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By A. R. T. Denues

LIQUID-OXYGEN explosives commonly consist of a carbonaceous absorbent enclosed in a canvas wrapper and soaked with a liquid con-taining more than 90 mol per cent of oxygen. Investigation of these explosives in this country was initiated in 1917 by George S. Rice, then Chief Mining Engineer of the Bureau of Mines. The early development is summarized in two papers.1,2 Their characteristics, advantages and disadvantages were considered in a recent bulletin of the Bureau of Mines.3 Other publications of this Bureau4,5 treat the technology of these explosives and contain adequate references to pertinent literature. These investigations defined the properties of liquid-oxygen explosives and improved them greatly; however, an outstanding disadvantage is their high inflammability, a property of critical practical importance. These explosives as hitherto prepared are easily inflamed; the combustion resulting from an accidental ignition is particularly dangerous because of the ease with which it passes into detonation. For this reason the Bureau of Mines undertook a cooperative investigation, which has resulted in the development of fire-retardant treatment for the minimiza-tion or elimination of this hazard without materially impairing the explosive properties, including the ease of detonation. This presentation will offer a general description of the investigation and the outstanding results. Further phases will appear in subsequent short papers, and the entire investigation including the results of detailed experiments will be available in a forthcoming bulletin of the Bureau of Mines (Bull. 429). The effects produced by fire-retardant treatments of the carbonaceous absorbent and of the canvas wrappers were investigated separately, and the efficacy of combinations of these treatments with particular reference to the possibility of inflammation and to the development of detonation from inflammation was studied. The experimental explosive was pre-pared from a granular carbonaceous absorbent and the results described may be more or less unique for such a material. An extensive preliminary

Jan 1, 1940

By William E. Greenawalt

Ever since electrolytic copper refining gave promise of success, about a half century ago, efforts have been made to apply the idea to the extraction of copper from its ores. The methods of attack have, usually, been to leach with a dilute acid and then to deposit electrolytically the copper from the resulting solution with the simultaneous regeneration of the solvent used in the process. Many efforts have been made, and many patents have been taken out, both in the United States and abroad, to give this idea practical application, but only within the past few years have the difficulties been surmounted. Leaching and electrolysis, as applied to copper ores, are among the most promising fields in modern metallurgy. New conditions are arising, which will bring the wet methods into prominence; while high freight rates and increasing cost of fuel will tend to limit smelting to highly favored localities. The possibilities offered by the installation of hydroelectric plants and the greatly enlarged range of power transmission will greatly widen the field of electrolytic methods. Electrolytic methods are ideally adapted to hydroelectric development, for the load is constant throughout the full twenty-four hours, and the cost of both installation and operation of hydroelectric plants is not appreciably greater when operating for twenty-four hours than when operating for eight or ten hours; whereas, in fuel-power generation, as also in smelting, the cost is more or less in proportion to the fuel and power used. Nevertheless, fuel-power generation presents advantages in electrolytic methods, as the power plant may be located in a favorable place while the leaching and electrolytic plants may be located at the mine. The ultimate possibilities of the wet methods have yet to be determined. The possibilities of smelting have been thoroughly worked out; there is no unsolved major problem in copper smelting, and it has practically reached the limit of its possibilities. It seems hardly probable that any future improvement, either of method or apparatus, will greatly

Jan 1, 1924

By A. C. Rice

Investigation of a variety of mines to determine efficiency for rare- earth extraction has resulted in a solvent extraction technique wherein Primene 81-R,4 N-benzylheptadeeylamine (BHDA), and Primene JM-T give favorable extraction from sulfate solutions. Extraction from chloride, nitrate, and perchlorate solutions is negligible. Distribution coefficients for 10 rare-earth elements with Primene 81-R establish an extraction sequence beginning with lanthanum and proceeding through lutetium according to atomic number. Yttrium and ytterbium are exceptions in the extract ion sequence.

Jan 1, 1962

This paper discusses the potential role of underground space and tunnelling in urban planning in Australia. The paper gives examples of the infrastructure and commercial applications of underground space which have been effectively used overseas but have been slow to be considered as a part of urban planning in Australia. In particular, the paper looks at underground quarrying and underground commercial development and their potential use in the urban environment. Existing sites and potential sites for quarrying and/or commercial use have been classified using a system developed by the author. Underground quarrying may provide some solutions for planning problems involving sand and aggregate supplies, waste disposal and other uses. Commercial development involving underground excavation may be accepted if the cost of underground commercial development can be shown to be equivalent to the cost of above ground development. The paper concludes that one role of the underground construction industry is to promote tunnelling and underground space amongst architects, town planners and planning decision-makers. The Australian Underground Construction and Tunnelling Association (AUCTA) and the Australian Society for Trenchless Technology (ASTT) should be instrumental in actively promoting the use of underground space in society.

Jan 1, 1999

By Qiang Zhong, Bin Xu, Qian Li, Yongbin Yang, Tao Jiang

Viscosity of slag determines the production efficiency, energy consumption and distribution of elements between metal and slag, which is very important for pyrometallurgy. Slag of goldantimony ore blast furnace smelting has seldom been studied. In this paper, the viscosities of gold-antimony ore smelting slags of different composition have been studied by the rotating cylinder method. The results showed that, for a slag of 38.95% SiO2, 16.17% CaO, 25.97% FeO, 10.25% Al2O3, 5.17% MgO, the viscosity can be decreased by reducing 3.24%-8.5% SiO2 or increasing 3.31%-9.56% CaO content. Complex SixOy z- from SiO2 acts as the main cause for the high viscosity in a slag of high SiO2. The increasing of CaO causes the decreasing of the amount of SixOy z- and the O2- dissociated from CaO breaks the complex SixOy z-, which can decrease the viscosity. Viscosity of different composition slag in the appropriate range temperature can be calculated from the Arrhenius equation.

Jan 1, 2015

By M Tsai

Tube bundle gas monitoring systems have been used in the mining industry for over 50 years. The initial design was based on four individual gas analysers along with a series of solenoid valves, gas sample conditioning and flow control mechanisms to ensure the correct gas flow stream volume to the analyser. Simtars staff have identified flow control issues when providing operational support to coalmines on numerous occasions. The accuracy of the oxygen analysis is dependent on control of the gas flow to the analyser. Oxygen is one of the parameters used in calculating Graham’s ratio which is used for the detection of spontaneous combustion activity in coalmines. This paper will provide data which identifies the flow control issues by comparing mine site records for the two surface sample lines in the analyser room and the gas cage. Mine sites will be deidentified within the paper. The paper will discuss some of the changes that have been made in modern tube bundle systems and compare the change to the initial design specification developed by the UK National Coal Board, investigate possible operational impacts and provide a technical fix to solve the current flow issues being experienced at some mines.

Oct 12, 2022

By J P. van Dyk

A new crude ilmenite beneficiation process was recently proposed that allowed for the preparation of a smelter grade ilmenite from ilmenite with elevated chromium content. Magnetising roasting was not utilised in the process. As part of this circuit an ilmenite low susceptible reject stream was produced that had a low magnetic susceptibility. In this article a magnetising roasting process was investigated to beneficiate this material. Tests were conducted on material produced by pilot scale simulations on a typical South African East Coast heavy mineral reserve. The results obtained were compared to those published in literature for crude ilmenite. The small-scale experiments were used to define approximate operational limits for the oxidising roasting of a low susceptible ilmenite low susceptible reject stream, although industrial roasting conditions may differ significantly from those obtained in laboratory units. In a next phase these results will be confirmed on pilot plant scale.

Jan 1, 2001

By Tianming Sun, Gabriella Tranell, Ragnhild E. Aune, Mark William Kennedy

Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are critical for the production of many advanced materials and products. Mining and primary production of REEs are generally associated with significant environmental impacts. By recovery of REEs from secondary sources, through recycling or as a byproduct, the adverse environmental impacts may be partly avoided. In the present study apatite concentrate originating from iron ore beneficiation done by LKAB in Kiruna, Sweden, is explored as a possible source for REEs. The composition and distribution of the REEs within the concentrates are studied using ICP-MS, XRD and SEM-EDS/EPMA, as well as the melting point and heat of fusion using DTA-TGA-MS. The behavior of the material during melting has also been studied through wetting and slag saturation experiments. The overall aim of the study is to evaluate the implications for future smelting experiments aimed at concentration and recovery of the REEs.

Jan 1, 2015

By M. L. Requa

EVERY forward step in civilization brings with it an increase in population and increasing demand for raw materials. Modern civilization, because of its industrial development, depends more and more for its well-being on ample supplies of raw materials; the higher the type of that civilization, the greater its dependence. No fact is more obvious than that the raw materials should be put to use with greatest prudence and efficiency. National life is not a matter of a decade or a century. Conservation is no longer a matter for political discussion; it is a vital element in the future welfare of all nations. Unfortunately, to the minds of many, conservation means the locking up of natural resources, their arbitrary withdrawal, bringing about, in short, a condition of industrial stagnation. This has occurred in past centuries through misdirected governmental effort. Two eminent engineers have variously defined conservation as follows:

Jan 1, 1925

By Frank D. Lamb, D. A. Woodard

"INTRODUCTION The iron-ore deposits near Cranberry, N. C., were worked as early as 1820, and records show that to date at least 1,500,000 tons of ore has been mined.. The early operators depended on selective mining and hand cobbing to yield a product containing 40 to 50 percent iron. Later, a magnetic concentrator was erected by the Cranberry Furnace Co. and was operated periodically until 1930. The magnetic cobbing method employed yielded satisfactory concentrates, but the plant was shut down because costs were too high. 4/Early in 1944, in connection with the sponge-iron program of the Bureau of Mines, North Carolina and Tennessee were surveyed for the purpose of finding a readily available source of high-grade iron ore for use in the experimental production of sponge iron at Salisbury, N. C., and samples from various sources were tested in the laboratory. The Cranberry ore proved to be best with respect to grade of magnetite concentrates produced, and it was decided that a pilot mill should be built on the Cranberry mine property and that the concentrate made there should be shipped to Salisbury for direct-reduction tests in a commercial brick kiln."

Dec 1, 1946

By R. B. McIntosh, S Ramanchuk

A brief description is given of the process used by Sherritt Gordon Mines Limited to recover cobalt metal from nickel-cobalt sulphides. A description of the equipment with the operating conditions is presented with an evaluation of the corrosion test results for various stainless steels and other acid resistant materials for the part of the process involving the sulphuric acid leaching of nickel-cobalt sulphide slurry under air pressure. SINCE 1954 the Sherritt Gordon ammonia leach process has been used at Fort Saskatchewan to recover nickel metal, copper sulphides and cobalt-nickel sulphides from nickel concentrate produced at Lynn Lake, Manitoba. 'To develop a process for recovering cobalt and nickel from the cobalt-nickel sulphides, studies were carried out in the Sherritt Gordon laboratory and pilot plant and, late in 1957, continuous acid leaching of sulphides was started in the refinery. In September 1958 the present equipment

Jan 1, 1961

The unpaved road network on a surface mine is extensive, comprising numerous roads of varying construction and material qualities with highly variable traffic volumes. Existing haul road maintenance management systems (MMS) work well for predictable traffic volumes, but for complex mine road networks, the MMS becomes onerous. This results in sub-optimal road maintenance strategies with the attendant increase in total road-user costs and reduction in service. A real-time maintenance management system was thus sought to overcome the deficiencies of existing MMS for mine roads. Since most large mines operate trucks with on-board diagnostic data collation, linked through a centralized communication and GPS backbone, it was proposed that road condition could be monitored on a real-time basis through on-board vibration signature analysis. The aim of this paper is to present the development of a real-time mine haul road maintenance management system. Following are view of mine road maintenance practices, the real-time system architecture is introduced and the results of a field trial of on-board vibration signature assessment is presented. The trial results are discussed in the light of road defect signature recognition, analysis, signature repeatability and system limitations. This approach has applicability to other situations such as a network of district roads, subject to an analysis of the economic feasibility. The paper concludes that modern technology has the potential to apply maintenance as and where needed with possible reductions in authority cost and an improvement in service provided for the road user.

Jan 1, 2003

By R. Chen

Most tunnels built in Sydney encounter similar ground situations; they penetrate either the Hawkesbury Sandstone or the shales that lie beneath the city. Tunnels in these materials are generally sup-ported by rock bolts in combination with a shotcrete lining. A method of analysis is presented to improve our understanding of the long term behaviour of fiber reinforced shotcrete (FRS) materials and the tunnel support systems. A finite element method SAFEA (Semi-analytical FE Analysis) is developed to model the combined creep behaviour of a shotcrete lining and the Hawkesbury Sandstone. To model the time-dependent creep behaviour, the bulk modulus and shear modulus of the materials are represented by logarithmic functions in time. A Laplace transform is then applied to these functions of time and the solution of the problem found from a finite element analysis. Tablot?s method is then used to invert the transformed values and find the solution in real time. The time dependent creep deflection of the numerical tunnel models reflects the interaction of the shotcrete lining and rock which have different creep parameters.

Jan 1, 2008

By Rong Zhu, Guang-sheng Wei, Kai Dong, Ling-zhi Yang

As a shortage of information technology support, steel plant is unable to real-time tracking production cost of each working procedure, and can’t form the information feedback in time. Information integration technology for dynamic monitoring becomes a development trend of process control in advanced iron and steel enterprise. The paper based on the characteristics of EAF steelmaking process and requirements build the digital platform and process guidance model, which is designed to solve for smelting composition control, cost control, and optimizing guide in EAF steelmaking process. The model is including: data acquisition module, cost monitoring and calculation module, EAF endpoint carbon control module, alloy material optimization module, component monitoring and forecast module, process guidance module, data maintenance and query module.

Mar 1, 2018

By L. F. Moran

Rod Mill Grinding is an important and fundamental step of the concentrating process in Marcona Mining Company's plants at San Nicolas Bay, Peru. This Paper summarizes experience in regard to consumption and specifications of grinding rods based on twelve years operation of the grinding circuits. Marcona operates a Plant complex producing 10 million tons per year of beneficiated iron ore products including pellets, sinter feed concentrates, high grade concentrates as slurry and filter cake. Processing capacity is 15 million tons per crude ore per year of which 13 million are around in rod mills. A continuous testing program was carried out over the years. Initial studies of daily production operations gave indications of poor grinding rates in relation to mill size and power consumption, with a high rate of broken liners and rods. The broken nieces of rod were not automatically expelled and further interfered with grinding efficiency, while replacement of liners caused unwarranted do n tire. Objectives were to improve all phases of the Process by studying the effects of changes in rod diameter, length, alloy constituents, and volume and weight of rod charge.

Jan 1, 1975

By N Madani, Y Abildin, E Topal

Mine planning is a crucial part of all mining industry projects, and nowadays, geometallurgical mapping through advanced computer technologies provides an opportunity to involve metallurgical responses of a deposit into 3D block model in order to optimise mine planning activities, especially for production forecasting. Including these metallurgical parameters apart from traditional geology and grade-based attributes into resource modelling leads to an extensive approximation for the economic maximisation of mine production due to better forecasting, planning and increasing certainty and the reliability of the resource model (Macfarlane and Williams, 2014). Commonly, geostatistical techniques and algorithms are used to produce models with the high resolution (Brissette et al. 2014; Deutsch et al. 2014; Tolosana-Delgado et al. 2015). The accuracy of the modelling procedure deeply depends on a reliable block model, produced by spatial analysis of corresponding variables that define the geological, metallurgical, mineralogical and chemical behaviour of the deposit. However, there are special cases, where the application of enhanced geostatistical methods is required, to solve the occurred difficulties between variables with multivariate complexities. For example, in oxide copper deposits, the soluble copper grade is a percentage of total copper grade and recoverable by heap leaching processes (Emery, 2012; Hosseini and Asghari, 2015). Hence, the joint spatial modelling of these variables has two difficulties.CITATION:Abildin, Y, Madani, N and Topal, E, 2018. Forecast the mineral processing destinations based on spatial interpolation of geometallurgical variables, in Proceedings Complex Orebodies Conference 2018, pp 2–5 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 21, 2018

By Ronald J. Roman

As in every business venture, the primary objective of a mining operation is to make money for those who supply the venture capital. Therefore, all decisions concerning the operation of the mining operation should be made in light of the resulting effect on profit. The ultimate control is on profit, but the process is controlled, for example, by aiming for a recovery or concentrate grade knowing its effect on profit. The normal procedure used to determi.ne the profitability of a venture is to "present worth" all costs and incomes back to some arbitrary year zero. Every company has formed a management decision as to what it will require as a minimum return before it will undertake an investment. Once the economic analysis is completed, investment will be made only if the venture shows a positive present worth. If two alternatives are available, the alternative with the larger positive present worth is the one chosen. The same principles can be applied to the selection of a production schedule.

Jan 1, 1971

By den Bulck A. Van

In Europe, 50% of the copper originates from recycling. High-Cu containing scraps are regularly rich in impurities like Fe, Ni, Sn and Pb. Many high-Cu containing scraps are fed directly into anode-furnace casting installations or furnaces with limited refining capability. The impurities levels of the anodes produced in these processes should however remain acceptable for further electro-refining. The distribution of Sn between copper and slag has been investigated for conditions relevant to copper converting. Unlike previous studies, this work focuses on the behavior of Sn relevant to fire refining conditions, which are essential for anode refineries.In this study, liquid Cu–1Sn and CuOx–FeOy–SiO2 slag, with CaO additions, were equilibrated at 1300 °C in vacuum sealed SiO2 ampoules. After metal–slag equilibration, the samples were quenched in water. The composition of the slag and Cu metal was investigated with Electron Probe X-ray Microanalysis. The distribution coefficients of Sn between slag and Cu metal were determined as a function of slag composition.

By J. Bourgeault

Modem civilization is indebted to that most ancient of the skilled crafts - the art of stone working, as the one consistent means whereby the dim un-recorded past has conveyed to our modem schools of science volumns of facts, written in characters of imperishable stone. Although left, centuries ago, to ruin and decay, architectural examples of the ancient building crafts still remain to the glory of the old master-builders, whose accomplishments in that remote age continue to influence and inspire their modem successors. Present-day architects and builders will leave to posterity just as faithful a record of our modes of living and of the methods now adopted for protection, as if it had been made by written word; and our craftsmen have profited greatly, in meeting modem requirements, by taking advantage of the indurance and utility of stone. Stone in all ages and stages of the world's civilization and development has been the material chosen by the masterbuilder, the one material possessing qualities that render it most desirable in affecting the artistic ideals of each period. It perfects the science of architecture through its durability and thus renders possible the study of man's workmanship in stone throughout periods of civilization of which we have no specific written account. Other materials have been used for the construction of man's habitations, but none have withstood the test of time, nor have established the credit of designer and builder so well as stone. _All other materials fall into ruin and decay, leaving neither mark nor monument for the enlightenment of mankind.

Jan 1, 1925

By S Matos Camacho, K G. van den Boogaart, R Tolosana Delgado, U Mueller

"The precise formulation of a geometallurgical optimisation problem is by necessity a simplification of reality. It includes implicit choices such as data availability or mining block geometry. Additional data can be orebody data, production data or market data. Often these choices are predetermined by the software, the workflow or the corporate culture, and as such are not even queried. There are several aspects that might play a role in the optimisation. They include not only the spatial model on which the selection of mining blocks and the potential mining sequence are based, but also the complexity of the processing model, the way in which uncertainty is treated, the scope of responsibility and the complexity of the model. In addition the timing of the optimisation and the availability (or lack thereof) of information will influence the outcome of any optimisation.We show that different modelling choices and different model formulations for the same mine can lead to very different processing choices, substantially different net present values (NPV), opposite investment decisions and so to overall different values for the entire operation. The selection of adequate simplifications and corresponding formulations for the optimisation problem is thus an important task in itself.For this purpose we introduce a method for quantifying the impact of certain simplifications prior to the optimisation. For example, the effect of mining block choices depends mainly on the spatial structure and the structure of the processing gain function. Both can be quantified beforehand. Based on the outcome, appropriate simplifications can be selected for the geometallurgical optimisation.CITATION:van den Boogaart, K G, Tolosana Delgado, R, Mueller, U and Matos Camacho, S, 2016. How Details of the Geometallurgical Optimisation Influence Overall Value, in Proceedings The Third AusIMM International Geometallurgy Conference (GeoMet) 2016, pp 303–312 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Jun 15, 2016