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By Levent Ozdemir, Robert J. Evans

An ongoing research program at the Colorado School of Mines is investigating the application of low to moderate pressure water jets to assist the cutting performance of drag type cutter bits commonly used on coal mine cutting machinery. The results to date indicate that a water jet directed to impinge the rock in the immediate vicinity of cutter tip can provide significant benefits in terms of reduced cutting forces, prolonged bit life and less airborne dust, as well as reduced tendency of sparking during cutting. This paper describes the findings of this research effort designed to fully evaluate and optimize the parameters affecting the performance of a combined water jet assisted drag bit cutting system for coal mine applications.

Jan 1, 1983

By J. Vaino Huhta

An exploration program which covered an area of about 17 000 km2(6564 sq miles), was carried out between 1966 and 1969 by the United Nations project named "Mineral Survey of the Azuero Area." The target became Cerro Petaquilla, Province of Colon, Panama. See Fig. 1. Regional exploration led to discoveries of many geochemical anomalies and minor mineralization, but it was only toward the end of the project that a promising target was indicated by a large zone of comer and molybdenum anomalies in stream sediments in a remote 1, area between the Cordillera and the Caribbean coast. Follow-up surveys established the presence of porphyry-type copper mineralization in the area now known as Cerro Petaquilla.

Jan 1, 1991

Hilton Mine is located 20 km north of the city of Mount Isa and Isa Mine in far north west Queensland. The sealed road used by the 500 employees to commute from the city is part of the Barkly Highway linking Mt Isa to the Northern Territory.Although discovered in 1947, major underground development did not start until late-1982 and first cut-and-fill production in mid-1987. The J53 exploration shaft was sunk in 1970-73 and the main P49 shaft in 1973-75. Since January 1990, most of Hilton ore production has been treated in the Hilton Concentrator, and concentrates trucked in slurry tankers to Isa for smelting or shipping.

Jan 1, 1993

By Ralph S. Siegrist

For the past 30 years the construction industry has used steel supports in rock and soft ground to expedite driving tunnels under many difficult conditions. The industry has had a definite advantage in that it bids its work in accordance with the type of job to be encountered. The mining industry has had to keep its progress in line with the economics imposed by the price of the commodity it mines. Even so the mining industry, particularly metal mining, has been using steel support. Timber was universally used because of availability and cheapness, but as timber became scarce and labor more expensive-it takes more time to erect timber support-steel gradually replaced timber.

Aug 1, 1956

Montreal, April 6-7. "Resilient" and "bullish" were the terms used by R. D. Mushlitz of Asarco and K. C. Hendrick of Noranda Sales Corp. respectively, to describe the near term prospects for lead and zinc. The two men delivered their predictions at a joint meeting of the Lead Industries Association and the Zinc Institute held here. In speaking before a packed audience, Mushlitz insisted that "the lead industry is far from the sedentary one which many would have us believe, and although it may be slow and tortuous at times, . . . it is a viable and progressive industry which won't give up easily to the various pressures. . . . and, in the long run, will prevail."

Jan 5, 1972

By A. C. Noble

Ore reserves are often less than 30% of the geologic resource estimates initially prepared by exploration geologists. Differences of this magnitude can lead to serious problems in the early valuation of properties when the geologic resource estimates are interpreted to represent ore reserves but are later found to be misleading and gross overstatements of the actual ore tonnages. The geologist can avoid such difficulties by considering the implications of mining, metallurgical recovery and economics early in the project and by using appropriate qualifiers in the resource statement. Examples using typical deposit characteristics are used to demonstrate how the cutoff grade, stripping ratio, dilution, mining extraction and metallurgical recovery affect ore reserve estimations.

Jan 1, 1994

By Mayank Srivastava, Satya Harpalani

Production of methane is an inevitable consequence of mining coal. Although the number of mines practicing recovery of methane prior to, or during, coal mining is increasing, ventilation air methane (VAM) is still a significant source of methane addition in to atmosphere. Recent studies have shown that there are ways to recover the VAM energy, while simultaneously reducing the methane emission in to atmosphere. This paper discusses a case study, currently underway, to develop a technique to quantify the VAM emission from a mine. It also presents the different VAM utilization techniques and the suitability of one for the mine being studied. Finally, the paper summarizes the research issues that require further investigation.

Jan 1, 2005

By Rex C. Bryan

An application of geostatistics to financial decision analysis is the linking of reserve parameters estimation precisions to a mine economics computer program calculating profitability. The estimates of economic reserve parameters are obtained by the kriging method, while precision are calculated by a technique more akin to the polygon method. To indicate the effect of the variables probability distribution on a distribution of profitability, their values are sampled by a Monte Carlo technique and entered into a mine economics modelling program developed by T. R. Ellis. The distribution of profitability calculations are in essence, a superior method of sensitivity analysis. The method is applied to a roll-front uranium deposit in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming.

Jan 1, 1982

By Charles Bohdanowicz

As in preceding years, the most intensive drilling activity during 1934 took place in the old fields of the western part of the Polish Carpathian petroleum province (district of Jaslo). The number of wells completed to the end of 1934, expressed in percentages, is as follows: Jaslo district, 57 per cent; oil fields outside Boryslaw-Tustanowice-Mraznica, 27; Stanislawow district 8 and Boryslaw fields only 7 per cent. The number of meters drilled (Table 2), expressed in percentages, for the same fields are as follows: Jaslo district, 51 per cent; oil fields outside Boryslaw-Tustanowice-Mraznica, 26; Stanislawow district, 12, and Boryslaw oil fields, 11 per cent. This comparison shows that most of the new

Jan 1, 1935

By Massy-Greene RB

Limited recourse financing techniques reduce the financial exposure of equity holders to major mining projects by transfering some of the risks to the banks which provide loan funds for project development. This can only be achieved by a clear understanding of the principles involved. Engineering and management decisions on how the resource is to be developed and extracted must be made in the light of lender's requirements. The structure of sales contracts, joint venture agreements and many other documents can be important in limited recourse financing. If projections show that the debt can be repaid from project cash flow, loan agreements and other arrangements can restrict lenders ability to look to the equity holders for repayment of project loans.

Jan 1, 1981

By R. V. Ramani, R. Stefanko, G. W. Luxbacher

1 9 THIS IS A DIGITAL COMPUTER SIMULATION OF THE VENTILATION SYSTEM OF A MINE LOCATED IN WASHINGTON COUNTY; PENNSYLVANIA. THE VENTILATION SURVEY ON WHICH THIS SIMULATION IS BASED WAS RUN FROM OCT. 27-30 AND ON NOV. 2;1976 IN THE ACTIVE PORTION OF THE MINE INBY COMBS SHAFT AND THE INACTIVE PORTION AROUND AND INBY DONAHOO SHAFT. FOLLOW-UP SURVEYS WERE THEN RUN ON FEB. 18 AND FROM MARCH 7-11;1977 TO INCLUDE THE MAIN HAULAGE SYSTEM OUTBY THE ACTIVE AREAS 0F THE MINE. ALL SURVEY DATA WAS NORMALIZED TO A STANDARD DENSITY OF 0.075 POUNDS/CU.FT. PRIOR TO THE CALCULATION OF INPUT PARAMETERS FOR THIS SIMULATION.

Jan 1, 1977

By H. I. Aaronson, S. M. Kaufman, G. M. Pound

WHETHER the carbides associated with bainite precipitate from the ferritic component of bainite, as originally suggested by Davenport and Bain, or from the adjacent austenite at aus-tenite:ferrite boundaries, as proposed by Hultgren, 2 remains in dispute.3-5 A recent metallographic investigation in this laboratory has shown that the bainitic carbides formed in a plain carbon hypo-eutectoid steel nucleate entirely within ferrite at higher reaction temperatures3 and in both ferrite and austenite at lower temperatures." The present investigation was undertaken to ascertain the effects of alloying elements on the nucleation sites selected by bainitic carbides. The compositions of the steels studied were as shown in Table I. Specimens of these steels were

Jan 1, 1958

CHARLES E. WILSON'S second quarterly report "Meeting Defense Goals" was encouraging on the outlook for the mining industry, as prolonged demand for minerals seems assured; but for the individual engineer things are not so rosy. Ten percent of the gross national product is going for defense but the gross national product has been increased by 9 pct since the national emergency was declared apparently a commendable rate of progress. The increased production does not seem to have had the stabilizing effect on prices it should and housewives have been revising domestic budgets upward on a quarterly basis. Government economists have reached the conclusion that more taxes and wage and salary freezing are necessary to counteract inflation.

Jan 8, 1951

By O. B. Harden

In working out the geological structure of a complicated district, where the problems are difficult to solve by the ordinary methods in use, a model, upon which all the geological and topographical data may be put, will be found of great value, bringing, as it does, all the facts in their proper relationship at once under the eye. In the teaching of structural geology, also, a model is of great value, since the student can thus have before him, in miniature, a representation of the rocks, as he would see them in place. Topographical models may often be useful in suits at law for damages in railroad accidents, or for trespass against mining companies, etc., in order

Jan 1, 1882

By Dale S. Preece

A discrete element computer program, DMC (Distinct Motion Code), has been used for several years to simulate blasting-induced rock motion. Recent enhancements of DMC's capabilities have included addition of an algorithm that couples together rock motion and gas flow. This allows the user to specify a particular explosive which also specifies equation-of-state and other parameters necessary to model explosive gas flow from the blastwell. Rock loading by the flowing gas is calculated automatically. The mechanism for calculating the rock loading is the subject of this paper. The rock motion effects the gas flow calculation by changing the porosity. DMC is currently being used on a SUN SPARCstation 2 computer workstation.

Jan 1, 1993

By O. B. Harden Harden

IN working out the geological structure of a complicated district, where the problems are difficult to solve by the ordinary methods in use, a model, upon which all the geological and topographical data may be put, will be found of great value, bringing, as it does, all the facts in their proper relationship at once under the eye. In the teaching of structural geology, also, a model is of great value, since the student can thus have before him, in miniature, a representation of the rocks, as he would see them in place. Topographical models-may often be useful in suits at law for damages in rail-road accidents, or for trespass against mining companies, etc., in order

Jan 1, 1882

By C. L. Barron, M. L. Smith, K. A. Prisbrey

SAG mill throughput is often a bottleneck to increasing plant productivity. Improved size distribution control in the mill feed can be used to increase mill production. This can be accomplished by controlling blast fragmentation as a function of energy input and rock characteristics. Such an approach requires the integration of rock fragmentation and comminution modeling. The optimal mill feed size distribution is determined by adapting a population balance comminution model to a measure of rock hardness or fragility, which is also related to the rock fragmentation that is achieved by blasting. The relationship between the size distribution and fragility of the feed and the mill's product and the critical size in a SAG mill is examined.

Jan 1, 1994

Thermo Fisher Scientific is a supplier of samplers, instruments, analysers and consumables to the mining industry under the Thermo Scientific brand. The critical need to provide a representative sample to the analyser has played a pivotal role in product development. Products discussed are the Analysis and Sampling Station (AnStat) for mineral slurries, the Coal Quality Manager (CQM) and the prototype Bore Hole Analyser (BHX) with optional drill chip recovery system. Analytical techniques used in the above products are XRF, PGNAA and LIBS respectively. The company also designs and supplies conventional mechanical sampling equipment and complete sampling systems for bulk material applications (historical Ramsey brand). These products and application of them are presented.

Jan 1, 2008

By Finn Ouchterlony, Gert Bjarnholt, Robert Holmberg

A system for contour blasting with a linear shape charge principle has been studied /10/. In one operation the charge creates two notches along the bore hole wall and breaks the rock mass. The built in notching capability makes it possible to reduce the specific charge and the bore hole pressure to 1/3 of what is used in conventional contour blasting and to ensure that cracks are initiated and propagated only at the notches and nowhere else. The notching capability of linear shape charges has been studied experimentally and the bore hole pressure calculated to aid in optimization of a charge for future field experiments in bore holes with a diameter of about 50 mm.

Jan 1, 1983

By D. D. Harbuck

Previous studies at the US Bureau of Mines (USBM) have shown that only 70% to 80% of the germanium in domestic zinc process residues can be extracted during H2S04 leaching. To increase germanium extraction, the USBM developed and researched the hypothesis that minor amounts of germanium and zinc silicate, present in zinc calcine, dissolve during the leaching stages of zinc processing, forming soluble germanium and silica gel. This silica gel then selectively adsorbs germanium from solution, rendering the germanium insoluble. Testing showed that as the amount of formed silica gel increased, the amount of insoluble germanium in the zinc residue increased. Several processing alternatives are presented for overcoming this problem.

Jan 1, 1994