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By Raymond P. Miller

This two volume report addresses slope stability of surface mine spoils within the Interior Coal Province. Sixteen (16) mines were visited, pertinent data and samples collected, and reported spoil instabilities back-analyzed. Laboratory test results are compared to back-analyzed material properties. Available methods of slope stability analysis are reviewed and evaluated with respect to application to mine spoil stability evaluation and prediction. Correlation and tentative relationships among spoil material properties, highwall conditions, mining equipment and procedures and empirical observations are presented. Slope stability sensitivity plots illustrate the relative significance of various input parameters on stability. Slope stability input parameters are correlated with site and mining conditions to identify the primary factors controlling spoil stability. Investigative methods, spoil stability enhancement techniques, spoil stability prediction procedures and future study areas are discussed. Appendices include a glossary of terms, annotated bibliography, details of mine visits, and detailed laboratory test procedures and results.

Jan 1, 1979

By W. Kempson

"As has been noted on numerous occasions, the vertical shafts being sunk around the world are all tending to get deeper as we seek to take advantage of higher grades of minerals which can sometimes be found at greater depths. One of the challenges with these deeper shafts is the requirement to supply services to the mine’s operations at depth as well as the requirement to dewater the mine. Both the supply of water and the dewatering of mines is generally done using piping. With the greater shaft depths, this piping is now required to contain higher pressures as well as to accommodate changes in temperature resulting from normal mine operations. This paper will discuss the requirements for the design of high pressure piping in deep vertical shafts. The discussion will start with the general definition of the systems and the detailed design requirement. Once this is clearly outlined, we will discuss the options available for fulfilling these requirement as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each of the systems. We will finish with the installation recommendations and provide a basis for the maintenance of these systems. INTRODUCTION Piping in vertical shafts is used to provide a number of services in underground workings. These services vary depending on geographical location and the type of the ore body which is being mined. For example, in the Zambian Copper mines, one of the largest requirements for in shaft piping is for dewatering. Similarly in the Gold deposits in the West Wits basin as well as the deep level Copper deposits in Arizona, one of the largest uses for the piping is the supply of a cooling medium to underground workings to create a safe working environment (this can in the form of water or of glycol depending on the application). In South Africa, systems were installed which used the hydrostatic head which is generated from supplying chilled water to mines whose depths exceeded 2,000 m below surface. This chilled water was supplied as a closed system, allowing for high pressures to be generated which was then used to supply useful work (for example, Rock Drills, Face Cleaning and other ancillary services) whose power was traditionally supplied by compressed air or electricity. This system was initially researched by Chamber of Mine in South Africa. The design pressure range of these systems is 14 MPa to 18 MPa."

Jan 1, 2019

By T. C. Campbell

This Bureau of Mines publication presents an analysis of information related to the transportation of bituminous coal by unit trains and slurry pipelines. Even for short hauls from mines to markets, transport costs frequently account for between one-third and one-half of the delivered price of coal. Minimizing these costs has become an even more critical objective for hauls from the western mines than for hauls from farther east. Factors related to minimizing costs and transporting the western coal receive special attention. Although no general rule of preference is likely to be developed that can be applied to all shipments, both rail and pipeline service will be needed on an increasing scale. The study should provide useful background information and analysis for government and industry in approaching investment decisions in the mining and transportation industries.

Jan 1, 1975

By B L. Sainsbury, M F. Lee, A Penney

For most practical rock engineering purposes, stress versus strength conditions around underground openings for which rock masses fail and their various modes of failure, are reasonably well-understood and predictable. Some rock masses and particular rock types fail slowly and relatively quietly. However, others can fail rapidly, violently and maybe with the ejection of significant broken rock. In some countries and in some mines, the latter style of violent fracturing and failure of the rock mass is referred to as ‘strain bursting’. It can be alarming and extremely hazardous to nearby miners and machines. For such situations, the design and installation of appropriate ground support, to provide a safe work place, can be challenging. At any particular mine site, it’s often generally understood which local rock masses (rock types) are prone to strain bursting. Competent and strong siliceous rocks and some massive sulphides are often the main offenders. While some neighbouring, equally-competent and strong rocks might also fail, they do so more quietly and without ejection. To understand this contrast, a better understanding of the fracturing process is required other than simple and standard strength versus stress considerations. Suites of standard intact rock properties from numerous Australian mines have been used to define and help understand different high-stress failure styles for component intact rock; especially those prone to violent fracturing (strain bursting). Simple considerations of micro-fracturing (defects in the intact material), plus the available energy at failure versus the energy consumed during fracturing, distinguishes between over-stressed and competent rock types that fracture violently and those that don’t. CITATION:Lee, M F, Penney, A and Sainsbury, B L, 2018. Proneness of competent over-stressed intact rock to violent fracturing, in Proceedings The Fourth Australasian Ground Control in Mining Conference (AusRock), pp 170–184 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 30, 2018

By Eugene W. Bartel

This report describes in detail the circuitry used in the Automated Time Domain Reflectometry System and the testing and modification done to the system to improve the units performance and consistency. The analog ATDR software is described and explained in detail. Also attempts to implement the same Assembly Language program in a higher level language (PLM) are documented along `h two versions of the PLM program - one which uses a data filtering approach to limit noise and another which uses data averaging to reduce noise. The field testing of the analog and digital ATDR units is described along with the hardware modifications that resulted. The analog unit has been abandoned and the digital unit adopted for most field tests. Tests indicate that the digital units are much more consistent and less confusing for the lay-person to operate. The results indicate that the it can locate an abnormality in a test cable to within 5% of the true location (provided the cable phase velocity is known). The units can consistently locate shunt type faults which are less than 300 ohms and series type faults which are greater than 30 ohms.

Jan 1, 1980

By E. C. Sanford

A laboratory-scale batch extraction unit and operating procedure for studying the hot-water separation of bitumen from Athabasca tar sands are described. The extractor evolved from earlier units and has been in use by Syncrude Research for the past 10 years. By using a unit such as this, it is possible to study tar sand feed quality and the effects of chemicals on the hot-water extraction process, while process variables are held constant. Data are presented to demonstrate the importance of surfactants to the process and the interrelated role of inorganic bases and surfactants.

Jan 1, 1979

By C. R. Whittemore

IT can be truly stated that no branch of the engineering industry has progressed more rapidly in the last few years than that of welding. In spite of depressed economic conditions, this industry has continued to advance along scientific lines, replacing the old hit-and-miss method of welding. The development work is intensive, and increased activity is recorded in every sphere of the industry, new applications of existing methods, together with new processes, being added to those already proved in practice. The general acceptance of the welding processes can be measured by their utilization as a manufacturing tool in the metal-working industries. Many manufacturers have partially or wholly adopted welding. These concerns have on their staffs welding specialists, design engineers, and metallurgists, who are qualified to design and supervise the manufacture of welded parts, at a considerable saving to the purchaser. The steady, consistent, and sound growth of welding is based upon investigation of the fundamentals of the various processes, together with their proper application. The classification of welding processes varies in different countries. In Europe, they are divided into two main classes, namely, heterogenous and autogenous. In the former, the parts are joined, as a ruler without melting the edges, and by using as filler a metal different from that of the object welded. Such welding differs from soldering and brazing in that higher temperatures are required to effect the union of the parts. In autogenous welding, the parts are joined by melting of the edges, with or without the addition of a material similar to the parts being joined.

Jan 1, 1936

By A. J. Farstad

The principle objective of the research effort described herein was to identify as rapidly as possible a practical trapped miner location system. Much effort has been expended in the past on the development of a highly sophisticated seismic location system [1] for trapped miners. Field tests of this system have shown that the location accuracy is limited by a combination of seismic velocity anomalies, timing errors, and in general by the relatively weak nature of the signals received at the surface. It was first felt that similar propagation anomalies would be experienced by electromagnetic systems, but to a greater extent than the seismic. However, preliminary tests performed by Westinghouse on the Operations and Maintenance Program, Contract No. H0210063 in 1971 and 1972, indicated that an electromagnetic solution to the location problem may be more feasible than a seismic solution. Thus a more concentrated effort was launched in 1972 and 1973 to more completely determine the feasibility of electromagnetic location systems for trapped miners. Two different approaches to the location problem were undertaken on this program: (1) A pulsed electromagnetic system was developed by the Special Systems Division of Westinghouse in Baltimore, and (2) a Continuous Wave (CW) System was developed by Westinghouse Georesearch Laboratory (WGL) in Boulder, Colorado. Part I of this report will deal only with the development and results of CW Location System developed by WGL. The CW Location System was field tested at three eastern coal mines and at one western hardrock mine. The maximum overburden depth penetrated during these tests was 990 feet at the Robena No. 4 mine near Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. The earth conductivity at this mine was measured to be 1. 1X102 mhos/m, which combined with the deep overburden make this mine representative of expected worst case conditions for a coal mine EM location exercise.

Jan 1, 1973

By N. R. Paterson

"More than a dozen AEM systems are currently being used in the routine exploration for massive sulphides. The systems differ from one another in minor respects, but fall into four main categories: rigid-coupled in-phase/quadrature systems; towed-bird, single-component systems; differential systems; and passive systems.Although field tests are important in demonstrating the performance characteristics of the AEM/airframe assembly (noise-levels, coupling effects, etc.), more meaningful evaluations can be made through physical or computer modelling. The latter approach has been used to compare the response of twelve AEM systems to both vertical and horizontal sheets, simulating a large orebody and a con-ductive overburden respectively. The effects of height changes are also studied.The results demonstrate that each AEM system has its own particular advantages and disadvantages. The relative importance of these is a matter for the geophysicist to judge, on the basis of specific geological and environ-mental information. Data currently available on AEM systems are adequate to permit an objective evaluation of the systems for a particular exploration program."

Jan 1, 1971

By John Wellington Finch

THE- impression which the public has of northern Canada is that it is a' vast wilderness of forests; river's, and. lakes, sparsely inhabited by. a few Indians and `containing a few, scattered trading posts of the Hudson Bay Co. This is far from the facts. The building of the Canadian Pacific Railway led to the discovery, in 1883, of the nickel deposits of Sudbury, Ont.; these are the largest known nickel deposits in the world and produce about 90 per cent. of the world's output of nickel. The building of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway north, from North Bay, to open up farming lands along Lake. Temiskaming, resulted in the discovery and development of the great silver deposits of the Cobalt area, Ontario. Since the discovery of these deposits in 1903 to Dec. 31, .1923, Cobalt has produced a total of ' 327,301,897 oz. of silver, valued at $212,668,434, and paid in. dividends $88,338,185. In 1923 the production of Cobalt amounted to 10,285,247 oz. of silver. Just south of Cobalt, in South Lorrain,. a. new silver district has recently been developed and mills have started production. These deposits are of such extent that 'a branch railroad is under construction from Cobalt to that area. Northwest of Cobalt is the Gowganda silver area which is also a producer of silver ore and is now attracting outside attention. This area is not connected by railroad.

Jan 1, 1924

By Jim Excell, Jim Rothwell, Mike Rylati

"LocationThe Ekati Diamond mine is located at Lac de Gras, Northwest Territories.Brief Description of OperationBHP Diamonds Inc. has developed Canada's first diamond mine in the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. BHP Diamonds Inc. is part of the BHP World Minerals Division ofBHP Minerals. The project is a joint venture between manager and operator BHP (51%) and the Blackwater Group (49%). The Blackwater Group comprises Dia Met Minerals Limited, Charles Fipke and Stewart Blusson.Production at the NWT diamonds project began in October with the mine officially opened October 14, 1998. The project is situated on an 853 000 acre claim block located in the Lac de Gras region of the NWT. It is about 300 km northeast of Yellowknife and 100 km south of the Arctic Circle. The seasonal winter ice road to the Echo Bay Lupin mine passes along the eastern margin of the project area. This allows road access each year from mid-January to mid-April. For the remainder of the year, the project is accessible only by air.HistoryIn 1980, Charles Fipke traced indicator minerals east from the Mackenzie River area. He discovered indicator minerals in the Lac de Gras area and staked mineral claims in 1989. A joint venture was formed between BHP and Dia Met in 1990, and in 1991, the first diamonds in the NWT were discovered at Point Lake by BHP and Dia Met. This initiated the largest staking rush in Canadian history. The joint venture launched an aggressive exploration program.Koala, Fox, and Leslie were identified in 1992 as potentially economic pipes.As soon as the project's potential was established, it was recognized that an enormous amount of work had to be completed in several areas before a mine could be developed, namely: technical evaluation of the resources; environmental and socio-economic evaluation to procure the necessary permits for the development; and engineering design to optimize mining and processing of the resource and to comply with specific environmental requirements."

Jan 1, 2000

By William H. Shockley

THERE was an, extensive mining and industrial exploitation of Russia, about 20 years ago, by Belgian, French and British capitalists; but the results were discouraging. It is said that the Belgian and French public together lost approximately $400,000,000, chiefly in the coal and iron industry of southern Russia. This loss is largely accounted for by the fact that most of the companies were formed, as usual in " boom " times, to sell stock; and that thorough investigations were not made. In 1906, renewed interest was taken in Russian mines, especially in those of gold and copper, and a considerable literature is growing on this subject; but as yet I have seen no account of one of the large Russian mining estates. The following notes on such property, where the conditions are so different from those in the mining regions of the United States, should be of interest This inadequate and probably somewhat inaccurate account is made up, partly from my own notes made on the ground, in the summers of 1904 and 1905, and partly from a volume on the geology and resources of the estate issued several years ago, containing surface-and mine-maps, and from a pamphlet published in 1904, giving a general account of the condition and prospects of the property. This pamphlet includes a report made by Arthur L. Pearse, a member of this Institute, in 1899. Both these books are in Russian, and were prepared by the Bogoslovsk Mining Co., which owns and operates the property. Articles in many other languages have appeared dealing with various matters connected with the estate; but I know of no other general account of it. In numerous books and articles on the Urals and Siberia, however, localities are described in which somewhat similar conditions prevail. Recent papers by

Mar 1, 1908

By Crystal Poon, Paul Matlashewski, John Morkeh, Kathryn Dorfschmidt, Jose Carvalho, Chad Williams

Rockfall hazards are ubiquitous in mining environments making their control critical for safe mining operations. The complex processes involved in rockfall events necessitate a probabilistic modeling approach with well-calibrated material properties. The controls designed to mitigate rockfall hazards need to be reliable, efficient, and safe to deploy to meet the constraints present at an active mine. This paper presents an innovative solution to rockfall at Rio Tinto’s Bingham Canyon Mine. The solution incorporates the site-specific calibration and creation of a predictive rockfall model with the design, field testing, implementation, and monitoring of the rockfall controls.

By Crystal Poon, Paul Matlashewski, John Morkeh, Kathryn Dorfschmidt, Jose Carvalho, Chad Williams

Rockfall hazards are ubiquitous in mining environments making their control critical for safe mining operations. The complex processes involved in rockfall events necessitate a probabilistic modeling approach with well-calibrated material properties. The controls designed to mitigate rockfall hazards need to be reliable, efficient, and safe to deploy to meet the constraints present at an active mine. This paper presents an innovative solution to rockfall at Rio Tinto’s Bingham Canyon Mine. The solution incorporates the site-specific calibration and creation of a predictive rockfall model with the design, field testing, implementation, and monitoring of the rockfall controls.

By J. Paraszczak

ABSTRACT Diesel-powered loaders are a pillar of modern underground metal mining. As these mines are getting deeper and hotter and the emission regulations stricter, ventilation costs are soaring, affecting production cost. Also, the cost of diesel fuel is expected to rise. These may make the use of diesel engines more problematic. Electric load-haul-dump machines (LHDs) are an interesting alternative. This paper compares features and performance of diesel and electric, cable-powered LHDs. It overviews equipment offerings, and compares, analyzes and discusses technical parameters, operational problems and cost issues. The paper gives some conclusions about electric LHD applicability and performance, indicates possible applications, and suggests further research work.

Jan 1, 2013

By G Marling, A Calderon, J Harris, P Kirsch, M Shi, D Sprott, A Kirsch

Large-scale infrastructure construction needs to comprehensively manage risks that can impact the health and well-being of many people, from workers (temporary, contracted or full time), to families and surrounding communities. This paper starts with an analysis of incidents (injury, fatality, other damage) in tunnel construction between 2000 and 2014 and assesses the distribution of these events by continent, year, and severity of outcomes. These incidents are then analysed and mapped to a framework of hazards derived from RISKGATE (2014). A comparative register of current tunnel construction risk management guidance is derived from current Australian codes of practice and this register is also mapped to the RISKGATE framework of hazards to identify where coal industry knowledge may offer utility to the tunnelling industry.An initiative of the Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP), RISKGATE is an interactive online risk management system developed to assist the mining industry in implementing continual improvement in the management of major unwanted events. To date, a comprehensive knowledge base has been captured for risk management of tyres, collisions, fires, isolation, strata underground, ground control open cut, explosions, explosives, outbursts, coal bumps and bursts, human/machine interface, manual tasks, slips/trips/falls, inrush and occupational hygiene. By capturing operational knowledge from industry experts, RISKGATE provides a cumulative corporate memory at a time of high personnel turnover in the coal industry.This paper proposes and outlines how knowledge within the RISKGATE platform could be applied to managing the significant health and safety risks associated with tunnelling. The authors suggest that to varying degrees the knowledge already captured in RISKGATE is likely to be transferable to tunnelling construction operations. Please note that this paper focuses on tunnel construction and does not address risk management of tunnels in operation (eg road transportation or utility networks).CITATION:Kirsch, P, Kirsch, A, Calderon, A, Marling, G, Harris, J, Shi, M and Sprott, D, 2014. Management of health and safety in tunnelling – application of Australian coal mining knowledge, in Proceedings 15th Australasian Tunnelling Conference 2014 , pp 563–572 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 17, 2014

By J. B. De Hart

This paper has been confined to the consideration of the working of thick seams, from six feet to sixteen feet, which are pitching at about thirty degrees to the horizontal. The discussion has been limited to these set conditions because they are the ones of commonest occurrence in the Southern Alberta bituminous coal district, because, from the point of view of safety, thin seams are more easily worked, and because a discussion of all the possible combinations of thick and thin seams pitching at angles varying from zero to ninety degrees with the horizontal would involve a task impossible in the time available. It has been assumed that the mine makes gas freely and that the coal is friable and tends to make inflammable dust which is highly explosive. Since the problem requires the taking into account means of maintaining a high proportion of lump coal, it is further assumed that lump coal commands a price considerably higher than the price which can be obtained for run-of-mine or for slack coal. Figure 1, tabulating the various factors which must be considered and their relation to each other, indicates diagrammatically the complexity of the problem. Any method of working becomes divided into two distinct components, the active workings of the mine and the old abandoned workings. While these are in a measure distinct, they are nevertheless inter-related, as shown in the diagram.

Jan 1, 1930

By L. C. IlsLey

Investigations for safety of electrically operated mine equipment, safety lamps, and gas detectors are made at the Pittsburgh Experiment Station in accordance with published regulations termed "schedules." These schedules are revised from time to time, not only to keep in step with the progress of the industry, but also to permit much freedom of design as possible without lowering standards of safety. The following schedule covering electrical equipment, safety lamps, and gas detectors are now active: Schedule 2D. Explosion-Proof Mine Equipment. Requirements for Approval of of Storage-Battery Locomotives and Power Tucks, Junction Boxes, and Electric Motor-Driven Equipment.

Jan 1, 1939

By L. H. Bergmann

THE blasting practices described are fairly representative of those employed in the coal mines of Eastern Canada. As such, they may be of interest to Western Canadian coal mine operators. The treatment of the subject is general, no attempt being made to discuss blasting operations at any particular coal mine in detail. All the mines dealt with are mining bituminous coal and are classified under the Coal Mines Regulation Act of the Province of Nova Scotia as 'closed light' mines. As such, they are required to use only 'permitted' explosives and to apply them in a 'permitted' manner, except where authority is given by the Mines Department to do otherwise.

Jan 1, 1945

By W. R. Hardwick

This information circular describes mining methods and practices at New Cornelia Branch, Phelps Dodge Corp., Ajo, Ariz. 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. The New Cornelia mine (fig. 1) is at Ajo, a town in southwestern Arizona (fig. 2) on Arizona State Highway 85 in the western part of Pima County. The [oncentrator] and smelter are near the mine (fig. 3). Copper ore is mined, crushed, ground, and concentrated, and the concentrates are smelted. Copper is cast in anode form and sent to the Phelps Dodge Corp. refinery in El Paso, Tex.

Jan 1, 1960