mines. Most of the emissions data were rough estimates based upon the uranium content of the ore. Preliminary data from a few field studies were also used. Although both the theoretical and field studies by EPA were concerned with radon-222 and radioactive particulate emissions, this paper will concentrate only on the radon effluents. Radon from mines seems to have the greatest potential for possible health effects due to radiation. Data on particulate emissions are presented in other technical reports (2-5). [Theoretical Study] The theoretical emission data are presented in Table I. The estimates for the iron, zinc, and clay mines are based upon preliminary measurements taken by the Las Vegas laboratory. The estimates for the other mines were made assuming that 20% of the total radon-222 in the ore was released during the mining process and the radon release rate from the exposed ore surface was a factor of two greater than that resulting from mining. [ ] Dose assessments for radon from these mines were carried out using model facilities located on generic sites (1). The AIRDOS-II computer code (for estimating dispersion of airborne pollutants) with some minor modifications was used to determine working level exposures to a maximally exposed individual and a regional population. A conversion factor for risk/WL-year(O.021 fatal cancers/person-WL-y) was developed primarily from information on uranium miner exposures (6). This computer code and conversion factor were then applied to the assumed emission rate of radon-222 from each type of mine to develop estimates of working levels, lifetime risks and number of fatal cancers. A summary of this data is presented in table II. [ ] The highest estimated number of cancer deaths per year of operation is 0.05 cancer deaths or 1.0 death due to radon during the 24 year life of a phosphorous mine. For comparison, EPA estimates that underground uranium mines would cause .03 cancer deaths per year of operation in a regional population(1). [Field Study] As a followup to the theoretical study, EPA&apos;s Las Vegas laboratory began making measurements in 1978 of actual emissions of radon-222 and radioactive particulates from mine vents at several facilities for each of the industries listed in Table I and II. They were intended to verify general information and radon emissions from EPA&apos;s theoretical estimates.

Jan 1, 1981

By Raymond K. Will

Computers are becoming increasingly valuable tools in the mining industry as a greater variety of appropriate hardware and software becomes available, combined with greater acceptance by management, Within a given time period an engineering staff can evaluate or design a project to much greater detail and higher accuracy by utilizing computers once suitable programs have been developed. We are all aware that throughout the world the decreasing grade of minerals coupled with increasing waste to ore ratios necessitate larger capacity, longer term mining operations and attendant higher capital costs. Computers can be of assistance in all stages of mineral exploitation, from geologic exploration through mine feasibility studies and design, to marketing and transportation. Because of the high speed with which data can be digested and manipulated by computers, preliminary information from any stage of investigation can be analyzed to assist in further guidance of that stage. By use of preliminary mine feasibility studies, financial forecasts and sensitivity analysis, even information from a far-removed phase such as marine transportation of the product, can help guide the exploration phase to a realistic target.

Jan 1, 1973

By S. Seetharaman

A mathematical model has been developed to evaluate the viscosities of melts at high temperatures. The viscous flow in liquid is described by the equation, {n = Aexp(AG*/RT)} based on the absolute reaction rate theory. The Gibbs energy of activation,{ AG* } is considered to be a function of the temperature as well as the composition of the melt. The model has been applied successfully to various metallic and slag systems from unary to quaternary. On the basis of this model, a relationship has been suggested to relate the Gibbs activation energy of viscosity to the Gibbs energy of mixing in binary metallic melts. The viscosities predicted from available thermodynamic data in the case of a number of binary metallic systems using this correlation show satisfactory agreement with the reported experimental values.

Jan 1, 1994

By F. Calizaya, S. Bhattacharyya

"INTRODUCTION Mechanized underground mines often suffer from noise overexposure. Noise levels are usually above the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) where underground fans are used. Sound levels in active workings can reach 121 dB(A), especially when fans are not equipped with silencers. Use of silencers seldom ensure PEL for various reasons. Overexposure of noise induces permanent hearing loss among mine workers. Recent field studies by a NIOSH-funded research project at six coal and non-coal mines revalidated the findings. The University of Utah has undertaken laboratory studies to reduce fan noise at the source. A new silencer prototype with varying noise dampening material has been designed and tested. The silencer and an associated extension which can be repacked with different dampening materials were used in various configurations. Attempts were made to simulate field conditions where installations are quick and not perfect. The test results are presented here. NOISE IN UNDERGROUND MINES Noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a chronic problem in the mining industry. In spite of regulations being in place and elaborate hearing protection programs under way, hearing loss is prevalent among the mine workers (Bise, 2001). All production and support machinery in mining generate loud noise often beyond the approved exposure level. Researchers in the U.S. have identified auxiliary fans as one of the major sources of noise that can create noise exposure levels up to 121 dB(A), which is one of the highest in the mining operation (Bauer, 2006). Studies have demonstrated substantial reduction of noise level by using silencers. Adequate fan selection and proper utilization of silencers in auxiliary fans have great potential of abating the problem. In hard rock mines, auxiliary fans are used in blower configuration to ventilate development headings and large production stopes, and also to ventilate underground shops, crushers, conveyor transfer points, etc. Typical duct diameters in hard rock mines vary from 0.91 m to 1.21 m. Silencers are often omitted for cost reduction. In coal mines auxiliary fans are used in exhaust configuration with rigid ducts 0.61- 0.76 m in diameter (Hagood, 1982 and Moreby, 2009) to ventilate working faces in gate-roads and main entry developments. Sometimes, stone dusters are added at the discharge end to dust the roof, ribs and floor. AUXILIARY FANS AND SILENCERS Auxiliary fans are relatively smaller in size than the main fans and often have high rotational speeds (1800 -3000 rpm). Fans are selected based on pressure-quantity requirements and space restrictions only. Noise emissions are rarely considered during the selection stage. Installation of fans, ducts and other accessories is mainly based on best practices, which often do not include noise control. As a result, the operation of an auxiliary or local ventilation system normally produces excessive noise."

Jan 1, 2018

By Herbert F. ?Buck? Darling

A bridge replacement project in Rochester, NY, encountered difficulties when it was determined that rock below one pier was sloping downward toward the river at an angle of 42 degrees versus anticipated 12 degrees. Cofferdam design and construction became very difficult. The unanticipated subsurface conditions delayed the project by eighteen months and increased the cofferdam cost by almost $3.0 million ($US) when direct costs and associated delays were taken into account. The initial approach after discovery of the problem was to use the same type pier design and modify the cofferdam accordingly. This resulted in a cofferdam 12 meters (39.4 feet) deep on the shore side and 18 meters (59.0 feet) deep on the water side. The design used a master pile system to attain required wall strength and used rock anchors to prevent the cofferdam from moving toward the river. The pier foundation was then redesigned by the owner using revised seismic parameters. The original stepped footing carved into rock was replaced by caissons socketed into the rock beneath a large tremie concrete placement. The revised pier and cofferdam designs caused a shift from a mostly land based cofferdam, excavation, and rock removal project into an almost entirely water based cofferdam, caisson drilling, and tremie construction project. These design changes resulted in a reliable, safe, and unusual cofferdam and construction method. All of this was accomplished within a very narrow worksite with a railroad on one side, and the river with its public and commercial freighter traffic on the other. In addition, the existing two-leaf drawbridge was to be maintained in place which put further limitations on the water borne equipment. The engineering and construction considerations, problems, and solutions related to these cofferdams and pier foundations are presented.

Jan 1, 2013

On July 1, the Bonneville Power Administration announced a 25% power cutback because of lower than normal stream flow. In September, the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) announced plans to shut down one 23,000-ton-per-year potline at its Vancouver, Wash., primary aluminum smelter. Alcoa also announced that the last of four potlines at its Point Comfort, Tex., primary aluminum smelter would be restarted in October. A new 3-year contract was signed and workers at three Alcan Aluminum Ltd. primary aluminum smelters in Canada returned to work. It was estimated that it would take about 3 months before the smelters were operating at full capacity.

Jan 1, 1979

By Hans Jürgen Maier, Gregory Gerstein, Florian Nürnberger

Microstructural analysis to support the development of material models provides valuable information to design complex forming operations. Damage models such as e.g. by Gurson consider spherical voids only. However, investigations of bcc steels by scanning electron microscopy reveal that voids exhibit an ellipsoidal shape with progressing deformation. The material’s weakening in the Gurson model is taken into account by the void volume fraction. Therefore, a three-dimensional characterization of the void shape offers important data for modelling. Thus, information on the anisotropy of the process of void evolution and accordingly, about the anisotropy of the deformation process is provided. Application of the information regarding the void shape anisotropy within the Gurson model is discussed.

Jan 1, 2016

By F Butler, G E. Batley, A C. Hogan, A R. Butler

The ANZECC/ARMCANZ (2000) Water Quality Guidelines (the Guidelines) are the primary reference used in Australia and New Zealand for managing and regulating water quality. For most mining operations in Queensland, the environmental authority (EA – licence) incorporates the national default guideline values (GVs) for ecosystem protection as trigger levels (TLs). Exceedances of TLs ‘trigger’ further investigation and reporting. A review of the surface water compliance history at a metalliferous mine in North West Queensland identified minor exceedances of the cobalt GV as a common trigger for investigation and compliance reporting.The reliability of GVs is dependent on the availability and quality of ecotoxicology data for the relevant contaminant. The current national default GV for cobalt of 1.4 µg/L is classified as a low reliability GV due to the lack of available data at the time it was derived (ANZECC/ARMCANZ, 2000).The Guidelines are presently being revised and the toxicant GVs will be available as a set of web-based values and associated technical briefs. The new platform will enable the timely revision of existing GVs and inclusion of GVs for additional toxicants. Cobalt was considered a priority toxicant for the Guidelines’ revision, but was not included in the revision process.A preliminary review of the international literature indicated that at least 15 additional chronic cobalt toxicity studies had been published since 2000, sufficient to derive a high reliability cobalt GV using the protocols developed for the revision of the Guidelines (Batley et al, 2014; Warne et al, 2015). This presented an opportunity to improve environmental management by increasing the reliability of the performance measure.CITATION:Hogan, A C, Butler, A R, Butler, F and Batley, G E, 2016. Derivation of high reliability water quality guideline values for cobalt in freshwaters – improving water quality guidelines for better water quality compliance management in mining, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2016 Conference , pp 205–208 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jun 28, 2016

By M. T. Davisson

Pile compression load capacity prediction methods are divided into four categories for purposes of discussing their reliability compared to static load test results. The categories considered are: 1) static analysis, 2) driving formulas, 3) wave equation analysis, and 4) dynamic measurement and analysis. It is concluded that any method of static analysis that works for the geological deposit in question may be satisfactory. However, any given method can be quite wrong when applied to other deposits of soil that are different in terms of their engineering and geological characteristics. Dynamic formulas are found to be theoretically unjustifiable. The ready availability of the wave equation analysis for microcomputers eliminates the need to utilize dynamic formulas. The wave equation analysis is found to be the best analytical method for making predictions both for design and for construction control. Dynamic methods of measurement and analysis are found useful, but have limitations that have caused troubles on many projects. Two case histories are presented that show the limitations of dynamic measurement and analysis, and of the wave equation analysis. Soil deposits exist that defeat both the wave equation and dynamic measurement techniques; static load tests are currently the only method of proving the load capacity of piles in such soils.

Jan 1, 1991

By D. P. Tao, J. G. Groppo, R. Killmeyer, W. W. Wen, B. K. Parekh

Economical dewatering of ultra-fine (minus 74 m) clean coal slurry produced in column flotation to a 20 percent or lower moisture level will be an important step in successful implementation of the advanced fine coal cleaning processes. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate efficiency and effectiveness of three dewatering techniques, namely, hyperbaric, vacuum and screen bowl centrifuge, in dewatering of ultra-fine (D50 ~ 25 m) clean coal slurry produced by the `Ken-Flote&apos; columns operating at the Powell Mountain Coal Company, St. Charles, Virginia. he hyperbaric filter using 3 bar pressure and 165o cake formation angle, provided a filter cake with 23.6percent moisture with a throughput of 800 Kg/m2-h and air consumption of 868 Nm3/t (460 scfm/t). The vacuum filter with 30 percent submergence provided a filter cake with 27.8 percent moisture with a throughput of 122 Kg/m2-h. The screen bowl centrifuge provided a dewatered product containing 32.9 percent moisture at a feed rate of 450 Kg/hr, however, the solids capture was only65 percent. Addition of 1 Kg/t of a cationic surfactant provided filter cakes with 19.1 percent, 23percent, and 34 percent moisture using hyperbaric, vacuum, and centrifuge, respectively. Similarly, addition of 0.5 Kg/ton of copper chloride lowered filter cake moisture to 20.7 percent and 24.8percent, using hyperbaric and vacuum. With the centrifuge no improvement in filter cake moisture was noted. However, use of 80 Kg/ton of `orimulsion&apos; in the centrifuge provided dewatered product containing 26 percent moisture, and the solids capture increased from 65 to 95 percent. The dewatered product appeared dry and was easily handleable.

Jan 1, 1999

By V. R. Miller

The Bureau of Mines developed and evaluated a detecting and sorting device to separate the copper-bearing portion from the barren portion of Michigan native copper ore in the minus 4- plus 1-inch size range. Small-scale sorting tests were also conducted on minus 1- plus 1/2-inch material from the Centennial No. 6 mine, using a previously developed system that was modified to increase sensitivity. Results showed that, with the added sensitivity, 85 to 90 pct of the copper in the minus 1- plus 1/2-inch material could be recovered in about 50 to 60 pct of the fraction. Sorting tests on minus 4- plus 2-inch and minus 2- plus 1-inch fractions from the Centennial mine were conducted with the large sorting system. Results showed that 86 to 93 pct of the copper was recovered in 43 to 64 wt-pct of the sorted fractions. Combining of concentrates from the two fractions resulted in a recovery of 90 pct of the Popper in 55 pct of the weight. The composite concentrate contained 2.40 pct copper, and the tailing analyzed 0.33 pct Cu; the head sample assayed 1.46 pct Cu.

Jan 1, 1978

By D Willis, A Shanahan, C Jacobs, T Luxner

The application of tunnel boring machines (TBM) for reef mining is a unique practice with benefits over current mining methods given the right geology and geometry of the orebody. The Stillwater Mining Company (SMC) of Nye, Montana, USA operates two mines for obtaining platinum metals. The operation is currently using a 5.5 m diameter open-type machine for further mine development, as well as another TBM that they own.The latest 7.1 km bored tunnel, known as the Blitz Tunnel, will be routed parallel to the ore deposit in igneous mafic intrusive rock, and will be used for the life of the mine operation. It will be used to map the ore deposit, and provide a rail haulage route.Detecting the reef in relation to the TBM requires careful analysis. Diamond core drilling occurs ahead, above, and alongside the machine at every 150 m. The core is drilled, logged, and interpreted on the spot, concurrent with boring. Based on the data, the TBM is readjusted so that it stays on the correct bore path.This paper will highlight the application and benefits of TBM usage for reef mining, with detailed descriptions from the mine site.CITATION:Willis, D, Jacobs, C, Luxner, T and Shanahan, A, 2014. Tunnel boring machine usage speeds up development at Stillwater Mine, in Proceedings 15th Australasian Tunnelling Conference 2014 , pp 683–690 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 17, 2014

By S. Roy

Soft laminated iron ore (SLO) having a higher hematite content and Martite goethite iron ore (MGO) having a higher goethite content were subjected to detailed characterization and beneficiation. The present research was designed to investigate if these abundant, low-grade ores can be enriched adequately using standard industry techniques. No significant enrichment of the ores using jigging operation on the coarse (-3,200 +595 mm) size fraction could be achieved. Good liberation was only attained in the 150 to 300 mm particle size range in both cases. Desliming enriches the ground ores significantly. The effect of the feed size on the separation efficiencies of the ground ores were studied using flowing-film concentration on a Wilfley table. Better enrichment is obtained in the case of 150-mm sized feed by tabling. The grade of SLO is improved from 56.14% to 66.51% Fe, while the Fe content of MGO is enriched from 55.16% to 65.83%. Substantial rejection of alumina and silica is also achieved. Due to the friable nature of MGO and the higher goethite content in it, the loss of Fe in the form of ultrafines is greater in this case compared to that of SLO.

Jan 1, 2009