Search Documents

By D. R. Wilburn

This summary of international mineral exploration activities for the year 2013 draws upon information from industry sources, published literature and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) specialists. The summary provides data on exploration budgets by region and mineral commodity, identifies significant mineral discoveries and areas of mineral exploration, discusses government programs affecting the mineral exploration industry and presents analyses of exploration activities performed by the mineral industry. Three sources of information are reported and analyzed in this annual review of international exploration for the year 2013: 1) budgetary statistics expressed in U.S. nominal dollars provided by SNL Metals & Mining (SNL) of Halifax, NS, Canada (formerly Metals Economics Group (MEG); 2) regional and site-specific exploration activities that took place in 2013 as compiled by the USGS; and 3) regional events that affected exploration activities, including economic, social and political conditions, that were derived from published sources and unpublished discussions with USGS and industry specialists. Commodity and regional compilations are presented in this summary. Because multiple sources are used to develop commodity and regional compilations, reported statistics may vary depending on the source and type of data that are being reported. The SNL data summarize planned company budgets for worldwide exploration activities in 2013 for 20 nonfuel mineral commodities based on surveys returned by companies primarily focused on precious metals (gold, platinum-group metals and silver), base metals (cobalt, copper, lead, molybdenum, nickel, tin and zinc), bulk commodities (coal, iron ore, phosphate and potash), and specialty commodities (diamond, lithium, niobium, rare-earth elements, tantalum and uranium). Information on uranium exploration activities was included in the MEG overview for the first time in 2007. MEG included data on the commodities lithium, niobium, phosphate, potash, rare-earth elements and tantalum for the first time in 2010 because of the increased topical significance of these commodities. Since 1999, companies with exploration budgets of $100,000 and greater were included in the MEG and SNL compilations. SNL budget estimates exclude aluminum, coal, and oil and gas. Budget estimates for iron ore have been compiled since 2011 but reported separately. The post-1999 budget surveys by MEG and SNL cover at least 90 percent of world?s reported nonferrous, nonfuel mineral exploration budgets; the 2013 survey is reported by SNL to cover an estimated 95 percent of these budgets. The 5 percent that is not covered is accounted for by companies that chose not to participate in the SNL survey, private companies that do not publish their budget data, and government-funded exploration activities.

By D. R. Willmer

An understanding of how health and safety management systems (HSMS) reduce worksite injuries, illnesses and fatalities may be gained in studying the behaviors of health and safety leaders. These leaders bear the accountability for identifying, understanding and managing the risks of a mining operation. More importantly, they have to transfer this knowledge of perception, recognition and response to risks in the mining environment to their workers. The leaders’ efforts to build and maintain a mining operation’s workforce that consistently executes safe work practices may be captured through more than just lagging indicators of health and safety performance. This exploratory study interviewed six leaders in occupations such as site-level safety supervisors, mine superintendents and/or general managers at surface and underground stone, sand and gravel and metal/nonmetal mine sites throughout the United States, with employee populations ranging from 40 to 175. In exploring leaders’ perspectives on how they systematically manage health and safety, examples such as approaches to task training, handling near-miss incidents, identifying future leaders and providing workers with feedback offer insights into how leaders translate their knowledge and management of site-level risks to others.

Jan 1, 2018

By D. R. Willmer

An understanding of how health and safety management systems (HSMS) reduce worksite injuries, illnesses and fatalities may be gained in studying the behaviors of health and safety leaders. These leaders bear the accountability for identifying, understanding and managing the risks of a mining operation. More importantly, they have to transfer this knowledge of perception, recognition and response to risks in the mining environment to their workers. The leaders’ efforts to build and maintain a mining operation’s workforce that consistently executes safe work practices may be captured through more than just lagging indicators of health and safety performance. This exploratory study interviewed six leaders in occupations such as site-level safety supervisors, mine superintendents and/or general managers at surface and underground stone, sand and gravel and metal/nonmetal mine sites throughout the United States, with employee populations ranging from 40 to 175. In exploring leaders’ perspectives on how they systematically manage health and safety, examples such as approaches to task training, handling near-miss incidents, identifying future leaders and providing workers with feedback offer insights into how leaders translate their knowledge and management of site-level risks to others.

Jan 1, 2017

By George T. Krempasky

This report is one of a series of Bureau of Mines Information Circulars dealing with mining methods and costs throughout the United States. It describes drifting, crosscutting, and raising operations at several mines in the Coeur d'Alene mining district, Shoshone County, Idaho. Ore bodies in the Coeur d'Alene district are generally in steeply dipping tabular ore zones, are irregular in shape, erratic in occurrence, and have been extensively mined along the strike and down dip. Because of the extended attitude of the deposits a great deal of development work is required. Drifting, crosscutting, and raising methods are described in this report. Shaft sinking is the subject of another report in the same series.

Jan 1, 1960

By Francisco Morganti

The market requirements which strip processing lines have to deal with have altered significantly within the last decades. Particularly, the production has to be economical and ecological efficient and processing lines have to cover a broad product portfolio. Already existing plants either directly or indirectly are competing with new plants, which are equipped with the latest technologies. The “Special Strip Processing Equipment” is designed to be integrated easily and within small downtime phases in existing lines. All single machines can be delivered in short time “ready-to-perform” with a tested and proved automation system. Thus, the competitiveness of existing lines can be increased immediately with less effort. To find out which machines can be reasonably implemented SMS group offers an “Efficiency Check”. A special proceeding is used by experts to find out quickly which machines will have the largest effect on the efficiency of the line while demanding at the same time the smallest expense.

Aug 17, 2017

By Jean-François Stumper, Mario Moser, Mark Kruessmann, Volker Langer, Daniel Bastos Martins Cruz, Claude Meisch

The latest generation of probes and casthouse machines provide a wealth of data that has not been available a few years ago. The evaluation of this data gives direct feedback to improve the blast furnace efficiency, the equipment maintenance and design and it allows the early detection of critical or deviating process situations. A stable operation with lower operation and maintenance costs are the final customer benefits.

Oct 1, 2019

By D. Harrington

As no cure is known for silicocis after it has developed, prevention is the only effective remedy. There are two main lines of approach to the problem of dust-disease prevention in industry - the engineering, through control of dust production, and the medical, through selection of workers by examination; success probably depends upon a combination of the two. Hatch (146) considers the following measures essential to a complete, well-balanced program of control of the dust hazard in industry: 1. Selection of workers by means of physical examinations in order especially to eliminate those with tuberculosis and other disorders of the respiratory system. 2. Reduction of the duct concentration below the standard of permissible dustiness through adequate moans of dust control and good housekeeping. 3. Limiting the frequency and duration of employment in the dusty occupations, thus reducing the rate of deposition of dust in the lungs. 4. Routine measurement of the effectiveness of the dust-control program by means of periodic medical examinations and duct surveys.

Jan 1, 1935

Traditional in situ fan flow test methods under accepted standards require determinations to be made of both static pressures and total pressures during testing. This is to determine the resultant velocity pressures, which are vital in the accurate determination of the final fan airflow. These crucial velocity pressure (Vp) determinations are normally determined using simple manometric instrumentation such as an electronic manometer or an inclined liquid filled manometer. There is relatively little noise or fluctuation in the static pressure determinations and they can be quite easily and accurately recorded. There is almost always considerable fluctuation in the velocity pressure determinations though due to the highly turbulent and irregular velocity profile normally found in such in situ installations. This velocity turbulence means that the recording of such data is subject to random human error as the observer tries to average such fluctuations mentally during the observation period. Worse than this, and in the extreme, the recording of such velocity pressure data could actually easily be misreported if, for some reason, persons chose to do so.The author has devised a field method using highly accurate quartz crystal logging barometers to objectively record these velocity pressures. The method eliminates the ability to either mistakenly or intentionally misreport these crucial velocity pressures and is carried out in parallel with the recognised methodology, so result comparisons can be drawn. As such, a far greater level of confidence can be achieved in the final flow performance results than using the traditional more subjective method. Further to this it is difficult and almost impossible to refute the results using this ancillary substantiation method.The accurate determination of fan flows due to the impost of the carbon tax has taken on much more significance given the financial impacts in Australia at this time. The methodology detailed herein can be applied equally for both fan flow compliance testing and the verification of mine airflow data for greenhouse gas emission evaluations.The paper utilises the results of one 24-point pitot traverse to demonstrate the various findings. These include the very wide range of velocity pressures, which were logged at most of the measuring stations. It also illustrates how the method is utilised and compares the results derived from both this method and the more subjective traditional method along with the benefits of logging the velocity pressure results during the testing process.CITATION:Rowland, J A, 2013. Removing some subjectivity from traditional BS 848 and ISO 5802 in situ fan flow tests, in Proceedings The Australian Mine Ventilation Conference , pp 155-162 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 1, 2013

By P Cooper

Continuous improvement using six sigma methodologies commonly follows the DMAIC methodology of define, measure, analyse, improve and control. A key requirement in the use of this approach is to ensure that data is trusted, validated and contextual. In today’s production environments it is common to find disparate technology comprising the system architecture and highly customised interfaces between the various technology layers. This complexity often leads to inaccurate data presented at the operations management layer or worse, data that is not trusted. Identifying defects and making corrective actions cannot be efficiently carried out unless trusteddata can be easily obtained with a production context. It is also common to find that disparate systems of this nature present information in multiple ways and through multiple presentation systems. This paper discusses how the use of web-based technologies in an integrated technology stack can aid the accessibility, accuracy and trust of data used in decision-making and also how a unified visualisation environment can lead to greater operator efficiency.

Jul 11, 2011

By P. Stefanek, N. Duda, B. Jachni, P. Stefaniak, B. Bursa

The Zelazny Most Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) is the largest reservoir of post–flotation tailings in Europe. The total amount of tailings from the mines in Lubin, Rudna, and Polkowice are stored each year at the disposal facility, which reaches approximately 30 million tons. It is crucial to accurately monitor and maintain such a huge storage facility, for the safety and economics of the entire region. In general, the monitoring network installed at the Zelazny Most TSF includes four groups of components: (a) geotechnical network (VW pore pressure transducers and inclinometers), (b) hydrological network (open piezometers, water level gauges, drainage discharge measurements, (c) geodetic survey network (e.g. surface and in-depth benchmarks, laser measurements, GPS measurements within GEOMOS network and (d) seismic network (e.g. accelerometer stations, cone penetration tests.) Apart from the above, chemical water analyses, tests of soil samples, monitoring of spigotting processes, and monitoring of relief wells’ discharge are also conducted. In total, approximately 2900 monitoring instruments are installed within the area of the Zelazny Most TSF. Such large amounts of data from the various information sources makes manual data analysis by the engineers almost impossible. In this paper we discuss a machine learning driven approach to improve the quality of the monitoring and maintenance of such facilities. We focus on the seismic cone penetration test (SCPT) data analysis. First, we carefully describe the collected data, its quality and availability. Then we discuss possible events that can occur in the TSF that need to be predicted using SCPT. Based on the information obtained in these two steps, the applicability of several machine learning methods is estimated. Some of them are then tested on available historical data. The algorithms described in this article will be further developed in the IlluMINEation project (H2020).

Sep 1, 2021

By AIME AIME

THE Annual Meeting-numerically the 162d meeting-of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers will be held at the Pennsylvania Hotel, 7th Ave. and 33d St., New York, Feb. 18-22, with the exception of the following events: the Mineral Industry Education Division will meet Sunday afternoon and evening at the Columbia University Men's Faculty Club, 400 West 117th St.; and a meeting of the Section Delegates, the annual business meeting of the Institute, and an executive session of the Board of Directors will be held in that order Tuesday afternoon in the Engineering Societies Building, 29 West 39th St., where the Directors will meet in the evening following their annual dinner to the Section Delegates. The Pennsylvania--one of the Statler group of hotels-was selected as headquarters because it has the physical equipment and facilities-for registration, technical sessions of all sizes, luncheons, social events, etc.-as well as the prominence and location desirable for an Institute annual meeting. (A tip for Tuesday afternoon and evening: You can walk underground from the Pennsylvania to within half a block of the Engineering Societies Building,)

Jan 1, 1945

By Z. G. Li

The large-scale vibrating screen has been applied widely in coal industry and other industrial areas as a kind of important device. As vibration mechanical device, it works very hardly and works in very bad environment so that the structure of screen is damaged easily. Therefore, it is very important that how to detect the fault of structure as early as possible to make the repair schedule reasonably and economically and to avoid the body hurt and device damage. As a kind of important structure of vibrating screen, the lower crossbeam is the main carrying structure and it is easily damaged, so it is regarded as a researched object in this thesis and it is tested under the load in the laboratory. Based on the test, acoustic emission wave signals can be got-ten by modern acoustic emission testing technique. Then, the ?wavelet packet - energy? from the characteristics of acquiring signals is used as neural network input vector. In the BP network structure design, the design of a hidden layer with variable number of BP network is established. Based on the error by contrast, the best nerve number can be identified in the hidden layer. Through integrated analysis, using Levenberg-Marquard BP study algorithm, network-training errors are relatively small, the acoustic emission signal is used in BP neural network as a pattern of recognition. In Matlab6.5, neural network model identification is created and taking advantage of nonlinearity and the ability of learning and memory of Neural Network, this model is fixed by training structure of network with training samples. The work presented shows that acoustical emission signal processing and research on early fatigue fault diagnosis based on the wavelet and the neural network is viable.

Jan 1, 2014

By M. Solomon

Crushers are designed and manufactured to survive the severe duty of mining environments worldwide. Under these conditions the crusher performance and availability is one of the critical factors in the mine?s production and profitability. Traditionally the development of these machines tends to be experience-based, incremental improvements in design due to challenges of different applications, duty, or manufacturing. In order to better serve the mining industry a new approach was taken to the design of primary crushers. This approach was to focus on safety and maintenance activities. The result of this effort is a new generation of gyratory crushers that can be serviced from above. Using the features of this new generation of crushers to their fullest extent crushing installations have improved safety, reduced design and construction costs, and lowered maintenance requirements. This presentation explores the benefits of two crusher installations utilizing top service crushers.

Jan 1, 2010

By M. Vallée

Several reviews of mineral project performance in the past 35 years indicate a pattern of occasional, but recurrent, mining project failures due to shortcomings in geological information and estimation, mineral processing and metallurgical testing, feasibility study objectives and requirements, and project start-up methods. A commitment to quality assurance and continuous improvement methods and to obtaining “ENOUGH DATA, OF APPROPRIATE QUALITY” is essential. Recent international and Canadian proposals for mineral resource and ore reserve definitions have taken a nonprescriptive stance that will undermine the formulation of requirements, guidelines and industry standards for efficient deposit delineation and estimation, and for the determination of project feasibility. To help reduce problems, every feasibility study supporting a mine development and production decision should be based on objectives and methods adequate to reach completion targets similar to the bankers’, as a good business target for a profitable project. In a resource/reserve system, the use of reserve should be restricted to a project that meets required technical, economic and legal feasibility requirements for successful project implementation, and the definitions of these categories should provide explicit limits. Current shortcomings will limit the ability of the Qualified Person to provide “adequate professional practice,” fulfill his/her professional responsibilities to his employer or client and provide adequate information to the investing public. We must take advantage of present opportunities for Setting New Standards for the new Millennium.

Jan 1, 2000

By Rejean Gagnon, Fernand Rochefort

"Haulage costs, in most operations, represent a large portion of total cost. Quebec Cartier Mining Company came to the conclusion t hat an electric trolley assist providing more horsepower than available from dieselgenerator sets presented the best oppor tunity for improvement. Accordingly, a testing and development program was carried out which resulted in the design, installat ion and application of a practical system. This paper describes the development of the system, the equipment used as well as the actual operation. A projection is also made to indicate further improvement in productivity. A comparison is made of truck operating data before and after activation of the trolley assist system in order to determine its economic impact."

Jan 1, 1972

By C Beal, S Singh

Sensor-based bulk ore sorting is a form of preconcentration that autonomously measures and physically separates discrete bulk ‘pods’ of run of mine (‘ROM’) or primary crushed material. This case study examines the results of a full scale bulk ore sorting trial undertaken at Cozamin mine in Zacatecas, Mexico in 2019. The bulk ore sorting plant comprised primarily of a mobile jaw crusher, fixed conveyor, MR analyser, and diverter gate. Results of the trial demonstrate that bulk ore sorting could deliver a net improvement in copper metal fed to the processing plant of 6-8 per cent within an equal gross tonnage of ore. Copper metal increases were the result of improvements in mining recovery, where valuable mineralisation is recovered from marginal or sub-grade material that would otherwise be discarded as waste or stockpiled as low-grade. The increase in mining recovery more than compensates for metal losses suffered in the bulk ore sorting plant.

Nov 10, 2020

By R. R. Trengove

This paper is one of a series published by the Bureau of Mines on mining methods and operation practices. It describes the open-pit mining method and operations of the Kaiser Steel Corp. Eagle Mountain iron-ore mine, which is in the extreme southeastern part of California 175 miles east of Los Angeles in Riverside County. Nearest town to the mine is Indio, which is 60 miles away by an excellent highway (fig. 1). Elevations at the deposit vary from 1,400 to 3,000 feet. Figure 2 is a plan map of the Eagle Mountain iron mine. Kaiser Steel Corp. built a model camp at the mine, with all modern conveniences (fig. 3). The camp, comprising 145 homes, dormitories, mess hall, commissary, post office, and recreational facilities for 600 people, is at 1,390-foot elevation. The area has winter-resort weather between October and May, with occasional drops of temperature to 25° at night. From June to September temperatures sometimes rise to 1200 during the day. Rainfall is scant, approximately 2 inches a year, the majority of which comes as cloudbursts during the summer months.

Jan 1, 1956

By E. H. Rose

This paper, describing the concentrator practice of the Moctezuma Copper Co., is one of a series being prepared by the Bureau of Mines. The Nacozari concentrator of the Moctezuma Copper Co. (the Mexican subsidiary of the Phelps Dodge Corporation) is located about 75 miles south of Douglas, Ariz., in the Moctezuma District of the State of Sonora. Nacozari is the southern terminus of the Nacozari Railroad, ever which all concentrate is transported to Douglas for smelting.

Jan 1, 1930

By F. W. Wood

ORIGINAL experimentation in specially designed arc-melting furnaces and a comprehensive review of technical literature have helped with an understanding of electric arcs as used in metallurgical applications. Results relevant to the distribution of electric potentials and currents, temperatures, pressures, the consumption of electrodes, the identities of particles participating in electrical conduction, and the modes and mechanisms of discharge are presented and discussed. Present knowledge of high-current arcs is insufficient to test pertinent theoretical suggestions. However, the chief doubts concern the identities and the liberation or formation of current-carrying particles. It seems that either (1) novel formulations of existing concepts are needed, or (2) essentially new concepts must be recognized to explain observations. An analysis of the situation has led the authors to favor the latter possibility and to suggest the existence of supplementary conducting particles. The conduction of current by the streaming of charged agglomerates is postulated. Another outgrowth of analysis is an equation for the arc potential as a function of current densities in the arc. In lieu of conclusions, the potentialities of practical applications and specific needs for fundamental clarification are summarized.

Jan 1, 1965

By James P. Roe

I. INTRODUCTION. THOSE who deem the subject of this paper an old and super¬seded one may recall with advantage the words of the great proverb-maker, bidding us to seek the new in the ashes of the old. The manufacture of wrought-iron began with the small hearth built upon an eminence, and relying on the wind for blast. Next came, either the hearth about 12 in. in diameter by 2 ft. in height, blown by a man operating two goat-skins for bellows, or, a hearth of greatly varying diameter and about 10 ft. high, depending for its blast upon natural draft. The former appeared in India, the latter in Burmah; and both were in operation until quite recently, though their origin is lost in prehistoric times. The Catalan forge was the evolutionary descendant of the foregoing, and the parent of the Blase-ofen, which in turn led to the high bloomary or " Stückofen," the father of the blast-furnace, as a producer of cast-iron. The production of cast-iron checked the growth of the direct processes; and led to the introduction of various hearths, such as the Walloon, for low-silicon irons; and the South Wales process, combining the run-out fire with the finery, for higher-silicon irons. Some of these are still in operation in localities possessing the necessary raw materials; and their product is used for purposes requiring wrought-iron of exceptional quality, the supply of which is still smaller than the demand. We have to look back but a century and a quarter to see the introduction of the puddling process by Henry Cort; a process which, reinforced by the iron-oxide bottoms and fettling of Hall, was not less revolutionary in character, and more revo-

Jul 1, 1905