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By M Ahler

Future developments in the mining sector will be driven by the need to increase safety, ecological sustainability and efficiency. Autonomous systems represent a huge step towards achieving these goals. This paper describes the basic infrastructure of an autonomous system – essentially a network of distributed sensors. Although the sensors are distributed, the overarching communication network with its related middleware offers a transparent and uniform layer. This middleware acts as an abstraction layer which priorities information and provides information to other platforms on request. This permits higher-level autonomous functionality to utilise all information available in the system regardless of where data has been generated or via which physical communication link it has been processed.The Personnel Proximity Detection (PDD) system is described in detail as an example, with details not only of the system itself, but also of the essential full integration and how the abstraction layer allows this technology to be plugged in at any location of the network. The paper ends with a summary of the content and a conclusion.

Nov 22, 2011

By J. M. Beck

Mineral property appraisers engaged in eminent domain actions on properties for which mining is the highest and best use must be fully competent in all phases of mineral resource estimation, mine project development, and mine operations (or retain the requisite competent assistance), as well as educated in eminent domain appraisal (USPAP Competency Rule). Failure to ensure such triggers the issue of appraisal competence and demonstrates a flagrant disregard of the myriad code(s) and guidelines to which the appraiser is subject. The cavalier assertion of some vague, undefined “latitude” in the valuation process does not exonerate the appraiser from a disregard of the USPAP Competency Rule. Lack of independence (i.e., “advocacy”) in mineral property appraisal is the usual result of a weak background in mining and/or appraisal theory. While it is readily apparent to those able to recognize it in reports and testimony, judges and juries cannot be expected to detect or recognize purposefully misleading (or even fraudulent) valuation concepts or testimony. Purposeful deception by the appraiser can lead to specious over-compensation of the property owner (thus victimizing the taxpayer); or, a failure to provide appropriate and just compensation to the property owner – yet, the purpose of an eminent domain proceeding is to leave the property owner no richer or poorer as a result of the taking. This paper highlights some of the deceptive practices encountered in litigation settings and raises issues of competency, professional ethics, and the effectiveness of the inherent enforcement capabilities within those institutions awarding professional certifications. INTRODUCTION The practice of eminent domain mineral property appraisal requires (particularly with respect to undeveloped mineral properties) that the appraiser possess the requisite level of competence in all phases of mineral resource estimation, mine project evaluation, mine development, and mine operation (through closure). To the extent the appraiser lacks such competence, it is incumbent on the appraiser not only to divulge this lack of expertise but also to seek competent assistance in the performance of the appraisal. This competence or expertise can only be obtained through a combination of appropriate and relevant technical education and direct mining industry experience. There exist a number of professional certification and/or credentialing authorities that speak to such competency. In a similar manner, eminent domain mineral property appraisal (as the term implies) also requires that the appraiser possess the requisite level of competence in the practice of eminent domain appraisal. This competence or expertise can only be obtained through appropriate and relevant education, direct knowledge of appraisal theory, particularly as it relates to the concept of eminent domain, and licensure.

Jan 1, 2019

By Will B. Jamison

An ignition detection and suppression system was developed under the scope of this contract. The objective of this machine mounted system was to detect flames caused by frictional sparking from the cutting bits of a continuous mining machine and to suppress it with sufficient speed to prevent the development of an explosion, and to keep the flame from harming the machine operator.

Jan 1, 1976

Jan 1, 1897

By Donlad B. Lindsay

This report describes a field-test program to determine the effectiveness of a polymeric wall sealant to reduce the excape of naturally occurring radio-active gas radon from the walls of an underground uranium mine into the ventilation air. A 75-foot-long, dead-end drift with a surface area of about 6,000 ft2 was used as the test site in which the average natural radon flux from the normally dry rock was 16 fCi/cm2-s. The effect on radon emanation of wetting the walls with water to a depth of 3 inches was tested, after which the rock was completely covered with a coating of dry-mix concrete to provide a base for the sealant, an acrylic latex. Sealant was applied in two coats to about 0.25 mm thick. An overall reduction of average radon flux of about 75 pct was achieved. Radon production and other environmental values were measured continuously and automatically by a Bureau of Mines data acquisition system. A commercial microcomputer was programed to convert raw data to engineering units and to perform other useful operations while recording all data on magnetic diskettes. Direct measurements of radon flux from the rock surface were made by a charcoal adsorption technique.

Jan 1, 1981

By Hazel B. Comstock

[This material survey on magnesium and magnesium compounds is one of a series of Bureau of Mines publications designed to serve the needs of Government and industry for comprehensive, up-to-date information on mineral commodities and activities Magnesium, the world's lightest structural metal has become a most useful material in airborne and space vehicles, automotive equipment, machine tools, and consumer products. Use of magnesium on in basic refractories for iron and steel furnaces has expanded as the production of iron and steel has increased. Progress in converting steel furnaces to the use of oxygen has further increased the use of magnesium and magnesite brick.]

Jan 1, 1963

By J. Jerome MacDonald, Stephen B. Flewelling

"In the base metals industry of today, operations required to continuously improve productivity and reduce unit production costs. Consistent with these goals is the improvement of the muck haulage cycle from open stopes with the No. 12 Mine.Existing haulage from open stopes occurs with LHD units experience at Brunswick indicates that LHD units have a higher unit cost per tonne mucked than loader-truck combinations when the haulage exceeds approximately 150 m.The reintroduction of open stoping at Brunswick made existing loader-truck combinations unsuitable. It was recognized that application of recent continuous loading technology could potentially result in significant unit cost savings and productivity increases.A review of the technology resulted in the testing of the Voest Alpine AL60 loader in the open stopes located on the 1000m Le vel. Testing began in January 1988 and finished in late November 1988. The test will provide experience as well as quantified production and maintenenace parameters f or the purpose of quantifying production unit costs and system productivity, ultimately resulting in a decision to further utilize or not utilize the loader as a primarymucking unit at Brunswick .INTRODUCTIONBrunswick Mining and Smelting Corporation Ltd. produces approximately 10500 tonnes per day from the No. 12Mine located 35 km southwest of Bathurst, New Brunswick Mining is the largest (single mine) producer of zinc in the world having mined over 52 million tonnes since 1964. Many years of production still remain with proven and probable reserves in excess of 90 million tonnes. Reserves grade at an average of 3.65% Pb. 8.99070 Zn, 99g/mt Ag and 0.32% Cu . The operation employs 1446 people with approximately 800underground including operations and maintenance staff.In the No. 12 Mine two major mining methods are presently utilized . The primary method is Mechanized Cut and Fill (MCF) accounting for approximately 6500 tonnes per day from four major areas. The remaining 4000 tonnes per day is produced from open stopes with the majority of 2800 tonnes per day being produced by the 1000 level.The 1000Level contains 30 million tonnes segmented into open stope blocks 30 m high, 15m and 30 m on strike , with a transverse width of 10m to 50 m (Fig. I). Stopes are organized on a primary secondary stope arrangement along strike. Primary stopes are undercut and overcut full size with the back fully cablebolted. All stope and lateral development is driven 4.0 m high. All stopes to date are flat bottom (Fig. 2). Primary stopes are filled with cemented rock- fill , secondaries with conventional rockfill, Haulage from the stopes is primarily with 8-yard LHD units ; mucking is approximately 50% conventional and 50% remote. Haul distance to date has averaged approximately 150m with current stope haul distances of approximately 300m. Haulage is presently to a small jaw crusher situated on the 1000 Level. From August 1989on, haulage will be to a set of ore passes feeding to a large gyratory crusher situated on the 1200 Level. Start up of the gyratory crusher corresponds to an increase in tonnage from 1000 Level to 4100 tonnes per day."

Jan 1, 1989

By E. J. Haas

DISCLAIMER The findings and conclusions in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Reference to specific brand names does not imply endorsement by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. ABSTRACT Leadership is a critical component to an organization’s safety culture and influences the ways that health and safety is enacted on site. Therefore, it is not surprising that improving leadership will also improve safety. Worker perceptions of management practices are shaped through unique leader-employee interactions over time. However, few details are known about the communicative support (i.e., emotional, informational, and tangible) offered by supervisors and its impact on miners’ perceptions and performance. Using pre and post-interview data with 20 supervisors and 48 workers during six-week interventions, researchers identified positive and negative instances of supervisor support and its implications on worker performance. This paper highlights the common support tactics offered by supervisors and desired by workers to help practitioners identify ways to improve their safety culture and subsequently, the proactivity and compliance of their workforce. INTRODUCTION Supervisory leadership is a critical component to the effective implementation of an organization’s health and safety management system (HSMS). Specifically, supervisors serve as representatives of an organization and their actions are indicative of the organization’s safety culture (Eisenberger et al. 1986). Senior management has been shown to serve as a frame of reference for guiding safe behaviors in the workplace (Mearns et al. 1998) and, more recently, research has related supervisory enforcement to workers’ safety compliance (Petitta et al., 2017). Therefore, it is not surprising that by improving leadership, perceptions of management and subsequent safety outcomes are likely to improve as well (Zohar, 2002). Perceptions of management are shaped through unique leader-employee interactions over a period of time (Hofmann and Morgeson, 2004, 1999). How these unique interactions impact worker performance, however, remains unexamined. As a result, understanding how supervisor-employee relationships operate in high-risk environments is unclear (Mirza and Isha, 2017; Denis et al., 2010). A starting point to better recognize the idiosyncrasies of these relationships is by way of examining the communicative support offered by front-line management and received by industry workers. To this end, this paper uses pre- and post-interview data to study the communicative aspects of supervisor-employee interactions at mine sites. The analysis uses a social support framework to identify positive and negative instances of supportive communication. From interview data with 20 managers and 48 mineworkers, data emerged that shows how supervisors’ unique types of support contribute to workers’ perceptions, motivation, and follow-through of safe work behavior.

Jan 1, 2019

By Hazel B. Comstock

This materials survey on magnesium and magnesium compounds is one of a series of Bureau of Mines publications designed to serve the needs of Government and industry for comprehensive, up-to-data information on mineral commodities and activities. Magnesium, the world's lightest structural metal, has become a most useful material in airborne and spare vehicles, automotive equipment, machine tools, and consumer products. Use of magnesium ores in basic refractories for iron and steel furnaces has expanded as the production of iron and steel has increased, Progress in converting steel fun cares to the use of oxygen has further increased the use of magnesia and magnesite brick.

Jan 1, 1963

By W. R. Hardwick

This paper describes mining methods and practices of the Chino Mines Division, Kennecott Copper Corp., Grant County, N. Mex. It is one of a series being prepared by the Bureau of Mines on mining methods, practices, and costs in various mining districts of the United States. A similar program was conducted from 1928 to 1939, which helped to improve the efficiency of mining operations. The primary purpose of the program is to promote development and conservation of our mineral resources by disseminating technologic information on methods, practices, and related features in mining mineral deposits. It is expected that the program will: (1) Promote efficiency in operating mines; (2) assist operators and engineers in evaluating and developing new mineral deposits; (3) provide data for engineering curriculums in mining schools; and (4) furnish performance and cost data for revising engineering handbooks and for inclusion in engineering textbooks.

Jan 1, 1958

By H. Rees

This paper supplements and brings up to date a report prepared earlier this year and presented at the Eleventh Pan American Railway Congress in Mexico City. Most of the original report is contained in this paper in order to acquaint the reader with the project background. On December 1, 1961, construction of this locomotive was completed. Stationary testing started immediately, and a host of problems in various areas were uncovered. Many of these had no relation to the use of coal in a direct fired gas turbine. All of them emphasized the problems which plagued previous projects of this kind. In 1944 the Locomotive Development Committee of Bituminous Coal Research, Inc., was formed to study the problems of combustion, coal handling, and fly ash removal which would have to be solved before coal could be used to fire a gas turbine. By 1947 this committee was composed of the chief executive officers of nine eastern railroads and five eastern coal companies. All of the members of this committee were vitally concerned in a coal fired gas turbine because coal cost only one-fourth as much per heat unit as fuel oil. A number of research projects were started to develop and test components on a small scale. This included work at John Hopkins University, Battelle Memorial Institute, Institute of Gas Technology at Chicago, Purdue University, and Southern Research Institute. By 1946 a pilot plant had been installed at the Dunkirk, New York plant of Alco Products Div. of American Locomotive Co. The U. S. Bureau of Mines made available to the Locomotive Development Committee (hereafter called LDC) a Houdry process gas turbine plant, originally destined for a Russian oil refinery. The full scale pilot plant was used to evaluate the results obtained from the small scale studies under actual gas turbine conditions. Operation of this plant disclosed a number of problems which had not been discovered in the small scale tests. By 1951 four 250 hr tests had been conducted with the Houdry gas turbine to test out a variety of equipment. The major problem concerned the removal of abrasive fly ash from the products of combustion so that wear on turbine blades would not be excessive. The first 250 hr test showed that the original fly ash separating equipment was inadequate. Large ash particles passing through the turbine blading were nicking the leading edges of the first row blades. At the conclusion of the second 250 hr test, erosion was so severe that the first row of stator and the first row of rotor blades were replaced. At the end of the third 250 hr test, it was necessary to replace the first three rows of stator blading. The fourth test was used to test out a new design fly ash separator developed by LDC and named the Dunlab tube. This device gave more encouraging results than any of the others tested. Early enthusiasm for overcoming major difficulties had resulted in placing an order in 1946 with Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co. for a 3750 hp regenerative gas turbine. The gas turbine, together with associated combustion and ash removal equipment, coal handling equipment, generators and gear reduction unit was installed at Dunkirk by 1951. A 750 hr test was made in 1952 with the LDC-Allis Chalmers gas turbine power plant. At the end of this test it was necessary to replace the first four rows of both rotor and stator blading. Rows 5 and 6 did not require replacement. In 1953 the American Locomotive Co. joined with LDC and assumed an active role in equipment development and manufacture. During 1954 LDC-Alco operated the rebladed gas turbine 300 hr to determine if a new fly ash separator was adequate. Performance of the improved separator was considerably better, but trouble was experienced with clogged blowdown lines from the Dunlab tubes. When these lines clogged it permitted the passage of abrasive particles. In 1955 a total of 1421 hr was run. This included 243 hr of cycle operation on Union Pacific coal from the D. O. Clark mine at Superior, Wyoming. During the 243 hr a total of 370 tons of coal was consumed. The purpose of this test was to determine if U.P. coal was suitable for use in a coal fired turbine. It was the unofficial opinion that it was as good or better than the eastern coals that had been tested.

Jan 1, 1964

By Michael Rieber

A new mode of coal transportation based on the principles of pneumatic conveying has been recently, proposed by Soo, et al. [5]. Pneumatic transport is not a novel concept and commercial experience with pneumatic pipelines for short haul distances is plentiful. The list of applications is long and includes transporting ores, chemicals and pharmaceutical products, agricultural products, and domestic and industrial wastes. The study by Soo, et al. [5] updated an earlier one [l0] and presented the most recent economic evaluation of pneumatic transportation of coal. Their preliminary study concluded that there are immediate advantages for short-distance transport (less than 100 miles) and that it is both technologically and economically feasible. That study also concludes that pneumatic transport has a higher potential and more promising profitability in long-distance applications than rail if new track and roadbed must be built. Some of the advantages of long and short distance pneumatic pipeline transport of coal compared to rail and slurry transport are: 1) Replacement of diesel fuel consumed by unit trains, as the pipeline can be powered by coal-generated electricity; 2) Reduction of the skilled-labor costs required for upgrading and maintaining railroads; 3) Elimination of signaling, rerouting and overpass costs due to increased rail traffic on' mainline trackage;

Jan 1, 1977

By F. Sundqvist, B. Skawina, J. Greberg, A. Salama, M. Astrand, P. Ekbeck

Today’s mining operations require fast reporting and rapid rescheduling based on updated information. An automatic mine scheduling system could not only quickly reschedule but also propose alternative solutions. To avoid the financial and physical risks associated with testing such a system directly in operation, it could be first evaluated via discrete event simulation models. This would offer a safe environment to evaluate different operating rules and algorithms. In this study, this is achieved by integrating automatic scheduling software with a discrete event simulation model.

Jun 1, 2021

"Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET)Natural Resources CanadaMining and Mineral Sciences LaboratoriesA. Address and Contact Information555 Booth StreetOttawa, Ontario, Canada, KIA OGlWebsite: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/Contact: Philippe Dauphin, Manager, Business DevelopmentTel.: (613) 947-0798Fax: (613) 947-0984E-mail: pdauphin@NRCan.gc.caB. Type and Size of FacilityScope of facilitiesCrushing from minus 4 in. to 10 mesh; grinding - rod, ball, vibration, SAG and impact mills; classification- screening, cycloning, mechanical, hydraulic and dry centrifugal classifiers; froth flotation - automated, column, and frothless flotation; gravity separation- wet and dry; magnetic separation - high gradient, high and low intensity, wet and dry; electrostatic separation; heavy-media separation; calcining; cyanidation; thickening; filtration; drying - fluid bed and freeze drying; pelletizing; microwave.SpecialtiesMineral beneficiation research and development; flotation of sulphides - flowsheet improvement, selectivity, reagent selection; novel flotation techniques; analysis of thiosalts formation; use of mineral processing techniques for recycling.Specialized equipmentHigh gradient magnetic separation, Denver XRF on-stream analyzer, automated flotation cell.Complementary support servicesElectron microprobe; SEM; STEM; X-ray diffraction; particle size analyzer; mineralogical and analytical chemistry services; physical chemistry; hydrometallurgy; pyrometallurgy; engineering and economic evaluation; mechanical shops; technical information services and library integrated with the National Library System of the National Research Council."

Jan 1, 2000

By S. Wegerer, M. Semel

The search for minerals typically starts with a reconnaissance phase. After finding a promising target area, further prospecting work will be conducted. Finally with growing confidence of having encountered an ore deposit with commercially viable concentrations of relevant minerals, an extensive exploration campaign will verify its potential. Best practice and reliable, efficient tools for mineral resource estimation of massive sulfide deposits in the deep sea have to be established yet. Therefore, a new seabed exploration system is in development. Various challenges are caused by the extreme environmental conditions in the deep sea and by the nature of massive sulfide deposits. Information of past and ongoing expeditions were gathered to form the basis of an in-depth requirement analysis. System functions and corresponding process times were derived. The experience from the existing MeBo seabed drill rigs serve as starting point for the concept study and following development. Initial MeBo system was built for maritime research purposes and now has to be converted into a new design, suitable for efficient and economic resource exploration. The new system configuration is modular structured to adapt easily to different application scenarios and challenges. To achieve an extension of the deployment depths, the overall equipment weight has to be limited through light weight construction and material. The drilling module contains a range of geotechnical coring tools to face the varying soil conditions of heterogeneous massive sulfide formations. The major challenge to overcome is the touch down sequence on uneven, 25° inclined, rough terrain in up to 4.000 m water depth. Furthermore, high precision of the final unit positioning is necessary. Landing sub-system proof of concept is validated in laboratory environment with small scale model. A novel seabed exploration system capable to land and operate safely on highly inclined slopes of mineral deposit is described. Obtaining high quality samples by wire-line coring technique is the objective.

Feb 22, 2026

By E. G. Gaylord

THE material improvements which have been made in the practice of exploiting oil and gas reservoirs in the United States during recent years may be attributed largely to: (1) The necessity for drilling deeper wells at costs not much greater than was formerly expended on shallower wells. (2) The necessity for producing oil at a lower cost per barrel. (3) A growing recognition of the importance of the nature of production practice upon ultimate yield of oil and gas. The first two of these factors result, to a large extent, from the fact that a greater proportion of new development has been deeper development, and these wells have been drilled in the face of progressively lower per well allowables. In California, for instance, maximum allowables have declined from 400 barrels per day in March, 1938, to 156 barrels per day in September, 1940, and during this same period some 125 wells were drilled to the deeper 10,000-foot producing horizons discovered during this time. The third item listed above results from our increasing knowledge of the basic factors which influence the amount of recovery we may expect from reservoirs. In addition to the longer-range planning now being undertaken by the more prudent operators, State proration and conservation laws have focused attention upon the importance of methods conducive to obtaining progressively greater quantities of the hydrocarbons in place. In a paper of this length it will be possible to discuss only a few of the recent advances. An effort has been made to select the more important of these and to indicate, where possible, the factors which have made these advances possible.

Jan 1, 1941

By S. K. Chaudhuri

With a growing emphasis on maximizing the value by rapidly deploying it across their assets, mining firms are eager to identify any issues that may hinder such efforts and to refine their approaches to overcome them. As such a CDE vision can be considered realized when the following components are addressed and functioning as intended - People: the right resources working together and efficiently to achieve shared goals, Process: well-defined workflows mapped out for key value processes, Technology: availability of the correct tools and applications to increase efficiency in work execution and Locations: regional locations/ sites that need to be linked for collaboration and information exchange. For the above vision, an approach that considers the degree of interaction between the roles in metallurgy operations, mineral resource planning, mine engineering, plant operations, logistics and infrastructure, and which accounts for the current technology states across these groups to determine sub-processes where the impact of a CDE will be the most is critical. In effect, CDE is more about transforming an organization?s operational philosophy than a technology driven project. This paper examines the definition and components of a CDE in a mining context. Real-time operations co-ordination, maintenance interventions, production analysis and optimization processes are examined along with current state technologies and manual processes as candidates which are likely to result in most benefits from collaborative work processes. Finally, the paper examines technologies that can be used to further enable a collaborative working environment.

Sep 1, 2012

By C. Thomas Hillman

This Bureau of Mines report describes an investigation of factors influencing economic viability of a proposed system to mine and process manganese nodules. The system consists of hydraulic dredging and ammonia leach processing designed to recover three metals: nickel, copper, and cobalt. A ferromanganese recovery plant is a considered option. Annual capacity is 3 million dry metric tons (t) nodules. Aftertax rates of return (ROR's) of only 7.38 and 6.63 pct are predicted for three-and four-metal base scenarios, respectively. Sensitivity analyses indicate that variations in commodity prices, metal recoveries, and deposit grades produce similar incremental changes in ROR. Estimated cumulative effects of price variations are greatest. While three-metal operations generally yield higher predicted returns, potential increases in manganese price and process recovery could make four-metal operations most profitable. Maximum variations in both capital costs and three-metal operating costs result in ROR changes of about 25 pct. In contrast, four-metal ROR's exhibit variations to 70 pct. Even so only a best case analysis, utilizing favorable variations in all categories tested, generated ROR's approaching a level thought necessary to trigger company interest. Consequently, it is concluded that nodule mining will not take place in the foreseeable future without significant financial incentives.

Jan 1, 1985

By E Jak, P Hayes, J Chen, M Shevchenko, E Nekhoroshev, D Shishin

Recent decades have seen significant advancements in analytical and experimental techniques, thermodynamic theory, and computational capabilities in high temperature research which are particularly timely to address the challenges of increasingly complex and variable feedstocks in both primary and secondary pyrometallurgical processes, the need to optimise and improve them. Currently a research program is in progress on the development of the 20-component multi-phase thermodynamic database for pyrometallurgical smelting, refining and recycling systems describing thermodynamics and phase equilibria of molten slag, matte, speiss, salts, alloys and associated solids. The integrated experimental and modelling program has been supported for nearly two decades by several consortia of 14 major international companies with over 30 operations around the world, integrates many components, incorporates many in-house developments, and brings together many different groups of professionals of different levels from junior and mid-career to senior from both industry and university sectors. The aims of the paper are:  to outline the many components and issues of the overall program including analytical, experimental and thermodynamic modelling research as well as implementation of the results in industrial practice, professional education, planning and organisation issues.  to highlight the opportunities, challenges, and possible solutions.  to present these to all different groups of professionals involved in the current program.  and thus, importantly, to facilitate possible future further developments and collaborations in the field of phase equilibria and thermodynamics of complex high-temperature systems.

Jun 19, 2024

By William F. Hahn

This project focused effort on three separate areas: demonstration of a low seam longwall illumination system, design of illumination systems for low coal auger miners, and an assessment of machine lighting systems for machinery used to mine low seam coal. Results indicated illumination systems can be purchased by the mine operators of low coal seams. These systems can be supplied with the equipment as a factory integrated system or can be retrofitted to the machine or longwall equipment.

Jan 1, 1982