Search Documents

By H. D. Jacobs

A process for recovering both iron and manganese from four manganiferous ores of the Cuyuna Range was evaluated. It comprised: (1) Low-temperature gaseous reduction to convert nonmagnetic iron minerals to magnetite and manganic minerals to manganous oxide, (2) acid leaching to extract manganese, and (3) magnetic separation to reclaim iron from the leach residue. Iron recoveries from the magnetic products ranged from 70 percent to 90 percent; manganese recoveries from leach filtrates ranged from 75 percent to 95 percent. Two ores, from the Hillcrest and South Alstead properties, yielded magnetic products considered adequate for use as blast furnace feed. Although good yields of manganese were attained on all ores, appreciable iron accompanied the manganese into solution. Previous work, however, has shown that this iron can be precipitated almost quantitatively under autoclave oxygen pressure with very little loss of manganese.

Jan 1, 1970

By A. Desbiens, R. del Villar

"This two-part paper summarizes the design and implementation of a distributed PIbased control strategy installed at the B grinding circuit, at the Kidd Creek Division of Falconbridge Ltd. Part I details the design of the control strategy using a grinding circuit dynamic simulator (DYNAFRAG). The first step consisted of sampling campaigns and data processing to calibrate DYNAFRAG. Then, several control alternatives were designed and tested with the simulator. The main feature of these strategies is their ability to regulate or keep within an upper and lower limit five output variables (circulating load, rod mill density, cyclone feed and overflow densities and pump box level) with only three manipulated variables (rod mill water, pump box water and rod mill tonnage). By simulation on DYNAFRAG, it was possible to discriminate among several control structures. The preferred control strategy uses a saturation algorithm, which allows the adequate regulation of two measured variables with only one actuator. Controllers located in interacting loops are appropriately tuned, taking into account the existing process coupling. Part II will present the implementation of the selected control strategy.IntroductionSteady state simulators are used to predict the stationary state of a given process under specific operating conditions. Tradi - tionally, steady state simulation has been applied for process flowsheet design, for evaluating process modification benefits or for determining key operating parameters in process operation optimization. Dynamic simulators add a new dimension to process simulation since they allow the prediction of the process transient behaviour, resulting from the application of a different set of operating conditions and/or from natural disturbances or equipment failure. Dynamic simulators can also be used for the training of new operators or for the design of control strategies."

Jan 1, 1997

By A Karrech, G M. Hassan, A Varghese, E Lessing, S Martins

Pumps play a critical role in mining operations, and their energy consumption and environmental impact are significant. This paper addresses the need for a holistic approach to sustainable pump deployment by expanding on previous work presented at IMPC Asia Pacific 2022 and World Mining Congress 2023. The research takes a significant step forward by outlining a structured approach to estimate and demonstrate sustainability tailored for operational slurry pumps. It details the calculation methodologies used to quantify the carbon dioxide emissions from electricity, wear materials and transport, as well as sealing water usage. To enhance practicality and usability, a simplified visual representation—called sustainability metrics—has been developed to monitor overall efficiency. The sustainability metrics consist of the availability, pump efficiency, and water utilisation efficiency. The proposed methodology is integrated with Pumps Condition Monitoring Service to maximise benefits. Three case studies, from iron ore, copper, and nickel operations globally, were employed to evaluate the proposed methodology. The findings demonstrate the critical role of sustainability calculations in understanding pumps operation. These calculations improve awareness of the pump’s role in the sustainability journey and enable effective monitoring. The studies highlight that continuous monitoring paired with effective prescriptive maintenance strategy can significantly reduce power and water consumption while maximising pump availability. The case studies also reveal significant shortcomings in current operational practices and non-optimal maintenance regimes, emphasising the need for practical recommendations to maximise savings and optimise pump performance. In the context of increasing climate change awareness and the imperative for global decarbonisation, this research highlights the necessity of critically assessing methods and operations to drive sustainability in the mining industry. By adopting a holistic approach to sustainable pump deployment, mining operations can effectively reduce their environmental impact while enhancing operational efficiency and economic viability. The proposed methodology and case studies provide valuable insights and practical recommendations for mining companies seeking to achieve sustainable practices and contribute to a decarbonised future.

Sep 1, 2024

By John V. Beall

BROMO Seltzer blue has gone to war. The blue of the Bromo Seltzer bottle is a product of cobalt, the Nation's No. 1 strategic metal. When the National Production Authority, on Nov. 21, 1950, ordered a 70 pct cutback in domestic use of cobalt, a stab of pain was felt in the hearts of the glass, porcelain enamel, steel, paint, pottery, and electrical and electronic equipment industries. The reason: A full-scale wartime economy with astronomical requirements for jet engines, high velocity projectiles, armor plate, electronic equipment, and the many products needed to win a war. There is little potential comfort for cobalt users in nonessential manufacturing, and the military will be pinched for optimum supplies of the metal. However, if proper measures are taken immediately and current plans are completed, in two years there will be far more cobalt available than ever before. When normal times return, cobalt supplies should be sufficient to meet peacetime military requirements, and greatly expanded domestic requirements that will result from new technological development for wartime but adaptable to peacetime products. The pres-

Jan 1, 1951

By K Williams, M Pender, T Honeyands, T Krull, D McCallum, R Holmes, R Orense

Bulk cargoes, including iron ore fines, must be shipped according to the rules agreed by the member states of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). One critical safety measure is the transportable moisture limit (T?ML) required for Group A cargoes (cargoes that may liquefy). A number of shipping incidents involving iron ore fines from India, where liquefaction of the cargo was suspected to be the cause, have brought the issue of iron ore fines T?ML into the spotlight. Extensive research has been undertaken by the major iron ore producers from Australia and Brazil to support the IMO in developing regulations for the shipment of iron ore fines. To this end, iron ore companies sponsored the AMIRA P1097 project to establish a modified T?ML test approach specific to iron ore fines. The project was undertaken by TUNRA Bulk Solids, CSIRO’s Centre for Bulk Solids and Particulate Technology and the University of Auckland, with project leadership provided by Creative Process Innovation. This program of work supported test work findings from the IMO Iron Ore Technical Working Group, which reported its findings in September 2013.The purpose of this paper is to present the major research findings from the AMIRA P1097 project, which includes a review of the original T?ML methods, highlights of the research that supported the new iron ore fines T?ML method and an outline of current iron ore T?ML requirements.CITATION:Williams, K, Honeyands, T, Holmes, R, Orense, R, Roberts, A, Pender, M, McCallum, D and Krull, T, 2015. Maritime bulk cargo transportable moisture limit requirements for iron ore shipments, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2015, pp 399–410 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 13, 2015

By Michael Samis

Conventional project valuation techniques, such as discounted cash flow (DCF) method, are more frequently being criticised for the manner in which they consider the interacting effects of uncertainty and project structure (including management flexibility) on project value. Modern asset pricing (MAP; often called ?real options valuation? when applied to the analysis of flexibility) is a more general valuation framework that corrects many of the shortcomings of common valuation methods. Previous mining applications of MAP have tended to treat the ore deposit as a homogenous entity. While useful for demonstration purposes, this is inadequate for practical application in industry. This paper presents a MAP valuation example that allows for the heterogeneous nature of an ore deposit. It shows that deposit structure may increase the complexity of the mine planner?s decision so that results of a standard DCF analysis, or a simple MAP analysis that ignores the details of deposit structure, are misleading. In the example, a management is considering the development of an adjacent low-grade zone while mining operations in a high-grade zone are ongoing. If the low-grade zone is developed before high-grade reserves are exhausted, the proposed development will include both low-grade zone development and a capacity expansion to handle additional low-grade reserve production. If development of these reserves is delayed until the high-grade reserves are depleted, then the low-grade reserves can be developed without a capacity expansion. A typical DCF analysis would reduce the management?s decision problem to three alternatives: 1) continue mining only in the highgrade reserves, 2) immediately develop the low-grade reserves and expand capacity, and 3) delay low-grade zone development until the high-grade reserves are exhausted. The model presented here allows the management to reconsider the development and capacity expansion decision on a discrete half-year basis. It delineates price regions, for given levels of high-grade zone reserves, in which it is optimal to develop the low-grade zone, defer low-grade zone development and abandon the mine irrevocably. The model presented here extends the ability of mine planners to describe actual project structure while using the MAP valuation framework that is already noted for its capacity to combine project uncertainty and risk insights with a dynamic project description.

May 1, 2001

By Bin Du

In recent years, concurrent product design and process is gaining popularity and will become a norm of the industry of the future. Forging has been a critical manufacturing process for production of components with superior tensile strength, toughness and grain flow. This paper describes an expen system which is being developed for forging die design and forging process analysis in concurrent engineering environment. Rules and guidelines pertaining to forgeability are formulated and incorporated into the knowledge-base in building the system. The system is built using an object-oriented paradigm. The object-oriented approach and hierarchical rule structure paradigm are briefly discussed. Finite element analysis packages (ALPID-2D) were incorporated into the program to give the simulation result of the forging process. The system can automatically produce a competent design and recommend a set of processing parameters for a given product. The designer can modify the design according to the result of the simulation.

Jan 1, 1992

By George H. Bodfish

This paper begins with a short history of air compressors, emphasizing their "roots" in the mining industry. It then describes the types of compressors available, including reciprocal, the various rotary positive-displacement compressors, and the centrifugal. The advantages and disadvantages of selecting a certain type of compressor over another are enumerated, considering customer requirements and operating costs, among other factors. Guidelines to operation and maintenance are discussed, including installation, monitoring and maintenance procedures. Finally, the paper addresses itself to future trends, with special attention being given to the system concept, the increasing use of rotary compressors, power consumption, reliability, packaging and noise attenuation.

Jan 1, 1978

By JOHN R. SUMAN

IT appears now that the conflict with the totalitarian states will be a long-drawn-out struggle. The course of this war up to now indicates that this may well be the first major conflict where man power has not been the vital and determining factor. Mechanized warfare has made it possible for relatively small, well-equipped groups to outmaneuver and defeat large armies which lack the necessary modern equipment. Under these circumstances, ultimate victory becomes a matter of resources and productive ability. The important question is not how many soldiers can he put into the field, but the volume and speed in producing the armaments essential to ensure a victory. The resources available to the opposing nations and the efficiency of their systems of enterprise and production will be primary factors in determining the ultimate outcome. Germany had a head start of eight years in the armament race, and it is not easy to overcome such an advantage overnight.

Jan 1, 1942

By Kiyoshi Shibata, Jun-ichi Hayashi

"Steel making technology poses strong potentials for environmental protection in three direction. One is pollution control on steel making process itself. Japanese steel industry has cut down various type of emission drastically since 1970's. Secondary, those process technology can be applied to reduce environmental burden in other industrial sectors. One of the successful examples is municipal waste treatment facility. Thirdly, development of high performance steel products, such as high strength steel for automobile body, can contribute to improve environmental performance during their use, based on the concept of life cycle assessment. Some examples of the successful development and future task is discussed.IntroductionsStack and smoke used to be a symbol of energy intensive industry such as steel making. But, scenery of steel works and its surroundings have been completely changed, and steel products have been changing, as well. The steel making industry consumes huge quantities of energy and resources. Variety of technical development have been carried out to reduce the pollutant release. The steel industry in Japan has been making direct and indirect contributions to reducing of various kinds of environmental impacts through development of high-performance process and products: Its potential technical capability accumulated in steel making is fundamental and essential infrastructure for the vein systems of our society. In this paper, the activity of steel making industry for better environment is discussed"

Jan 1, 2000

By John A. Burgess

The Carson Hill mine of the Carson Hill Gold Mining Corporation is at Melones, Calaveras County, Calif. It is one of the numerous mines on the Mother Lode of California. The property extends for 8,400 feet along the outcrop of that important vein system. The elevation at the haulage level is about 1,000 feet above sea level. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Acknowledgment of assistance in the preparation of this paper is made to Frank Wagner, underground superintendent; Max Petersen, engineer; and Homer Mann, assistant engineer. The geology of the Mother Lode has been described by Adolph Knopf in Professional Paper 157 of the United States Geological Survey; references to general geology have been abstracted largely from Knopf.

Jan 1, 1937

By H. D. Pallister

A review of? reports and literature on the pyrite deposits at Pyriton, Ala., indicated that a large tonnage of pyrite, some of which contained a small amount of copper, had been mined and shipped to fertilizer plants throughout the South. The information contained in this literature tended to demonstrate that the ore occurred in separate lenses of greater or less extent and of varying thickness and richness in pyrite as well as in copper. The outcrop being parallel with the Atlantic Coastline Railroad and just south of it makes the deposits readily accessible for shipment. Slopes could be sunk as they were in the past in the ore body if it were of sufficient grade and thickness, and the ore could be hoisted up the slope and milled close to the slope mouth with an ample supply of water from Talladega Creek, which follows the outcrop closely.

Jan 1, 1949

By Frans van Grunsven, Cees van Rhee, Geert Keetels

One of the obstacles during the initial phases of project development is the assessment of the environmental impact. Mining residue, consisting of fine seafloor sediments, are to be discharged subsea to mitigate the impact of these suspended particles. In order to test the effectiveness of discharging in proximity of the seabed, a numerical model is developed within the open source software package OpenFoam. Dedicated laboratory experiments for numerical model validation are discussed within this paper. INTRODUCTION Siltation is considered one of the major pressures on the environment for a seabed mining operation. Siltation is defined as the pollution of water by a high concentration of suspended sediments like clay or silt. This can be caused by two main activities during the mining process: the spill loss during the excavation and the return flow of undesired seafloor sediment after ore filtration on the ship. In a concentrated cloud, these fine particles form a so-called turbidity plume. Prediction of the size of these plumes and the created layer thickness of deposited sediment is a crucial part of the environmental impact assessment. The challenge in predicting the behaviour of these plumes is found in the wide range of scales involved in the process. At the point of origin, the turbidity plumes spread mainly under the influence of turbulent whirls created by an initial momentum and a buoyancy difference due to the presence of the suspended sediment particles. If carried by ambientcurrents, these plumes can spread for several kilometres before blending in the background.

Jan 1, 2018

By B. K. Shibler, K. C. Vincent, W. W. Agey

"INTRODUCTION As a part of the investigation of domestic manganese deposits, examining engineers of the Bureau of Mines collected samples of ore from three from three properties in the general vicinity of Tracy, Calif.The Buckeye mine is 23 miles of Tracy, just inside the northeast boundary of Stanislaus County. The mine is owned by K.O. Winship estate of San Francisco and is leased by Verner Allen, also of San Francisco.The ore is principally manganese carbonate occurring in interbedded layers in white chert, with the original,carbonate mineral altered in place. Four samples, representing four types of ore, were submitted, as follows: A, black oxide; B, pink carbonate; C, gray carbonate.The Wilfred Murphy property (also known as the Murmac claims) is approximately 30 airline miles south of Tracy. The property can be reached by road from either Livermore or Patterson and is on the divide separating Santa Clara and Stanislaua Counties Calif. The ore occurs in lenses along a white-chert formation. A 2-ton sample of ore for testing was taken from a dump accumulated from assessment and development work. The Ladd mine, 13 miles from Tracy in San Joaquin County is owned by Pat J. Connolly of Tracy and is leased by Mack C. Lake of San Francisco. The ore is essentially a chert impregnated with manganese oxides and the association is therefore exceedingly intimate and complex. Samples from each of the three adit levels of the mine were submitted for ore-dressing study.As the samples differed widely in physical character and response to ore-dressing methods of treatment, beneficiation of ores from each property was considered as a separate problem. Hence results of the investigations will be prescribed in separate sections of this report."

Nov 1, 1947

By John Plecash

This paper comprises a general outline of all of the developments, including the history, geology, mining, milling, power and transportation installations, at the gold mining operation of La Luz Mines Limited and the copper mining operation of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Rosita Mines Limited, both located in north-central Nicaragua. The low-grade, gold-bearing ore-bodies of La Luz Mines, contained in highly fractured and folded Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rocks, were from 1909 to 1928, mined and treated by primitive methods by the La Luz and Los Angeles Mining Company. The abandoned property was acquired by La Luz Mines Limited in 1936, and was equipped with modern machinery and put into production in 1939. Between 1939 and 1948, the daily rate of production was in-creased from 300 tons per day to 2,-000 ton per day. The ore reserves available for open-pit mining were depleted in 1954. Since then, the entire production has come from under-ground operations.

Jan 1, 1963

By R. Singh, C. Gong, J. Chaudhry

"Metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) is an ideal technique for the deposition of conducting and non-conducting oxide based thin film materials. In this paper we have presented a study of photo assisted MOCVD for the low temperature deposition of a number of oxide based advanced materials. We have used incoherent light sources as the source of optical and thermal energy in our MOCVD system. The vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and ultraviolet (UV) photons can enhance the surface reaction of the absorbed molecules through the perturbation of the electronic state of binding between the absorbed molecules and the solid surface. Unlike plasma process, no surface damage is expected and high quality materials have been deposited. At a given substrate temperature, the performance of deposited film depends on the lamp configuration.INTRODUCTIONMetalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) has become the standard manufacturing technique for the deposition of large area thin films of compound semiconductors. l.(.w-cost, high crystalline quality, atomically clean and sharp interfaces, atomic layer epitaxy, high throughput rates and potential for direct writing are some attractive features of MOCVD. Due to a number of potential advantages mentioned above, MOCVD is considered as an ideal technique for the deposition of various electronic and optical materials for a wide variety of applications. Rapid isothermal processing based on incoherent radiation as the source of optical and thermal energy is emerging as the key low thermal budget (integral of processing time and temperature) processing technique for the fabrication of current and next generation of microelectronic and optoelectronic devices and circuits [1]. In this paper we have demonstrated that the design of the lamp assembly plays an important role in determining the properties of the materials deposited by RIP assisted MOCVD. We have studied the growth rates, structural properties and electrical properties of Y2O3/Si structure. At a given substrate temperature, best results are obtained for the lamp assembly that provides maximum number of VUV and UV photons."

Jan 1, 1994

By C. P. Mishra

The Bureau of Mines performed a study of the availability of cobalt from market economy countries. The study entailed the detailed analysis of 97 deposits which contain 3.9 billion lb of cobalt at the demonstrated level; in 94 of the deposits cobalt is recovered as a byproduct, and in 3 it is considered the primary product. Since 97 pet of all recoverable cobalt is derived as a byproduct from copper and nickel deposits, the report focused on these two sources. At an assumed market price of $0.89flb for copper, $3.45/lb for nickel, $475/tr 021 for platinum, and $7/lb for cobalt, 1,330 million lb of cobalt at the demonstrated level are potentially available. This total includes 1,105 million lb of cobalt from copper properties, 190 million lb from nickel, 29 million lb from platinum, and 6 million lb from primary cobalt. This analysis indicates that the production cost for 589 million lb of cobalt can be totally covered by the revenues obtained from the other metals produced. The impacts of increases in capital investment and energy costs are also discussed.

Jan 1, 1985

By D. Goffaux

In less than two years, Stratmin has discovered, explored, developed, financed and put into production by open pit, a large graphite mine. The deposit, hinted by airborne electromagnetic survey, was discovered in September 1987 through various ground geophysical surveys, diamond drilling and trenching. The open pit started production in February 1989, feeding a nearby leased mill at Notre-Dame-du-Laus (Quebec), having a processing capacity of 400 tons per day. A new 1,000 tonne per day mill was built at the mine site, in Lac-des-lies (Quebec) and began production in April 1990. The Lac-des-lies graphite operation is currently one of the largest of its kind in the world. Mine and mill facilities are operated by Stratmin Graphite, jointly owned by Stratmin Inc. (75%) and Imetal-France (25%), a wholly owned subsidiary of Imetal (France). From initial exports limited to Japan and United States, Stratmin Graphite is now exporting in fourteen different countries, attesting to the very high quality of its products, with grades ranging from 92% to 97% carbon. Among the numerous graphite deposits discovered in Canada, Stratmin Graphite Inc. has emerged as the leader and virtually the sole crystalline graphite producer in North America, operating on a continuous basis.

Jan 1, 1992

By H. McIntire, R. Preston, D. Roberts

"Repeated 3D terrestrial digital photogrammetric surveys were conducted on hard rock mine pillars to characterize damage during secondary mining. Damage was quantified by measuring Depth of Failure, DOF, from spalling material and crack intensity, D21. These damage values were then correlated to visually assessed Pillar Damage Ratings and numerically estimated pillar loads. Measured damage, particularly Depth of Failure, correlated well with Pillar Damage Ratings. Numerical predicted pillar stress vs. damage exhibited the expected trend with shorter pillars being stronger. High resolution photographs and 3D models were also used to characterize damage mechanisms, which were found to be structurally constrained. INTRODUCTIONThe Doe Run companies Southeast Missouri Operations consists of six room and pillar lead mines (Brushy Creek, No. 29, Casteel, Buick, Fletcher and, Sweetwater) (The Doe Run Company, 2014). The mines are hosted in the Carbonates and Shales of the Viburnum trend with mining depths varying from 180 to 300 m. Pillars are commonly cut square with widths varying from 7 to 9 m and heights generally between 5 and 18 m, resulting in extraction ratios between 80 and 85% (Roberts et al., 1999). Figure 1 presents an idealized stratigraphic section through the Viburnum trend and Figure 2 shows a plan view of the five areas spanning the three mines included in this study."

Jan 1, 2015

Obtaining financing for mining and exploration projects has been difficult for the last several years, particularly for junior companies. Today, though, the purse strings of investors appear to be loosening, leaving the industry with many questions about financing in the coming years. How have capital markets and exploration spending changed? Are there signs of improvement? Where has capital been raised in private, public markets, stock exchanges, private equity, etc.? What companies successfully raised capital in the last year? How are they spending it? How are traditional and alternative funding sources investing in mining? What are the issues mining companies need to know about when tapping alternative sources of capital? Those were some of the questions that were answered at the Current Trends in Mining Finance conference, sponsored by SME and the New York Section April 26-28. Held in New York City, the conference attracted 115 professionals who work on the finance and economic side of the mining industry. Three of the conference organizers talked with Mining Engineering about the conference and the state of financing in the industry today. Tim Alch (TA) is managing director with Behre Dolbear & Co. Alan Oshiki (AO) is executive vice president with the Abernathy MacGregor Group. Henry Weingarten (HW) is managing director with the Astrologers Fund Inc. Here is what they had to say.