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By J Guo, K Williams, S Caldwell, W Chen

Mining is increasingly occurring near or below the water table. This has led to a higher rate of handling problems associated with increased moisture and increased adhesion, which lead to a higher rate of blockage events within the materials handling chain. Typically, these ores and minerals are known as ‘wet and sticky materials’.Currently there is very limited knowledge and/or methodologies for effective design of efficient materials handling systems when it comes to handling wet and sticky materials. However, there is one major parameter that significantly affects handleability of a wet and sticky ore; namely, its moisture content. Flow property testing has shown that when moisture is reduced, the adhesive properties of the ore are also significantly reduced, thereby increasing ore flowability.The research embodied in this paper investigates the moisture reduction rate through a loose packed bed of iron ore using dry, ambient temperature airflow. A comparison of the predictive capabilities of a proposed drying model to data obtained from on-site experiments using iron ore fines is made. Building on an assumption made by Hukill (1954), a second term has been proposed to account for rewetting effects in the drying process. From this research, identification of improved moisture reduction approaches is envisaged.CITATION:Caldwell, S, Williams, K, Guo, J and Chen, W, 2017 Aeration induced moisture reduction of iron ore, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2017, pp 455–460 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 24, 2017

By J. E. Hove

The high temperature physical properties of graphite are reviewed and interpreted in the light of present day knowledge of the mechanisms affecting these properties. The thermal and mechanical behaviors only are discussed and, whenever possible, comparisons are made with other refractory materials. Possible further studies are indicated, including some carbide work. AS long as the term high temperature implied only temperatures up to about 1000°C, the materials problems which arose could usually be handled by fairly conventional metal alloy types, such as the Co-Cr-Ni superalloys, for which there exists a great deal of technology. Perhaps this temperature can still be considered an upper limit for normal applications, but it is certainly true that the number of abnormal applications is increasing rapidly. The advent, in recent years, of ram-jet and rocket missiles and of high power nuclear reactor heat sources has raised a host of questions concerning the basic problem of what material to use in the temperature range up to 2000°C and higher. While there are, of course, many metals, in the second and third transition series, which melt at considerably higher temperatures than this, these metals are, at present, pretty well excluded from practical use by other considerations, such as re-crystallization, chemical activity, or excessive plastic deformation. The behavior of metals, from the standpoint of dislocation theory, is just beginning to be understood and thus there is some hope for the future development of very high temperature metals, but the immediate problems would most logically appear to have solutions involving the nonmetals, such as the refractory ceramics and graphite. For this reason, there is presently a great deal of engineering and experimental research being performed on the latter materials, much of this research being exploratory in the sense of gathering new property data. The situation, so far as graphite is concerned, is somewhat more fortunate than with the other refractory solids in the sense that a great deal is already known about its basic properties. This stems both from the fact that the carbon-carbon bond has been of interest to chemists for a long time (and graphite can be considered as a very large aromatic molecule, if desired) and the fact that its properties, both as a function of temperature and of radiation damage, are of critical importance to nuclear reactor designers. It is still true, of course, that such fundamental questions as why graphite remains solid to such a high temperature and why it has such a high thermal conductivity cannot entirely be answered at the present time. It is, nonetheless, meaningful and instructive to consider such problems in the light of existing knowledge. This is what the present paper will attempt to do. Before going on, it may be appropriate to classify graphite and justify its discussion before readers primarily interested in metals. Graphite is comparatively unique among materials in that there is always a property or group of properties which precludes calling it either a metal, a semiconductor, or a ceramic. It has the high electrical and thermal conductivities of a metal, but the artificial, poly-crystalline types show a negative thermal coefficient of electrical resistivity, generally characteristic of semiconductors. On the other hand, semiconductors, by definition, show an ever increasing resistivity as the temperature is lowered, whereas graphite approaches a finite, and, indeed, a rather low resistivity in the region of 10°K and, furthermore, a good single crystal of graphite has a positive temperature coefficient, as for a metal.' On still another hand, its porosity and brittleness at lower temperatures would put graphite in the ceramic class although, unlike most ceramics, it is readily machinable and has a high resistance to thermal shock. All things considered, it is probably more nearly appropriate to call graphite a metal than anything else. Although certainly outstanding in some ways, graphite has its peculiarities and, especially if the reader is unfamiliar with the data, it is probably valuable to review some representative property variations at high temperature. This review is meant to be mainly illustrative and no attempt has been made to be exhaustive. Review of High Temperature Properties At ordinary pressures, graphite does not melt, but sublimes directly into the gaseous phase at about 3700°C. Although the phase equilibrium diagram is still in some doubt, graphite will melt, at a slightly higher temperature, at pressures in excess of about 100 atm. The chief difficulty of using graphite in an oxidizing atmosphere is that the reaction rate becomes quite high at fairly low temperatures. If a threshold oxidation temperature2 is defined as the temperature at which graphite loses 1 pet of its weight in 24 hr, the value in air is 450°, the value in steam is 700°, and the value in carbon dioxide is 900°C. Efforts are presently being made to raise this threshold temperature either by impregnation with a retardant of some type (sodium tung-state and phosphoric acid, for example) or by a suitable metal or oxide coating. It is probably fair to say that, to date, these attempts have not shown any outstanding success in all respects. Most commercial graphites are fabricated by impregnating a carbon flour (say of coke or lampblack particles) with some type of hydrocarbon

Jan 1, 1959

By John E. Tilton

Mining is one of the oldest human activities. It goes back at least to the Bronze Age and possibly even the Stone Age. The Romans mined copper in Spain and tin in England some two thousand years ago. The writings of Agricola in the 16th century show that mining was important in the Middle Ages. Today we mine more mineral commodities in greater tonnages than ever before. This long and fascinating history closely tied with the economic development of the human race is one of the charms of the mining industry. It also, unfortunately, gives rise to some widespread misconceptions.

Jan 1, 1997

By W. J. Kennedy

Energy management in industry has recently achieved notice as a way to reduce costs without decreasing production. The same approach used in industry can be used in mining, even though the processes are different. This approach is based upon a three phase system of data collection, implementation, and monitoring, all aimed at gathering and evaluating information in such a way as to have a maximum impact on energy costs. This approach has these advantages: (1) attention is directed toward the part of each mining system where the most energy is used, (2) input is collected systematically from all persons involved in the operation of each system, and (3) a means of monitoring the progress toward established goals is created. The mining systems considered are truck haulage, conveyor haulage, blasting and crushing, and lighting. After describing the general procedure, the authors have described a specific method for improving the efficiency (and hence the energy consumption) of round-trip truck haul age systems.

Jan 1, 1982

By R R. Lovel, G J. Sparrow

Currently there are large reserves of good quality iron ore near to existing infrastructure that are not being developed because the phosphorous levels are above acceptable market specifications. Since the high phosphorous content is considered to be mainly associated with the goethite fractions of the ore, attempts were made to leach the phosphorous from the ore after a heat treatment to dehydroxylate the goethite. Heating the ore and leaching with 40 g/L NaOH lowered the phosphorous levels from 0.145 wt per cent P to 0.075 wt per cent P or lower, but a heating temperature over 800¦C was required to achieve this reduction in phosphorous levels. However, when sodium hydroxide was added to the iron ore before the heat treatment, similar phosphorous removal was achieved with a heating temperature of 300 - 350¦C. It was considered that dehydroxylation of the goethite in the presence of the hydroxide makes the phosphorous available for removal with a water leach. As well, 50 per cent of the silica and 60 per cent of the alumina in the ore were also removed in the leach, but some sodium remained in the leach product. Further work is required to remove the residual sodium to produce a marketable product.

Jan 1, 2009

By Charles C. Y. Chen, Duane R. Skidmore

Batch leaching of Ohio #1, Ohio #4A and Ohio #5 coals was conducted with the thermophilic. sulfur, oxidizing microorganism: Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. Four different size fractions of each coal, with median sizes of 508, 200, 90, and 49 microns, were subjected for 10 days to leaching in a 5% coal-water slurry at 72°C and a pH of 2. Release rates and extent of sulfate and iron I1 and I11 ions from the coals during the leaching process and distribution of sulfur forms (sulfate, pyritic and organic) in the coal samples before and after treatment were determined. Data indicated that Ohio #1 coal, with an initial sulfur content of 0.6%, showed no significant changes with leaching in total sulfur content or forms of sulfur. The Ohio #4A coal, with initial total sulfur content near 5%, yielded product, for sizes below 200 microns with 90% reduction of pyritic sulfur while the extent of organic sulfur removal varied with coal particle size. Results similar to those for Ohio #4A were observed on the Ohio #5 coal, which had an initial total sulfur content of 3% and a final sulfur content near 1%. The findings were interpreted in terms of basic biological, chemical and physical mechanisms.

Jan 1, 1989

By S. Whinery

In these times of sharp rivalry, both as to price and quality, among the makers and venders of engineering explosives, it is often desirable to be able to determine the relative energy or value of the various explosives offered for sale, in order to purchase intelligently ; or, having contracted for a large amount of an explosive of a certain standard quality, to be able to ascertain if the manufacturer keeps his product up to the specified standard. The simple and inexpensive apparatus described below was devised by the writer while engaged on the improvement of the Tennessee River, at MuscleShoals, under the direction of' Major W. R. King, U. S. Engineers, in the summer of 1879. It answered the purpose so well that it is thought that a brief account of it may be of interest to other engineers. It consisted, essentially, of an old blacksmith's anvil and a common striking hammer, such as is used for driving rock-drills. The anvil was placed face downward on solid, level ground. In what was then the top of it, a vertical hole, one and one-fourth inch in diameter and about one arid three-fourths inch deep, was made with a ratchetdrill. The surface of the anvil immediately around the drill-hole was made as true and smooth as possible with a file. Next, a new striking-hammer, weighing nine pounds, with a turned and true face, was selected ; and a handle, eleven feet long and about one and a half inches in diameter, was fitted into it so that it

Jan 1, 1886

By Jim Petrie, Mary Stewart, Damien Giurco

This paper describes a generic approach to analysing the environmental and economic performance of a global mineral/metal value chain, with the express view of improving the quality of prospective decision-making within the industry in order to ensure more sustainable outcomes. The starting point for this analysis is the development of a global stocks flows and transformations model, for the metal of interest. Any aspect of the value chain, e.g. “metals refining, “goods manufacture”, “use and disposal”, can be assessed, either relative to other stages in the value chain, or in more detail by focusing on the technologies used within that stage. The use of this model as a decision support tool is explored here for the case of copper. Both primary and secondary production routes are enumerated, covering a range of processes, for seven distinct geographic regions round the globe. The value of the modelling approach is explored for different energy mixes. In particular, the case study examines the impact of increased recycling on the (re) distribution of global and regional environmental impacts for technologies-in-place in these different regions.

Jan 1, 2003

By R. J. Wensley

THE use of small substations for the supplying of 275-volt energy to the locomotive and cutting machines in coal mines is a well-established practice. A few years ago, when labor costs were lower, these substations were located as near to the load as possible, and an operator was provided for each station. This practice has now become so expensive that substations are being located with reference to other mining machinery, such as hoists or pumps, so that one operator can look after both. Some-times the substation is operated by one whose duties make him traverse quite a large area. In such cases the interruption of alternating-current supply may produce a long interruption in the direct current, as the station cannot resume service until this man reaches it. Such interruptions interfere seriously with production and may easily counterbalance the supposed saving gained by such operating methods. The grouping of substations for convenience in operating may also result in excessive copper loss and consequently poor trolley voltage, with its attendant evils of low locomotive speeds and increased locomotive motor maintenance. The speed of the coal-cutting machines will also be reduced. By relieving the substation of its, burden of the operating labor cost, the most economical location, from an electrical standpoint, may be chosen. The matter of machine insurance should also be considered. If an attendant is caring for several kinds of equipment, he cannot watch the machine continually for signs of trouble; therefore, continued overload, phase failure, low alternating-current voltage, bearing trouble, etc. may result. Some partly automatic equipments have been installed; these have protection against low voltage, reverse current, and bearing trouble and are provided with automatic reclosing circuit breakers. This is a step in the right direction but it does not go far enough to give first-class machine insurance.

Jan 9, 1921

By Hall S, Upton D

WMC Resources Ltd nickel operations have expanded significantly over the last three years. Production capacity has increased at mine/concentrate, smelting and refinery processes to such an extent that WMC now ranks within the top three or four producers of nickel metal in all forms. The stainless steel industry remains the dominant user of nickel. WMC's forecast is for stainless steel production to grow at 2.8 per cent per annum off of the 1995 peak, with much slower growth in the short-term as the stainless steel inventory overhang unwinds, followed by a return to higher trend growth rates. WMC's forecast for the long-term growth in demand for primary nickel is three per cent per annum off the 1995 peak; again, slower growth in the short-term before a return to higher long-term trend rates. This projection is towards the optimistic end of the range of industry experts. It equates to a requirement for new primary nickel of 25 000 to 30 000 tonnes of annual capacity each year.

Jan 1, 1996

By Sahendra Ram, Ashok Kumar, Rakesh Kumar, AMIT KUMAR SINGH, Dheeraj Kumar, Arun Kumar Singh, Rajendra Singh

This article offers an examination of a retreat mining method conducted at the Pinoura Mine in India from 2010 to 2017. The method is atypical for coal mines of India’s coalfields. The method executes depillaring in a single pass and does not require the formation of galleries and support installation in splits, thus, reducing the cycle time. A variety of observations are discussed throughout this work and emphasis is placed on field measurements and depillaring under weak roof (RMR = 40–45). This paper discusses design techniques, specifically the estimation of the snook (remnant pillar) size, and important practical observations after the fact. The execution of this method was eventually conducted in eleven panels.

Aug 4, 2020

By Gerhard Bischoff

El presente trabajo compara las contribuciones potenciales de las diferentes fuentes de energía primaria, es decir; petróleo, gas natural, carbón de piedra, lignito, fuerza hidráulica y minerales susceptibles a fisión nuclear, con el total de las existencias disponibles en el futuro.

Jul 1, 1970

THE Pacific Northwest's joint meeting of the Industrial Minerals and Metals Branch in Spokane, Wash., drew 260 members, 72 students, and 30 ladies. Theme of the meeting was to acquaint men in the industry with students and younger men. The special appeal to the students was coupled with an attempt to attract young technical men from the companies located in the northwestern area. The activities of the meeting were available without charge to students. Contributions were made by the industries in the area to assist student attendance. Following the special student and faculty trip to the Trentwood rolling mills and research laboratory on Friday afternoon everyone enjoyed a complimentary dinner. A. Y. Bethune of the Sullivan Mining Co., spoke to the group on the operations of Kellogg, Idaho electrolytic zinc plant. The Industrial Minerals Div. session was opened on Saturday morning by R. G. Vervaeke, Conference Chairman who introduced A. O. Bartell of the Raw Materials Survey, Portland, Ore. Mr. Bartell in turn introduced C. W. Sweetwood who discussed Open-Pit Phosphate Mining.

Jan 1, 1952

By E. Topanelian

In recent years considerable progress has been made in the development and application of mathematical techniques for the solution of certain problems involving economic "strategies". Such a problem might involve, for example, the scheduling of shipments of a commodity from a number of sources to a number of destinations. The object would be to schedule the shipments in a manner so as to satisfy the destination requirements and at the same time minimize the transportation costs. The solution to such a problem is not necessarily intuitively obvious. The "obvious" solution is frequently far from optimum. If the shipments are to be made from, for example, only two sources to four destinations, the optimum schedule is readily found. However, if shipments are to be made from, say, 10 sources to several hundred destinations, even a competent and experienced scheduler may spend considerable time in finding a reasonable answer. Even then he is not sure that he has the optimum solution. Furthermore, he has no way of knowing how far from optimum the answer is. Consequently, he does not know whether he should accept this solution or seek a better one. Prior to the advent of large high-speed digital computers, little more could be done with such problems because of their great size and multiplicity of possible solutions. A problem involving 20 sources and 50 destinations would require choosing, from a very large number of possible combinations, the optimum combination of 1,000 variables. The best one could do was to utilize intuition, extrapolation from past experience, and other non-exact approaches. With a high-speed computer, however, such problems can be solved providing a reasonable computational procedure (or algorithm) can be utilized. The purpose of this paper is to describe such a procedure (linear programming) and to apply this procedure to a production scheduling problem. THE RESERVOIR PROBLEM A simple reservoir model is used throughout this analysis to illustrate the use of linear programming. Even the simplest reservoir behavior problem is nonlinear in both space and time, but if the geometry is fixed for a particular study and the time variable is quantized, the resultant system may be described by linear constraints on the variable production rates. Crude oil is available from five separate sources and is delivered to a pipeline. Sources 1, 2, 3 and 4 are ideal reservoirs and therefore are subjected to reservoir flow restrictions. Source 5 is labeled "Outside Source" and crude oil from this source is assumed to be available in unlimited quantities without considering reservoir conditions. The general problem is to determine the schedule of crude oil production from five sources which, over an eight-year period and subject to certain restrictions, will result in maximum profit. "Profit" is defined to encompass all economic factors and expenses involved in producing and selling crude oil to a pipeline facility. Such economic factors are lumped to the extent that the term represents the dollars profit from one barrel of crude oil from any of the five sources entering the pipeline system. Table 1 presents the assumed profit per barrel for oil from any of the five sources over each of the four time periods. In this chart the eight years is broken into four equal intervals of two years. The selection of four time periods of two years each and the values representing the potential profit are completely arbitrary selections for the purpose of illustrating this idealized reservoir problem. In any practical application of this work a careful economic study would have to be made in order to estimate potential unit profits for time periods as far in the future as eight years. In this particular study it is assumed that all of the potential unit profits (C) are known and fixed before the production schedule is attempted. For each reservoir arbitrary values are assigned for

By K. Sasaki

Diffusion phenomena in mine airways are important to trace gas and dust introduced into mine ventilation flows. Authors have carried out tracer gas measurements to check mine ventilation using concentration-time curves measured in mine airways, however dispersion mechanism to enhance effective diffusion have not been cleared. A numerical model using discrete tracer points dosed into tube flow has been presented to simulate their movements in consideration of turbulent velocity profile and fluctuation. Numerical simulations have been carried out to predict distributions of dosed points in tube flows with turbulent velocity profile, turbulent intensity profile and Reynolds stress. The numerical simulation results show that a combination of turbulent velocity profile and fluctuation creates extremely large dispersion of points in longitudinal direction and concentration curve with long tail was observed. This dispersion by velocity profile and fluctuation contributes large effective diffusion coefficient compared with original diffusion coefficient dominating in uniform velocity fields. Furthermore, the effect of Reynolds stress on the concentration-time curves is discussed.

Jan 1, 2009

By Benito Barbabela e Silva

O pelotamento é a mais complexa etapa de aglomeração de finos de minério de ferro. Sua resposta é naturalmente oscilante, sendo bastante influenciada pelas características físicas obtidas nos processos de beneficiamento mineral que a precedem e tem papel crucial para a etapa de tratamento térmico de sinterização à jusante. O presente trabalho aborda o processo de classificação de pelotas verdes, sólidos singulares de aspecto deformável e pegajoso, em peneiras de rolos por modelamento por aplicação de Método dos Elementos Discretos. Esta técnica mostra-se como uma importante ferramenta pois supera as limitações impostas na modelagem física (quantificação e identificação de fluxos por ausência de instrumentação em escala industrial, amostragem sem representatividade) ao reproduzir de forma verossímil as repostas do sistema para importantes variáveis de controle: comprimento de gap, umidade, dispersão de tamanhos e resistência das pelotas.

Oct 30, 2017

A simple production technique has been initiated and implemented at Oaky Creek open cut coal mine to optimise recovery of coal from the relatively thin geological seams. The production technique is based upon minimising coal dilution through careful dragline operation and the selective use of mine mobile equipment to clean the top of coal. In addition, recovery of coal from the pits has been increased by refining blasting and dragline methods.The implementation of the recovery optimisation programme at Oaky Creek has provided significant economic benefits from increased yield through the preparation plant by the reduction in dilution, and from increased raw coal tonnage through improved pit recovery methods.

Jan 1, 1990

Firedamp drainage has become an essential part of many mine environmental systems, and new applications are arising. Installations are evolving further to satisfy ever changing basic requirements, standards, and iniilny needs. In this paper, water seal, vacuum based installations are considered, as well as moni- toring, protective and control systems which have been developed for continuous, manless, and trouble free operation. Some factors affecting plant capacity and extractor per- formance are identified and assessed. INTRODUCTION Firedamp drainage applications are incr- easing world wide as mining engineers strive for improved safety and security, and further concentration of coal output. Fewer and fewer mines are able nowadays to satisfy coal prod- uction and firedamp control requirements solely by air dilution or by air dilution and underground firedamp extraction plants. As a result, dependence on surface extraction plants is increasing. This paper deals with som requirements and applications of such installations. I. DEVELOPMENT AND PRACTICE Firedamp drainage has existed for over 250 years following the early work of Carlisle Spedding at Whitehaven (1730). Some fundamentals of current firedamp drainage systems can be recognised in the

Jan 1, 1982

The rocks of Waihi and the surrounding district are almost entirely rhyolitic and ande5itic in character. Sedimentary rocks, with the exception of some surface deposits of clay loosely compacted conglomerate, etc., and one or two thin and broken beds of a very poor lignite, occasionally changed by igneous agencies into a bituminous coal, are almost absent. In the shafts sunk by the Waihi and Grand Junction companies outside the outcropping andesitic area of the Martha Hill, more than one old surface or lake bottom has been passed through. At these points layers of sand, consolidated volcanic mud and tuff, accompanied by numerous broken fragments of imperfectly silicified wood have been enccuntered, but these occurrences may, for the purpose of this paper, be neglected.The youngest rock of the district are rhyolites, probably of Pliocene age. At least three distinct classes of rhyolitic lava, each possessing features of unusual interest, may be made out. None of these, however, is gold-bearing. The youngest flow, a light-coloured, fine-grained rock, is remarkable owing to its enclosing at times fragments of carbonised wood, varying in size from mere specks up to quite large pieces of almost pure charcoal. Rhyolitic tuff is also met with. The rhyolites cover a large extent of nearly flat country east, south, and west of Waibi, here and there rising into barren, stony hills.Below the rhyolites, geologically speaking, but for the most part. forming hills which bound the rhyolitic plain, or rise out of it as isolated patches, come ahdesites of older...

Jan 1, 1902

By Colin J. Dixon

The full realization of the potential of computers in geological in- formation system demands new approaches to the machine representation of information. At the same time, the feasibility of such a system, particularly in commercial field, demands greater freedom in input preparation and a degree of standardization in the arrangement of subject matter system. The paper describes some of the basic notions of project "GEOSEMANTICA 70". The aim of the project is to devise means of storing real geological informations in a machine rather than the representation of the information in human language form. This is seen as the only long-term solution to the problems of the complex vocabulary of geology and the complex syntax of geological description. Effectively, a machine language is being defined, consisting of a set of symbols and a date structure for representation of geological and related information. Beyond this, is the definition of a set of rules allowing the use of constrained text as an input/output medium. The investigation is oriented primarily to the representation and handling of information about mineral deposits and the associated geographic, economic and engineering information.

Jan 1, 1969