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By Robson W. D, Irwin D. A

In November, 1932, an investigation of silicosis was undertaken at the, McIntyre Porcupine Mine, Schumacher, Ont., atfer a discussion of the problem with Sir Frederick Banting and his, staff. As a result it was decided to carry on dusting experiments with animals at the mine in a manner that would duplicate as far as possible actual industrial conditions.At that time 50, guinea pigs were placed in the crusher nouse tunnel of the mill where a considerable quantity of fine dust, containing approximately 35 per cent., of free silica, was being constantly produced. These animals lived in this atmosphere for periods up to one year, and, while on autopsy large amounts of dust were found in the lungs, not a single case of silicosis had developed. These negative results suggested, among other things, that the mine gases might be a predisposing factor in the production of silicosis, and the results of this investigation led us to undertake the study of the hydrogen-ion concentration of the condensate of the atmosphere, both in the mine and in various sections of the mill.The C02 combining power of blood serum on a series of 400 miners was also studied at this time. While these results were inconclusive, the variation in the hydrogen-ion concentration of the condensate between the surface and underground atmospheres encouraged us to investigate the effect of neutral, weak acid and alkaline solutions on the solubility of silicious materials. Gye and Purdy were the first to point out that the chemical reaction and not the physical presence of silicious material was responsible for the production of the fibrosis in silicosis. This work was investigated by Gardner and Cummings who showed that the tissue reaction to quartz was definitely proportional to the size of the particle. They found that 1-3 micron particles of quartz produced an acute proliferative fibrotic response while the 10-12 micron particles produced only a foreign body reaction up to a period of three years. It is accepted that the dangerous silica particles retained by the lung are under 5 microns in diameter. We assumed that if the solubility of the silicious material retained in the lung could be reduced sufficiently by the addition of some non-toxic element or compound the usual fibrotic respohse would be modified. We found that the addition of certain compounds to silica would reduce its solubility in the beaker to a slight extent. But these compounds, when mixed with quartz...

Jan 1, 1945

By R. V. Ramani, K. V. K. Prasad, M. Swaminathan

"INTRODUCTIONMine ventilation planning is an engineering design process requiring a substantial amount of qualitative knowledge obtained through experience. A concept for a knowledge-based ventilation expert system was developed by Ramani and Prasad (1987).1 11 An expert system based on the above scheme was conceived with the motivation of providing a tool to facilitate decision making for ventilation engineers in the context of computer assisted ventilation planning. Options for the implementation of the system were then examined and several commercial, personal computer (PC) based shells assessed toward this end. The options considered, the evaluation criteria and procedure arc discussed in Prasad ·and Ramani, (1989).Cll Following the above study, a scheme was developed to represent the components of the expert system.<3> Evaluation of several commercial shells indicated that there was none available which permitted interfacing with a large external algorithmic program. It was therefore decided to develop the KBS in LISP and custom build the necessary interfacing routines to ""hook out• to the network analysis program (NAP). Due to this choice of development strategy, the computer implementation aspects of the KBS arc important as all the interfacing components had to be developed with the basic tools offered by LISP.In this paper, the implementation of the knowledge based system (KBS), in terms of its component, the interfaces among the various components of the KBS and between the KBS and the user arc described. The ventilation KBS consists of an AES (analysis expert system), an IES (interpretation expert system)' and an algorithmic NAP (network analy5is program). The AES analyzes the input to the NAP considering the legal 5tipulations governing the various mine ventilation network parameters and principles of good ventilation, helping the ventilation engineer develop and represent represent the problem for solution by the NAP. The IES diagnoses the output from the NAP in terms of the critical parameters in the context of the given problem. Thi5 loop is continued till a satisfactory salution is obtained. The implementational details of the AES, the IES and the approaches to the validation of the expert system arc also discussed."

Jan 1, 1990

By Daniel Vargas Quispe, Yorhinio León Robles, Marco Jauregui Vargas, Helen Espinoza Bailon, Oshin Quispe Luya

This project describes the methodology applied during the execution of tests to determine the multiple controls that mitigate damage to the final walls of the pit. The different tests were executed on production pattern, which considered: modification of the angle of pre-split drill line, damage evaluation in individual drills with different load designs, varied detonation sequences, capture and analysis of elementary waves. After the evaluation and analysis of the results obtained in the tests, we are in process to standardize various damage controls such as; the combination of pre-split drill line angles at 80° and 90°; charge design in buffer drills that reduce the angle of action of the explosive and a detonation sequence that involves the creation of a relief filter that is made up of the detonation of two rows next to the pre-split drill line, which will have the function of filtering the waves of vibrations produced by the detonation of the production drills and at the same time it modifies the direction of damage towards the blasted material. The analysis of the different controls, as well as their combination, will allow us to improve the compliance results of the formation of benches.

Jan 21, 2025

By S. Agarwal, S. Frimpong

The creation and maintenance of a healthy working environment in surface mining operations require sustained efforts in pursuing advanced research initiatives toward the development and deployment of powered haulage technologies. This paper contains progress summary on a frontier research in truck dynamic control, vision and collision avoidance. This research is required to provide solutions to challenging problems regarding operator visibility in truck haulage in a surface mining environment. The paper focuses on truck control kinematics and dynamics, truck-haul road interactions, intelligent truck sensing, intelligent truck collision avoidance system, integrated system for situational awareness, augmented visualization and operator interface, and field testing and error variance modeling of developed technologies. A sensor suite of four subsystems, including front-side stereo-camera, front-side Doppler radar, close range sonar proximity sensors, and rear-side camera system have been recommended for developing a 360° truck operator vision to allow safe operations. This research initiative is significant because it will provide a strong basis for developing technologies to improve truck haulage safety in surface mines and construction sites.

Jan 1, 2007

By A. Rahimi

Refractory castables based on alumina-silicate aggregates are commonly used in casting wheel components and launders. In this research the recycling process of waste magnesia chrome bricks for production of refractory castable lining for launders and casting wheel ladles at Iranian Sarcheshmeh copper complex (I.S.C.C.) is discussed. The smelting plant of ISCC consumes 4,000 tons refractory materials and produces 2,000 tons waste refractories annually. In order to reduce the environmental pollutions and gain the economical advantages, the recycling of waste refractories proved to be a solution [1]. In ISCC, 800 tons alumina or alumina-silicate refractory castables are used for linings of anode furnace ladles and launders annually [2]. In the present work, the spent bricks from reverberatory, converter and anode furnaces were analyzed in term of microstructural changes from hot zone to the cold end to evaluate the changes in texture and chemical composition. Different formulations based on recycled magnesia chrome aggregates and various particle size distribution and cement content were tested. Economic recycled magnesia chrome refractory mixture was prepared after crushing and sizing the non-deteriorated regions of wasted bricks. After evaluation of physical and mechanical properties of samples, one ton of refractory castable was prepared and successfully installed in the casting wheel ladles.

Jan 1, 2007

By F. A. Crossley

The titanium-rich end of the Ti-A1 system has been investigated up to 35 at. pct A1 (23 wt pet). One conzpound Ti3Al was found to occur between primary a and TiAl. It is ordered hcp with DO19 structure, it has virtually no solid-solubility range, and it has a closed maximum at about 875°C. OIL either side of the compound are a +Ti3Al two-phase fields. The limiting a1uminum solubility in primary a at the titanium-rich end is indicated to be 7.5 at. pct A1 (4.4 wt pet) at 550°C and about 6.8 at. pct Al fl wt pct) at 500°C. Quenching alloys from above the a + Ti3Al two-phase field produces the following structures with respect to alloy composition: Up to 13 at. pct A1 (7.8 wt pet), a solid solution; from 15 to 18 at. pct A1 (9 to 11 wt pct), shear transformation product or martensite; from 19 to approximately 30 at. pct (11 to 19 wt pet), submicro-scopic coherent Ti3Al in an a malvix. The twin hcp phase fields reported in the literature are the result of nonequilibrium corzdztions. Ti-A1 alloys, once partitioned by dwelling- in the a + ß phase field during either hot working or heat treatment, are extremely difjicult to homogenize at temperatures below 1000°C. Such partitioned alloys exhibit the characteristics or symptoms of two-phase materials, and may be said to suffer the "twin-phase syndrome". THE earliest investigations of the Ti-A1 system by Ogden et al.1 and Bumps et al.2 reported wide solubility of the primary solid solutions. Aluminum was reported soluble in the low-temperature allomorph to the extent of 37 at. pct (25 wt pct), and the first intermediate phase was reportedly TiA1. Somewhat later Kornilov et al.3 reported a similar diagram with phase boundaries displaced towards lower aluminum contents and higher temperatures. Beginning about this time (1956) reports in the literature made it very clear that one or more intermediate phases occurred at lower aluminum contents than TiAl.4-17 These reports included five major investigations of the titanium-rich end of the Ti-A1 diagram.4,12,14,16,17 Three of these diagrams show two two-phase fields below 37 at. pct Al, while two of them show a single two-phase field. The existence of the phase Ti3A1 is firmly established and is included in each of the diagrams, except one—that of Sato and Huang.12 The new phases are reportedly hcp and differ from primary a only slightly when disordered, and when ordered the "a" parameter is approximately one,4,12,15 two, 6-10,13,14 or four14 times that for primary a. Beyond this, however, the diagrams are remarkable for their lack of agreement. Two tacit assumptions are usually made in phase-diagram determinations of metal systems. These are: 1) equilibrium anneals bring the alloy to equilibrium or to indistinguishable closeness to it, and 2) equilibrium conditions established at elevated temperatures are either "frozen" by rapid quenching for evaluation at room temperature, or quench-transformation products are recognized as such. In the current investigation evidence was obtained that over substantial composition ranges neither of these two conditions was met in any of the more recent major investigations. I) MATERIALS, METHODS, AND TECHNIQUES The alloys of this investigation were prepared by nonc on sum able electrode arc melting. Materials used in the preparation of the alloys are summarized in Table I. The investigative tools employed were: optical and electron microscopy, differential thermal analysis (DTA), disatometry, X-ray diffraction, electron diffraction, and resistometry. Alloys for microscopic and X-ray investigations were prepared as 15-g melts. Alloys containing from 7 through 11 at. pct A1 were hot-rolled out of a furnace at 900°C, from 12 through 15 at. pct out of a furnace at 1000°C, and from 16 through 18 at. pct out of a furnace at 1125°C. Alloys containing more than 18 at. pct A1 could not be hot-rolled. The ingots were covered with Markal coating prior to hot rolling to minimize atmospheric contamination. After hot rolling, alloys containing up to 15 at. pct A1 were ground and pickled to remove 7 mils from each surface; alloys containing 16 and 18 at. pct A1 were skinned to a

Jan 1, 1967

By Robert F. Mehl

THIS essay is an attempt to present the elementary facts and ideas concerning the growth of crystals, especially of metals. Freezing, like all heterogeneous processes, is a process of nucleation and growth; it manifests itself in metallurgy primarily in the freezing of ingots. The preceding paper in this volume discusses nucleation; the paper to follow describes ingot solidification. The present paper will treat of the growth of nuclei to large crystals, embracing a long series of phenomena, many of which are familiar to metallurgists.† Crystal growth, it will be immediately noted, occurs not only in the freezing of metals, but in the freezing of all substances; and it is a prominent and familiar phenomenon in crystallization from solutions, aqueous or otherwise, and in crystallization from the vapor phase. It will be necessary to include such systems in this discussion, for so much of value to metallurgists has been learned from their study. Apart from this, so far as metals are concerned, it will be simpler to limit the discussion to the freezing of pure metals and of solid solutions. Other types of freezing-eutectic, peritectic, etc.-will be excluded, though they have much of interest and of importance. BASIC MECHANISM OF FREEZING Ideally, nucleation and growth processes can best be considered from the point of view of isothermal reaction and upon the assumption of random nucleation. In. such an ideal case, nuclei form at random, and at a characteristic rate either constant or changing with time, and grow to spherulites at a characteristic rate, constant or changing with time, Fig. I.. On the simplest assumption, the reaction rate-in this case the rate of freezing-is a resultant of these two component rates. The reaction rate equation may be written in terms of these two component rates. The formation of pearlite from austenite closely approaches this ideal case. The ideal case forms a very useful point of departure in considering real cases. Various factors of reality produce deviations from this assumed ideality. In freezing, the isotropic medium, the melt, passes to the anisotropic solid, the crystal. Crystals are lattices of atoms, and the unit cell is often referred to as a crystal unit. Rosenhain, many years ago, represented the nucleation and growth process on freezing in the manner shown in Fig. 2, feeling, intuitively, that there must be some crystal unit in crystal growth. It now appears that this may be true, though his picture requires much elaboration. The greatest deviation from ideality lies in the nonisothermal nature of the freezing process in metals. To approach this properly it should be recalled that many nonmetallic substances freeze slowly. Tammann, to whom we owe the classic approach, studied complex organic materials in which (as in the case of eutectoid steels at high

Jan 1, 1951

By J Webb

The mining industry is relatively niche and complex compared to other global industries in its safety and operating environment. Whilst some of the technology required to decarbonise the mining industry will emerge from the mass market (eg batteries, energy storage solutions and renewable power generation) where exogeneous external investment and innovation will drive supply, bespoke applications such as material movement will be constrained by industry limitations. Underground load and haul equipment burns the majority portion of underground mine diesel, and typically 25 per cent of scope one and two emissions. Transitioning away from incumbent diesel engines offers a considerable health benefit to all mine workers, as well as decarbonisation achievements, and through trials there is emerging evidence of more productive equipment and realistic expectations of lower operating costs of fleet. However, new equipment and material movement systems that support these industry goals are currently approached with caution due to the pivotal role they play in delivering productivity goals, and the lack of experiential data and certainty to mitigate the supplier development risk during this technology transition period, where all resources are required to meet a booming industry. A group of mining companies and suppliers have the aligned aim to accelerate the understanding and availability of heavy haulage mobile equipment through collaboratively piloting equipment and working with suppliers and each other to aggregate market demand, encourage investment and resolve the mine design and technology choices through their involvement in the Electric Mine Consortium (EMC). This paper will outline the major challenges the industry must overcome in sourcing and adopting a zero-diesel particulate and zero-emission mine, drawn from cases and insights across ten EMC mining company members.

Mar 29, 2023

By S Latchireddi

Close circuiting autogenous and semi-autogenous mills is an energy efficient way of grinding and a number of operations have utilised this in the design of their comminution circuits. Owing to the large flow of slurry through the mill that results from operating this way the grates and pulp lifters have to be designed to cope. However, the literature has little or no information on how grate and pulp lifter size and design are related to their ability to remove slurry from the mill. Over the last few years the JKMRC has been researching this area and has developed relationships between grate/pulp lifter design and flowrate capacity. At the same time it has determined the major causes of pulp lifter inefficiency and a solution to preventing this inefficiency (the Twin Chamber Pulp Lifter). This paper describes the models that have been developed through this program and uses industrial scale data to illustrate their accuracy. Results from the industrial trials of the Twin Chamber Pulp Lifter are also presented.

Jan 1, 2000

By N. A. Eilertsen

This report describes field investigations conducted in 1953 of two occurrences of manganese and a separate magnetic anomaly in the Southern manganese district of Aroostook County, vicinity of Houlton, Maine -the Pierce deposits, in Hammond Plantation Township; the Burnham anomaly, also in Hammond Plantation; and the Nickerson-Farm prospect in Hodgdon Township. The manganese occurs in a thinly laminated sedimentary rock containing manganiferous carbonate interlayered with fine-grained metamorphosed sediment, rich in chlorite or hematite. The surrounding rocks are mostly dark gray-green slates. Samples composited for metallurgical testing from the Pierce deposits and the Nickerson-Farm prospect assayed 9.0 to 12.3 percent of manganese. More than 90 percent of the manganese could be extracted with sulfuric acid, but in most instances 30 to 40 percent of the iron was also extracted. Leaching tests indicated that, after being reduced in a hydrogen stmosphere at 600° C., about 85 percent of the manganese could be selectively extracted by a solution of ammonia-ammonium carbonate with iron extraction of only 14 percent.

Jan 1, 1958

By Nathan Brandner, Denise Levitan

For many decades, a potash operation in Saskatchewan, Canada, has maintained storage impoundments for mine tailings and process-related mine water. The mine water is a concentrated aqueous solution, with most of the total dissolved solids (TDS) consisting of sodium and chloride. Although the facility has a system of slurry walls and collection/ diversion ditches, the mines monitor the surface water and groundwater around the tailings storage facilities (TSFs) for releases. Groundwater on the western side of the facility has been measured as having concentrations of TDS, magnesium, sodium, chloride and sulfate above provincial drinking water quality objectives. In addition, electromagnetic surveys have shown high electrical conductivity in that area. For these reasons, studies were undertaken to investigate the extent of the high TDS concentrations in groundwater and whether the elevated concentrations were related to the TSF. Chloride and TDS concentrations in groundwater monitoring wells were used to interpret the transport of high-TDS mine water moving along three interpreted zones of elevated TDS west from the facility (Fig. 1). The zones of elevated TDS concentrations corresponded to the areas of high conductivity identified by the geophysical surveys. These results suggested that mine water could be emanating from the TSF and potentially require remediation. However, the interpreted orientation of the high-TDS groundwater and apparent flow paths were perpendicular to the direction of groundwater flow in the area. The fundamental conflicts in these interpretations led to a reexamination of the conceptual site model for the distribution of potential mine water releases. Although the data examination and visualization made it clear that TDS concentration alone was not a reliable indicator of mine water release, there was still concern about elevated chloride concentrations. To further evaluate high TDS and chloride concentrations, several background area wells were installed northwest of the facility, beyond where mine water impacts could occur (Fig, 2). The background wells had highly variable chemical compositions. One of the wells had an elevated TDS concentration with magnesium and sulfate as the dominant ions with chloride concentrations above drinking water objectives, similar to the high-TDS wells west of the facility. The results of the background groundwater investigation (major ion chemistry) were supported by the scientific literature on prairie sloughs throughout the North American Great Plains. These sloughs are small, shallow and sometimes seasonal wetlands found throughout the region. Seasonal cycling in precipitation/ runoff and evapotranspiration result in accumulation and mobilization of salts, especially sulfate-bearing phases such as gypsum. The long-term dynamics of these features, which are common on the property west of the facility, likely control the TDS concentrations and compositions in shallow groundwater rather than mine water migration from the site. The conclusions from this investigation led to a better understanding of the lateral distribution of potential TSF-related impacts versus background groundwater chemistry. Presentation of the data, including the visualizations of different water compositions, to the provincial regulatory agency representative allowed the facility to propose an optimized annual groundwater monitoring plan with reduced sampling frequency and annual sample count. This study underscores the importance of critical evaluation and comparison of various data types, including background levels, from a particular site and the iterative approach to developing and supporting robust conceptual site models for optimizing project outcomes.

Jul 1, 2025

By Orica Peru, Pedro Lozada

Proper management of exclusion zones in blasting operations is essential to ensure safety without compromising operational efficiency. In Peru, mining regulations establish minimum exclusion distances specifically for personnel (500-meter radius / 1,640 feet), but do not define clear technical criteria for equipment. As a result, conservative distances such as 200 meters (656 feet) are often applied, negatively impacting productivity. This study proposes a technical-scientific methodology to reduce equipment exclusion zones, based on the use of advanced technologies such as drones, high-resolution cameras, and specialized software tools. The solutions used allow video recordings of blasts to be transformed into dynamic data through artificial intelligence and computer vision, as well as execute probabilistic simulations of the flyrock phenomenon using Monte Carlo algorithms and physical models calibrated to real operating conditions. Technological integration enabled the simulation of real operational scenarios, considering variations in critical blasting parameters that directly affect flyrock generation, such as drill diameter, explosive density, linear charge, and stemming height. Additionally, the Terrock methodology was incorporated, allowing the behavior of the rock mass to be included as a variable in risk assessment, improving analysis accuracy under different rock hardness conditions. The methodology was applied in four phases: diagnosis of the current design (15 blasts), modeling, validation of the calibrated model (6 blasts), and subsequent operational implementation. As a result, it was determined that the exclusion radius can be safely reduced from 656 to 492 feet (200 to 150 meters), maintaining as the main restriction the use of stemming lengths greater than 5.0 m. This optimization has the potential to generate tangible benefits, with estimated monthly savings exceeding USD 50,000, associated with reduced evacuation times, lower fuel consumption, less equipment wear, and increased productivity in drilling and hauling activities. The comprehensive approach presented here highlights the transformative potential of digital technologies applied to blast management, contributing to safer and more efficient mining operations.

Jan 26, 2026

By S. Tuylu, D. Adiguzel, A. Bascetin, E. G. Savas, O. Ozdemir

"Paste Technology has some advantages comparing to other surface disposal methods. With this method, it is possible to pump high concentrated solid materials to very long distances without segregation problem. However, it is known from Literature that pumpability of materials is completely related to rheological properties of the materials. For this reason, in this study, the rheological parameters (e.g. yield stress and viscosity values) of the paste material prepared from Pb-Zn tailings at various solid ratios (60-85%) were obtained in order to determine the pumpability of the paste material. Additionally, slump tests, which are usually used in mining industry, was carried out. Finally, regression analysis was made between the slump values and rheological parameters of the paste material to find a correlation between two independent parameters. The results showed that there is a great correlation between the slump values and the yield stress of the material. On the other hand, there was no correlation with viscosity: ty=430.28-16.877Sv (R2= 0,94; ty: Yield Stress (Pa), Sv: Slump Value (cm)). Based on the results obtained from this study, it can be clearly concluded that the slump values obtained from a simple test can be used to predict yield stress values of paste materials. INTRODUCTION Recently, surface disposal of mining tailings has become one of the biggest problems in mining industry in terms of environmental issues. Therefore, several researches have been focused on this subject in order to find a best solution or method for this problem. These studies showed that paste technology has some advantages compared to other conventional methods. Tailings thickened to the extent show no segregation of particles during transportation, and relatively small amount of settling occur post-deposition which are often called “paste” (Cincilla et al. 1997). Paste tailing technology has two applications in the industrial area as underground paste fill and surface paste disposal. Paste tailing technology was first started to be used in Grund mine, Germany in the late 1970s (Grice, 1998). Process tailing material, water and - if needed - cement materials, which are the components of the paste, must be blended to obtain a homogenous mixture suitable for pumpability. Consistency behavior of the paste material is determined using a conventional sedimentation cone concrete test (slump). Meanwhile, the slump value of the paste must be between 200 and 250 mm for surface applications (Newman et al., 2001). Additionally, in the case of underground paste system, the optimum slump value must be between 150 and 200 mm. On the other hand, the water content and density of paste at certain slump value change depending on the amount of fine particles in the tailing sample. While moisture of the material will be high, its density will be low because of surface area of particles which increases with decrease in particle size (Meggyes and Debreczeni, 2006). For pumpability of the paste to long distances, slump value of the paste must be good enough to be accepted for use of surface paste disposal. Paste material has a yield stress because they show non-Newtonian behavior and generally is classified as a Bingham plastic fluid. (Cooke, 2008; Theriault, 2003). In addition, the appropriate viscosity value of the paste along with the yield stress must be between 100 and 250 Pa (Bascetin et al., 2013; Bascetin et al., 2014; Bascetin et al., 2015)."

Jan 1, 2016

By José J. Suárez

Abstract: Globally, the mining industry is expected to face the following challenges through 2020: 1. Sustaining growth amidst fierce competition 2. Containing cost increases and managing through the cycle 3. Attracting and retaining talent 4. Managing environmental concerns and improving sustainability 5. Managing volatility risks in commodity markets Our experience and research reveals that the higher performing global miners are adopting many of the following strategies: (1) Adopt a Global, Agile Operating Model (2) Be the Developer of Choice (3) Drive Capital Efficiency (4) Be the Employer of Choice (5) Integrate the End-to-End Business Model (6) Move to the Virtual Mining Value Chain This paper/presentation will provide data obtained through research on five (5) challenges facing the mining industry, and on the six (6) strategies that high performing global miners are adopting.

May 1, 2013

A flow sheet has been developed to treat a high tonnage highly preg-robbing gold ore. The ore is low grade and fine grained with a high proportion of very fi ne free gold. The key components of the flow sheet include gravity, flotation, intensive cyanidation with direct electrowinning, and carbon-in-leach of the flotation concentrate. The circuit produces a low overall mass pull to concentrate allowing economic intensive treatment of large tonnage low-grade material. Efficient recovery of fine gravity gold using a Falcon concentrator in both the milling and flotation circuits, and subsequent intensive cyanidation in a Gekko InLine Leach Reactor (ILR) is critical to the process with over 70 per cent gold recovery expected in this circuit. Grind size control was also found to be important in controlling the activity of the preg-robbers in the carbon in leach circuit and also in the solid liquid separation performance. Tests at the large-scale demonstration plant have been conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of this flow sheet. A large low-grade deposit is currently under development with the aim of developing a 10 Mt/a treatment plant with the subsequent addition of equivalent sized process lines in multiples of 10 Mt/a. The economic development of this orebody is critically dependant on understanding and exploiting the properties of the ore. In particular it is critical to minimise the effect of preg-robbers by recovering free gold with Falcon concentrators and InLine Leach Reactors. Recovery of the remaining gold by flotation into a small mass yield allows this fraction of gold to be treated by CIL leaching utilising high carbon levels. It is critical is to ensure operation at the optimal grind size to maximise liberation of the free gold and minimise pregrobber activity. The ore has been identified as preg-robbing with low recoveries obtained if treated using conventional cyanidation and carbon absorption. The mineralogy consists of predominantly fi ne grained free gold with minor sulfides including pyrite and arsenopyrite. With conventional cyanide leaching in the absence of carbon, gold recovery is less than 50 per cent. Direct cyanide leaching of the ore in the presence of activated carbon results in an improved but still uneconomic gold recovery. The gravity recoverable gold (GRG - as defined by Andre La Plante) content of the ore has been measured to be 70 per cent to 85 per cent in various tests with liberation grind size of approximately 106 ¦m. This indicates gold is predominantly free and suitable for recovery by batch centrifugal concentrators into a low mass yield. This property of the ore presents the opportunity to maximise the recovery of gold by separating it from the majority of the preg-robbers prior to leaching. Due to the very fine gold particle sizes and the necessity to maximise recovery of this fine fraction Falcon concentrators were selected for the duty, with their proven high recoveries at very fine gold sizes. The gravity recovery in the milling circuit is designed to be in the range 55 to 65 per cent. This has been achieved in the existing pilot plant using a Falcon operating on ball mill discharge within the mill recirculating load. Intensive leaching in an InLine Leach Reactor is essential to recover the gold from the gravity concentrates. Tabling is not a preferred option since recovery is lower than intensive cyanidation and any gold losses to table tails will report to CIL where recovery is reduced by the presence of preg-robbers. Furthermore, tabling recovery from the gravity concentrates is particularly poor due to the fine particle size of the free gold. ILR recoveries of 98 per cent were demonstrated in the pilot plant using an ILR100BA and leach conditions were investigated in the lab using pilot plant generated Falcon concentrate. Recovery of gold from the pregnant solution was achieved with direct electrowinning at pilot and efficiency and sizing parameters were determined at lab scale. To further increase free gold recovery Falcon concentrators will be installed in the flotation circuit. Location of the Falcons in the circuit is not finalised but installation on the rougher concentrate stream is favoured since it will allow multiple pass recovery. This is expected to recovery a further ten to 20 per cent of the gold, as indicated by lab tests on pilot plant generated material. The gravity concentrate from the flotation circuit will also be leached using InLine Leach Reactors. Initial intensive cyanidation tests carried out on lab generated flotation concentrates indicated higher recoveries than CIL can be obtained even though the concentrates contain significant levels of preg-robbing material. This can be explained by the high cyanide, high pH leaching conditions used in the ILR which alters the absorption equilibrium of the preg-robbers. Further optimisation of the leach conditions will be undertaken once more concentrate becomes available. Recovery of the remaining gold content is achieved by flotation into a small mass yield, however the preg-robbers are also recovered into this concentrate. Due to the presence of the preg-robbers gold leaching must be carried out in the presence of high levels of activated carbon in a CIL system. The recovery has been shown to be strongly dependant on the carbon loading and the concentrate particle size. The carbon competes against the preg-robbers for dissolved gold while excessive grinding increases the surface area and activity of the preg-robbers. This has been demonstrated in test work however the economic optimum leaching conditions and carbon loading have yet to be determined. The grind size is critical to the economics of the project, not only due to its effect on gold recovery but also due to its effect on the major operating and capital costs at both the front and back end of the process. It is critical to grind enough to obtain both gravity free gold and flotation liberation at low mass yields however over-grinding results in large increases in mill size and power at the front end and filtration or thickening costs at the tails. Because these unit operations treat essentially all the plant feed even small changes can result in major impacts on project economics. The viability of this project is greatly enhanced by the high recovery of gold into a small mass yield. In particular the production and intensive leaching of the free gold gravity concentrates will allow over 70 per cent of the gold to be recovered efficiently with minimal impact from preg-robbers. By using flotation the mass of the remaining fine preg-robber contaminated material, to be leached in CIL, is greatly reduced allowing this difficult material to be economically treated. This is an ABSTRACT ONLY. No paper was prepared for this presentation.&nbsp;

Aug 1, 2010

By W. R. K. Wu

Studies are reported on the structure of coal and coke with the graphical , statistical densimetric method based on the relation between the molecular volume per carbon atom ( M / C ) and the atomic hydrogen - carbon ratio ( H / C ) . Previous work , mostly from chemical and physical investigations , is critically reviewed . Difficulties in evaluating the ring increment are demonstrated for coal and coke for the statistical densimetric method based on the additivity of atomic volumes of constituent elements . A new diagram is presented for the graphical method . Methods are introduced for correcting M /C and H/C for the presence of minor constituents in coal and coke . With the graphical method , the fractions of aromatic carbon atoms in the total carbon atoms are estimated for a coal , a resin , and 5 petrographic components ; the types of condensed structure in the fundamental units of molecules are discussed for these substances , 28 coals , and 6 " average " cokes at 500 ° to 1,000 ° C. It is also shown that the number of rings in the fundamental units of coal generally increases with increasing rank and that of coke , with increasing carbonization temperature .

Jul 1, 1960

By Daniel A. Servigna, Pedro V. Porcayo, Humberto F. Preciado

This case study presents successful conversions of two conventional slurry tailings storage facilities (TSFs) to filtered tailings storage facilities in Durango, Mexico, for two mining operations with production rates ranging from 1,200 to 4,500 t/d (1,320 to 4,960 stpd). In both cases, the decision to make the conversion was driven by: • Ability to increase the storage capacity via stacking of filtered tailings. • Reduction of the tailings’ impacted footprint. • Mitigation of long-term geotechnical stability risks. • Alleviation of environmental risks by reducing tailings water as a source of pollutants, and a net reduction in process make-up water demand. The case studies can be divided in two classes: class 1 facilities, where slurry tailings are loaded almost immediately with filtered tailings because of storage area limitations; and class 2 facilities, where the conversion is immediate but the available area allows gradual or eventual loading of the previously stored slurry tailings. The condition where slurry tailings must be loaded almost immediately represents the greatest engineering challenge because of the geotechnical risks of instability and liquefaction (under both static and dynamic loads). Regardless of whether these facilities are converted immediately or eventually, they all require monitoring of pore water pressure conditions within the slurry tailings being loaded as the depth of placement of the filtered tailings above the slurry tailings increases. Additionally, where loading rate exceeds the pore pressure dissipation rate, tailings dewatering may be required to increase the rate of consolidation and strength and mitigate the risks of foundation failure.

Jul 1, 2025

By W. G. Fischer

Trona ore at the Westvaco mine of FMC Corporation has been obtained by room- and-pillar methods since the mine began operation. The flat-lying, 10-foot bed of trona, Na2CO3 NaHCO3 2H2O, is covered by 1500 feet of weak shale and sandstone. Extraction of pillars on the retreat quite often throws large amounts of weight onto development workings. Weak shales in the roof and floor fail rapidly and the mine ribs slough to such an extent that mining often becomes very difficult. When this occurs efficiency goes down, costs go up, and the risk to men and machinery increases greatly. Difficult mining conditions in the early 60&apos;s forced a re-evaluation of all presently known mining techniques in bedded deposits. Many room-and-pillar mining plans&apos; were compared with the system in use at that time, but none of them offered a better solution to the roof control problem. Longwall techniques were seriously considered, but machinery was not available that would cut the hard trona seam and still maintain the productivity obtained from room-and-pillar sections. Roof cones troy in the longwall methods appeared to be more satisfactory than that found in room-and--pillar techniques. It was therefore felt that a new technique using the longwall principle and based on rock mechanics should be tried rather than previously known pillaring methods.

Jan 1, 1966

By Bernd Kos

The management of waste materials in the aluminum industry is as important as in other basic industries. Due to the high value of the-by products of the melting process and their toxic properties we took the challenge to develop a process technology to reduce the environmental impact and to help industry to get a better yield of their by products/raw materials. In melting operations metal losses due to oxidation are nearly unavoidable, the amount of such losses, however, can be controlled. Aluminum dross actually is a by product and any shop would like to get rid of it in the most economic way. This by product still contains up to 70% valuable metal! In the present work we describe possibilities to separate metal and residues for further processing. Recycling of metal concentrates, selling of dross and dumping of the residues have been the typical solutions up to now. But there are technologies available which are designed to reduce the waste to a minimum or even avoid it altogether. Such alternatives are processing of the dross into materials which can be reused in other industrial processes in order to avoid any dumping. This can be done by separating the metal and the residues by centrifuging and further use of the residues in the chemical or refractory industry. ECOCENT means economical and ecological recovery of aluminum by centrifuging of hot dross. This process, developed by FOCON Austria, is based on the idea of treating the hot dross as quick as possible in a single operation to avoid exothermic losses, intermediate storage and unnecessary handling as well as to save energy. In the ECOCENT process the hot dross is fed without any fluxing salt additions into a converter where the relevant parameters for separation, like temperature and viscosity, will be adjusted. Further big lumps of dross are ground into smaller pieces in order to improve the later separation of the metal. After homogenizing and adjusting the temperature, the hot dross is poured as quickly as possible into a centrifuge. In the ladle or alternatively the mould of the centrifuge the centrifugal forces are used for the separation of aluminum from aluminum oxide, the major constituents of dross. The separated pure metal can either be discharged liquid or as solidified aluminum ring. The design of the device for the production of liquid or solid metal is almost identical. As soon as the centrifuging is finished the liquid aluminum can be poured back into the furnace or can be used for ingot pouring. After the pouring of the metal the "dry" residues are removed just by turning the ladle. Alternatively the aluminum solidifies in the mould and is discharged as a compact ring. The separation of the residues from the aluminum ring is automatic. Due to the batchwise operation the composition of the metal is the same as in the skimmed furnace of origin. The complete treatment cycle needs about 40 minutes. The recovery rate of aluminum is better than 90% of pure metal. This technology is highly flexible by its nature and can easily accomodate various operational requirements. The consumption of energy is more than 50% lower compared to conventional dross processing as the ECOCENT process is using the inherent energy of the hot dross. These extremely good results are not dependent on the aluminum content of the dross even from very dry dross most of the metal can be recovered. The main advantages compared to conventional dross processing are the high recovery rate, the known analysis of the metal and the immediate reuse of the recovered aluminum. The high recovery rate and the pure metal result in a short amortization period. The compact ECOCENT unit needs a minimum of space since extensive handling can be avoided. The electronically controlled process needs no cooling water and is simple, safe and environmentally sound. The residues are free of fluxing salts, their content of metallic aluminum is low and the environmental problems are thus greatly reduced.

Jan 1, 1995

By Benoit Clermont, Jan Lux

"Magotteaux and Anglo Platinum started a co-operation program with the main aim of establishing the optimum milling configuration measured in terms of throughput, fineness and energy consumption.For this purpose, a fully instrumented pilot milling plant, supplied by Magotteaux (Pty) Ltd, and equipped with a 0.9 x 1.0 m ball mill, was erected at Frank concentrator (Merensky Pt ore). The primary ball mills at Frank concentrator were surveyed in order to set the conditions for the base case. This data was then replicated in the pilot mill under the same configuration. Thereafter, a series of different parameters were varied in order to attempt to optimize the milling system.Some of the grinding parameters that have been studied are:•,Gate versus overflow discharge•,Open versus closed circuit•,Different filling degrees•,Different shell liner profilesOnly grate versus overflow discharge and open versus closed circuit will be discussed in this paper.It should be noted that this paper does not attempt to give a universal solution as to what milling configuration is optimum in all cases. The conclusions apply for this particular case and probably most others, but it would be advisable to consider each case on its own."

Jan 1, 2003