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By T. lkeda, R. S. Montgomery. A. Hara

Actual test specimens used in the previous laboratory wear investigation,' were fully characterized and the data is given in Table 1. Most of the carbides tested could be placed into groups of similar mean grain size. When the wear rates of the members of these groups were plotted as functions of their hardnesses, a family of curves resulted; curves for groups containing data from larger grained composites were at lower wear rates at the same hardnesses. Most specimens tested showed only A-1 porosity (ASTM Standard designa-

Jan 1, 1971

The Mahakipawa gold deposit is located 21 km northwest of Blenheim. It became the site of a small hardrock gold rush in 1889 following nearby alluvial gold discoveries in 1888. The study investigates the geology of the area of hard rock mining in the vicinity between Cullens and Waikakaho Creeks. The Marlborough Schist which hosts the gold depos, it consists of polydeformed greenschist facies quartzofeldspathic psammitic, pelitic and volcanigenic schist.

Jan 1, 1993

By P. C. Schutte

There have been several high-profile accidents in the South African mining industry where fatigue was identified as either causal or contributory. The risk of fatigue is inherent in any work-time arrangement involving shift work and work that is physically or mentally demanding, repetitive, or requires high vigilance. The management of fatigue is not simply a matter of correct shift scheduling. Amore comprehensive approach is needed. In order to be successful, a fatigue management programme should address the unique needs of the operation in which it will be implemented and should be integrated into normal operations. Fatigue management is a shared responsibility between the organization and its employees, and all stakeholders should participate in order to provide the safest and healthiest working environment possible.

Jan 1, 2010

By T. C. Woo

This report describes the program that studied the theoretical and practical aspects of the belt cleaning systems, investigated-the possibilities of a self-replacing and/or sell-adjusting belt cleaning device, and designed a horizonal pentagonal turret setup for the underground mine belt conveyors. This design resulted from comprehensive literature survey (both academic and commercial), actual mine visits, study of the mechanics of belt cleaning and bench-type experiments. It has complete working drawings and rough cost estimates.

Jan 1, 1977

By A. S. Odeh

The mechanism of two-phase flow in porous media has been a subject of wide controversy. One of the properties essential for understanding the dynamic behavior of two-phase flow is relalive permeability. Relative permeability to a certain phase is defined as the ratio of the effective permeability of that phase to its permeability when it is the only fluid present and powing. In this research, a theoretical analysis was made to determine the effect of viscosity ratio between the non-wetting and the wetting phase on relative permeability. Experimental work was conducted to test the validity of the derived equations. The experiment was conducted on four natural cores. Four oils were used as the non-wetting phases with a viscosity range of 0.42 to 71.30 cp and two wetting phases with a viscosity range of 0.86 to 0.96 cp. Oil and bring were made to flow simultaneously at various ratios, and relative permeability curves were constructed. A total of eight relative pertileability cycles representing eight viscosity ratios were run oil each sample. It was found that relative permeability to the non-~cletting phase varies with viscosity ratio. The relative effect of this variation on relative permeability values was a function of the sample's single-phase permeability, decreasing with its increase. It was concluded that, for .samples of single-phase permeability over I darcy. the effect of viscosity ratio could be disregarded, and relative permeability would be, in effect, a function of satrtration only. INTRODUCTION Two-phase as well as multiphase flow occurs in many fields of science. This type of flow is of particular interest in petroleum production. The knowledge of relative permeability, which describes the dynamic behavior of two-phasc as well as multiphase flow, is essential for solution of problems arising in that field. Thc relative permeability ot a porous medium to a given phase in multiphase flow. is generally considered to be only a function of the saturation of that phase, independent of the properties of fluids involved and ranging in value from zero to unity. Work by Leverett' and Leverett and Lewis' apparently supports this concept. In his experiments Leverett used a clean, packed unconsolidated sand of high permeability (3.2 to 6.2 darcies) with two phases (water and oil) flowing and a viscosity ratio range of 0.057 to 90.0. His results showed that the wide range of viscosity had practically no effect on relative permeability-saturation relationship. Recently accumulated evidence from work performed by several laboratories and a paper by Nowak and Krueger,2 in which relative permeability to oil of a few core samples in the presence of interstitial water was considerably greater than single-phase permeability to water, cast some doubt on the conclusions reached by Leverett' and subscribed to by a large number of individuals in the oil industry. One explanation advanced to explain this behavior states that it is caused by the variable extent of hydra-tion of clay minerals present in the sand. The greater the water saturation, the greater will be the area of contact between water and clay minerals; therefore, the greater will be the extent of swelling with corresponding reduction in permeability. Yuster4 presents another explanation for the recently accumulated evidence. Utilizing Poiseuille's law, he analyzed concentric flow in a single capillary where the non-wetting phase flows in a cylindrical portion of the capillary and concentric with it. The wetting phase flows in the annulus between the non-wetting phase and the capillary wall. The equations obtained indicate that relative permeability to the non-wetting phase is a function of saturation and viscosity ratio. Although Yuster's equations show that fractional rel-ative permeability to oil could be greater than unity, as was indicated by the data of Nowak and Krueger,1 they failed to present an explanation to the experimental data of early investigators such as Leverett.1 Due to the importance of relative permeability in understanding the flow behavior of petroleum reservoir fluids, this work—theoretical as well as experimental —was undertaken to determine whether relative permeability is a function of saturation only as was concluded by Leverett1 or a function of saturation and viscosity ratio as was theorized by Yuster.4 THEORETICAL ANALYSIS An equation will be derived for the rate of oil flow through a porous medium that is initially filled with water. Based on this equation, an analytic expression for relative permeability will be developed. The porous medium will be assumed to consist of .straight circular capillaries of different radii. It will also be assumed that there are no interconnections among the capillaries and no mass transfer across the oil-water interface. Consider a porous sample initially saturated with a wetting phase (water). As a non-wetting phase (oil) is

By Denni Nikols, Farrukh Z. Khan

"Highvale Mine, located at Wabamun, Alberta, produces thermal coal for TransAIta's Keephills and Sundance generating plants. Overburden stripping in the mine is conducted by draglines which normally operate on top of the overburden bench. In certain areas oj the mine, however, these overburden benches are susceptible to slope failure. In these areas, due to safety considerations, the draglines are utilized in the less productive chop-cutting mode, supplemented by mobile equipment where the bench height exceeds the dragline chop-cutting limit. This paper proposes maintaining the draglines in their normal digging mode through areas of unstable or jailed overburden, by utilizing a dragline carried toe buttress 10 ensure adequate bench stability. The data requirements and methods of slope analysis to design a toe buttress across an unstable highwall area are examined in rigorous detail. INTRODUCTIONLocationHighvale Mine is owned by TransAlta Utilities Corporation and operated under contract. It is Canada's largest coal mine with an annual coal production in excess of II million tonnes. The mine is located approximately 80 km west of Edmonton on the south shore of Wabamum Lake (Fig. I) and production is currently provided by three pits 02. 03 and 04 (Fig. 2). The entire coal production is consumed at the nearby Sundance and Keephills power generating plants.ScopeThe mining operation at Highvale Mine has had occasional slope stability failures of its high wall overburden bench. This paper examines one such failure which occurred in the summer of 1983 at Pit 03. In addition to an investigation of the failure, Terracon was asked to recommend mine operation procedures which would minimize the impact of these slide zones on dragline productivity. A method of removing the failed material by utilizing the dragline in its normal digging mode is designed. The method's advantages and disadvantages as well as the required support procedures are reviewed."

Jan 1, 1989

The nation of Fiji is located the South Pacific on the æRim of FireÆ some four hours flying time from the eastern sea board of Australia. It is a tourist destination situated on the main route from Australia to the Americas. Fiji is a developing country that has had a fewsetbacks but the country has able, happy people that are very resilient. Most importantly, the country is a safe destination for tourists and businesspeople as the local people are friendly, have good ethics, and most speak English. Fiji is a very willing nation, hungry for knowledge and advancement. The Fiji geological setting on the æRim of FireÆ, that runs from New Zealand across the Pacific through Fiji and on to Papua NewGuinea, has many large deposits of gold and copper. Fiji is an exciting destination for mineral explorers with discoveries of gold, silver, manganese, bauxite, iron and copper. Gold was first discovered in 1921 and the first two mines opened in 1935; one of which was Emperor Gold Mining Company (EGM) the other being Mt Kasi. EGM mines gold on the margin of the Tavua caldera, some 85 km north of the Nadi international airport. EGM has operated continuously for close to 70 years, producing approximately 6.9 million ounces of gold and has an underground reserve of 847 600 ounces with a total mineral resource of 12 335 600 tonnes at 10 g/t (as given in the Emperor Mines Limited Annual report 2003). The mineralisation in Fiji is very exciting and it is common to discover spectacular intersections and outcrops, which are typical for this type of epithermal narrow vein mineralisation, but be aware that the orebodies are variable and not easy to understand.

Jan 1, 2004

By Firth B. A

The classification performance of a Dutch State Mines (DSM) Rapped Sieve Bend has been investigated in a series of experiments. Coal slurries of a nominal 0.5 mm size were classified in the separation range of 0.10 to 0.14 mm at pulp densities from 6 to 21 per cent by mass of solids, and flow rates of 110 to 1375 litre min-1.The results obtained showed that the partition curve and water split io oversize was dependent on the solids flow rather than slurry flow rate or pulp density. For most of the operating conditions considered an accurate classification of the fine coal was obtained. The undersize efficiency was susceptible to solids flow rate, and was less than 70 per cent for solids flow rates greater than 16.7 tonne hour-1 metre-1 width of screen.

Jan 1, 1983

By Kenneth B. Higbie

METALLURGICAL ACTIVITY in 1963 was again dominated by the insatiate demands of research and development conducted in conjunction with the nation's defense and aerospace programs. An increasing effort was noticeable throughout the year, however, to apply to the commercial field many of the processes and techniques that have been developed by government-sponsored research. Particularly effective has been the Industrial Applications Program of the National Aeronautic and Space Agency through which many of the technological advancements made during the course of NASA research and development have been published and released to the public. POWDER TECHNOLOGY Powder metallurgy techniques for fabricating metals, not long ago declared outmoded because of improved casting and shaping methods, have since made an astonishing comeback. Traditionally mechanical pressing of powder shapes has been employed when melting and casting was difficult or impossible, when phase relationships needed to be sidestepped, or when machining costs could be avoided. Hence, it has long been used for producing relatively small special shapes of high-melting metals and alloys. Small iron parts produced with a punch and die have been common for many years, but powder metallurgy techniques are now applicable to a wide range of materials and items. Hard-to-handle materials including refractory metals and their alloys are now rolled, forged, or extruded from billets made by sintering isostatically compacted powders. The major element of the powder metallurgy industry still comprises iron shapes, however, and two-thirds of the annual 100,000 tons of powder metallurgy products are made of iron. The largest single user of powder-forming techniques is the automobile industry which currently consumes 14,000 to 16,000 tons of iron powder per year. A typical 1963 model auto contained more than 100 pressed powder parts (e.g., transmission gears, timing gears, sprockets, ball joint suspensions) totaling 5 to 7 pounds per car. Some of these powders are used in self-lubricating parts of porous copper and copper alloys containing as much as 20 volume-percent lubricating oil. The expanded use of powder techniques, coupled with

Jan 1, 1964

The Greymouth Coalfield contains New Zealand's greatest known resource of bituminous rank coal. The coals are of very high quality, with low ash and sulphur contents and a range of other properties that makes them desirable for a wide range of uses. In fact only a few producers around the world today can offer coals with such exceptional properties. This suggests that Greymouth coal has potential as a premium export trading commodity. These assertions have been largely confirmed by a comprehensive exploration drilling programme funded by Mines Division û Ministry of Energy between 1979 and 1984. The program, forming part of the NZ Coal Resources Survey, was carried out under contract by Lime and Marble Ltd. The drilling of 49 deep, predominantly cored, holes at 1000 m intervals over the coalfield has generated a vast amount of data. It has shown the existence of three major potentially minable coal deposits containing 233 x 106, 33 x 106 and 15 x 106 tonnes of coal in ground. Investigations have at this stage only identified targets and these estimates represent 'in ground' resources, not recoverable reserves. Recent geological studies as well as past and present mining have clearly highlighted the problems posed by the complexity of the coalfield geology. The coalfield lies within a mobile zone in the earth's crust known as the Paporoa Tectonic Zone, which has been active from at least mid-Cretaceous to the present time. Currently this factor poses the greatest obstacle to the determination of mining possibility of the, defined deposit and ultimately will strongly influence any future mining development. The Greymouth Coalfield has, however, had a long and eventful mining history spanning the last 120 years, where 32.5 x 106 tonnes of coal has been won from over 100 mines. In spite of the problems facing development, the large quantities and exceptional quality of the remaining coal will act as a strong inducement to persevere with this difficult but potentially valuable resource.

Jan 1, 1985

By P. Venter, N. Naude

"Coal mining is a thriving industry and 53% of the coal mined in South Africa is used for electricity generation. Mechanization has made coal mining more efficient, but fines generation has subsequently increased. Up to 6% of the run of mine material can report to the -200 µm fraction. Common problems associated with fines handling include dust formation, storage problems, and high moisture levels. A method to turn this material into a saleable product instead of stockpiling it can add value to a company.Briquetting is a pressure agglomeration method where loose material is compacted into a dense mass (FEECO International, 2014). The briquettes must be able to withstand rigorous handling and transport operations without disintegrating. This study aims to investigate the optimum binder and moisture conditions required to produce a mechanically strong briquette using two different binders - a PVA powder (binder A) and a starch powder (binder B).It was found that for binder A the optimum moisture level was 12% to 14%. At this moisture level the greatest compression strength gains were observed, and low amounts of fines produced in impact and abrasion tests. The minimum amount of binder added while still obtaining a strong briquette was 0.5% binder A. For binder B the optimum moisture level was also 12% and the minimum amount of Binder B to be added was found to be 1%. Briquettes that were dried outside reached their peak strength after about four days, whereas the briquettes that dried inside took about 20 days to reach their strength plateau. Hardly any degradation took place on the surface of the binder A film after exposure of 300 hours of artificial weathering. Thermogravimetric analysis confirmed that neither binder A nor binder B will add to the ash content of the coal fines, as both binders totally decompose above 530°C.Binder B yielded stronger briquettes after 15 days and also generated less fines. It is therefore superior to binder A and would be recommended for further use.Paper written on final year project work carried out in partial fulfilment of B.Eng degree in Coal Beneficiation"

Jan 1, 2015

Jan 1, 1895

By L. C. IlsLey

The Bureau of Mines has collected field data and made laboratory investigations of trailing- cable performance in the hope of developing a better and safer cable for use with permissible mining machines . Because of their better insulation and performance , only rubber- sheathed cables were finally considered . The cables tested represented the product of six manufacturers . : After consideration of the results of the preliminary investigations , the conditions under which cables are used in mines , and the better performance of the later types of cables that were submitted as the investigation progressed , the bureau formulated a performance - test requirement and notified the cable manufacturers as follows : The hazards of the trailing cable are such that the bureau has been unable to extend beyond the machine its formal approval to cover the cable as at present developed . However , in the attempt to reduce the hazard as much as possible , cables passing certain tests will be recommended for this service and it is hoped that several cables will be developed to meet this requirement .

Sep 1, 1930

By Z. D. Hora

Sedimentary phosphate-bearing rocks are found over a considerable area of so utheastern British Columbia that extends from Fernie east to the Alberta-British Columbia boundary and from the International Boundary northward to the headwatei: s of the Elk River. Phosphatic beds occur at the following four stratigraphic levels: 1. lower part of the Banff-Exshaw sequence of Mississippian age; 2. lshbel Formation of Permian age; 3. base of the Fernie Group of Jurassic age; 4. belemnite bed within the Rock Creek Member of the lower part of the Fernie Group. To date, considerable tonnages of phosphate rock have been proven in the area. However, no commercial production has been initiated because of a relatively low P2O5 grade. Data on assays and thicknesses of the phosphatic beds are in part recalculated from the paper by Telfer (I 933) and in part from assessment reports filed at the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.

Jan 1, 1984

By S Cossfo Torres

Minera PenmontÆs gold mine, La Herradura, is located at the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora and consists of an open pit mine and heap leaching facility for the recovery of gold. The production began in July 1998, and today La Herradura produces about 200 000 oz of gold per year. Standard sampling and assaying protocols were established during exploration based on heterogeneity tests. However, at deeper zones of the pit, coarse gold became evident and it was necessary to develop a new sampling protocol in order to minimise the fundamental error and improve the metallurgical accounting. This new sampling protocol requires cyanide leaching the whole pulverised sample from the blasthole, assaying pregnant solution and fire assaying 50 g of tailings. A sampling study was performed on 195 blasthole samples analysing gold under the standard and new protocols. The new protocol demonstrated that the original one underestimated gold grade by approximately 27 per cent, with impacts on ore misclassification and metallurgical accounting. According to the ore grade control system, mineral with gold grade above 0.35 g/t was sent to the leach pad and mineral with lower grade was classified as waste. Based on the sampling study, it was decided to classify a low-grade ore with gold assay between 0.20 and 0.35 g/t which was stored for future treatment under better gold prices or should mine production decrease. These two conditions were present during 2005 and 2006, when about 3.5 Mt of low-grade ore were leached.

Jan 1, 2008

By A Goldstone, M Fitzpatrick

Contemporary mine wastewater flows are subject to stringent water quality standards before discharge to local waterways. Strict criteria are often applied as a result of fears of extensive acid mine drainage; a feature of the many abandoned mine adits around the Coromandel, Central Otago, and the West Coast. In most cases the USEPA water quality criteria have been used to set treated wastewater discharge water quality standards. In future it is possible that the recently published ANZECC water quality criteria guidelines will be used for this purpose. The ANZECC guidelines also provide for the establishment of discharge criteria at specific sites, rather than accept the trigger values. The use of site-specific criteria for treated wastewater mine discharges was pioneered at the Golden Cross gold mine, near Waihi, in the late 1980s. The procedure used to derive water quality criteria was based on USEPA guidelines. In developing the Golden Cross criteria, only species that occur, or are similar to those that occur in the Waitekauri River were used. The mine commenced discharge of treated wastewater in 1991, and macroinvertebrate communities in the vicinity of the discharge point have been regularly monitored twice a year for the past 12 years. Despite fluctuations in community composition and abundance over that period, no permanent significant changes in the macroinvertebrate communities occurred between sites above and below the treated wastewater discharge. The success of the site-specific criteria at Golden Cross has shown how the application of this methodology can result in the protection of aquatic life while allowing for the discharge of treated mine wastewater.

Jan 1, 2003

By R. Binning

"Economic high density mineral reclamation and subsequent transportation of solids through a pipeline presents many formidable engineering problems.Mineral reclamation system design by theoretical formulas is almost impossible because solids composition, ie. concentration, velocity, moisture content, solid size, etc. can only be controlled within a broad pumping range.Traditionally this has restricted pumping to relatively dilute slurries whereas it is usually preferred, because of economic considerations to reclaim as high a concentration as possible.At Toyo/De-Velde Corp. we recognized these pumping limitations and began to develop and manufacture a range of standard and auxiliary equipment that would exceed these technical restrictions.MATERIAL RECLAMATION & PIPELINE INJECTIONTo minimize fluid usage and increase material reclamation efficiency we designed a submersible dredge mixing pump that uses most of its energy to pick up material from rest, mix it with fluid into a highly concentrated slurry then push it firmly into a pipeline.Where material is too compacted to be mined by the standard submersible mixer pump, auxiliary high torque self contained submersible excavators can be fitted around the periphery of the mixer pump. This is to facilitate excavation and break up of the compacted material into a slurry.High flexibility of this system can be achieved by combining the many equipment variations available into the most efficient format to fit individual site requirements.Whatever combination of equipment is selected, torque is nullified by counter rotating excavators against each other. This increases effective excavator/material bite torque but also allows mixer/excavator rig suspension by cable for deep water material recovery."

Jan 1, 1985

By Frank J. Hirner

Economic open-pit and surface mining often call for ever increasing volumes of lower grade materials. So it is important, often critical, to develop precise expense and production estimates for the large electric mining shovels now in use. An electric shovel's basic application is to "shovel up" material, starting at ground level with the dipper moving up into a working face or bank. It's impractical to dig below ground level with a shovel, except briefly or in unusual circumstances. The shovel working face is "the bank," whether the material is dug from natural bed or blasted. The shovel's digging attachment, the boom and dipper handle, is built in standard and long range configurations. A standard digging attachment is normally used for loading into haulage equipment. The long range attachment is normally used for side or hack casting to a spoil pile. It is also used fir loading into haulage equipment placed above shovel ground level, as in some coal loading applications. Shovel clipper size and hauler capacity should he matched so that a hauler can he loaded in three to four shovel work cycles. Five cycles is usually the limit of good practice. If fewer than three cycles are required, the hauler is too small. More than five cycles indicates possible excess harder waiting time for loading, or shovel waiting time for too few haulers. Full dipper loads, including the last dipper or ''pass, " are essential for economical shovel and hauler match. Consistent need for a final partly full dipper to fill the hauler shows an improper match between the two.

Feb 1, 1981

By Roy P. Hudson

A micropyrometer known as the De Graaf apparatus has several advantages over the gas-furnace method for determining ash fusibility. When the De Graaf apparatus is operated by a modified method of procedure, the results closely check those of the gas-furnace method. This is indicated by tests on 27 samples of coal ash, with an extreme variation in fusibility values of 654" F. However, most of the ashes fused at temperatures between 2300º and 2500º. This, presumably, is the temperature interval within which the micropyrometer gives the best results. Additional comparisons are desirable. DISCUSSION (Thomas G. Fear presiding) A. C. FIELDNER,† Washington, D. C. (written discussion‡).-—The Pittsburgh Experiment Station of the Bureau of Mines has made two investigations1 of the micropyrometer for determining the fusibility of coal ash. These studies were undertaken with a view to adopting the micropyrometer method us a substitute or alternate to the present standard gas-furnace method, in view of the obvious advantages of greater speed, smaller ash sample, smaller laboratory space requirements, less equipment and greater comfort to the operator. However, the investigation showed that the micropyrometer type of furnace as then operated in five laboratories having this equipment could not be accepted as an alternate to the standard gas furnace, which is capable of close duplication in different laboratories, as shown in a recent colmparison between the Pittsburgh Experiment Station of the United States Bureau of Mines and the Fuel Research Station of Great Britain.2 The algebraic meau

Jan 1, 1934

By M. Rîsteiu

The authors aim to analyze the behavior of smart sensors using Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) infrastructure in hazardous applications, because of their advantages regarding safety, expansion and Quality of Service (QoS). Initially, some constraints are discussed for these applications. Then, the possibility is analyzed of using 2.4 GHz TCP/IP based transmission for sending data out of an industrial area. In this setup the authors evaluated the round-trip implementation (which requires a database of packet lengths), related to the delay introduced by the radio transmission algorithms from 802.15.4, and 802.11d/g protocols. Tuning results of different varying time-delays were compared to the constant delay cases from the literature (Deák, 2003; Lincoln, 2003). Both the hardware and software setups are implemented. Based on TinyOS specific software for hardware checking/ initiating communication/ starting/ closing measurements the authors have developed separate/combined procedures for testing the integrated devices. Measured time delay is presented and analyzed, for both beaconed and non-beaconed 802.15.4 transmission, with power optimization criteria. By testing two different implementations (Zhang et al., 2001), (ATmega256 RZAV - 256KB flash memory, the CC2420 IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBee-compliant RF transceiver core - 128KB flash memory) the authors have found some time delay variations as a result of local processing by the ZigBee controller with an amount of flash memory. The work is also focused on adapting industrial measuring standard systems to the smart sensors, but not only through the 4-20 mA standard.

Jan 1, 2008